In human vision, it has been well understood that the red, green, and blue (RGB) trichromatic system, whose colors can be well expressed by an RGB hue ring with complementary color relations, is the ...most accessible and extensible color representation. However, such color relations rarely play a role in color image/video processing tools such as wavelets. In this paper, the gap between wavelets and complementary color relations is filled by designing a novel color image/video processing tool called the complementary color wavelet transform. Our novel wavelets consist of a family of well-designed 2-D complex wavelets with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">2\pi /3 </tex-math></inline-formula> phase differences copied from the R, G, and B angle relations on the RGB hue ring. Analyses show that our new wavelets can not only utilize the complementary color relations but also inherit and improve upon the advantages of classical complex wavelets, such as their multi-resolution, directional selectivity, and shift-invariance properties. By the newly designed wavelets and by properly adding and/or subtracting the wavelet coefficients of a color image/video, some color-related image/video processing applications that are typically seen as infeasible or difficult to achieve by traditional methods, for instance, capturing and classifying local color changes, statistical modeling of the wavelet coefficients among the color channels, and multi-resolution directional color filtering, can be performed very easily. The cost for this is simply a transform redundancy increase (2.25 times that of classical complex wavelets). We provide three application examples of our method: color filtering, texture retrieval, and video quality assessment. The results show that our new wavelet tool greatly outperforms traditional methods.
•We synthesized water-soluble striking fluorescent Cu nanoclusters (Cu NCs) by a simple one-pot chemical reduction method.•This proposed synthetic strategy does not need without any auxiliary ...stabilizer, organic agent or strong reducing agents.•The prepared Cu NCs show great stability and biocompatible which is essential for construction assays for biological systems.•The nitrite ions fluorescent sensor was successfully constructed based on the prepared Cu NCs.
The instant and on-site detection of trace aqueous nitrite ions still remains a challenge for environmental monitoring and protection. In this work, we synthesized water-soluble striking fluorescent Cu nanoclusters (Cu NCs) by a green, simple, one-pot and stabilizer-free chemical reduction method. The fluorescence (FL) of the obtained Cu NCs can be selectively and efficiently quenched by the nitrite ions through the oxidation of Cu (0) atoms to Cu (I) in the core of Cu NCs. Under optimal conditions, two excellent linear relationships between the FL quenching degree of the Cu NCs and the concentrations of nitrite ions in the range of 0.0125–125μM and 125–5000μM with a low detection limit of 3.6nM were obtained. More importantly, the portable paper-based sensor has been explored for visual detection of trace nitrite ions in aqueous solution by the appearance of different degrees of blue FL under a UV lamp. The very simple and effective strategy reported here should facilitate the development of portable and reliable FL chemosensors for nitrite ions in pollution control.
Square wire sawing (squaring) is the preceding process of silicon ingot grinding and slicing for solar wafer manufacturing. The machining accuracy will affect the machining efficiency of the grinding ...process, and affect the quality of slicing. At present, extreme difference (ED) method is used for the evaluation of squaring accuracy, which cannot fully reflect the squaring accuracy. Novel evaluation method of straightness difference (SD) and flatness difference (FD) of squaring were proposed. The evaluation process was compared with ED method. The results show that the novel method can solve the defects that cannot be sufficiently evaluated by ED method. In addition, the profile errors of the cross sections along and perpendicular to longitudinal direction and the surface contour errors on the symmetric surface were evaluated. The relationship between the error distributions along the longitudinal direction and the processing parameters was also found, which provides help for optimizing the process.
Copper is a highly toxic environmental pollutant with bioaccumulative properties. Therefore, sensitive detection of Cu2+ is very important to prevent over-ingestion, and visual detection is preferred ...for practical applications. In this work, we developed a simple and environmental friendly approach to synthesize hyperbranched polyethyleneimine-protected copper nanoclusters (hPEI-Cu NCs) with great stability against extreme pH, high ionic strength, thiols etching and light illumination, which were then conjugated to the surface of silica coated CdSe quantum dots (QDs) to design a ratiometric fluorescence probe. In the presence of different amounts of Cu2+ ions, the fluorescence of Cu NCs can be drastically quenched, while the emission from QDs stayed constant to serve as a reference signal and the color of the probe changed from yellow-green to red, resulting in ratiometric and visualization detection of Cu2+ ion with high accuracy. The detection limit for Cu2+ was estimated to be 8.9 nM, much lower than the allowable level of Cu2+ in drinking water (∼20 μM) set by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, this probe can be also applied for the determination of Cu2+ ion in complex real water samples.
Display omitted
•We developed a ratiometric fluorescence probe for ratiometric and visualization detection of copper ions.•Copper nanoclusters was conjugated to silica coated CdSe quantum dots to design a ratiometric fluorescence probe.•Highly sensitive and visualized detection of Cu2+ was achieved.•This method provided a built-in correction for environmental interference.
To investigate the prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), especially regulatory T cells (Tregs), in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after resection.
CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, ...Foxp3-positive, and granzyme B-positive TILs were assessed by immunohistochemistry in tissue microarrays containing HCC from 302 patients. Prognostic effects of low- or high-density TIL subsets were evaluated by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis using median values as cutoff.
CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ TILs were associated with neither overall survival (OS) nor disease-free survival (DFS). The presence of low intratumoral Tregs in combination with high intratumoral activated CD8+ cytotoxic cells (CTLs), a balance toward CTLs, was an independent prognostic factor for both improved DFS (P = .001) and OS (P < .0001). Five-year OS and DFS rates were only 24.1% and 19.8% for the group with intratumoral high Tregs and low activated CTLs, compared with 64.0% and 59.4% for the group with intratumoral low Tregs and high activated CTLs, respectively. Either intratumoral Tregs alone (P = .001) or intratumoral activated CTLs (P = .001) alone is also an independent predictor for OS. In addition, high Tregs density was associated with both absence of tumor encapsulation (P = .032) and presence of tumor vascular invasion (P = .031).
Tregs are associated with HCC invasiveness, and intratumoral balance of regulatory and cytotoxic T cells is a promising independent predictor for recurrence and survival in HCC. A combination of depletion of Tregs and concomitant stimulation of effector T cells may be an effective immunotherapy to reduce recurrence and prolong survival after surgery.
Purpose: The aberrant expression of programmed cell death 1 ligands 1 and 2 (PD-Ls) on tumor cells dampens antitumor immunity, resulting
in tumor immune evasion. In this study, we investigated the ...expression of PD-Ls in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to
define their prognostic significance after curative surgery.
Experimental Design: Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate PD-Ls expression as well as granzyme B + cytotoxic and FoxP3 + regulatory T cell infiltration on tissue microarrays containing 240 randomly selected HCC patients who underwent surgery.
The results were further verified in an independent cohort of 125 HCC patients. PD-Ls expression on HCC cell lines was detected
by Western blot assay.
Results: Patients with higher expression of PD-L1 had a significantly poorer prognosis than patients with lower expression. Although
patients with higher expression of PD-L2 also had a poorer survival, the difference in recurrence was not statistically significant.
Multivariate analysis identified tumor expression of PD-L1 as an independent predictor for postoperative recurrence. No correlation
was found between PD-Ls expression and granzyme B + lymphocyte infiltration, whereas a significant positive correlation was detected between PD-Ls expression and FoxP3 + lymphocyte infiltration. In addition, tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic and regulatory T cells were also independent prognosticators
for both survival and recurrence. The prognostic value of PD-L1 expression was validated in the independent data set.
Conclusion: Our data suggest for the first time that PD-L1 status may be a new predictor of recurrence for HCC patients and provide the
rationale for developing a novel therapy of targeting the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway against this fatal malignancy.
Nanomaterials with enzyme mimetic activity have attracted extensive attention, especially in the regulation of their catalytic activities by biomolecules or other polymers. Here, a covalent organic ...framework (Tph‐BT COF) with excellent photocatalytic activity is constructed by Schiff base reaction, and its mimetic oxidase activity and peroxidase activity is inversely regulated via single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA). Under light‐emitting diode (LED) light irradiation, Tph‐BT exhibited outstanding oxidase activity, which efficiently catalyzed oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′‐tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to produce blue oxTMB, and ssDNA, especially those with poly‐thymidine (T) sequences, can significantly inhibit its oxidase activity. On the contrary, Tph‐BT showed weak peroxidase activity, and the presence of ssDNA, particularly poly‐cytosine (C) sequences, can remarkably enhance the peroxidase activity. The influence of base type, base length, and other factors on the activities of two enzymes is also studied, and the results reveal that the adsorption of ssDNA on the surface of Tph‐BT prevented intersystem crossing (ISC) and energy transfer processes to reduce 1O2 generation, while the electrostatic interaction between ssDNA and TMB enhanced Tph‐BT's affinity for TMB to facilitate the electron transfer from TMB to •OH. This study investigates multitype mimetic enzyme activities of nonmetallic D‐A conjugated COFs and demonstrates their feasibility of regulation by ssDNA.
A D‐A covalent organic framework (Tph‐BT) with unique mimetic oxidase and peroxidase activities has been synthesized. The outstanding oxidase activity of Tph‐BT can be significantly inhibited by the adsorption of single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA), while the weak peroxidase activity of Tph‐BT can be remarkably enhanced upon the addition of ssDNA.
The preparation, application, and reaction mechanism of sodium phosphide R2PNa and other alkali metal phosphides R2PM (M = Li and K) have been studied. R2PNa could be prepared, accurately and ...selectively, via the reactions of SD (sodium finely dispersed in mineral oil) with phosphinites R2POR′ and chlorophosphines R2PCl. R2PNa could also be prepared from triarylphosphines and diarylphosphines via the selective cleavage of C–P bonds. Na was superior to Li and K for these reactions. R2PNa reacted with a variety of ArCl to efficiently produce R2PAr. ArCl is superior to ArBr and ArI since they only gave low yields of the products. In addition, Ph2PNa is superior to Ph2PLi and Ph2PK since Ph2PLi did not produce the coupling product with PhCl, while Ph2PK only gave a low yield of the product. An electron-withdrawing group on the benzene ring of ArCl greatly accelerated the reactions with R2PNa, while an alkyl group reduced the reactivity. Vinyl chloride and alkyl chlorides RCl also reacted efficiently. While t-BuCl did not produce the corresponding product, admantyl halides could give the corresponding phosphine in high yields. A wide range of phosphines were prepared by this method from the corresponding chlorides. Unsymmetric phosphines could also be conveniently generated in one pot starting from Ph3P. Chiral phosphines were also obtained in good yields from the reactions of menthyl chlorides with R2PNa. Possible mechanistic pathways were given for the reductive cleavage of R3P by sodium generating R2PNa and the substitution reactions of R2PNa with ArCl generating R2PAr.
Objectives This study sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of rosuvastatin in preventing contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney ...disease (CKD). Background CI-AKI is an important complication after contrast medium injection. While small studies have shown positive results with statin therapy, the role of statin therapy in prevention of CI-AKI remains unknown. Methods We randomized 2,998 patients with type 2 DM and concomitant CKD who were undergoing coronary/peripheral arterial angiography with or without percutaneous intervention to receive rosuvastatin, 10 mg/day (n = 1,498), for 5 days (2 days before, and 3 days after procedure) or standard-of-care (n = 1,500). Patients' renal function was assessed at baseline, 48 h, and 72 h after exposure to contrast medium. The primary endpoint of the study was the development of CI-AKI, which was defined as an increase in serum creatinine concentration ≥0.5 mg/dl (44.2 μmol/l) or 0.25% above baseline at 72 h after exposure to contrast medium. Results Patients randomized to the rosuvastatin group had a significantly lower incidence of CI-AKI than controls (2.3% vs. 3.9%, respectively; p = 0.01). During 30 days' follow-up, the rate of worsening heart failure was significantly lower in the patients treated with rosuvastatin than that in the control group (2.6% vs. 4.3%, respectively; p = 0.02). Conclusions Rosuvastatin significantly reduced the risk of CI-AKI in patients with DM and CKD undergoing arterial contrast medium injection. (Rosuvastatin Prevent Contrast Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Patients With Diabetes TRACK-D; NCT00786136 )
PDF
