Light Enhancement of Green Up-Conversion Emission from Er-Doped Silica Microspheres by Carbon Quantum Dot Coatings.

Combination of high quality cavity such as glass microsphere and emitting nano-particle coating layers can create novel strongly emitting devices. Herein, we demonstrate an erbium-doped silica microsphere coated by dual-emission carbon quantum dots, which have the sizes of 3-5 nm, emitting green up-conversion with narrow line-width green light at wavelength of 537 nm. The dual-emission carbon quantum dots fabricated by hydrothermal process and have luminescent emission wavelengths in the range of 410-550 nm.

Sweet Wormwood and Tortoise Shell Decoction (Thanh Hao Miet Giap Thang) Induces DNA Damage, S-Phase Arrest, and Apoptosis in MCF-7 Cells via ATR-CHK1 Signaling Pathway.

Introduction: Sweet wormwood and tortoise shell decoction, Thanh Hao Miet Giap Thang (THMGT) in Vietnamese, a traditional formula composed of five ingredients, is used in complementary care in Vietnam for patients who underwent conventional cancer treatment. To expand the clinical use and explore novel functions of THMGT, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of THMGT in terms of antiproliferative activity and selective cytotoxicity toward human breast cancer cells MCF-7.

Methods: Cytotoxicity of THMGT against human breast cancer cells MCF-7 and primary fibroblasts from a heathy donor were studied using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay.

The emergence of plasmid-borne cfr-mediated linezolid resistant-staphylococci in Vietnam.

Objectives: Linezolid is one of the last resort antibiotics effectively used in the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Recent outbreaks of Linezolid resistance have been the great concern worldwide, while many countries have not experienced it. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the existence of linezolid resistance and further clarify potential resistance mechanism(s) in staphylococcal isolates obtained from the hospital in Vietnam, a country in which linezolid resistance had not been previously detected.

Large deletions in immunoglobulin genes are associated with a sustained absence of DNA Polymerase η.

Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes is a highly mutagenic process that is B cell-specific and occurs during antigen-driven responses leading to antigen specificity and antibody affinity maturation. Mutations at the Ig locus are initiated by Activation-Induced cytidine Deaminase and are equally distributed at G/C and A/T bases. This requires the establishment of error-prone repair pathways involving the activity of several low fidelity DNA polymerases.

Detection of Permethrin pesticide using silver nano-dendrites SERS on optical fibre fabricated by laser-assisted photochemical method.

Permethrin, 3-Phenoxybenzyl (1 RS)-cis,trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)- 2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate, has a wide range of applications like insecticide, insect repellent and prevents mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria in tropical areas. In this work, we develop a prominent monitoring method for the detection of permethrin pesticide using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) optical fibre substrates. The novel SERS-active optical fibre substrates were grown and deposited silver (Ag) nano-dendrites on the end of multi-mode fibre core by laser-assisted photochemical method.

Presence of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Related Gene Mutations and Clinical Manifestations in Vietnamese Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is associated primarily with pathogenic mutations in sarcomeric genes. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and distribution of disease-causing mutations in HCM-associated genes and the genotype-phenotype relationship in Vietnamese patients with HCM.

Methods and results: Genetic testing was performed by next-generation sequencing in 104 unrelated probands for 23 HCM-related genes and in 57 family members for the mutation(s) detected.

Mannitol Role in the Management of Intradialytic Hypotension.

Background, Areas Of Uncertainty: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is one of the most common complications of the hemodialysis procedure. Although there are no clear-cut answers as to the best strategy on the management of IDH, data suggest that the administration of osmotically active drugs may decrease the occurrence of blood pressure decline during dialysis. The use of mannitol for IDH management in hemodialysis patients is scarce.

Determination of low solvent concentration by nano-porous silicon photonic sensors using volatile organic compound method.

A vast majority of the organic solvents used in industry and laboratories are volatile, hazardous and toxic organic compounds, they are considered as a potent problem for human health and a cause of environmental pollution. Although analytical laboratory methods can determine extremely low solvent concentration, the sensing method with low cost and high sensitivity remains a conundrum. This paper presents and compares three methods (volatile organic compound (VOC), liquid drop and saturated vapour pressure) for determination of organic solvents in a liquid environment by using photonic sensor based on nano-porous silicon (pSi) microcavity structures.

Zwitterionic PEG-PC Hydrogels Modulate the Foreign Body Response in a Modulus-Dependent Manner.

Reducing the foreign body response (FBR) to implanted biomaterials will enhance their performance in tissue engineering. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels are increasingly popular for this application due to their low cost, ease of use, and the ability to tune their compliance via molecular weight and cross-linking densities. PEG hydrogels can elicit chronic inflammation in vivo, but recent evidence has suggested that extremely hydrophilic, zwitterionic materials and particles can evade the immune system.

A biomaterial screening approach reveals microenvironmental mechanisms of drug resistance.

Traditional drug screening methods lack features of the tumor microenvironment that contribute to resistance. Most studies examine cell response in a single biomaterial platform in depth, leaving a gap in understanding how extracellular signals such as stiffness, dimensionality, and cell-cell contacts act independently or are integrated within a cell to affect either drug sensitivity or resistance. This is critically important, as adaptive resistance is mediated, at least in part, by the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tumor microenvironment.

V(D)J recombination process and the Pre-B to immature B-cells transition are altered in Fanca mice.

B-lymphocytes in the bone marrow (BM) must generate a functional B-cell receptor and overcome the negative selection induced by reactivity with autoantigens. Two rounds of DNA recombination are required for the production of functional immunoglobulin heavy (Ig-HCs) and light (LCs) chains necessary for the continuation of B-lymphocyte development in the BM. Both rounds depend on the joint action of recombination activating gene-1 (RAG-1) and RAG-2 endonucleases with the DNA non-homologous end-joining pathway.

Smooth Muscle Stiffness Sensitivity is Driven by Soluble and Insoluble ECM Chemistry.

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) invasion into plaques and subsequent proliferation is a major factor in the progression of atherosclerosis. During disease progression, SMCs experience major changes in their microenvironment, such as what integrin-binding sites are exposed, the portfolio of soluble factors available, and the elasticity and modulus of the surrounding vessel wall. We have developed a hydrogel biomaterial platform to examine the combined effect of these changes on SMC phenotype.

Fanca deficiency reduces A/T transitions in somatic hypermutation and alters class switch recombination junctions in mouse B cells.

Fanconi anemia is a rare genetic disorder that can lead to bone marrow failure, congenital abnormalities, and increased risk for leukemia and cancer. Cells with loss-of-function mutations in the FANC pathway are characterized by chromosome fragility, altered mutability, and abnormal regulation of the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. Somatic hypermutation (SHM) and immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch recombination (CSR) enable B cells to produce high-affinity antibodies of various isotypes.

Sorafenib resistance and JNK signaling in carcinoma during extracellular matrix stiffening.

Tumor progression is coincident with mechanochemical changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). We hypothesized that tumor stroma stiffening, alongside a shift in the ECM composition from a basement membrane-like microenvironment toward a dense network of collagen-rich fibers during tumorigenesis, confers resistance to otherwise powerful chemotherapeutics. To test this hypothesis, we created a high-throughput drug screening platform based on our poly(ethylene glycol)-phosphorylcholine (PEG-PC) hydrogel system, and customized it to capture the stiffness and integrin-binding profile of in vivo tumors.

Heparin decamer bridges a growth factor and an oligolysine by different charge-driven interactions.

Full-length heparin is widely used in tissue engineering applications due its multiple protein-binding sites that allow it to retain growth factor affinity while associating with oligopeptide components of the tissue scaffold. However, the extent to which oligopeptide coupling interferes with cognate protein binding is difficult to predict. To investigate such simultaneous interactions, we examined a well-defined ternary system comprised of acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF), tetralysine (K4), with a heparin decamer (dp10) acting as a noncovalent coupler.

PEG-phosphorylcholine hydrogels as tunable and versatile platforms for mechanobiology.

We report here the synthesis of a new class of hydrogels with an extremely wide range of mechanical properties suitable for cell studies. Mechanobiology has emerged as an important field in bioengineering, in part due to the development of synthetic polymer gels and fibrous protein biomaterials to control and quantify how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces in their microenvironment. To address the problem of limited availability of biomaterials, in terms of both mechanical range and optical clarity, we have prepared hydrogels that combine poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and phosphorylcholine (PC) zwitterions.

Biofunctionalization of silicone polymers using poly(amidoamine) dendrimers and a mannose derivative for prolonged interference against pathogen colonization.

Despite numerous preventive strategies on bacterial adhesion, pathogenic biofilm formation remained the major cause of medical device-related infections. Bacterial interference is a promising strategy that uses pre-established biofilms of benign bacteria to serve as live, protective coating against pathogen colonization. However, the application of this strategy to silicone urinary catheters was hampered by low adherence of benign bacteria onto silicone materials.

Elucidation of multifaceted evolutionary processes of microorganisms by comparative genome-based analysis.

The evolution of living organisms occurs via a combination of highly complicated processes that involve modification of various features such as appearance, metabolism and sensing systems. To understand the evolution of life, it is necessary to understand how each biological feature has been optimized in response to new environmental conditions and interrelated with other features through evolution. To accomplish this, we constructed contents-based trees for two-component system (TCS) and metabolic network to determine how the environmental communication mechanism and the intracellular metabolism have evolved, respectively.