deCS:A Tool for Systematic Cell Type Annotations of Single-cell RNA Sequencing Data among Human Tissues

Single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)is revolutionizing the study of complex and dynamic cellular mechanisms.However,cell type annotation remains a main challenge as it largely relies on a priori knowledge and manual curation,which is cumbersome and subjective.The increasing number of scRNA-seq datasets,as well as numerous published genetic studies,has motivated us to build a comprehensive human cell type reference atlas.Here,we present decoding Cell type Specificity(deCS),an automatic cell type annotation method augmented by a comprehensive collection of human cell type expression profiles and marker genes.We used deCS to annotate scRNAseq data from various tissue types and systematically evaluated the annotation accuracy under different conditions,including reference panels,sequencing depth,and feature selection strategies.Our results demonstrate that expanding the references is critical for improving annotation accuracy.Compared to many existing state-of-the-art annotation tools,deCS significantly reduced computation time and increased accuracy.deCS can be integrated into the standard scRNA-seq analytical pipeline to enhance cell type annotation.Finally,we demonstrated the broad utility of deCS to identify trait-cell type associations in 51 human complex traits,providing deep insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis.

Tubes with coated and sintered porous surface for highly efficient heat exchangers

Surface modification is a direct and effective way to enhance the efficiency of heat exchangers. Surface modification by forming a microporous coated layer can greatly enhance the boiling heat transfer and thus achieve a high performance. In this paper, we systematically investigate the boiling behavior on a plain surface with/ without sintered microporous coatings of copper powder. The results demonstrated that the sintered surface has a better performance in nucleate boiling due to the increased nucleation sites. The superheat degree is lower and the bubble departure diameter is larger for the sintered surface than for the plain surface, so the heat can be carried away more efficiently on the sintered surface. In addition, the heat transfer capacity on the sintered surface depends on both the powder size and the coating thickness for a high flux tube. The optimum heat transfer capacity can be obtained when the thickness of the microporous coating layer is 3-5 times of the sintered powder diameter. As a result, the heat transfer coefficient tube can be up to 3 times higher for the tube with a sintered surface than that with a plain surface, showing a pronounced enhancement in heat transfer and a high potential in chemical engineering industry application.

Delineating COVID-19 immunological features using single-cell RNA sequencing

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pathogenesis and immune response is vital for developing therapies.Single-cell RNA sequencing has been applied to delineate the cellular heterogeneity of the host response toward COVID-19 in multiple tissues and organs.Here,we review the applications and findings from over 80 original COVID-19 single-cell RNA sequencing studies as well as many secondary analysis studies.We describe that single-cell RNA sequencing reveals multiple features of COVID-19 patients with different severity,including cell populations with proportional alteration,COVID-19-induced genes and pathways,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2)infection in single cells,and adaptation of immune repertoire.We also collect published single-cell RNA sequencing datasets from original studies.Finally,we discuss the limitations in current studies and perspectives for future advance.