Decoding the complete organelle genomic architecture of Stewartia gemmata: an early-diverging species in Theaceae.

BACKGROUND: Theaceae, comprising 300 + species, holds significance in biodiversity, economics, and culture, notably including the globally consumed tea plant. Stewartia gemmata, a species of the earliest diverging tribe Stewartieae, is critical to offer insights into Theaceae's origin and evolutionary history. RESULT: We sequenced the complete organelle genomes of Stewartia gemmata using short/long reads sequencing technologies. The chloroplast genome (158,406 bp) exhibited a quadripartite structure including the large single-copy region (LSC), a small single-copy region (SSC), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs); 114 genes encoded 80 proteins, 30 tRNAs, and four rRNAs. The mitochondrial genome (681,203 bp) exhibited alternative conformations alongside a monocyclic structure: 61 genes encoding 38 proteins, 20 tRNAs, three rRNAs, and RNA editing-impacting genes, including ATP6, RPL16, COX2, NAD4L, NAD5, NAD7, and RPS1. Comparative analyses revealed frequent recombination events and apparent rRNA gene gains and losses in the mitochondrial genome of Theaceae. In organelle genomes, the protein-coding genes exhibited a strong A/U bias at codon endings; ENC-GC3 analysis implies selection-driven codon bias. Transposable elements might facilitate interorganelle sequence transfer. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed Stewartieae's early divergence within Theaceae, shedding light on organelle genome characteristics and evolution in Theaceae. CONCLUSIONS: We studied the detailed characterization of organelle genomes, including genome structure, composition, and repeated sequences, along with the identification of lateral gene transfer (LGT) events and complexities. The discovery of a large number of repetitive sequences and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) has led to new insights into molecular phylogenetic markers. Decoding the Stewartia gemmata organellar genome provides valuable genomic resources for further studies in tea plant phylogenomics and evolutionary biology.

Simultaneous determination of four fungicide residues in figs using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Dissipative behavior and final residue levels of difenoconazole, prochloraz, propiconazole, and pyraclostrobin in figs were investigated using field trials and laboratory assays. A three-factor, three-level orthogonal test was designed to optimize the pretreatment conditions of the method. A method was established using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of difenoconazole, prochloraz, propiconazole, and pyraclostrobin residues in figs. The limit of quantification for all four targets in figs was 0.002 mg/kg. Difenoconazole, prochloraz, propiconazole, and pyraclostrobin are readily digestible pesticides in figs with half-lives of 6.4, 6.2, 4.8, and 7.9 days, respectively. Residues of difenoconazole, prochloraz, propiconazole, and pyraclostrobin in figs were below the European Union established residue levels of 0.1, 0.03, 0.01, and 0.02 mg/kg, respectively, at day 7 after application. Pyraclostrobin, propiconazole, difenoconazole, and prochloraz were applied twice at doses of 75, 125, 150, and 200 mg a.i./kg at 7-day intervals, and the residues of the four fungicides in figs were acceptable 7 days after the last application. Therefore, the safety interval can be set at 7 days for 70% difenoconazole-prochloraz wettable powder and 40% pyraclostrobin-propiconazole aqueous emulsion according to the protocol.

A sensitive cholesterol electrochemical biosensor based on biomimetic cerasome and graphene quantum dots.

A simple and sensitive electrochemical cholesterol biosensor was fabricated based on ceramic-coated liposome (cerasome) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with good conductivity. The cerasome consists of a lipid-bilayer membrane and a ceramic surface as a soft biomimetic interface, and the mild layer-by-layer self-assembled method as the immobilization strategy on the surface of the modified electrode was used, which can provide good biocompatibility to maintain the biological activity of cholesterol oxidase (ChOx). The GQDs promoted electron transport between the enzyme and the electrode more effectively. The structure of the cerasome-forming lipid was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The morphology and characteristics of the cerasome and GQDs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta potential, photoluminescence spectra (PL), etc. The proposed biosensors revealed excellent catalytic performance to cholesterol with a linear concentration range of 16.0 × 10-6-6.186 × 10-3 mol/L, with a low detection limit (LOD) of 5.0 × 10-6 mol/L. The Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of ChOx was 5.46 mmol/L, indicating that the immobilized ChOx on the PEI/GQDs/PEI/cerasome-modified electrode has a good affinity to cholesterol. Moreover, the as-fabricated electrochemical biosensor exhibited good stability, anti-interference ability, and practical application for cholesterol detection.

18F-FDG PET imaging-monitored anti-inflammatory therapy for acute myocardial infarction: Exploring the role of MCC950 in murine model.

BACKGROUND: MCC950 is a novel NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor that possesses potent anti-inflammatory properties in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the lack of noninvasive monitoring methods limits its potential clinical translation. Thus, we sought to investigate whether 18F-FDG PET imaging can monitor the therapeutic effects of MCC950 in an AMI murine model. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were used to generate an AMI model. MCC950 or sterile saline was intraperitoneally administered 1 hour after surgery and then daily for 7 consecutive days. 18F-FDG PET (inflammation) imaging was used to monitor inflammatory changes on days 3 and 5. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect inflammatory markers and to confirm the PET imaging results. 18F-FDG PET (viability) imaging was used to quantitate the viability defect expansion on days 7 and 28. Cardiac ultrasound and survival analyses were performed to evaluate the cardiac function and survival rate. Adverse remodeling was determined by Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) and Masson trichrome staining. RESULTS: The FDG-PET (inflammation) imaging revealed that MCC950 treatment led to lower 18F-FDG inflammatory uptakes, at the infarct region, on days 3 and 5 when compared to the MI group. The decreased M1 macrophages and neutrophils infiltration and the remission of the NLRP3/IL-1ß pathway, confirmed the FDG-PET (inflammation) imaging results. The FDG-PET (viability) imaging revealed that MCC950 significantly decreased the expansion of the viability defect, demonstrating its myocardial preservation effects. The acute FDG-PET (inflammation) signal positively correlated with the late viability defect and with the reduction in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Additionally, the alleviated adverse remodeling and the improved survival rate further support the anti-inflammatory efficiency of MCC950 in AMI. CONCLUSION: Using 18F-FDG PET imaging, we noninvasively demonstrated the therapeutic effects of MCC950 in AMI and showed that 18F-FDG PET imaging holds promising application potentials in MCC950's clinical translation.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Detect COVID-19 and Community-acquired Pneumonia Based on Pulmonary CT: Evaluation of the Diagnostic Accuracy.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has widely spread all over the world since the beginning of 2020. It is desirable to develop automatic and accurate detection of COVID-19 using chest CT. Purpose To develop a fully automatic framework to detect COVID-19 using chest CT and evaluate its performance. Materials and Methods In this retrospective and multicenter study, a deep learning model, the COVID-19 detection neural network (COVNet), was developed to extract visual features from volumetric chest CT scans for the detection of COVID-19. CT scans of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and other non-pneumonia abnormalities were included to test the robustness of the model. The datasets were collected from six hospitals between August 2016 and February 2020. Diagnostic performance was assessed with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, and specificity. Results The collected dataset consisted of 4352 chest CT scans from 3322 patients. The average patient age (±standard deviation) was 49 years ± 15, and there were slightly more men than women (1838 vs 1484, respectively; P = .29). The per-scan sensitivity and specificity for detecting COVID-19 in the independent test set was 90% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 83%, 94%; 114 of 127 scans) and 96% (95% CI: 93%, 98%; 294 of 307 scans), respectively, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.96 (P < .001). The per-scan sensitivity and specificity for detecting CAP in the independent test set was 87% (152 of 175 scans) and 92% (239 of 259 scans), respectively, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93, 0.97). Conclusion A deep learning model can accurately detect coronavirus 2019 and differentiate it from community-acquired pneumonia and other lung conditions. © RSNA, 2020 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Diagnostic performance of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT in the detection of prostate cancer prior to initial biopsy: comparison with cancer-predicting nomograms.

PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic performance of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT for detecting suspected prostate cancer (PCa) and to compare it with that of two cancer-predicting nomograms. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 146 consecutive patients with suspected PCa based on symptoms or elevated total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) levels who underwent 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT and histopathologic examinations from April 2017 to April 2018 in a large tertiary care hospital in China. The 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT results (PCa or benignancy) were evaluated by two experienced nuclear medicine specialists. The risk of positive PCa was evaluated using ERSPC and PCPT nomograms. The diagnostic performances of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT and that of the two nomograms were compared via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, decision curve analysis, and logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients with tPSA of 0.4-50 ng/ml were included in the final analysis; PCa diagnosis was confirmed in 37 patients and excluded in 21 patients. ROC analysis showed that the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT were 91.67, 81.82, 89.19, and 85.71%, respectively, in per-patient analyses. 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT exhibited a higher AUC (0.867) than those of ERSPC-RC3 (0.855) and PCPT-RC (0.770). The net benefit of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT was greatest for patients within threshold probabilities of 15-90%. Among the 58 patients, 11 (19%) biopsies suggested by ERSPC-RC3 were unnecessary and could have been avoided if judged by the 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT results. Multivariate analysis revealed that the maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) and prostate volume were significant predictive factors for positive PCa results. CONCLUSION: In suspected PCa patients with tPSA of 0.4-50 ng/ml, 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT outperformed the nomograms in predicting cancer and reducing unnecessary biopsies. In addition, the risk of PCa was positively correlated with a higher SUVmax and lower prostate volume, which could help clinicians in making preliminary estimates of individual cancer risk, monitoring 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT false-positive results and making biopsy decisions in daily medical practice.

Inter-heterogeneity and intra-heterogeneity of αvß3 in non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer patients as revealed by 68Ga-RGD2 PET imaging.

PURPOSE: Integrin αvß3 is the therapeutic target of the anti-angiogenic drug cilengitide. The objective of this study was to compare αvß3 levels in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, by using the positron emission tomography (PET) tracer 68Ga-labeled dimerized-RGD (68Ga-RGD2). METHODS: Thirty-one patients with pathologically confirmed lung cancer were enrolled (21 were NSCLC and 10 were SCLC). PET/CT images were acquired using 68Ga-RGD2.18F-FDG PET/CT images were also acquired on the consecutive day as reference. The standard uptake values (SUV) and the tumor/nontarget (T/NT) values were quantitatively compared. Expression of the angiogenesis marker αvß3 in NSCLC and SCLC lesions was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The 18F-FDG SUVmax and the SUVmean were not significantly different between NSCLC and SCLC patients. The 68Ga-RGD2 uptake of SCLC patients was at background levels in both SUV and T/NT measurements and was significantly lower than that of NSCLC patients. The range value of 68Ga-RGD2 SUVmean was 4.5 in the NSCLC group and 2.2 in the SCLC group, while the variation coefficient was 36.2% and 39.3% in NSCLC and SCLC primary lesions, respectively. Heterogeneity between primary lesions and putative distant metastases was also observed in some NSCLC cases. Immunostaining showed that αvß3 integrin was expressed in the cells and neovasculature of NSCLC lesions, while SCLC samples had negative expression. CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of 68Ga-RGD2 in SCLC patients is significantly lower than that in NSCLC patients, indicating a lower αvß3 target level for cilengitide in SCLC. Apparent intra-tumor heterogeneities of αvß3 also exist in both NSCLC and SCLC. Such inter- and intra-heterogeneity of αvß3 may potentially improve current applications of αvß3-targeted therapy and diagnostic imaging in lung cancer.

Synergy of Pd2+/S2--Doped TiO2 Supported on 2-Methylimidazolium-Functionalized Polypyrrole/Graphene Oxide for Enhanced Nitrogen Electrooxidation.

The electrosynthesis of nitrate catalyzed by electrochemical nitrogen oxidation reaction (NOR) is considered as an alternative and sustainable approach to the conventional industrial manufacture, but optimizing the electrocatalytic NOR performance and fabricating the efficient NOR electrocatalysts at the design level still encounter great challenges. Herein, unique Pd2+- and S2--doped TiO2 (Pb/S-TiO2) nanoparticles are successfully in situ grown on the surface of 2-methylimidazolium-functionalized polypyrrole/graphene oxide (2-MeIm/PPy/GO), which present the typical hierarchical micro-nanostructures, resulting in the excellent electrocatalytic NOR performance with the highest NO3 - yield of 72.69 µg h-1 mg-1 act. and the maximum Faraday efficiency of 8.92% at 2.04 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) due to the synergistic effect of each component. Due to the doping effect, the appropriate oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity is achieved by Ti-site, where OER principally occurs, providing *O during the non-electrochemical step of NOR, while the electrocatalytic NOR process as the electrochemical conversion of inert N2 to active *NO intermediates mainly occurs at the Pd-site. Especially, the sulfate radicals in situ formed on Pb/S-TiO2@2-MeIm/PPy/GO further promote nitrogen adsorption and decrease the reaction energy barrier, resulting in the acceleration of NOR. It provides theoretical and practical experience for the design and preparation of NOR electrocatalysts.

Novel polystyrene microspheres functionalized by imidazolium and the electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2 of its Prussian blue composite.

Copolymerization of styrene (St) and 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bromide (VEIB), novel poly(St-co-VEIB) microspheres were generated. Owing to the presence of imidazolium groups, such microspheres having an average diameter of 125 nm, behave electropositively when dispersed in aqueous solution. Furthermore, due to the presence of imidazolium groups, having a capacity of ion-exchange and weak reducibility on the surface of the PS microspheres, [Fe(CN)6]³â» was absorbed on the surface of poly(St-co-VEIB) microspheres, and simultaneously, Fe³âº was reduced to Fe²âº. Thus, in situ growth of Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles could occur on the surface of poly(St-co-VEIB) microspheres without the addition of any other reducing agent. This methodology, utilizing the ion-exchange and weak reducibility properties of the imidazolium groups on the surface of micro-/nanostructures is a novel general method for assembling hierarchical nanostructured materials. Finally, the electrochemical property of the strawberry-like PS/PB composite microspheres was also investigated by applying a glassy carbon electrode. A good repeatability of the cyclic voltammetry responses, having a good linearity and sensitivity, for the electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2 was obtained.

Adult congenital horseshoe lung with bilateral pulmonary sequestration: A case report.

Horseshoe lung (HL) is an infrequent congenital lung anomaly. Its main feature is that the lower lungs on both sides extend behind the pericardium and fuse across the midline, usually accompanied by pulmonary dysplasia. It is reported that 80% of HL is relevant to the abnormal return of some pulmonary veins from the right lung to the inferior vena cava or right atrium (scimitar syndrome). Most patients are within 5 years old, most commonly within 1 year old, but HL may also have no apparent clinical symptoms or mild symptoms. This case is a 36-years-old adult female who developed left chest pain more than a month ago and continued to worsen for 10 days. The patient also had repeated pulmonary infection with cough and expectoration.

Positron emission tomographic studies of the association between atherogenesis and aortitis among psoriatic patients.

Introduction: There is increased interest in the use of positron emission tomography (PET) in psoriatic patients. We used PET induced with tracer fluorine-18 (18F) fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to study the association between the process of early-atherogenesis (eAg) and aortitis by quantifying enhanced aortic vascular inflammation along with calculation of total coronary plaque load (TCPL) and non-calcified atherosclerotic plaque load (NcAPL). In order to study the utility of aortitis in capturing eAg, we also assessed luminal stenosis atherosclerosis (LSA) and high-risk coronary plaques (HrCP). Material and methods: The study was conducted at our hospital between 1 April 2014 and 31 December 2017, and the analysis was done in July 2018. We recruited 180 consecutive psoriatic patients and subjected them to 18F-FDG PET. However, in order to characterise eAg, 160 out of 180 patients were also subjected to coronary angiographic computed tomographic studies (CACTS). Results: Among 180 psoriatic patients (76 women, 42%) (mean [SD] age, 51.1 [13.2] years), greater prevalence values of LSA (odd ratio [OR], 3.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.84-7.89; p = 0.001) and HrCP (OR, 3.11; 95% CI: 1.54-6.51; p = 0.003) along with enhanced TCPL (standardised ß = 0.44; p < 0.001) were observed in patients with enhanced aortitis. However, the association between aortitis and HrCP was controlled by low-attenuation plaque (LAP), while the same between aortitis and TCPL was controlled by NcAPL (ß = 0.45; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Association between aortitis and broad coronary angiographic indices was achieved and hence predicted the possibility of a surrogate role of aortitis in eAg.

Modeling Contact Stiffness of Soft Fingertips for Grasping Applications.

Soft fingertips have distinct intrinsic features that allow robotic hands to offer adjustable and manageable stiffness for grasping. The stability of the grasp is determined by the contact stiffness between the soft fingertip and the object. Within this work, we proposed a line vector representation method based on the Winkler Model and investigated the contact stiffness between soft fingertips and objects to achieve control over the gripping force and fingertip displacement of the gripper without the need for sensors integrated in the fingertip. First, we derived the stiffness matrix of the soft fingertip, analyzed the contact stiffness, and constructed the global stiffness matrix; then, we established the grasp stiffness matrix based on the contact stiffness model, allowing for the analysis and evaluation of the soft fingertip's manipulating process. Finally, our experiment demonstrated that the variation in object orientation caused by external forces can indicate the contact force status between the fingertip and the object. This contact force status is determined by the contact stiffness. The position error between the theoretical work and tested data was less than 9%, and the angle error was less than 5.58%. The comparison between the theoretical contact stiffness and the experimental results at the interface indicate that the present model for the contact stiffness is appropriate and the theoretical contact stiffness is consistent with the experiment data.

Transcriptome-based variations effectively untangling the intraspecific relationships and selection signals in Xinyang Maojian tea population.

As one of the world's top three popular non-alcoholic beverages, tea is economically and culturally valuable. Xinyang Maojian, this elegant green tea, is one of the top ten famous tea in China and has gained prominence for thousands of years. However, the cultivation history of Xinyang Maojian tea population and selection signals of differentiation from the other major variety Camellia sinensis var. assamica (CSA) remain unclear. We newly generated 94 Camellia sinensis (C. sinensis) transcriptomes including 59 samples in the Xinyang area and 35 samples collected from 13 other major tea planting provinces in China. Comparing the very low resolution of phylogeny inferred from 1785 low-copy nuclear genes with 94 C. sinensis samples, we successfully resolved the phylogeny of C. sinensis samples by 99,115 high-quality SNPs from the coding region. The sources of tea planted in the Xinyang area were extensive and complex. Specifically, Shihe District and Gushi County were the two earliest tea planting areas in Xinyang, reflecting a long history of tea planting. Furthermore, we identified numerous selection sweeps during the differentiation of CSA and CSS and these positive selection genes are involved in many aspects such as regulation of secondary metabolites synthesis, amino acid metabolism, photosynthesis, etc. Numerous specific selective sweeps of modern cultivars were annotated with functions in various different aspects, indicating the CSS and CSA populations possibly underwent independent specific domestication processes. Our study indicated that transcriptome-based SNP-calling is an efficient and cost-effective method in untangling intraspecific phylogenetic relationships. This study provides a significant understanding of the cultivation history of the famous Chinese tea Xinyang Maojian and unravels the genetic basis of physiological and ecological differences between the two major tea subspecies.

Chemical coupling of manganese-cobalt oxide and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for enhanced lithium storage.

Carbonaceous materials are extensively utilized to optimize the electrochemical performance of the transition metal oxides as anode for lithium-ion batteries. However, the in-depth mechanism of the synergistic effect and the interfacial interaction between transition metal oxides and conductive carbon material has not been elucidated clearly. Herein, by using the oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs), an advanced MnO2/(Co, Mn)(Co, Mn)2O4/oMWCNTs (MO/CMO/oMWCNTs) nanocomposite with abundant metal-oxygen-carbon (Me-OC) bonds as linkage bridge is fabricated for the first time. The strong covalent bonds interactions can simultaneously enhance the intrinsic sluggish kinetics and structural stability of MO/CMO/oMWCNTs nanocomposite. Meanwhile, the mixed transition metal oxides featuring mix valence state can significantly promote the electrode material activity. Consequently, the newly prepared MO/CMO/oMWCNTs electrode displays superior long-term durability with the capacity of 897 mAh g-1 over 1000 cycles at 2 A g-1 and ultrafast charging/discharging capability of 673 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1. Detailed electrochemical kinetic analysis reveals that over 70% of the energy storage of MO/CMO/oMWCNTs electrode is dominated by the pseudocapacitive behavior. This work demonstrates an easily scalable approach for constructing high-performance transition metal oxides/carbon electrode materials through interfacial regulation.

Improving the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke on non-contrast CT using deep learning: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a deep learning (DL) model to improve the diagnostic performance of EIC and ASPECTS in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). METHODS: Acute ischemic stroke patients were retrospectively enrolled from 5 hospitals. We proposed a deep learning model to simultaneously segment the infarct and estimate ASPECTS automatically using baseline CT. The model performance of segmentation and ASPECTS scoring was evaluated using dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and ROC, respectively. Four raters participated in the multi-reader and multicenter (MRMC) experiment to fulfill the region-based ASPECTS reading under the assistance of the model or not. At last, sensitivity, specificity, interpretation time and interrater agreement were used to evaluate the raters' reading performance. RESULTS: In total, 1391 patients were enrolled for model development and 85 patients for external validation with onset to CT scanning time of 176.4 ± 93.6 min and NIHSS of 5 (IQR 2-10). The model achieved a DSC of 0.600 and 0.762 and an AUC of 0.876 (CI 0.846-0.907) and 0.729 (CI 0.679-0.779), in the internal and external validation set, respectively. The assistance of the DL model improved the raters' average sensitivities and specificities from 0.254 (CI 0.22-0.26) and 0.896 (CI 0.884-0.907), to 0.333 (CI 0.301-0.345) and 0.915 (CI 0.904-0.926), respectively. The average interpretation time of the raters was reduced from 219.0 to 175.7 s (p = 0.035). Meanwhile, the interrater agreement increased from 0.741 to 0.980. CONCLUSIONS: With the assistance of our proposed DL model, radiologists got better performance in the detection of AIS lesions on NCCT.

PET/CT using 68 Ga-PSMA-617 versus 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose to differentiate low- and high-grade gliomas.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To compare and characterize metabolic features of high- and low-grade glioma tumors using 68 Ga-PSMA-617 and 18 F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). METHODS: Thirty patients who underwent both 68 Ga-PSMA-617 and 18 F-FDG PET/CT over 2 consecutive days and then underwent surgical treatment were retrospectively identified. All tumors were diagnosed histologically. This report includes 16 high-grade glioma (HGG) and 14 low-grade glioma (LGG) tumors. Standard uptake value (SUV) and target to nontarget (T/NT) were quantitatively investigated through the entire tumor region. Statistical analyses were performed using area under the curve (AUC) and comparison of two means. RESULTS: SUVmax and SUVmean were the most effective (AUC, 0.96 and 0.94 for PSMA PET; AUC, 0.79 and 0.74 for FDG PET, respectively) for differentiating HGGs from LGGs. These methods distinguished between HGG and LGG effectively (PSMA PET: SUVmax , 5.766 ± 3.945 vs. 0.7364 ± 0.5295, p < 0.0001; SUVmean , 1.666 ± 1.680 and 0.1514 ± 0.1534, p < 0.0001, respectively) (FDG PET: SUVmax , 11.67 ± 3.639 and 9.118 ± 6.612; SUVmean , 5.648 ± 2.114 and 4.435 ± 2.872; p = 0.0083, 0.0262, respectively). The Youden index for SUVmax and SUVmean of 68 Ga-PSMA-617 and 18 F-FDG were 0.82 and 0.79 and 0.54 and 0.61, separately. T/NTmax was helpful for visual inspection of 68 Ga-PSMA-617-PET images (T/NTmax : 1.291 ± 0.9553 in grade II, 5.25 ± 2.435 in grade III, and 13.61 ± 13.84 in grade IV). T/NTmax differed significantly between LGG and HGG and between subtypes of LGG. CONCLUSION: PET/CT with 68 Ga-PSMA-617 and 18 F-FDG may help distinguish between HGG and LGG, and 68 Ga-PSMA-617 PET/CT is superior to18 F-FDG in differentiating HGG and LGG.

Visibility and image quality of peripheral pulmonary arteries in pulmonary embolism patients using free-breathing combined with a high-threshold bolus-triggering technique in CT pulmonary angiography.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the visibility of peripheral pulmonary arteries by computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and image quality using a free-breathing combined with a high-threshold bolus triggering technique and to explore the feasibility of this technique in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients who cannot hold their breath. METHODS: Patients with suspected PE who underwent CTPA (n=240) were randomly assigned to two groups: free-breathing (n=120) or breath-holding (n=120). RESULTS: The mean scanning time or visible pulmonary artery distal branches were not different between the groups. Mean CT main pulmonary artery (MPA) values, apical segment (S1), and posterior basal segment (S10) in the free-breathing group were higher compared with the breath-holding group. The subjective image quality score in the free-breathing group was higher compared with the breath-holding group. In the free-breathing group, no respiratory artifact was observed. In the breath-holding group, obvious respiratory artifacts were caused by severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dyspnea, or other diseases that preclude patients from holding their breath. CONCLUSION: The free-breathing mode CTPA combined with a high-threshold bolus triggering technique can provide high quality images with a lower incidence of respiratory and cardiac motion artifacts, which is especially valuable for patients who cannot hold their breath.

Surface modification of cerasomes with AuNPs@poly(ionic liquid)s for an enhanced stereo biomimetic membrane electrochemical platform.

A novel liposomal nanocomposite, Au@PIL-cerasome, with biocompatibility and conductivity was fabricated via the self-assembly of cerasomes and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized by poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs). The surface charge, morphology and chemical composition of the nanocomposites were characterized by the zeta potential, UV-vis, TEM, SEM and EDS. The nanocomposites exhibited structural stability directly on the surface of solid electrodes, without fusion. Electrochemical impedance experiments demonstrated that the nanocomposites had an enhanced conductivity compared with unmodified cerasomes. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP), as a reporter, was immobilized on the nanocomposites without denaturation or inactivation. The direct electron transfer of HRP was achieved, and the HRP/Au@PIL-cerasome/GCE exhibited an amplified current and improved electrocatalytic activity. Activity towards H2O2 displayed a linear range over 10-70 µM and a detection limit of 3.3 µM. Activity towards NO2- displayed linear ranges over 1-5 mM and 5-1280 mM, and the limit of detection was 0.11 mM. In addition, the electrode was stable and reproducible, with 6% RSD. Such multi-component liposomal nanocomposites with an enhanced electrical performance pave a better way for building novel and straightforward 3D stereo biomimetic electrochemical platforms and even molecular communication systems to investigate information transduction between cells.

Ultrathin 1T-MoS2 Nanoplates Induced by Quaternary Ammonium-Type Ionic Liquids on Polypyrrole/Graphene Oxide Nanosheets and Its Irreversible Crystal Phase Transition During Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction.

Ultrathin nanoplates of metastable 1T-MoS2 have been successfully stabilized and uniformly distributed on the surface of n-butyl triethyl ammonium bromide functionalized polypyrrole/graphene oxide (BTAB/PPy/GO) by a very simple hydrothermal method. BTAB as a typical kind of quaternary ammonium-type ionic liquids (ILs) played a crucial role in the formation of the obtained 1T-MoS2/BTAB/PPy/GO. It was covalently linked with PPy/GO and arranged in a highly ordered order at the solid-liquid interface of PPy/GO and H2O due to Coulombic interactions and other intermolecular interactions, which would induce and stabilize ultrathin 1T-MoS2 nanoplates by morphosynthesis. The good electrocatalytic activity toward nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) with strong durability and good stability can be achieved by 1T-MoS2/BTAB/PPy/GO due to their excellent inorganic/organic hierarchical lamellar micro-/nanostructures. Especially, after the long-term electrocatalysis for NRR at a negative potential, metastable 1T-MoS2 as the catalytic center undergoes two types of irreversible crystal phase transition, which was converted to 1T'-MoS2 and Mo2N, caused by the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) process and the electrochemical reaction between the electroactive 1T-MoS2 and N2, respectively. The new N-Mo bonding prevents Mo atoms from binding to other N atoms in N2, resulting in the deactivation of the electrocatalysts to NRR after being used for 18 h. Even so, quaternary ammonium-type ILs would induce the crystal structures of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which might provide a new thought for the reasonable design of electrocatalysts based on TMDCs for electrocatalysis.

The assessment of epigenetic diversity, differentiation, and structure in the 'Fuji' mutation line implicates roles of epigenetic modification in the occurrence of different mutant groups as well as spontaneous mutants.

The 'Fuji' line includes many varieties with a similar genetic background and consistent inducement factors with epigenetic occurrence, thus it may be considered an ideal candidate for epigenetic research. In this study, 91 bud mutations of 'Fuji' apple were used as the test materials. Using the genetic variation within 'Fuji' as the control, the characteristics of epigenetic variation at different levels in both varieties and mutant groups were examined. The results showed that: (1) the global genomic DNA methylation level of the 91 bud mutants of 'Fuji' ranged from 29.120%-45.084%, with an average of 35.910%. Internal cytosine methylation was the main DNA methylation pattern. Regarding the variation of methylation patterns of 'Fuji' mutants, the vast majority of loci maintained the original methylation pattern existed in 'Fuji'. CHG methylation variation was the main type of variation; (2) the variation in methylation patterns between the mutant groups was greater than that of methylation levels. Among these patterns, the variation in CHG methylation patterns (including CHG hypermethylation and CHG demethylation) was expected to be dominant. The observed variation in methylation levels was more important in the Color mutant group; however, the variation in methylation patterns was more obvious in both the early maturation and Spur mutant groups. Moreover, the range of variation in the Early-maturation group was much wider than that in the Spur mutant group; (3) epigenetic diversity and genetic diversity were both low between the mutant groups. In the 'Fuji' mutant groups, there was few correlation between genetic and epigenetic variation, and epigenetic differentiation resulted in more loci with moderate or greater differentiation; (4) the purifying selection seemed to play a major role in the differentiation of different groups of 'Fuji' mutants (65.618%), but epigenetic diversity selection still occurred at nearly 35% of loci. Sixteen epigenetic outlier loci were detected.