Discovery of Bis-imidazolecarboxamide Derivatives as Novel, Potent, and Selective TNIK Inhibitors for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK) has been identified as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of fibrosis-driven diseases. Utilizing a structure-based drug design workflow, we developed a series of potent TNIK inhibitors that modulate the conformation of the gatekeeper Met105 side chain and access the TNIK back pocket. The lead optimization efforts culminated in the discovery of the recently reported compound (INS018_055), a novel TNIK inhibitor.

Colabind: A Cloud-Based Approach for Prediction of Binding Sites Using Coarse-Grained Simulations with Molecular Probes.

Binding site prediction is a crucial step in understanding protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with broad implications in drug discovery and bioinformatics. This study introduces Colabind, a robust, versatile, and user-friendly cloud-based approach that employs coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations in the presence of molecular probes, mimicking fragments of drug-like compounds. Our method has demonstrated high effectiveness when validated across a diverse range of biological targets spanning various protein classes, successfully identifying orthosteric binding sites, as well as known druggable allosteric or PPI sites, in both experimentally determined and AI-predicted protein structures, consistently placing them among the top-ranked sites.

High-Performance Hydrogen-Selective Pd-Ag Membranes Modified with Pd-Pt Nanoparticles for Use in Steam Reforming Membrane Reactors.

A unique method for synthesizing a surface modifier for metallic hydrogen permeable membranes based on non-classic bimetallic pentagonally structured Pd-Pt nanoparticles was developed. It was found that nanoparticles had unique hollow structures. This significantly reduced the cost of their production due to the economical use of metal.

Hydrogen Permeability of Composite Pd-Au/Pd-Cu Membranes and Methods for Their Preparation.

Thin Pd-40%Cu films were obtained via the classical melting and rolling method, magnetron sputtering, and modified with nanostructured functional coatings to intensify the process of hydrogen transportation. The films were modified by electrodeposition, according to the classical method of obtaining palladium black and "Pd-Au nanoflowers" with spherical and pentagonal particles, respectively. The experiment results demonstrated the highest catalytic activity (89.

Secondary Role of Aliphatic and Heterocyclic Amines in the Formation of Low-Temperature Amine-Bearing U, Np, and Pu(VI) Chromates.

Uranyl compounds with tetrahedral oxoanions demonstrate a significant structural and topological diversity. Complexes of transuranium elements with such anions are not equally well-represented in the literature. To answer the question about the structural similarity in a series of An complexes with XO anions, we synthesized and studied 10 new U, Np, and Pu chromates with outer-sphere organic cations.

Interaction with Simple Monopyridinecarboxylic Ligands Revealing Unexpected Structural Types of Uranyl Halides.

The inclusion of monopyridinecarboxylic acids into the structures of uranyl halides results in the formation of unexpected structural units. Molecules of picolinic and nicotinic acids acting as bridging ligands favor the formation of unprecedented dinuclear units in two uranyl bromide complexes, which comprise two metal centers in different, tetragonal- and pentagonal-bipyramidal, coordination geometries. Moreover, the different positions of the nitrogen atom in the molecule of nicotinic acid induce significant bending of the heterodimer.

Perrhenate and Pertechnetate Complexes of U(IV), Np(IV), and Pu(IV) with Dimethyl Sulfoxide as an O-Donor Ligand.

A series of new dimethyl-sulfoxide-containing pertechnetates and perrhenates of tetravalent U, Np, and Pu were synthesized and structurally characterized by the X-ray diffractometry. In all the synthesized compounds, the actinide atoms were coordinated by eight DMSO molecules with or without an extra XO anion in the coordination sphere. This resulted in the square antiprismatic or capped square antiprismatic coordination of An atoms.

Structural Role of Isonicotinic Acid in U(VI), Np(VI), and Pu(VI) Complexes with TcO, ReO, and ClO Ions.

A series of new pertechnetate, perrhenate, and perchlorate compounds of hexavalent U, Np, and Pu containing isonicotinic acid were synthesized. Their crystal structures were determined by X-ray diffractometry. In all compounds, actinide atoms are found in pentagonal bipyramidal surroundings.

Effect of Training at Lactate Threshold Intensity on Maximal Time to Exhaustion, Depression and Anxiety Behaviour of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats after Kainate-Induced Status Epilepticus.

Aim: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of treadmill training at lactate threshold intensity on maximum time to exhaustion (MTE) and heart rate (HR) as well as behavioral changes after kainate (KA)-induced status epilepticus (SE) of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).

Materials And Methods: Male SHRs were divided in four groups: two sedentary (vehicle- and KA-treated) and two exercised (vehicle- and KA-treated), respectively. The exercised rats were trained on a treadmill at a speed of 20 m.

Targeted imaging of urothelium carcinoma in human bladders by an ICG pHLIP peptide ex vivo.

Bladder cancer is the fifth most common in incidence and one of the most expensive cancers to treat. Early detection greatly improves the chances of survival and bladder preservation. The pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP) conjugated with a near-infrared fluorescent dye [indocyanine green (ICG)] targets low extracellular pH, allowing visualization of malignant lesions in human bladder carcinoma ex vivo.

[Analysis of results of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for patients with melanoma brain metastases].

The outcomes of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for 95 patients with melanoma brain metastases were studied. The majority of the patients (82%) presented multiple metastatic brain lesions. Local control was achieved in 94% of cases.

One-dimensional surface phonon polaritons in boron nitride nanotubes.

Surface polaritons, which are electromagnetic waves coupled to material charge oscillations, have enabled applications in concentrating, guiding and harvesting optical energy below the diffraction limit. Surface plasmon polaritons involve oscillations of electrons and are accessible in noble metals at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, whereas surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) rely on phonon resonances in polar materials, and are active in the mid-infrared. Noble metal surface plasmon polaritons have limited applications in the mid-infrared.

Gate-tuning of graphene plasmons revealed by infrared nano-imaging.

Surface plasmons are collective oscillations of electrons in metals or semiconductors that enable confinement and control of electromagnetic energy at subwavelength scales. Rapid progress in plasmonics has largely relied on advances in device nano-fabrication, whereas less attention has been paid to the tunable properties of plasmonic media. One such medium--graphene--is amenable to convenient tuning of its electronic and optical properties by varying the applied voltage.

Polymeric structure of oxalato-bridged complexes of tetravalent actinides Th, U, Np and Pu.

A series of isostructural oxalates of Th, U, Np, and Pu have been synthesized. The crystal structure of {C(NH(2))(3)}(4)[An(C(2)O(4))(4)]·2H(2)O comprises infinite [An(C(2)O(4))(4)](4n-) chains, guanidinium cations and water molecules. Each An atom is connected to five oxalate anions, two of which act as bridging tetradentate ligands, while the other three function as terminating bidentate ligands.

Infrared nanoscopy of dirac plasmons at the graphene-SiO₂ interface.

We report on infrared (IR) nanoscopy of 2D plasmon excitations of Dirac fermions in graphene. This is achieved by confining mid-IR radiation at the apex of a nanoscale tip: an approach yielding 2 orders of magnitude increase in the value of in-plane component of incident wavevector q compared to free space propagation. At these high wavevectors, the Dirac plasmon is found to dramatically enhance the near-field interaction with mid-IR surface phonons of SiO(2) substrate.

pH (low) insertion peptide (pHLIP) inserts across a lipid bilayer as a helix and exits by a different path.

What are the molecular events that occur when a peptide inserts across a membrane or exits from it? Using the pH-triggered insertion of the pH low insertion peptide to enable kinetic analysis, we show that insertion occurs in several steps, with rapid (0.1 sec) interfacial helix formation, followed by a much slower (100 sec) insertion pathway to give a transmembrane helix. The reverse process of unfolding and peptide exit from the bilayer core, which can be induced by a rapid rise of the pH from acidic to basic, proceeds approximately 400 times faster than folding/insertion and through different intermediate states.

[Comparative analysis of treatment modes of acute ezophago-gastric bleedings in patients with portal hypertension].

40 years' experience of treatment of acute ezophago-gastric bleedings in patients with portal hypertension is analyzed. In dependence of the treatment trends, three periods of of time were assigned. The 1st period was characterized by surgical treatment nonmetering clinical features.

Fabrication of semiconductor nanowires by conjugation of quantum dots to actin filaments.

We demonstrate the feasibility of fabrication of semiconducting nanowires (quantum dots) using F-actin as a template. Three different approaches of assembling quantum dots into nanowires are described. The nanowires were characterized by fluorescence microscopy.

Synthesis and structural examination of complexes of Am(IV) and other tetravalent actinides with lacunary heteropolyanion alpha2-P2W17O61(10-).

This study concerns the formation of complexes with actinides at oxidation state +IV, from Th to Am, through a lacunary heteropolyanion ligand P(2)W(17)O(61)(10-). The preparation of original single crystals of complexes with 1:2 stoichiometry provided structural data through single-crystal X-ray diffraction for the entire An(IV) series. An(IV) atoms in these complexes have a coordination number of 8, and their coordination polyhedron is a distorted square antiprism.

Interaction of transuranium elements with biologically important ligands: structural and spectroscopic evidence for nucleotide coordination to plutonium.

The first complex of a transuranium element (tetravalent plutonium) with nucleotide (deoxycytidinemonophosphate, dCMP) was synthesized and structurally characterized. The crystal structure of [Pu(4)(NO(3))(8)(HdCMP)(4)(H(2)O)(8)](NO(3))(4).2H(2)O consists of complex cations [Pu(4)(NO(3))(8)(HdCMP)(4)(H(2)O)(8)](4+), NO(3)(-) anions, and water molecules.

Interaction of transuranium elements with biologically important molecules: structural and spectroscopic study of NP(V) complexes with imidazole.

New Np(V) complexes with imidazole, [NpO(2)(CH(3)COO)(Im)(2)(H(2)O)], [(NpO(2))(2)(C(2)O(4))(Im)(6)] x 5 Im x H(2)O, and [NpO(2)(NO(2))(Im)(4)], were synthesized. Their crystal structures were determined using X-ray single-crystal diffractometry. The crystal structures are confirmed by IR and UV-vis spectroscopic data.

Environmetric modeling of emission sources for dry and wet precipitation from an urban area.

Monitoring data from chemical analysis of rainwater and aerosol samples collected in an urban area have been interpreted by the use of environmetric approaches. An attempt was done to compare the data set structures of both type of precipitation and to estimate the contribution of different anthropogenic and naturally occurring emission sources to the total mass of the wet and dry precipitation. It was found that three latent factors explaining over 80% of the total variance of the set are responsible for the rainwater set structure-'sea spray', 'soil dust', and 'anthropogenic'.

Non-destructive NIR-FT-Raman spectroscopy of plant and animal tissues, of food and works of art.

Just after the discovery of Raman spectroscopy in 1928, it became evident that fluorescence with a quantum yield of several orders of magnitude higher than that of the Raman effect was a great and apparently unbeatable competitor. Raman spectroscopy could therefore, in spite of many exciting advantages during the last 60 years, not be applied as an analytical routine method: for nearly every sample, fluorescing impurities had to be removed by distillation or crystallisation. Purification, however, is not possible for cells and tissues, since the removal of the fluorescing enzymes and coenzymes would destroy the cells.

[Regional medico-dosimetric register (RMDR) is a model for evaluation of long-term "low" dose ionizing radiation effects on Siberian group of chemical enterprises main production personnel].

Medico-dosimetric register is an optimal model of epidemiological studies on evaluation of ionizing radiation effects. Regional medico-dosimetric register (RMDR) is a system of interrelating information blocks including data on Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises (SGCE) personnel. At present SGCE personnel and Seversk residents RMDR database includes information on 138496 persons, 65538 of which are SGCE workers.