Development of Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase 2 for Targeting Acute Myeloid Leukemia: SAR, Structural Insights, and Biological Characterization.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase/cyclohydrolase 2 (MTHFD2), a pivotal mitochondrial enzyme in one-carbon metabolism, is significantly upregulated in various cancers but minimally expressed in normal proliferating cells. In contrast, MTHFD1, which performs similar functions, is predominantly expressed in normal cells. Therefore, targeting MTHFD2 with selective inhibitors holds promise for a broader therapeutic window with reduced toxicity and fewer side effects.

Design and fabrication of intermetallic NiCo electrocatalysts for the alkaline HER.

The design and fabrication of highly efficient electrocatalysts are crucial for reducing energy consumption, improving hydrogen production rates, and prolonging the service life of alkaline electrolyzers. In this study, intermetallic 1-NiCo electrocatalysts were designed using DFT calculations and fabricated through a one-step solid-state reaction method. The DFT calculations indicated that 1-NiCo presented a lower H adsorption Gibbs free energy and a moderate HO dissociation barrier compared to the commonly used Ni catalyst and disordered NiCo alloy.

Exploring Healthcare Providers' Difficulties and Strategies when Caring for Community-Dwelling People With Dementia Who are at Risk of Getting Lost.

Caring for patients with dementia at risk of getting lost is challenging for community healthcare providers. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 participants, we examined the challenges faced by these providers and the strategies they employed. We identified the following themes of challenging parts: (a) the disturbance caused by behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia; (b) difficulty in helping older family caregivers to keep the patient from going out; (c) difficulty in changing the attitudes of the family members; families' unawareness of the risk of getting lost.

Discovery of Dual MER/AXL Kinase Inhibitors as Bifunctional Small Molecules for Inhibiting Tumor Growth and Enhancing Tumor Immune Microenvironment.

A series of bifunctional compounds have been discovered for their dual functionality as MER/AXL inhibitors and immune modulators. The furanopyrimidine scaffold, renowned for its suitability in kinase inhibitor discovery, offers at least three distinct pharmacophore access points. Insights from molecular modeling studies guided hit-to-lead optimization, which revealed that the 1,3-diketone side chain hybridized with furanopyrimidine scaffold that respectively combined amino-type substituent and 1-pyrazol-4-yl substituent on the top and bottom of the aryl regions to produce and , exhibiting potent antitumor activities in various syngeneic and xenograft models.

2024 multidisciplinary consensus on image-guided lung tumor ablation from the Taiwan Academy of Tumor Ablation.

In this article, the multidisciplinary team of the Taiwan Academy of Tumor Ablation, who have expertise in treating lung cancer, present their perspectives on percutaneous image-guided thermal ablation (IGTA) of lung tumors. The modified Delphi technique was applied to reach a consensus on clinical practice guidelines concerning ablation procedures, including a comprehensive literature review, selection of panelists, creation of a rating form and survey, and arrangement of an in-person meeting where panelists agreed or disagreed on various points. The conclusion was a final rating and written summary of the agreement.

Inhomogeneous AuS for Photoacoustic Imaging and Photodynamic Tumor Therapy Based on Different Forms of Energy Dissipation.

Nanomaterials with unique structures and components play a crucial role in nanomedicine. In this study, we discovered that the inhomogeneous AuS constructed by cation exchange and acid etching could dissipate energy in different forms after absorbing multichromatic light, which could be used to achieve the integrated diagnosis and treatment of tumors, respectively. Folic acid modified AuS ringed nanoparticles (FA-AuS RNs) with an assembly-like structure were demonstrated to result in better PA imaging performance and generate more reactive oxygen species (O2·, ·OH, and O) than folic acid modified AuS triangular nanoparticles (FA-AuS TNs).

A faster killing effect of plastid-mediated RNA interference on a leaf beetle through induced dysbiosis of the gut bacteria.

The expression of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) from the plastid genome has been proven to be an effective method for controlling herbivorous pests by targeting essential insect genes. However, there are limitations to the efficiency of plastid-mediated RNA interference (PM-RNAi) due to the initial damage caused by the insects and their slow response to RNA interference. In this study, we developed transplastomic poplar plants that express dsRNAs targeting the β-Actin (dsACT) and Srp54k (dsSRP54K) genes of Plagiodera versicolora.

Ni-CoSe heterojunction coated by N-doped carbon for modified separators of high-performance Li-sulfur batteries.

Functional separators modified by transition metal compounds have been proven to be effective in suppressing the shuttle effect of polysulfides and accelerating sluggish electrode dynamics in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). However, the behaviors of heterojunctions composed of transition metals and their compounds in LSBs are still rarely studied. Herein, we report a novel Ni-CoSe heterostructure coated with nitrogen-doped carbon.

Existing levels of biodiversity and river location may determine changes from small hydropower developments.

Global ecosystems are facing anthropogenic threats that affect their ecological functions and biodiversity. However, we still lack an understanding of how biodiversity can mediate the responses of ecosystems or communities to human disturbance across spatial gradients. Here, we examined how existing, spatial patterns of biodiversity influence the ecological effects of small hydropower plants (SHPs) on macroinvertebrates in river ecosystems.

Cytokinin oxidase gene CKX5 is modulated in the immunity of Arabidopsis to Botrytis cinerea.

In our previous work, cytokinin (CK) signaling and biosynthesis were found to be modulated during Arabidopsis defense against infection by the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Notably, the expression level of CYTOKININ OXIDASE/DEHYDROGENASE 5 (CKX5) was significantly induced in B. cinerea-infected leaves and later in distant B.

B cell receptor repertoire analysis in primary Sjogren's syndrome salivary glands identifies repertoire features associated with clinical activity.

Background: Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is a complex autoimmune disease featuring damage to salivary and lacrimal glands, with the possibility of manifestations across multiple organs. Antibody-producing B cells have long been appreciated to play a significant role in pSS pathogenesis, with a number of autoreactive antibody species having been identified to be elevated in pSS patients. While several studies have attempted to characterize the BCR repertoires of peripheral blood B cells in pSS patients, much remains unknown about the repertoire characteristics of gland-infiltrating B cells.

Control of two insect pests by expression of a mismatch corrected double-stranded RNA in plants.

RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as an efficient technology for pest control by silencing the essential genes of targeted insects. Owing to its nucleotide sequence-guided working mechanism, RNAi has a high degree of species-specificity without impacts on non-target organisms. However, as plants are inevitably under threat by two or more insect pests in nature, the species-specific mode of RNAi-based technology restricts its wide application for pest control.

Oxygen Vacancy-Mediated CuWO/CuBiO Samples with Efficient Charge Transfer for Enhanced Catalytic Activity toward Photodegradation of Pharmacologically Active Compounds.

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising method for controlling the increasing contamination of the water environment due to pharmacologically active compounds (PHACs). Herein, oxygen vacancy (OV)-modulated Z-scheme CuWO/CuBiO hybrid systems were fabricated thermal treatment by loading of CuWO nanoparticles with OVs on CuBiO surfaces. The synthesized CuWO/CuBiO hybrid samples exhibited an enhanced photodegradation ability to remove PHACs under visible-light irradiation.

Screening single-cell trajectories via continuity assessments for cell transition potential.

Advances in single-cell sequencing and data analysis have made it possible to infer biological trajectories spanning heterogeneous cell populations based on transcriptome variation. These trajectories yield a wealth of novel insights into dynamic processes such as development and differentiation. However, trajectory analysis relies on an assumption of trajectory continuity, and experimental limitations preclude some real-world scenarios from meeting this condition.

MMP10 alleviates non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by regulating macrophage M2 polarization.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the most severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is currently untreatable with a clinically validated treatment. Matrix Metallopeptidase 10 (MMP10) is a common host-response-gene involved in the immune response. However, it remains unknown whether and how MMP10 influences NASH development by modulating macrophage function.

An automatic progressive chromosome segmentation approach using deep learning with traditional image processing.

The fully automatic chromosome analysis system plays an important role in the detection of genetic diseases, which in turn can reduce the diagnosis burden for cytogenetic experts. Chromosome segmentation is a critical step for such a system. However, due to the non-rigid structure of chromosomes, chromosomes may curve in any direction, and two or more chromosomes may touch or overlap to form unpredictable chromosome clusters in metaphase chromosome images, leading to automatic chromosome segmentation as a challenge.

Z-scheme MnO/MnO heterojunctions with efficient peroxymonosulfate activation for organic pollutant removal.

The exploration of efficient heterogeneous catalysts for persistent organic pollutant removal is extremely attractive. In the present work, MnO/MnO photo-Fenton catalysts were designed by a facile hydrothermal route to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) under visible light irradiation for organic pollutant degradation. The optimized MnO/MnO heterojunction shows excellent Rhodamine B (RhB) removal efficiency, whose apparent kinetic constant is 11.

Research Progress on Psychological Distress in Patients with Ectopic Pregnancy in China.

Ectopic pregnancy is a leading cause of death for child-bearing aged women. Most patients with ectopic pregnancy experience suffer psychological distress which seriously affects their physical and mental health. The psychological distress, influencing factors, measurement tools, and nursing interventions in patients with ectopic pregnancy in China are reviewed in this article.

Single-cell clonal tracing of glandular and circulating T cells identifies a population of CD9+ CD8+ T cells in primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is a complex chronic autoimmune disease in which local tissue damage in exocrine glands is combined with broader systemic involvement across the body in tissues including the skin. These combined manifestations negatively impact patient health and quality of life. While studies have previously reported differences in immune cell composition in the peripheral blood of pSS patients relative to healthy control subjects, a detailed immune cell landscape of the damaged exocrine glands of these patients remains lacking.

Regulating the morphology and structures of wet-chemical synthesized 1-FePtMn nanoparticles by applying magnetic fields.

We report an effective strategy to prepare highly ordered 1-FePt nanoparticles (NPs) by magnetic-field-assisted wet-chemical synthesis. The Mn element with high magnetic susceptibility was chosen for third-element addition, which is beneficial to reduce the required magnetic field strength for ordering transition. The evolution of morphology, ordering degree, and magnetic properties of the FePtMn nanomaterials in the synthesis process were systematically investigated.