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Advancements in computer science and software engineering have greatly facilitated mass spectrometry (MS)-based untargeted metabolomics. Nowadays, gigabytes of metabolomics data are routinely generated from MS platforms, containing condensed structural and quantitative information from thousands of metabolites. Manual data processing is almost impossible due to the large data size. Therefore, in the "omics" era, we are faced with new challenges, the big data challenges of how to accurately and efficiently process the raw data, extract the biological information, and visualize the results from the gigantic amount of collected data. Although important, proposing solutions to address these big data challenges requires broad interdisciplinary knowledge, which can be challenging for many metabolomics practitioners. Our laboratory in the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia is committed to combining analytical chemistry, computer science, and statistics to develop bioinformatics tools that address these big data challenges. In this Feature Article, we elaborate on the major big data challenges in metabolomics, including data acquisition, feature extraction, quantitative measurements, statistical analysis, and metabolite annotation. We also introduce our recently developed bioinformatics solutions for these challenges. Notably, all of the bioinformatics tools and source codes are freely available on GitHub (https://www.github.com/HuanLab), along with revised and regularly updated content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge in the fabrication of ferromagnetically filled carbon-nanotube buckypapers in the presence of Cl-radicals is the achievement of a preferential horizontal nanotube-alignment. We show that a horizontal-alignment can be achieved by tuning two main CVD parameters for a fixed dichlorobenzene concentration: the precursor-evaporation temperature and the flow rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel decorated metal–organic polyhedron (MOP) based metal–organic framework with a unique 4,9-connected network is successfully constructed, which displays a relatively strong interaction toward H2 and CO2 probably due to the existence of open metal sites in the secondary building units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organocatalytic vinylogous Friedel–Crafts alkylation-initiated formal [2+2] cycloaddition was successfully developed based on tandem iminium–enamine activation of enals. Transformable pyrrole-functionalized cyclobutanes with three contiguous stereocenters were readily obtained with excellent levels of regio-, diastereo- and enantiocontrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most interesting structural features of multiwall carbon onions (MWCNOs) and nanotubes (MWCNTs) is the excellent chemical stability, which allows in situ encapsulation of chosen magnetic materials of interest and multifunctional applications. In this letter, we present an innovative chemical vapour synthesis (CVS) approach, in which the inclusion of small quantities of sulfur during the pyrolysis of ferrocene/dichlorobenzene mixtures allows for an important control in the relative abundance of FCC γ-Fe, up to a maximum value of ∼86.5% (structural- and phase-control). The variation in the relative percentage of the encapsulated Fe-based phases was estimated by employing X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement analyses. The magnetic characterization was achieved by employing superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, with zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) curves acquired at applied fields of 300 Oe and ∼50 000 Oe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocatalytically inactive commercial WO3 can be transformed into an efficient counter electrode (CE) material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) via facile hydrogen treatment. The energy conversion efficiency of the DSCs with the hydrogen-treated WO3 CE was 5.43%, while the corresponding value for commercial WO3 with the stoichiometric surface was only 0.63%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel 3-D (3,6)-connected topological architecture, obtained by reacting Cd(ClO4)2·6H2O with Htrtr (Htrtr = 3-(1,2,4-triazole-4-yl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole) under solvothermal conditions, presents a non-centrosymmetric polar packing arrangement, resulting in a strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response and ferroelectric property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel 3-D (3,6)-connected topological architecture, obtained by reacting Cd(ClO4)2·6H2O with Htrtr (Htrtr = 3-(1,2,4-triazole-4-yl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole) under solvothermal conditions, presents a non-centrosymmetric polar packing arrangement, resulting in a strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response and ferroelectric property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]