Report/Guide

Adeogun, M; Bunch, J; Dexter, A; Dondi, C; Murta, T; Nikula, C; Shaw, M; Taylor, A; Partarrieu, I; Romanchikova, M; Smith, N; Thomas, S; Venton, J (2021) Metrology for Digital Pathology. Digital pathology cross-theme project report. NPL Report. AS 102

Brochu, F; Cooke, E; Romanchikova, M; Bunch, J; Dexter, A; Steven, R; Thomas, S; Shaw, M; Pilling, J; Ling, S; Strittmatter, N; Wang, Y; Race, A; Fraser, D; Francis, J; Newman, C; Chavda, V; Wood, C; Lavelle, J (2020) Federation of Imaging Data for Life sciences: current status of metadata collection for high content screening, mass spectrometry imaging and light sheet microscopy of AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and NPL. NPL Report. MS 24

Article

Venkateswaran, S V; Kreuzaler, P; Maclachlan, C; McMahon, G; Greenidge, G; Collinson, L; Bunch, J; Yuneva, M (2025) A Multimodal Imaging Pipeline to Decipher Cell-Specific Metabolic Functions and Tissue Microenvironment Dynamics. Nature Protocols, 20. pp. 1678-1699.

Ling, S; Dexter, A; Race, A M; Sharma, S; Hamm, G; Polanska, U M; Rosetta Consortium Cancer Research UK; Marshall, J F; Takats, Z; Brindle, K; Yunera, M O; Poulogiannis, G; Campbell, A D; Sansom, O J; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J; Barry, S T (2025) Use of metabolic imaging to monitor the heterogeneity of tumour response following therapeutic mTORC1/2 pathway inhibition. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 18 (2). DMM050804

Steven, R T; Burton, A; Taylor, A J; Robinson, K N; Dexter, A; Nikula, C; Bunch, J (2024) Evaluation of inlet temperature with three different sprayer designs for desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging of tissue analysis. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 35 (2). pp. 224-233.

Gonzalez-Fernandez, A; Dexter, A; Nikula, C; Bunch, J (2023) NECTAR: A new algorithm for characterising and correcting noise in QToF-mass spectrometry imaging data. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 34 (11). pp. 2443-2453.

Voorde, J V; Steven, R T; Najumudeen, A K; Ford, C A; Dexter, A; Gonzalez-Fernandez, A; Nikula, C J; Xiang, Y; Ford, L; Stavrakaki, S M; Gilroy, K; Zeiger, L B; Pennel, K; Hatthakarnkul, P; Elia, E A; Nasif, A; Murta, T; Manoli, E; Mason, S; Gillespie, M; Lannagan, T R M; Vlahov, N; Ridgeway, R A; Nixon, C; Raven, A; Mills, M; Athineos, D; Kanellos, G; Nourse, C; Gay, D M; Hughes, M; Burton, A; Yan, B; Sellers, K; Wu, V; de Ridder, K; Shokry, E; Uribe, A H; Clark, W; Clark, G; Kirschner, K; Theinpont, B; Li, V S W; Maddocks, O D K; Barry, S T; Goodwin, R J A; Kinross, J; Edwards, J; Yuneva, M O; Sumpton, D; Takats, Z; Campbell, A D; Bunch, J; Samson, O J (2023) Metabolic profiling stratifies colorectal cancer and reveals adenosylhomocysteinase as a therapeutic target. Nature Metabolism, 5. pp. 1303-1318.

Xiang, Y; Metodiev, M; Wang, M; Cao, B; Bunch, J; Takats, Z (2023) Enhancement of Ambient Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data by Image Restoration. Metabolites, 13 (5). 669

Costa, C; de Jesus, J; Nikula, C; Murta, T; Grime, G W; Palitsin, V; Dartois, V; Firat, K; Webb, R; Bunch, J; Bailey, M J (2023) A multimodal desorption electrospray ionisation workflow enabling visualisation of lipids and biologically relevant elements in a single tissue section. Metabolites, 13 (2). 262

Costa, C; de Jesus, J; Nikula, C; Murta, T; Grime, G W; Palitsin, V; Webb, R; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J (2022) Exploring new methods to study and moderate proton beam damage for multimodal imaging on a single tissue section. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 33 (12). pp. 2263-2272.

Dexter, A; Tsikritsis, D; Belsey, N A; Thomas, S A; Venton, J; Bunch, J; Romanchikova, M (2022) Next generation digital pathology: emerging trends and measurement challenges for molecular pathology. Journal of Molecular Pathology, 3 (3). pp. 168-181.

Steven, R T; Niehaus, M; Taylor, A J; Nasif, A; Elia, E; Goodwin, R J A; Tokats, Z; Bunch, J (2022) Atmospheric-pressure infrared laser-ablation plasma-post-ionisation mass spectrometry imaging of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) and fresh-frozen tissue sections with no sample preparation. Analytical Chemistry, 94 (28). pp. 9970-9974.

Taylor, A J; Tsikritsis, D; Dexter, A; Burton, A; Bunch, J; Belsey, N A (2022) Classification of tablet formulation by desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and transmission Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Chemometrics, 36 (6). e3412

Strittmatter, N; Richards, F M; Race, A M; Ling, S; Sutton, D; Nilsson, A; Wallez, Y; Barnes, J; Maglennon, G; Gopinathan, A; Brais, R; Wong, E; Serra, M P; Atkinson, J; Smith, A; Wilson, J; Hamm, G; Johnson, T I; Dunlop, C R; Kaistha, B P; Bunch, J; Sansom, O J; Takats, Z; Andren, P E; Lau, A; Barry, S T; Goodwin, R J A; Jodrell, D I (2022) Method To Visualize the Intratumor Distribution and Impact of Gemcitabine in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Multimodal Imaging. Analytical Chemistry, 94 (3). pp. 1795-1803.

de Jesus, J M; Costa, C; Burton, A; Palitsin, V; Webb, R; Taylor, A; Nikula, C; Dexter, A; Kaya, F; Chambers, M; Dartois, V; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J; Bailey, M J (2021) Correlative Imaging of Trace Elements and Intact Molecular Species in a Single-Tissue Sample at the 50 μm Scale. Analytical Chemistry, 93 (40). pp. 13450-13458.

Fala, M; Somai, V; Dannhorn, A; Hamm, G; Gibson, K; Couturier, D-L; Hesketh, R; Wright, A J; Takats, Z; Bunch, J; Barry, S T; Goodwin, R J A; Brindle, K M (2021) Comparison of 13 C MRI of hyperpolarized [1‐ 13 C]pyruvate and lactate with the corresponding mass spectrometry images in a murine lymphoma model. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 85 (6). pp. 3027-3035. ISSN 0740-3194

Costa, C; Jang, M; de Jesus, J; Steven, R T; Nikula, C J; Elia, E; Bunch, J; Bellew, A T; Watts, J F; Hinder, S; Bailey, M J (2021) Imaging mass spectrometry: a new way to distinguish dermal contact from administration of cocaine, using a single fingerprint. Analyst, 146 (12). pp. 4010-4021.

Yan, B; Bunch, J (2021) Probing Folded Proteins and Intact Protein Complexes by Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 32 (3). pp. 690-699. ISSN 1044-0305

Race, A M; Sutton, D; Hamm, G; Maglennon, G; Morton, J P; Strittmatter, N; Campbell, A; Sansom, O J; Wang, Y; Barry, S T; Takáts, Z; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J (2021) Deep Learning-Based Annotation Transfer between Molecular Imaging Modalities: An Automated Workflow for Multimodal Data Integration. Analytical Chemistry, 93 (6). pp. 3061-3071. ISSN 0003-2700

Yan, B; Murta, T; Elia, E A; Steven, R T; Bunch, J (2021) Direct Tissue Mass Spectrometry Imaging by Atmospheric Pressure UV-Laser Desorption Plasma Postionization. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 32 (2). pp. 429-435. ISSN 1044-0305

Dannhorn, A; Ling, S; Powell, S; McCall, E; Maglennon, G; Jones, G N; Pierce, A J; Strittmatter, N; Hamm, G; Barry, S T; Bunch, J; Goodwin, R J A; Takats, Z (2021) Evaluation of UV-C Decontamination of Clinical Tissue Sections for Spatially Resolved Analysis by Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI). Analytical Chemistry, 93 (5). pp. 2767-2775. ISSN 0003-2700

Murta, T; Steven, R T; Nikula, C J; Thomas, S A; Zeiger, L B; Dexter, A; Elia, E A; Yan, B; Campbell, A D; Goodwin, R J A; Takáts, Z; Sansom, O J; Bunch, J (2021) Implications of Peak Selection in the Interpretation of Unsupervised Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data Analyses. Analytical Chemistry, 93 (4). pp. 2309-2316. ISSN 0003-2700

Najumudeen, A K; Ceteci, F; Fey, S K; Hamm, G; Steven, R T; Hall, H; Nikula, C J; Dexter, A; Murta, T; Race, A M; Sumpton, D; Vlahov, N; Gay, D M; Knight, J R P; Jackstadt, R; Leach, J D G; Ridgway, R A; Johnson, E R; Nixon, C; Hedley, A; Gilroy, K; Clark, W; Malla, S B; Dunne, P D; Rodriguez-Blanco, G; Critchlow, S E; Mrowinska, A; Malviya, G; Solovyev, D; Brown, G; Lewis, D Y; Mackay, G M; Strathdee, D; Tardito, S; Gottlieb, E; Takats, Z; Barry, S T; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J; Bushell, M; Campbell, A D; Sansom, O J (2021) The amino acid transporter SLC7A5 is required for efficient growth of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer. Nature Genetics, 53 (1). pp. 16-26. ISSN 1061-4036

Elia, E A; Niehaus, M; Steven, R T; Wolf, J C; Bunch, J (2020) Atmospheric Pressure MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging Using In-Line Plasma Induced Postionization. Analytical Chemistry, 92 (23). pp. 15285-15290. ISSN 0003-2700

Niehaus, M; Robinson, K N; Murta, T; Elia, E A; Race, A M; Yan, B; Steven, R T; Bunch, J (2020) MALDI-2 at Atmospheric Pressure—Parameter Optimization and First Imaging Experiments. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 31 (11). pp. 2287-2295. ISSN 1044-0305

Race, A M; Rae, A; Vorng, J-L; Havelund, R; Dexter, A; Kumar, N; Steven, R T; Passarelli, M K; Tyler, B J; Bunch, J; Gilmore, I S (2020) Correlative Hyperspectral Imaging Using a Dimensionality-Reduction-Based Image Fusion Method. Analytical Chemistry, 92 (16). pp. 10979-10988. ISSN 0003-2700

Dannhorn, A; Kazanc, E; Ling, S; Nikula, C; Karali, E; Serra, M P; Vorng, J-L; Inglese, P; Maglennon, G; Hamm, G; Swales, J; Strittmatter, N; Barry, S T; Sansom, O J; Poulogiannis, G; Bunch, J; Goodwin, R J A; Takats, Z (2020) Universal Sample Preparation Unlocking Multimodal Molecular Tissue Imaging. Analytical Chemistry, 92 (16). pp. 11080-11088. ISSN 0003-2700

Goodwin, R J A; Takats, Z; Bunch, J (2020) A Critical and Concise Review of Mass Spectrometry Applied to Imaging in Drug Discovery. SLAS DISCOVERY: Advancing the Science of Drug Discovery, 25 (9). pp. 963-976. ISSN 2472-5552

Hulme, H; Meikle, L M; Strittmatter, N; van der Hooft, J J J; Swales, J; Bragg, R A; Villar, V H; Ormsby, M J; Barnes, S; Brown, S L; Dexter, A; Kamat, M T; Komen, J C; Walker, D; Milling, S; Osterweil, E K; MacDonald, A S; Schofield, C J; Tardito, S; Bunch, J; Douce, G; Edgar, J M; Edrada-Ebel, R; Goodwin, R J A; Burchmore, R; Wall, D M (2020) Microbiome-derived carnitine mimics as previously unknown mediators of gut-brain axis communication. Science Advances, 6 (11). eaax6328 ISSN 2375-2548

Dexter, A; Steven, R T; Patel, A; Dailey, L A; Taylor, A; Ball, D; Klapwijk, J; Forbes, B; Page, C P; Bunch, J (2019) Imaging drugs, metabolites and biomarkers in rodent lung: a DESI MS strategy for the evaluation of drug-induced lipidosis. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 411 (30). pp. 8023-8032. ISSN 1618-2642

Havlikova, J; Randall, E C; Griffiths, R L; Swales, J G; Goodwin, R J A; Bunch, J; Styles, I B; Cooper, H J (2019) Quantitative Imaging of Proteins in Tissue by Stable Isotope Labeled Mimetic Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis Mass Spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry, 91 (22). pp. 14198-14202. ISSN 0003-2700

Costa, C; Van Es, E M; Sears, P; Bunch, J; Palitsin, V; Mosegaard, K; Bailey, M J (2019) Exploring Rapid, Sensitive and Reliable Detection of Trace Explosives Using Paper Spray Mass Spectrometry (PS‐MS). Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics, 44 (8). pp. 1021-1027. ISSN 0721-3115

Patel, A; Hoffman, E; Ball, D; Klapwijk, J; Steven, R T; Dexter, A; Bunch, J; Baker, D; Murnane, D; Hutter, V; Page, C; Dailey, L A; Forbes, B (2019) Comparison of Oral, Intranasal and Aerosol Administration of Amiodarone in Rats as a Model of Pulmonary Phospholipidosis. Pharmaceutics, 11 (7). 345 ISSN 1999-4923

Yan, B; Taylor, A J; Bunch, J (2019) Cryo-LESA Mass Spectrometry—a Step Towards Truly Native Surface Sampling of Proteins. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 30 (7). pp. 1179-1189. ISSN 1044-0305

Robinson, K N; Steven, R T; Race, A M; Bunch, J (2019) The Influence of MS Imaging Parameters on UV-MALDI Desorption and Ion Yield. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 30 (7). pp. 1284-1293. ISSN 1044-0305

Giovannozzi, A M; Hornemann, A; Pollakowski-Herrmann, B; Green, F M; Gunning, P; Salter, T L; Steven, R T; Bunch, J; Portesi, C; Tyler, B J; Beckhoff, B; Rossi, A M (2019) A methodological inter-comparison study on the detection of surface contaminant sodium dodecyl sulfate applying ambient- and vacuum-based techniques. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 411 (1). pp. 217-229. ISSN 1618-2642

Porta Siegel, T; Hamm, G; Bunch, J; Cappell, J; Fletcher, J S; Schwamborn, K (2018) Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Integration with Other Imaging Modalities for Greater Molecular Understanding of Biological Tissues. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 20 (6). pp. 888-901. ISSN 1536-1632

de Jesus, J; Bunch, J; Verbeck, G; Webb, R P; Costa, C; Goodwin, R J A; Bailey, M J (2018) Application of Various Normalization Methods for Microscale Analysis of Tissues Using Direct Analyte Probed Nanoextraction. Analytical Chemistry, 90 (20). pp. 12094-12100. ISSN 0003-2700

Bunch, J; Steven, R; Taylor, A J; Thomas, S A; Race, A; Dexter, A; Hamm, G; Strittmatter, N; Havelund, R; Soares, R F; Campbell, A D; Sansom, O J; Goodwin, R J; Takats, Z (2018) Abstract 5661: A multi modal mass spectrometry imaging strategy to profile the metabolic hallmarks of colorectal cancer. Cancer Research, 78 (13). p. 5661.

Taylor, A J; Dexter, A; Bunch, J (2018) Exploring ion suppression in mass spectrometry imaging of a hetrogeneous tissue. Analytical Chemistry, 90 (9). pp. 5637-5645.

Meurs, J; Alexander, M R; Levkin, P A; Widmaier, S; Bunch, J; Barrett, D A; Kim, D-H (2018) Improved Extraction Repeatability and Spectral Reproducibility for Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis–Mass Spectrometry Using Superhydrophobic–Superhydrophilic Patterning. Analytical Chemistry, 90 (10). pp. 6001-6005. ISSN 0003-2700

Swales, J G; Dexter, A; Hamm, G; Nilsson, A; Strittmatter, N; Michopoulos, Fi; Hardy, C; Morentin-Gutierrez, P; Mellor, M; Andren, P E; Clench, M R; Bunch, J; Critchlow, S E; Goodwin, R J A (2018) Quantitation of Endogenous Metabolites in Mouse Tumors Using Mass-Spectrometry Imaging. Analytical Chemistry, 90 (10). pp. 6051-6058. ISSN 0003-2700

Robinson, K N; Steven, R T; Bunch, J (2018) Matrix optical absorption in UV-MALDI MS. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 29 (3). pp. 501-511.

Dexter, A; Race, A; Steven, R T; Barnes, J R; Hulme, H; Goodwin, R J A; Styles, I B; Bunch, J (2017) Two-phase and graph-based clustering methods for accurate and efficient segmentation of large mass spectrometry images. Analytical Chemistry, 89 (21). pp. 11293-11300.

Kocurek, K I; Stone, L; Bunch, J; May, R C; Cooper, H J (2017) Top-down LESA mass spectrometry protein analysis of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 28 (10). pp. 2066-2077.

Hulme, H E*; Meikle, L M*; Wessel, H*; Strittmatter, N*; Swales, J*; Thomson, C*; Nilsson, A*; Nibbs, R J B*; Milling, S*; Andren, P E*; Mackay, C L*; Dexter, A; Bunch, J; Goodwin, R J A*; Burchmore, R*; Wall, D M* (2017) Mass spectrometry imaging identifies palmitoylcarnitine as an immunological mediator during Salmonella Typhimurium infection. Sci. Rep., 7. p. 2786.

Goodwin, R J A*; Bunch, J; McGinnity, D F* (2017) Mass spectroscopy imaging in oncology drug discovery. Adv. Cancer Res., 134. pp. 133-171.

Griffiths, R L*; Randall, E C*; Race, A M; Bunch, J; Cooper, H J* (2017) Raster-mode continuous-flow liquid microjunction mass spectrometry imaging of proteins in thin tissue sections. Anal. Chem., 89 (11). pp. 5684-5688.

Bailey, M J*; Randall, E C; Costa, C*; Salter, T L; Race, A M; de Puit, M*; Koeberg, M*; Baumert, M*; Bunch, J (2016) Analysis of urine, oral fluid and fingerprints by liquid extraction surface analysis coupled to high resolution MS and MS/MS - opportunities for forensic and biomedical science. Anal. Methods, 8 (16). pp. 3373-3382.

Griffiths, C A*; Sagar, R*; Geng, Y*; Primavesi, L F*; Patel, M K*; Passarelli, M K; Gilmore, I S; Steven, R T; Bunch, J; Paul, M J*; Davis, B G* (2016) Chemical interventio in plant sugar signalling increases yield and resilience. Nature, 540 (7634). p. 574.

Steven, R T; Dexter, A; Bunch, J (2016) Investigating MALDI MSI parameters (Part 1) - a systematic survey of the effects of repetition rates up to 20 kHz in continuous raster mode. Methods, 104. pp. 101-110.

Steven, R T; Dexter, A; Bunch, J (2016) Investigating MALDI MSI parameters (Part 2) - on the use of a mechanically shuttered trigger system for improved laser energy stability. Methods, 104. pp. 111-117.

Tillner, J; McKenzie, J S*; Jones, E A*; Speller, A V M*; Walsh, J L*; Veselkov, K A*; Bunch, J; Takats, Z*; Gilmore, I S (2016) Investigation of the impact of desorption electrospray ionization sprayer geometry on its performance in imaging of biological tissue. Anal. Chem., 88 (9). pp. 4808-4816.

Griffiths, R L*; Creese, A J*; Race, A M; Bunch, J; Cooper, H J* (2016) LESA FAIMS mass spectroscopy for the spatial profiling of proteins from tissue. Anal. Chem., 88 (13). pp. 6753-6766.

Randall, E C; Race, A M; Cooper, H J*; Bunch, J (2016) MALDI imaging of liquid extraction surface analysis sampled tissue. Anal. Chem., 88 (17). pp. 8433-8440.

Steven, R T; Race, A M; Bunch, J (2016) Probing the relationship between detected ion intensity, laser fluence and beam profile in thin film and tissue in MALDI MSI. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom., 27 (8). pp. 1419-1428.

Race, A M; Palmer, A D*; Dexter, A; Steven, R T; Styles, I B*; Bunch, J (2016) SpectralAnalysis: software for the masses. Anal. Chem., 88 (19). pp. 9451-9458.

Dexter, A; Race, A M; Styles, I B*; Bunch, J (2016) Testing for multivariate normality in mass spectrometry imaging data: a robust statistical approach for clustering evaluation and the generation of synthetic mass spectrometry imaging data sets. Anal. Chem., 88 (22). pp. 10893-10899.

Sarsby, J*; Griffiths, R L*; Race, A M*; Bunch, J; Randall, E C*; Creese, A J*; Cooper, H J* (2015) Liquid extraction surface analysis mass spectrometry coupled with field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry for analysis of intact proteins from biological substrates. Anal. Chem., 87 (13). pp. 6794-6800.

Race, A M*; Bunch, J (2015) Optimisation of colour schemes to accurately display mass spectrometry imaging data based on human colour perception. Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 407 (8). pp. 2047-2054.

Passarelli, M K*; Newman, C F*; Marshall, P S*; West, A*; Gilmore, I S; Bunch, J; Alexander, M R*; Dollery, C T* (2015) Single-cell analysis: visualizing pharmaceutical and metabolite uptake in cells with label-free 3D mass. Anal. Chem., 87 (13). pp. 6696-6702.

Palmer, A D*; Bunch, J; Styles, I B* (2015) The use of random projections for the analysis of mass spectrometry imaging data. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom., 26 (2). pp. 315-322.

Bowfield, A; Bunch, J; Salter, T L; Stevens, R T; Gilmore, I S; Barrett, D A*; Alexander, M R*; Mckay, K*; Bradley, J W* (2014) Characterisation of micro-plasmas for ambient mass spectrometry imaging. Analyst, 139 (21). pp. 5430-5438.

Randall, E C*; Bunch, J; Cooper, H J* (2014) Direct analysis of intact proteins from escherichia coil colonies by liquid extraction surface analysis mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem., 86 (21). pp. 10504-10510.

Salter, T L; Bunch, J; Gilmore, I S (2014) Importance of sample form and surface temperature for analysis by ambient plasma mass spectrometry (PADI). Anal. Chem., 86 (18). pp. 9264-9270.

Sarsby, J*; Martin, N J*; Lalor, P F*; Bunch, J; Cooper, H J* (2014) Top-down and bottom-up identification of proteins by liquid extraction surface analysis mass spectrometry of healthy and diseased human liver tissue. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrosc., 25 (11). pp. 1953-1961.

Conference or Workshop Item

Thomas, S A; Jin, Y; Bunch, J; Gilmore, I S (2017) Enhancing classification of mass spectrometry imaging data with deep neural networks. In: 2017 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI), 27 November - 01 December 2017, Honolulu, HI, USA.

Thomas, S A; Race, A M; Steven, R T; Gilmore, I S; Bunch, J (2016) Dimensionality reduction of mass spectrometry imaging data using autoencoders. In: 2016 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI), 6-9 December 2016, Athens, Greece.