Dual-Template Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Dispersive Solid-Phase Extraction Combined with High Performance Liquid Chromatography for the Determination of Sulfonamide Antibiotics in Environmental Water Samples.

In this study, we designed a molecularly imprinted polymers-dispersive solid-phase extraction-high-performance liquid chromatography (MIPs-DSPE-HPLC) method, as a simple and efficient platform for the sensitive detection of two sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) of sulfamethoxine (SMM) and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) in environmental water samples. Using SMM and SMZ as templates, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinking agent, and azodiisobutyronitrile as the catalyst, the dual-template molecularly imprinted polymers (dt-MIPs) were successfully synthesized via surface imprinting technology and multi-template imprinting strategy. The adsorption properties of the prepared MIPs were characterized, and the adsorption capacities of MIPs towards SMZ and SMM were 27.

Molecularly imprinted polymers and porous organic frameworks based analytical methods for disinfection by-products in water and wastewater.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) with heritage toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity are one kind of important new pollutants, and their detection and removal in water and wastewater has become a common challenge facing mankind. Advanced functional materials with ideal selectivity, adsorption capacity and regeneration capacity provide hope for the determination of DBPs with low concentration levels and inherent molecular structural similarity. Among them, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are favored, owing to their predictable structure, specific recognition and wide applicability.

Systematic investigation of machine learning on limited data: A study on predicting protein-protein binding strength.

The application of machine learning techniques in biological research, especially when dealing with limited data availability, poses significant challenges. In this study, we leveraged advancements in method development for predicting protein-protein binding strength to conduct a systematic investigation into the application of machine learning on limited data. The binding strength, quantitatively measured as binding affinity, is vital for understanding the processes of recognition, association, and dysfunction that occur within protein complexes.

Assessing computational tools for predicting protein stability changes upon missense mutations using a new dataset.

Insight into how mutations affect protein stability is crucial for protein engineering, understanding genetic diseases, and exploring protein evolution. Numerous computational methods have been developed to predict the impact of amino acid substitutions on protein stability. Nevertheless, comparing these methods poses challenges due to variations in their training data.

Molecular imprinting-based ratiometric fluorescence sensors for environmental and food analysis.

Environmental protection and food safety are closely related to the healthy development of human society; there is an urgent need for relevant analytical methods to determine environmental pollutants and harmful substances in food. Molecular imprinting-based ratiometric fluorescence (MI-RFL) sensors, constructed by combining molecular imprinting recognition and ratiometric fluorescence detection, possess remarkable advantages such as high selectivity, anti-interference ability, high sensitivity, non-destruction and convenience, and have attracted increasing interest in the field of analytical determination. Herein, recent advances in MI-RFL sensors for environmental and food analysis are reviewed, aiming at new construction strategies and representative determination applications.

[Effects of Short-term Nitrogen Addition on Soil Organic Carbon Components in L. Plantation].

Nitrogen (N) deposition in the context of human activities continuously affects the carbon cycle of ecosystems. The effect of N deposition on soil organic carbon is related to the differential responses of different carbon fractions. To investigate the changes in soil organic carbon fraction and its influencing factors in the context of short-term N deposition, four N addition gradients:0 (CK), 1.

Recent Advances in Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Antibiotic Analysis.

The abuse and residues of antibiotics have a great impact on the environment and organisms, and their determination has become very important. Due to their low contents, varieties and complex matrices, effective recognition, separation and enrichment are usually required prior to determination. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), a kind of highly selective polymer prepared via molecular imprinting technology (MIT), are used widely in the analytical detection of antibiotics, as adsorbents of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and as recognition elements of sensors.

PfSET2 Is Involved in Genome Organization of Gene Family in Plasmodium falciparum.

The three-dimensional (3D) genome structure of human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is highly organized and plays important roles in regulating coordinated expression patterns of specific genes such as virulence genes which are involved in antigenic variation and immune escape. However, the molecular mechanisms that control 3D genome of the parasite remain elusive. Here, by analyzing genome organization of P.

PremPLI: a machine learning model for predicting the effects of missense mutations on protein-ligand interactions.

Resistance to small-molecule drugs is the main cause of the failure of therapeutic drugs in clinical practice. Missense mutations altering the binding of ligands to proteins are one of the critical mechanisms that result in genetic disease and drug resistance. Computational methods have made a lot of progress for predicting binding affinity changes and identifying resistance mutations, but their prediction accuracy and speed are still not satisfied and need to be further improved.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Chalcone Derivatives as Multifunctional Agents against Alzheimer's Disease.

Fifteen chalcone derivatives 3a-3o were synthesized, and evaluated as multifunctional agents against Alzheimer's disease. In vitro studies revealed that these compounds inhibited self-induced Aβ aggregation effectively ranged from 45.9-94.

Mild synthesis of superadhesive hydrogel electrolyte with low interfacial resistance and enhanced ionic conductivity for flexible zinc ion battery.

Flexible aqueous battery is considered to be one of the most promising energy storage devices for powering flexible electronics. However, inferior interfacial compatibility in electrode-electrolyte interfaces and inefficient ionic channel of electrolytes usually result in potential troubles when applied in practical applications. Herein, we report a mild synthetic route to a sodium lignosulfonate-polyacrylamide hydrogel electrolyte with a high adhesiveness to achieve low electrode-electrolyte interfacial resistance and fast ionic conduction.

PfAP2-G2 Is Associated to Production and Maturation of Gametocytes in Regulating the Expression of .

Gametocyte is the sole form of the which is transmissible to the mosquito vector. Here, we report that an Apicomplexan Apetala2 (ApiAP2) family transcription factor, PfAP2-G2 (Pf3D7_1408200), plays a role in the development of gametocytes in by regulating the expression of . Reverse transcriptase-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis showed that was highly expressed in the ring stage.

A novel multistage antiplasmodial inhibitor targeting Plasmodium falciparum histone deacetylase 1.

Although artemisinin combination therapies have succeeded in reducing the global burden of malaria, multidrug resistance of the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is emerging worldwide. Innovative antimalarial drugs that kill all life-cycle stages of malaria parasites are urgently needed. Here, we report the discovery of the compound JX21108 with broad antiplasmodial activity against multiple life-cycle stages of malaria parasites.

The cryptic unstable transcripts are associated with developmentally regulated gene expression in blood-stage .

The tight gene expression regulation controls the development and pathogenesis of human malaria parasite throughout the complex life cycle. Recent studies have revealed the pervasive nascent transcripts in the genome of , suggesting the existence of a hidden transcriptome involved in the dynamic gene expression. However, the landscape and related biological functions of nascent non-coding RNAs (ns-ncRNAs) are still poorly explored.

Interactive Summarization and Exploration of Top Aggregate Query Answers.

We present a system for summarization and interactive exploration of high-valued aggregate query answers to make a large set of possible answers more informative to the user. Our system outputs a set of clusters on the high-valued query answers showing their common properties such that the clusters are diverse as much as possible to avoid repeating information, and cover a certain number of top original answers as indicated by the user. Further, the system facilitates interactive exploration of the query answers by helping the user (i) choose combinations of parameters for clustering, (ii) inspect the clusters as well as the elements they contain, and (iii) visualize how changes in parameters affect clustering.

Epigenetic editing by CRISPR/dCas9 in .

Genetic manipulation remains a major obstacle for understanding the functional genomics of the deadliest malaria parasite Although the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated protein 9) system has been successfully applied to introduce permanent changes in the parasite genome, its use is still limited. Here we show that fusing different epigenetic effector domains to a Cas9 null mutant efficiently and specifically reprograms the expression of target genes in By precisely writing and erasing histone acetylation at the transcription start site regions of the invasion-related genes () and (), respectively, we achieved significant activation of and repression of , leading to the switch of the parasite invasion pathways into human erythrocytes. By using the epigenetic knockdown system, we have also characterized the effects of , previously identified as an essential gene, on expression of mainly trophozoite- and schizont-specific genes, and therefore regulation of the growth of the mature forms of This epigenetic CRISPR/dCas9 system provides a powerful approach for regulating gene expression at the transcriptional level in .

QAGView: Interactively Summarizing High-Valued Aggregate Query Answers.

Methods for summarizing and diversifying query results have drawn significant attention recently, because they help present query results with lots of tuples to users in more informative ways. We present QAGView (Quick AGgregate View), which provides a holistic overview of high-valued aggregate query answers to the user in the form of (showing high-level properties that emerge from subsets of answers) with guarantee (for a user-specified number of top-valued answers) that is both (avoiding overlapping or similar summaries) and (focusing on high-valued aggregate answers). QAGView allows users to view the high-level summaries as clusters, and to expand individual clusters for their constituent result tuples.