Chitosan-based nanoarchitectures for siRNA delivery in cancer therapy: A review of pre-clinical and clinical importance.

The gene therapy has been developed into a new cancer treatment option. Now that we know which molecular components contribute to carcinogenesis, we may use gene therapy to target particular signalling pathways in cancer treatment. Problems with gene therapy include genetic tool degradation in blood, off-targeting features, and inadequate tumor site accumulation; new delivery mechanisms are needed to address these issues.

Hyaluronic acid-functionalized MOFs for combined sunitinib and siRNA therapy in renal cell carcinoma.

Sunitinib is a first-line treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but suffers from drug resistance, causing therapy failure. Therefore, nano-scale delivery systems should be introduced for targeted delivery. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are attractive drug carriers that not only enable multidrug combination therapies but also exert photodynamic effects by incorporating photosensitizers as components.

Cladoic Acid, an Anti- Polyketide from sp. TP-F2020.

A new polyketide, cladoic acid, was isolated from a fungus of the genus . The structure of the highly oxygenated -decalin ring with an all- triene side chain was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The unique chair/twist-boat conformation of the -decalin core and the flexibility of the B-ring were demonstrated by computer-aided conformational analysis.

Identification of risk factors for postoperative persistent hypertension in patients with pheochromocytoma.

Background: Surgical resection is the primary management for pheochromocytoma. However, some patients with pheochromocytoma still suffer from hypertension after successful adrenalectomy. The risk factors for postoperative persistent hypertension remain unclear.

Molecular understanding and clinical outcomes of CAR T cell therapy in the treatment of urological tumors.

Chimeric antigen receptor engineered T (CAR T) cell therapy has developed rapidly in recent years, leading to profound developments in oncology, especially for hematologic malignancies. However, given the pressure of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments, antigen escape, and diverse other factors, its application in solid tumors is less developed. Urinary system tumors are relatively common, accounting for approximately 24% of all new cancers in the United States.

Electric-field control of nonvolatile resistance state of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction via magnetoelectric coupling.

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are the core elements of spintronic devices. Now, the mainstream writing operation of MTJs mainly relies on electric current with high energy dissipation, which can be greatly reduced if an electric field is used instead. In this regard, strain-mediated multiferroic heterostructure composed of MTJ and ferroelectrics are promising with the advantages of room temperature and magnetic field-free as already demonstrated by MTJ with in-plane magnetic anisotropy.

Identification and validation of a glycolysis-related taxonomy for improving outcomes in glioma.

Background: Reprogramming of glucose metabolism is a prominent abnormal energy metabolism in glioma. However, the efficacy of treatments targeting glycolysis varies among patients. The present study aimed to classify distinct glycolysis subtypes (GS) of glioma, which may help to improve the therapy response.

Gut microbiota composition alteration analysis and functional categorization in children with growth hormone deficiency.

Objective: To study changes in the composition and functions of the gut microbiota (GM) in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) using high-throughput sequencing.

Methods: Thirty-three children with GHD diagnosed in Longgang District Maternity and Child Health Hospital were included in the disease group and 24 healthy children of the same age comprised the control group. Total DNA was extracted and amplified from stool samples obtained from all subjects.

Bulbiferamide, an Antitrypanosomal Hexapeptide Cyclized via an -Acylindole Linkage from a Marine Obligate .

UV absorption spectroscopy-guided fractionation of the culture extract of a marine obligate bacterium of the genus yielded a novel cyclic hexapeptide, bulbiferamide (). NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analyses revealed the structure of to be a cyclic tetrapeptide appending a ureido-bridged two amino acid unit. Notably, Trp is a junction residue, forming on one hand a very rare -aminoacylated indole linkage for cyclization and on the other hand connecting the ureido-containing tail structure, which is an unprecedented way of configuring peptides.

Experimental demonstration of skyrmionic magnetic tunnel junction at room temperature.

Chiral magnetic skyrmions are topological swirling spin textures that hold promise for future information technology. The electrical nucleation and motion of skyrmions have been experimentally demonstrated in the last decade, while electrical detection compatible with semiconductor processes has not been achieved, and this is considered one of the most crucial gaps regarding the use of skyrmions in real applications. Here, we report the direct observation of nanoscale skyrmions in CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction devices at room temperature.

Krasilnikolides A and B and Detalosylkrasilnikolide A, Cytotoxic 20-Membered Macrolides from the Genus : Assignment of Anomeric Configuration by -Based Configuration Analysis.

A chemical investigation of strain RD003821, belonging to the underexplored actinomycetes genus , led to the discovery of three novel polyketides: two 20-membered glycomacrolides, krasilnikolides A () and B (), and an aglycone of , detalosylkrasilnikolide A (). A major challenge in the structure elucidation of was to determine the anomeric configuration of the α-l-6-deoxytalose (6dTal) unit, which was achieved by -based configuration analysis (JBCA) that incorporated anomeric carbon- and proton-specific two-bond C-H spin-spin coupling constants as diagnostic parameters. The updated criteria for the conformation/configuration assignment facilitated discrimination of three out of four stereochemical variants at the anomeric and the adjacent C2 positions, which expanded the scope of the JBCA method to determination of the anomeric configuration of aldohexopyranoses.

Reversal of the Pinning Direction in the Synthetic Spin Valve with a NiFeCr Seed Layer.

The effect of the seed layers on the magnetic properties of the giant magnetoresistance thin films has received a lot of attention. Here, a synthetic spin valve film stack with a wedge-shaped NiFeCr seed layer is deposited and annealed following a zero-field cooling procedure. The film crystallinity and magnetic properties are studied as a function of the NiFeCr seed layer thickness.

Association between preoperative serum Cystatin-C levels and postsurgical oncological prognosis in patients with PRCC: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Cystatin-C (Cys-C) is a predictor of several malignancies. However, whether Cys-C levels predict prognosis in patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between Cys-C and clinical outcomes in patients with PRCC.

Trehangelin E, a bisacyl trehalose with plant growth promoting activity from a rare actinomycete Polymorphospora sp. RD064483.

Trehangelin E (1), a new bisacyl trehalose, was isolated from the culture extract of an actinomycete Polymorphospora sp. RD064483, along with three known congeners, trehangelins A, B, and D. Compound 1 is a new trehalose derivative acylated with (Z)-2-methyl-2-butenoic acid (angelic acid) at 3- and 6'-positions, as determined by NMR and MS analyses.

Association Between the Pretreatment Albumin-to-Alkaline Phosphatase Ratio and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Bladder Cancer Treated With Radical Cystectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Serum albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR) has been proven to be a prognostic indicator of many malignant tumors. However, whether it can predict the prognosis of bladder cancer (BC) patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) remains unclear. This study was designed to assess the relationship between AAPR and clinical outcomes in patients with BC treated with RC.

Enhanced interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in annealed Pt/Co/MgO structures.

The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI) is attracting great interest for spintronics. An iDMI constant larger than 3 mJ m is expected to minimize the size of skyrmions and to optimize the domain-wall dynamics. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a giant iDMI in Pt/Co/X/MgO ultra-thin film structures with perpendicular magnetization.

Efficient nonparametric belief propagation for pose estimation and manipulation of articulated objects.

Robots working in human environments often encounter a wide range of articulated objects, such as tools, cabinets, and other jointed objects. Such articulated objects can take an infinite number of possible poses, as a point in a potentially high-dimensional continuous space. A robot must perceive this continuous pose to manipulate the object to a desired pose.

Distinguishing Interface Magnetoresistance and Bulk Magnetoresistance through Rectification of Schottky Heterojunctions.

High performance of many spintronic devices strongly depends on the spin-polarized electrical transport, especially the magnetoresistance (MR) in magnetic heterojunctions. However, it has been a great challenge to distinguish the bulk MR and interface MR by transport measurements because the bulk resistance and interface resistance formed a series circuit in magnetic heterojunctions. Here, a unique interface-sensitive rectification MR method is proposed to distinguish the interface MR and bulk MR of nonmagnetic In/GeO /n-Ge and magnetic Co/GeO /n-Ge diode-like heterojunctions.

Sparse appearance learning based automatic coronary sinus segmentation in CTA.

Interventional cardiologists are often challenged by a high degree of variability in the coronary venous anatomy during coronary sinus cannulation and left ventricular epicardial lead placement for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), making it important to have a precise and fully-automatic segmentation solution for detecting the coronary sinus. A few approaches have been proposed for automatic segmentation of tubular structures utilizing various vesselness measurements. Although working well on contrasted coronary arteries, these methods fail in segmenting the coronary sinus that has almost no contrast in computed tomography angiography (CTA) data, making it difficult to distinguish from surrounding tissues.

[Characteristics of spatial variation of soil nutrients in sloping field in a gorge karst region, southwest China].

Based on a grid (20 m x 20 m) sampling, spatial heterogeneity and pattern of soil nutrients in sloping field in the gorge karst region, southwestern China, were explored by using classical statistics and geostatistics methods. The results showed that soil nutrient contents in slope field in the canyon karst region were more abundant, where pH value had a weak variation and the soil organic matter (SOM) had a moderate degree of variation. All the soil nutrients had moderate or strong variation with an order of available phosphorus (AP) > total potassium (TK) > SOM > alkaline nitrogen (AN) > total nitrogen (TN) > total phosphorus (TP) > available potassium (AK).

[Compositional characteristics and roles of soil mineral substances in depressions between hills in karst region].

Based on the investigation and analysis of seven soil mineral substance variables, nine vegetation factors, four topographical factors, and ten soil physicochemical factors in the 200 m x 40 m dynamic monitoring plots in farmland, forest plantation, secondary forest, and primary forest in the depressions between hills in karst region, and by using traditional statistical analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and canonical correlation analysis (CCA), this paper studied the compositional characteristics and roles of soil mineral substances as well as the coupling relationships between the mineral substances and the vegetation, topography, and other soil properties. In the depressions, soil mineral substances were mainly composed of SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, and Fe2O3, whose contents were obviously lower than the mean background values of the soils in the world and in the zonal red soils at the same latitudes. The soil CaO and MgO contents were at medium level, while the soil MnO content was very low.

Direct laser interference ablating nanostructures on organic crystals.

Two-beam interference ablation of 1,4-Bis(4-methylstyryl)benzene organic crystal by short laser pulses (10 ns, 355 nm) is presented. The influence of laser fluence, interference period, and pulse number on the morphology have been studied. The morphology is closely associated with the molecular interactions in the crystals, and it could be well controlled by adjusting the laser fluence and pulses number.