Effect of Hydroxyl-Containing Fragments on the Structure and Properties of Membrane-Forming Polyamide-Imides.

The structural features and thermophysical and transport properties of dense nonporous membranes of the casting type from (co)polyamide-imides synthesized by the polycondensation of the diacid chloride of 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-1,3-dioxoisoindoline-5-carboxylic acid and diamines 5,5'-methylene-bis (2-aminophenol) (DADHyDPhM) and 4,4'-methylenebis(benzeneamine) (DADPhM), taken in molar ratios of 7:3, 1:1, and 3:7, have been studied. The effect of hydroxyl-containing modifying fragments of dihydroxy diphenylmethane introduced in various amounts into the main polymer chain on the pervaporation properties of the formed films is discussed. It has been shown that the presence of the residual solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone in the films not only has a plasticizing effect on the characteristics of film membranes but also promotes the preferential transmembrane transport of polar liquids, primarily methanol (permeation rate over 2 kg for a copolymer with a ratio of DADHyDPhM:DADPhM = 7:3).

Convolutional neural network in proteomics and metabolomics for determination of comorbidity between cancer and schizophrenia.

The association between cancer risk and schizophrenia is widely debated. Despite many epidemiological studies, there is still no strong evidence regarding the molecular basis for the comorbidity between these two pathological conditions. The vast majority of assays have been performed using clinical records of schizophrenic patients or those undergoing cancer treatment and monitored for sufficient time to find shared features between the considered conditions.

Prediction of Intraoperative Fluorescence of Brain Gliomas: Correlation between Tumor Blood Flow and the Fluorescence.

Introduction: The prediction of the fluorescent effect of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) in patients with diffuse gliomas can improve the selection of patients. The degree of enhancement of gliomas has been reported to predict 5-ALA fluorescence, while, at the same time, rarer cases of fluorescence have been described in non-enhancing gliomas. Perfusion studies, in particular arterial spin labeling perfusion, have demonstrated high efficiency in determining the degree of malignancy of brain gliomas and may be better for predicting fluorescence than contrast enhancement.

The Deficit of Multimodal Perception of Congruent and Non-Congruent Fearful Expressions in Patients with Schizophrenia: The ERP Study.

Emotional dysfunction, including flat affect and emotional perception deficits, is a specific symptom of schizophrenia disorder. We used a modified multimodal odd-ball paradigm with fearful facial expressions accompanied by congruent and non-congruent emotional vocalizations (sounds of women screaming and laughing) to investigate the impairment of emotional perception and reactions to other people's emotions in schizophrenia. We compared subjective ratings of emotional state and event-related potentials (EPPs) in response to congruent and non-congruent stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Polypeptide Self-Assembled Nanoparticles as Delivery Systems for Polymyxins B and E.

Polymyxins are peptide antibiotics that are highly efficient against many multidrug resistant pathogens. However, the poor stability of polymyxins in the bloodstream requires the administration of high drug doses that, in turn, can lead to polymyxin toxicity. Consequently, different delivery systems have been considered for polymyxins to overcome these obstacles.

Classification of Intracranial Hemorrhage Subtypes Using Deep Learning on CT Scans.

Intracranial hemorrhage is a pathological condition that requires fast diagnosis and decision making. Recently, a neural network model for classification of different intracranial hemorrhage types was proposed by a member of our research group Konstantin Kotik as part of the machine learning competition at Kaggle. Our current pilot study aimed to test this model on real-world CT scans from patients with intracranial hemorrhage treated at N.

Bio-Inspired Amphiphilic Block-Copolymers Based on Synthetic Glycopolymer and Poly(Amino Acid) as Potential Drug Delivery Systems.

In this work, a method to prepare hybrid amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of biocompatible synthetic glycopolymer with non-degradable backbone and biodegradable poly(amino acid) (PAA) was developed. The glycopolymer, poly(2-deoxy-2-methacrylamido-D-glucose) (PMAG), was synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Two methods for modifying the terminal dithiobenzoate-group of PMAG was investigated to obtain the macroinitiator bearing a primary aliphatic amino group, which is required for ring-opening polymerization of -carboxyanhydrides of hydrophobic α-amino acids.

Amphiphilic Polypeptides for VEGF siRNA Delivery into Retinal Epithelial Cells.

Polyethyleneimine, poly-L-lysine, chitosan and some others cationic polymers have been thoroughly studied as nucleic acid delivery systems in gene therapy. However, the drug release from these systems proceeds at a very low rate due to extremely high binding between a carrier and gene material. To reduce these interactions and to enhance drug release, we developed a set of amphiphilic polypeptides containing positively and negatively charged amino acids as well as a hydrophobic one.

Urinary biomarkers of latent inflammation and fibrosis in children with vesicoureteral reflux.

Purpose: To investigate the urinary levels of TGF-β1, VEGF, and MCP-1 as potential biomarkers of latent inflammation and fibrosis in the kidney before and 6 months after correction of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children.

Methods: A total of 88 patients (mean age 26 months) with VUR were divided into three groups: group A-patients with grades II-III VUR, conservative treatment; group B-patients with grades III-V VUR, endoscopic correction of VUR; group C-patients with grades III-V VUR, ureteral reimplantation after failed endoscopic correction. Control group included 20 healthy children.

Hypoxic renal injury in newborns with abdominal compartment syndrome (clinical and experimental study).

BackgroundSurgical treatment for gastroschisis and congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) commonly leads to abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) associated with hypoxic renal injury. We hypothesized that measurement of urinary and serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), π-glutathione S-transferase (π-GST), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) may serve for noninvasive detection of hypoxic renal injury in such patients.MethodsIntra-abdominal pressure (IAP), renal excretory function, and the biomarker levels were analyzed before, 4, and 10 days after surgery.

Urinary cytokines as markers of latent inflammation in children with chronic pyelonephritis and anorectal malformations.

Introduction: Anorectal malformations (ARMs) comprise a range of defects in the development of the lowest portion of the intestinal tract that are often associated with anomalies of the urinary tract. We hypothesize that ARMs may specifically predispose the patients to prolonged urinary tract infection (UTI) and transition from a state of active (clinically apparent) inflammation to a state of latent inflammation following antibiotic treatment. Yet diagnosis of latent inflammation in the urinary tract is problematic.