Investigation of the Clinical Value of Four Visualization Modalities for Congenital Heart Disease.

Diagnosing congenital heart disease (CHD) remains challenging because of its complex morphology. Representing the intricate structures of CHD on conventional two-dimensional flat screens is difficult owing to wide variations in the pathologies. Technological advancements, such as three-dimensional-printed heart models (3DPHMs) and virtual reality (VR), could potentially address the limitations of viewing complex structures using conventional methods. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness and clinical value of four visualization modalities across three different cases of CHD, including ventricular septal defect, double-outlet right ventricle, and tetralogy of Fallot. Seventeen cardiac specialists were invited to participate in this study, which was aimed at assessing the usefulness and clinical value of four visualization modalities, namely, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) images, 3DPHM, VR, and 3D portable document format (PDF). Out of these modalities, 76.4% of the specialists ranked VR as the best for understanding the spatial associations between cardiac structures and for presurgical planning. Meanwhile, 94.1% ranked 3DPHM as the best modality for communicating with patients and their families. Of the various visualization modalities, VR was the best tool for assessing anatomical locations and vessels, comprehending the spatial relationships between cardiac structures, and presurgical planning. The 3DPHM models were the best tool for medical education as well as communication. In summary, both 3DPHM and VR have their own advantages and outperform the other two modalities, i.e., DICOM images and 3D PDF, in terms of visualizing and managing CHD.

Effects of temporal changes in resting heart rate on future diabetes-related outcomes.

Background and aims: Most studies have analyzed the relationship between resting heart rate (RHR) measured at only one time point and future clinical events. The current study aims to investigate the impact of long-term RHR changes on future clinical outcomes in a decade-long cohort with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: The two-staged follow-up involved 2,513 T2DM participants. The first stage (2008-2014) intended to identify levels and trends in RHR changes, while the second stage (2014-2018) attempted to collect new occurrence records of clinical results. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to predict hazard ratios (HRs), along with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the correlation between RHR changes and future events. Results: There is no significant correlation between baseline RHR levels and long-term clinical events. According to the range of RHR change, compared with the stable RHR group, the adjusted HRs for cardiovascular events and all-cause death in the large increase group were 3.40 (95% CI: 1.33-8.71, p=0.010) and 3.22 (95% CI: 1.07-9.64, p=0.037), respectively. While the adjusted HRs for all-cause death and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in the moderate decrease group were 0.55 (95% CI: 0.31-0.96, p=0.037) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.26-0.98, p=0.046). According to the trend of RHR, compared with the normal-normal group, the adjusted HRs for composite endpoint events and cerebrovascular events in the normal-high group were 1.64 (95% CI: 1.00-2.68, p=0.047) and 2.82 (95% CI: 1.03-7.76, p=0.043), respectively. Conclusion: Changes in RHR had predictive value for long-term clinical events in diabetic populations. Individuals with significantly elevated RHR over a particular period of time showed an increased risk of adverse events.

Nanopore and Illumina sequencing reveal different viral populations from human gut samples.

The advent of viral metagenomics, or viromics, has improved our knowledge and understanding of global viral diversity. High-throughput sequencing technologies enable explorations of the ecological roles, contributions to host metabolism, and the influence of viruses in various environments, including the human intestinal microbiome. However, bacterial metagenomic studies frequently have the advantage. The adoption of advanced technologies like long-read sequencing has the potential to be transformative in refining viromics and metagenomics. Here, we examined the effectiveness of long-read and hybrid sequencing by comparing Illumina short-read and Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) long-read sequencing technologies and different assembly strategies on recovering viral genomes from human faecal samples. Our findings showed that if a single sequencing technology is to be chosen for virome analysis, Illumina is preferable due to its superior ability to recover fully resolved viral genomes and minimise erroneous genomes. While ONT assemblies were effective in recovering viral diversity, the challenges related to input requirements and the necessity for amplification made it less ideal as a standalone solution. However, using a combined, hybrid approach enabled a more authentic representation of viral diversity to be obtained within samples.

Access Polyarylbipyrazoles via Palladium-Catalysis and Visible-Light-Driven C(sp3)-P(V) Cleavage Relay Strategy.

An unprecedented palladium-catalyzed and visible-light-driven relay reaction of allenylphosphine oxide with in situ generated nitrile imines is presented for the direct synthesis of highly valuable polyarylbipyrazole skeletons. This one-pot strategy involves double 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and C(sp3)-P(V) bond cleavage under photocatalyst-free and mild reaction conditions. The approach features simple operation, a high step economy, and a broad substrate scope, affording the corresponding products in moderate to excellent yields.

Computer-aided design to enhance the stability of aldo-keto reductase KdAKR.

The aldo-keto reductase (AKR) KdAKR from Kluyvermyces dobzhanskii can reduce t-butyl 6-chloro-(5S)-hydroxy-3-oxohexanoate ((5S)-CHOH) to t-butyl 6-chloro-(3R,5S)-dihydroxyhexanoate ((3R,5S)-CDHH), which is the key chiral intermediate of rosuvastatin. Herein, a computer-aided design that combined the use of PROSS platform and consensus design was employed to improve the stability of a previously constructed mutant KdAKRM6 . Experimental verification revealed that S196C, T232A, V264I and V45L produced improved thermostability and activity. The "best" mutant KdAKRM10 (KdAKRM6 -S196C/T232A/V264I/V45L) was constructed by combining the four beneficial mutations, which displayed enhanced thermostability. Its T50 15 and Tm values were increased by 10.2 and 10.0°C, respectively, and half-life (t1/2 ) at 40°C was increased by 17.6 h. Additionally, KdAKRM10 demonstrated improved resistance to organic solvents compared to that of KdAKRM6 . Structural analysis revealed that the increased number of hydrogen bonds and stabilized hydrophobic core contributed to the rigidity of KdAKRM10 , thus improving its stability. The results validated the feasibility of the computer-aided design strategy in improving the stability of AKRs.

Computer-directed rational design enhanced the thermostability of carbonyl reductase LsCR for the synthesis of ticagrelor precursor.

Carbonyl reductases are useful for producing optically active alcohols from their corresponding prochiral ketones. Herein, we applied a computer-assisted strategy to increase the thermostability of a previously constructed carbonyl reductase, LsCRM4 (N101D/A117G/F147L/E145A), which showed an outstanding activity in the synthesis of the ticagrelor precursor (1S)-2-chloro-1-(3,4-difluorophenyl)ethanol. The stability changes introduced by mutations at the flexible sites were predicted using the computational tools FoldX, I-Mutant 3.0, and DeepDDG, which demonstrated that 12 virtually screened mutants could be thermally stable; 11 of these mutants exhibited increased thermostability. Then a superior mutant LsCRM4-V99L/D150F was screened out from the library that was constructed by iteratively combining the beneficial sites, which showed a 78% increase in activity and a 17.4°C increase in melting temperature compared to LsCRM4. Our computer-assisted design and combinatorial strategy dramatically increased the efficiency of thermostable enzyme production.

"Boomerang" Strategy in Carbohydrate Chemistry: Diastereoselective Synthesis of C-Glycosylated Benzothiazoles from ortho-Isocyanophenyl Thioglycosides.

This paper reveals a novel "boomerang" strategy in the expedient and diastereoselective synthesis of C-nucleoside analogues. Bench-stable ortho-isocyanophenyl thioglycosides can be converted to glycosyl radicals through rapid and efficient C-S bond homolysis when they are irradiated by visible light. The glycosyl radicals are subsequently trapped by the corresponding leaving group or other radical acceptors to provide diverse C-nucleoside analogues under mild conditions.

Investigating the Human Intestinal DNA Virome and Predicting Disease-Associated Virus-Host Interactions in Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

Understanding how the human virome, and which of its constituents, contributes to health or disease states is reliant on obtaining comprehensive virome profiles. By combining DNA viromes from isolated virus-like particles (VLPs) and whole metagenomes from the same faecal sample of a small cohort of healthy individuals and patients with severe myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), we have obtained a more inclusive profile of the human intestinal DNA virome. Key features are the identification of a core virome comprising tailed phages of the class Caudoviricetes, and a greater diversity of DNA viruses including extracellular phages and integrated prophages. Using an in silico approach, we predicted interactions between members of the Anaerotruncus genus and unique viruses present in ME/CFS microbiomes. This study therefore provides a framework and rationale for studies of larger cohorts of patients to further investigate disease-associated interactions between the intestinal virome and the bacteriome.

Recent advances in structure-based enzyme engineering for functional reconstruction.

Structural information can help engineer enzymes. Usually, specific amino acids in particular regions are targeted for functional reconstruction to enhance the catalytic performance, including activity, stereoselectivity, and thermostability. Appropriate selection of target sites is the key to structure-based design, which requires elucidation of the structure-function relationships. Here, we summarize the mutations of residues in different specific regions, including active center, access tunnels, and flexible loops, on fine-tuning the catalytic performance of enzymes, and discuss the effects of altering the local structural environment on the functions. In addition, we keep up with the recent progress of structure-based approaches for enzyme engineering, aiming to provide some guidance on how to take advantage of the structural information.

Structural-guided design to improve the catalytic performance of aldo-keto reductase KdAKR.

Aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) are important biocatalysts that can be used to synthesize chiral pharmaceutical alcohols. In this study, the catalytic activity and stereoselectivity of a NADPH-dependent AKR from Kluyveromyces dobzhanskii (KdAKR) toward t-butyl 6-chloro (5S)-hydroxy-3-oxohexanoate ((5S)-CHOH) were improved by mutating its residues in the loop regions around the substrate-binding pocket. And the thermostability of KdAKR was improved by a consensus sequence method targeted on the flexible regions. The best mutant M6 (Y28A/L58I/I63L/G223P/Y296W/W297H) exhibited a 67-fold higher catalytic efficiency compared to the wild-type (WT) KdAKR, and improved R-selectivity toward (5S)-CHOH (dep value from 47.6% to >99.5%). Moreover, M6 exhibited a 6.3-fold increase in half-life (t1/2 ) at 40°C compared to WT. Under the optimal conditions, M6 completely converted 200 g/L (5S)-CHOH to diastereomeric pure t-butyl 6-chloro-(3R, 5S)-dihydroxyhexanoate ((3R, 5S)-CDHH) within 8.0 h, with a space-time yield of 300.7 g/L/day. Our results deepen the understandings of the structure-function relationship of AKRs, providing a certain guidance for the modification of other AKRs.

Visible-Light-Induced Palladium-Catalyzed Construction of Polyarylfuran Skeletons via Cascade Aryl Radical Cyclization and C(sp3)-P(V) Bond Cleavage.

Herein, a novel and expedient method was established for the synthesis of polyarylfuran derivatives. The coupling of allenylphosphine oxide and bromophenol or bromonaphthol enabled by visible light and palladium catalysis directly furnishes polyarylfuran skeletons, which involves a radical tandem cyclization and cascade C(sp3)-P(V) bond cleavage. This protocol features easy operation, a broad substrate scope, and a high step economy, affording polyarylfurans in moderate to good yields.

High-Resolution Patterning of Perovskite Quantum Dots via Femtosecond Laser-Induced Forward Transfer.

High-resolution patterning of perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) is of significant importance for satisfying various practical applications, including high-resolution displays and image sensing. However, due to the limitation of the instability of PQDs, the existing patterning strategy always involves chemical reagent treatment or mask contact that is not suitable for PQDs. Therefore, it is still a challenge to fabricate high-resolution full-color PQD arrays. Here, we present a femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (FsLIFT) technology, which enables the programmable fabrication of high-resolution full-color PQD arrays and arbitrary micropatterns. The FsLIFT process integrates transfer, deposition, patterning, and alignment in one step without involving a mask and chemical reagent treatment, guaranteeing the preservation of the photophysical properties of PQDs. A full-color PQD array with a high resolution of 2 µm has been successfully achieved. We anticipate that our facile and flexible FsLIFT technology can facilitate the development of diverse practical applications based on patterned PQDs.

Therapeutic role of growth factors in treating diabetic wound.

Wounds in diabetic patients, especially diabetic foot ulcers, are more difficult to heal compared with normal wounds and can easily deteriorate, leading to amputation. Common treatments cannot heal diabetic wounds or control their many complications. Growth factors are found to play important roles in regulating complex diabetic wound healing. Different growth factors such as transforming growth factor beta 1, insulin-like growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor play different roles in diabetic wound healing. This implies that a therapeutic modality modulating different growth factors to suit wound healing can significantly improve the treatment of diabetic wounds. Further, some current treatments have been shown to promote the healing of diabetic wounds by modulating specific growth factors. The purpose of this study was to discuss the role played by each growth factor in therapeutic approaches so as to stimulate further therapeutic thinking.

Nucleation in situ of perylene crystal by femtosecond laser induced cavitation.

Organic semiconductor single crystal materials have broad application prospects in the field of high-performance optoelectronic devices because of their highly ordered structure, few defects, and high carrier mobility. However, it is difficult to control the nucleation location of crystal formation in the current commonly used crystal growth methods including physical vapor transport and solution processing, which makes it difficult to manufacture organic crystal devices. Laser-induced crystallization technology is expected to solve this problem. In this study, we demonstrated nucleation in situ of a perylene crystal by femtosecond laser induced cavitation. The results show that the crystallization of perylene crystals induced by the femtosecond laser is mainly due to the aggregation effect by laser cavitation bubbles caused by multiphoton absorption. This strategy facilitates the application of organic single crystals to optoelectronic devices.

Development of a new chemo-enzymatic catalytic route for synthesis of (S)- 2-chlorophenylglycine.

(S)-2-chlorophenylglycine ((S)-CPG) is a key chiral intermediate for the synthesis of clopidogrel. Herein, a novel, efficient and environmentally friendly chemo-enzymatic route for the preparation of optically pure (S)-CPG was developed. A straightforward chemical synthesis of the corresponding prochiral keto acid substrate (2-chlorophenyl)glyoxylic acid (CPGA) was developed with 91.7% yield, which was enantioselectively aminated by leucine dehydrogenase (LeuDH) to (S)-CPG. Moreover, protein engineering of LeuDH was performed via directed evolution and semi-rational design. A beneficial variant EsLeuDH-F362L with enlarged substrate-binding pocket and increased hydrogen bond between K77 and substrate CPGA was constructed, which exhibited 2.1-fold enhanced specific activity but decreased thermal stability. Coupled with a glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium (BmGDH) for NADH regeneration, EsLeuDH-F362L completely converted up to 0.5 M CPGA to (S)-CPG in 8 h at 40 °C.

Directed evolution of a carbonyl reductase LsCR for the enantioselective synthesis of (1S)-2-chloro-1-(3,4-difluorophenyl) ethanol.

Traditional screening methods of enzyme engineering often require building large mutant libraries to screen for potentially beneficial sites, which are often time-consuming and labor-intensive with low mining efficiency. In this study, a novel enzyme engineering strategy was established to modify carbonyl reductase LsCR for the synthesis of (1S)-2-chloro-1-(3,4-difluorophenyl) ethanol ((S)-CFPL), which is a key intermediate of anticoagulant drug ticagrelor. The strategy was developed by combining HotSpot, FireProt and multiple sequence alignment, resulting in the construction of a "small and smart" mutant library including 10 mutations. Among them, 5 mutations were positive, resulting in a 50% mining accuracy of beneficial sites. Finally, a highly active mutant LsCRM3 (N101D/A117G/F147L) was obtained by further screening through saturation mutation and iterative mutation. Compared with wild type (WT) LsCR, the catalytic activity of LsCRM3 was increased by 4.7 times, the catalytic efficiency kcat/KM value was increased by 2.9 times, and the half-life t1/2 at 40 °C was increased by 1.3 times. Due to the low aqueous solubility of the substrate 2-chloro-1-(3,4-difluorophenyl) ethanone (CFPO), isopropanol was used as not only the co-substrate but also co-solvent. In the presence of 40% (v/v) isopropanol, LsCRM3 completely reduced 400 g/L CFPO to enantiomerically pure CFPL (99.9%, e.e.) in 11 h with a space-time yield (STY) as high as 809 g/L∙d.

High-resolution in situ patterning of perovskite quantum dots via femtosecond laser direct writing.

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have exhibited great potential for optoelectronic applications, including displays, lasers, anti-counterfeiting and information storage. However, the high-resolution patterning technique of QDs is still a challenge, while precise patterned QDs are of great value for practical applications. Here, a femtosecond laser direct writing strategy was demonstrated for the in situ fabrication of high-resolution-patterned perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) by the laser-induced Marangoni flow to aggregate and deposit the PQDs based on the opto-thermoelectric mechanism. By regulating the laser power and the exposure time, the minimum line width could reach 1.58 µm. Importantly, through the patterning of red, green and blue PQDs, the strategy exhibited the applicability in full-color PQD materials. Moreover, the deposited PQDs can preserve the original photophysical properties including photoluminescence spectra and excited state lifetime. The approach provides a strategy to fabricate high-resolution patterned PQDs in situ, which is a promising alternative in photonic applications including high-resolution displays and anti-counterfeiting.

Tailoring pullulanase PulAR from Anoxybacillus sp. AR-29 for enhanced catalytic performance by a structure-guided consensus approach.

Pullulanase is a well-known debranching enzyme that can specifically hydrolyze α-1,6-glycosidic linkages in starch and oligosaccharides, however, it suffers from low stability and catalytic efficiency under industrial conditions. In the present study, four residues (A365, V401, H499, and T504) lining the catalytic pocket of Anoxybacillus sp. AR-29 pullulanase (PulAR) were selected for site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) by using a structure-guided consensus approach. Five beneficial mutants (PulAR-A365V, PulAR-V401C, PulAR-A365/V401C, PulAR-A365V/V401C/T504V, and PulAR-A365V/V401C/T504V/H499A) were created, which showed enhanced thermostability, pH stability, and catalytic efficiency. Among them, the quadruple mutant PulAR-A365V/V401C/T504V/H499A displayed 6.6- and 9.6-fold higher catalytic efficiency toward pullulan at 60 ℃, pH 6.0 and 5.0, respectively. In addition, its thermostabilities at 60 ℃ and 65 ℃ were improved by 2.6- and 3.1-fold, respectively, compared to those of the wild-type (WT). Meanwhile, its pH stabilities at pH 4.5 and 5.0 were 1.6- and 1.8-fold higher than those of WT, respectively. In summary, the catalytic performance of PulAR was significantly enhanced by a structure-guided consensus approach. The resultant quadruple mutant PulAR-A365V/V401C/T504V/H499A demonstrated potential applications in the starch industry.

Comparison of PCR versus PCR-Free DNA Library Preparation for Characterising the Human Faecal Virome.

The human intestinal microbiota is abundant in viruses, comprising mainly bacteriophages, occasionally outnumbering bacteria 10:1 and is termed the virome. Due to their high genetic diversity and the lack of suitable tools and reference databases, the virome remains poorly characterised and is often referred to as "viral dark matter". However, the choice of sequencing platforms, read lengths and library preparation make study design challenging with respect to the virome. Here we have compared the use of PCR and PCR-free methods for sequence-library construction on the Illumina sequencing platform for characterising the human faecal virome. Viral DNA was extracted from faecal samples of three healthy donors and sequenced. Our analysis shows that most variation was reflecting the individually specific faecal virome. However, we observed differences between PCR and PCR-free library preparation that affected the recovery of low-abundance viral genomes. Using three faecal samples in this study, the PCR library preparation samples led to a loss of lower-abundance vOTUs evident in their PCR-free pairs (vOTUs 128, 6202 and 8364) and decreased the alpha-diversity indices (Chao1 p-value = 0.045 and Simpson p-value = 0.044). Thus, differences between PCR and PCR-free methods are important to consider when investigating "rare" members of the gut virome, with these biases likely negligible when investigating moderately and highly abundant viruses.

Photo-induced hydrophilicity at the ZnO(112̄0) surface: an evolutionary algorithm-aided density functional theory study.

Evolutionary algorithm-aided density functional theory calculations were utilized to determine the stable adsorption structures of H2O at ZnO(112̄0) extensively under different coverages. By decomposing the adsorption energetics, we illustrate that H2O dissociation to a large extent is actually hampered by the barrier for induced distortion of the ZnO surface, and once the surface becomes less difficult to be distorted it will exhibit higher hydrophilicity or even superhydrophilicity. Specifically, photo-stimulation modelling suggests that the surface Zn-O bonds can be weakened by photo-excitation, and the layer of fully dissociated H2O can be then facilitated to form. Accordingly, a novel mechanism for photo-induced superhydrophilicity is proposed.