Total neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer: a network meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for rectal carcinoma in comparison with conventional chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

Methods: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was done using NetMetaXL and WinBUGS.

Dodecapeptide Cathelicidins of Cetartiodactyla: Structure, Mechanism of Antimicrobial Action, and Synergistic Interaction With Other Cathelicidins.

In this study, dodecapeptide cathelicidins were shown to be widespread antimicrobial peptides among the clade. In particular, we investigated the dodecapeptide from the domestic goat , designated as ChDode and its unique ortholog from the sperm whale (PcDode). ChDode contains two cysteine residues, while PcDode consists of two dodecapeptide building blocks and contains four cysteine residues.

Structure Elucidation and Functional Studies of a Novel β-hairpin Antimicrobial Peptide from the Marine Polychaeta .

Endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionary ancient molecular factors of innate immunity that play a key role in host defense. Among the most active and stable under physiological conditions AMPs are the peptides of animal origin that adopt a β-hairpin conformation stabilized by disulfide bridges. In this study, a novel BRICHOS-domain related AMP from the marine polychaeta , named capitellacin, was produced as the recombinant analogue and investigated.

Investigation of effective media applicability for ultrathin multilayer structures.

Multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are highly anisotropic media consisting of alternating metal and dielectric layers with their electromagnetic properties defined by the effective medium approximation (EMA). EMA is generally applied for a large number of subwavelength unit cells or periods of a multilayer HMM. However, in practice, the number of periods is limited.