Superparamagnetic nanoparticles as potential systems for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

This study aims to use superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), specifically magnetite (FeO), to deliver deflazacort (DFZ) and ibuprofen (IBU) to Duchenne muscular dystrophy-affected (DMD) mouse muscles using an external magnetic field. The SPIONs are synthesized by the co-precipitation method, and their surfaces are functionalized with L-cysteine to anchor the drugs, considering that the cysteine on the surface of the SPIONs in the solid state dimerizes to form the cystine molecule, creating the FeO-(Cys)-DFZ and FeO-(Cys)-IBU systems for tests. The FeO nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and magnetic measurements.

and diclofenac: understanding the potential risks of this association.

In many homes worldwide, dogs are considered part of the family. Every possible care is given to animals, including drug treatments. However, many animal guardians, in an attempt to minimize pain or improve the quality of life of their dogs, provide drugs without a veterinarian's prescription.

Higher-order connectomics of human brain function reveals local topological signatures of task decoding, individual identification, and behavior.

Traditional models of human brain activity often represent it as a network of pairwise interactions between brain regions. Going beyond this limitation, recent approaches have been proposed to infer higher-order interactions from temporal brain signals involving three or more regions. However, to this day it remains unclear whether methods based on inferred higher-order interactions outperform traditional pairwise ones for the analysis of fMRI data.

Nanocellulose and microcrystalline cellulose from citrus processing waste: A review.

Used since decades to produce pectin, citrus processing waste poor in lignin and rich in hemicellulose obtained from lemon and orange juice industrial manufacturing is ideally suited also as microcrystalline cellulose and nanocellulose raw material. The study merges the outcomes of chemistry and bioeconomy research between 2007 and early 2024 with technology and economic insight, to reach five conclusions that will hopefully inform practice-oriented work of researchers and bioeconomy company's managers interested in the sustainable manufacturing of these important biomaterials.

Deeper but smaller: Higher-order interactions increase linear stability but shrink basins.

A key challenge of nonlinear dynamics and network science is to understand how higher-order interactions influence collective dynamics. Although many studies have approached this question through linear stability analysis, less is known about how higher-order interactions shape the global organization of different states. Here, we shed light on this issue by analyzing the rich patterns supported by identical Kuramoto oscillators on hypergraphs.

Reproducibility in chemistry research.

Chemistry is a reproducible science whose pillars - synthesis and analysis - actually comprise a huge collection of highly reproducible experimental methods to synthesize and analyze substances. The historical development of chemistry, furthermore, shows that reproducibility of methods has been the companion of novelty and creative innovation. The "publish or perish" principle dominating global academia since over two decades, however, intrinsically contributes to the publication of non-reproducible research outcomes also in chemistry.

Volume-optimal persistence homological scaffolds of hemodynamic networks covary with MEG theta-alpha aperiodic dynamics.

Higher-order properties of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) induced connectivity have been shown to unravel many exclusive topological and dynamical insights beyond pairwise interactions. Nonetheless, whether these fMRI-induced higher-order properties play a role in disentangling other neuroimaging modalities' insights remains largely unexplored and poorly understood. In this work, by analyzing fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project Young Adult dataset using persistent homology, we discovered that the volume-optimal persistence homological scaffolds of fMRI-based functional connectomes exhibited conservative topological reconfigurations from the resting state to attentional task-positive state.

In vitro results with minimal blood toxicity of a combretastatin A4 analogue.

Cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled cell growth that is responsible for several deaths worldwide. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and is the leading cause of death. Chemotherapy is the most commonly used treatment for cancer; however, it often causes various side effects in patients.

A unified framework for simplicial Kuramoto models.

Simplicial Kuramoto models have emerged as a diverse and intriguing class of models describing oscillators on simplices rather than nodes. In this paper, we present a unified framework to describe different variants of these models, categorized into three main groups: "simple" models, "Hodge-coupled" models, and "order-coupled" (Dirac) models. Our framework is based on topology and discrete differential geometry, as well as gradient systems and frustrations, and permits a systematic analysis of their properties.

Trilobatin contributes to the improvement of myopathy in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) occurs due to genetic mutations that lead to a deficiency in dystrophin production and consequent progressive degeneration of skeletal muscle fibres, through oxidative stress and an exacerbated inflammatory process. The flavonoid trilobatin (TLB) demonstrates antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential. Its high safety profile and effective action make it a potent therapy for the process of dystrophic muscle myonecrosis.

Stress biomarker changes following a series of repeated static and dynamic apneas in non-divers.

Purpose: This study examined the magnitude of physiological strain imposed by repeated maximal static and dynamic apneas through assessing a panel of stress-related biomarkers.

Methods: Eleven healthy men performed on three separate occasions (≥72-h apart): a series of five repeated maximal (i) static (STA) or (ii) dynamic apneas (DYN) or (iii) a static eupneic protocol (CTL). Venous blood samples were drawn at 30, 90, and 180-min after each protocol to determine ischaemia modified albumin (IMA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), myoglobin, and high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hscTnT) concentrations.

Homological landscape of human brain functional sub-circuits.

Human whole-brain functional connectivity networks have been shown to exhibit both local/quasilocal (e.g., set of functional sub-circuits induced by node or edge attributes) and non-local (e.

Hepatitis C: The Story of a Long Journey through First, Second, and Third Generation NS3/4A Peptidomimetic Inhibitors. What Did We Learn?

Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection is the leading cause of liver failure and still represents a global health burden. Over the past decade, great advancements made HCV curable, and sustained viral remission significantly improved to more than 98%. Historical treatment with pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin has been displaced by combinations of direct-acting antivirals.

Hyper-cores promote localization and efficient seeding in higher-order processes.

Going beyond networks, to include higher-order interactions of arbitrary sizes, is a major step to better describe complex systems. In the resulting hypergraph representation, tools to identify structures and central nodes are scarce. We consider the decomposition of a hypergraph in hyper-cores, subsets of nodes connected by at least a certain number of hyperedges of at least a certain size.

Convolutional neural networks for vision neuroscience: significance, developments, and outstanding issues.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are a class of machine learning models predominately used in computer vision tasks and can achieve human-like performance through learning from experience. Their striking similarities to the structural and functional principles of the primate visual system allow for comparisons between these artificial networks and their biological counterparts, enabling exploration of how visual functions and neural representations may emerge in the real brain from a limited set of computational principles. After considering the basic features of CNNs, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of endorsing CNNs as models of the primate visual system.

Hi-Fi fMRI: High-resolution, fast-sampled and sub-second whole-brain functional MRI at 3T in humans.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a methodological cornerstone of neuroscience. Most studies measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal using echo-planar imaging (EPI), Cartesian sampling, and image reconstruction with a one-to-one correspondence between the number of acquired volumes and reconstructed images. However, EPI schemes are subject to trade-offs between spatial and temporal resolutions.

Social and asocial learning in zebrafish are encoded by a shared brain network that is differentially modulated by local activation.

Group living animals use social and asocial cues to predict the presence of reward or punishment in the environment through associative learning. The degree to which social and asocial learning share the same mechanisms is still a matter of debate. We have used a classical conditioning paradigm in zebrafish, in which a social (fish image) or an asocial (circle image) conditioned stimulus (CS) have been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US=food), and we have used the expression of the immediate early gene c-fos to map the neural circuits associated with each learning type.

Evolutionarily conserved role of oxytocin in social fear contagion in zebrafish.

Emotional contagion is the most ancestral form of empathy. We tested to what extent the proximate mechanisms of emotional contagion are evolutionarily conserved by assessing the role of oxytocin, known to regulate empathic behaviors in mammals, in social fear contagion in zebrafish. Using oxytocin and oxytocin receptor mutants, we show that oxytocin is both necessary and sufficient for observer zebrafish to imitate the distressed behavior of conspecific demonstrators.

Multistability, intermittency, and hybrid transitions in social contagion models on hypergraphs.

Although ubiquitous, interactions in groups of individuals are not yet thoroughly studied. Frequently, single groups are modeled as critical-mass dynamics, which is a widespread concept used not only by academics but also by politicians and the media. However, less explored questions are how a collection of groups will behave and how their intersection might change the dynamics.

Preclinical Effects Of Melatonin On The Development Of Ehrlich's Tumor: A Biochemical, Cognitive, And Molecular Approach.

Background: It has already been shown that melatonin is an antitumoral molecule that affects malignant cells via some mechanisms. The benefit played by this hormone on cancer is due to its antioxidant effects.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the preclinical effects of melatonin in mice with the Ehrlich ascites tumor.

Evaluation of Histone Demethylase Inhibitor ML324 and Acyclovir against Infection.

(CyHV-3) can cause severe disease in koi and common carp (). Currently, no effective treatment is available against CyHV-3 infection in koi. Both LSD1 and JMJD2 are histone demethylases (HD) and are critical for immediate-early (IE) gene activation essential for lytic herpesvirus replication.

Evaluation of Three Human-Use Glucometers for Blood Glucose Measurement in Dogs.

Background: Glucometers or portable sensors are used to quickly measure blood glucose at low cost. They are used in veterinary practice and by guardians to monitor diseases that require, as in diabetes mellitus. However, not all commercially available glucometers (human and veterinary) are suitable for this purpose.

Effect of Subchronic Selenium Treatment in the Liver of BALB/C Mice with Transplantable Ehrlich Tumor.

Selenium has an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and possibly antitumoral action. Thus, we hypothesized that this element could be an ally in cancer treatment. We evaluated the effect of chelated selenium treatment of BALB/c mice with Erhlich Tumor on tumor size, histology, and biochemical parameters of the liver.

Toward understanding the communication in sperm whales.

Machine learning has been advancing dramatically over the past decade. Most strides are human-based applications due to the availability of large-scale datasets; however, opportunities are ripe to apply this technology to more deeply understand non-human communication. We detail a scientific roadmap for advancing the understanding of communication of whales that can be built further upon as a template to decipher other forms of animal and non-human communication.