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This comprehensive review explores the development of food-grade selection markers in lactic acid bacteria and yeast; some of their strains are precisely defined as safe microorganisms and are crucial in the food industry. Lactic acid bacteria, known for their ability to ferment carbohydrates into lactic acid, provide essential nutrients and contribute to immune responses. With its strong fermentation capabilities and rich nutritional profile, yeast finds use in various food products. Genetic engineering in these microorganisms has grown rapidly, enabling the expression of enzymes and secondary products for food production. However, the focus is on ensuring safety, necessitating food-grade selection markers. Traditional antibiotic and heavy metal resistance selection markers pose environmental and health risks, prompting the search for safer alternatives. Complementary selection markers, such as sugar utilization markers, offer a promising solution. These markers use carbohydrates as carbon sources for growth and are associated with the natural metabolism of lactic acid bacteria and yeast. This review discusses the use of specific sugars, such as lactose, melibiose, sucrose, D-xylose, glucosamine, and N-acetylglucosamine, as selection markers, highlighting their advantages and limitations. In summary, this review underscores the importance of food-grade selection markers in genetic engineering and offers insights into their applications, benefits, and challenges, providing valuable information for researchers in the field of food microbiology and biotechnology.

As the entering of bacterial endotoxin into blood can cause various life-threatening pathological conditions, the screening and detection of low-abundance endotoxin are of great importance to human health. Taking advantage of signal amplification by target-assisted electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (teATRP), we illustrate herein a simple and cost-effective electrochemical aptasensor capable of detecting endotoxin with high sensitivity and selectivity. Specifically, the aptamer receptor was employed for the selective capture of endotoxin, of which the glycan chain was then decorated with ATRP initiators via covalent coupling between the diol sites and phenylboronic acid (PBA) group, followed by the recruitment of ferrocene signal reporters via the grafting of polymer chains through potentiostatic eATRP under ambient temperature. As the glycan chain of endotoxin can be decorated with hundreds of ATRP initiators while the further grafting of polymer chains through eATRP can recruit hundreds to thousands of signal reporters to each initiator-decorated site, the teATRP-based strategy allows for the dual amplification of the detection signal. This dually amplified electrochemical aptasensor has the ability to sensitively and selectively detect endotoxin at a concentration as low as 1.2 fg/mL, and its practical applicability has been further demonstrated using human serum samples. Owing to the simplicity, high efficiency, biocompatibility, and inexpensiveness of the teATRP-based amplification strategy, this electrochemical aptasensor holds great application potential in the sensitive and selective detection of low-abundance endotoxin and many other glycan chain-containing bio-targets.

The loss of skeletal muscle mass and function is defined as sarcopenia, which might develop in elderly patients with cancers. It has been indicated as a potential negative factor in the survival of patients with malignant tumours. The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to evaluate the associations between sarcopenia and survival outcomes or postoperative complications in patients with oesophageal cancer (EC). Web of Science, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until 10 May 2022, using keywords: sarcopenia, oesophageal cancer, and prognosis. Studies investigating the prognostic value of sarcopenia on EC survival were included. Forest plots and summary effect models were used to show the result of this meta‐analysis. The quality of included studies was evaluated with the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale (NOS). A total of 1436 studies were identified from the initial search of four databases, and 41 studies were included for the final quantitative analysis. This meta‐analysis revealed a significant association between sarcopenia and overall survival (OS) [hazard ratios (HR):1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.54–1.83, P= 0.004, I2= 41.7%] or disease‐free survival (DFS) 1.97 (HR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.44–2.69, P= 0.007, I2= 61.9%) of EC patients. Subgroup analysis showed that sarcopenia remained a consistent negative predictor of survival when stratified by different treatment methods, populations, or sarcopenia measurements. Sarcopenia was also a risk factor for postoperative complications with a pooled odds ratio of 1.47 (95% CI: 1.21–1.77, P= 0.094, I2= 32.7%). The NOS scores of all included studies were ≥6, and the quality of the evidence was relatively high. The results from the study suggested that sarcopenia was significantly associated with both survival outcomes and postoperative complications in EC patients. Sarcopenia should be appropriately diagnosed and treated for improving short‐term and long‐term outcomes of patients with EC.

Esophageal cancer (EC) treatment via anti‐angiogenic therapy faces challenges due to non‐cytotoxicity and non‐specific biodistribution of the anti‐angiogenic agents. Hence, the quest for a synergistic treatment modality and a targeted delivery approach to effectively address EC has become imperative. In this study, an acid‐responsive release nanosystem (Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA) that involves the conjugation of bevacizumab, an anti‐angiogenic monoclonal antibody, with TA and Fe3+to form a metal‐phenolic network, followed by loading with the near‐infrared photothermal agent (IR820) to achieve combinational therapy, is designed. The construction of Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA can be realized through a facile self‐assembly process. The Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA exhibits tumor‐targeting capabilities and synergistic therapeutic effects, encompassing anti‐angiogenic therapy, photothermal therapy (PTT), and ferroptosis therapy (FT). Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA exhibits remarkable proficiency in delivering drugs to EC tissue through its pH‐responsive release properties. Consequently, bevacizumab exerts its therapeutic effects by obstructing tumor angiogenesis, thereby impeding tumor growth. Meanwhile, PTT facilitates localized thermal ablation at the tumor site, directly eradicating EC cells. FT synergistically collaborates with PTT, giving rise to the formation of a reactive oxygen species (ROS) storm, subsequently culminating in the demise of EC cells. In summary, this amalgamated treatment modality carries substantial promise for synergistically impeding EC progression and showcases auspicious prospects for future EC treatment. A novel acid‐responsive nanosystem (Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA) is designed for the targeted treatment of esophageal cancer. This nanosystem combines bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody, with tannic acid and Fe3+to achieve synergistic therapy including anti‐angiogenic, photothermal, and ferroptosis treatments. Bev‐IR820@FeIIITA demonstrates efficient drug delivery to esophageal cancer tissue through pH‐responsive release, promising to impede esophageal cancer progression and offering potential for future treatments.

To develop a deep learning-based network for CBCT-to-CT translation. This approach aims to enhance CBCT image quality and enable more accurate photon and proton dose calculation in adaptive radiotherapy.

The rapid quantification of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is of great significance to their pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) research and the personalized medication for disease treatment. Taking advantage of the direct decoration of tens of redox tags to the target of interest, we illustrate herein an amplification-free ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor for the point-of-care (POC) detection of trace amounts of therapeutic mAbs. The POC detection of therapeutic mAbs involved the use of the methylene blue (MB)-conjugated aptamer as the affinity element and the decoration of therapeutic mAbs with ferrocene (Fc) tags via the boronate crosslinking, in which the MB-derived peak current was used as the reference signal, and the peak current of the Fc tag was used as the output signal. As each therapeutic mAb carries tens of diol sites for the site-specific decoration of the Fc output tags, the boronate crosslinking enabled the amplification-free detection, which is cost-effective and quite simple in operation. In the presence of bevacizumab (BevMab) as the target, the resulting ratiometric signal (i.e., the IFc/IMBvalue) exhibited a good linear response over the range of 0.025–2.5 μg/mL, and the limit of detection (LOD) of the electrochemical aptasensor was 6.5 ng/mL. Results indicated that the aptamer-based affinity recognition endowed the detection of therapeutic mAbs with high selectivity, while the ratiometric readout exhibited satisfactory reproducibility and robustness. Moreover, the ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor is applicable to the detection of therapeutic mAbs in serum samples. Taking together, the amplification-free ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor holds great promise in the POC detection of therapeutic mAbs.

AbstractThis paper presents a class-E, single-ended power amplifier (PA) for WLAN applications. This proposed circuit has a two-stage structure and adopts cascode class-E topology with self-biased technique that avoids using thick-oxide transistors and improves RF performance. The driver employing a current-reused technique can enhance the driving ability and power gain. Additionally, the efficiency is improved by inserting a series LC networks on drain node of switch transistor. The proposed PA is simulated by Advanced Design System (ADS) in TSMC 0.18-μ CMOS technology. With a 2.5-V power supply, the fully integrated CMOS PA achieves 21.5 dBm of maximum output power and 68.3% of power-added efficiency (PAE) at 2.4 GHz. It demonstrates a power gain of 45 dB and gives better output power at minimum input levels. The chip area including testing pads is 0.91 × 0.99 mm2.

As lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is closely associated with sepsis and other life-threatening conditions, the point-of-care (POC) detection of LPS is of significant importance to human health. In this work, we illustrate an electrochemical aptasensor for the POC detection of low-abundance LPS by utilizing boronate affinity (BA) as a simple, efficient, and cost-effective amplification strategy. Briefly, the BA-amplified electrochemical aptasensing of LPS involves the tethering of the aptamer receptors and the BA-mediated direct decoration of LPS with redox signal tags. As the polysaccharide chain of LPS contains hundreds of cis-diol sites, the covalent crosslinking between the phenylboronic acid group and cis-diol sites can be harnessed for the site-specific decoration of each LPS with hundreds of redox signal tags, thereby enabling amplified detection. As it involves only a single-step operation (∼15 min), the BA-mediated signal amplification holds the significant advantages of unrivaled simplicity, rapidness, and cost-effectiveness over the conventional nanomaterial- and enzyme-based strategies. The BA-amplified electrochemical aptasensor has been successfully applied to specifically detect LPS within 45 min, with a detection limit of 0.34 pg/mL. Moreover, the clinical utility has been validated based on LPS detection in complex serum samples. As a proof of concept, a portable device has been developed to showcase the potential applicability of the BA-amplified electrochemical LPS aptasensor in the POC testing. In view of its simplicity, rapidness, and cost-effectiveness, the BA-amplified electrochemical LPS aptasensor holds broad application prospects in the POC testing.

The influences of In‐component‐graded InGaN barrier on the performances of InGaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) are studied. The results show that LEDs with In‐component linearly graded InGaN barrier exhibit better performances of radiative recombination rate and efficiency droop than reference LED with constant‐In‐component InGaN barrier. At 150 mA, the external quantum efficiencies for LED A with constant‐In‐component InGaN barrier, LED B with the In‐component linearly increasing in the InGaN barrier, and LED C with the In‐component linearly decreasing in the InGaN barrier are 30.30%, 36.66%, and 34.03%, respectively. Among the three sets of LED samples, LED B, with the In‐component linearly increasing in the InGaN barrier, has the highest radiative recombination rate due to suppression of quantum confinement stark effect and enhancement of carrier confinement effect in the active layer. The efficiency droop for LED A, LED B, and LED C is 34.83%, 25.67%, and 16.67%, respectively. Analysis indicates that the efficiency droop is mainly determined by the hole injection efficiency and electron leakage from the active layer. LED C with the In‐component linearly decreasing in the InGaN barrier has the lowest efficiency droop due to improved hole injection efficiency and reduced electron leakage. The influences of In‐component‐graded InGaN barrier on the performances of InGaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) are studied. The results show that LEDs with In‐component‐graded InGaN barrier exhibit better performances of radiative recombination rate and efficiency droop than reference LED with constant‐In‐component InGaN barrier due to suppression of quantum confinement stark effect, enhancement of carrier confinement effect, and hole injection efficiency.

The effects of nanometer‐scale V‐pits layer with different parameters on the carrier recombination mechanisms and efficiency droop of GaN‐based green light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) are investigated. Under optimized growth conditions, the threading dislocations (TDs) are surrounded by V‐pits layer with six (10–11) side wall facets. The V‐pits layer contains sidewall multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with bandgap several hundred millielectronvolts higher than that of c‐plane MQWs. This higher bandgap acts as a barrier for carriers and prevents them from reaching the dislocations, which can effectively suppress the nonradiative recombination. Analysis suggests that the V‐pits enhance hole injection into deeper MQWs, which is confirmed by the secondary ion mass spectroscopy profiles of Mg and Al. With the aid of the V‐pits layer, holes can be injected into deeper MQWs, which reduce the carrier concentration within individual QWs. Therefore, the Auger‐related efficiency droop can be suppressed. The results show that LED with 200 nm LT‐GaN + 40 nm n‐GaN V‐pits layer is able to deliver an improvement in the light output power by 189% as compared with reference LED without V‐pits layer. At 200 mA, the efficiency droop for LED with200 nm LT‐GaN + 40 nm n‐GaN V‐pits is 25.9%, which is much smaller than 34.7% for reference LED without V‐pits. The effects of V‐pits layer on the carrier recombination mechanisms and efficiency droop of GaN‐based green light‐emitting diodes are investigated. The V‐pits layer can prevent the carriers from reaching dislocations and suppress nonradiative recombination. The V‐pits layer can enhance hole injection into active layer and make the carriers evenly distributed in active layer. Therefore, Auger‐related efficiency droop can be suppressed.

This project aimed to set up a Beagle dog model of radiation-induced lung injury in order to supply fresh lung tissue samples in the different injury phases for gene and protein research. Three dogs received 18 Gy X-ray irradiation in one fraction, another three dogs received 8 Gy in each of three fractions at weekly intervals, and one control dog was not irradiated. Acute pneumonitis was observed during the first 3 months after radiation, and chronic lung fibrosis was found during the next 4–12 months in all the dogs exposed to radiation. CT-guided core needle lung lesion biopsies were extracted from each dog five times over the course of 1 year. The dogs remained healthy after each biopsy, and 50–100 mg fresh lung lesion tissues were collected in each operation. The incidence of pneumothorax and hemoptysis was 20% and 2.8%, respectively, in the 35 tissue biopsies. A successful and stable radiation-induced lung injury dog model was established. Lung lesion tissue samples from dogs in acute stage, recovery stage and fibrosis stage were found to be sufficient to support cytology, genomics and proteomics research. This model safely supplied fresh tissue samples that would allow future researchers to more easily explore and develop treatments for radiation-induced lung injury.

Polycrystalline ZnO thin films are deposited on Si(100) substrates by sputtering in pure argon atmosphere, followed by annealing in air between 300 and 1050 °C for 2 h.