Smart horticulture as an emerging interdisciplinary field combining novel solutions:Past development,current challenges,and future perspectives

Horticultural products such as fruits,vegetables,and tea offer a range of important nutrients such as protein,carbohydrates,vitamins and lipids.However,the present yield and quality do not meet the requirements of the rapid population growth associated with global climate change,the decline in horticultural practitioners,poor automation,and epidemic diseases such as COVID-19.In this context,smart horticulture is expected to greatly improve the land output rates,resource-use efficiency,and productivity,all of which should facilitate the sustainable development of the horticulture industry.Emerging technologies,such as artificial intelligence,big data,the Internet of Things,and cloud computing,play an important role.This paper reviews past developments and current challenges,offering future perspectives for horticultural chain management.We expect that the horticulture industry would benefit from integration with smart technologies.This requires the use of novel solutions to build a new advanced system encompassing smart breeding,smart cultivation,smart transportation,and smart sales.Finally,a new development approach combining precise perception,smart operation,and smart control should be instituted in the horticulture industry.Within 30 years,we expect that the industry will embrace mechanical,automatic,and informational production to transform into a smart industry.

A Novel Artificial Neuron-Like Gas Sensor Constructed from CuS Quantum Dots/Bi2S3 Nanosheets

Real-time rapid detection of toxic gases at room temperature is particularly important for public health and environmental monitoring.Gas sensors based on conventional bulk materials often suffer from their poor surface-sensitive sites,leading to a very low gas adsorption ability.Moreover,the charge transportation efficiency is usually inhibited by the low defect density of surface-sensitive area than that in the interior.In this work,a gas sensing structure model based on CuS quantum dots/Bi_(2)S_(3) nanosheets(CuS QDs/Bi_(2)S_(3) NSs)inspired by artificial neuron network is constructed.Simulation analysis by density functional calculation revealed that CuS QDs and Bi_(2)S_(3) NSs can be used as the main adsorption sites and charge transport pathways,respectively.Thus,the high-sensitivity sensing of NO_(2) can be realized by designing the artificial neuron-like sensor.The experimental results showed that the CuS QDs with a size of about 8 nm are highly adsorbable,which can enhance the NO_(2) sensitivity due to the rich sensitive sites and quantum size effect.The Bi_(2)S_(3) NSs can be used as a charge transfer network channel to achieve efficient charge collection and transmission.The neuron-like sensor that simulates biological smell shows a significantly enhanced response value(3.4),excellent responsiveness(18 s)and recovery rate(338 s),low theoretical detection limit of 78 ppb,and excellent selectivity for NO_(2).Furthermore,the developed wearable device can also realize the visual detection of NO2 through real-time signal changes.

基于机器学习对泌尿类疾病标志物气体识别模式研究

泌尿类疾病,例如膀胱癌和前列腺癌,对全球健康构成严重威胁。本研究针对泌尿类疾病标志性VOC气体(甲苯,乙苯,异丙醇,戊醛),通过选取电子鼻采集的多传感器信号与这四类气体的关联特征,采用常规气体传感器特征,建立四分类VOC分类预测模型。采用主成分分析(PCA)对样本点降维,分别使用三种分类算法:K-邻近(KNN),支持向量机(SVM)和随机森林(RF)进行分类预测,三者准确率分别达到了88%,85%和91%。最后使用Stacking集成方式,分别对KNN和SVM,KNN和RF,SVM和RF进行两两集成,集成后的准确率有明显提升,其中效果最佳的集成方式是SVM和RF,其准确率达到了97%。研究表明stacking集成的SVM和RF模型成功地预测四种标志物VOC,为泌尿类关键疾病的早期筛查和无创检测打下坚实基础。

Line-scanning microscopy with laterally symmetric imaging using simultaneous cross-line illumination

Using an on-the-fly scanning scheme, line confocal microscopy can obtain complex structures of large biological tissues with high throughput. Yet, it suffers from lateral imaging asymmetry and thus introduces the potential deformations of the observation results. Here, we propose cross-line illumination microscopy (cLIM) that acquires the imaging data of two perpendicular directions simultaneously through the same objective lens in a line scanning and utilizes two-direction deconvolution fusion to achieve lateral symmetric imaging performance.Imaging fluorescence beads indicates that cLIM reduces lateral resolution asymmetry from 46.1%to 2.5%and improves lateral resolution by 31.0%, compared with traditional line-scanning imaging. Compared with commercial point-confocal microscopy, the cLIM has a 25.84×increase in imaging speed and 1.93×better background-suppressing ability when imaging an 11,306μm×7783μm×100μm mouse kidney slice. We also show the advantages of the cLIM in observing direction-sensitive texture features by imaging a muscular tissue slice. cLIM offers a novel solution to achieve laterally symmetric line-scanning imaging with simple modifications while maintaining high throughput and accuracy for imaging large-scale samples.

二维过渡金属硫族化合物纳米异质结气体传感器研究进展

二维过渡金属硫族化合物(2D TMDs)在气体传感方向的应用中具有显著的"先天"优势,表现出如灵敏度高、响应速度快、能耗低以及能在室温下工作等诸多优点.相对单一的2D TMDs而言,基于2D TMDs纳米异质结的气体传感器展现出更加优越的气体传感性能.本文将系统总结2D TMDs纳米异质结气体传感器的研究进展,尤其是2D TMDs与金属氧化物、金属硫化物、碳基纳米材料以及量子点之间形成的纳米异质结设计、构效关系以及传感机理等关键科学问题.传感材料和传感机制上的创新对提升传感性能并拓展传感功能具有重要的科学意义.通过对纳米异质结气敏机理的深入探究,有望实现纳米异质结结构的人为设计和可控制备,提高室温下对目标气体的高灵敏选择性识别和检测.在纳米异质结的结构设计上,以TMDs材料为导电主体,在其表面生长各种纳米结构,通过对纳米异质结表面酸碱性、功函数、气体分子极性以及纳米异质结与气体分子之间的氧化还原反应性质进行调控,来构筑基于TMDs的纳米异质结.此外,控制负载在二维TMDs上纳米颗粒尺寸小于两倍电子耗尽层厚度,充分发挥纳米颗粒量子限域效应,以纳米颗粒充当传感的"天线分子"或"探针分子",实现对目标气体分子的高灵敏选择性识别和检测.

Skin appendage-derived stem cells: cell biology and potential for wound repair

Stem cells residing in the epidermis and skin appendages are imperative for skin homeostasis and regeneration.These stem cells also participate in the repair of the epidermis after injuries,inducing restoration of tissue integrity and function of damaged tissue.Unlike epidermis-derived stem cells,comprehensive knowledge about skin appendage-derived stem cells remains limited.In this review,we summarize the current knowledge of skin appendage-derived stem cells,including their fundamental characteristics,their preferentially expressed biomarkers,and their potential contribution involved in wound repair.Finally,we will also discuss current strategies,future applications,and limitations of these stem cells,attempting to provide some perspectives on optimizing the available therapy in cutaneous repair and regeneration.

Two Inhibitors Against the 3C-Like Proteases of Swine Coronavirus and Feline Coronavirus

Coronaviruses(CoVs)are important human and animal pathogens that cause respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases.Porcine epidemic diarrhoea(PED),characterized by severe diarrhoea and vomiting in pigs,is a highly lethal disease caused by porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus(PEDV)and causes substantial losses in the swine industry worldwide.However,currently available commercial drugs have not shown great therapeutic effects.In this study,a fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)-based assay was applied to screen a library containing 1,590 compounds and identified two compounds,3-(aminocarbonyl)-1-phenylpyridinium and 2,3-dichloronaphthoquinone,that target the 3C-like protease(3CL^(pro))of PEDV.These compounds are of low molecular weight(MW)and greatly inhibited the activity of this enzyme(IC_(50) values were obtained in this study).Furthermore,these compounds exhibited antiviral capacity against another member of the CoV family,feline infectious peritonitis virus(FIPV).Here,the inhibitory effects of these compounds against CoVs on Vero cells and feline kidney cells were identified(with EC_(50) values)and cell viability assays were performed.The results of putative molecular docking models indicate that these compounds,labeled compound 1 and compound 2,contact the conserved active sites(Cys144,Glu165,Gln191)of 3CL^(pro) via hydrogen bonds.These findings provide insight into the antiviral activities of compounds 1 and 2 that may facilitate future research on anti-CoV drugs.

Indium-organic framework CPP-3(In)derived Ag/In_(2)O_(3) porous hexagonal tubes for H_(2)S detection at low temperature

There is a great demand for high-performance hydrogen sulfide(H_(2)S)sensors with low operating temperatures.Ag/In_(2)O_(3)hexagonal tubes with different proportions were prepared by the calcination of Ag+-impregnated indium-organic frameworks(CPP-3(In)),and the developed sensors exhibit enhanced gas-sensing performance toward H_(2)S.Gas sensing measurements indicate that the response of Ag/In_(2)O_(3)(2.5 wt%)sensor to 5 ppm H_(2)S has the highest response(119),operated at 70℃.The Ag/In_(2)O_(3)(2.5 wt%)based sensor exhibits short response time(20 s),low detection limit(300 ppb),and good selectivity toward H_(2)S gas,which imply that the CPP-3(In)-derived Ag/In_(2)O_(3)hexagonal tube is a promising candidate to be constructed a low power-consumption H_(2)S sensor.

Cytokine storm promoting T cell exhaustion in severe COVID-19 revealed by single cell sequencing data analysis

Background:Evidence has suggested that cytokine storms may be associated with T cell exhaustion(TEX)in COVID-19.However,the interaction mechanism between cytokine storms and TEX remains unclear.Methods:With the aim of dissecting the molecular relationship of cytokine storms and TEX through single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis,we identified 14 cell types from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of COVID-19 patients and healthy people.We observed a novel subset of severely exhausted CD8 T cells(Exh T_CD8)that co-expressed multiple inhibitory receptors,and two macrophage subclasses that were the main source of cytokine storms in bronchoalveolar.Results:Correlation analysis between cytokine storm level and TEX level suggested that cytokine storms likely promoted TEX in severe COVID-19.Cell–cell communication analysis indicated that cytokines(e.g.CXCL10,CXCL11,CXCL2,CCL2,and CCL3)released by macrophages acted as ligands and significantly interacted with inhibitory receptors(e.g.CXCR3,DPP4,CCR1,CCR2,and CCR5)expressed by Exh T_CD8.These interactions formed the cytokine–receptor axes,which were also verified to be significantly correlated with cytokine storms and TEX in lung squamous cell carcinoma.Conclusions:Cytokine storms may promote TEX through cytokine-receptor axes and be associated with poor prognosis in COVID19.Blocking cytokine-receptor axes may reverse TEX.Our finding provides novel insights into TEX in COVID-19 and new clues for cytokine-targeted immunotherapy development.