A Tissue-Engineered Construct Based on a Decellularized Scaffold and the Islets of Langerhans: A Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Model.

Producing a tissue-engineered pancreas based on a tissue-specific scaffold from a decellularized pancreas, imitating the natural pancreatic tissue microenvironment and the islets of Langerhans, is one of the approaches to treating patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The aim of this work was to investigate the ability of a fine-dispersed tissue-specific scaffold (DP scaffold) from decellularized human pancreas fragments to support the islets' survival and insulin-producing function when injected in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model. The developed decellularization protocol allows us to obtain a scaffold with a low DNA content (33 [26; 38] ng/mg of tissue, < 0.

Race, Ethnicity, and Geography as Determinants of Excessive Weight and Low Physical Activity in Pediatric Population: Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The rationale for the current study is the sparsity of data on the combined effect of the environmental and individual risks of obesity and sedentary lifestyle in children of different races/ethnicities from different regions. An effective weight management strategy is hard to design due to insufficient evidence. This work was initiated to study race, ethnicity, and geography as determinants of excessive weight and low physical activity in the pediatric population.

Study of the Reinforcing Effect and Antibacterial Activity of Edible Films Based on a Mixture of Chitosan/Cassava Starch Filled with Bentonite Particles with Intercalated Ginger Essential Oil.

Edible films based on biopolymers are used to protect food from adverse environmental factors. However, their ample use may be hindered by some challenges to their mechanical and antimicrobial properties. Despite this, in most cases, increasing their mechanical properties and antibacterial activity remains a relevant challenge.

Functional and Structural Changes in Diaphragm Neuromuscular Junctions in Early Aging.

Age-related impairment of the diaphragm causes respiratory complications. Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) dysfunction can be one of the triggering events in diaphragm weaknesses in old age. Prominent structural and functional alterations in diaphragm NMJs were described in elderly rodents, but NMJ changes in middle age remain unclear.

A Study of Plant-Filled Polymer Composites Based on Highly Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride.

To enhance the ecological properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, the fabrication of PVC-based composites using biofillers with acceptable performance characteristics could be considered. In this work, plant-filled PVC-based composite materials were fabricated and their optical, structural, thermal, and mechanical properties, depending on the nature of the filler, were studied. Spruce flour, birch flour, and rice husk were used as fillers.

Synthesis of Ultra-Incompressible and Recoverable Carbon Nitrides Featuring CN Tetrahedra.

Carbon nitrides featuring three-dimensional frameworks of CN tetrahedra are one of the great aspirations of materials science, expected to have a hardness greater than or comparable to diamond. After more than three decades of efforts to synthesize them, no unambiguous evidence of their existence has been delivered. Here, the high-pressure high-temperature synthesis of three carbon-nitrogen compounds, tI14-C N , hP126-C N , and tI24-CN , in laser-heated diamond anvil cells, is reported.

Nitric Oxide Induces Autophagy in Roots.

Autophagy is a highly conserved process that degrades damaged macromolecules and organelles. Unlike animals, only scant information is available regarding nitric oxide (NO)-induced autophagy in plants. Such lack of information prompted us to study the roles of the NO donors' nitrate, nitrite, and sodium nitroprusside in this catabolic process in wheat roots.

Creation of a Composite Bioactive Coating with Antibacterial Effect Promising for Bone Implantation.

When creating titanium-containing bone implants, the bioactive coatings that promote their rapid engraftment are important. The engraftment rate of titanium implants with bone tissue depends significantly on the modification of the implant surface. It is achieved by changing either the relief or the chemical composition of the surface layer, as well as a combination of these two factors.

Decellularization of Human Pancreatic Fragments with Pronounced Signs of Structural Changes.

A significant lack of donor organs restricts the opportunity to obtain tissue-specific scaffolds for tissue-engineering technologies. One of the acceptable solutions is the development of decellularization protocols for a human donor pancreas unsuitable for transplantation. A protocol of obtaining a biocompatible tissue-specific scaffold from decellularized fragments with pronounced human pancreas lipomatosis signs with preserved basic fibrillary proteins of a pancreatic tissue extracellular matrix was developed.

Groups of Geomicrobiological Indicators Are Spread across Gas-Hydrate and Non-Gas-Hydrate Areas in the Northern Part of the Sea of Japan.

The bioindication of oil and gas fields is a field of geomicrobiology that is mainly devoted to the detection of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microbial indicator species or functional genes in total DNA. However, it appears promising to use the physiological properties of microorganisms detection deposit type of hydrocarbons, in particular their ability to oxidize hydrocarbons under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In this study, the most promising approach in this area was the method used for assessing the anaerobic degradation of hydrocarbons.

Mdivi-1 Induced Mitochondrial Fusion as a Potential Mechanism to Enhance Stress Tolerance in Wheat.

Mitochondria play a key role in providing energy to cells. These organelles are constantly undergoing dynamic processes of fusion and fission that change in stressful conditions. The role of mitochondrial fusion in wheat root cells was studied using Mdivi-1, an inhibitor of the mitochondrial fragmentation protein Drp1.

Deep Learning-Based Automatic Assessment of Lung Impairment in COVID-19 Pneumonia: Predicting Markers of Hypoxia With Computer Vision.

Background: Hypoxia is a potentially life-threatening condition that can be seen in pneumonia patients.

Objective: We aimed to develop and test an automatic assessment of lung impairment in COVID-19 associated pneumonia with machine learning regression models that predict markers of respiratory and cardiovascular functioning from radiograms and lung CT.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled a total of 605 COVID-19 cases admitted to Al Ain Hospital from 24 February to 1 July 2020 into the study.

Horizontal Transfer of Virulence Factors by Pathogenic Enterobacteria to Marine Saprotrophic Bacteria during Co-Cultivation in Biofilm.

Environmental problems associated with marine pollution and climate warming create favorable conditions for the penetration and survival of pathogenic bacteria in marine ecosystems. These microorganisms have interspecific competitive interactions with marine bacteria. Co-culture, as an important research strategy that mimics the natural environment of bacteria, can activate silent genes or clusters through interspecies interactions.

Chronic Immune Platelet Activation Is Followed by Platelet Refractoriness and Impaired Contractility.

Autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), have a high risk of thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications associated with altered platelet functionality. We studied platelets from the blood of SLE patients and their reactivity. The surface expression of phosphatidylserine, P-selectin, and active integrin αIIbβ3 were measured using flow cytometry before and after platelet stimulation.

Materials synthesis at terapascal static pressures.

Theoretical modelling predicts very unusual structures and properties of materials at extreme pressure and temperature conditions. Hitherto, their synthesis and investigation above 200 gigapascals have been hindered both by the technical complexity of ultrahigh-pressure experiments and by the absence of relevant in situ methods of materials analysis. Here we report on a methodology developed to enable experiments at static compression in the terapascal regime with laser heating.

Geological-Geophysical and Oceanographic Research in the Sea of Japan, Tatar Strait, on Cruise 61 of the R/V .

The paper presents brief results of comprehensive studies of the water area of the Tatar Strait and Sea of Japan obtained on cruise 61 of the R/V "" in November-December 2020. The bottom relief and geophysical and gas-geochemical fields were refined, and new features of the geochemistry and mineralogy of bottom sediments were revealed.

Pathology of lung-specific thrombosis and inflammation in COVID-19.

Background: Infection by SARS-CoV-2 produces significant pulmonary pathology including endothelial damage with resultant thrombotic events. While pathologic features were described, there are limited data on the relationship of these changes to the inflammatory response and the production of thromboses.

Objective: To investigate pathology of COVID-19-related immunothrombosis.

Realization of an Ideal Cairo Tessellation in Nickel Diazenide NiN: High-Pressure Route to Pentagonal 2D Materials.

Most of the studied two-dimensional (2D) materials are based on highly symmetric hexagonal structural motifs. In contrast, lower-symmetry structures may have exciting anisotropic properties leading to various applications in nanoelectronics. In this work we report the synthesis of nickel diazenide NiN which possesses atomic-thick layers comprised of NiN pentagons forming Cairo-type tessellation.

High-Pressure Synthesis of Dirac Materials: Layered van der Waals Bonded BeN_{4} Polymorph.

High-pressure chemistry is known to inspire the creation of unexpected new classes of compounds with exceptional properties. Here, we employ the laser-heated diamond anvil cell technique for synthesis of a Dirac material BeN_{4}. A triclinic phase of beryllium tetranitride tr-BeN_{4} was synthesized from elements at ∼85  GPa.

Revealing the Complex Nature of Bonding in the Binary High-Pressure Compound FeO_{2}.

Extreme pressures and temperatures are known to drastically affect the chemistry of iron oxides, resulting in numerous compounds forming homologous series nFeOmFe_{2}O_{3} and the appearance of FeO_{2}. Here, based on the results of in situ single-crystal x-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and density-functional theory+dynamical mean-field theory calculations, we demonstrate that iron in high-pressure cubic FeO_{2} and isostructural FeO_{2}H_{0.5} is ferric (Fe^{3+}), and oxygen has a formal valence less than 2.

Nanodomain structure of single crystalline nickel oxide.

In this work we present a comprehensive study of the domain structure of a nickel oxide single crystal grown by floating zone melting and suggest a correlation between point defects and the observed domain structure. The properties and structure of domains dictate the dynamics of resistive switching, water splitting and gas sensing, to name but a few. Investigating the correlation between point defects and domain structure can provide a deeper understanding of their formation and structure, which potentially allows one to tailor domain structure and the dynamics of the aforementioned applications.

Stabilization of Polynitrogen Anions in Tantalum-Nitrogen Compounds at High Pressure.

The synthesis of polynitrogen compounds is of great importance due to their potential as high-energy-density materials (HEDM), but because of the intrinsic instability of these compounds, their synthesis and stabilization is a fundamental challenge. Polymeric nitrogen units which may be stabilized in compounds with metals at high pressure are now restricted to non-branched chains with an average N-N bond order of 1.25, limiting their HEDM performances.

Cobalt-Containing Dispersion Catalysts for Three-Phase Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.

Nanosized catalyst dispersions have significant potential for improving hydrocarbon production from carbon monoxide and hydrogen via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, an essential alternative to the use of petroleum as a raw material. New dispersed cobalt catalysts and dispersed-phase cobalt-based catalysts with Pd, AlO, or ZrO additives for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis were synthesized in the present work. A dispersed cobalt phase was prepared in a heavy paraffin medium using and approaches through thermal decomposition of a nitrate precursor at various temperatures.