Analysis of the Herbicides Chlorsulfuron, Sulfometuron Methyl and Metsulfuron Methyl in Soil and Water

Chlorsulfuron, sulfometuron methyl and metsulfuron methyl are new herbicides. They are effective in controlling weeds in different areas. Generally, they are applied at very low levels. Their decomposition rates vary with soil moisture, pH, etc. Since they may be used year after year and their decomposition rates are not very rapid in this climate, the persistence can be a problem with herbicide carryover harming crops in the following years. Therefore, there is a need for a method to measure very low levels of these herbicides in soil and water to ensure that the quantities which might be present are not sufficiently large to be injurious to agricultural crops. The objective of my thesis research was to develop a method to determine herbicides chlorsulfuron, sulfometuron methyl and metsulfuron methyl in soil and water and estimate the detection limits with the instruments available in this school. Much of my work involved efforts to improve detection levels, and this involved a study of a number of extractions, cleanup and chromatography methods

Visible-light promoted atom transfer radical addition-elimination (ATRE) reaction for the synthesis of fluoroalkylated alkenes using DMA as electron-donor

Here, we describe a mild, catalyst-free and operationally-simple strategy for the direct fluoroalkylation of olefins driven by the photochemical activity of an electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex between DMA and fluoroalkyl iodides. The significant advantages of this photochemical transformation are high efficiency, excellent functional group tolerance, and synthetic simplicity, thus providing a facile route for further application in pharmaceuticals and life sciences

Witnessing quantum coherence with prior knowledge of observables

Quantum coherence is the key resource in quantum technologies including faster computing, secure communication and advanced sensing. Its quantification and detection are, therefore, paramount within the context of quantum information processing. Having certain priori knowledge on the observables may enhance the efficiency of coherence detection. In this work, we posit that the trace of the observables is a known quantity. Our investigation confirms that this assumption indeed extends the scope of coherence detection capabilities. Utilizing this prior knowledge of the trace of the observables, we establish a series of coherence detection criteria. We investigate the detection capabilities of these coherence criteria from diverse perspectives and ultimately ascertain the existence of four distinct and inequivalent criteria. These findings contribute to the deepening of our understanding of coherence detection methodologies, thereby potentially opening new avenues for advancements in quantum technologies.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Immune checkpoint inhibitor increased mortality in lung cancer patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia: a comparative retrospective cohort study

IntroductionPneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is a life-threatening infection in immunocompromised individuals. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) has brought significant survival benefit in lung cancer patients. Although the few studies showed there was high mortality in PJP patients with ICI use, these studies had no comparative control groups.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted to compare the mortality in PJP patients with lung cancer between those treated with ICI and a concurrent control group treated without ICI.ResultsA total number of 20 non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients with confirmed PJP and co-existing lung cancer were included in the current study, and classified into ICI group (n=9) and non-ICI group (n=11).There was a clear trend to a shorter onset of PJP in ICI group than non-ICI group (118.9 ± 60.9 vs 253.0 ± 185.1 days), although without statistical significance (p=0.053). Bronchoscopic alveolar lavage fluid were collected from all patients and used to identify Pneumocystis jirovecii. In both groups, metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS) were the most used diagnostic techniques. Within 28 days after the onset of PJP, mortality was significantly higher in the ICI group than non-ICI group (33.3% vs 0, p=0.042)ConclusionLung cancer patients with ICI use had a higher mortality rate after PJP infection than patients without ICI use. Prospective studies with larger sample size and a multi-center design are warranted to further verify the present results

A Stem Cell-Based Tool for Small Molecule Screening in Adipogenesis

Techniques for small molecule screening are widely used in biological mechanism study and drug discovery. Here, we reported a novel adipocyte differentiation assay for small molecule selection, based on human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) transduced with fluorescence reporter gene driven by adipogenic specific promoter - adipocyte Protein 2 (aP2; also namely Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4, FABP4). During normal adipogenic induction as well as adipogenic inhibition by Ly294002, we confirmed that the intensity of green fluorescence protein corresponded well to the expression level of aP2 gene. Furthermore, this variation of green fluorescence protein intensity can be read simply through fluorescence spectrophotometer. By testing another two small molecules in adipogenesis –Troglitazone and CHIR99021, we proved that this is a simple and sensitive method, which could be applied in adipocyte biology, drug discovery and toxicological study in the future

Kidney damage in COVID-19 patients with or without chronic kidney disease: Analysis of clinical characteristics and related risk factors

COVID-19 poses more risk to patients who already suffer from other diseases, particularly respiratory disorder. In this study, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and related risk factors during hospitalization of COVID-19 patients admitted with kidney damage. A total of 102 COVID-19 patients with kidney damage [irrespective of their chronic kidney disease (CKD) history] during hospitalization were included in this study. The patients were divided into a core group and a group who developed critical illness or death. Clinical data included age, gender, length of hospitalization, clinical manifestations, medical history, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs -CRP), high serum creatinine, low cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and hemoglobin. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors of patients' outcome. Among the outcomes, 75 patients (73.53%) were cured, 27 (26.47%) developed to critical illness or death, 20 (19.61%) of them died. A total of 36 (4.26%) out of 845 COVID-19 patients, developed acute kidney injury (AKI). Decreased oxygen saturation, elevated hs-CRP, elevated serum creatinine, elevated cTnI, and anemia were related factors for COVID-19 patients who developed to critical illness or death (P <0.05). Decreased oxygen saturation, elevated hs-CRP and anemia were not independent factors, but elevated serum creatinine and elevated cTnI were independent factors for COVID-19 patients who developed to critical illness or death (P <0.05). Among COVID-19 patients with or without CKD but with kidney damage during hospitalization, patients with elevated serum creatinine and elevated TnI, more likely to developed critical illness or death