Systemic inflammation and lymphocyte activation precede rheumatoid arthritis.

Some autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are preceded by a critical subclinical phase of disease activity. Proactive clinical management is hampered by a lack of biological understanding of this subclinical 'at-risk' state and the changes underlying disease development. In a cross-sectional and longitudinal multi-omics study of peripheral immunity in the autoantibody-positive at-risk for RA period, we identified systemic inflammation, proinflammatory-skewed B cells, expanded Tfh17-like cells, epigenetic bias in naive T cells, TNF+IL1B+ monocytes resembling a synovial macrophage population, and CD4 T cell transcriptional features resembling those suppressed by abatacept (CTLA4-Ig) in RA patients.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Gene in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-A Case Control Study in Vietnam.

Background: In 2018, GOLD addressed the issues of genotypes associated with risk factors for COPD. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) demonstrated an association between COPD and several genetic variants of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the gene with the risk of COPD.

Objective: To study the single nucleotide polymorphisms rs2869967 and rs17014601 of the gene in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Effect of melatonin and luzindole antagonist on fipronil toxicity, detoxification and antioxidant enzyme system in different tissues of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Studies have investigating the detoxification and antioxidant enzymes with melatonin under pesticide stress in many vertebrates, whereas no reports produced in invertebrates. In this study possible role of melatonin and luzindole effect on fipronil toxicity and the detoxification, antioxidant enzymes in H. armigera has been reported.

A review on biological methodologies in municipal solid waste management and landfilling: Resource and energy recovery.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization growth combined with increased population has aggravated the issue of municipal solid waste generation. MSW has been accounted for contributing tremendously to the improvement of sustainable sources and safe environment. Biological processing of MSW followed by biogas and biomethane generation is one of the innumerable sustainable energy source choices.

A review on landfill system for municipal solid wastes: Insight into leachate, gas emissions, environmental and economic analysis.

Landfill is one of the common processes for removing and disposing waste materials that comprises the final method of disposing municipal solid waste. Disposal of municipal solid waste through land filling has become an important environmental problem all over the world which results in environmental contamination and pollution. Microbes present in the land act on the dumped materials and decompose the organic content present.

An anti-inflammatory activation sequence governs macrophage transcriptional dynamics during tissue injury in zebrafish.

Macrophages are essential for tissue repair and regeneration. Yet, the molecular programs, as well as the timing of their activation during and after tissue injury are poorly defined. Using a high spatio-temporal resolution single cell analysis of macrophages coupled with live imaging after sensory hair cell death in zebrafish, we find that the same population of macrophages transitions through a sequence of three major anti-inflammatory activation states.

Involvement of N-acetylneuraminate cytidylyltransferase in Edwardsiella piscicida pathogenicity.

Edwardsiella piscicida is a gram-negative bacterium that causes Edwardsiellosis in cultured fish. Edwardsiellosis is accompanied by symptoms such as skin lesions, hemorrhage, and necrosis in fish organs, which leads to significant economic losses in the aquaculture industry. Recently, we found that bacterial sialoglycoconjugates may be involved in the infectivity of E.

Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals three sequential phases of gene expression during zebrafish sensory hair cell regeneration.

Loss of sensory hair cells (HCs) in the mammalian inner ear leads to permanent hearing and vestibular defects, whereas loss of HCs in zebrafish results in their regeneration. We used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to characterize the transcriptional dynamics of HC regeneration in zebrafish at unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. We uncovered three sequentially activated modules: first, an injury/inflammatory response and downregulation of progenitor cell maintenance genes within minutes after HC loss; second, the transient activation of regeneration-specific genes; and third, a robust re-activation of developmental gene programs, including HC specification, cell-cycle activation, ribosome biogenesis, and a metabolic switch to oxidative phosphorylation.

Enhancement of Edwardsiella piscicida infection, biofilm formation, and motility caused by N-acetylneuraminate lyase.

Sialic acid and its catabolism are involved in bacterial pathogenicity. N-acetylneuraminate lyase (NAL), which catalyzes the reversible aldol cleavage of sialic acid to form N-acetyl-D-mannosamine in the first step of sialic acid degradation, has been recently investigated to elucidate whether NAL enhances bacterial virulence; however, the role of NAL in bacterial pathogenicity remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated that the existence of two enzymes in Edwardsiella piscicida, referred to as dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) and NAL, induced the cleavage/condensation activity toward sialic acids such as N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-glycolylneuraminic acid and 3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-non-2-ulopyranosonic acid.

Host lactosylceramide enhances Edwardsiella tarda infection.

Edwardsiella tarda is a Gram-negative bacterium causing economic damage in aquaculture. The interaction of E. tarda with microdomains is an important step in the invasion, but the target molecules in microdomains remain undefined.

Immediate targeted nipple-areolar complex re-innervation: Improving outcomes in immediate autologous breast reconstruction.

Breast reconstruction often renders the chest skin and nipple areolar complex (NAC) insensate. We propose a new technique of preserving the intercostal nerves during mastectomy and using them to reinnervate the NAC following mastectomy and immediate autologous tissue reconstruction. The technique involves preservation of the lateral intercostal nerves during mastectomy, dissection of the lateral intercostal nerves to length, coaptation of the intercostal nerves to a nerve graft which is then tunneled through the free flap and the distal nerve graft is then coapted to the nerve stumps at the base of the NAC.

Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection for microfluidic capillary isoelectric focusing.

We report capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) of proteins separated by microfluidic capillary isoelectric focusing (μCIEF). To elucidate the evolution of negative conductivity peaks during focusing and seek IEF conditions for sensitive conductivity detection, numerical simulation was performed using a model protein GFP (green fluorescence protein) and hypothetical carrier ampholytes (CAs). C4D was successfully applied to the μCIEF by optimizing assay conditions using a simple and effective pressure-mobilization approach.

Synthesis of highly branched hollow trimetallic PdAgCu nanoparticles.

An aqueous, room temperature, and surfactant-less synthetic route based on galvanic replacement and co-reduction is reported to yield PdAgCu nanoparticles (NPs) with a high density of sharp and branched tips. The PdAgCu NPs are of high-purity, uniform size and more than 90% of them adopt branched tips. Besides, the PdAgCu NPs exhibit hollow interiors, well-alloyed nature, and a tuneable localized surface plasmon resonance peak in the near infrared region.

A new iron-based metal-organic framework with enhancing catalysis activity for benzene hydroxylation.

A new Fe-based metal-organic framework (MOF), termed Fe-TBAPy Fe(OH)(TBAPy)·4.4HO, was solvothermally synthesized. Structural analysis revealed that Fe-TBAPy is built from [Fe(OH)(CO)] rod-shaped SBUs (SBUs = secondary building units) and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(-benzoate)pyrene (TBAPy) linker to form the topological structure highlighted by 7 Å channels and 3.

Nanoplasmonic Sensing from the Human Vision Perspective.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) constitutes a versatile technique for biodetection, exploiting the sensitivity of plasmonic nanostructures to small changes in refractive index. The optical shift in the LSPR band caused by molecular interactions in the vicinity of the nanostructures are typically <5 nm and can readily be detected by a spectrophotometer. Widespread use of LSPR-based sensors require cost-effective devices and would benefit from sensing schemes that enables use of very simple spectrophotometers or even naked-eye detection.

Inflection Point of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Peak: A General Method to Improve the Sensitivity.

The shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectrum is widely used in bio- and chemical sensing. Traditionally, the shift is monitored at the peak maximum of the extinction spectrum. We demonstrate that the inflection point at the long wavelength side of the peak maximum shows better refractive index sensitivity than the peak maximum.

Exploiting Surface-Plasmon-Enhanced Light Scattering for the Design of Ultrasensitive Biosensing Modality.

Development of new detection methodologies and amplification schemes is indispensable for plasmonic biosensors to improve the sensitivity for the detection of trace amounts of analytes. Herein, an ultrasensitive scheme for signal enhancement based on the concept of surface-plasmon-resonance-enhanced light scattering (SP-LS) was validated experimentally and theoretically. The SP-LS of gold nanoparticles' (AuNPs) tags was employed in a sandwich assay for the detection of cardiac troponin I and provided up to 2 orders of magnitude improved sensitivity over conventional AuNPs-enhanced refractometric measurements and 3 orders of magnitude improvement over label-free SPR.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of melamine on silver substrate: An experimental and DFT study.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful vibrational spectroscopy technique that allows amplifying weak Raman signals by the excitation of localized surface plasmons. In this paper, we used nanoscale roughened silver surface to enhance Raman signals of melamine analyte. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by wet-chemical method and employed for SERS measurement.

Smartphone spectrometer for colorimetric biosensing.

We report on a smartphone spectrometer for colorimetric biosensing applications. The spectrometer relies on a sample cell with an integrated grating substrate, and the smartphone's built-in light-emitting diode flash and camera. The feasibility of the smartphone spectrometer is demonstrated for detection of glucose and human cardiac troponin I, the latter in conjunction with peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles.

Anti-biofilm activity of α-mangostin isolated from Garcinia mangostana L.

This study was carried out to further examine the anti-biofilm activity of α-mangostin (αMG) isolated from Garcinia mangostana L. grown in Vietnam, against a strongly biofilm producing Streptococcus mutans, a major causative agent of dental caries. The obtained data indicated that topical applications (twice-daily, 60 s exposure each) of 150 μM αMG during biofilm formation on the surfaces of hydroxyapatite disks (sHA) by S.

Optically Pumped Two-Dimensional MoS2 Lasers Operating at Room-Temperature.

The discovery of direct bandgap semiconducting two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) has opened a new era in flexible optoelectronic devices. Critical to this development is the realization of a semiconductor laser using the emerging 2D TMDCs. Here, by embedding 2D MoS2 at the interface between a free-standing microdisk and microsphere, we have demonstrated, for the first time, room-temperature lasing from 2D TMDCs.

Green synthesis of asymmetrically textured silver meso-flowers (AgMFs) as highly sensitive SERS substrates.

Highly asymmetrical "flower-like" micron silver particles, so-called hierarchical silver meso-flowers (AgMFs), were facilely synthesized using ascorbic acid at room temperature in the presence of chitosan biopolymer. The time-evolution of TEM images and XRD analysis confirmed the anisotropic growth of AgMFs with single crystalline phase of which the formation mechanism was described in detail. The morphology and size of as-prepared AgMFs were tunable simply by changing the concentration of chitosan biopolymer and/or AgNO3 precursor under otherwise identical conditions.