Research of Sensitivity Encoding Reconstruction for MRI with Non-Cartesian K-Space Trajectories

The Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE) parallel reconstruction scheme for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is implemented with non-cartesian sampled k-space trajectories in this paper. SENSE has the special capability to reduce the scanning time for MRI experiments while maintaining the image resolution with under-sampling data sets. In this manner, it has become an increasingly popular technique for multiple MRI data acquisition and image reconstruction schemes. The gridding algorithm is also implemented with SENSE due to its ability in evaluating forward and adjoin operator with non-cartesian sampled data. In this paper, the sensitivity map profile, field map information and the spiral k-space data collected from an array of receiver coils are used to reconstruct unaliased images from under-sampled data. The performance of SENSE with real data set identifies the computational issues to be improved for researched.

Powdery mildew disease resistance and markerassisted screening at the Pm60 locus in wild diploid wheat Triticum urartu

Triticum urartu,a diploid wild wheat and progenitor of the A genome of bread wheat,is an important resource for resistance to powdery mildew fungus caused by Blumeria graminis f.sp.tritici(Bgt).In the present study we systematically characterized the interaction between the Bgt fungus and T.urartu at the microscopic level.We also tested 227 T.urartu accessions for reaction to Bgt isolate E09 and discovered previously uncategorized powdery mildew resistance in this collection.Pm60 is a CC-NB-LRR type powdery mildew resistance gene that has at least three functional alleles,Pm60,Pm60a,and Pm60b.A marker-assisted screen targeting the Pm60 locus identified a non-functional allele of Pm60a,designated as Pm60a′.A sequence comparison of Pm60a′and Pm60a revealed that they differed by 58 SNPs and one 3-nucleotide deletion.Based on the sequence variations two molecular markers were developed to differentiate the functional Pm60a allele from the non-functional Pm60a′.Our screen revealed the presence of a previously uncharacterized powdery mildew resistance in T.urartu and provides new insights into the Pm60 locus.We believe that the two molecular markers developed here and new T.urartu resistant accessions will facilitate further identification of novel powdery mildew resistance genes and benefit breeding for powdery mildew resistance.

Correcting the Variations of BOLD Signal Due to Susceptibility Gradients and Its Application

Blood oxygenation level dependence signal (BOLD) for functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), is the use of blood magnetization depending on the oxygenation state of hemoglobin. Susceptibility gradient can shift and skew k-space trajectories and it leads to echo time shift and BOLD sensitivity change. FMRI can be used to detect the signal, the change of the susceptibility gradient of the signal and the distortion of k space trajectory, resulting in echo time shift and BOLD sensitivity change. Using the percentage signal change (PSC) and calibration function, it can be applied to many different fields, such as age-related research. In this paper, the performance of BOLD signal change correction based on sensitivity gradient was verified by real data group calculation, and methods of further improving the calculation speed were analyzed. This paper also analyzed the performance of correcting the variations of BOLD Signal due to susceptibility gradients with real data set, and identified the computational issues that need to be improved for further research.

Accelerated Generation of Spatiotemporal Atlas through Fast Template Matching

A spatiotemporal atlas refers to a standard image sequence that represents the general motion pattern of the targeted anatomy across a group of subjects. Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in using spatiotemporal atlas for scientific research and clinical applications in image processing, data analysis and medical imaging. However, the generation of spatiotemporal atlas is often time-consuming and computationally expensive due to the nonlinear image registration procedures involved. This research targets at accelerating the generation of spatiotemporal atlas by formulating the atlas generation procedure as a multi-level modulation (M-ary) classification problem. In particular, we have implemented a fast template matching method based on singular value decomposition, and applied it to generate high quality spatiotemporal atlas with reasonable time and computational complexity. The performance has been systematically evaluated on public accessible data sets. The results and conclusions hold promise for further developing advanced algorithms for accelerating generation of spatiotemporal atlas.

HvMPK4 phosphorylates HvWRKY1 to enhance its suppression of barley immunity to powdery mildew fungus

Mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)cascades play important roles in disease resistance in model plant species.However,the functions of MAPK signaling pathways in crop disease resistance are largely unknown.Here we report the function of HvMKK1-HvMPK4-HvWRKY1 module in barley immune system.HvMPK4 is identified to play a negative role in barley immune response against Bgh,as virus-induced gene silencing of HvMPK4 results in enhanced disease resistance whilst stably overexpressing HvMPK4 leads to super-susceptibility to Bgh infection.Furthermore,the barley MAPK kinase HvMKK1 is found to specifically interact with HvMPK4,and the activated HvMKK1^(DD) variant specifically phosphorylates HvMPK4 in vitro.Moreover,the transcription factor HvWRKY1 is identified to be a downstream target of HvMPK4 and phosphorylated by HvMPK4 in vitro in the presence of HvMKK1^(DD).Phosphorylation assay coupled with mutagenesis analyses identifies S122,T284,and S347 in HvWRKY1 as the major residues phosphorylated by HvMPK4.HvWRKY1 is phosphorylated in barley at the early stages of Bgh infection,which enhances its suppression on barley immunity likely due to enhanced DNA-binding and transcriptional repression activity.Our data suggest that the HvMKK1-HvMPK4 kinase pair acts upstream of HvWRKY1 to negatively regulate barley immunity against powdery mildew.

TGR5 deficiency activates antitumor immunity in non-small cell lung cancer via restraining M2 macrophage polarization

The bile acid-responsive G-protein-coupled receptor TGR5 is expressed in monocytes and macrophages,and plays a critical role in regulating inflammatory response.Our previous work has shown its role in promoting the progression of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),yet the mechanism remains unclear.Here,using Tgr5-knockout mice,we show that TGR5 is required for M2 polarization of tumorassociated macrophages(TAMs)and suppresses antitumor immunity in NSCLC via involving TAMsmediated CD8+T cell suppression.Mechanistically,we demonstrate that TGR5 promotes TAMs into protumorigenic M2-like phenotypes via activating c AMP-STAT3/STAT6 signaling.Induction of c AMP production restores M2-like phenotypes in TGR5-deficient macrophages.In NSCLC tissues from human patients,the expression of TGR5 is associated with the infiltration of TAMs.The co-expression of TGR5 and high TAMs infiltration are associated with the prognosis and overall survival of NSCLC patients.Together,this study provides molecular mechanisms for the protumor function of TGR5 in NSCLC,highlighting its potential as a target for TAMs-centric immunotherapy in NSCLC.

Point-of-care detection of Microcystin-LR with a personal glucose meter in drinking water source

In this study,a point-of-care sensing protocol has been reported for rapid and sensitive detection of Microcystin-LR(MC-LR)in water by personal glucose meter.The proposed immunosensor has been fabricated by using a primary antibody coated ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles to capture the target MC-LR.Consequently,the invertase@secondary antibody-conjugated graphene oxide-Au NPs can be immobilized for formating the sandwich immuno-complexes,which allowed for enzymatic conversion of sucrose to glucose.Thus,the concentration of MC-LR can be refelected by the converted glucose,which can be easily measured by the personal glucose meter(PGM).The PGM readout immunosensing method possessed good reproducibility and stability,which may have significant potential for other applications.

A gelable pure organic luminogen with fluorescence-phosphorescence dual emission

Pure organic luminogens with room temperature phosphorescence(RTP) have drawn much attention due to their fundamental importance and promising applications in optoelectronic devices, bioimaging, sensing, etc. Fluorescence-phosphorescence dual emission at room temperature, however, is rarely observed in pure organic materials. Herein, we reported a metal-and heavy-atom free pure organic luminogen with tert-butyl groups, DtBuCZBP, which is ready to form organogels in dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO).It emits prompt and delayed fluorescence, as well as RTP, namely dual emission in as-prepared solid, gels and polymeric films.To the best of our knowledge, it is the first example of metal-and heavy-atom free pure organic gelator with RTP emission. Such unique RTP and moreover dual emission properties in different states make DtBuCZBP a potential material for diverse applications.

SnRK1 Phosphorylates and Destabilizes WRKY3 to Enhance Barley Immunity to Powdery Mildew

Plants recognize pathogens and activate immune responses,which usually involve massive transcriptional reprogramming.The evolutionarily conserved kinase,Sucrose non-fermenting-related kinase 1(SnRK1),functions as a metabolic regulator that is essential for plant growth and stress responses.Here,we identify barley SnRK1 and a WRKY3 transcription factor by screening a cDNA library.SnRK1 interacts with WRKY3 in yeast,as confirmed by pull-down and luciferase complementation assays.Förster resonance energy transfer combined with noninvasive fluorescence lifetime imaging analysis indicates that the interaction occurs in the barley nucleus.Transient expression and virus-induced gene silencing analyses indicate that WRKY3 acts as a repressor of disease resistance to the Bgh fungus.Barley plants overexpressing WRKY3 have enhanced fungal microcolony formation and sporulation.Phosphorylation assays show that SnRK1 phosphorylates WRKY3 mainly at Ser83 and Ser112 to destabilize the repressor,and WRKY3 non-phosphorylation-null mutants at these two sites are more stable than the wild-type protein.SnRK1-overexpressing barley plants display enhanced disease resistance to Bgh.Transient expression of SnRK1 reduces fungal haustorium formation in barley cells,which probably requires SnRK1 nuclear localization and kinase activity.Together,these findings suggest that SnRK1 is directly involved in plant immunity through phosphorylation and destabilization of the WRKY3 repressor,revealing a new regulatory mechanism of immune derepression in plants.

Application of a real-ambient fine particulate matter exposure system on different animal models

Simulation of fine particulate matter(PM_(2.5))exposure is essential for evaluating adverse health effects.In this work,an ambient exposure system that mimicked real atmospheric conditions was installed in Taiyuan,China to study impacts of chronic PM_(2.5) exposure on adult and aged mice as well as Sirtuin3 knockout(Sirt3 KO)mice and wild-type(WT)mice.The real-ambient exposure system eliminated the possible artificial effects caused from exposure experiments and maintained the physiochemical characteristics of PM_(2.5).The case studies indicated that aged mice exhibited apparent heart dysfunction involving in-creased heart rate and decreased blood pressure after 17-week of real-ambient PM_(2.5) exposure.Meanwhile,15-week of real-ambient PM_(2.5) exposure decreased the heart rate and amounts of associated catecholamines to induce heart failure in Sirt3 KO mice.Additionally,the increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased platelet related indices suggested that inflammation occurred.The changes of biomarkers detected by targeted metabolomics confirmed metabolic disorder in WT and Sirt3 KO mice after exposed to real-ambient PM_(2.5).These results indicated that the real-ambient PM_(2.5) exposure system could evaluate the risks of certain diseases associated with air pollution and have great potential for support-ing the investigations of PM_(2.5) effects on other types of rodent models.