ABSTRACT
In this paper, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is applied to the electromagnetic imaging of anisotropic objects. Advances in magnetic anomaly sensing systems and electromagnetic imaging use electromagnetic principles to detect and characterize subsurface or hidden objects. We use measured multifrequency scattered fields to calculate the initial dielectric constant distribution of anisotropic objects through the backpropagation scheme (BPS). Later, the estimated multifrequency permittivity distribution is input to a convolutional neural network (CNN) for the adaptive moment estimation (ADAM) method to reconstruct a more accurate image. In the meantime, we also improve the definition of loss function in the CNN. Numerical results show that the improved loss function unifying the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) and root mean square error (RMSE) can effectively enhance image quality. In our simulation environment, noise interference is considered for both TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic) waves to reconstruct anisotropic scatterers. Lastly, we conclude that multifrequency reconstructions are more stable and precise than single-frequency reconstructions.
ABSTRACT
The challenge of synthesizing noble metal nanostructures sustainably has encouraged researchers to explore biological routes for nanostructure production, such as biotemplating. Plant viruses with rod-shape morphology, such as tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV), offer promising biotemplates to produce metal nanorods. TMV and BSMV can be incubated in aqueous metal precursor solutions to mineralize metals on the coat proteins (CPs) of the viruses. Previous studies have primarily examined palladium (Pd) mineralization on TMV and BSMV using Na2PdCl4 as the Pd precursor. There is limited scientific literature on the effect of using alternative Pd precursor solutions besides Na2PdCl4 such as K2PdCl4 and PdCl2 to mineralize Pd on TMV and BSMV. Past attempts at mineralizing other noble metals such as platinum (Pt) and gold (Au) required an initial layer of Pd to be deposited on the TMV and BSMV biotemplates. In this study, we aimed to expand the understanding of using alternative Pd precursor solutions to mineralize Pd on TMV and BSMV. Additionally, the deposition of Pt and Au onto TMV and BSMV without the need for an initial Pd mineralization layer was achieved using alternative Pt and Au precursors, including K2PtCl4 and AuCl3, respectively. Pd, Pt, and Au were successfully deposited on TMV and BSMV by incubation in aqueous solutions of Na2PdCl4, K2PdCl4, PdCl2, K2PtCl4, and AuCl3. Kinetic studies were also conducted using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy to examine the rates at which Pd, Pt, and Au precursor ions were reduced during the mineralization process, mimicking their adsorption onto TMV and BSMV CPs. BSMV adsorbed noble metal precursor ions faster than TMV as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. While palladium nanorods (PdNRs) offer high electrical conductivity desirable for electronic applications, Pd-coated TMV and BSMV may face limitations due to their organic cores, potentially compromising conductivity. To address this, one approach is to convert the organic core into conductive amorphous carbon through thermal annealing. In this study, in situ transmission electron microscopy was utilized to thermally anneal Pd-TMV2Cys, thereby transforming them into PdNRs with amorphous carbon cores.
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PURPOSE: To investigate the association between lifestyle and atypical antipsychotic drug use in patients with schizophrenia and the risk of constipation and to assess the impact of anxiety and depressive symptoms on constipation risk. METHODS: Cross-sectional convenience sampling was employed, and 271 participants aged 20-65 were enrolled. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire comprising participants' demographic data, medication information, dietary behavior assessment, and the Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. IBM SPSS 24.0 with multivariate logistic regression was used for data analysis. We performed a subgroup analysis of anticholinergic drugs via multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: In total, 180 participants had functional constipation; risk factors included female sex, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and quetiapine and aripiprazole use. Patients who drank more than 3,000 cc of water daily or used risperidone were less likely to have functional constipation. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were risk factors even after adjusting for sex, use of anticholinergics and laxatives, consuming two servings of fruit, consuming three servings of vegetables, consuming more than 3,000 cc of water daily, physical activity, medical comorbidity, chlorpromazine equivalent dose, and atypical antipsychotic use. Similar associations were found for two affective symptoms and functional constipation in the subgroup analysis of anticholinergic drugs. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of functional constipation in patients with schizophrenia was 66.4%. The risk factors included female sex, anticholinergics, aripiprazole, quetiapine, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Risperidone users and those who drank 3000 cc of water daily were less likely to have constipation.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is associated with a higher risk of mortality. Understanding the risk factors contributing to COVID-19-related AKI and mortality before vaccination is important for the initiation of preventative measures and early treatment strategies. METHODS: This study included patients aged ≥18 years diagnosed with COVID-19 through polymerase chain reaction from May 2020 to July 2021, admitted in three local hospitals in Taiwan, with an extended follow-up until June 30, 2022. A median follow-up period of 250 days was used to assess AKI development and mortality. AKI was defined according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria. Multivarible Cox regression analysis of AKI and mortality-related risk factors were performed. RESULTS: Of the 720 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 90 (22%) developed AKI. Moreover, 80%, 10.1%, and 8.9% of the patients had stage 1, 2, and 3 AKI, respectively. Patients with stage 1 to 3 AKI had significantly lower survival rates than those without AKI ( p = 0.001). The mean duration of post-admission AKI occurrence was 9.50 ± 11.32 days. Older age, hypoalbuminemia, and higher D-dimer and ferritin levels were associated with COVID-19 mortality. In COVID-19 AKI, in addition to older age and high D-dimer and ferritin levels, chronic kidney disease emerged as an independent risk factor. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-related AKI develops early, exhibits a temporal association with respiratory failure, and is linked to an unfavorable prognosis. The mortality rate increased according to the AKI stage ( p = 0.001). Age, albumin, D-dimer, and ferritin levels, and the underlying chronic kidney disease status upon admission are crucial factors for predicting AKI development, which increases the mortality risk. Monitoring the renal function not only within 10 days of COVID-19 onset, but also within 1 month after the disease onset.
Subject(s)
Acute Kidney Injury , COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Humans , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/mortality , Acute Kidney Injury/mortality , Acute Kidney Injury/etiology , Male , Middle Aged , Female , Risk Factors , Aged , Follow-Up Studies , Adult , VaccinationABSTRACT
Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a crucial mechanism for regulating gene expression during pre-mRNA 3' processing. Pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors is the main factor involved in this process. However, pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors in different cancer expression profiles and the relationship between pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors and tumor microenvironment and the prognosis of the same patient is still unclear. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive exploration of the core pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors across various cancer types by utilizing common cancer database, and revealing a robust correlation between the expression of these core factors and tumor characteristics. Leveraging advanced bioinformatics databases, we evaluated the expression levels and prognostic relevance of pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors across pan-cancer tissues. Our extensive pan-cancer analysis revealed unique expression patterns of pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors in both tumor and adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Notably, we found a significant correlation between the expression levels of pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors and patient prognosis. Furthermore, we identified strong associations between pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors expression and various factors, such as stromal, immune, RNA stemness, and DNA stemness scores across pan-cancer tissues. Our data also highlighted a link between the expression of pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors and sensitivity to specific drugs, including pyrazoloacndine, amonaflide, and chelerythrinede, among others. We found four key pre-mRNA 3' end processing factors that play a crucial role in mRNA preprocessing. Our study illuminates the potential promotion and inhibition role of pre-mRNA 3' end processing regulators in the progression of cancer, CPSF2, CPSF3, CSTF2, SYMPK offering valuable insights for future research investigations on these regulators as diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets across pan-cancer.
Subject(s)
Neoplasms , RNA Precursors , Tumor Microenvironment , Humans , Tumor Microenvironment/genetics , Neoplasms/genetics , Neoplasms/pathology , Prognosis , RNA Precursors/genetics , RNA Precursors/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , RNA 3' End Processing/genetics , Computational Biology/methods , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , PolyadenylationABSTRACT
Conjugated organic photoredox catalysts (OPCs) can promote a wide range of chemical transformations. It is challenging to predict the catalytic activities of OPCs from first principles, either by expert knowledge or by using a priori calculations, as catalyst activity depends on a complex range of interrelated properties. Organic photocatalysts and other catalyst systems have often been discovered by a mixture of design and trial and error. Here we report a two-step data-driven approach to the targeted synthesis of OPCs and the subsequent reaction optimization for metallophotocatalysis, demonstrated for decarboxylative sp3-sp2 cross-coupling of amino acids with aryl halides. Our approach uses a Bayesian optimization strategy coupled with encoding of key physical properties using molecular descriptors to identify promising OPCs from a virtual library of 560 candidate molecules. This led to OPC formulations that are competitive with iridium catalysts by exploring just 2.4% of the available catalyst formulation space (107 of 4,500 possible reaction conditions).
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Cutaneous melanoma is a lethal skin cancer variant with pronounced aggressiveness and metastatic potential. However, few targeted medications inhibit the progression of melanoma. Ganoderma lucidum, which is a type of mushroom, is widely used as a non-toxic alternative adjunct therapy for cancer patients. This study determines the effect of WSG, which is a water-soluble glucan that is derived from G. lucidum, on melanoma cells. The results show that WSG inhibits cell viability and the mobility of melanoma cells. WSG induces changes in the expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers. WSG also downregulates EMT-related transcription factors, Snail and Twist. Signal transduction assays show that WSG reduces the protein levels in transforming growth factor ß receptors (TGFßRs) and consequently inhibits the phosphorylation of intracellular signaling molecules, such as FAK, ERK1/2 and Smad2. An In vivo study shows that WSG suppresses melanoma growth in B16F10-bearing mice. To enhance transdermal drug delivery and prevent oxidation, two highly biocompatible compounds, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), are used to synthesize a dissolvable microneedle patch that is loaded with WSG (MN-WSG). A functional assay shows that MN-WSG has an effect that is comparable to that of WSG alone. These results show that WSG has significant potential as a therapeutic agent for melanoma treatment. MN-WSG may allow groundbreaking therapeutic approaches and offers a novel method for delivering this potent compound effectively.
Subject(s)
Reishi , Snail Family Transcription Factors , Animals , Mice , Reishi/chemistry , Snail Family Transcription Factors/metabolism , Humans , Melanoma/drug therapy , Melanoma/pathology , Melanoma/metabolism , Cell Line, Tumor , Twist-Related Protein 1/metabolism , Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition/drug effects , Cell Survival/drug effects , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Skin Neoplasms/drug therapy , Skin Neoplasms/pathology , Skin Neoplasms/metabolism , Melanoma, Experimental/drug therapy , Melanoma, Experimental/pathology , Melanoma, Experimental/metabolism , Cell Movement/drug effects , Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry , Polyvinyl Alcohol/chemistry , Polysaccharides/pharmacology , Polysaccharides/chemistry , Signal Transduction/drug effectsABSTRACT
Single-cell genomics is a powerful tool for studying heterogeneous tissues such as the brain. Yet little is understood about how genetic variants influence cell-level gene expression. Addressing this, we uniformly processed single-nuclei, multiomics datasets into a resource comprising >2.8 million nuclei from the prefrontal cortex across 388 individuals. For 28 cell types, we assessed population-level variation in expression and chromatin across gene families and drug targets. We identified >550,000 cell type-specific regulatory elements and >1.4 million single-cell expression quantitative trait loci, which we used to build cell-type regulatory and cell-to-cell communication networks. These networks manifest cellular changes in aging and neuropsychiatric disorders. We further constructed an integrative model accurately imputing single-cell expression and simulating perturbations; the model prioritized ~250 disease-risk genes and drug targets with associated cell types.
Subject(s)
Brain , Gene Regulatory Networks , Mental Disorders , Single-Cell Analysis , Humans , Aging/genetics , Brain/metabolism , Cell Communication/genetics , Chromatin/metabolism , Chromatin/genetics , Genomics , Mental Disorders/genetics , Prefrontal Cortex/metabolism , Prefrontal Cortex/physiology , Quantitative Trait LociABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting 44 million people worldwide, leading to cognitive decline, memory loss, and significant impairment in daily functioning. The recent single-cell sequencing technology has revolutionized genetic and genomic resolution by enabling scientists to explore the diversity of gene expression patterns at the finest resolution. Most existing studies have solely focused on molecular perturbations within each cell, but cells live in microenvironments rather than in isolated entities. Here, we leveraged the large-scale and publicly available single-nucleus RNA sequencing in the human prefrontal cortex to investigate cell-to-cell communication in healthy brains and their perturbations in AD. We uniformly processed the snRNA-seq with strict QCs and labeled canonical cell types consistent with the definitions from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network. From ligand and receptor gene expression, we built a high-confidence cell-to-cell communication network to investigate signaling differences between AD and healthy brains. RESULTS: Specifically, we first performed broad communication pattern analyses to highlight that biologically related cell types in normal brains rely on largely overlapping signaling networks and that the AD brain exhibits the irregular inter-mixing of cell types and signaling pathways. Secondly, we performed a more focused cell-type-centric analysis and found that excitatory neurons in AD have significantly increased their communications to inhibitory neurons, while inhibitory neurons and other non-neuronal cells globally decreased theirs to all cells. Then, we delved deeper with a signaling-centric view, showing that canonical signaling pathways CSF, TGFß, and CX3C are significantly dysregulated in their signaling to the cell type microglia/PVM and from endothelial to neuronal cells for the WNT pathway. Finally, after extracting 23 known AD risk genes, our intracellular communication analysis revealed a strong connection of extracellular ligand genes APP, APOE, and PSEN1 to intracellular AD risk genes TREM2, ABCA1, and APP in the communication from astrocytes and microglia to neurons. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, with the novel advances in single-cell sequencing technologies, we show that cellular signaling is regulated in a cell-type-specific manner and that improper regulation of extracellular signaling genes is linked to intracellular risk genes, giving the mechanistic intra- and inter-cellular picture of AD.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease , Cell Communication , Single-Cell Analysis , Transcriptome , Alzheimer Disease/genetics , Alzheimer Disease/metabolism , Alzheimer Disease/pathology , Humans , Cell Communication/physiology , Single-Cell Analysis/methods , Brain/metabolism , Brain/pathology , Prefrontal Cortex/metabolism , Neurons/metabolism , Signal Transduction/physiology , Signal Transduction/geneticsABSTRACT
Single-cell genomics is a powerful tool for studying heterogeneous tissues such as the brain. Yet, little is understood about how genetic variants influence cell-level gene expression. Addressing this, we uniformly processed single-nuclei, multi-omics datasets into a resource comprising >2.8M nuclei from the prefrontal cortex across 388 individuals. For 28 cell types, we assessed population-level variation in expression and chromatin across gene families and drug targets. We identified >550K cell-type-specific regulatory elements and >1.4M single-cell expression-quantitative-trait loci, which we used to build cell-type regulatory and cell-to-cell communication networks. These networks manifest cellular changes in aging and neuropsychiatric disorders. We further constructed an integrative model accurately imputing single-cell expression and simulating perturbations; the model prioritized ~250 disease-risk genes and drug targets with associated cell types.
ABSTRACT
Developing a tumor model with vessels has been a challenge in microfluidics. This difficulty is because cancer cells can overgrow in a co-culture system. The up-regulation of anti-angiogenic factors during the initial tumor development can hinder neovascularization. The standard method is to develop a quiescent vessel network before loading a tumor construct in an adjacent chamber, which simulates the interaction between a tumor and its surrounding vessels. Here, we present a new method that allows a vessel network and a tumor to develop simultaneously in two linked chambers. The physiological environment of these two chambers is controlled by a microfluidic resistive circuit using two symmetric long microchannels. Applying the resistive circuit, a diffusion-dominated environment with a small 2-D pressure gradient is created across the two chambers with velocity <10.9 nm s-1 and Péclet number <6.3 × 10-5. This 2-D pressure gradient creates a V-shaped velocity clamp to confine the tumor-associated angiogenic factors at pores between the two chambers, and it has two functions. At the early stage, vasculogenesis is stimulated to grow a vessel network in the vessel chamber with minimal influence from the tumor that is still developed in the adjacent chamber. At the post-tumor-development stage, the induced steep concentration gradient at pores mimics vessel-tumor interactions to stimulate angiogenesis to grow vessels toward the tumor. Applying this method, we demonstrate that vasculogenic vessels can grow first, followed by stimulating angiogenesis. Angiogenic vessels can grow into stroma tissue up to 1.3 mm long, and vessels can also grow into or wrap around a 625 µm tumor spheroid or a tumor tissue developed from a cell suspension. In summary, our study suggests that the interactions between a developing vasculature and a growing tumor must be controlled differently throughout the tissue development process, including at the early stage when vessels are still forming and at the later stage when the tumor needs to interact with the vessels.
Subject(s)
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques , Neovascularization, Pathologic , Humans , Microfluidic Analytical Techniques/instrumentation , Lab-On-A-Chip Devices , Cell Line, Tumor , Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells , Diffusion , Neoplasms/metabolism , Neoplasms/pathology , Angiogenesis Inducing Agents/metabolism , Angiogenesis Inducing Agents/pharmacology , Equipment DesignABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS), surgery had been reported to be associated with superior overall survival (OS). Chemotherapy details for such patients were less reported, and whether multimodal treatment with surgery and chemotherapy provides extra survival benefit remains unclear. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients with newly diagnosed advanced STS treated at National Taiwan University Hospital from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2017. OS was calculated from the day of diagnosis of advanced STS to the day of death or last follow-up. Baseline patient characteristics and details regarding surgery and chemotherapy were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 545 patients were diagnosed with STS from 2011 to 2017, of which 226 patients had advanced STS. The median age was 54.7 years, and 54% of patients were women. Approximately 38% of patients with advanced STS underwent surgery and exhibited a trend of longer OS compared with who did not (median = 18.6 vs. 11.9 months, p = 0.083). In the chemotherapy subgroup, the benefit of surgery was more prominent (median = 21.9 vs. 16.5 months, p = 0.037). Patients who received chemotherapy prior to surgery exhibited numerically longer OS than those who underwent surgery first (median = 33.9 vs. 18.3 months, p = 0.155). After adjusting other clinical factors, chemotherapy remained an independent factor associated with favourable OS. CONCLUSION: Surgery may be more beneficial for the patients who receive chemotherapy. Our results support evaluation of sequential multimodal treatments strategy including surgery and chemotherapy in patients with advanced STS.
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We reported that a 31-amino-acid Zfra protein (zinc finger-like protein that regulates apoptosis) blocks neurodegeneration and cancer growth. Zfra binds WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) to both N- and C-termini, which leads to accelerated WWOX degradation. WWOX limits the progression of neurodegeneration such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) by binding tau and tau-hyperphosphorylating enzymes. Similarly, Zfra binds many protein targets and accelerates their degradation independently of ubiquitination. Furthermore, Zfra4-10 peptide strongly prevents the progression of AD-like symptoms in triple-transgenic (3xTg) mice during aging. Zfra4-10 peptide restores memory loss in 9-month-old 3xTg mice by blocking the aggregation of a protein cascade, including TPC6AΔ, TIAF1, and SH3GLB2, by causing aggregation of tau and amyloid ß. Zfra4-10 also suppresses inflammatory NF-κB activation. Zfra-activated Hyal-2+ CD3- CD19- Z cells in the spleen, via Hyal-2/WWOX/Smad4 signaling, are potent in cancer suppression. In this perspective review, we provide mechanistic insights regarding how Zfra overrides WWOX to induce cancer suppression and retard AD progression via Z cells.
Subject(s)
Amyloid beta-Peptides , Neoplasms , Mice , Animals , WW Domain-Containing Oxidoreductase/genetics , WW Domain-Containing Oxidoreductase/metabolism , Apoptosis , Signal Transduction/physiology , Neoplasms/metabolismABSTRACT
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a type-I hypersensitivity disease mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE). Although antihistamines, glucocorticoids, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and other drugs are widely used to treat AR, the various adverse side effects of long-term use of these drugs should not be ignored. Therefore, more effective and safe natural alternative strategies are urgently needed. To this end, this study designed a nanosupramolecular delivery system composed of ß-cyclodextrin supramolecular polymer (PCD), thiolated chitosan (TCS), and natural polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) for intranasal topical continuous treatment of AR. The TCS/PCD@EGCG nanocarriers exhibited an excellent performance in terms of retention and permeability in the nasal mucosa and released the vast majority of EGCG responsively in the nasal microenvironment, thus resulting in the significantly high antibacterial and antioxidant capacities. According to the in vitro model, compared with free EGCG, TCS/PCD@EGCG inhibited mast cell activity and abnormal histamine secretion in a more long-term and sustained manner. According to the in vivo model, whether in the presence of continuous or intermittent administration, TCS/PCD@EGCG substantially inhibited the secretion of allergenic factors and inflammatory factors, mitigated the pathological changes of nasal mucosa, alleviated the symptoms of rhinitis in mice, and produced a satisfactory therapeutic effect on AR. In particular, the therapeutic effect of TCS/PCD@EGCG systems were even superior to that of budesonide during intermittent treatment. Therefore, the TCS/PCD@EGCG nanocarrier is a potential long-lasting antiallergic medicine for the treatment of AR.
Subject(s)
Catechin/analogs & derivatives , Rhinitis, Allergic , Animals , Mice , Rhinitis, Allergic/drug therapy , Allergens/therapeutic use , Administration, Intranasal , Immunoglobulin E/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Dynamic compartmentalization of eukaryotic DNA into active and repressed states enables diverse transcriptional programs to arise from a single genetic blueprint, whereas its dysregulation can be strongly linked to a broad spectrum of diseases. While single-cell Hi-C experiments allow for chromosome conformation profiling across many cells, they are still expensive and not widely available for most labs. Here, we propose an alternate approach, scENCORE, to computationally reconstruct chromatin compartments from the more affordable and widely accessible single-cell epigenetic data. First, scENCORE constructs a long-range epigenetic correlation graph to mimic chromatin interaction frequencies, where nodes and edges represent genome bins and their correlations. Then, it learns the node embeddings to cluster genome regions into A/B compartments and aligns different graphs to quantify chromatin conformation changes across conditions. Benchmarking using cell-type-matched Hi-C experiments demonstrates that scENCORE can robustly reconstruct A/B compartments in a cell-type-specific manner. Furthermore, our chromatin confirmation switching studies highlight substantial compartment-switching events that may introduce substantial regulatory and transcriptional changes in psychiatric disease. In summary, scENCORE allows accurate and cost-effective A/B compartment reconstruction to delineate higher-order chromatin structure heterogeneity in complex tissues.
Subject(s)
Chromatin , Chromosomes , Chromatin/genetics , DNA , Molecular Conformation , Epigenesis, GeneticABSTRACT
NH3-N and NO2-N always co-exist in the aquatic environment, but there is not a clear opinion on their joint toxicities to the molluscs. Presently, clams Ruditapes philippinarum were challenged by environmental concentrations of NH3-N and NO2-N, singly or in combination, and analyzed by metabolomics approaches, enzyme assays and transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation. Results showed that some same KEGG pathways with different enriched-metabolites were detected in the three exposed groups within one day, and completely different profiles of metabolites were found in the rest of the exposure period. The combined exposure induced heavier and more lasting toxicities to the clams compared with their single exposure. ACP activity and the number of secondary lysosomes were significantly increased after the combined exposure. The present study shed light on the joint-toxicity mechanism of NH3-N and NO2-N, and provided fundamental data for the toxicity research on inorganic nitrogen.
Subject(s)
Bivalvia , Water Pollutants, Chemical , Animals , Nitrites/toxicity , Nitrites/metabolism , Ammonia/toxicity , Ammonia/metabolism , Nitrogen Dioxide/metabolism , Bivalvia/metabolism , Oxidative Stress , Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicity , Water Pollutants, Chemical/metabolismABSTRACT
Donor-acceptor heterojunctions in organic photocatalysts can provide enhanced exciton dissociation and charge separation, thereby improving the photocatalytic activity. However, the wide choice of possible donors and acceptors poses a challenge for the rational design of organic heterojunction photocatalysts, particularly for large ternary phase spaces. We accelerated the exploration of ternary organic heterojunction photocatalysts (TOHP) by using a combination of machine learning and high-throughput experimental screening. This involved 736 experiments in all, out of possible 4320 ternary combinations. The top ten most active TOHPs discovered using this strategy showed outstanding sacrificial hydrogen production rates of more than 500 mmol g-1 h-1, with the most active ternary material reaching a rate of 749.8 mmol g-1 h-1 under 1 sun illumination. These rates of photocatalytic hydrogen generation are among the highest reported for organic photocatalysts in the literature.
ABSTRACT
Outer tropical cyclone rainbands (TCRs) are a concentrated region of heavy precipitation and hazardous weather within tropical cyclones (TCs). Outer TCRs pose considerable risk to human societies, but their origin remains unresolved. Here, we identify a total of 1029 outer TCRs at their formative stage from 95 TCs and present a large collection of radar observations in order to establish a robust foundation of the natural diversity of rainband origin. The results show the dominance of outer origin for the observed outer TCRs, in distinct contrast to theoretical modeling works of outer TCRs, which propose inner-origin scenarios. Our analysis also suggests that squall-line dynamics are a common, but not the sole, mechanism responsible for outer TCR formation. The nature of preexisting outer precipitation is found to be an important factor to influence the squall-line and non-squall-line outer TCR initiation.