Macrophages co-loaded with drug-associated and superparamagnetic nanoparticles for triggered drug release by alternating magnetic fields.

Two features of macrophages make them attractive for targeted transport of drugs: they efficiently take up a broad spectrum of nanoparticles (NPs) and, by sensing cytokine gradients, they are attracted to the sites of infection and inflammation. To expand the potential of macrophages as drug carriers, we investigated whether macrophages could be simultaneously coloaded with different types of nanoparticles, thus equipping individual cells with different functionalities. We used superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs (SPIONs), which produce apoptosis-inducing hyperthermia when exposed to an alternating magnetic field (AMF), and co-loaded them on macrophages together with drug-containing NPs (inorganic-organic nanoparticles (IOH-NPs) or mesoporous silica NPs (MSNs)).

Ultrasound-triggered drug release in vivo from antibubble-loaded macrophages.

Nanoparticles have proven to be attractive carriers in therapeutic drug delivery since they can encapsulate, protect and stabilize a plethora of different drugs, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. However, specific targeting of drug-loaded nanoparticles to the tissue of interest and a timely and spatially controlled release of drugs on demand still represent a challenge. Recently, gas-filled microparticles, so-called antibubbles, have been developed which can efficiently encapsulate liquid drug droplets.

A generic cell-based biosensor converts bacterial infection signals into chemoattractants for immune cells.

Bacterial infection is a major challenge to human health. Although various potent antibiotics have emerged in recent decades, current challenges arise from the increasing number of multi-drug-resistant species. Infections associated with implants represent a particular challenge because they are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and are difficult to treat with antibiotics owing to the formation of protective biofilms.

Interactive Design-of-Experiments: Optimizing a Cooling System.

The optimization of cooling systems is important in many cases, for example for cabin and battery cooling in electric cars. Such an optimization is governed by multiple, conflicting objectives and it is performed across a multi-dimensional parameter space. The extent of the parameter space, the complexity of the non-linear model of the system, as well as the time needed per simulation run and factors that are not modeled in the simulation necessitate an iterative, semi-automatic approach.

Stable Expression by Lentiviral Transduction of Cells.

Lentiviral gene transfer represents a versatile and powerful method for genetic transduction of many cell lines and primary cells including "hard-to-transfect" cells. As a consequence of the integration of the recombinant lentiviral vector into the cellular genome, the transgene is stably maintained, and long-term producing cells are established. Here, we describe the current state of the art and give details for lab-scale production of lentiviral vectors as well as for infection and titration of the viral vectors.

Long-term imaging and spatio-temporal control of living cells using targeted light based on closed-loop feedback.

Unlabelled: The ability to optically interact with cells on both an individual and collective level has applications from wound healing to cancer treatment. Building systems that can facilitate both localised light illumination and visualisation of cells can, however, be challenging and costly. This work takes the Dynamic Optical MicroEnvironment (DOME), an existing platform for the closed-loop optical control of microscale agents, and adapts the design to support live-cell imaging.

Small Cell Lung Cancer Plasticity Enables NFIB-Independent Metastasis.

Unlabelled: Metastasis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer, highlighting the need to identify improved treatment and prevention strategies. Previous observations in preclinical models and tumors from patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a fatal form of lung cancer with high metastatic potential, identified the transcription factor NFIB as a driver of tumor growth and metastasis. However, investigation into the requirement for NFIB activity for tumor growth and metastasis in relevant in vivo models is needed to establish NFIB as a therapeutic target.

Separation-related Problems and Their Interaction with Physical Disease.

The condition of separation-related problems (SRPs) is common in companion dogs and clinicians should be comfortable diagnosing it. There are numerous diagnoses related to physical disease that have clinical signs similar to SRP, that exacerbate SRP, or may cause regression in treatment of SRP. Common examples include conditions affecting the following systems: musculoskeletal, neurologic, gastrointestinal, and dermatologic.

Early-Onset Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Clinical Presentation, Pathology Features, and Oncological Outcomes.

Background: Early-Onset (EO) pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PanNET) is a rare disease, but whether it is clinically different from late-onset (LO) PanNET is unknown. Our study aimed to evaluate clinical differences and disease outcomes between EO-PanNET and LO-PanNET and to compare sporadic EO-PanNET with those with a hereditary syndrome.

Methods: Patients with localized PanNET who underwent pancreatectomy at Memorial Sloan Kettering between 2000 and 2017 were identified.

The morphological paradigm in robotics.

In the paper, we are going to show how robotics is undergoing a shift in a bionic direction after a period of emphasis on artificial intelligence and increasing computational efficiency, which included isolation and extreme specialization. We assemble these new developments under the label of the morphological paradigm. The change in its paradigms and the development of alternatives to the principles that dominated robotics for a long time contains a more general epistemological significance.

Photochemically Aided Arteriovenous Fistula Creation to Accelerate Fistula Maturation.

Rates of arteriovenous fistula maturation failure are still high, especially when suboptimal size veins are used. During successful maturation, the vein undergoes lumen dilatation and medial thickening, adapting to the increased hemodynamic forces. The vascular extracellular matrix plays an important role in regulating these adaptive changes and may be a target for promoting fistula maturation.

Urinary Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Treated in the "Modern Era": A Multicenter Retrospective Review.

Background: Primary urinary neuroendocrine neoplasms (U-NENs) are extremely rare thus optimal treatment is unknown. Grading and treatment are typically extrapolated from other primary sites. Since 2010, the clinical landscape for NENs has changed substantially.

Tapered whisker reservoir computing for real-time terrain identification-based navigation.

This paper proposes a new method for real-time terrain recognition-based navigation for mobile robots. Mobile robots performing tasks in unstructured environments need to adapt their trajectories in real-time to achieve safe and efficient navigation in complex terrains. However, current methods largely depend on visual and IMU (inertial measurement units) that demand high computational resources for real-time applications.

Engineering of Chinese hamster ovary cells for co-overexpressing MYC and XBP1s increased cell proliferation and recombinant EPO production.

Improving the cellular capacity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to produce large amounts of therapeutic proteins remains a major challenge for the biopharmaceutical industry. In previous studies, we observed strong correlations between the performance of CHO cells and expression of two transcription factors (TFs), MYC and XBP1s. Here, we have evaluated the effective of overexpression of these two TFs on CHO cell productivity.

Type I Interferon Signaling Controls Gammaherpesvirus Latency In Vivo.

Gammaherpesviruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, are important human pathogens involved in lymphoproliferative disorders and tumorigenesis. Herpesvirus infections are characterized by a biphasic cycle comprised of an acute phase with lytic replication and a latent state. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) is a well-established model for the study of lytic and latent life cycles in the mouse.

Interactive Visual Analysis of Structure-borne Noise Data.

Numerical simulation has become omnipresent in the automotive domain, posing new challenges such as high-dimensional parameter spaces and large as well as incomplete and multi-faceted data. In this design study, we show how interactive visual exploration and analysis of high-dimensional, spectral data from noise simulation can facilitate design improvements in the context of conflicting criteria. Here, we focus on structure-borne noise, i.

A Randomized Trial Evaluating Patient Experience and Preference Between Octreotide Long-Acting Release and Lanreotide for Treatment of Well-Differentiated Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Purpose: Somatostatin analogs octreotide long-acting release (octLAR) and lanreotide are equally acceptable in National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Lanreotide is more expensive and given by deep subcutaneous injection, whereas octLAR is given intramuscularly. We evaluated patient preference between these agents in terms of injection site pain.

A universal microfluidic approach for integrated analysis of temporal homocellular and heterocellular signaling and migration dynamics.

Microfluidics offers precise and dynamic control of microenvironments for the study of temporal cellular responses. However, recent research focusing solely on either homocellular (single-cell, population) or heterocellular response may yield insufficient output, which possibly leads to partial comprehension about the underlying mechanisms of signaling events and corresponding cellular behaviors. Here, a universal microfluidic approach is developed for integrated analysis of temporal signaling and cell migration dynamics in multiple cellular contexts (single-cell, population and coculture).

Creating a Natural Vascular Scaffold by Photochemical Treatment of the Extracellular Matrix for Vascular Applications.

The development of bioscaffolds for cardiovascular medical applications, such as peripheral artery disease (PAD), remains to be a challenge for tissue engineering. PAD is an increasingly common and serious cardiovascular illness characterized by progressive atherosclerotic stenosis, resulting in decreased blood perfusion to the lower extremities. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement are routinely performed on these patients with suboptimal outcomes.

Digital PCR can augment the interpretation of RT-qPCR Cq values for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious, acute respiratory disease caused mainly by person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Its emergence has caused a world-wide acute health crisis, intensified by the challenge of reliably identifying individuals likely to transmit the disease. Diagnosis is hampered by the many unknowns surrounding this disease, including those relating to infectious viral burden.

Defective interferon amplification and impaired host responses against influenza virus in obese mice.

Objective: Obesity is a major risk factor that increases morbidity and mortality upon infection. Although type I and type III interferon (IFN)-induced innate immune responses represent the first line of defense against viral infections, their functionality in the context of metabolic disorders remains largely obscure. This study aimed to investigate IFN responses upon respiratory viral infection in obese mice.

On Sketch-Based Selections From Scatterplots Using KDE, Compared to Mahalanobis and CNN Brushing.

Fast and accurate brushing is crucial in visual data exploration and sketch-based solutions are successful methods. In this article, we detail a solution, based on kernel density estimation, which computes a data subset selection in a scatterplot from a simple click-and-drag interaction. We explain how this technique relates to two alternative approaches, i.