MALDI MSI Reveals the Spatial Distribution of Protein Markers in Tracheobronchial Lymph Nodes and Lung of Pigs after Respiratory Infection

Respiratory infections are a real threat for humans, and therefore the pig model is of interest for studies. As one of a case for studies, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) caused infections and still worries many pig breeders around the world. To better understand the influence of pathogenic effect of APP on a respiratory system—lungs and tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN), we aimed to employ matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-TOF MSI). In this study, six pigs were intranasally infected by APP and two were used as non-infected control, and 48 cryosections have been obtained. MALDI-TOF MSI and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to study spatial distribution of infectious markers, especially interleukins, in cryosections of porcine tissues of lungs (necrotic area, marginal zone) and tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN) from pigs infected by APP. CD163, interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and a protegrin-4 precursor were successfully detected based on their tryptic fragments. CD163 and IL-1β were confirmed also by IHC. The protegrin-4 precursor was identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF directly on the tissue cryosections. CD163, IL-1β and protegrin-4 precursor were all significantly (p < 0.001) more expressed in necrotic areas of lungs infected by APP than in marginal zone, TBLN and in control lungs.     

Evolution of Classical and Quantum States in the Groupoid Picture of Quantum Mechanics

The evolution of states of the composition of classical and quantum systems in the groupoid formalism for physical theories introduced recently is discussed. It is shown that the notion of a classical system, in the sense of Birkhoff and von Neumann, is equivalent, in the case of systems with a countable number of outputs, to a totally disconnected groupoid with Abelian von Neumann algebra. The impossibility of evolving a separable state of a composite system made up of a classical and a quantum one into an entangled state by means of a unitary evolution is proven in accordance with Raggio’s theorem, which is extended to include a new family of separable states corresponding to the composition of a system with a totally disconnected space of outcomes and a quantum one.     

基于平面度的燃料电池电化学性能模拟

 固体氧化物燃料电池的翘曲会影响电极-盖板界面的接触情况，从而影响电化学性能，对相关制造工艺提出了很大的挑战．为了分析燃料电池平面度对放电过程的影响，揭示其潜在的风险，我们建立了两个基于有限元法的仿真模型，对考虑平面度缺陷的燃料电池封装和放电进行分析．在对固体氧化物燃料电池进行平面度测量的基础上，首先建立了具有真实燃料电池翘曲特性的几何模型，分析封装过程中接触压力的分布情况．然后将接触电阻的仿真结果导入到三维多物理场耦合模型中，模拟具有平面度缺陷的燃料电池电化学性能．计算结果展示了燃料电池两侧封装过程中接触压力的分布情况．通过对比有接触电阻和无接触电阻的燃料电池电流密度，分析了电池与盖板的接触对放电过程的影响．结果表明，燃料电池的凹陷面较难达到满意的接触状态，需要比凸起面更大的封装压力．燃料电池表面接触电阻的变化将引起电流传导路径的变化，产生局部高电流或低电流．这项工作强调了在燃料电池中保持均匀分布的接触电阻的重要性，为今后的优化工作奠定了基础．     

FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent detection of arginine in mitochondrion with a hybrid nanoprobe

A ratiometric fluorescent hybrid nanoprobe CDs-1 for arginine(Arg),exhibiting high sensitivity(the limit of detection,LOD,being 6.5×10^-8 mol/L) and excellent selectivity and anti-interference ability,was fabricated through fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) and the electrostatic attraction between positively-charged hemicyanine molecules and negatively-charged carbon dots(CDs).Arg can be quantitatively detected in the concentration range from 6.0×10^-5 mol/L to 2.7×10^-4 mol/L.Further,due to its ability to target mitochondrion and low cytotoxicity,intracellular Arg was succes s fully tracked through ratiometric fluorescence imaging.     

Information percolation and cutoff for the random‐cluster model

We consider the random‐cluster model (RCM) on with parameters p∈(0,1) and q ≥ 1. This is a generalization of the standard bond percolation (with edges open independently with probability p) which is biased by a factor q raised to the number of connected components. We study the well‐known Fortuin‐Kasteleyn (FK)‐dynamics on this model where the update at an edge depends on the global geometry of the system unlike the Glauber heat‐bath dynamics for spin systems, and prove that for all small enough p (depending on the dimension) and any q>1, the FK‐dynamics exhibits the cutoff phenomenon at with a window size , where λ_∞ is the large n limit of the spectral gap of the process. Our proof extends the information percolation framework of Lubetzky and Sly to the RCM and also relies on the arguments of Blanca and Sinclair who proved a sharp mixing time bound for the planar version. A key aspect of our proof is the analysis of the effect of a sequence of dependent (across time) Bernoulli percolations extracted from the graphical construction of the dynamics, on how information propagates.     

A Far-Red Emitting Fluorescent Chemogenetic Reporter for In Vivo Molecular Imaging

Far-red emitting fluorescent labels are highly desirable for spectral multiplexing and deep tissue imaging. Here, we describe the generation of frFAST (far-red Fluorescence Activating and absorption Shifting Tag), a 14-kDa monomeric protein that forms a bright far-red fluorescent assembly with (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)allylidene rhodanine (HPAR-3OM). As HPAR-3OM is essentially non-fluorescent in solution and in cells, frFAST can be imaged with high contrast in presence of free HPAR-3OM, which allowed the rapid and efficient imaging of frFAST fusions in live cells, zebrafish embryo/larvae, and chicken embryos. Beyond enabling the genetic encoding of far-red fluorescence, frFAST allowed the design of a far-red chemogenetic reporter of protein–protein interactions, demonstrating its great potential for the design of innovative far-red emitting biosensors.     

Synthesis and characterization of VO–vanillin complex immobilized on MCM-41 and its facile catalytic application in the sulfoxidation reaction,and synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones and disulfides in green media

In this work, a vanillin complex is immobilized onto MCM-41 and characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET techniques. This supported Schiff base complex was found to be an efficient and recoverable catalyst for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides and thiols into their corresponding disulfides (using hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant) and also a suitable catalyst for the preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in water at 90°C. Using this protocol, we show that a variety of disulfides, sulfoxides, and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives can be synthesized in green conditions. The catalyst can be recovered and recycled for further reactions without appreciable loss of catalytic performance.     

Noninvasive Temperature Measurement in Dental Materials Using Nd3+, Yb3+ Doped Nanoparticles Emitting in the Near Infrared Region

In this work, the application of near infrared (NIR)-emitting NaYbF₄:1%Tm³⁺@NaLuF₄:30%Nd³⁺ core–shell nanoparticles is reported for noninvasive probing and monitoring the temperature during photopolymerization of dental materials. When excited at 808 nm, the synthesized nanoparticles emit NIR photoluminescence (PL) with two distinctive peaks at 865 and 980 nm which correspond to radiative transitions from the doped Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions, respectively. Luminescence intensity ratio between these two bands is found to vary with temperature due to temperature-dependent electronic excitation energy transfer between Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions at the core/shell interface. This finding allows luminescence ratiometric evaluation of the in situ temperature during photopolymerization of resin cement (doped with nanoparticles) in a veneer placement procedure. In addition, the NIR emission also enables PL imaging of the distribution of the adhesive under the veneer. The results highlight that rare-earth ions–doped nanoparticles with both excitation and emission in the NIR spectral range are advantageous for both PL-based nanothermometry and imaging due to the reduced attenuation of NIR light by dental ceramics.