Source-Associated Gastroenteritis Risk from Swimming Exposure to Aging Fecal Pathogens

Human contact with fecally contaminated waters often raises public health concern. The infection potential closely relates to the fecal source type and the aging persistence of waterborne pathogens. In this study, the health risk of contracting gastroenteritis from exposure to aging fecal contamination was predicted using source-associated markers. Microbial decay characteristics in typical summer seawater were incorporated into a pathogen dose estimation model for a constant fecal input. Results show that the median illness probability commensurate with the health benchmark of 36/1000 corresponded to the marker concentrations of ∼7.8, ∼6.6, ∼3.7, and ∼3.5 log10 gene copies/100 mL for seagulls, cattle, raw sewage, and treated effluent, respectively. The error in risk estimates due to neglecting microbial decay was linearly correlated to the decay differences between markers and pathogens. Specifically, the health risk associated with nonhuman sources, which was primarily contributed by bacterial and parasitic pathogens, can be substantially overestimated, while that for virus-dominated human sources was insignificantly affected by the differential decay. Additionally, seagulls dominated the Enterococcus concentration in waters with a mixture of the above-mentioned sources, although they posed limited health risk. This study provides an approach to understanding the influence of fecal aging on health risk estimation

Dissipation kinetics, residues and risk assessment of propiconazole and azoxystrobin in ginseng and soil

<p>The combinational fungicide suspension (11.7% propiconazole + 7% azoxystrobin), developed by Syngenta Co., Ltd., is very effective for the control of Alternaria black spot on ginseng. A simple and effective method was developed for determining propiconazole and azoxystrobin residues by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The recoveries of propiconazole ranged from 81.0% to 98.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 1.23–8.46%, while the recoveries of azoxystrobin ranged from 83.2% to 98.8% with RSDs of 3.29–9.50%. For the dissipation kinetics, the combinational fungicide was sprayed with dosage of 225 g a.i.ha⁻¹ (1.5 times of recommended dosage) in ginseng and soil at two different locations. The dissipation kinetics followed the first-order kinetics with half-lives of 6.66–13.33 days for propiconazole and 4.92–9.12 days for azoxystrobin. Based on the terminal residues data, the preharvest interval (PHI) could be 35 days at recommended dosage in ginseng. The dietary exposure risk was estimated by risk quotient (RQ). The result showed that the RQ value was obviously lower than RQ = 1, indicating that spraying propiconazole and azoxystrobin in ginseng at recommended dosage was safe for human beings.</p

Data_Sheet_1_Water-Dispersible Phytosterol Nanoparticles: Preparation, Characterization, and in vitro Digestion.docx

For improving solubility and bioaccessibility of phytosterols (PS), phytosterol nanoparticles (PNPs) were prepared by emulsification–evaporation combined high-pressure homogenization method. The organic phase was formed with the dissolved PS and soybean lecithin (SL) in anhydrous ethanol, then mixed with soy protein isolate (SPI) solution, and homogenized into nanoparticles, followed by the evaporation of ethanol. The optimum fabrication conditions were determined as PS (1%, w/v): SL of 1:4, SPI content of 0.75% (w/v), and ethanol volume of 16 ml. PNPs were characterized to have average particle size 93.35 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) 0.179, zeta potential −29.3 mV, and encapsulation efficiency (EE) 97.3%. The impact of temperature, pH, and ionic strength on the stability of fabricated PNPs was determined. After 3-h in vitro digestion, the bioaccessibility of PS in nanoparticles reached 70.8%, significantly higher than the 18.2% of raw PS. Upon freeze-drying, the particle size of PNPs increased to 199.1 nm, resulting in a bimodal distribution. The solubility of PS in water could reach up to 2.122 mg/ml, ~155 times higher than that of raw PS. Therefore, this study contributes to the development of functional PS-food ingredients.</p

Hot Carrier Transfer in PtSe₂/Graphene Enabled by the Hot Phonon Bottleneck

The charge transfer (CT) process of two-dimensional (2D) graphene/transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) heterostructures makes the photoelectric conversion ability of TMDs into a wider spectral range for the light harvester and photoelectric detector applications. However, the direct in situ investigation of the hot carrier transport in graphene/TMDs heterostructures has been rarely reported. Herein, using the optical pump and a terahertz (THz) probe (OPTP) spectroscopy, the CT process from graphene to five-layer PtSe2 in the PtSe2/graphene (P/G) heterostructure is demonstrated to be related to the pump fluence, which is enabled by the hot phonon bottleneck (HPB) effect in graphene. Furthermore, the frequency dispersion conductivity and the THz emission spectroscopy of the P/G heterostructure confirmed the existence of interlayer CT and its pump fluence-dependent behavior. Our results provide in-depth physical insights into the CT mechanism at the P/G van der Waals interface, which is crucial for further exploration of optoelectronic devices based on P/G heterostructures

Spectroscopic Evidence for Interfacial Charge Separation and Recombination in Graphene-MoS2 Vertical Heterostructures

Vertical van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures consisting of graphene (Gr) and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have created a fascinating platform for exploring optical and electronic properties in the two-dimensional limit. Previous study has revealed the ultrafast formation of interfacial excitons and the exciton dynamics in the Gr/MoS2 heterostructure. However, a fully understanding of interfacial charge separation and the subsequent dynamics in graphene-based heterostructures remains elusive. Here, we investigate the carrier dynamics of Gr-MoS2 (including Gr/MoS2 and MoS2/Gr stacking sequences) heterostructures under different photoexcitation energies and stacking sequences by comprehensive ultrafast means, including time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy (TRTS), terahertz emission spectroscopy (TES) and transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS). We demonstrate that the Gr/MoS2 heterostructure generates hot electron injection from graphene into the MoS2 layer with photoexcitation of sub-A-exciton of MoS2, while the interfacial charge separation in the MoS2/Gr could be partially blocked by the electric field of substrate. Charge transfer (CT) occurs in same directions for the Gr-MoS2 heterostructures with opposite stacking order, resulting in the opposite orientations of the interfacial photocurrent, as directly demonstrated by the terahertz (THz) emission. Moreover, we demonstrate that the recombination time of interfacial charges after CT is on a timescale of 18 ps to 1 ns, depending on the density of defect states in MoS2 layer. This work provides a comprehensive and unambiguous picture of the interfacial charge dynamics of graphene-based heterostructures, which is essential for developing Gr/TMDs based optoelectronic devices

Table1_Comprehensive analysis of the prognosis and immune infiltrates for the BET protein family reveals the significance of BRD4 in glioblastoma multiforme.PDF

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and invasive primary central nervous system tumor. The prognosis after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is very poor. Bromodomain (BRD) proteins have been identified in oncogenic rearrangements, and play a key role in the development of multiple cancers. However, the relationship between BET proteins and prognosis of GBM are still worth exploring, and the distinct functions of BET proteins and tumor immunology in GBM have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop effective biomarkers to predict the prognosis of GBM patients.Methods: Metascape, David, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, Oncomine, GEPIA, TCGA, TIMER, and LinkedOmics databases were used to assess the expression and prognosis for BET proteins in GBM. ROC analysis of risk model was established to identify the correlation between BET genes and overall survival in GBM patients. TIMER and GEPIA databases were used to comprehensively investigate the correlation between BET genes and tumor immune infiltration cells. Moreover, the image of immunohistochemistry staining of BET proteins in normal tissue and tumor tissue were retrived from the HPA database. In addition, differential analysis and pathway enrichment analysis of BRD4 gene expression profile were also carried out. Finally, immune-fluorescence and Western blot were used to clarify the expression of BRD4 in GBM cells.Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that the expression levels of BET genes in GBM may play an important role in oncogenesis. Specifically, bioinformatic and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that BRD4 protein was more highly expressed in tumor tissues than that in normal tissues. The high expression of BRD4 was associated with poor prognosis in GBM. The expression of BET genes were closely related to the immune checkpoint in GBM. The correlation effect of BRD4 was significantly higher than other BET genes, which represented negative correlation with immune checkpoint. The expression of BRD4 was positively associated with tumor purity, and negatively associated with immune infiltration abundance of macrophage, neutrophil and CD8+ T-cell, respectively. Cox analysis showed that the model had good survival prediction and prognosis discrimination ability. In addition, the expression levels of BRD4 protein was significantly higher in U-251 MG cells than that in normal cells, which was consistent with the results of bioinformatics data.Conclusion: This study implied that BRD4 could be hopeful prognostic biomarker in GBM. The increased expression of BRD4 may act as a molecular marker to identify GBM patients with high-risk subgroups. BRD4 may be a valuable prognostic biomarker, and a potential target of precision therapy against GBM.</p

Ultrafast Drift Current Terahertz Emission Amplification in the Monolayer WSe₂/Si Heterostructure

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have great potential application for seamless on-chip integration due to their strong photon–electron–spin–valley coupling. However, the contact-free measurements of the valley-coupled photocurrent in TMDs is still challenging. Here, ultrafast terahertz emission spectroscopy is employed to investigate the photocurrent dynamics in monolayer WSe2, and an interface-induced drift current amplification is found in the WSe2/Si heterostructure. The amplification of terahertz emission comes from the photocurrent enlarged by band bending in the WSe2 and Si junction, and the amplification ratio increase further near the valley resonant transition of WSe2. In addition, the valley-momentum locked photocurrent in the WSe2/Si heterostructure reserves the same chirality with monolayer WSe2 at room temperature. These findings could provide a new method for manipulating valley-momentum locked photocurrent by photon helicity and open new avenues for TMD-based valley-polarized terahertz emission devices

DataSheet1_Comprehensive analysis of the prognosis and immune infiltrates for the BET protein family reveals the significance of BRD4 in glioblastoma multiforme.ZIP

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and invasive primary central nervous system tumor. The prognosis after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is very poor. Bromodomain (BRD) proteins have been identified in oncogenic rearrangements, and play a key role in the development of multiple cancers. However, the relationship between BET proteins and prognosis of GBM are still worth exploring, and the distinct functions of BET proteins and tumor immunology in GBM have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop effective biomarkers to predict the prognosis of GBM patients.Methods: Metascape, David, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, Oncomine, GEPIA, TCGA, TIMER, and LinkedOmics databases were used to assess the expression and prognosis for BET proteins in GBM. ROC analysis of risk model was established to identify the correlation between BET genes and overall survival in GBM patients. TIMER and GEPIA databases were used to comprehensively investigate the correlation between BET genes and tumor immune infiltration cells. Moreover, the image of immunohistochemistry staining of BET proteins in normal tissue and tumor tissue were retrived from the HPA database. In addition, differential analysis and pathway enrichment analysis of BRD4 gene expression profile were also carried out. Finally, immune-fluorescence and Western blot were used to clarify the expression of BRD4 in GBM cells.Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that the expression levels of BET genes in GBM may play an important role in oncogenesis. Specifically, bioinformatic and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that BRD4 protein was more highly expressed in tumor tissues than that in normal tissues. The high expression of BRD4 was associated with poor prognosis in GBM. The expression of BET genes were closely related to the immune checkpoint in GBM. The correlation effect of BRD4 was significantly higher than other BET genes, which represented negative correlation with immune checkpoint. The expression of BRD4 was positively associated with tumor purity, and negatively associated with immune infiltration abundance of macrophage, neutrophil and CD8+ T-cell, respectively. Cox analysis showed that the model had good survival prediction and prognosis discrimination ability. In addition, the expression levels of BRD4 protein was significantly higher in U-251 MG cells than that in normal cells, which was consistent with the results of bioinformatics data.Conclusion: This study implied that BRD4 could be hopeful prognostic biomarker in GBM. The increased expression of BRD4 may act as a molecular marker to identify GBM patients with high-risk subgroups. BRD4 may be a valuable prognostic biomarker, and a potential target of precision therapy against GBM.</p

DataSheet2_Comprehensive analysis of the prognosis and immune infiltrates for the BET protein family reveals the significance of BRD4 in glioblastoma multiforme.ZIP

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and invasive primary central nervous system tumor. The prognosis after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is very poor. Bromodomain (BRD) proteins have been identified in oncogenic rearrangements, and play a key role in the development of multiple cancers. However, the relationship between BET proteins and prognosis of GBM are still worth exploring, and the distinct functions of BET proteins and tumor immunology in GBM have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop effective biomarkers to predict the prognosis of GBM patients.Methods: Metascape, David, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, Oncomine, GEPIA, TCGA, TIMER, and LinkedOmics databases were used to assess the expression and prognosis for BET proteins in GBM. ROC analysis of risk model was established to identify the correlation between BET genes and overall survival in GBM patients. TIMER and GEPIA databases were used to comprehensively investigate the correlation between BET genes and tumor immune infiltration cells. Moreover, the image of immunohistochemistry staining of BET proteins in normal tissue and tumor tissue were retrived from the HPA database. In addition, differential analysis and pathway enrichment analysis of BRD4 gene expression profile were also carried out. Finally, immune-fluorescence and Western blot were used to clarify the expression of BRD4 in GBM cells.Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that the expression levels of BET genes in GBM may play an important role in oncogenesis. Specifically, bioinformatic and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that BRD4 protein was more highly expressed in tumor tissues than that in normal tissues. The high expression of BRD4 was associated with poor prognosis in GBM. The expression of BET genes were closely related to the immune checkpoint in GBM. The correlation effect of BRD4 was significantly higher than other BET genes, which represented negative correlation with immune checkpoint. The expression of BRD4 was positively associated with tumor purity, and negatively associated with immune infiltration abundance of macrophage, neutrophil and CD8+ T-cell, respectively. Cox analysis showed that the model had good survival prediction and prognosis discrimination ability. In addition, the expression levels of BRD4 protein was significantly higher in U-251 MG cells than that in normal cells, which was consistent with the results of bioinformatics data.Conclusion: This study implied that BRD4 could be hopeful prognostic biomarker in GBM. The increased expression of BRD4 may act as a molecular marker to identify GBM patients with high-risk subgroups. BRD4 may be a valuable prognostic biomarker, and a potential target of precision therapy against GBM.</p

Intrinsic Switchable Valley-Polarized Photocurrent in ε‑InSe

Valleytronics, focusing on the charge carriers occupying valleys (local energy extrema) of the energy bands in semiconductors, demonstrates an additional degree of freedom besides the spin and charge. Usually, the inequivalent valley “states” in transition metal disulfides (TMDs) could be manipulated by external magnetic fields by controlling the valley-polarized carriers in spin-coupled valleys. Here, we found that the valley polarization of the photocurrent in ε-InSe could be intrinsically manipulated without the external field by the all-optical contactless method. The transient circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE)-induced photocurrent revealed by terahertz emission could be reversed only by selected pumping carriers from vertically split valence bands into different Rashba valleys. The switchable Rashba valley polarization, i.e., the optical orienting valley degree of freedom, could be fulfilled by the synergetic effects between the momentum-dependent Zeeman-like field due to the emergent nonzero Berry curvature and the Rashba splitting. Our results suggest that the spontaneous symmetry breaking could degenerate the given valley in ε-InSe and give a new roadmap for the manipulation of the valley degree of freedom intrinsically