L-aspartate ameliorates diet-induced obesity by increasing adipocyte energy expenditure.

Aims: Obesity always leads to profound perturbation of metabolome. Metabolome studies enrich the knowledge on associations between endogenous metabolites and obesity, potentially providing innovative strategies for the development of novel anti-obesity pharmacotherapy. This study aims to identify an endogenous metabolite that regulates energy expenditure and to explore its application for obesity treatment.

Precise Methylation Detection of Tumor Suppressor Gene Promoters by Magnetic Enrichment and Nano Silver Adduct-Promoted Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering.

Noninvasive liquid biopsies can be used for early tumor diagnosis by identifying the methylation level of the tumor suppressor genes (TSGs)-a reliable index for cancer evaluation. However, identifying trace circulating genes from specimens remains challenging. This work introduces a novel method that combines magnetic isolation and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to concentrate and detect the methylated TSG promotors.

Metabolic engineering of the borneol and camphor degradation pathways in Pseudomonas to produce optically pure bicyclic monoterpenes.

Borneol, a medicinally important bicyclic monoterpene, facilitates drug transport across mucous membranes and the blood-brain barrier. Derivatives of borneol and camphor also have numerous biomedical applications. Borneol is currently industrially synthesized via the conversion of turpentine and α-pinene.

PhageGE: an interactive web platform for exploratory analysis and visualization of bacteriophage genomes.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to global health. Due to the stagnant antibiotic discovery pipeline, bacteriophages (phages) have been proposed as an alternative therapy for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens. Genomic features play an important role in phage pharmacology.

Design, synthesis and structure-activity relationship of novel 2-pyrimidinylindole derivatives as orally available anti-obesity agents.

Due to the emerging global epidemic of obesity, developing safe and effective agents for anti-obesity is urgently needed. Our previous study found that 2-pyrimidinylindole derivative Wd3d exhibited potential anti-obesity activity. Herein, to further optimize the potential moiety, structural modifications were proceeded for two rounds in this study.

Utilizing radiomics and dosiomics with AI for precision prediction of radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: This study explores integrating clinical features with radiomic and dosiomic characteristics into AI models to enhance the prediction accuracy of radiation dermatitis (RD) in breast cancer patients undergoing volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

Materials And Methods: This study involved a retrospective analysis of 120 breast cancer patients treated with VMAT at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital from 2018 to 2023. Patient data included CT images, radiation doses, Dose-Volume Histogram (DVH) data, and clinical information.

Development of Novel -Acylhydrazone Derivatives with High Anti-obesity Activity and Improved Safety by Exploring the Pharmaceutical Properties of Aldehyde Group.

The discovery of effective and safe antiobesity agents remains a challenging yet promising field. Our previous studies identified Bouchardatine derivatives as potential antiobesity agents. However, the 8a-aldehyde moiety rendered them unsuitable for drug development.

The Black Lives Matter movement mitigates bias against racial minority actors.

Watching movies is among the most popular entertainment and cultural activities. How do viewers react when a movie sequel increases racial minority actors in the main cast ("minority increase")? On the one hand, such sequels may receive better evaluations if viewers appreciate racially inclusive casting for its novel elements (the value-in-diversity perspective) and moral appeal (the fairness perspective on diversity). On the other hand, discrimination research suggests that if viewers harbor biases against racial minorities, sequels with minority increase may receive worse evaluations.

A new tau dephosphorylation-targeting chimera for the treatment of tauopathies.

Abnormal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein plays a pivotal role in a collection of neurodegenerative diseases named tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have recently conceptualized the design of hetero-bifunctional chimeras for selectively promoting the proximity between tau and phosphatase, thus specifically facilitating tau dephosphorylation and removal. Here, we sought to optimize the construction of tau dephosphorylating-targeting chimera (DEPTAC) and obtained a new chimera D14, which had high efficiency in reducing tau phosphorylation both in cell and tauopathy mouse models, while showing limited cytotoxicity.

High prevalence of exon-13 variants in USH2A-related retinal dystrophies in Taiwanese population.

Background: Biallelic pathogenic variants in USH2A lead to Usher syndrome or non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa, and shown to have geographical and ethnical distribution in previous studies. This study provided a deeper understanding of the detailed clinical features using multimodal imaging, genetic spectrum, and genotype-phenotype correlations of USH2A-related retinal dystrophies in Taiwan.

Results: In our cohort, the mean age at first visit was 47.

Real-Time Dynamic Intelligent Image Recognition and Tracking System for Rockfall Disasters.

Taiwan, frequently affected by extreme weather causing phenomena such as earthquakes and typhoons, faces a high incidence of rockfall disasters due to its largely mountainous terrain. These disasters have led to numerous casualties, government compensation cases, and significant transportation safety impacts. According to the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction records from 2010 to 2022, 421 out of 866 soil and rock disasters occurred in eastern Taiwan, causing traffic disruptions due to rockfalls.

Pediatric oncology drug development and dosage optimization.

Oncology drug discovery and development has always been an area facing many challenges. Phase 1 oncology studies are typically small, open-label, sequential studies enrolling a small sample of adult patients (i.e.

HDGF stimulates liver tumorigenesis by enhancing reactive oxygen species generation in mitochondria.

Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) overexpression and uncontrolled reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation are involved in malignant transformation and poor prognosis in various types of cancer. However, the interplay between HDGF and ROS generation has not been elucidated in hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, we first analyzed the profile of HDGF expression and ROS production in newly generated orthotopic hepatomas by ultrasound-guided implantation.

An integrated analysis of dysregulated SCD1 in human cancers and functional verification of miR-181a-5p/SCD1 axis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), one of the most lethal cancers, has become a global health issue. Stearoyl-coA desaturase 1 (SCD1) has been demonstrated to play a crucial role in human cancers. However, pan-cancer analysis has revealed little evidence to date.