Verification and Analysis of Single-Molecule SERS Events via Polarization-Selective Raman Measurement.

We propose polarization-selective Raman measurement as a decent method for single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SMSERS) verification. This approach features rapid acquisition of SMSERS events and appeals liberal requirements for analyte concentration. It is demonstrated as an efficient tool in sorting out dozens of SMSERS events from a large-scale plasmonic dimer array. In addition, it allows identification of a mixed SMSERS event containing two different individual molecules. In this article, the RPM method is employed to explore the underlying mechanisms of signal blinking, spectral wandering, and other unique characteristics in SMSERS. We observed synchronized blinking of different modes from one Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecule, but a disagreement is found in a mixed SMSERS event containing one R6G molecule and one crystal violet molecule. Our approach offers a reliable means to interpret SMSERS events in statistical terms and facilitate the fundamental understanding of SMSERS.

Measurement and modeling of sound propagation over continental slope in the South China Sea.

Measurements along two ship tracks were obtained in an experiment to investigate the properties of acoustic propagation over the continental slope in the South China Sea. The measured data show a notable difference in transmission loss about 35 dB as sound crosses different geodesic paths. Numerical simulations indicate that the range and azimuth-dependent geological properties control the level of the transmission loss and lead to this large transmission loss fluctuation. In addition, the model also suggests some small-scale features of horizontal refraction effect caused by irregular topography, but they are not observed in the measured data.

Long noncoding RNA PXN-AS1-L promotes non-small cell lung cancer progression via regulating PXN.

BACKGROUND: Increasingly evidences suggest that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in various cancers. LncRNA PXN-AS1-L is recently revealed to act as on oncogene in liver cancer. However, the expression, functions, and mechanisms of action of PXN-AS-L in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. METHODS: The expression of PXN-AS1-L in primary NSCLC tissues, NSCLC bone metastasis tissues, and cell lines was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. The correlations between PXN-AS1-L expression and clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC patients were analyzed by Pearson Chi square test and log-rank test. The roles of PXN-AS1-L in cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of NSCLC cells, and in vivo NSCLC tumor growth were investigated by a series of gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays. The regulatory roles of PXN-AS1-L on PXN were determined by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. RESULTS: PXN-AS1-L was up-regulated in NSCLC tissues compared with noncancerous lung tissues, and PXN-AS1-L was further up-regulated in NSCLC bone metastasis tissues. Increased expression of PXN-AS1-L was positively associated with advanced TNM stages and poor prognosis. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays showed that PXN-AS1-L increased cell viability, promoted cell proliferation, inhibited cell apoptosis, and promoted cell migration of NSCLC cells. Xenograft assays showed that PXN-AS1-L also promoted NSCLC tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that PXN-AS1-L, as an antisense transcript of PXN, up-regulated the expression of PXN. PXN was also up-regulated in NSCLC tissues. The expression of PXN and PXN-AS1-L was positively correlated in NSCLC tissues. Furthermore, PXN knockdown attenuated the roles of PXN-AS1-L in increasing cell viability, promoting cell proliferation, inhibiting cell apoptosis, and promoting cell migration of NSCLC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed that PXN-AS1-L is up-regulated and acts as an oncogene in NSCLC via up-regulating PXN. Our data suggested that PXN-AS1-L might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Can peritumoral radiomics increase the efficiency of the prediction for lymph node metastasis in clinical stage T1 lung adenocarcinoma on CT?

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficiency of radiomics model on CT images of intratumoral and peritumoral lung parenchyma for preoperative prediction of lymph node (LN) metastasis in clinical stage T1 peripheral lung adenocarcinoma patients. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-six peripheral lung adenocarcinoma patients with clinical stage T1 were evaluated using five CT scanners. For each patient, two volumes of interest (VOIs) on CT were defined as the gross tumor volume (GTV) and the peritumoral volume (PTV, 1.5 cm around the tumor). One thousand nine hundred forty-six radiomic features were obtained from each VOI, and then refined for reproducibility and redundancy. The refined features were investigated for usefulness in building radiomic signatures by mRMR feature ranking method and LASSO classifier. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop a radiomic nomogram incorporating the radiomic signature and clinical parameters. The prediction performance was evaluated on the validation cohort. RESULTS: The radiomic signatures using the features of GTV and PTV showed a good ability in predicting LN metastasis with an AUC of 0.829 (95% CI, 0.745-0.913) and 0.825 (95% CI, 0.733-0.918), respectively. By incorporating the features of GTV and PTV, the AUC of radiomic signature increased to 0.843 (95% CI, 0.770-0.916). The AUC of radiomic nomogram was 0.869 (95% CI, 0.800-0.938). CONCLUSIONS: Radiomic signatures of GTV and PTV both had a good prediction ability in the prediction of LN metastasis, and there is no significant difference of AUC between the two groups. The proposed nomogram can be conveniently used to facilitate the preoperative prediction of LN metastasis in T1 peripheral lung adenocarcinomas. KEY POINTS: • Radiomics from peritumoral lung parenchyma increase the efficiency of the prediction for lymph node metastasis in clinical stage T1 lung adenocarcinoma on CT. • A radiomic nomogram was developed and validated to predict LN metastasis. • Different scan parameters on CT showed that radiomics signature had good predictive performance.

Plasmon-coupled charge transfer in WO3-x semiconductor nanoarrays: toward highly uniform silver-comparable SERS platforms.

Transition metal oxide semiconductors have been explored in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates, yet their detection sensitivity and enhancement effects are inferior. What's more, the reported fabrication technique ignored the effects of the electromagnetic mechanisms and was far from satisfactory for practical applications. Herein, we report on a convenient nanotechnique to fabricate large-area hexagon plum-blossom-like WO3-x nanoarrays based on aluminum nanobowl array substrates. Localized surface plasmon resonance can be increased via adjusting the time of tungsten magnetron sputtering with H2 annealing treatment. The introduction of a double-switch experiment demonstrates that localized surface plasmon-coupled photoinduced charge transfer can not only increase SERS enhancement comparable to similar silver nanostructures but also implement a low limit of detection below 10-9 M. A triple-switch experiment offers specific rules in the molecular detection of WO3-x semiconductors and important guidance for the fabrication of SERS-active semiconducting platforms.

An atomically thin layer of Ru/MoS2 heterostructure: structural, electronic, and magnetic properties.

The fabrication of a transition metal (TM) atomically thin layer with robust ferromagnetic ordering (FM) for the continuous miniaturization of spintronic and quantum computing devices is desired. Through first-principles calculations, we establish that Ru atoms can be epitaxially aligned on MoS2 monolayers, thus forming an atomically thin layer of 2D Ru/MoS2 heterostructure with high structural stability. The Ru layer possesses a robust FM (more than 300 K) and an out-of-plane easy axis with the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of ∼3.4 meV per atom. In particular, we find that the FM can be switched by an external electric field (Efield) of 1.5 V nm-1. We propose that this atomically thin layer of Ru/MoS2 heterostructure can be used as an alternative candidate for free-standing magnetic TM layers and provides new possibilities to design 2D spintronic devices.

Reduced white matter integrity and cognitive deficits in maintenance hemodialysis ESRD patients: a diffusion-tensor study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the association between cognition disorders and microstructural white matter (WM) changes in maintenance hemodialysis end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. METHODS: Twenty-six maintenance hemodialysis ESRD patients and 28 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Trial Marking Test-A&B (TMT-A&B), and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) assessment. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyses was performed to evaluate WM changes in the patients. Relationships between behavioural performances, clinical data, and the DTI index were tested, respectively, by correlation analysis at the voxel level. RESULTS: ESRD patients showed significant decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in 14 WM regions, and increased mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) in widespread regions. Significant positive correlations between FA values and MMSE scores were found in the right anterior corona radiata and the left anterior thalamic radiation; significant negative correlations between the TMT-B time consumption and FA values were identified in the bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus. Positive linear relationships between MD, RD values, and the duration of hemodialysis were found in several WM regions. CONCLUSION: Structural damages to radiation and associative fibre tracts, caused by brain oedema and WM demyelination, may account for the cognitive deficits in ESRD patients.

Meta-analysis: diagnostic accuracy of coronary CT angiography with prospective ECG gating based on step-and-shoot, Flash and volume modes for detection of coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic performance of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) with prospective electrocardiograph (ECG) gating based on step-and-shoot (SAS), Flash and volume imaging modes. METHODS: We searched the electronic databases PubMed for all published studies regarding CCTA. We used an exact binomial rendition of the bivariate mixed-effects regression model developed for synthesis of diagnostic data. RESULTS: A total of 21,852 segments, 4,851 vessels and 1,375 patients were identified using database searches. Patient-level pooled sensitivity was 0.99 (95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.98-1.00); specificity was 0.88 (CI, 0.85-0.91). The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity for detection of significant stenosis did not differ in the three protocols (P = 0.24). No heterogeneity was found at the patient level for sensitivity (Q = 26.23; P = 0.12; I (2) = 27.56 % [CI, 0.00-67.02 %]) and specificity (Q = 19.54; P = 0.42; I (2) = 2.78 % [CI, 0.00-66.26 %]). CONCLUSIONS: CCTA with prospective ECG gating has similar high diagnostic value to rule out CAD in all three presented modes. KEY POINTS: • The accuracy of CCTA with different prospective ECG gating is similar • CCTA with prospective ECG gating is effective to exclude coronary artery disease • The radiation dose of volume mode increases with higher heart rate.

Responses of Crop Yield, Soil Fertility, and Heavy Metals to Spent Mushroom Residues Application.

Waste mushroom residues are often returned to fields as organic amendments. Here, we estimated the effects of the continuous applications of different spent mushroom substrates for 2 years on crop yields, soil nutrients, and heavy metals in paddy fields. The study comprised seven treatments: no fertilization (CK) and mineral NPK fertilizer (CF), as well as NPK fertilizer combined with Enoki mushroom residue (EMR50), Oyster mushroom residue (OMR50), Auricularia polytricha mushroom residue (APR50), Shiitake mushroom residue (SMR50), and Agaricus bisporus residue (ABR50). The grain yield was highest under the APR50 treatment. The short-term application of waste mushroom residue significantly increased SOC, TN, TP, and TK content relative to the CK treatment. The SOC, TP, and TK were highest under ABR50. Both total Cr and Cd contents were highest under CF treatment. The highest cumulative ecological risk was observed under OMR50 treatment. In addition, crop yield was positively correlated with SOC, TN, TP, and TP. Our results highlight that further research and innovation are needed to optimize the benefits and overcome the challenges of mushroom residue application.

Positive Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Microbes and Their Functionality in Agro-Ecosystems.

Soil microbial characteristics are considered to be an index for soil quality evaluation. It is generally believed that organic amendments replacing chemical fertilizers have positive effects on changing microbial activity and community structure. However, their effects on different agro-ecosystems on a global scale and their differences in different environmental conditions and experimental durations are unclear. This study performed a meta-analysis based on 94 studies with 204 observations to evaluate the overall effects and their differences in different experimental conditions and duration. The results indicated that compared to chemical fertilizer, organic amendments significantly increased total microbial biomass, bacterial biomass, fungal biomass, Gram-positive bacterial biomass and Gram-negative bacterial biomass, and had no effect on the ratio of fungi to bacteria and ratio of Gram-positive bacteria to Gram-negative bacteria. Meanwhile, land use type, mean annual precipitation and soil initial pH are essential factors affecting microbial activity response. Organic-amendment-induced shifts in microbial biomass can be predominantly explained by soil C and nutrient availability changes. Additionally, we observed positive relationships between microbial functionality and microbial biomass, suggesting that organic-amendment-induced changes in microbial activities improved soil microbial functionality.

Meta-Analysis of Organic Fertilization Effects on Soil Bacterial Diversity and Community Composition in Agroecosystems.

Application of organic fertilizers or their combination with chemical fertilizers is a feasible practice for improving soil fertility and reducing soil degradation in agroecosystems, and these regulations are mainly mediated though soil microbial communities. Despite bacteria ranking among the most abundant and diverse groups of soil microorganisms, the effects of long-term organic fertilization (OF) and chemical-organic fertilization (COF) on soil bacterial diversity and community composition remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis and demonstrated that OF had no significant effect on bacterial alpha diversity. Application of chemical fertilizer and crop residue significantly decreased bacterial Richness index. Both OF and COF significantly altered bacterial community structure, with these changes being predominately attributed to shifts in soil pH. For bacterial phyla, both OF and COF significantly increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, suggesting that OF and COF may cause the enrichment of copiotrophic taxa. In addition, COF significantly increased the relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria but decreased the relative abundance of Acidobacteria. Overall, our results suggest that organic and chemical-organic fertilization can effectively maintain bacterial diversity and enhance soil fertility in agroecosystems, and the alteration of soil bacterial community structure is closely intertwined with soil pH.

Effect of combined function of temperature and water activity on the growth of Vibrio harveyi.

Vibrio harveyi is considered as a causative agent of the systemic disease, vibriosis, which occurs in many biological fields. The effects of temperatures (12.9-27.1 °C) and water activity (NaCl% 0.6%-3.4%) on V. harveyi were investigated. The behavior and growth characteristics of V. harveyi was studied and modeled. Growth curves were fitted by using Gompertz and Baranyi models, and the Baranyi model showed a better fittness. Then, the maximum growth rates (µmax) and lag phase durations (LPD, λ) obtained from both Gompertz and Baranyi model were modeled as a combination function of temperature and water activity using the response surface and Arrhenius-Davey models for secondary model. The value of r(2), MSE, bias and accuracy factor suggest Baranyi model has better fitness than Gompertz model. Furthermore, validation of the developed models with independent data from ComBase also shown better interrelationship between observed and predicted growth parameter when using Baranyi model.

Soundscape Evaluation Outside a Taoist Temple: A Case Study of Laojundong Temple in Chongqing, China.

The unique architectural form and religious background of Taoist buildings can lead to a special acoustic environment, but there is a lack of research on the soundscape evaluation of Taoist buildings. Laojundong Taoist Temple was selected as the research site. The psychological and physiological responses of Taoist priests and ordinary people, and strategies for soundscape renovation were investigated by conducting field measurements, interviews, soundwalks, and audio−visual experiments. There was significant negative linear regression between the LAeq,5min and soundscape comfort (p < 0.01). The visual landscape comfort of ordinary people was notably correlated with landscape diversity (p < 0.01), whereas their soundscape comfort was markedly correlated with the degree of natural soundscape and audio−visual harmony (p < 0.01). The soundscape evaluation by Taoist priests was affected by their belief, activity types, social factors, and spatial positions. With the increasing proportion of the natural elements in the visual landscape in the temple, the acoustic comfort of Taoist priests and ordinary people significantly increased with the addition of bird sounds (p < 0.01). However, with the increasing proportion of Taoist scenes, Taoist music only significantly improved the acoustic comfort and heart rate of ordinary people (p < 0.01).

Cerebral neurovascular alterations in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a preliminary fMRI study.

Purpose: Cognitive impairment (CI) is very common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cerebral structural and functional abnormalities have been reported in cognitively impaired patients with COPD, and the neurovascular coupling changes are rarely investigated. To address this issue, arterial spin labeling (ASL) and resting-state blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI techniques were used to determine whether any neurovascular changes in COPD patients. Methods: Forty-five stable COPD patients and forty gender- and age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Furthermore, resting-state BOLD fMRI and ASL were acquired to calculate degree centrality (DC) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) respectively. The CBF-DC coupling and CBF/DC ratio were compared between the two groups. Results: COPD patients showed abnormal CBF, DC and CBF/DC ratio in several regions. Moreover, lower CBF/DC ratio in the left lingual gyrus negatively correlated with naming scores, lower CBF/DC ratio in medial frontal cortex/temporal gyrus positively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), visuospatial/executive and delayed recall scores. Conclusion: These findings may provide new potential insights into neuropathogenesis of cognition decline in stable COPD patients.

Anomalous dispersion observed in signal arrivals at a deep-sea floor receiver.

An anomalous dispersion, e.g., when low frequencies arrive earlier whereas the high frequencies arrive later, was observed in the signal arrivals recorded by a single deep-sea bottom-mounted vector sensor. Numerical simulations and modal analyses, based on a three-layer range-independent model, are applied to interpret the anomalous dispersion. Results indicate that the arrival with anomalous dispersion corresponds to trapped modes in the low sound speed sediment and can be observed when both the source and receiver are deployed near the seafloor. Furthermore, the cutoff frequencies, dispersion characteristics, and energy distributions of trapped modes are also performed in this paper.

Alterations of grey matter volumes and network-level functions in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate structural and functional alterations of the brain in the patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and further investigate how these alterations correlated to parameters of pulmonary function test, cognitive function and disease duration in patients with COPD. METHOD: Forty-five patients with stable COPD and forty age- and gender-matched healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Both resting-state fMRI and structural MRI were acquired for each participant. Voxel-based morphology was utilized to analyze alterations of the grey matter volume (GMV), and the seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (FC) was used to evaluate the network-level functional alterations. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, patients with stable COPD showed decreased GMV in the left supramarginal gyrus/precentral gyrus (SMG/PreCG), bilateral posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), right middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and right SMG. Furthermore, COPD patients mainly showed decreased FC within the visual network, frontoparietal network and other brain regions. Subsequent correlational analyses revealed that the decreased FC within visual network, frontoparietal network were positively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score, language-domain score, attention-domain score and disease duration in patients with COPD. CONCLUSION: Our findings provided evidence that COPD patients showed decreased GMV and regional and network-level functional alterations within the visual network, frontoparietal network and other networks. We speculated that atrophic GMV and FC of visual network and frontoparietal network are involved in the neural mechanism of mild cognitive impairment in stable COPD patients.

Current status of gene therapy in Asia.

Asian countries, in particular China, Japan, and Korea, have been aggressively researching and developing gene medicines over the last 15 years or so. In China, an adenovirus expressing p53 was approved for commercial use in the year 2003, and has been on the actual market since then, becoming the world's first commercial gene-based drug. In Japan and Korea, many interesting scientific discoveries have been made, and industrially valuable technologies have been developed. It is particularly noteworthy to see that in these countries, gene therapy has been very keenly nurtured in relation with industrial and financial sectors. Despite remarkable progresses made in Asia, however, their activities have not been visibly noticed by many scientists in the US and European countries. This article briefly reviews key features of the past achievements and recent progresses made in three Asian countries.

Disrupted interhemispheric resting-state functional connectivity and structural connectivity in first-episode, treatment-naïve generalized anxiety disorder.

BACKGROUND: Aberrant functional and structural connectivity are considered to be involved in the underlying neural mechanism of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, alterations in functional and structural interactions between the bilateral hemispheres are rarely examined. The current study aimed to characterized interhemispheric resting-state functional connectivity and white matter microstructural integrity of the corpus callosum in patients with GAD. METHODS: Resting-state Blood oxygen level-dependent and diffusion tensor image were acquired for patients with GAD and healthy subjects. The two groups were matched in age, gender, education years. The voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) of whole brain and white matter integrity of the corpus callosum (CC) were compared between the two groups. Their correlations with clinical measures were further performed. RESULTS: Compare to controls, decreased resting-state VMHC were found in the precentral gyrus, middle cingulate gyrus and insula/putamen in patients with GAD. No regions of increased VMHC were detected in GAD. Compared to controls, GAD patients showed decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in CC2. In GAD group, further Pearson's correlation analyses showed that VMHC of the midcingulate gyrus positively correlated with FA of CC2, FA of CC2 negatively correlated with anxiety severity. Further mediation analyses demonstrated that attenuated VMHC in bilateral midcingulate gyrus partly mediated the association between white matter integrity of CC2 sub-region and anxiety severity. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested impairment of interhemispheric coordination in GAD. Moreover, disrupted interhemispheric connectivity correlated with anxiety severity in GAD. Our findings provided a novel clue about the neural mechanism of GAD, and may contribute to further deep exploration and treatment of GAD. LIMITATIONS: The study was lack of comparison with non-GAD anxiety disorders.

The application of gene therapy in China.

Since the 1990s, gene therapy has been broadly applied in the treatment of life-threatening diseases, including infectious disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and hereditary diseases. China in particular has become a competitive marketplace for the development of biotechnology and gene therapy products. This article provides an overview of the regulatory guidance for gene therapy research, product development and commercialization in China. The first approved gene therapy product, recombinant human adenoviral p53 injection (Gendicine), is highlighted as an example of the innovation occurring in the field in China.

Aberrant regional neural fluctuations and functional connectivity in generalized anxiety disorder revealed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural activity and functional connectivity in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) during resting state, and how these alterations correlate to patients' symptoms. Twenty-eight GAD patients and 28 matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scans. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) were computed to explore regional activity and functional integration, and were compared between the two groups using the voxel-based two-sample t test. Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to examine the neural relationships with demographics and clinical symptoms scores. Compared to controls, GAD patients showed functional abnormalities: higher ALFF in the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex; lower connectivity in prefrontal gyrus; lower in prefrontal-limbic and cingulate RSFC and higher prefrontal-hippocampus RSFC were correlated with clinical symptoms severity, but these associations were unable to withstand correction for multiple testing. These findings may help facilitate further understanding of the potential neural substrate of GAD.