Enzymatically cross-linkable sulfated bacterial polyglucuronic acid as an affinity-based carrier of FGF-2 for therapeutic angiogenesis.

The fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is a critical protein for biological processes such as angiogenesis and tissue regeneration. Recently, hydrogels based on semi-synthetic sulfated polysaccharides have been developed for the controlled delivery of FGF-2. These affinity-based FGF-2 carriers utilizing hydrogels based on sulfated polysaccharides enable sustained delivery of FGF-2, yet choice of materials is limited.

Additive-assisted macroscopic self-assembly and control of the shape of assemblies based on host-guest interaction.

In these decades, considerable attention has focused on supramolecular polymers due to their unique structures and properties. More recently, macroscopic supramolecular polymers have attracted increasing interest from not only biologists but also materials scientists inspired by the sophisticated structures and functions of living organisms. Since the functions of supramolecular polymers are strongly dependent on their shape, control of the shape is an important issue in controlling the functions of supramolecular polymers.

Exploring strain-level diversity in the gut microbiome through mucin particle adhesion.

Unlabelled: Mucin glycoproteins are a significant source of carbon for the gut bacteria. Various gut microbial species possess diverse hydrolytic enzymes and catabolic pathways for breaking down mucin glycans, resulting in competition for the limited nutrients within the gut environment. Adherence to mucin glycans represents a crucial strategy used by gut microbes to access nutrient reservoirs.

Hyperconfined bio-inspired Polymers in Integrative Flow-Through Systems for Highly Selective Removal of Heavy Metal Ions.

Access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation is becoming an increasingly pressing global demand, particularly owing to rapid population growth and urbanization. Phytoremediation utilizes a highly conserved phytochelatin in plants, which captures hazardous heavy metal ions from aquatic environments and sequesters them in vacuoles. Herein, we report the design of phytochelatin-inspired copolymers containing carboxylate and thiolate moieties.

Density Function Theory Study on the Energy and Circular Dichroism Spectrum for Methylene-Linked Triazole Diads Depending on the Substitution Position and Conformation.

Since the discovery of metal-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloadditions, 1,2,3-triazoles have been widely used as linkers for various residues. 1,2,3-Triazole is an aromatic five-membered cyclic compound consisting of three nitrogen and two carbon atoms with large dipoles that absorb UV light. In the past decade, we have been working on the synthesis of dense triazole polymers possessing many 1,2,3-triazole residues linked through a carbon atom in their backbone as a new type of functional polymer.

Interaction of Cyclodextrins with Amphiphilic Alternating Cooligomers Possessing the Dense Triazole Backbone.

The interaction of cyclodextrins (CDs) with structure-controlled polymers is expected to provide significant insights into macromolecular recognition. However, the interaction of CDs with structure-controlled polymers has been an underexamined issue of investigation. Herein, alternating amphiphilic cooligomers (oligoCAH, where denotes the carbon number of alkyl groups; = 4, 8, and 12) were synthesized by copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition polymerization of heterodimers of 4-azido-5-hexynoic acid (AH) derivatives carrying -alkylamide and -butyl (tBu) ester side chains, followed by hydrolysis of the tBu ester, to study the interaction of CDs with oligoCAH by H NMR, nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy, and pulse-field-gradient spin-echo NMR.

Foods and beverages associated with smoking craving in heated tobacco product and cigarette smokers: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Certain foods and beverages are associated with smoking craving. However, only few studies have explored the relationship between food or beverage-related and taste-associated smoking craving. In this study, we aimed to identify the types of foods related to smoking craving in Japanese individuals who smoke cigarettes or heated tobacco products (HTPs).

Reversible Host-Guest Crosslinks in Supramolecular Hydrogels for On-Demand Mechanical Stimulation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Stem cells are regulated not only by biochemical signals but also by biophysical properties of extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is constantly monitored and remodeled because the fate of stem cells can be misdirected when the mechanical interaction between cells and ECM is imbalanced. A well-defined ECM model for bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) based on supramolecular hydrogels containing reversible host-guest crosslinks is fabricated.

Water Fraction Dependence of the Aggregation Behavior of Hydrophobic Fluorescent Solutes in Water-Tetrahydrofuran.

This work investigates the water fraction dependence of the aggregation behavior of hydrophobic solutes in water-tetrahydrofuran (THF) and the elucidation of the role of THF using fluorescence microscopy, dynamic light scattering, neutron and X-ray scattering, and photoluminescence measurements. On the basis of the obtained results, the following model is proposed: hydrophobic molecules are molecularly dispersed in the low-water-content region (10-20 vol %), while they form mesoscopic particles upon increasing the water fraction to ∼30 vol %. This abrupt change is due to the composition fluctuation of the water-THF binary system to form hydrophobic areas in THF, followed by THF-rich droplets where hydrophobic solutes are incorporated and form loose aggregates.

Erratum: Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 031802 (2023)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.

Does nutritional guidance reduce cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus? A retrospective cohort study using a nationwide claims database.

Aim: To examine the effect of nutritional guidance (NG) provided by a registered dietitian under the direction of a physician on the development of subsequent cardiovascular events in patients with early-stage type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the JMDC claims database to explore patients aged 18 years or older who first met the diagnostic criteria for T2DM at a health checkup between January 2011 and January 2019. The last day of the observation period was set for 28 February, 2021.

Fabrication of cell-laden microbeads and microcapsules composed of bacterial polyglucuronic acid.

In the past decades, the microencapsulation of mammalian cells into microparticles has been extensively studied for various in vitro and in vivo applications. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the viability of bacterial polyglucuronic acid (PGU), an exopolysaccharide derived from bacteria and composed of glucuronic acid units, as an effective material for cell microencapsulation. Using the method of dropping an aqueous solution of PGU-containing cells into a Ca-loaded solution, we produced spherical PGU microbeads with >93 % viability of the encapsulated human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

Detection of pneumococcus during hospitalization for SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Infections with respiratory viruses [e.g. influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)] can increase the risk of severe pneumococcal infections.

Repair of noise-induced damage to stereocilia F-actin cores is facilitated by XIRP2 and its novel mechanosensor domain.

Prolonged exposure to loud noise has been shown to affect inner ear sensory hair cells in a variety of deleterious manners, including damaging the stereocilia core. The damaged sites can be visualized as 'gaps' in phalloidin staining of F-actin, and the enrichment of monomeric actin at these sites, along with an actin nucleator and crosslinker, suggests that localized remodeling occurs to repair the broken filaments. Herein, we show that gaps in mouse auditory hair cells are largely repaired within 1 week of traumatic noise exposure through the incorporation of newly synthesized actin.

Synthesis of Dense 1,2,3-Triazole Oligomers Consisting Preferentially of 1,5-Disubstituted Units via Ruthenium(II)-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition.

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (RuAAC) polymerization of -butyl 4-azido-5-hexynoate (tBuAH), i.e., a heterobifunctional monomer carrying azide and alkyne moieties, was investigated in this study.

Persistence of Pneumococcal Carriage among Older Adults in the Community despite COVID-19 Mitigation Measures.

Reported rates of invasive pneumococcal disease were markedly lower than normal during the 2020/2021 winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the first year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about rates of carriage of pneumococcus among adults during this period. Between October 2020-August 2021, couples in the Greater New Haven Area, USA, were enrolled if both individuals were aged 60 years and above and did not have any individuals under the age of 60 years living in the household.

Modulation of wetting of stimulus responsive polymer brushes by lipid vesicles: experiments and simulations.

The interactions between vesicle and substrate have been studied by simulation and experiment. We grafted polyacrylic acid brushes containing cysteine side chains at a defined area density on planar lipid membranes. Specular X-ray reflectivity data indicated that the addition of Cd ions induces the compaction of the polymer brush layer and modulates the adhesion of lipid vesicles.

Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande.

We report a search for cosmic-ray boosted dark matter with protons using the 0.37  megaton×years data collected at Super-Kamiokande experiment during the 1996-2018 period (SKI-IV phase). We searched for an excess of proton recoils above the atmospheric neutrino background from the vicinity of the Galactic Center.

Preferential formation of specific hexose and heptose in the formose reaction under microwave irradiation.

To realize sustainable societies, the production of organic compounds not based on fossil resources should be developed. Thus, C1 chemistry, utilizing one-carbon compounds as starting materials, has been of increasing importance. In particular, the formose reaction is promising because the reaction produces sugars (monosaccharides) from formaldehyde under basic conditions.

Phenol-Grafted Alginate Sulfate Hydrogel as an Injectable FGF-2 Carrier.

In the field of tissue engineering, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) effectively regenerates damaged tissue and restores its biological function. However, FGF-2 readily diffuses and degrades under physiological conditions. Therefore, methods for the sustained and localized delivery of FGF-2 are needed.

Ion-specific nanoscale compaction of cysteine-modified poly(acrylic acid) brushes revealed by 3D scanning force microscopy with frequency modulation detection.

Stimuli-responsive polyelectrolyte brushes adapt their physico-chemical properties according to pH and ion concentrations of the solution in contact. We synthesized a poly(acrylic acid) bearing cysteine residues at side chains and a lipid head group at the terminal, and incorporated them into a phospholipid monolayer deposited on a hydrophobic silane monolayer. The ion-specific, nanoscale response of polyelectrolyte brushes was detected by using three-dimensional scanning force microscopy (3D-SFM) combined with frequency modulation detection.

Stimulus-Responsive, Gelatin-Containing Supramolecular Nanofibers as Switchable 3D Microenvironments for Cells.

Polymer- and/or protein-based nanofibers that promote stable cell adhesion have drawn increasing attention as well-defined models of the extracellular matrix. In this study, we fabricated two classes of stimulus-responsive fibers containing gelatin and supramolecular crosslinks to emulate the dynamic cellular microenvironment in vivo. Gelatin enabled cells to adhere without additional surface functionalization, while supramolecular crosslinks allowed for the reversible switching of the Young's modulus through changes in the concentration of guest molecules in culture media.