Was the first industrial revolution a conjuncture in the history of the world economy?

Quantitative analysis of flavonoids in flower petals of Nymphaea ‘King of Siam’. (DOCX 18 kb

Hybrid Titania–Zirconia Nanoparticles Coated Adsorbent for Highly Selective Capture of Nucleosides from Human Urine in Physiological Condition

Modified nucleosides are important biomarkers of cancers. For their analysis, boronate adsorbents were widely used to selectively capture them from urine, but often suffered from serious secondary hydrophobic interaction and harsh alkaline extraction condition. In this work, the hybrid titania–zirconia nanoparticles coated on porous silica spheres (TiO₂–ZrO₂/SiO₂) were developed for the first time as a selective adsorbent for nucleosides under neutral conditions based on specific recognition of its Lewis acid sites to the cis-diol group. It was found here that TiO₂–ZrO₂ has higher binding constants than pure TiO₂ or ZrO₂, and a significant improvement of binding efficiencies was obtained by decreasing calcination temperature to 400 °C. Moreover, physiological pH of urine (pH 6–7) was found optimal to adsorb nucleosides and resist other Lewis base interferences. By self-assembly of TiO₂–ZrO₂ nanoparticles on silica, unprecedentedly high binding capacity (35 mg/g) for nucleosides was obtained due to high surface area (350 m²/g) and abundant Lewis acid sites on the surface. Due to efficient reduction of secondary hydrophobic interaction on the inorganic surface, cis-diol nucleosides could be captured from 500-fold non-cis-diol interferences. In the real sample application, nine nucleosides have been quantified with relative recoveries in 83%–126%, and 42 ribosylated metabolites had been identified with only 100 μL of urine at physiological pH. Among them, two nucleosides have never been identified in most previous studies using boronate adsorbents for capture

In Vivo Fast Equilibrium Microextraction by Stable and Biocompatible Nanofiber Membrane Sandwiched in Microfluidic Device

In vivo analysis poses higher requirements about the biocompatibility, selectivity and speed of analytical method. In this study, an in vivo fast equilibrium microextraction method was developed with a biocompatible core–sheath electrospun nanofiber membrane sandwiched within a microfluidic unit. The polystyrene/collagen core–sheath nanofiber membrane was coaxially electrospun and strengthened with in situ glutaraldehyde cross-linking. This membrane not only kept high mass transfer rate, large extraction capacity and biomatrix resistance as our previously proposed membrane (Anal. Chem. 2013, 85 (12), 5924–5932), but also got much better mechanical strength and stability in water. The microfluidic device was designed to sandwich the membrane, and the blood in vivo can be introduced into it and get contact with the membrane repetitively. With this membrane and device, a 2-min equilibrium in vivo extraction method was established, validated in a simulated blood circulation system, and was used to monitor the pharmacokinetic profiles of desipramine in rabbits. The free and total concentration of desipramine in vivo was monitored with 10-min interval almost without rabbit blood consumed. The results met well with those of in vitro extraction, and a correlation factor of 0.99 was obtained

Fast Equilibrium Micro-Extraction from Biological Fluids with Biocompatible Core–Sheath Electrospun Nanofibers

Sample preparation methods with high temporal resolution and matrix resistance will benefit fast direct analysis of analytes in a complex matrix, such as drug monitoring in biofluids. In this work, the core–sheath biocompatible electrospun nanofiber was fabricated as a micro-solid phase extraction material. With the poly­(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) as sheath polymer and polystyrene (PS) as core polymer, the fiber membrane was highly hydrophilic and exhibited good antifouling ability to proteins and cells. Its complete expansion in aqueous solution and its nanoscale fiber (100–200 nm) structure offered high mass transfer rate of analytes between liquid and solid phases. The equilibration time of microextraction with this membrane was all shorter than 2 min for eight drugs tested, and the linear ranges covered more than 3 orders of magnitude for most of them. This membrane could be applied to monitor free drugs in plasma and their protein binding kinetics by equilibrium–microextraction with a 2 min temporal resolution. The results showed that the core–sheath electrospun nanofiber membrane would be a better alternative of solid phase material for microextraction with good matrix-resistance ability and high temporal resolution

Image_2_A case of IgG4-related ophthalmic disease after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: case report and literature review.tif

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is affecting the world with a surge in cases. A variety of autoimmune diseases occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, of which IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an important type. IgG4-RD can involve multiple organs of the body. The ocular manifestation of IgG4-RD is called IgG4-related ophthalmic disease (IgG4-ROD). We herein report a patient diagnosed with IgG4-ROD. The patient developed ptosis and vision loss after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, and the symptoms worsened after SARS-CoV-2 infection. After excluding other diseases like myasthenia gravis and Eaton-Lambert syndrome that may cause ptosis, the diagnosis of IgG4-ROD was confirmed by pathological examination. We discussed the predisposing factors, diagnosis and treatment of this patient to provide a more empirical and theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. We conducted a literature review of previously reported cases of IgG4-RD following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. We retrieved a total of 9 cases, of which 5 developed symptoms after vaccination and 4 after infection. Demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized. In conclusion, our case represents the first case of proven IgG4-ROD after COVID-19 vaccination. We believe that IgG4-ROD and SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination are closely related, and the immune system disorder caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination may be a key factor in the pathogenesis of IgG4-RD. But for now, there is no direct evidence that there is a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination and IgG4-ROD, which still needs more research and exploration to confirm.</p

Image_1_A case of IgG4-related ophthalmic disease after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: case report and literature review.tif

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is affecting the world with a surge in cases. A variety of autoimmune diseases occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, of which IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an important type. IgG4-RD can involve multiple organs of the body. The ocular manifestation of IgG4-RD is called IgG4-related ophthalmic disease (IgG4-ROD). We herein report a patient diagnosed with IgG4-ROD. The patient developed ptosis and vision loss after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, and the symptoms worsened after SARS-CoV-2 infection. After excluding other diseases like myasthenia gravis and Eaton-Lambert syndrome that may cause ptosis, the diagnosis of IgG4-ROD was confirmed by pathological examination. We discussed the predisposing factors, diagnosis and treatment of this patient to provide a more empirical and theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. We conducted a literature review of previously reported cases of IgG4-RD following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. We retrieved a total of 9 cases, of which 5 developed symptoms after vaccination and 4 after infection. Demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized. In conclusion, our case represents the first case of proven IgG4-ROD after COVID-19 vaccination. We believe that IgG4-ROD and SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination are closely related, and the immune system disorder caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination may be a key factor in the pathogenesis of IgG4-RD. But for now, there is no direct evidence that there is a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination and IgG4-ROD, which still needs more research and exploration to confirm.</p

Aerobic Copper-Promoted Radical-Type Cleavage of Coordinated Cyanide Anion: Nitrogen Transfer to Aldehydes To Form Nitriles

We have disclosed for the first time the copper-promoted CN triple bond cleavage of coordinated cyanide anion under a dioxygen atmosphere, which enables a nitrogen transfer to various aldehydes. Mechanistic study of this unprecedented transformation suggests that the single electron-transfer process could be involved in the overall course. This protocol provides a new cleavage pattern for the cyanide ion and would eventually lead to a more useful synthetic pathway to nitriles from aldehydes

Is Photooxidation Activity of {001} Facets Truly Lower Than That of {101} Facets for Anatase TiO₂ Crystals?

The effect of particle size and active surfaces on photoreactivity of TiO₂ crystals is investigated in this report. The clarification of highly active surfaces is the key to understanding the photoreactivity of anatase TiO₂ crystal and also to morphological control of photocatalysts with well-defined crystal facets. The anatase TiO₂ single crystals with different percentage of {001} facets in uniform size, as well as anatase TiO₂ single crystals with different particles size in same percentage of {001} facets, are synthesized by carefully controlling the synthesis parameters. Their photooxiation reactivity results indicate that the underlying dominant factor for photooxidation activity of anatase TiO₂ crystals is particle size. The photooxidation activity of {001} facets is greater than that of {101} facets when the crystals size of anatase TiO₂ is identical. This work would be beneficial for better understanding the different photocatalytic performance of different facets of metal oxide crystals in photoreactivity processes

Porous Graphitic Carbon-Based Imprint Mass Spectrometry Imaging with an Ambient Liquid Extraction Technique for Enhancing Coverage of Glycerolipids and Sphingolipids in Brain Tissue

Localization of lipidomes and tracking their spatial changes by mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is critical for the mechanism studies on living process, disease, and therapeutic treatment. However, due to the strong ion suppression in complex biotissue, the imaging coverage for lipids with low polarity or low abundances, such as glycerolipids and sphingolipids, is usually limited. To address this issue, we utilized a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) material to imprint brain tissue sections for selective enrichment of neutral lipids with polar phospholipids removed. Then, the tissue imprint was scanned for desorption by the ambient liquid extraction MSI system. It was found that on the PGC surface, hydrophobic interaction dominates in protic solvents, and polar interaction dominates in aprotic solvents. Accordingly, methanol was selected as the spray solvent for tissue imprinting, and 75% acetonitrile–methanol was selected as the desorption solvent for the ambient liquid extraction MSI system. The results showed that glycerides had high recoveries after the imprinting–desorption process (recovery ∼ 70%) with phospholipids eliminated (recovery < 7%). To increase the transferring efficiencies of lipids from tissue onto PGC, electrospray was used for solvent application during imprinting, and the signals of diglycerides (DGs) in the imprint MSI of brain tissue increased by 2–3 times as compared to those via air spray. Finally, the new imprint MSI approach was applied to the imaging of the rat cerebellum and was compared with direct tissue MSI. The results showed that with imprint MSI, the coverage of DGs, sphingomyelins (SMs), and ceramides was enhanced by 4–5-fold (32 vs 6, 4 vs 1, and 5 vs 0). The ion images showed that with imprint MSI, higher signal intensities and clearer spatial distribution of DGs and SMs were obtained without interference from phosphatidylcholine signals compared with tissue MSI. This new method provides a complementary approach for traditional MSI to address the issues in imaging poorly ionizable or low-abundance lipids

Additional file 1 of Cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy in patients with platinum-pretreated, recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer

Supplementary Material