Translating Molecular Recognition into a Pressure Signal to enable Rapid,Sensitive, and Portable Biomedical Analysis

Herein, we demonstrate that a very familiar, yet underutilized, physical parameter—gas pressure—can serve as signal readout for highly sensitive bioanalysis. Integration of a catalyzed gas‐generation reaction with a molecular recognition component leads to significant pressure changes, which can be measured with high sensitivity using a low‐cost and portable pressure meter. This new signaling strategy opens up a new way for simple, portable, yet highly sensitive biomedical analysis in a variety of settings.     

Imaging CH3SH photodissociation at 204 nm: the SH + CH3 channel

The SH + CH(3) product channel for the photodissociation of CH(3)SH at 204 nm was investigated using the sliced velocity map ion imaging technique with the detection of CH(3) products using state selective (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). Images were measured for CH(3) formed in the ground and excited vibrational states (v(2) = 0, 1, and 2) of the umbrella mode from which the correlated SH vibrational state distributions were determined. The vibrational distribution of the SH fragment in the SH + CH(3) channel at 204 nm is clearly inverted and peaks at v = 1. The highly negative anisotropy parameter of the CH(3) (v(2) = 0, 1, and 2) products is indicative of a fast dissociation process for C-S bond cleavage. Two kinds of slower CH(3) products were also observed (one of which was partly vibrationally resolved) that are assigned to a two-step photodissociation processes, in which the first step is the production of the CH(3)S (X(2)E) radical via cleavage of the S-H bond in CH(3)SH, followed by probe laser photodissociation of nascent CH(3)S radicals yielding CH(3)(X(2)A(1), v(2) = 0-2) + S((3)P(j)/(1)D) products.     

Circulation times of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by in vivo flow cytometry

Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） may metastasize to many organs. The survival rate is almost zero for metastatic HCC patients. Molecular mechanisms of HCC metastasis need to be understood better and new therapies must be developed. We have developed the ＂in vivo microscopy＂ to study the mechanisms that govern liver tumor cells spreading through the microenvironment in vivo. A recently developed ＂in vivo flow cytometer＂ combined with real-time confocal fluorescence imaging is used to assess spreading and the circulation kinetics of liver tumor cells. We measure the depletion kinetics of two related human HCC cell lines, high-metastatic HCCLM3 cells and low-metastatic HepG2 cells, which are from the same origin and obtained by repetitive screenings in mice. More than 60% of the HCCLM3 cells are depleted within the first hour. Interestingly, the low-metastatic HepG2 cells possess noticeably slower depletion kinetics. In comparison, less than 40% of the HepG2 cells are depleted within the first hour. The differences in depletion kinetics might provide insights into early metastasis processes.     

Enhanced transmission through periodic arrays of subwavelength holes: the role of localized waveguide resonances

By using the rigid full-vectorial three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method, we show that the enhanced transmission through a metallic film with a periodic array of subwavelength holes results from two different resonances: (i) localized waveguide resonances where each air hole can be considered as a section of metallic waveguide with both ends open to free space, forming a low-quality-factor resonator, and (ii) well-recognized surface plasmon resonances due to the periodicity. These two different resonances can be characterized from electromagnetic band structures in the structured metal film. In addition, we show that the shape effect in the enhanced transmission through the Au film with subwavelength holes is attributed to the localized waveguide resonance.     

A coupling method based on new MFE and FE for fourth-order parabolic equation

In this article, a coupling method of new mixed finite element (MFE) and finite element (FE) is proposed and analyzed for fourth-order parabolic partial differential equation. First, the fourth-order parabolic equation is split into the coupled system of second-order equations. Then, an equation is solved by finite element method, the other equation is approximated by the new mixed finite element method, whose flux belongs to the square integrable space replacing the classical H(div;Ω) space. The stability for fully discrete scheme is derived, and both semi-discrete and fully discrete error estimates are obtained. Moreover, the optimal a priori error estimates in L ² and H ¹-norm for both the scalar unknown u and the diffusion term γ and a priori error estimate in (L ²)²-norm for its flux σ are derived. Finally, some numerical results are provided to validate our theoretical analysis.     

An expanded mixed covolume method for sobolev equation with convection term on triangular grids

The expanded mixed covolume method for the two‐dimensional Sobolev equation with convection term is developed and studied. This method uses the lowest‐order Raviart‐Thomas mixed finite element space as the trial function space. By introducing a transfer operator γ_h which maps the trial function space into the test function space and combining expanded mixed finite element with mixed covolume method, the continuous‐in‐time, discrete‐in‐time expanded mixed covolume schemes are constructed, and optimal error estimates for these schemes are obtained. Numerical results are given to examine the validity and effectiveness of the proposed schemes.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

Design,enantioselective synthesis,and antiviral activities against potato virus Y of axially chiral thiazine derivatives

A series of novel thiazine derivatives featuring axial chirality in both (R) and (S) configurations were successfully synthesized by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed enantioselective [3 + 3] annulations, and their potential as anti-plant virus agents against potato virus Y (PVY) was evaluated. Biological activity results demonstrated that most of these chiral thiazine derivatives exhibited significant activities against PVY. Notably, compound (S) -3g displayed a remarkable 58% inactivation effect against PVY at a concentration of 500 μg/mL, slightly surpassing the effectiveness of Ningnanmycin (NNM) at 57%. Additionally, (S) -3g exhibited curative activity of 57%, which is superior to NNM (53%). Molecular docking studies revealed preliminary insights into the distinct biological properties of the two different enantiomers, (R) or (S) -3g against PVY, wherein single enantiomer (S) -3g formed a more stable interaction with PVY-CP, as indicated by its lower binding free energy (−41.18 kcal/mol) compared to (R)- 3g (−36.9 kcal/mol). The findings in this study with a new class of axially chiral thiazine derivatives shall inspire further development of chiral heterocycles as potential drug candidates for the protection of plant virus infections.     

Carbene‐Catalyzed Desymmetrization and Direct Construction of Arenes with All‐Carbon Quaternary Chiral Center

Multisubstituted arenes such as indanes with attached all‐carbon quaternary centers are unique scaffolds in synthetic functional molecules and sophisticated natural products. A key challenge in preparing such molecules lies in the enantioselective installation of the quaternary carbon centers. Conventional methods in this direction include asymmetric substitution reactions and substrate‐controlled cyclization reactions. These reactions lead to poor stereoselectivities and/or require long and tedious synthetic steps. Disclosed here is a one‐step organic catalytic strategy for enantioselective access to this class of molecules. The reaction involves an N‐heterocyclic carbene catalyzed process for direct benzene construction, indane formation, remote‐carbon desymmetrization, and excellent chirality control. This approach will enable the concise synthesis of arene‐containing molecules, including those with complex structures and challenging chiral centers.