Sequential Dearomatization/Rearrangement of Quinazoline-Derived Azomethine Imines for the Synthesis of Nitrogen-Rich Three-Dimensional Cage-Like Molecules.

A sequential dearomatization/rearrangement reaction between quinazoline-derived azomethine imines and crotonate sulfonium salts has been developed to provide a series of three-dimensional cage-like molecules. The reaction involves two dearomatizations, two cyclizations, and two C-C bond and three C-N bond formations in one step. The new transformation has a broad substrate scope, does not require any added reagents, and proceeds under room temperature in a short time.

Open-channel microfluidic chip based on shape memory polymer for controllable liquid transport.

Open microfluidics has attracted increasing attention over the last decade because of its flexibility and simplicity with respect to cell culture and clinical diagnosis. However, traditional valves and pumps are difficult to integrate on open-channel microfluidic chips, in which a liquid is usually driven by capillary forces. Poor fluid control performance is a common drawback of open microfluidics.

UBC9 deficiency enhances immunostimulatory macrophage activation and subsequent antitumor T cell response in prostate cancer.

The role of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), along with the regulatory mechanisms underlying distinct macrophage activation states, remains poorly understood in prostate cancer (PCa). Herein, we report that PCa growth in mice with macrophage-specific Ubc9 deficiency is substantially suppressed compared with that in wild-type littermates, an effect partially ascribed to the augmented CD8+ T cell response. Biochemical and molecular analyses revealed that signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) is a crucial UBC9-mediated SUMOylation target, with lysine residue 350 (K350) as the major modification site.

Glycomic Analysis Reveals That Sialyltransferase Inhibition Is Involved in the Antiviral Effects of Arbidol.

Due to the high mutation rate of influenza virus and the rapid increase of drug resistance, it is imperative to discover host-targeting antiviral agents with broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Considering the discrepancy between the urgent demand of antiviral drugs during an influenza pandemic and the long-term process of drug discovery and development, it is feasible to explore host-based antiviral agents and strategies from antiviral drugs on the market. In the current study, the antiviral mechanism of arbidol (ARB), a broad-spectrum antiviral drug with potent activity at early stages of viral replication, was investigated from the aspect of hemagglutinin (HA) receptors of host cells.

Prevalence of dental caries in the first permanent molar and associated risk factors among sixth-grade students in São Tomé Island.

Background: Dental caries is one of the most preventable oral diseases among children in developing countries. This study aims to estimate the prevalence and severity of dental caries in the first permanent molar and analyze the related risk factors among sixth-grade students in São Tomé Island.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with a stratified cluster sampling method was conducted on 1855 sixth-grade school children, mainly aged 11 to 14 years old, from 10 schools in 6 regions of São Tomé Island, from April 17 to June 27, 2021.

Antibacterial mechanism of Cu-bearing 430 ferritic stainless steel.

Copper (Cu)-bearing stainless steel has testified its effectiveness to reduce the risk of bacterial infections. However, its antibacterial mechanism is still controversial. Therefore, three 430 ferritic stainless steels with different Cu contents are selected to conduct deeper research by the way of bacterial inactivation from two aspects of material and biology.

Current knowledge of primary prostatic extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumor: a case report and review of the literature.

The patient was a 62-year-old man diagnosed as having prostatic extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumor (EGIST) who was treated with imatinib. No recurrence or metastasis was found after a 6-month follow-up. We identified 14 cases of prostatic primary EGIST in PubMed and summarized these cases with our case.

A digital microfluidic platform based on a near-infrared light-responsive shape-memory micropillar array.

In this work, we developed a digital microfluidic platform based on a shape memory micropillar array responsive to near-infrared light, and the droplets were programmatically manipulated through light-induced micropillar deformation. The micropillar array was constructed on the surface of a poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) copolymer, a shape memory polymer sensitive to near-infrared light. Before droplet manipulation, the micropillar array was kept temporarily tilted by heating and pressing.

Application of short hydrophobic elastin-like polypeptides for expression and purification of active proteins.

To investigate the application of short elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) in the purification of bioactive proteins, short hydrophobic ELP[I] ( = 30, 40, 50) tags were constructed. Both the ELP[I] tags and the ELP[I] -Trx fusion proteins could be stably expressed in and purified by inverse transition cycling, respectively. Total protein concentrations determined by BCA protein assay showed that the yield of the fusion proteins decreased with increasing ELP length.

Comprehensive Glycomic Profiling of Respiratory Tract Tissues of Tree Shrews by TiO-PGC Chip Mass Spectrometry.

Due to its relatively small size, homology to humans, and susceptibility to human viruses, the tree shrew becomes an ideal alternative animal model for the study of human viral infectious diseases. However, there is still no report for the comprehensive glycan profile of the respiratory tract tissues in tree shrews. In this study, we characterized the structural diversity of N-glycans in the respiratory tract of tree shrews using our well-established TiO-PGC chip-Q-TOF-MS method.

Colloidal photonic crystal array chip based on nanoparticle self-assembly on patterned hydrophobic surface for signal-enhanced fluorescent assay of adenosine.

A controllable approach for preparing a portable colloidal photonic crystal (CPC) array chip is presented. The approach was inspired by the confinement effect of nanoparticle self-assembly on patterned surface. Hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane substrate with reproducible micro-region array was fabricated by soft-lithography.

Multiplexed detection of micro-RNAs based on microfluidic multi-color fluorescence droplets.

In this work, simple, rapid, and low-cost multiplexed detection of tumor-related micro-RNAs (miRNAs) was achieved based on multi-color fluorescence on a microfluidic droplet chip, which simplified the complexity of light path to a half. A four-T-junction structure was fabricated to form uniform nano-volume droplet arrays with customized contents. Multi-color quantum dots (QDs) used as the fluorescence labels were encapsulated into droplets to develop the multi-path fluorescence detection module.

Microfluidic preparation of polymer-lipid Janus microparticles with staged drug release property.

This work demonstrated a microfluidic preparation process for novel Janus microparticles with individual drug release properties in each compartment. A flow-focusing microfluidic chip was designed to produce oil-in-water droplets from a mixed solution of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and a triglyceride type lipid. Based on solvent evaporation-induced phase separation, droplets evolved and were solidified into Janus particles, each of which had a polymer compartment and a lipid compartment.

Does Postoperative Rehabilitation for Radical Cystectomy Call for Enhanced Recovery after Surgery? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

The aim of this review was to systematically compare the outcomes of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) with standard care (SC) after radical cystectomy. We performed a systematic search of PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies published until September 2017 which involved a comparison of ERAS and SC. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the outcomes of ERAS versus SC.

Infectivity of Zika virus on primary cells support tree shrew as animal model.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that caused the public health emergency. Recently, we have proved a novel small animal tree shrew was susceptive to ZIKV infection and presented the most common rash symptoms as ZIKV patients. Here we further cultured the primary cells from different tissues of this animal to determine the tissue tropism of ZIKV infection in vitro.

The clinical significance of CCBE1 expression in human colorectal cancer.

Purpose: The identification and discovery of prognostic markers for colorectal cancer (CRC) are of great clinical significance. CCBE1 is expressed in various tumors and its expression correlates with lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis. However, the association between CCBE1 expression and CRC outcome has not been reported.

Three-dimensional poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/silica colloidal crystal microparticles for sustained drug release and visualized monitoring.

In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)/silica colloidal crystal drug delivery system with sustained drug release and visualized release monitoring was developed. This system had employed silica colloidal crystal microparticles as template skeleton, PLGA as drug carrier and dexamethasone (DEX) as therapeutic agent. The fabrication of the microparticle-based system included droplet formation based-on microfluidics, silica nanoparticle self-assembly and layer-by-layer deposition of PLGA containing DEX.

Multitarget sensing of glucose and cholesterol based on Janus hydrogel microparticles.

A visualized sensing method for glucose and cholesterol was developed based on the hemispheres of the same Janus hydrogel microparticles. Single-phase and Janus hydrogel microparticles were both generated using a centrifugal microfluidic chip. For glucose sensing, concanavalin A and fluorescein labeled dextran used for competitive binding assay were encapsulated in alginate microparticles, and the fluorescence of the microparticles was positively correlated with glucose concentration.

On-chip preparation of calcium alginate particles based on droplet templates formed by using a centrifugal microfluidic technique.

A novel chip-based approach for the fabrication of oblate spheriodal calcium alginate particles was developed by combining the droplet template method and the centrifugal microfluidic strategy. Circular chips with multiple radial channels were designed. Sodium alginate solutions in radial channels were flung into CaCl2 solutions in the form of droplets under centrifugal force, and the droplets transformed into particles through cross-linking reaction.

Clinical, virological and immunological features from patients infected with re-emergent avian-origin human H7N9 influenza disease of varying severity in Guangdong province.

Background: The second wave of avian influenza H7N9 virus outbreak in humans spread to the Guangdong province of China by August of 2013 and this virus is now endemic in poultry in this region.

Methods: Five patients with H7N9 virus infection admitted to our hospital during August 2013 to February 2014 were intensively investigated. Viral load in the respiratory tract was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) and cytokine levels were measured by bead-based flow cytometery.

A microfluidic concentration-gradient droplet array generator for the production of multi-color nanoparticles.

A microfluidic concentration-gradient droplet array generator (CDrAG) with parallel multi-channels and multi-layers was developed with 64 outlet channels producing 33 droplet gradient concentrations. A droplet production rate of 5 × 10(4) min(-1) was obtained, and the RSD value of droplet diameters in 64 groups is 5.5% (n = 64).

The tree shrew provides a useful alternative model for the study of influenza H1N1 virus.

Background: The influenza pandemics have resulted in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Animal models are useful in the study of influenza virus pathogenesis. Because of various limitations in current laboratory animal models, it is essential to develop new alternative animal models for influenza virus research aimed at understanding the viral and host factors that contribute to virus infection in human.

A radial microfluidic concentration gradient generator with high-density channels for cell apoptosis assay.

An integrated microfluidic concentration gradient chip was developed for generating stepwise concentrations in high-density channels and applied to high-throughput apoptosis analysis of human uterine cervix cancer (HeLa) cells. The concentration gradient was generated by repeated splitting-and-mixing of the source solutions in a radial channel network which consists of multiple concentric circular channels and an increasing number of branch channels. The gradients were formed over hundreds of branches with predictable concentrations in each branch channel.

Fluoxetine inhibited extracellular matrix of pulmonary artery and inflammation of lungs in monocrotaline-treated rats.

Aim: To investigate the effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine on extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling of the pulmonary artery and inflammation of the lungs in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) induced by monocrotaline in rats.

Methods: MCT-induced chronic PAH was established in Wistar rats. After treatment with fluoxetine for 3 weeks, pulmonary hemodynamic measurement and morphological investigation of lung tissues were undertaken.