Clinical manifestations and immune response to tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is a far-reaching, high-impact disease. It is among the top ten causes of death worldwide caused by a single infectious agent; 1.6 million tuberculosis-related deaths were reported in 2021 and it has been estimated that a third of the world's population are carriers of the tuberculosis bacillus but do not develop active disease.

Spontaneous pneumothorax, with or without pulmonary cysts, in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Introduction: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affects mainly the lungs causing pneumonia and complications like acute respiratory distress syndrome. Pneumothorax is a rare manifestation of the disease. This report is a description of a series of patients with COVID-19 and spontaneous pneumothorax, some of them with associated pulmonary cysts.

Characteristics and Clinical Course of Adult in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia at High Altitude.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has spread worldwide with different dynamics in each region. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and to explore risk factors of death, critical care admission, and use of invasive mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in a high-altitude population living in Bogotá, Colombia.

Methods: We conducted a concurrent cohort study of adult patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

Cyclopropyl Substituents Transform the Viscosity-Sensitive BODIPY Molecular Rotor into a Temperature Sensor.

A quantitative fluorescent probe that responds to changes in temperature is highly desirable for studies of biological environments, particularly . Here, we report new cell-permeable fluorescence probes based on the BODIPY moiety that respond to environmental temperature. The new probes were developed on the basis of a well-established BODIPY-based viscosity probe by functionalization with cyclopropyl substituents at α and β positions of the BODIPY core.

Orbital Decomposition of the Carbon Chemical Shielding Tensor in Gold(I) N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes.

The good performance of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), in terms of versatility and selectivity, has called the attention of experimentalists and theoreticians attempting to understand their electronic properties. Analyses of the Au(I)-C bond in [(NHC)AuL] (L stands for a neutral or negatively charged ligand), through the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model and the charge displacement function, have revealed that NHC is not purely a -donor but may have a significant π-acceptor character. It turns out, however, that only the -donation bonding component strongly correlates with one specific component of the chemical shielding tensor.

Excited-state non-radiative decay in stilbenoid compounds: an ab initio quantum-chemistry study on size and substituent effects.

In the framework of optoelectronic luminescent materials, non-radiative decay mechanisms are relevant to interpret efficiency losses. These radiationless processes are herein studied theoretically for a series of stilbenoid derivatives, including distyrylbenzene (DSB) and cyano-substituted distyrylbenzene (DCS) molecules in vacuo. Given the difficulties of excited-state reaction path determinations, a simplified computational strategy is defined based on the exploration of the potential energy surfaces (PES) along the elongation, twisting, and pyramidalization of the vinyl bonds.

Theoretical Study of the Charge Transfer Exciton Binding Energy in Semiconductor Materials for Polymer:Fullerene-Based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells.

Recent efforts and progress in polymer solar cell research have boosted the photovoltaic efficiency of the technology. This efficiency depends not only on the device architecture but also on the material properties. Thus, insight into the design of novel semiconductor materials is vital for the advancement of the field.

Imaging tumor microscopic viscosity in vivo using molecular rotors.

The microscopic viscosity plays an essential role in cellular biophysics by controlling the rates of diffusion and bimolecular reactions within the cell interior. While several approaches have emerged that have allowed the measurement of viscosity and diffusion on a single cell level in vitro, the in vivo viscosity monitoring has not yet been realized. Here we report the use of fluorescent molecular rotors in combination with Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) to image microscopic viscosity in vivo, both on a single cell level and in connecting tissues of subcutaneous tumors in mice.

C NMR Spectroscopy of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes Can Selectively Probe σ Donation in Gold(I) Complexes.

The Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson (DCD) model provides a successful theoretical framework to describe the nature of the chemical bond in transition-metal compounds and is especially useful in structural chemistry and catalysis. However, how to actually measure its constituents (substrate-to-metal donation and metal-to-substrate back-donation) is yet uncertain. Recently, we demonstrated that the DCD components can be neatly disentangled and the π back-donation component put in strict correlation with some experimental observables.

Bacterial base excision repair enzyme Fpg recognizes bulky N7-substituted-FapydG lesion via unproductive binding mode.

Fpg is a bacterial base excision repair enzyme that removes oxidized purines from DNA. This work shows that Fpg and its eukaryote homolog Ogg1 recognize with high affinity FapydG and bulky N7-benzyl-FapydG (Bz-FapydG). The comparative crystal structure analysis of stable complexes between Fpg and carbocyclic cFapydG or Bz-cFapydG nucleoside-containing DNA provides the molecular basis of the ability of Fpg to bind both lesions with the same affinity and to differently process them.