Distinct tropisms of HCMV and SARS-CoV-2 in lung tissue of a patient with advanced HIV disease.

• This report presents a rare case of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and HCMV in a patient with severe AIDS. • Despite suppression of SARS-CoV-2, HCMV pneumonia contributed to the patient's death. • Distinct HCMV/SARS-CoV-2 lung infection patterns suggest synergistic damage from co-infection.

Fluorination of Aza-BODIPY for Cancer Cell Plasma Membrane-Targeted Imaging and Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great potential in cancer treatment, leveraging photosensitizers (PSs) to deliver targeted therapy. Fluorination can optimize the physicochemical and biological properties of PSs for better PDT performance. Here, we report some high-performance multifunctional PSs specifically designed for cancer PDT by fluorinating aza-BODIPY with perfluoro--butoxymethyl (PFBM) groups.

Distinguishing local isomorphism classes in quasicrystals by high-order harmonic spectroscopy.

Electron diffraction spectroscopy is a fundamental tool for investigating quasicrystal structures, which unveils the quasiperiodic long-range order. Nevertheless, it falls short in effectively distinguishing separate local isomorphism classes. This is a long outstanding problem.

General access to furan-substituted -difluoroalkenes enabled by PFTB-promoted cross-coupling of ene-yne-ketones and difluorocarbene.

Replacement of a carbonyl group with fluorinated bioisostere (, CF[double bond, length as m-dash]C) has been adopted as a key tactical strategy in drug design and development, which typically improves potency and modulates lipophilicity while maintaining biological activity. Consequently, new -difluoroalkenation reactions have undoubtedly accelerated this shift, and conceptually innovative practices would be of great benefit to medicinal chemists. Here we describe an expeditous protocol for the direct assembly of furan-substituted -difluoroalkenes PFTB-promoted cross-coupling of ene-yne-ketones and difluorocarbene.

Aromatic-aromatic interactions drive fold switch of GA95 and GB95 with three residue difference.

Proteins typically adopt a single fold to carry out their function, but metamorphic proteins, with multiple folding states, defy this norm. Deciphering the mechanism of conformational interconversion of metamorphic proteins is challenging. Herein, we employed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD), and all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to elucidate the mechanism of fold switching in proteins GA95 and GB95, which share 95% sequence homology.

Anterior and posterior cerebral white matter show different patterns of microstructural alterations in young adult smokers.

Neuroimaging studies revealed that smoking is associated with abnormal white matter (WM) microstructure. However, results are controversial, and the impact of smoking on the WM integrity in young smokers is still unclear. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate the smoking-related WM alterations in young adult smokers.

Adaptation of Left Ventricular Function and Myocardial Microstructure in Fetuses With Right Ventricular Hypoplasia.

Background: In this study we evaluated changes in left ventricular (LV) function and myocardial microstructure in fetuses with right ventricular hypoplasia (RVH) using 2-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography, diffusion tensor cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, and proteomics analysis.

Methods: Fifty-one singleton fetuses diagnosed with RVH and 51 normal fetuses were retrospectively included. LV global longitudinal strain and global circumferential strain were acquired using 2-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

Lactobacillus casei Zhang prevents hippocampal atrophy and cognitive impairment in rats with type 2 diabetes by regulating blood glucose levels.

Purpose: Lactobacillus casei Zhang (LCZ) has health benefits, such as the ability to improve blood glucose levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, little is known about the effects of LCZ on brain structural plasticity and cognitive function in T2DM. The aims of this study were to determine whether LCZ can prevent and alleviate brain damage and memory impairment in T2DM, and to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of LCZ in T2DM.

SlipChip Enables the Integration of CRISPR-Cas12a and RPA for Fast and Stand-Alone HPV Detection.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) screening is vital for the early detection and prevention of cervical cancer. However, existing methods often face challenges related to speed, simplicity, and multiplexing, especially in resource-limited settings. Here we developed a portable SlipChip-based multiplexed and rapid nucleic acid testing platform, named SMART, designed to simultaneously detect HPV16 and HPV18.

Predicting Rate Constants of Hydrogen Abstraction Reactions between OH/HO and Alkanes by Machine Learning Models.

The hydrogen abstraction reactions by small radicals from fuel molecules play an important role in the oxidation of fuels. However, experimental measurements and/or theoretical calculations of their rate constants under combustion conditions are very challenging due to their high reactivity. Machine learning offers a promising approach to predicting thermal rate constants.

Evidence of Preferential Aluminum Site Loss during Reaction-Induced Dealumination.

Understanding the mechanism of steam-induced dealumination of zeolite catalysts is of high relevance for tuning their performance and stability in multiple industrial processes. A combination of Al and H-H double-quantum single-quantum magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance and diffuse-reflectance ultraviolet-visible spectroscopies identified a preferential dealumination of tetrahedral aluminum sites in H-ZSM-5 zeolites. Framework aluminum atoms facing channels display reactivity toward steam higher than that of those in their intersections.

Magnetic resonance image denoising for Rician noise using a novel hybrid transformer-CNN network (HTC-net) and self-supervised pretraining.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a crucial technique for both scientific research and clinical diagnosis. However, noise generated during MR data acquisition degrades image quality, particularly in hyperpolarized (HP) gas MRI. While deep learning (DL) methods have shown promise for MR image denoising, most of them fail to adequately utilize the long-range information which is important to improve denoising performance.

Measurement of pulmonary hematocrit using oscillation of hyperpolarized Xe MR signals in blood.

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of measuring pulmonary hematocrit (Hct) in blood in vivo using oscillation of hyperpolarized Xe MR signals and its potential for disease assessment in animal models.

Methods: Hyperpolarized Xe dynamic MR spectroscopy was performed on 10 anemia model rats and 10 control rats. A concise model based on hyperpolarized Xe MR signal oscillations was built for calculating pulmonary Hct.

Deep learning enabled ultra-high quality NMR chemical shift resolved spectra.

High quality chemical shift resolved spectra have long been pursued in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In order to obtain chemical shift information with high resolution and sensitivity, a neural network named spin echo to obtain chemical shifts network (SE2CSNet) is developed to process the NMR data acquired by the spin echo pulse sequence. Through detecting the change of phase in the spin echo spectra, SE2CSNet can accurately detect the chemical shift position of spectral signals.

An explicitly correlated potential energy surface for N2-OCS complex: Out-of-plane motion and tunneling dynamics.

A four-dimensional potential energy surface (4D-PES) has been constructed for the N2-OCS complex. The PES is achieved by applying the explicitly correlated coupled cluster method, which incorporates single, double, and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)-F12a], along with the augmented correlation consistent triple zeta (aug-cc-pVTZ) basis set. The rovibrational levels are precisely determined and assigned through bound state calculations and wavefunction analysis.

Native Cellular Membranes Facilitate Channel Activity of MscL by Enhancing Slow Collective Motions of Its Transmembrane Helices.

Mechanosensitive channels of large conductance (MscL) serve as a mechanoelectrical valve of cells in response to the membrane tension. The influence of membrane environments on the MscL channel activity and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we developed a new sample preparation protocol that allows for the detection of high-quality H-detected solid-state NMR spectra of MscL in cellular membranes, enabling site-specific analysis of its dynamics.

Directional Transport in Hierarchically Aligned ZSM-5 Zeolites with High Catalytic Activity.

Zeolites, the most technically important crystalline microporous materials, are indispensable cornerstones of chemical engineering because of their remarkable catalytic properties and adsorption capabilities. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the hierarchical engineering of zeolites can maximize accessible active sites and improve mass transport, which significantly decreases the internal diffusion limits to achieve the desired performance. However, the construction of hierarchical zeolites with ordered alignments and size-controlled substructures in a convenient way is highly challenging.

Pitaya-Inspired Metal-Organic Framework Nanozyme for Multimodal Imaging-Guided Synergistic Cuproptosis, Nanocatalytic Therapy, and Photothermal Therapy.

Nature often provides invaluable insights into technological innovation and the construction of nanomaterials. Inspired by the pitaya fruit's strategy of wrapping seeds within its pulp to enhance seed survival, a unique nanocomposite based on metal-organic framework (MOF)-encapsulated CuS nanoparticles (NPs) is developed. This design effectively addresses the challenge of short retention time afforded by CuS NPs for therapeutic and imaging purposes.

Inducing alternating magnetic fields for real-time non-contact fault localization within electric energy storage component arrays.

With the wide application of electric energy storage component arrays, such as battery cell arrays, capacitor arrays, and inductor arrays, their potential safety risks have gradually drawn the public attention. However, existing technologies cannot realize rapid, precise, and nondestructive localization of the faulty component within these large-scale arrays, especially for a component with an early stage short-circuit fault. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a magnetic field based method and realizes precise fault localization by inducing an alternating magnetic field from the target array, unlike previous research where a static magnetic field was induced.

Atom-Economic Synthesis of Zeolites.

Zeolites are typically synthesized in the presence of strong alkaline or fluoride species, which is not atom-economic for zeolite synthesis due to the high solubility of strong alkaline and fluoride species to silica. One of the solutions for this issue is to reduce solubility of silica in the zeolite synthesis, but it is challenging. Herein, we show that nucleation and growth of zeolites can occur under near neutral conditions, giving an atom-economical synthesis of zeolites with almost full silica utilization due to very low silica solubility.

Nanoengineered Neutrophil as F-MRI Tracer for Alert Diagnosis and Severity Assessment of Acute Lung Injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe complication in clinical settings. Alert diagnosis and severity assessment of ALI is pivotal to ensure curative treatment and increase survival rates. However, the development of a precise ALI diagnostic strategy remains a pending task.

Cerebral small vessel injury in mice with damage to ACE2-expressing cerebral vascular endothelial cells and post COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is expressed in cerebral vascular endothelial cells (CVECs), has been currently identified as a functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: We specifically induced injury to ACE2-expressing CVECs in mice and evaluated the effects of such targeted damage through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive behavioral tests. In parallel, we recruited a single-center cohort of COVID-19 survivors and further assessed their brain microvascular injury based on cognition and emotional scales, cranial MRI scans, and blood proteomic measurements.