Supramolecular dye self-assembly mediated by host-guest interactions for the sensitive and portable detection of pyrene derivatives in environmental samples and urine.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), especially pyrene, are hazardous pollutants with serious health risks. Effective detection methods for PAHs are essential for environmental monitoring. In this study, we construct a simple, efficient method to detect pyrene derivatives in water.

Targeted Analysis of VOCS in Exhaled Breath of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Patients, An Exploratory Study.

Introduction: Pneumoconiosis represents the most prevalent occupational disease in China, with coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) showing the highest incidence. Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of CWP patients may provide novel insights into its pathogenesis.

Methods: Study data were collected through questionnaires and medical examinations.

Squaraine dye as a fluorescent probe for highly sensitive detection of pyrophosphate and alkaline phosphatase.

We synthesized a squaraine dye (F-0) to develop a method for detecting pyrophosphate (PPi) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) by modulating the fluorescence of F-0. The fluorescence intensity of the F-0 system was quenched upon the addition of Cu ions; however, it was restored when PPi was introduced due to the formation of a complex between PPi and Cu. Since ALP can hydrolyze PPi, the fluorescence of the system was quenched again upon the addition of ALP.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness as a Risk Factor for Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: Impulse control disorders (ICDs) and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) are common symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Few longitudinal studies have focused on the association between EDS and ICDs. This longitudinal study aimed at assessing association between EDS and ICDs in PD.

KARS Mutations Impair Brain Myelination by Inducing Oligodendrocyte Deficiency: One Potential Mechanism and Improvement by Melatonin.

It is very crucial to investigate key molecules that are involved in myelination to gain an understanding of brain development and injury. We have reported for the first time that pathogenic variants p.R477H and p.

H-Aggregation of Squaraine Dye as Generic Colorimetric Molecules to Detect Cu.

An infrared squaraine dye was utilized to detect Cu in solvents based on H-aggregates of squaraine dye. H-aggregates are a type of aggregation with enhanced photophysical properties compared to monomers. In the presence of a Ca solution, F-Cl offers exceptional H-aggregators that can be transformed into monomers by adding Cu.

Harmonizing tumor mutational burden analysis: Insights from a multicenter study using in silico reference data sets in clinical whole-exome sequencing (WES).

Objectives: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is a significant biomarker for predicting immune checkpoint inhibitor response, but the clinical performance of whole-exome sequencing (WES)-based TMB estimation has received less attention compared to panel-based methods. This study aimed to assess the reliability and comparability of WES-based TMB analysis among laboratories under routine testing conditions.

Methods: A multicenter study was conducted involving 24 laboratories in China using in silico reference data sets.

An on-off-on fluorescent probe for the detection of glyphosate based on a Cu-assisted squaraine dye sensor.

The herbicide glyphosate, -(phosphonomethyl)glycine, has been widely used in the past 40 years, and has had many adverse effects on human health. Here, we constructed a convenient "on-off-on" fluorescent platform for detection of glyphosate Cu modulated squaraine dye fluorescence quenching. The squaraine dye F-0 exhibited strong fluorescence, which could be quenched by the addition of Cu.

Ensemble deep learning of embeddings for clustering multimodal single-cell omics data.

Motivation: Recent advances in multimodal single-cell omics technologies enable multiple modalities of molecular attributes, such as gene expression, chromatin accessibility, and protein abundance, to be profiled simultaneously at a global level in individual cells. While the increasing availability of multiple data modalities is expected to provide a more accurate clustering and characterization of cells, the development of computational methods that are capable of extracting information embedded across data modalities is still in its infancy.

Results: We propose SnapCCESS for clustering cells by integrating data modalities in multimodal single-cell omics data using an unsupervised ensemble deep learning framework.

Analysis of serum metabolome of laborers exposure to welding fume.

Objective: Welding fume exposure is inevitable of welding workers and poses a severe hazard to their health since welding is a necessary industrial process. Thus, preclinical diagnostic symptoms of worker exposure are of great importance. The aim of this study was to screen serum differential metabolites of welding fume exposure based on UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS.

High PSQI score is associated with the development of dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease.

Dyskinesia is one of the most disabling motor complications in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Sleep is crucial to keep neural circuit homeostasis, and PD patients often suffer from sleep disturbance. However, few prospective studies have been conducted to investigate the association of sleep quality with dyskinesia in PD.

A multi-laboratory assessment of clinical exome sequencing for detection of hereditary disease variants: 4441 ClinVar variants for clinical genomic test development and validation.

Background And Aims: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) technology has become an essential tool in the clinical diagnostic for rare genetic disorders, however, the issues that reduce testing precision, sensitivity, and concordance are not clear under routine testing conditions. The study is to systematically evaluate the comparability of clinical WES testing results in laboratories under routine conditions.

Methods: We designed a multi-laboratory study across 24 participating laboratories in China.

Benchmarking clustering algorithms on estimating the number of cell types from single-cell RNA-sequencing data.

Background: A key task in single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data analysis is to accurately detect the number of cell types in the sample, which can be critical for downstream analyses such as cell type identification. Various scRNA-seq data clustering algorithms have been specifically designed to automatically estimate the number of cell types through optimising the number of clusters in a dataset. The lack of benchmark studies, however, complicates the choice of the methods.

Feasibility of cRGD conjugation at 5'-antisense strand of siRNA by phosphodiester linkage extension.

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are widely studied for their highly specific gene silencing activity. However, obstacles remain to the clinical application of siRNAs. Attaching conjugates to siRNAs can improve their stability and broaden their application, and most functional conjugates of siRNAs locate at the 3'-terminus of the sense or antisense strand.

[Simultaneous determination of twelve antiepileptic drugs in serum by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A sensitive, high-throughput method was established for the simultaneous determination of 12 antiepileptics in serum by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The antiepileptics were gabapentin, lamotrigine, pregabalin, lacosamide, levetiracetam, topiramate, oxcarbazepine, clonazepam, sodium valproate, carbamazepine, phenobarbital and phenytoin sodium. Phenacetin and chlorzoxazone were used as internal standards.

Correlation study of parabens in urine, serum, and seminal plasma of adult men in Beijing, China.

The adverse effects of parabens raise concerns about their extensive use as preservatives in consumer products, especially in cosmetics. Until now, their distribution and excretion in humans have attracted little attention. Here, we quantified various agents including, for the first time, methyl-; ethyl-; n-propyl-; n-butyl-, and i-butylparaben (MeP, EtP, PrP, n-BuP, i-BuP); methyl- and ethyl-protocatechuate (OH-MeP and OH-EtP); hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HB); and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHB) in urine, serum, and seminal plasma samples from 50 healthy Chinese men in Beijing, China.

Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Microglial Neuroinflammation: Attenuation by FK866.

Alleviating microglia-mediated neuroinflammation bears great promise to reduce neurodegeneration. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) may exert cytokine-like effect in the brain. However, it remains unclear about role of NAMPT in microglial inflammation.

Photoregulation of Gene Expression with Ligand-Modified Caged siRNAs through Host/Guest Interaction.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) can effectively silence target genes through Argonate 2 (Ago2)-induced RNA interference (RNAi). It is very important to control siRNA activity in both spatial and temporal modes. Among different masking strategies, photocaging can be used to regulate gene expression through light irradiation with spatiotemporal and dose-dependent resolution.

VarBen: Generating in Silico Reference Data Sets for Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing Bioinformatics Pipeline Evaluation.

Next-generation sequencing is increasingly being adopted as a valuable method for the detection of somatic variants in clinical oncology. However, it is still challenging to reach a satisfactory level of robustness and standardization in clinical practice when using the currently available bioinformatics pipelines to detect variants from raw sequencing data. Moreover, appropriate reference data sets are lacking for clinical bioinformatics pipeline development, validation, and proficiency testing.

Association of sleep disturbance and freezing of gait in Parkinson disease: prevention/delay implications.

Study Objectives: Freezing of gait (FOG) severely impairs life quality of Parkinson disease (PD) patients. The relationship between sleep disturbance and FOG in PD remains unclear, so in this study, we aimed to investigate that relationship.

Methods: First, we assessed clinical characteristics of freezers and nonfreezers among PD patients.

Substantia nigra Smad3 signaling deficiency: relevance to aging and Parkinson's disease and roles of microglia, proinflammatory factors, and MAPK.

Background: Smad3 signaling is indicated to regulate microglia activity. Parkinson's disease (PD) neurodegeneration is shown to be associated with aging and neuroinflammation. However, it remains unclear about the relationship among Smad3 signaling, aging, neuroinflammation, and PD.

Exome Sequencing Identifies Abnormalities in Glycosylation and ANKRD36C in Patients with Immune-Mediated Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

Background:  Immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a potentially fatal blood disorder, resulting from autoantibodies against ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13). However, the mechanism underlying anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibody formation is not known, nor it is known how genetic aberrations contribute to the pathogenesis of iTTP.

Methods:  Here we performed whole exome sequencing (WES) of DNA samples from 40 adult patients with iTTP and 15 local healthy subjects with no history of iTTP and other hematological disorders.

[Mesenchymal stem cells in therapy of coronavirus disease 2019 - a review].

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread widely on a large scale in the whole world at present, seriously endangering human health. There are still no effective and specific drugs, so it is urgent to find safe and effective therapeutic methods. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have many biological functions of powerful immunomodulation and tissue repair and regeneration.

Glycyrrhetinic acid alleviates hepatic inflammation injury in viral hepatitis disease via a HMGB1-TLR4 signaling pathway.

Various human disorders are cured by the use of licorice, a key ingredient of herbal remedies. Glycyrrhizic acid (GL), a triterpenoid glycoside, is the aqueous extract from licorice root. Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) has been reported to be a major bioactive hydrolysis product of GL and has been regarded as an anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory diseases, including hepatitis.