Assessing the environmental risks of sulfonylurea pollutants: Insights into the risk priority and structure-toxicity relationships.

Sulfonylureas are widely used herbicides globally; however, the health risks associated with exposure to these compounds are poorly understood. This study used fuzzy clustering to categorize 44 sulfonylurea compounds into three risk priority levels (I, II, and III) and further investigated their structure-toxicity relationships. The order of the risk priority levels was level I＜level II＜level III.

Metal Material Processing Using Femtosecond Lasers: Theories, Principles, and Applications.

Metal material processing using femtosecond lasers is a useful technique, and it has been widely employed in many applications including laser microfabrication, laser surgery, and micromachining. The basic mechanisms of metal processing using femtosecond lasers are reviewed in this paper and the characteristics and theory of laser processing are considered. In addition to well-known processes, the recent progress relating to metals processing with femtosecond lasers, including metal material drilling, metal ablation thresholds, micro/nano-surface modification, printed circuit board (PCB) micromachining, and liquid metal (LM) processing using femtosecond lasers, is described in detail.

Exploring the neurotoxicity of chiral dinotefuran towards nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Enantioselective insights into species selectivity.

Dinotefuran is a chiral neonicotinoid that is widely distributed in environmental matrices, but its health risks to different organisms are poorly understood. This study investigated the neurotoxic responses of honeybee/cotton aphid nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) to chiral dinotefuran at the enantiomeric scale and demonstrated the microscopic mechanism of species selectivity in nAChR-mediated enantioselective neurotoxicity. The findings indicated that (S)-dinotefuran had a higher affinity for honeybee nAChR than (R)-dinotefuran whereas both enantiomers exhibited similar bioactivity toward cotton aphid nAChR.

Promotion of nitrogen removal in a denitrification process elevated by zero-valent iron under low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio.

The nitrogen removal efficiency and distribution of microbial community in a denitrification process aided by zero-valent iron (ZVI) under low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) were assessed in this study. Experimental results demonstrated that the nitrogen removal efficiency (TNRE) increased to 96.4 ± 2.

Principles and Applications of Resonance Energy Transfer Involving Noble Metallic Nanoparticles.

Over the past several years, resonance energy transfer involving noble metallic nanoparticles has received considerable attention. The aim of this review is to cover advances in resonance energy transfer, widely exploited in biological structures and dynamics. Due to the presence of surface plasmons, strong surface plasmon resonance absorption and local electric field enhancement are generated near noble metallic nanoparticles, and the resulting energy transfer shows potential applications in microlasers, quantum information storage devices and micro-/nanoprocessing.

Novel BCL-2 Inhibitor Lisaftoclax in Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Other Hematologic Malignancies: First-in-Human Open-Label Trial.

Purpose: This global phase I trial investigated the safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of lisaftoclax (APG-2575), a novel, orally active, potent selective B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) inhibitor, in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (R/R CLL/SLL) and other hematologic malignancies (HMs).

Patients And Methods: Maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended phase II dose were evaluated. Outcome measures were safety and tolerability (primary) and pharmacokinetic variables and antitumor effects (secondary).

Principle and Applications of Multimode Strong Coupling Based on Surface Plasmons.

In the past decade, strong coupling between light and matter has transitioned from a theoretical idea to an experimental reality. This represents a new field of quantum light-matter interaction, which makes the coupling strength comparable to the transition frequencies in the system. In addition, the achievement of multimode strong coupling has led to such applications as quantum information processing, lasers, and quantum sensors.

Cinnamon and Aspirin for Mild Ischemic Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: A Pilot Trial.

Purpose: Cinnamon can reduce levels of blood lipids, blood glucose, and inflammation, which are risk factors for ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA).The goal of this study was to observe the safety and efficacy of aspirin combined with cinnamon in the treatment of patients with mild stroke or TIA.

Methods: This pilot study included patients with mild stroke or TIA treated at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital-Nanhai Hospital between January 2014 and December 2016.

Double Rabi splitting in methylene blue dye-Ag nanocavity.

We demonstrate a double Rabi splitting totaling 348 meV in an Ag nanocavity embedding of methylene blue (MB) dye layer, which is ascribed to the equilibrium state of monomer and dimer coexistence in MB dye. At low dye concentration, the single-mode strong coupling between the monomer exciton in MB dye and the Ag nanocavity is observed. As the dye concentration is increased, three hybridized plexciton states are observed, indicating a double Rabi splitting (178 and 170 meV).

Autologous Endothelial Progenitor Cells Transplantation for Acute Ischemic Stroke: A 4-Year Follow-Up Study.

Transplantation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is a proven safe and effective method for treatment of cerebral ischemia in animal experiments. However, safety and efficacy need to be determined in clinical trials. We performed a two-center, randomized, placebo-controlled phase I/IIa trial with blinded outcome assessment on 18 patients with acute cerebral infarct within the middle cerebral artery territory, and followed for up to 4 years.

[Co(III)(cyclen)Cl2]Cl is selectively cytotoxic to human leukaemia cells.

Co(III)-cyclen complexes are known to cause DNA strand breaks by hydrolytically cleaving the phosphodiester backbone via a mechanism that does not require oxidation. Here, we report the first cytotoxicity study of [Co(III)(cyclen)Cl(2)]Cl (2), the parental example of this class of agent, which reveals that (2) is selectively toxic towards CCRF-CEM (IC(50)=32+/-10 microM), THP-1 (IC(50)=110+/-40 microM), and HL-60 (IC(50)=70+/-35 microM) human leukaemia cells, compared to human skin and lung fibroblasts (IC(50)>10 mM). Investigations of its effect on CCRF-CEM cells show it kills by apoptosis which was characterised by microscopy, flow cytometry, and in vitro NMR experiments.

In vitro assessment of novel transcription inhibitors and topoisomerase poisons in rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines.

Purpose: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Current chemotherapy regimes include the topoisomerase II poison etoposide and the transcription inhibitor actinomycin D. Poor clinical response necessitate identification of new agents to improve patient outcomes.

DNA threading bis(9-aminoacridine-4-carboxamides): effects of piperidine sidechains on DNA binding, cytotoxicity and cell cycle arrest.

We describe the synthesis of a series of DNA-threading bis(9-aminoacridine-4-carboxamides) comprising ethylpiperidino and N-methylpiperidin-4-yl sidechains, joined via neutral flexible alkyl chains, charged flexible polyamine chains and a semi-rigid charged piperazine linker. Their cytotoxicity towards human leukaemic cells gives IC(50) values ranging from 99 to 1100 nM, with the ethylpiperidino series generally being more cytotoxic than the N-methylpiperidin-4-yl series. Measurements with supercoiled DNA indicate that they bisintercalate.

Fast colorimetric detection of copper ions using L-cysteine functionalized gold nanoparticles.

This communication reports an efficient visual detection method of Cu2+ by L-cysteine functionalized gold nanoparticles in aqueous solution. Upon exposure to Cu2+, the gold nanoparticle solution changed from red to blue, in response to surface plasmon absorption of dispersed and aggregated nanoparticles. This colorimetric sensor allows a rapid quantitative assay of Cu2+ down to the concentration range of 10(-5) M.

HPLC analysis of discrete haptoglobin isoform N-linked oligosaccharides following 2D-PAGE isolation.

Glycosylation is a common but variable modification that regulates glycoprotein structure and function. We combined small format 2D-PAGE with HPLC to analyse discrete human haptoglobin isoform N-glycans. Seven major and several minor haptoglobin isoforms were detected by 2D-PAGE.

Could redox-switched binding of a redox-active ligand to a copper(II) centre drive a conformational proton pump gate? A synthetic model study.

A proposal for a redox-linked conformational gate to proton translocation--a proton pump gate--based upon a transition-metal redox-switchable hemilabile ligand (RHL) system is made. Consideration of the requirements for such a system reveals copper(II) to be the ideal metal centre. To test the proposal and, thereby, to provide an artificial proton pump gate, the copper coordination chemistry of three tris(pyridylmethyl)amine (tpa) ligands with one "leg" (PY*) substituted at the 6-position of the pyridine ring by a dimethoxyphenyl (L(1)), a hydroquinone (H(2)L(2)) or a quinone (L(3)) substituent has been investigated.