Study of the TOFPET2c ASIC in time-of-flight detection of x-rays for scatter rejection in medical imaging applications.

Integrating time-of-flight (ToF) measurements in radiography and computed tomography (CT) enables an approach for scatter rejection in imaging systems that eliminates the need for anti-scatter grids, potentially increasing system sensitivity and image quality. However, present hardware dedicated to the time-correlated measurement of X-rays is limited to a small scale and low density. A switch to highly integrated electronics and detectors is needed to progress towards a medium-scale system capable of acquiring images, while offering a timing resolution below 300 ps FWHM to achieve scatter rejection comparable to current grids.

The Chinese translation and cross-cultural adaptation of PRISMA-7 questionnaire: an observational study to establish the accuracy, reliability and validity.

Background: Frailty is a health condition linked to adverse health outcomes and lower life quality. The PRISMA-7, a 7-item questionnaire from the Program on Research for Integrating Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA), is a validated case-finding tool for frailty with good sensitivity and specificity. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the PRISMA-7 questionnaire for Chinese use.

N-Oxides as Control Element for the Direction of a Sigmatropic Rearrangement: Application as a Switch for Fluorescence.

An exceptional level of control over the direction of the (2,3)-sigmatropic rearrangement between N-oxides and alkoxylamine is achieved by simply changing the solvent in which they are dissolved. Protic solvents like water, methanol and hexafluoroisopropanol favour the N-oxide form, while other solvents like acetone, acetonitrile and benzene favour the alkoxylamine. The reaction temperature and nature of the substituents on the alkene affect the rate of rearrangement.

Surfactin and Spo0A-Dependent Antagonism by Strain UD1022 against Phytopathogens.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as the root colonizers spp. may be ideal alternatives to chemical crop treatments. This work sought to extend the application of the broadly active PGPR UD1022 to (alfalfa).

Drug Delivery Systems in the Development of Novel Strategies for Glioblastoma Treatment.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a grade IV glioma considered the most fatal cancer of the central nervous system (CNS), with less than a 5% survival rate after five years. The tumor heterogeneity, the high infiltrative behavior of its cells, and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that limits the access of therapeutic drugs to the brain are the main reasons hampering the current standard treatment efficiency. Following the tumor resection, the infiltrative remaining GBM cells, which are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can further invade the surrounding brain parenchyma.

sRNA Profiler: A User-Focused Interface for Small RNA Mapping and Profiling.

Viroids are circular, highly structured, single-stranded, non-coding RNA pathogens known to infect and cause disease in several plant species. They are known to trigger the host plant's RNA silencing machinery. The detection of viroid-derived small RNAs (vd-sRNA) in viroid-infected host plants opened a new avenue of study in host-viroid pathogenicity.

Efficient numerical modelling of time-domain light propagation in curved 3D absorbing and scattering media with finite differences.

An efficient approach is introduced for modelling light propagation in the time domain in 3D heterogeneous absorbing and scattering media ( biological tissues) with curved boundaries. It relies on the finite difference method (FDM) in conjuction with the Crank-Nicolson method for accurately solving the optical diffusion equation (DE). The strength of the FDM lies in its simplicity and efficiency, since the equations are easy to set up, and accessing neighboring grid points only requires simple memory operations, leading to efficient code execution.

In Vivo Bactericidal Efficacy of GWH1 Antimicrobial Peptide Displayed on Protein Nanoparticles, a Potential Alternative to Antibiotics.

Oligomerization of antimicrobial peptides into nanosized supramolecular complexes produced in biological systems (inclusion bodies and self-assembling nanoparticles) seems an appealing alternative to conventional antibiotics. In this work, the antimicrobial peptide, GWH1, was N-terminally fused to two different scaffold proteins, namely, GFP and IFN-γ for its bacterial production in the form of such recombinant protein complexes. Protein self-assembling as regular soluble protein nanoparticles was achieved in the case of GWH1-GFP, while oligomerization into bacterial inclusion bodies was reached in both constructions.

Erratum: Gascon S.; et al. Characterization and Mathematical Modeling of Alginate/Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles Releasing the Chemokine CXCL12 to Attract Glioblastoma Cells. 2020, , 356.

The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...

Both Human Hematoma Punctured from Pelvic Fractures and Serum Increase Muscle Resident Stem Cells Response to BMP9: A Multivariate Statistical Approach.

Hematoma and skeletal muscles play a crucial role in bone fracture healing. The muscle resident mesenchymal stromal cells (mrSCs) can promote bone formation by differentiating into osteoblasts upon treatment by bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), such as BMP9. However, the influence of hematoma fracture extracts (Hema) on human mrSC (hmrSC) response to BMP9 is still unknown.

Characterization and Mathematical Modeling of Alginate/Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles Releasing the Chemokine CXCL12 to Attract Glioblastoma Cells.

Chitosan (Chit) currently used to prepare nanoparticles (NPs) for brain application can be complexed with negatively charged polymers such as alginate (Alg) to better entrap positively charged molecules such as CXCL12. A sustained CXCL12 gradient created by a delivery system can be used, as a therapeutic approach, to control the migration of cancerous cells infiltrated in peri-tumoral tissues similar to those of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). For this purpose, we prepared Alg/Chit NPs entrapping CXCL12 and characterized them.

Muscle injury-induced hypoxia alters the proliferation and differentiation potentials of muscle resident stromal cells.

Background: Trauma-induced heterotopic ossification (HO) is a complication that develops under three conditions: the presence of an osteogenic progenitor cell, an inducing factor, and a permissive environment. We previously showed that a mouse multipotent Sca1 CD31 Lin muscle resident stromal cell (mrSC) population is involved in the development of HO in the presence of inducing factors, members of the bone morphogenetic protein family. Interestingly, BMP9 unlike BMP2 causes HO only if the muscle is damaged by injection of cardiotoxin.

The effect of substrate bulk stiffness on focal and fibrillar adhesion formation in human abdominal aortic endothelial cells.

Endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction contributes to atherosclerosis, which is associated with arterial stiffening and fibronectin (FN) deposition, by ECs and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The effect of stiffness on the EC/FN interaction and fibrillar adhesion formation has been poorly studied. An in vitro model was prepared that included FN-coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films with similar hydrophobicity and roughness but distinct Young's modulus values, mimicking healthy (1.

A Photorearrangement To Construct the ABDE Tetracyclic Core of Palau'amine.

A synthesis of the ABDE tetracyclic carbon core of palau'amine was achieved in 9 steps from commercial materials. The core's most notable feature, a highly strained trans cyclopenta[ c]pyrrolidine, was obtained in high yield using a ring contraction strategy starting from a much less strained trans bicyclic lactam derivative that is accessible in only 7 steps.

Tomatidine and analog FC04-100 possess bactericidal activities against Listeria, Bacillus and Staphylococcus spp.

Background: Tomatidine (TO) is a plant steroidal alkaloid that possesses an antibacterial activity against the small colony variants (SCVs) of Staphylococcus aureus. We report here the spectrum of activity of TO against other species of the Bacillales and the improved antibacterial activity of a chemically-modified TO derivative (FC04-100) against Listeria monocytogenes and antibiotic multi-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), two notoriously difficult-to-kill microorganisms.

Participation and needs of children with developmental coordination disorder at home and in the community: Perceptions of children and parents.

Background: The existing literature provides only a partial understanding of the viewpoints of elementary school-aged children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) regarding their participation and needs. In order to plan and develop health and social services driven by a personalized approach, it is essential to further document their perceptions with those of their parents.

Aims: The aim of the study was to explore the participation and needs of school-aged children with DCD at home and in the community, as perceived by children and parents.

Comparison of commonly-used microwave radiative transfer models for snow remote sensing.

This paper reviews four commonly-used microwave radiative transfer models that take different electromagnetic approaches to simulate snow brightness temperature (T): the Dense Media Radiative Transfer - Multi-Layer model (DMRT-ML), the Dense Media Radiative Transfer - Quasi-Crystalline Approximation Mie scattering of Sticky spheres (DMRT-QMS), the Helsinki University of Technology n-Layers model (HUT-nlayers) and the Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS). Using the same extensively measured physical snowpack properties, we compared the simulated T at 11, 19 and 37 GHz from these four models. The analysis focuses on the impact of using different types of measured snow microstructure metrics in the simulations.

Dialkoxycarbenes in (4 + 1) Cycloadditions: Application to the Synthesis of Carotol.

Dialkoxycarbenes are more reactive than NHCs and participate in many reactions including a formal (4 + 1) cycloaddition with electron-deficient dienes. We have learned to control the relative stereochemistry of the newly created chiral carbons in this process and now report that, combined with a chiral auxiliary, it has been used successfully in a short and efficient synthesis of the sesquiterpene carotol.

N-Heterocycles from chromium aminocarbenes.

The initial [2 + 2]-cycloadduct between a chromium aminocarbene and a tethered alkene undergoes a β-hydrogen elimination very efficiently when triphenylphosphine is added as a ligand. The reaction gives cyclic enamines or homoenamines depending on the substitution on the alkene.

Controlling for out-of-plane lumbar moments during unidirectional trunk efforts: learning and reliability issues related to trunk muscle activation estimates.

To assess the electromyographic (EMG) activation of trunk muscle during exertions performed in one primary plane (sagittal, frontal, transverse), we previously proposed a protocol allowing minimizing out-of-plane efforts (coupled moments - CMs) with the use of a static dynamometer combined with a visual feedback system. The aims of this study were to go further by testing motor learning and reliability issues related to such a protocol. Three identical sessions were conducted, where maximal voluntary contractions and submaximal ramp contractions were performed in six different directions while standing in the dynamometer.

N-Heteropolycyclic compounds from the formal intramolecular (4 + 1)-cycloaddition of chromium aminocarbenes.

Chromium aminocarbenes tethered to dienes of all three electronic natures undergo an efficient intramolecular (4 + 1)-cycloaddition to give N-heteropolycyclic compounds. Ligands on chromium had a profound effect on the course of the reaction.

Luminescent P-chirogenic copper clusters.

P-chirogenic clusters of the cubanes [Cu4I4L4] (L = chiral phosphine) were prepared from (+)- and (-)-ephedrine with L = (S)- or (R)-(R)(Ph)(i-Pr)P (with R = CH3 (seven steps) or C17H35 (10 steps)) with e.e. up to 96%.

Organometallic oligomers based on bis(arylacetylide)bis(P-chirogenic phosphine)platinum(II) complexes: synthesis and photonic properties.

A series of P-chirogenic oligomers of the type (-C≡C-aryl-C≡C-PtL2-)n [L = (R)- and (S)-P(Ph)(iPr)(C17H35); aryl = 1,4-benzene, 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole] along the corresponding achiral analogues (L = PBu3) and model complexes PhC≡CPtL2C≡CPh were prepared from the ephedrine strategy and were fully characterized [(1)H, (31)P NMR; IR; small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS); gel permeation chromatography (GPC); thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA); circular dichroism, UV-vis, and luminescence spectroscopy; photophysics, and degree of anisotropy measurements]. From the CD measurements, the chiral environment of the phosphine ligands is modestly felt by the aryl moieties. Concurrently, the TGA shows that the P(C17H35)(Ph)(i-Pr)-containing materials are more stable than those containing the shorter chain ligand PBu3, and exhibits red-shifted absorption and emission bands compared to those including the PBu3 ligands.

Induction thermal plasma process modifies the physicochemical properties of materials used for carbon nanotube production, influencing their cytotoxicity.

The effect of radio frequency induction thermal plasma (RFITP) process on the cytotoxicity of materials used for single-walled carbon nanotube production remains unknown. In this study, the influence of RFITP process on physicochemical and cytotoxic properties of commercial Co, Ni, Y₂O₃, Mo catalysts and carbon black was investigated. The cytotoxic assays (MTS, LDH, neutral red, TUNEL) revealed the strongest effect of commercial Co on murine Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts affecting their viability in a dose-dependent manner within 24 h.