Hierarchical deep reinforcement learning for self-adaptive economic dispatch.

It is challenging to accurately model the overall uncertainty of the power system when it is connected to large-scale intermittent generation sources such as wind and photovoltaic generation due to the inherent volatility, uncertainty, and indivisibility of renewable energy. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms are introduced as a solution to avoid modeling the complex uncertainties and to adapt the fluctuation of uncertainty by interacting with the environment and using feedback to continuously improve their strategies. However, the large-scale nature and uncertainty of the system lead to the sparse reward problem and high-dimensional space issue in DRL. A hierarchical deep reinforcement learning (HDRL) scheme is designed to decompose the process of solving this problem into two stages, using the reinforcement learning (RL) agent in the global stage and the heuristic algorithm in the local stage to find optimal dispatching decisions for power systems under uncertainty. Simulation studies have shown that the proposed HDRL scheme is efficient in solving power system economic dispatch problems under both deterministic and uncertain scenarios thanks to its adaptation system uncertainty, and coping with the volatility of uncertain factors while significantly improving the speed of online decision-making.

Analysis of hepatitis B Virus Test results among blood donors in Chongqing, China.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major concern regarding blood safety in countries with a high HBV prevalence, such as China. We aimed to understand the prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors in Chongqing and provide an important basis for developing appropriate blood screening strategies. METHODS: Dual enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were conducted in parallel with nucleic acid testing (NAT) of donors. All HBsAg-reactive and/or HBV DNA-positive blood samples were tested for HBsAg and hepatitis B DNA levels. RESULTS: A total of 117,927 blood donor samples were collected from the Chongqing Blood Center between April 2020 and November 2020. In total, 473 HBV-ineligible samples were retained for HBsAg and DNA confirmation. A total of 272 samples were confirmed to be HBsAg+, including 2 HBV DNA - and 270 HBV DNA + samples. A total of 201 donations were HBsAg-, including 72 HBV DNA - samples. The rate of HBV infection was 65.33% (309/473) in men, which was significantly higher than that in women (p < 0.001). The HBV failure rate was higher among the first-time donors (p < 0.05). Of the 182 NAT R/HBsAg N/N samples (Nucleic acid test reactivity/2 anti-HBsAg tests negative), 37.91% (69/182) were false positives. The proportion of hepatitis B infections in the 18 NAT R/HBsAg N/R (Nucleic acid test reactivity/1 anti-HBsAg tests negative) samples was 94.44% (17/18), of which 50% (9/18) were occult HBV infection. A total of 95.83% (69/72) of the false positives were from the NAT R/HBsAg N/N group, and 58.33% (42/72) were first-time donors. CONCLUSION: Our data showed a strikingly high HBV infection rate among blood donors in Chongqing. Double ELISA and single NAT can effectively prevent HBV leakage and improve blood safety. First-time donors have a high rate of HBV transplant failure; therefore, donors should be retained and recruited from low-risk groups.

Development and identification of a novel wheat-Thinopyrum ponticum disomic substitution line DS5Ag(5D) with new genes conferring resistance to powdery mildew and leaf rust.

BACKGROUND: Powdery mildew (caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt)) and leaf rust (caused by Puccinia triticina (Pt)) are prevalent diseases in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production. Thinopyrum ponticum (2n = 10x = 70, EeEeEbEbExExStStStSt) contains genes that confer high levels of resistance to these diseases. RESULTS: An elite wheat-Th. ponticum disomic substitution line, DS5Ag(5D), was developed in the Bainong Aikang 58 (AK58) background. The line was assessed using genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), oligo-nucleotide probe multiplex (ONPM) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and molecular markers. Twenty eight chromosome-specific molecular markers were identified for the alien chromosome, and 22 of them were co-dominant. Additionally, SNP markers from the wheat 660 K SNP chip were utilized to confirm chromosome identification and they provide molecular tools for tagging the chromosome in concern. The substitution line demonstrated high levels of resistance to powdery mildew throughout its growth period and to leaf rust at the adult stage. Based on the resistance evaluation of five F5 populations between the substitution lines and wheat genotypes with different levels of sensitivity to the two diseases. Results showed that the resistance genes located on 5Ag confered stable resistance against both diseases across different backgrounds. Resistance spectrum analysis combined with diagnostic marker detection of known resistance genes of Th. ponticum revealed that 5Ag contained two novel genes, Pm5Ag and Lr5Ag, which conferred resistance to powdery mildew and leaf rust, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a novel wheat-Th. ponticum disomic substitution line DS5Ag(5D) was successfully developed. The Th. ponticum chromosome 5Ag contain new resistance genes for powdery mildew and leaf rust. Chromosomic-specific molecular markers were generated and they can be used to track the 5Ag chromosome fragments. Consequently, this study provides new elite germplasm resources and molecular markers to facilitate the breeding of wheat varieties that is resistant to powdery mildew and leaf rust.

A pyridinium-based strategy for lysine-selective protein modification and chemoproteomic profiling in live cells.

Protein active states are dynamically regulated by various modifications; thus, endogenous protein modification is an important tool for understanding protein functions and networks in complicated biological systems. Here we developed a new pyridinium-based approach to label lysine residues under physiological conditions that is low-toxicity, efficient, and lysine-selective. Furthermore, we performed a large-scale analysis of the ∼70% lysine-selective proteome in MCF-7 cells using activity-based protein profiling (ABPP). We quantifically assessed 1216 lysine-labeled peptides in cell lysates and identified 386 modified lysine sites including 43 mitochondrial-localized proteins in live MCF-7 cells. Labeled proteins significantly preferred the mitochondria. This pyridinium-based methodology demonstrates the importance of analyzing endogenous proteins under native conditions and provides a robust chemical strategy utilizing either lysine-selective protein labeling or spatiotemporal profiling in a living system.

ß-Carbonyl sulfonium enables cysteine-specific bioconjugation for activity-based protein profiling in live cells.

Chemical labeling methods for proteins are highly researched. Herein, we introduced ß-carbonyl sulfonium compounds for selective cysteine modification in proteins within biological systems. Structural tuning led to sulfonium-based probes with high reactivity and selectivity. These probes show excellent biocompatibility, cell uptake, and specificity towards cysteine profiling in live cells.

Traceless Peptide and Protein Modification via Rational Tuning of Pyridiniums.

Herein, we report a versatile reaction platform for tracelessly cleavable cysteine-selective peptide/protein modification. This platform offers highly tunable and predictable conjugation and cleavage by rationally estimating the electron effect on the nucleophilic halopyridiniums. Cleavable peptide stapling, antibody conjugation, enzyme masking/de-masking, and proteome labeling were achieved based on this facile pyridinium-thiol-exchange protocol.

Pressure-induced phase transition of Lu2Ti2O7and Lu1.5Ce0.5Ti2O7+xpyrochlores.

This study utilizes both experimental and computational approaches to investigate the performance of Lu2Ti2O7(LTO) and Lu1.5Ce0.5Ti2O7+x(LCTO) pyrochlores under high pressure. The structural changes of LTO and LCTO pyrochlores were characterized usingin-situsynchrotron x-ray diffraction (SXRD) andin-situRaman spectroscopy at pressures up to 44.6 GPa. The kinks inP-aandP-Vcurves at around 5 GPa are mainly attributed to the interaction between the pressure medium and the isostructural changes. The onset pressures for transitioning from the cubic pyrochlore phase (Fd-3 m) to the monoclinic phase (P21) are observed at 32.5 GPa and 38.1 GPa, respectively. It is important to note that at the highest measured pressures, the phase transition remains incomplete. This partial transition is likely the result of oriented disorder among cations and anions under high pressure. In addition, introducing Ce as a dopant significantly enhances structural stability. This can be explained by the larger ionic radius of Ce, which hinders the disordering process.

Pyridinium-Based Strategy for a Bioorthogonal Conjugation-Assisted Purification Method for Profiling Cell Surface Proteome.

Cell surface proteins (CSPs) are valuable targets for therapeutic agents, but achieving highly selective CSP enrichment in cellular physiology remains a technical challenge. To address this challenge, we propose a newly developed sulfo-pyridinium ester (SPE) cross-linking probe, followed by two-step imaging and enrichment. The SPE probe showed higher efficiency in labeling proteins than similar NHS esters at the level of cell lysates and demonstrated specificity for Lys in competitive experiments. More importantly, this probe could selectively label the cell membranes in cell imaging with only negligible labeling of the intracellular compartment. Moreover, we successfully performed this strategy on MCF-7 live cells to label 425 unique CSPs from 1162 labeled proteins. Finally, we employed our probe to label the CSPs of insulin-cultured MCF-7, revealing several cell surface targets of key functional biomarkers and insulin-associated pathogenesis. The above results demonstrate that the SPE method provides a promising tool for the selective labeling of cell surface proteins and monitoring transient cell surface events.

The thiol-sulfoxonium ylide photo-click reaction for bioconjugation.

Visible-light-mediated methods were heavily studied as a useful tool for cysteine-selective bio-conjugation; however, many current methods suffer from bio-incompatible reaction conditions and slow kinetics. To address these challenges, herein, we report a transition metal-free thiol-sulfoxonium ylide photo-click reaction that enables bioconjugation under bio-compatible conditions. The reaction is highly cysteine-selective and generally finished within minutes with naturally occurring riboflavin derivatives as organic photocatalysts. The catalysts and substrates are readily accessible and bench stable and have satisfactory water solubility. As a proof-of-concept study, the reaction was smoothly applied in chemo-proteomic analysis, which provides efficient tools to explore the druggable content of the human proteome.

Ninety-seven cases of experiences with the left thoracotomy approach for off-pump conventional revascularization: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Minimally invasive coronary surgery-coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS CABG) is well adopted in clinical practice. However, this procedure did not really achieve conventional complete revascularization. The present study aimed to explore the feasibility and safety of conventional revascularization via the left thoracotomy (8-10 cm) approach. Methods: From January 2020 to March 2022, a total of 97 consecutive patients who needed coronary artery revascularization were operated on using this technique. The patients' preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative, and follow-up data were collected. Perioperative variables were compared between the single graft and non-single graft groups. All patients received dual-source computerized tomographic angiography at 1-week postoperatively to evaluate the graft patency and detect pulmonary embolism and aortic dissection. The patients were followed up for 3-27 months. Results: The mean age of the entire cohort was 61.5±8.8 years, there were 16 (16.5%) female patients, and 1-4 grafts were performed per patient. There were no conversions to median sternotomy or on-pump CABG. The average number of grafts was 1.9±0.9, and that of the non-single graft group was 2.5±0.6. Among the 97 included patients, one patient in the single graft group suffered from aspiration pneumonia after a stroke and died. The 30-day mortality was 1.0% (one patient), one patient required re-exploration for bleeding (1.1%), and a total of 191 grafts were performed. All grafts were unobstructed except for one graft to the obtuse marginal branch (OM) (0.5%). Follow-up was performed by phone or via outpatient visits and was available for 92 patients (95%). During the follow-up period, 1 (1.1%) patient suffered an acute myocardial infarction and received percutaneous coronary intervention with no redo-surgery. All patients are alive and angina-free. Conclusions: Left thoracotomy for conventional revascularization is a safe procedure for appropriately selected patients, with few early complications and good early and mid-term results. More cases are ongoing and long-term results are in observation.

Histidine-specific bioconjugation via visible-light-promoted thioacetal activation.

Histidine (His, H) undergoes various post-translational modifications (PTMs) and plays multiple roles in protein interactions and enzyme catalyzed reactions. However, compared with other amino acids such as Lys or Cys, His modification is much less explored. Herein we describe a novel visible-light-driven thioacetal activation reaction which enables facile modification on histidine residues. An efficient addition to histidine imidazole N3 under biocompatible conditions was achieved with an electrophilic thionium intermediate. This method allows chemo-selective modification on peptides and proteins with good conversions and efficient histidine-proteome profiling with cell lysates. 78 histidine containing proteins were for the first time found with significant enrichment, most functioning in metal accumulation in brain related diseases. This facile His modification method greatly expands the chemo-selective toolbox for histidine-targeted protein conjugation and helps to reveal histidine's role in protein functions.

Synthesis of potent antifungal 3,4-dichloroisothiazole-based strobilurins with both direct fungicidal activity and systemic acquired resistance.

To continue our efforts to discover novel fungicide lead structures, a series of 3,4-dichloroisothiazole-based-strobilurin derivatives were synthesized and characterized. In vitro bioassay screening with 9 different plant pathogens suggested that the linker between 3,4-dichloroisothiazole and the pharmacophore played a critical role in fungicidal potency and scope. Among these, compound 2a with a cis-methoxy oxime ether as a linker was a better active compound. Further modification of 2a, 4a and 6a by replacement of carboxylic ester with a carboxamide led to the best active compound 7a in this study. In vivo bioassay screening and verification indicated that compounds 1c and 7a displayed the best efficacy against wheat white powder (Erysiphe graminis) and corn rust (Puccinia sorghi Schw). In addition, compound 7a was validated by upregulating salicylic acid (SA) signaling and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related gene expression. A potent lead compound with a broad spectrum of fungicidal and systemic acquired resistance activity has been discovered by bridging 3,4-dichloroisothiazole and the strobilurin pharmacophore with various linkers.

Flavin catalyzed desulfurization of peptides and proteins in aqueous media.

A biomimetic method has been established for the chemo-selective desulfurization of cysteinyl peptides and proteins in aqueous media. The derivatives of biocatalytic cofactors, flavins, were found to be efficient photosensitizers in a thiyl-radical-mediated desulfurization of Cys. The reaction was conducted in an ultrafast manner with both polypeptides and proteins.

Low-Toxicity Sulfonium-Based Probes for Cysteine-Specific Profiling in Live Cells.

Despite being a low-abundance amino acid, cysteine plays an essential role in regulating protein function and serves as a satisfactory target of post-translational modifications and drug developments. To comprehensively assess reactive-cysteine-containing proteins, the development of chemical proteomic probes to label cysteine residues in human cells is an important objective. Cysteine modification using sulfonium-based probes is a novel method to identify reactive cysteine residues in proteins. Herein, we reported a set of "cysteine-reactive sulfonium-based (C-Sul)" probes to label the reactive cysteine sites in cellular proteins. Notably, water-soluble C-Sul probes have a significantly enhanced stability and cellular uptakes, displaying a high specificity toward reactive cysteines and compatibility with quantitative proteomic profiling. In comparison to the conventional iodoacetamide-based probe, C-Sul particularly has no inhibitory effects on cell viability, enabling its application in proteomic profiling of reactive cysteine residues under biorelevant conditions. We propose C-Sul probes as optimal tools of cysteine profiling for further broadly basic research.

Sulfonium Triggered Alkyne-Azide Click Cycloaddition.

Herein, we report the first facile Cu-free click reaction between alkynyl sulfonium and azide at ambient temperatures in aqueous media. DFT computations indicate that the sulfonium group is the key factor to gaining reactivity by stabilizing LUMO+1 and influencing the charge distribution of the triple bond. Sulfonium alkynes can be easily synthesized and scaled up, and most of them are biocompatible. We prepared candidate molecules and tested their use in multiple proof-of-concept biological applications.

Design, synthesis and fungicidal activity of pyrazole-thiazole carboxamide derivatives.

Twenty-one novel pyrazole-thiazole carboxamide derivatives were rationally designed and synthesized. Bioassay results indicated that 6d (EC50 = 5.11 µg/mL) and 6j (EC50 = 8.14 µg/mL) exhibited better in vitro activities than fluxapyroxad (EC50 = 11.93 µg/mL) and thifluzamide (EC50 = 22.12 µg/mL) against Rhizoctonia cerealis. Particularly, compound 6j showed promising in vivo protective activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Puccinia sorghi Schw. with 80% and 90% inhibition at 10 µg/mL, respectively. Our studies found that pyrazole-thiazole is a promising fungicide lead deserving for further derivation.

Electrophilic Sulfonium-Promoted Peptide and Protein Amidation in Aqueous Media.

A novel amidation strategy using electrophilic sulfonium, which is soluble and stable in aqueous conditions, was developed. The sulfoniums could activate thioacid and carboxyl acid to efficiently react with amines to afford amides. This method enables applications in amidation in both aqueous media and solid-phase peptide synthesis, peptide/protein modifications, and reactive lysines of a proteome at pH 10 with activity-based protein profiling. A peptide ligand-directed labeling of the USP7-UBL2 domain was also performed using this method.

Synthesis of novel N-(2-phenyl-3-pyridyl) thiadiazole/isothiazole carboxamide analogs as potent plant elicitors.

BACKGROUND: Plant elicitors are a class of plant protection agents that can stimulate plant immunity against phytopathogen without a potential resistance problem. In searching for novel plant elicitor candidates, a series of novel N-(2-phenyl-3-pyridyl) thiadiazole/isothiazole carboxamide analogs were designed and synthesized. RESULTS: In vitro bioassay showed that all new compounds exhibited weak direct fungicidal activity. However, compounds 3b, 3g, 3n and 3o showed broad spectrum of in vivo activity against four plant fungi tested. In particularly, 3g showed 80% activity against Rhizoctonia solani in a glasshouse at a concentration of 1 µg mL-1 . For induction activity of tobacco against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), compounds 3c and 3v showed 67% and 68% inhibitory activity, respectively, which were superior to the positive controls ribavirin and ningnanmycin. Compound 3g showed moderate induction activity (41%). Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis found that, 3g could up-regulate expression of genes that are related to reactive oxygen species (ROS), pathogenesis-related protein (PRP) and salicylic acid (SA) signalling. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that 3g as an elicitor candidate might act on the SA signalling pathway. According to our findings, N-(2-phenyl-3-pyridyl) thiadiazole/isothiazole carboxamide analogs might be promising lead scaffolds as a novel plant elicitor for further investigation.

Advantages of interstitial radioactive seed implantation for the treatment of Stage III pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify the advantages of interstitial radioactive seed implantation for the treatment of Stage III pancreatic cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical data of 160 patients with pancreatic cancer implanted with radioactive seeds were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were grouped according to tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and tumor invasion to important blood vessels, and survival time statistics were obtained. RESULTS: The mean postoperative survival time (months) was 24.80 for Stage I, 12.89 for Stage II, 13.51 for Stage III, and 7.49 for Stage IV patients, and the difference between Stage II and Stage III patients was not statistically significant. The efficacy of radioactive seed implantation therapy for pancreatic cancer was strongly associated with tumor size and number of lymph node metastases but not significantly associated with tumor invasion to blood vessels. CONCLUSIONS: Radioactive seed implantation obviously advantageous for the treatment of Stage III pancreatic cancer.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of pyrazole-aromatic containing carboxamides as potent SDH inhibitors.

To continue our ongoing studies on discovery of new potent antifungal leads, 43 novel pyrazole-aromatic containing carboxamides were rationally designed and synthesized. Bioassays indicated that most target compounds displayed good in vitro antifungal activities against Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia cerealis and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and in vivo antifungal activity against R. solani. Compound 11ea exhibited the most significant in vitro activity against R. cerealis (EC50 = 0.93 µg/mL) with about 2-fold more potent than a previously reported lead compound A1 (EC50 = 2.01 µg/mL), and about 11-fold more potent than the positive control/commercial succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor thifluzamide (EC50 = 23.09 µg/mL). Structure-activity relationship analysis and molecular docking simulations indicated that the presence of difluoromethyl pyrazole-(m-benzene) carboxamide scaffold obviously increased the antifungal activity. The further enzymatic bioassay showed that both thifluzamide and compound 11ea displayed excellent SDH inhibitory effects, and fluorescence quenching analysis suggested that they may share the same target SDH.