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Analytical Chemistry Jun 2024The diversity of cannabinoid isomers and complexity of Cannabis products pose significant challenges for analytical methodologies. In this study, we developed a method...
Ultrafast, Selective, and Highly Sensitive Nonchromatographic Analysis of Fourteen Cannabinoids in Cannabis Extracts, Δ8-Tetrahydrocannabinol Synthetic Mixtures, and Edibles by Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry.
The diversity of cannabinoid isomers and complexity of Cannabis products pose significant challenges for analytical methodologies. In this study, we developed a method to analyze 14 different cannabinoid isomers in diverse samples within milliseconds by leveraging the unique adduct-forming behavior of silver ions in advanced cyclic ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry. The developed method achieved the separation of isomers from four groups of cannabinoids: Δ3-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (), Δ8-THC (), Δ9-THC (), cannabidiol (CBD) (), Δ8-iso-THC (), and Δ(4)8-iso-THC () (all MW = 314); 9α-hydroxyhexahydrocannabinol (), 9β-hydroxyhexahydrocannabinol (), and 8-hydroxy-iso-THC () (all MW = 332); tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) () and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) () (both MW = 358); Δ8-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) (), Δ8-iso-THCV (), and Δ9-THCV () (all MW = 286). Moreover, experimental and theoretical traveling wave collision cross section values in nitrogen (CCS) of cannabinoid-Ag(I) species were obtained for the first time with an average error between experimental and theoretical values of 2.6%. Furthermore, a workflow for the identification of cannabinoid isomers in Cannabis and Cannabis-derived samples was established based on three identification steps (/ and isotope pattern of Ag(I) adducts, CCS, and MS/MS fragments). Afterward, calibration curves of three major cannabinoids were established with a linear range of 1-250 ng·ml for Δ8-THC () ( = 0.9999), 0.1-25 ng·ml for Δ9-THC () ( = 0.9987), and 0.04-10 ng·ml for CBD () ( = 0.9986) as well as very low limits of detection (0.008-0.2 ng·ml). Finally, relative quantification of Δ8-THC (), Δ9-THC (), and CBD () in eight complex acid-treated CBD mixtures was achieved without chromatographic separation. The results showed good correspondence ( = 0.999) with those obtained by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection/mass spectrometry.
Topics: Cannabis; Cannabinoids; Dronabinol; Ion Mobility Spectrometry; Mass Spectrometry; Plant Extracts; Isomerism
PubMed: 38862388
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c05879 -
International Journal of Biological... Jun 2024One of the technological fields that is developing the fastest is quantum computing in biology. One of the main problems is protein folding, which calls for precise,...
One of the technological fields that is developing the fastest is quantum computing in biology. One of the main problems is protein folding, which calls for precise, effective algorithms with fast computing times. Mapping the least energy conformation state of proteins with disordered areas requires enormous computing resources. The current study uses quantum algorithms, such as the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), to estimate the lowest energy value of 50 peptides, each consisting of seven amino acids. To determine the ground state energy value, Variational Quantum Optimisation (VQE) is first utilised to generate the energy values along with Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as an aggregation function is applied over 100 iterations of 500,000 shots each. This is contrasted with 50 millisecond molecular dynamics-based simulations to determine the energy levels and folding pattern. In comparison to MD-based simulations, the results point to CvaR-VQE producing more effective folding outcomes with respect to sampling and global optimization. Protein folding can be solved to get deep insights into biological processes and drug formulation with improving quantum technology and algorithms.
PubMed: 38862055
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133033 -
Optics Express Apr 2024This paper aims to explain when the vaporization or thermal decomposition prevails during laser-induced bubble growth and how they influence bubble morphology. Bubbles...
This paper aims to explain when the vaporization or thermal decomposition prevails during laser-induced bubble growth and how they influence bubble morphology. Bubbles were generated by irradiating a 304 stainless steel plate submerged in degassed water using millisecond lasers with a pulse width of 0.4 ms and powers of 1.6 kW and 3.2 kW, respectively. The dynamic evolution of bubbles was recorded by a high-speed camera. Moreover, the numerical models were developed to obtain a vaporization model and a decomposition model by incorporating the source terms due to the vaporization and decomposition mass fluxes into the governing equations, respectively. The simulated dynamic bubble evolution is consistent with the experimental results. When the laser power is 1.6 kW, a thin-layer bubble is formed, which gradually shrinks and eventually disappears after the laser stops irradiating. When the laser power is 3.2 kW, a spherical bubble is formed, and its volume decreases significantly after the laser stops irradiating. Subsequently, it remains relatively stable during the observation period. The fundamental reason for the difference between the bubble morphologies obtained from the vaporization model and the decomposition model lies in the presence of a condensation zone in the gas phase. When water vaporization or thermal decomposition dominates, the temperatures obtained from the models align with the decomposition ratios at varying temperatures reported in the literature. Our findings are significant for understanding the dynamic behavior of bubbles, with implications for various laser processing underwater.
PubMed: 38859214
DOI: 10.1364/OE.521849 -
Optics Express May 2024Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides future-proof security for data communications over optical networks. Currently, sophisticated QKD systems are developed and the...
Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides future-proof security for data communications over optical networks. Currently, sophisticated QKD systems are developed and the scale of QKD-secured optical networks (QKD-ONs) becomes larger. Given the complex network conditions and dynamic end-to-end security services in QKD-ONs, autonomic management and control becomes a promising paradigm to support end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) assurance in an efficient and stable way without requiring human intervention. Hence, to enable and utilize the autonomic functionalities over QKD-ONs for realizing the end-to-end QoS assurance becomes a challenge. This work enhances the software defined networking (SDN) technique to tackle this challenge because SDN can add programmability and flexibility for QKD-ON's management and control. A new architecture of SDN-based QKD-ONs supporting autonomic end-to-end QoS assurance is designed, where a knowledge engine with autonomic control loops is developed in the SDN controller. We present the autonomic end-to-end QoS assurance procedure, and the cross-layer collaborative QoS assurance (CLC-QA) strategy for implementing the autonomic functionalities in the network level over QKD-ONs. We also establish an experimental testbed of SDN-based QKD-ONs supporting autonomic end-to-end QoS assurance, and perform the numerical simulation to verify our proposed approaches. Experimental results demonstrate that our presented approaches can achieve the millisecond-level overall latency of 337 ms and 618 ms, during the first and second autonomic adjustment without human intervention in case of the autonomic QoS protection. Moreover, the CLC-QA strategy is evaluated under different traffic loads by being compared with the baseline strategy without cross-layer collaboration. It can improve 22.5% protection success ratio and save 5.7% average key consumption.
PubMed: 38858991
DOI: 10.1364/OE.516443 -
Optics Express May 2024This study introduces an advanced approach for assessing the damage state of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) caused by laser interactions, leveraging a multi-source and...
This study introduces an advanced approach for assessing the damage state of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) caused by laser interactions, leveraging a multi-source and multi-feature information fusion technique. We established an experimental system that simulates laser damage on CCDs and collects diverse data types including echo information from active laser detection based on the 'cat's eye' effect, plasma flash data, and surface image characteristics of the CCD. A probabilistic neural network (PNN) was utilized to integrate these data sources effectively. Our analysis demonstrated that using multiple features from single sources significantly improves the accuracy of the damage assessment compared to single-feature evaluations. The error rates using dual features from each information type were 10.65% for cat's eye echo, 7.3% for plasma flash, and 7.17% for surface image analysis. By combining all three information sources and six features, we successfully reduced the error rate to 0.85%, with the evaluation time under 60 milliseconds. These findings confirm that our multi-source, multi-feature fusion method is highly effective for the online and real-time evaluation of CCD damage, offering significant improvements in the operational reliability and safety of devices in high-energy environments.
PubMed: 38858982
DOI: 10.1364/OE.515567 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... May 2024Whether the fast temporal dynamics of neural activity in brain circuits causally drive perception and cognition remains one of most longstanding unresolved questions in...
Whether the fast temporal dynamics of neural activity in brain circuits causally drive perception and cognition remains one of most longstanding unresolved questions in neuroscience . While some theories posit a 'timing code' in which dynamics on the millisecond timescale is central to brain function, others instead argue that mean firing rates over more extended periods (a 'rate code') carry most of the relevant information. Existing tools, such as optogenetics, can be used to alter temporal structure of neural dynamics , but they invariably change mean firing rates, leaving the interpretation of such experiments ambiguous. Here we developed and validated a new approach based on balanced, bidirectional optogenetics that can alter temporal structure of neural dynamics while mitigating effects on mean activity. Using this new approach, we found that selectively altering cortical temporal dynamics substantially reduced performance in a sensory perceptual task. These results demonstrate that endogenous temporal dynamics in the cortex are causally required for perception and behavior. More generally, this new bidirectional optogenetic approach should be broadly useful for disentangling the causal impact of different timescales of neural dynamics on behavior.
PubMed: 38853943
DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.30.596706 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Jun 2024The design of bioelectronics capable of stably tracking brain-wide, single-cell, and millisecond-resolved neural activities in the developing brain is critical to the...
The design of bioelectronics capable of stably tracking brain-wide, single-cell, and millisecond-resolved neural activities in the developing brain is critical to the study of neuroscience and neurodevelopmental disorders. During development, the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the vertebrate brain arises from a 2D neural plate . These large morphological changes previously posed a challenge for implantable bioelectronics to track neural activity throughout brain development . Here, we present a tissue-level-soft, sub-micrometer-thick, stretchable mesh microelectrode array capable of integrating into the embryonic neural plate of vertebrates by leveraging the 2D-to-3D reconfiguration process of the tissue itself. Driven by the expansion and folding processes of organogenesis, the stretchable mesh electrode array deforms, stretches, and distributes throughout the entire brain, fully integrating into the 3D tissue structure. Immunostaining, gene expression analysis, and behavioral testing show no discernible impact on brain development or function. The embedded electrode array enables long-term, stable, brain-wide, single-unit-single-spike-resolved electrical mapping throughout brain development, illustrating how neural electrical activities and population dynamics emerge and evolve during brain development.
PubMed: 38853924
DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.29.596533 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Jun 2024The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is an acoustically evoked EEG potential that is an important diagnostic tool for hearing loss, especially in newborns. The ABR...
The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is an acoustically evoked EEG potential that is an important diagnostic tool for hearing loss, especially in newborns. The ABR originates from the response sequence of auditory brainstem nuclei, and a click-evoked ABR typically shows three positive peaks ('waves') within the first six milliseconds. However, an assignment of the waves of the ABR to specific sources is difficult, and a quantification of contributions to the ABR waves is not available. Here, we exploit the large size and physical separation of the barn owl first-order cochlear nucleus magnocellularis (NM) to estimate single-cell contributions to the ABR. We simultaneously recorded NM neurons' spikes and the EEG, and found that ≳ 5, 000 spontaneous single-cell spikes are necessary to isolate a significant spike-triggered average response at the EEG electrode. An average single-neuron contribution to the ABR was predicted by convolving the spike-triggered average with the cell's peri-stimulus time histogram. Amplitudes of predicted contributions of single NM cells typically reached 32.9 ± 1.1 nV (mean ± SE, range: 2.5 - 162.7 nV), or 0.07 ± 0.02% (median ± SE range: 0.01 - 4.0%) of the ABR amplitude. The time of the predicted peak coincided best with the peak of the ABR wave II, and this coincidence was independent of the click sound level. Our results suggest that wave II of the ABR is shaped by a small fraction of NM units.
PubMed: 38853863
DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.29.596509 -
Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry Sep 2024The NO dioxygenation reaction catalyzed by heme-containing globin proteins is a crucial aerobic detoxification pathway. Accordingly, the second order reaction of NO with...
The NO dioxygenation reaction catalyzed by heme-containing globin proteins is a crucial aerobic detoxification pathway. Accordingly, the second order reaction of NO with oxymyoglobin and oxyhemoglobin has been the focus of a large number of kinetic and spectroscopic studies. Stopped-flow and rapid-freeze-quench (RFQ) measurements have provided evidence for the formation of a Fe(III)-nitrato complex with millisecond lifetime prior to release of the nitrate product, but the temporal resolution of these techniques is insufficient for the characterization of precursor species. Most mechanistic models assume the formation of an initial Fe(III)-peroxynitrite species prior to homolytic cleavage of the OO bond and recombination of the resulting NO and Fe(IV)=O species. Here we report vibrational spectroscopy measurements for the reaction of oxymyoglobin with a photolabile caged NO donor at cryogenic temperatures. We show that this approach offers efficient formation and trapping of the Fe(III)-nitrato, enzyme-product, complex at 180 K. Resonance Raman spectra of the Fe(III)-nitrato complex trapped via RFQ in the liquid phase and photolabile NO release at cryogenic temperatures are indistinguishable, demonstrating the complementarity of these approaches. Caged NO is released by irradiation <180 K but diffusion into the heme pocket is fully inhibited. Our data provide no evidence for Fe(III)-peroxynitrite of Fe(IV)=O species, supporting low activation energies for the NO to nitrate conversion at the oxymyoglobin reaction site. Photorelease of NO at cryogenic temperatures allows monitoring of the reaction by transmittance FTIR which provides valuable quantitative information and promising prospects for the detection of protein sidechain reorganization events in NO-reacting metalloenzymes.
Topics: Myoglobin; Nitric Oxide; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Cold Temperature; Animals; Kinetics; Vibration
PubMed: 38852292
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2024.112633 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... May 2024Extensive research has documented the brain networks that play an integral role in bias, or the alteration and filtration of information processing in a manner that... (Review)
Review
Extensive research has documented the brain networks that play an integral role in bias, or the alteration and filtration of information processing in a manner that fundamentally favors an individual. The roots of bias, whether self- or other-oriented, are a complex constellation of neural and psychological processes that start at the most fundamental levels of sensory processing. From the millisecond information is received in the brain it is filtered at various levels and through various brain networks in relation to extant intrinsic activity to provide individuals with a perception of reality that complements and satisfies the conscious perceptions they have for themselves and the cultures in which they were reared. The products of these interactions, in turn, are dynamically altered by the introduction of others, be they friends or strangers who are similar or different in socially meaningful ways. While much is known about the various ways that basic biases alter specific aspects of neural function to support various forms of bias, the breadth and scope of the phenomenon remains entirely unclear. The purpose of this review is to examine the brain networks that shape (i.e., bias) the self-concept and how interactions with similar (ingroup) compared to dissimilar (outgroup) others alter these network (and subsequent interpersonal) interactions in fundamental ways. Throughout, focus is placed on an emerging understanding of the brain as a complex system, which suggests that many of these network interactions likely occur on a non-linear scale that blurs the lines between network hierarchies.
PubMed: 38848651
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.05.002