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Over the past decades, food quality and safety have seriously been disturbing public health. Traditional monitoring methods of food-quality evaluation have been time consuming and laborious. In recent years, visible/near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (Vis/NIR-HSI)—as a nondestructive, high-efficiency, and rapid method—has become one of the strongest tools for food evaluation. Using this tool involves an analysis process that includes obtaining high-quality data and training models. Although recent works have mainly focused on the development and optimization of models—ignoring the importance of high-quality data acquisition—this paper reviews the precautionary measures taken in the form of the operational steps that are followed in the process of acquiring food-related information. This includes the spectral mode selection, sample, waveband range, ROI extraction, spectra parameters, data processing, and focuses on finding solutions to problems such as large curvature and specular reflection. The application and selection of the quality parameters of different food items were introduced in their assessment. Finally, based on the above summary, an updated overview of the application of Vis/NIR-HSI have been presented and some viewpoints and directions for future research have also been provided.

A 36-mer guanine (G)-rich DNA aptamer (OBA36) is able to distinguish one atomic difference between ochratoxin analogues A (OTA) and B (OTB), showing prominent recognition specificity and affinity among hundreds of aptamers for small molecules. Why OBA36 has >100-fold higher binding affinity to OTA than OTB remains a long-standing question due to the lack of high-resolution structure. Here we report the solution NMR structure of the aptamer–OTA complex. It was found that OTA binding induces the aptamer to fold into a well-defined unique duplex–quadruplex structural scaffold stabilized by Mg2+and Na+ions. OTA does not directly interact with the G-quadruplex, but specifically binds at the junction between the double helix and G-quadruplex through π–π stacking, halogen bonding (X-bond), and hydrophobic interaction. OTB has the same binding site as OTA but lacks the X-bond. The strong X-bond formed between the chlorine atom of OTA and the aromatic ring of C5 is the key to discriminating the strong binding toward OTA. The present research contributes to a deeper insight of aptamer molecular recognition, reveals structural basis of the high-affinity binding of aptamers, and provides a foundation for further aptamer engineering and applications.

•Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) combined with deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN) for prediction of component content in melt-cast explosive.•The DCGAN can be combined with NIR technology to solve the small sample problem in practical scenarios and realize the rapid quantification of component TNT in the melt-cast explosive.

Pt-free counter electrode (CE) composed of La2MoO6(La2O3-MoO3) was successfully synthesized by simple pyrolysis of lanthanum acetate (C6H9O6La·xH2O) and hexaammonium heptamolybdate tetrahydrate ((NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O). Furthermore, three proportions composites catalysts of La2MoO6@MWCNTs based on La2MoO6and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared and characterized as Pt-free catalyst for CE in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The morphology and structure of La2MoO6@MWCNTs composites were determined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical performance of La2MoO6@MWCNTs composite catalysts for CEs was determined by photocurrent-voltage measurements, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and Tafel polarization. The power conversion efficiencies of 4.68%, 4.87% and 5.06% are obtained for La2MoO6:MWCNTs with the mass ratios of 5:1, 3:1 and 1:1 towards the reduction of I3–to I–under the same conditions, respectively, which are superior to those of MWCNTs (3.94%) and La2MoO6(1.71%) electrodes. The experimental results reveal that the presence of MWCNTs results in an augmented active catalytic surface area and enhanced charge transfer from CE to the electrolyte.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world and a nonnegligible health concern on a worldwide scale. Disulfidptosis is a novel mode of cell death, which is mainly caused by the collapse of the actin skeleton. Although many studies have demonstrated that various types of cell death are associated with cancer treatment, the relationship between disulfidptosis and HCC has not been elucidated. Methods: Here, we mainly applied bioinformatics methods to construct a disulfidptosis related risk model in HCC patients. Specifically, transcriptome data and clinical information were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A total of 45 co-expressed genes were extracted between the disulfidptosis-related genes (DRGs) and the differential expression genes (DEGs) of liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) in the TCGA database. The LIHC cohort was divided into two subgroups with different prognosis by k-mean consensus clustering and functional enrichment analysis was performed. Subsequently, three hub genes (CDCA8, SPP2 and RDH16) were screened by Cox regression and LASSO regression analysis. In addition, a risk signature was constructed and the HCC cohort was divided into high risk score and low risk score subgroups to compare the prognosis, clinical features and immune landscape between the two subgroups. Finally, the prognostic model of independent risk factors was constructed and verified. Conclusions: High DRGs-related risk score in HCC individuals predict poor prognosis and are associated with poor immunotherapy response, which indicates that risk score assessment model can be utilized to guide clinical treatment strategy.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the three deadliest malignant tumors in the world, posing a severe hazard to human health. Nonetheless, the 5-year survival rate for advanced CRC remains unsatisfactory. Grid2 interacting protein (GRID2IP) is a Purkinje fiber postsynaptic scaffold protein implicated in a number of signal transduction pathways in the nervous system. Previous studies have shown that Grid2 is closely related to the occurrence and prognosis of gastric cancer and many other diseases. Therefore, we aim to identify the relationship between GRID2IP and the occurrence and prognosis of CRC. Methods: Transcriptome data were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to analyze the differential expression of GRID2IP in a variety of malignant tumors and then validate it by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction(Q-PCR) and Western Blot in HT29 and SW480 cells. "DESeq2" package was used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the high- and low-GRID2IP subgroups. In relation to DEGs, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed. In addition, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) were employed to examine DEGs-associated signaling pathways and GRID2IP-associated immune cell infiltration levels. Besides, overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and progression-free interval (PFI) were compared between the two subgroups using a Kaplan–Meier analysis. In addition, a prognostic model for GRID2IP and clinical characteristics was developed using the univariate Cox regression method. The "pRRophetic" package was applied to predict the drug sensitivity of different subgroups. Moreover, we also performed single-cell analysis of GRID2IP using the TISCH database. Results: GRID2IP is upregulated in CRC patients. The rise of GRID2IP inhibits the invasion of tumor-associated immune cells resulting in a lower immune score. In addition, high GRID2IP expression was associated with poor prognosis in different clinical subgroups. Analysis of single cells revealed that GRID2IP was predominantly expressed in immune cells, myofibroblasts, and cancerous cells. In terms of chemotherapy drug sensitivity, the subgroup with high GRID2IP expression was less sensitive to gemcitabine. Conclusions: Our results suggest that rising GRID2IP promotes tumor-associated immune cell infiltration and suggests adverse outcomes in CRC patients, which may be a useful biomarker for determining the prognosis of CRC and a potential target molecule for CRC therapy.