Publications by authors named "Luke Watson"

Osmium(II) complexes have attractive properties for potential theranostic agents given their anticancer activitiy, their redox potentials favourable for biological transformations within cancer cells and their luminescence in the near infrared (NIR) region. To achieve localised detection and delivery, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) provide an attractive scaffold to attach multiple luminescent agents on a single particle and provide a multimodal platform for detection and loaclaised delivery. We have developed 13 nm and 25 nm AuNP decorated with an osmium complex based on 1,10-phenantholine and surface active bipyridine ligands, OsPhenSS for live cell imaging and singlet oxygen generation, notated as OsPhenSS·AuNP13 and OsPhenSS·AuNP25.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) who have cognitive complaints lasting over 8 weeks after infection.
  • Researchers used a combination of neuropsychological tests, health questionnaires, blood samples, and MRI scans over several months to assess cognitive profiles and related biological and psychological factors.
  • Results showed high prevalence of attention/executive function (69%) and verbal memory (39%) impairments, along with common issues like apathy (64%) and anxiety (57%), but cognitive evaluations remained stable over time despite no clear link to physical brain abnormalities or severe neuronal damage.
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Accurate computations of experimental observables are essential for interpreting the high information content held within x-ray spectra. However, for complicated systems this can be difficult, a challenge compounded when dynamics becomes important owing to the large number of calculations required to capture the time-evolving observable. While machine learning architectures have been shown to represent a promising approach for rapidly predicting spectral lineshapes, achieving simultaneously accurate and sufficiently comprehensive training data is challenging.

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Lumateperone is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults and for depressive episodes associated with bipolar I or II disorder (bipolar depression) in adults, as monotherapy and as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate (Calabrese et al., 2021). It is currently under evaluation for the treatment of major depressive disorder (www.

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  • Insulin receptors in brain endothelial cells are crucial for their functioning, but the effects of high insulin levels (hyperinsulinemia) on these receptors are not well understood.
  • The study focused on how hyperinsulinemia affects insulin receptor internalization by examining phosphorylation changes and the role of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) using brain microvessels from mice on a high-fat diet.
  • Findings revealed that hyperinsulinemia leads to increased insulin receptor levels but decreased signaling, suggesting that alternative splicing and PTP1B's negative feedback influence this disruption; however, using the PTP1B antagonist Claramine could restore signaling and receptor internalization.
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X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the L edge can be used to obtain detailed information about the local electronic and geometric structure of transition metal complexes. By virtue of the dipole selection rules, the transition metal L edge usually exhibits two distinct spectral regions: (i) the "white line", which is dominated by bound electronic transitions from metal-centred 2p orbitals into unoccupied orbitals with d character; the intensity and shape of this band consequently reflects the d density of states (d-DOS), which is strongly modulated by mixing with ligand orbitals involved in chemical bonding, and (ii) the post-edge, where oscillations encode the local geometric structure around the X-ray absorption site. In this Article, we extend our recently-developed XANESNET deep neural network (DNN) beyond the K-edge to predict X-ray absorption spectra at the Pt L edge.

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Background: Soft tissue lower limb reconstruction often requires free tissue transfer. We investigated whether the target vessels used for micro-vascular anastomosis in the lower limb influences microsurgical outcomes.

Methods: Data from Plastic Surgery Departments of a major tertiary hospital in the United Kingdom (Leeds General Infirmary, LGI) and Australia (Princess Alexandra Hospital, PAH) were retrospectively analysed.

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Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) ameliorate pre-clinical sepsis and sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) but clinical trials of single-dose MSCs have not indicated robust efficacy. This study investigated immunomodulatory effects of a novel MSC product (CD362-selected human umbilical cord-derived MSCs [hUC-MSCs]) in mouse endotoxemia and polymicrobial sepsis models. Initially, mice received intra-peritoneal (i.

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Focal thinning of the calvarial bones unrelated to an underlying systemic disease is uncommon. Of such cases documented in the medical literature, most are bilateral parietal bone thinning, which tends to affect elderly females and results in bilateral symmetric, regularly shaped depressions of the skull. The authors describe 2 cases of unilateral, focal, irregularly shaped calvarial thinning in adolescent males that occurred without an obvious precipitating incident and were unrelated to systemic disease, a known syndrome or previous trauma.

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Optical microscopy techniques are ideal for live cell imaging for real-time nanoparticle tracking of nanoparticle localization. However, the quantification of nanoparticle uptake is usually evaluated by analytical methods that require cell isolation. Luminescent labeling of gold nanoparticles with transition metal probes yields particles with attractive photophysical properties, enabling cellular tracking using confocal and time-resolved microscopies.

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Tumour stromal cells support tumourigenesis. We report that Syndecan-2 (SDC2) is expressed on a nonepithelial, nonhaematopoietic, nonendothelial stromal cell population within breast cancer tissue. In vitro, syndecan-2 modulated TGFβ signalling (SMAD7, PAI-1), migration and immunosuppression of patient-derived tumour-associated stromal cells (TASCs).

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Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a promising therapeutic option for multiple immune diseases/disorders; however, efficacy of MSC treatments can vary significantly. We present a novel licensing strategy to improve the immunosuppressive capacity of MSCs. Licensing murine MSCs with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β MSCs) significantly improved their ability to modulate both the phenotype and secretome of inflammatory bone marrow-derived macrophages and significantly increased the numbers of regulatory T lymphocytes following co-culture assays.

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Individuals living with type 1 diabetes mellitus may experience an increased risk of long bone fracture. These fractures are often slow to heal, resulting in delayed reunion or non-union. It is reasonable to theorize that the underlying cause of these diabetes-associated osteopathies is faulty repair dynamics as a result of compromised bone marrow progenitor cell function.

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Research on the impact of diet and memory has garnered considerable attention while exploring the link between obesity and cognitive impairment. High-fat diet (HFD) rodent models recapitulate the obesity phenotype and subsequent cognitive impairments. While it is known that HFD is associated with sensory impairment, little attention has been given to the potential role these sensory deficits may play in recognition memory testing, one of the most commonly used cognitive tests.

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Obesity is a global pandemic associated with macro- and microvascular endothelial dysfunction. Microvascular endothelial dysfunction has recently emerged as a significant risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment. In this review, we present evidence from clinical and preclinical studies supporting a role for obesity in cognitive impairment.

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In order for Alzheimer's disease (AD) to manifest, cells must communicate "pathogenic material" such as proteins, signaling molecules, or genetic material to ensue disease propagation. Small extracellular vesicles are produced via the endocytic pathways and released by nearly all cell types, including neurons. Due to their intrinsic interrelationship with endocytic processes and autophagy, there has been increased interest in studying the role of these neuronally-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs) in the propagation of AD.

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Unlabelled: Rib osteomyelitis is an infrequently occurring but important complication of breast implant surgery. Although prosthetic or surgical site infection (SSI) and rib osteomyelitis as separate entities are well described in the literature, only five cases of rib or sternal osteomyelitis related to implant placement have been reported globally. Historically patients who experience this complication have not demonstrated an identifiable prevalence of the traditional risk factors associated with SSI or rib osteomyelitis.

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Background: Environmental contamination has been associated with over half of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) outbreaks in hospitals. We explored if a hospital-wide environmental and patient cleaning protocol would lower hospital acquired MRSA rates and associated costs.

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of implementing a hospital-wide environmental and patient cleaning protocol on the rate of MRSA infection and the potential cost benefit of the intervention.

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Hyaluronic acid (HA) has received a lot of attention recently as a biomaterial with applications in wound healing, drug delivery, vascular repair and cell and/or gene delivery. Interstitial cystitis (IC) is characterised by an increase in the permeability of the bladder wall urothelium due to loss of the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer. The degradation of the urothelium leads to chronic pain and urinary dysfunction.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Compromised bone healing after long bone fractures can lead to serious mobility issues and disabilities due to a decrease in bone marrow progenitor cells.
  • - The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow presents a promising, minimally invasive treatment to address non-union fractures by enhancing the healing process.
  • - Recent advancements in identifying cell surface markers for isolating osteogenic progenitor cells could improve clinical outcomes and strategies for MSC-based therapies in bone regeneration.
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Heating aldehydes that contain a protected hydroxymethyl group, a tethered alkyl chloride and a tethered alkenyl group at the α-position of the aldehyde with an amine sets up a cascade (tandem) reaction sequence involving condensation to an intermediate imine, then cyclization and formation of an intermediate azomethine ylide and then intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition. The fused tricyclic products are formed with complete or very high stereochemical control. The hydroxymethyl group was converted into an aldehyde - which could be removed to give the tricyclic amine products that are unsubstituted at the ring junction positions - or was converted into an alkene, which allowed the formation of the core ring system of the alkaloids scandine and meloscine.

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Background: Control of surgical site infections (SSI) is imperative for the safety of our patients. As orthopedic surgeons we strive to have the lowest infection rate possible for all our surgical procedures. this study evaluates the effects of a simple outpatient peri-operative patient cleaning protocol (The Steiros Algorithm(®) Outpatient Surgery Protocol) on SSI rates.

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Addition of hydroxylamine to substituted 4-chlorobutanals gives intermediate nitrones that undergo tandem cyclization and then intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition to give the core ring system of the yuzurimine-type natural products. Ring-opening of the isoxazolidines gives amino alcohols that can be converted to 1,3-oxazines, representing the tetracyclic core of alkaloids such as daphcalycic acid and daphcalycine.

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Condensation of an aldehyde with an α-amino-ester, followed by a tandem process involving cyclization to a seven-membered ring, deprotonation to an intermediate azomethine ylide and intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition gave tricyclic products related to stenine and neostenine.

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A general approach for the synthesis of various nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds is described using an intermolecular dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides and nitrones. Stabilized and non-stabilized azomethine ylide dipoles or the related nitrones were generated by condensation of 4-, 5- or 6-halo-aldehydes with a readily available amino-acid, amino-ester or hydroxylamine to give an imine followed by cyclization and either decarboxylation or loss of a proton. After intermolecular cycloaddition with an activated dipolarophile, bicyclic or polycyclic (if the ylide dipole and/or dipolarophile contain a ring) amines were produced.

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