Improved Identification and Relative Quantification of Sites of Peptide and Protein Oxidation for Hydroxyl Radical Footprinting

Protein oxidation is typically associated with oxidative stress and aging and affects protein function in normal and pathological processes. Additionally, deliberate oxidative labeling is used to probe protein structure and protein–ligand interactions in hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF). Oxidation often occurs at multiple sites, leading to mixtures of oxidation isomers that differ only by the site of modification. We utilized sets of synthetic, isomeric “oxidized” peptides to test and compare the ability of electron-transfer dissociation (ETD) and collision-induced dissociation (CID), as well as nano-ultra high performance liquid chromatography (nanoUPLC) separation, to quantitate oxidation isomers with one oxidation at multiple adjacent sites in mixtures of peptides. Tandem mass spectrometry by ETD generates fragment ion ratios that accurately report on relative oxidative modification extent on specific sites, regardless of the charge state of the precursor ion. Conversely, CID was found to generate quantitative MS/MS product ions only at the higher precursor charge state. Oxidized isomers having multiple sites of oxidation in each of two peptide sequences in HRPF product of protein Robo-1 Ig1-2, a protein involved in nervous system axon guidance, were also identified and the oxidation extent at each residue was quantified by ETD without prior liquid chromatography (LC) separation. ETD has proven to be a reliable technique for simultaneous identification and relative quantification of a variety of functionally different oxidation isomers, and is a valuable tool for the study of oxidative stress, as well as for improving spatial resolution for HRPF studies.

Phosphorene: a Potential 2D Material for Highly Efficient Polysulfide Trapping and Conversion

Effectively trapping lithium polysulfide species and accelerating the reaction conversion kinetics are the main strategies to improve the performance of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries. Since the researchers found in 2014 that two-dimensional(2D) phosphorene nanosheets could be exfoliated from the bulk black phosphorus, numerous researches have been devoted to exploring the phosphorene with unique properties for the application in Li-S batteries. In this review, we summarize the recent theoretical and experimental progress of phosphorene for Li-S batteries. Besides, we also introduce the relationship between the interfacial interaction on phosphorene and the performance enhancement of Li-S batteries. Furthermore, future challenges and remaining opportunities for phosphorene in Li-S batteries are finally discussed.     

Demystifying terms for understanding bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been intensively studied in the past decade, but precise understanding of BESs performance is hindered by unclear definition of several key parameters. Herein, we analyze and discuss three sets of terms about conversion efficiency, energy performance, and pilot scale. It is suggested that ‘Coulombic recovery’ can avoid the misleading results because of different organic removals, compared with ‘Coulombic efficiency.’ Power density is not a suitable term to describe energy performance of BESs, and energy production/consumption should be reported in the energy unit such as kWh. Pilot-scale BESs should meet several criteria, including hydraulic capacity, use of actual wastewater, non-laboratory condition, and long-term operation. Proper use of those terms is strongly encouraged and will be critically important to BESs research and development.     

低温高密核物质测量谱仪时间投影室的集团重建

低温高密核物质测量谱仪(CEE)是研究高重子数密度区核物质性质的重离子碰撞实验谱仪。使用了先进的 SAMPA 电子学读出芯片的时间投影室(TPC)是 CEE 最核心的探测器。在集团重建的过程中,同一排读出板的信号被首先重建成 2 维集团,然后根据 2 维集团的 ADC 加权平均位置重建击中点。当信号 ADC 随漂移时间变化呈峰-谷-峰结构时,一个集团可能被重建成两个或更多击中点,从而提高双径迹分辨能力。使用模拟信号的测试显示,该重建算法在$x/ y$方向可以达到0.100/0.043 cm的位置分辨能力和1.1/2.8 cm的双径迹分辨能力。     

A novel H(2)O(2) amperometric biosensor based on gold nanoparticles/self-doped polyaniline nanofibers

A new kind of gold nanoparticles/self-doped polyaniline nanofibers (Au/SPAN) with grooves has been prepared for the immobilization of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The ratio of gold in the composite nanofibers was up to 64%, which could promote the conductivity and biocompatibility of SPAN and increase the immobilized amount of HRP molecules greatly. The electrode exhibits enhanced electrocatalytic activity in the reduction of H₂O₂ in the presence of the mediator hydroquinone (HQ). The effects of concentration of HQ, solution pH and the working potential on the current response of the modified electrode toward H₂O₂ were optimized to obtain the maximal sensitivity. The proposed biosensor exhibited a good linear response in the range from 10 to 2000 μM with a detection limit of 1.6 μM (S/N = 3) under the optimum conditions. The response showed Michaelis–Menten behavior at larger H₂O₂ concentrations, and the apparent Michaelis–Menten constant K_m was estimated to be 2.21 mM. The detection of H₂O₂ concentration in real sample showed acceptable accuracy with the traditional potassium permanganate titration.     

金刚石衬底上GaN HEMT沟道温度建模:各向异性且非均匀热导率的影响

为了改善GaN HEMT的自热效应,集成高热导率的金刚石衬底有助于增强器件有源区的热量耗散。然而,化学气相淀积(CVD)生长的多晶金刚石(PCD)具有柱状晶粒结构,导致了各向异性的材料热导率,且其热导率值与生长厚度有关。为此,通过建模金刚石生长过程中晶粒尺寸的演变过程,计算了金刚石沿面内和截面方向的热导率。基于该PCD热导率模型,利用计入材料非线性热导率的GaN器件热阻解析模型,计算得到了GaN HEMT沟道温度的波动范围,并分析了其与器件结构(栅长、栅宽、栅间距、衬底厚度)和功耗的依赖关系。最后,通过与有限元(FEM)仿真结果对比,分区域提取了GaN HEMT器件中PCD衬底的有效热导率,分别为260~310 W/(m·K)和1 250~1 450 W/(m·K)。本文的计算为预测金刚石衬底上GaN HEMT器件的沟道温度提供了快速、有效的方法。     

Supercooled Liquids with Dynamic Room Temperature Phosphorescence Using Terminal Hydroxyl Engineering

Dynamic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have potential applications in optoelectronics, which inevitably suffer from poor processability, flexibility or stretchability. Herein, we report a concise strategy to develop supercooled liquids (SCLs) with dynamic RTP behavior using terminal hydroxyl engineering. The terminal hydroxyls effectively hinder the nucleation process of molecules for the formation of stable SCLs after thermal annealing. Impressively, the SCLs show reversible RTP emission via alternant stimulation by UV light and heat. Photoactivated SCLs have phosphorescent efficiency of 8.50 % and a lifetime of 31.54 ms under ambient conditions. Regarding the dynamic RTP behavior and stretchability of SCLs, we demonstrate the applications in erasable data encryption and patterns on flexible substrates. This finding provides a design principle for obtaining SCLs with RTP and expands the potential applications of RTP materials in flexible optoelectronics.     

An accurate analytical formula for the van der Waals potentials of homonuclear rare-gas dimers with one adjustable parameter

In the present article, the Tang–Toennies–Yiu (TTY) potential model is modified by introducing one adjustable parameter. Then, the van der Waals potentials of He₂, Ne₂, Ar₂, Kr₂, and Xe₂ are calculated by this model with the adjustable parameter being determined by the well determined well depth D_e of these systems. Based on the derived potentials, the vibrational energy spacings of these systems are also calculated. It is shown that the present derived potentials and vibrational energy spacings agree well with experiment and other theoretical calculations. Finally, the normalization constant A in the asymptotic wave function of rare-gas atoms is estimated. The present derived normalization constant A is very close to the one by calculating the ratio between the Hartree–Fock function and the asymptotic wave function. The results confirm that absorbing the first-order polarization energy into the exchange energy expression is a well approximation for the present systems.     

Structured FISTA for image restoration

In this paper, we propose an efficient numerical scheme for solving some large‐scale ill‐posed linear inverse problems arising from image restoration. In order to accelerate the computation, two different hidden structures are exploited. First, the coefficient matrix is approximated as the sum of a small number of Kronecker products. This procedure not only introduces one more level of parallelism into the computation but also enables the usage of computationally intensive matrix–matrix multiplications in the subsequent optimization procedure. We then derive the corresponding Tikhonov regularized minimization model and extend the fast iterative shrinkage‐thresholding algorithm (FISTA) to solve the resulting optimization problem. Because the matrices appearing in the Kronecker product approximation are all structured matrices (Toeplitz, Hankel, etc.), we can further exploit their fast matrix–vector multiplication algorithms at each iteration. The proposed algorithm is thus called structured FISTA (sFISTA). In particular, we show that the approximation error introduced by sFISTA is well under control and sFISTA can reach the same image restoration accuracy level as FISTA. Finally, both the theoretical complexity analysis and some numerical results are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of sFISTA.     

Evaluation of pharmacokinetics,bioavailability and urinary excretion of scopolin and its metabolite scopoletin in Sprague Dawley rats by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

We aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetics, bioavailability and urinary excretion of scopolin and its metabolite scopoletin in rats. An LC–tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of scopolin and scopoletin in rat biomatrices was developed and validated over a plasma and urine concentration range of 5.0–2000 ng/mL. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Hypersil GOLD C₁₈ column with acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water as mobile phase with gradient elution. Detection was performed in the positive ionization and selected reaction monitoring mode. The intra‐ and inter‐batch precision and accuracy, extraction recovery and matrix effect and stability of scopolin and scopoletin were well within the acceptable limits of variation. There was no gender‐related difference in the pharmacokinetic profiles of scopolin. There were significant differences in total area under the concentration–time curve (AUC), time required to achieve a maximal concentration (T_max) and apparent clearance from plasma (Cl/F) of scopoletin between the male and female rats (p < .05). The bioavailability (F) of scopolin was exceptionally low. The maximal excretion rates were 7.61 μg/h and 7.15 μg/h for scopolin and 31.68 μg/h and 25.58 μg/h for scopoletin in male and female rats, respectively. The LC–MS/MS method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic, bioavailability and urinary excretion studies of scopolin and its metabolite scopoletin following a single administration of scopolin to rats.