Acrylic Acid Modified Poly-ethylene Glycol Microparticles for Affinity-Based release of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 in Neural Applications.

Sustained release of bioactive molecules via affinity-based interactions presents a promising approach for controlled delivery of growth factors. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has gained increased attention due to its ability to promote axonal growth in the central nervous system. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the effect of IGF-1 delivery from polyethylene-glycol diacrylate (PEG-DA) microparticles using affinity-based sustained release on neurons.

Subclinical atherosclerosis burden in carotid and femoral territories in HIV subjects: relationships with HIV and non-HIV related factors.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity in an aging HIV population. However, risk estimation with the most frequent equations usually classifies HIV patients as having a low or moderate risk. Several studies have described a very high prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in a middle-aged, non-HIV population.

Effects of Phosphorus Doping on Amorphous Boron Nitride's Chemical, Sorptive, Optoelectronic, and Photocatalytic Properties.

Amorphous porous boron nitride (BN) represents a versatile material platform with potential applications in adsorptive molecular separations and gas storage, as well as heterogeneous and photo-catalysis. Chemical doping can help tailor BN's sorptive, optoelectronic, and catalytic properties, eventually boosting its application performance. Phosphorus (P) represents an attractive dopant for amorphous BN as its electronic structure would allow the element to be incorporated into BN's structure, thereby impacting its adsorptive, optoelectronic, and catalytic activity properties, as a few studies suggest.

LaSrCaTiO Surface Reactivity with H: A Combined NEXAFS and Computational Study.

A-site doped SrTiO is considered as a promising substitute for traditional anodic metals in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this study, we present the reactivity of LaSrCaTiO (LCSTO), LaSrTiO (LSTO), and SrTiO (STO) toward H by ambient pressure NEXAFS spectroscopy and theoretical spectra simulation with FDMNES code. The samples were synthesized by MBE (molecular beam epitaxy), hydrothermal, and modified-Pechini routes.

Volcanic Eruption in the Nanoworld: Efficient Oxygen Exchange at the Si/SnO Interface.

Here, a phenomenon of efficient oxygen exchange between a silicon surface and a thin layer of tin dioxide during chemical vapor deposition is presented, which leads to a unique Sn:SiO layer. Under thermodynamic conditions in the temperature range of 725-735 °C, the formation of nanostructures with volcano-like shapes in "active" and "dormant" states are observed. Extensive characterization techniques, such as electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, synchrotron radiation-based X-ray photoelectron, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, are applied to study the formation.

Growth patterns in infants born to women with pregestational overweight/obesity supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy.

Background: Previous studies of maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation during pregnancy have controversial and contrasting results on the short and long-term effects on early child growth. The impact of this nutritional intervention on the postnatal growth patterns in the offspring of women with pregestational overweight/obesity (PGO) also remains controversial.

Objective: To analyze the postnatal growth patterns during the first 4 months of life in the offspring of women with PGO randomly supplemented with 800 mg/day (PGO-800) compared with normative doses of 200 mg/day (PGO-200) of DHA during pregnancy (<15 weeks of gestation until delivery).

Repeat controlled human Plasmodium falciparum infections delay bloodstream patency and reduce symptoms.

Resistance to clinical malaria takes years to develop even in hyperendemic regions and sterilizing immunity has rarely been observed. To evaluate the maturation of the host response against controlled repeat exposures to P. falciparum (Pf) NF54 strain-infected mosquitoes, we systematically monitored malaria-naïve participants through an initial exposure to uninfected mosquitoes and 4 subsequent homologous exposures to Pf-infected mosquitoes over 21 months (n = 8 males) (ClinicalTrials.

Role of Salt Concentration in Stabilizing Charged Ni-Rich Cathode Interfaces in Li-Ion Batteries.

The cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) in Li-ion batteries plays a key role in suppressing undesired side reactions while facilitating Li-ion transport. Ni-rich layered cathode materials offer improved energy densities, but their high interfacial reactivities can negatively impact the cycle life and rate performance. Here we investigate the role of electrolyte salt concentration, specifically LiPF (0.

Upcycling of polyethylene to gasoline through a self-supplied hydrogen strategy in a layered self-pillared zeolite.

Conversion of plastic wastes to valuable carbon resources without using noble metal catalysts or external hydrogen remains a challenging task. Here we report a layered self-pillared zeolite that enables the conversion of polyethylene to gasoline with a remarkable selectivity of 99% and yields of >80% in 4 h at 240 °C. The liquid product is primarily composed of branched alkanes (selectivity of 72%), affording a high research octane number of 88.

VerSoX B07-B: a high-throughput XPS and ambient pressure NEXAFS beamline at Diamond Light Source.

The beamline optics and endstations at branch B of the Versatile Soft X-ray (VerSoX) beamline B07 at Diamond Light Source are described. B07-B provides medium-flux X-rays in the range 45-2200 eV from a bending magnet source, giving access to local electronic structure for atoms of all elements from Li to Y. It has an endstation for high-throughput X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) measurements under ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) conditions.

Engineering the synthetic β-alanine pathway in Komagataella phaffii for conversion of methanol into 3-hydroxypropionic acid.

Background: Methanol is increasingly gaining attraction as renewable carbon source to produce specialty and commodity chemicals, as it can be generated from renewable sources such as carbon dioxide (CO). In this context, native methylotrophs such as the yeast Komagataella phaffii (syn Pichia pastoris) are potentially attractive cell factories to produce a wide range of products from this highly reduced substrate. However, studies addressing the potential of this yeast to produce bulk chemicals from methanol are still scarce.

Effect of providing citrus pulp-integrated diet on fecal microbiota and serum and fecal metabolome shifts in crossbred pigs.

The study aimed to assess the impact of dehydrated citrus pulp (DCP) on growth performance, fecal characteristics, fecal bacterial composition (based on 16S rRNA analysis), and fecal and serum metabolomic profiles in crossbred pigs. 80 finishing pigs Duroc × (Landrace × Large White) were fed either a control diet (C) or a diet with 240 g/kg DCP (T) for six weeks. Including DCP in diets tended to decrease feed intake, increased (p < 0.

Preliminary report of transmitted drug resistance to integrase strand chain transfer inhibitors in treatment-naïve HIV infected patients.

Transmitted Resistance exists in a newly diagnosed person who has not yet started their treatment. Our objective was to obtain a profile of HIV-1 resistance to integrase inhibitors in newly diagnosed treatment-naïve patients. Fifty people newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection who had never received antiretroviral treatment were recruited.

Microbial and immune faecal determinants in infants hospitalized with COVID-19 reflect bifidobacterial dysbiosis and immature intestinal immunity.

Unlabelled: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly worldwide, seriously endangering human health. Although SARS-CoV-2 had a lower impact on paediatric population, children with COVID-19 have been reported as suffering from gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms at a higher rate than adults. The aim of this work was to evaluate faeces as a source of potential biomarkers of severity in the paediatric population, with an emphasis on intestinal microbiota and faecal immune mediators, trying to identify possible dysbiosis and immune intestinal dysfunction associated with the risk of hospitalization.

Food access, domestic environments, and dietary quality of low-middle income Chilean children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Food access is associated with dietary quality; however, people living in similar physical environments can have different food access profiles. Domestic environments may also influence how food access relates to dietary quality. We studied food access profiles of 999 low-middle income Chilean families with children during the COVID-19 lockdown and how these profiles relate to dietary quality; secondarily, we also explore the role of the domestic environment in this relationship.

High throughput C-metabolic flux analysis of 3-hydroxypropionic acid producing Pichia pastoris reveals limited availability of acetyl-CoA and ATP due to tight control of the glycolytic flux.

Background: Production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) through the malonyl-CoA pathway has yielded promising results in Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii), demonstrating the potential of this cell factory to produce this platform chemical and other acetyl-CoA-derived products using glycerol as a carbon source. However, further metabolic engineering of the original P. pastoris 3-HP-producing strains resulted in unexpected outcomes, e.

A long-lasting porcine model of ARDS caused by pneumonia and ventilator-induced lung injury.

Background: Animal models of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) do not completely resemble human ARDS, struggling translational research. We aimed to characterize a porcine model of ARDS induced by pneumonia-the most common risk factor in humans-and analyze the additional effect of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI).

Methods: Bronchoscopy-guided instillation of a multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain was performed in ten healthy pigs.

Association Between Markers of Adiposity During Childhood and Puberty Onset in Latino Girls.

Context: Prepubertal adiposity is associated with earlier puberty. It is unclear when this association starts, if all adiposity markers are similarly associated, and whether all pubertal milestones are similarly affected.

Objective: To evaluate the association between different adiposity markers during childhood and the timing of different pubertal milestones in Latino girls.

Extending the range of Plasmodium falciparum transmission blocking antibodies.

Recent work demonstrating that asymptomatic carriers of P. falciparum parasites make up a large part of the infectious reservoir highlights the need for an effective malaria vaccine. Given the historical challenges of vaccine development, multiple parasite stages have been targeted, including the sexual stages required for transmission.