Thermal management towards ultra-bright and stable perovskite nanocrystal-based pure red light-emitting diodes.

Despite the promising candidacy of perovskite nanocrystals for light-emitting diodes, their pure red electroluminescence is hindered by low saturated luminance, severe external quantum efficiency roll-off, and inferior operational stability. Here, we report ultra-bright and stable pure red light-emitting diodes by manipulating Joule heat generation in the nanocrystal emissive layer and thermal management within the device. Diphenylphosphoryl azide-mediated regulation of the nanocrystal surface synergistically enhances the optical properties and carrier transport of the emissive layer, enabling reduced Joule heat generation and thus lowering the working temperature. These merits inhibit ion migration of the CsPb(Br/I)3 nanocrystal film, promising excellent spectra stability. Combined with the highly thermal-conductive sapphire substrates and implementation of pulse-driving mode, the pure red light-emitting diodes exhibit an ultra-bright luminance of 390,000 cd m-2, a peak external quantum efficiency of 25%, suppressed efficiency roll-off, an operational half-life of 20 hours, and superior spectral stability within 15 A cm-2.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental methods for modulating intrusive memories following lab-analogue trauma exposure in non-clinical populations.

Experiencing trauma leads to intrusive memories (IMs), a hallmark symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which also occurs transdiagnostically. Understanding why IMs increase or decrease is pivotal in developing interventions to support mental health. In this preregistered meta-analysis (PROSPERO: CRD42021224835), we included 134 articles (131 techniques, 606 effect sizes and 12,074 non-clinical participants) to investigate how experimental techniques alter IM frequency, intrusion-related distress and symptoms arising from lab-analogue trauma exposure. Eligible articles were identified by searching eight databases until 12 December 2023. To test potential publication biases, we employed methods including Egger's test and three-parameter selection models. We employed three-level multilevel modelling and meta-regressions to examine whether and how experimental techniques would modulate IM frequency and associated outcomes. Results showed that techniques (behavioural, pharmacological, neuromodulation) significantly reduced intrusion frequency (g = 0.16, 95% confidence interval [0.09, 0.23]). Notably, techniques aimed to reduce IMs also ameliorated intrusion-related distress and symptoms, while techniques that increased IMs exacerbated these related outcomes, thus highlighting IM's centrality in PTSD-like symptoms. Techniques tapping into mental imagery processing (for example, trauma reminder followed by playing Tetris) reduced intrusions when administered immediately after, or at a delayed time after trauma. Although our meta-analysis is limited to symptoms induced by lab-analogue trauma exposure, some lab-based results have now generalized to real-world trauma and IMs, highlighting the promising utility of lab-analogue trauma paradigms for intervention development.

Molecular Filter Net Synergy with Regulation in Ion Percolation for High-Performance Zn Metal Batteries.

The uncontrollable dendrite growth and complex parasitic reactions of Zn metal anodes cause short cycle lives and low Coulombic efficiency, which seriously affect their applications. To address these issues, this research proposes an efficient ion percolating interface constituted by a hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HND) for a highly stable and reversible Zn anode. The hydrogen-bonded skeleton acts as a molecular filter net, capturing water molecules by forming targeted hydrogen-bonding systems with them, sufficiently inhibiting parasitic reactions. Additionally, the interaction of the rich-N and -O electrochemically active sites with Zn2+ effectively regulates its percolation, which greatly enhances the diffusion kinetics of Zn2+, thus facilitating rapid and uniform migration of Zn2+ at the anode surface. Through the above synergistic effect, dendrite-free anodes with highly reversible Zn plating/stripping behaviors can be achieved. Hence, the modified Zn anode (HND@Zn) performs a steady cycling time of more than 1700 h at 1 mA cm-2. Moreover, the HND@Cu||Zn asymmetric cell exhibits a stable charge/discharge process of over 1600 cycles with an average Coulombic efficiency of up to 99.6% at 5 mA cm-2. This work provides some conceptions for the evolution and application of high-performance Zn metal batteries.

Nanosurface-reconstructed perovskite for highly efficient and stable active-matrix light-emitting diode display.

Perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are promising for various photonic applications due to their high colour purity, tunable optoelectronic properties and excellent solution processability. Surface features impact their optoelectronic properties, and surface defects remain a major obstacle to progress. Here we develop a strategy utilizing diisooctylphosphinic acid-mediated synthesis combined with hydriodic acid-etching-driven nanosurface reconstruction to stabilize CsPbI3 QDs. Diisooctylphosphinic acid strongly adsorbs to the QDs and increases the formation energy of halide vacancies, enabling nanosurface reconstruction. The QD film with nanosurface reconstruction shows enhanced phase stability, improved photoluminescence endurance under thermal stress and electric field conditions, and a higher activation energy for ion migration. Consequently, we demonstrate perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that feature an electroluminescence peak at 644 nm. These LEDs achieve an external quantum efficiency of 28.5% and an operational half-lifetime surpassing 30 h at an initial luminance of 100 cd m-2, marking a tenfold improvement over previously published studies. The integration of these high-performance LEDs with specifically designed thin-film transistor circuits enables the demonstration of solution-processed active-matrix perovskite displays that show a peak external quantum efficiency of 23.6% at a display brightness of 300 cd m-2. This work showcases nanosurface reconstruction as a pivotal pathway towards high-performance QD-based optoelectronic devices.

From Molecular Simulations to Experiments: The Recent Development of Room Temperature Ionic Liquid-Based Electrolytes in Electric Double-Layer Capacitors.

Due to the unique properties of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), most researchers' interest in RTIL-based electrolytes in electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) stems from molecular simulations, which are different from experimental scientific research fields. The knowledge of RTIL-based electrolytes in EDLCs began with a supposition obtained from the results of molecular simulations of molten salts. Furthermore, experiments and simulations were promoted and developed rapidly on this topic. In some instances, the achievements of molecular simulations are ahead of even those obtained from experiments in quantity and quality. Molecular simulations offer more information on the impacts of overscreening, quasicrowding, crowding, and underscreening for RTIL-based electrolytes than experimental studies, which can be helpful in understanding the mechanisms of EDLCs. With the advancement of experimental technology, these effects have been verified by experiments. The simulation prediction of the capacitance curve was in good agreement with the experiment for pure RTILs. For complex systems, such as RTIL-solvent mixtures and RTIL mixture systems, both molecular simulations and experiments have reported that the change in capacitance curves is not monotonous with RTIL concentrations. In addition, there are some phenomena that are difficult to explain in experiments and can be well explained through molecular simulations. Finally, experiments and molecular simulations have maintained synchronous developments in recent years, and this paper discusses their relationship and reflects on their application.

Lnc-CCNH-8 promotes immune escape by up-regulating PD-L1 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with poor prognosis. In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have enabled breakthroughs in the clinical treatment of patients with HCC, but the overall response rate to ICIs in HCC patients is still low, and no validated biomarker is available to guide clinical decision making. Here, we demonstrated that the long non-coding RNA Lnc-CCNH-8 is highly expressed in HCC and correlates with poor prognosis. Functionally, elevated Lnc-CCNH-8 inactivated co-cultured T cells in vitro and compromised antitumor immunity in an immunocompetent mouse model. Mechanistically, up-regulated Lnc-CCNH-8 can sponge microRNA (miR)-217 to regulate the expression of PD-L1. In addition, Lnc-CCNH-8 can also stabilize PD-L1 through miR-3173/PKP3 axis. Furthermore, mice bearing tumors with high Lnc-CCNH-8 expression had significant therapeutic sensitivity to anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody treatment. More important, HCC patients with high levels of plasma exosomal Lnc-CCNH-8 had a better therapeutic response to ICIs. Taken together, our results reveal the function of Lnc-CCNH-8 in inducing immune escape from CD8+ T-cell-mediated killing by up-regulating PD-L1 in a miR-217/miR-3173-dependent manner, which also reveals a novel mechanism of PD-L1 regulation in HCC, and exosomal Lnc-CCNH-8 can serve as a predictive marker for immunotherapy response in HCC.

Investigation of the association between the Toll-like receptor 1 rs4833095 variation and gastric adenocarcinoma recurrence.

BACKGROUND: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of transmembrane receptors that play key roles in identifying invading pathogens and activating innate immunity. TLR1 has been reported to be associated with the risk of gastric cancer (GC) but that was based on only a simple statistical analysis. METHODS: We genotyped the TLR1 in 526 GC patients to investigate the association between the variation and gastric cancer survival by the multiplex polymerase chain reaction and sequencing method. The rs4833095 variation (chr4:38798089 [GRCh38. p14], T > C) in the TLR1 gene was genotyped in 526 patients who underwent GC resection. The associations between genotype, survival, and recurrence were investigated. The potential role of TLR1 in stomach cancer was investigated using clinical data from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. RESULTS: Patients with the T/C and C/C genotypes of rs4833095 had a lower risk of recurrence than those with the T/T genotype. Recurrence-free periods were substantially longer in patients with the T/C or C/C genotypes (22.6 and 22.3 months, respectively) than in those with the T/T genotype (20.7 months). Patients with the T/C or C/C genotype, low expression levels of VEGF1, high expression levels of ERBB2 and ERCC1, the absence of cancer nodules, a tumor size of less than 5 cm, and poor differentiation had a considerably reduced risk of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: TLR1 rs4833095 was correlated with the postresection prognosis of patients with gastric cancer, suggesting that TLR1 may have a role in the onset or progression of gastric cancer.

Enhancing soil texture classification with multivariate scattering correction and residual neural networks using visible near-infrared spectra.

Soil texture is one of the most important indicators of soil physical properties, which has traditionally been measured through laborious procedures. Approaches utilizing visible near-infrared spectroscopy, with their advantages in efficiency, eco-friendliness and non-destruction, are emerging as potent alternatives. Nevertheless, these approaches often suffer from limitations in classification accuracy, and the substantial impact of spectral preprocessing, model integration, and sample matrix effect is commonly disregarded. Here a novel 11-class soil texture classification strategy that address this challenge by combining Multiplicative Scatter Correction (MSC) with Residual Network (ResNet) models was presented, resulting in exceptional classification accuracy. Utilizing the LUCAS dataset, collected by the Land Use and Cover Area frame Statistical Survey project, we thoroughly evaluated eight spectral preprocessing methods. Our findings underscored the superior performance of MSC in reducing spatial complexity within spectral data, showcasing its crucial role in enhancing model precision. Through comparisons of three 1D CNN models and two ResNet models integrated with MSC, we established the superior performance of the MSC-incorporated ResNet model, achieving an overall accuracy of 98.97 % and five soil textures even reached 100.00 %. The ResNet model demonstrated a marked superiority in classifying datasets with similar features, as observed by the confusion matrix analysis. Moreover, we investigated the potential benefit of pre-categorization based on land cover type of the soil samples in enhancing the accuracy of soil texture classification models, achieving overall classification accuracies exceeding 99.39 % for woodland, grassland, and farmland with the 2-layer ResNet model. The proposed work provides a pioneering and efficient strategy for rapid and precise soil texture identification via visible near-infrared spectroscopy, demonstrating unparalleled accuracy compared to existing methods, thus significantly enhancing the practical application prospects in soil, agricultural and environmental science.

Functional graph contrastive learning of hyperscanning EEG reveals emotional contagion evoked by stereotype-based stressors.

Introduction: This study delves into the intricacies of emotional contagion and its impact on performance within dyadic interactions. Specifically, it focuses on the context of stereotype-based stress (SBS) during collaborative problem-solving tasks among female pairs. Through an exploration of emotional contagion, this study seeks to unveil its underlying mechanisms and effects. Methods: Leveraging EEG-based hyperscanning technology, we introduced an innovative approach known as the functional graph contrastive learning (fGCL), which extracts subject-invariant representations of neural activity patterns from feedback trials. These representations are further subjected to analysis using the dynamic graph classification (DGC) model, aimed at dissecting the process of emotional contagion along three independent temporal stages. Results: The results underscore the substantial role of emotional contagion in shaping the trajectories of participants' performance during collaborative tasks in the presence of SBS conditions. Discussion: Overall, our research contributes invaluable insights into the neural underpinnings of emotional contagion, thereby enriching our comprehension of the complexities underlying social interactions and emotional dynamics.

Atomic Pinning of Trace Additives Induces Interfacial Solvation for Highly Reversible Zn Metal Anodes.

Aqueous Zn metal batteries are considered promising energy storage devices due to their high energy density and low cost. Unfortunately, such great potential is at present obscured by two clouds called dendrite growth and parasitic reactions. Herein, trace amounts of sodium cyclamate (CYC-Na) are introduced as an electrolyte additive, and accordingly, an atomic-pinning-induced interfacial solvation mechanism is proposed to summarize the effect of trace addition. Specifically, coadsorption of -NH- and -SO3 groups overcomes the ring-flipping effect and pins the CYC anion near the Zn anode surface in parallel, which significantly modifies the Zn2+ solvation sheath at the interface. This process homogenizes the surface Zn2+ flux and reduces the H2O and SO42- content on the surface, thus eliminating byproducts and leveling Zn deposition. Cells with trace CYC-Na cycle stably for 3650 h and still cycle for 330 h at high depths of discharge of 56.9%. This work dispels the clouds for efficient trace additives for AZMBs.

Novel MCP-Windowed EUV Light Source and Its Mass Spectrometric Application for Detecting Chlorinated Methanes.

Various vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) lamps are simple and convenient VUV light sources for mass spectrometry and other research fields. However, the strong absorption of high-energy photons by window materials limits the application of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. In this study, a novel high-flux EUV light source is developed using a microchannel plate (MCP) window to transmit 73.6 nm (16.9 eV) EUV light generated via the radio frequency (RF) inductive discharge of neon. The MCP used is a 0.5 mm thick glass plate with a regular array of microtubes (12 µm i.d.). The photon fluxes of the EUV light source with the MCP window (12 mm i.d.) and an aperture (1.8 mm i.d.) are ∼1.31 × 1014 and ∼9.80 × 1012 photons s-1, respectively, while their corresponding leakage flow rates of the discharge gas are 0.062 and 0.046 cm3 atom s-1, according to the contrast experiments. The transmission efficiency of the MCP to the EUV light is 30.2%, with a 1.2% deviation. An EUV photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EUV-PI-TOFMS) is built to validate the practicality of the MCP-windowed EUV light source further. The detection sensitivities in 30 s measurements for methyl chloride (CH3Cl), methylene chloride (CH2Cl2), trichloromethane (CHCl3), and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in synthetic air are 4366, 4120, 5854, and 4095 counts ppbv-1, respectively. The corresponding 3σ limits of detection (LODs) are 42, 34, 24, and 15 pptv. This study develops a new feasible method for efficiently utilizing high-energy EUV light, with many application prospects in scientific research.

Direct detection of acetonitrile at the pptv level with photoinduced associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Photoionization mass spectrometry (PI-MS) has become a versatile tool in the real-time analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the atmosphere or exhaled breath. However, some key species, e.g., acetonitrile, are hard to measure due to their higher ionization energies than photon energy. In this study, the direct and sensitive detection of gaseous acetonitrile based on a photoinduced associative ionization (PAI) reaction was investigated with a laboratory-built PAI time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PAI-TOFMS). By doping CH2Cl2 in the photoionization ion source, the mass signal of acetonitrile that cannot be effectively obtained by photoionization appeared with an extremely high intensity through the PAI reaction between acetonitrile, CH2Cl2, and residual H2O in the system. Though the moisture in the sample gas has an evident impact on the detection efficiency of acetonitrile, with a relative signal intensity decreasing from 100% under dry conditions to 60% at saturated relative humidity, excellent detection sensitivity was still obtained for gaseous acetonitrile in different matrixes. The sensitivity calibration experiment showed that the detection sensitivities of acetonitrile in N2 buffer gas, exhaled gas, and outdoor air were 682.4 ± 5.2, 17.0 ± 0.7, and 23.9 ± 0.2 counts pptv-1, respectively, with an analysis time of 10 s. The corresponding 3σ LODs reached 0.22, 8.82, and 6.28 pptv, which are equivalent to 0.40, 16.0, and 11.4 ng m-3. The performance of the PAI-TOFMS was first demonstrated by analyzing exhaled acetonitrile from healthy non-smokers and smokers and continuous monitoring of acetonitrile in outdoor air. In summary, this study provides a new and highly sensitive method for the real-time detection of acetonitrile through mass spectrometry.

A novel gravity sedimentation - Forward osmosis hybrid technology for microalgal dewatering.

A novel gravity sedimentation - forward osmosis (G-FO) hybrid reactor was built up for separating and concentrating the biomass from the algal-rich water (microalgal dewatering). The extracellular organic matter (EOM) from Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) was divided into dissolved EOM (dEOM) and bound EOM (bEOM). Water flux, flux recovery rate and moisture content (MC) were investigated. Through sedimentation rate, zeta potential and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity to analyze the experimental results. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the different morphologies of accumulated algae cells and EOM on the surface of the membrane. The results showed that cell + bEOM solution had the fastest sedimentation rate and fewest negative charge, so the pollutants accumulated more easily on the membrane surface, resulting in the highest flux decline. Its algal cake layer was the densest from the view of SEM. Cell + bEOM + dEOM solution had the lowest flux decline and the cake layer was the loosest. Cell + bEOM solution had the most severe irreversible fouling and the lowest flux recovery rate (FRR). The membrane fouling of cell solution was lower than that of cell + bEOM + dEOM solution, and the FRR of cell solution was almost 100%. According to the nonionic macro-porous resin fraction results of EOM, cell + bEOM + dEOM solution contained more hydrophilic components, resulting in the lowest MC. On the contrary, cell + bEOM solution showed the highest MC, which contained more hydrophobic components. Effects of bEOM and dEOM on microalgae dewatering performance of a novel gravity sedimentation - forward osmosis (G-FO) hybrid system were investigated, which provided a theoretical basis for large-scale application of FO technology for microalgae dewatering.

An ultrasensitive SPI/PAI ion source based on a high-flux VUV lamp and its applications for the online mass spectrometric detection of sub-pptv sulfur ethers.

Single-photon ionization mass spectrometry (SPI-MS) is an attractive analytical technique for the online detection of volatile organic compounds; however, the low photon flux of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) lamp commonly used in the SPI ion source and the corresponding low detection sensitivity remain a constraint to its wide field applications. In this study, a new VUV lamp-based SPI ion source was developed. By increasing the discharging volume and optimizing the configuration of the lens and ionizer, the photon flux of the VUV lamp and the sensitivity of the ion source were significantly improved. The VUV lamp output was 2.8 × 1015 photons s-1, which was focused into the small ionization zone, and the ion intensity of gaseous benzene under SPI achieved 1.7 × 104 counts per second per pptv (cps pptv-1). This ion source can also function in photoinduced associative ionization (PAI) mode by introducing gaseous CH2Cl2 to initiate an associative ionization reaction. Because of the high efficiency of the ion source, the amount of doped CH2Cl2 needed for PAI was greatly reduced (∼2.5% of that used in previous experiments). PAI exhibited an outstanding protonation effect on monosulfur ethers (CnH2n+1S). The signal intensities of the protonated molecular ions (MH+) were 46-128 times higher than those of the molecular ions (M+) produced by SPI. Since monosulfur ethers generally have lower SPI cross-sections than polysulfur ethers (CnH2n+1S2 or CnH2n+1S3), the PAI and SPI modes were selected for the online measurement of a series of mono- and polysulfur ethers, respectively. The obtained detection sensitivity of the mono- and polysulfur ethers reached 476.5 ± 1.72-2835.1 ± 99.5 and 47.9 ± 0.4-105.1 ± 2.3 counts pptv-1, respectively, in 10 s of sampling time. The corresponding 3σ limits of detection (LODs) were 0.12-0.71 and 0.06-0.14 pptv, respectively. This study provides advances in the development of a high-flux VUV lamp and a highly efficient SPI/PAI ion source, as well as an ultrasensitive analytical method for detecting sulfur ethers.

Exploring breath biomarkers in BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis mice with associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a common but fatal disease that threatens human health worldwide. Developing effective diagnostic methods is of great importance for the early detection of PF in patients. In this study, bleomycin (BLM) was used in mice to mimic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The exhaled breath of BLM-induced PF, PF plus DDAH1 overexpression, and healthy control mice were analyzed in real-time using a newly developed associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry method (AI-TOFMS), which is uniquely sensitive, especially to oxygenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Multivariate data analyses and discriminant modeling analyses revealed that four exhaled compounds, i.e., acrolein, ethanol, nitric oxide, and ammonia, had a strong correlation with PF symptoms. An Orthogonal Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) score plot showed an excellent separation between these three groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for these four compounds distinguished PF mice from healthy controls at 0.989. In addition, the degrees of acute inflammation and fibrosis were assessed with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining and Masson's Trichrome staining. Finally, combined with pathological characteristics and mRNA expression levels, the formation of the above-mentioned volatile compounds was explored. The obtained experimental results indicated that these four breath compounds, acrolein, ethanol, nitric oxide, and ammonia, were potential exhaled biomarkers for pulmonary fibrosis.

Ultrasensitive detection of trace chemical warfare agent-related compounds by thermal desorption associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

A thermal desorption associative ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer was developed for ultrasensitive detection of semi-volatile chemical warfare agents (CWAs). The excited-state CH2Cl2-induced associative ionization method presented a soft ionization characterization and an excellent sensitivity towards CWAs. The detection sensitivities of the investigated nine CWA-related substances were 2.56 × 105-5.01 × 106 counts ng-1 in a detection cycle (30 s or 100 s). The corresponding 3σ limits of detection (LODs) were 0.08-3.90 pg. Compared with the best-documented LODs via the dielectric barrier discharge ionization (DBDI) and secondary electrospray ionization (SESI), the obtained LODs of the investigated compounds were improved by 2-76 times. Additionally, the measured sensitivity of 2-Chloroethyl ethyl, a proxy for mustard gas, is 550 counts pptv-1, which exceeds the DBDI and SESI's corresponding values (4.4 counts pptv-1 and 6.5 counts pptv-1) nearly by two orders of magnitude. A field application simulation was conducted by putting a strip of PTFE film contaminated with the CWA-related agent into the thermal desorption unit. The simulation showed that the sensitivities of the instrument via swipe surveying could achieve 2.19 × 105 to 5.23 × 106 counts ng-1. The experimental results demonstrate that the excited-state CH2Cl2-induced associative ionization is an ultrasensitive ionization method for CWAs and reveal a prospect for improving the detection of CWA species future.

UV electroluminescence emissions from high-quality ZnO/ZnMgO multiple quantum well active layer light-emitting diodes.

5-period ZnO/Zn0.9Mg0.1O multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were employed as active layers to fabricate the p-GaN/MQWs/n-ZnO diode by molecular beam epitaxy. It exhibited an efficient UV emission around 370 nm at room temperature. Calculated band structures and carrier distributions showed that electrons were restricted to overflow to the p-type layer, and carriers were confined in the high-quality MQWs well layer.

One-step controllable synthesis of amino-modification siloxene for enhanced solar water-splitting.

Novel two-dimensional silicon-based material siloxene has been synthesized handily by a one-step method, which utilizes the characteristics of the topological exfoliation to simplify the process of synthesis and modification. It is worth mentioning that for the first time amino-modified derivative has been investigated. Amino modification can promote the oxidation of siloxene, enlarge the bandgap and extend the carrier lifetime of siloxene. The application of siloxene before and after modification in water-splitting has been investigated. In addition, the superiority of the resultant two-dimensional materials was concisely elaborated, which revealed that owing to more effective photogenerated carriers' separation in amino modification siloxene, hydrogen production could be greatly promoted.

Emerging non-invasive detection methodologies for lung cancer.

The potential for non-invasive lung cancer (LC) diagnosis based on molecular, cellular and volatile biomarkers has been attracting increasing attention, with the development of advanced techniques and methodologies. It is standard practice to tailor the treatments of LC for certain specific genetic alterations, including the epidermal growth factor receptor, anaplastic lymphoma kinase and BRAF genes. Despite these advances, little is known about the internal mechanisms of different types of biomarkers and the involvement of their related biochemical pathways during the development of LC. The development of faster and more effective techniques is essential for the identification of different biomarkers. The present review summarizes some of the latest methods used for detecting molecular, cellular and volatile biomarkers in LC and their potential use in clinical diagnosis and targeted therapy.

Protection from hydrogen peroxide stress relies mainly on AhpCF and KatA2 in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

BACKGROUND: Aerobically-grown bacteria can be challenged by hydrogen peroxide stress from endogenous aerobic metabolism and exogenously generated reactive oxygen species. Catalase (Kat), alkyl hydroperoxidase (Ahp), and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx) systems are major adaptive responses to H2O2 stress in bacteria. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium equipped with four Kats (KatA1, KatA2, KatMn, and KatE), one Ahp (AhpCF), and three Gpxs (Gpx1, Gpx2, and Gpx3). Here, we systematically investigated how the eight H2O2 scavenging genes differentially contribute to the low-micromolar levels of H2O2 generated from aerobic metabolism and high-millimolar levels of H2O2 from exogenous sources. METHODS: Gene expression was assessed and quantified by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and real time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR), respectively. The contribution of these enzymes to H2O2 stress was assessed using mutant construction and functional investigation. RESULTS: Of the eight genes, katA2, ahpCF, and gpx3 were intrinsically expressed in response to low-micromolar levels of H2O2 from aerobic metabolism, and the expression of katA2 and ahpCF was regulated by OxyR. AhpCF and KatA2 were responsible for alleviating aerobic growth-mediated low concentration H2O2 stress and AhpCF played a critical role for stationary-phase cells. KatA2 was upregulated to compensate for AhpCF in the case of ahpCF inactivation. After exposure to millimolar levels of H2O2, katA2 and ahpCF were upregulated in an OxyR-dependent manner. KatA2 was the critical enzyme for dealing with high concentration H2O2. Loss-of-function of KatA2 increased bacterial susceptibility to high concentration H2O2. CONCLUSIONS: AhpCF and KatA2 are key enzymes protecting S. maltophilia from hydrogen peroxide stress.