A highly selective chromogenic and fluorogenic chemodosimeter for dual detection of Cu based on a redox-active calix[4]arene with isoxazolylchloroanthracene.

Calix[4]arene 1, with two lower-rim isoxazolylchloroanthracene groups, is shown to be not only a chromogenic but also a fluorogenic chemodosimeter for the selective sensing of Cu. The binding properties of ligand 1 and control compounds 2 and 3 toward metal ions in CHCN/CHCl (v/v, 1 : 1) were investigated by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that only ligand 1 was highly selective for Cu ions.

Pathogenicity of Avian Polyomaviruses and Prospect of Vaccine Development.

Polyomaviruses are nonenveloped icosahedral viruses with a double-stranded circular DNA containing approximately 5000 bp and 5-6 open reading frames. In contrast to mammalian polyomaviruses (MPVs), avian polyomaviruses (APVs) exhibit high lethality and multipathogenicity, causing severe infections in birds without oncogenicity. APVs are classified into 10 major species: Adélie penguin polyomavirus, budgerigar fledgling disease virus, butcherbird polyomavirus, canary polyomavirus, cormorant polyomavirus, crow polyomavirus, polyomavirus, finch polyomavirus, goose hemorrhagic polyomavirus, and Hungarian finch polyomavirus under the genus .

Effectiveness of Botulinum Toxin Type A Injection on Scars: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Scars can cause pain, long-term physical dysfunction, and psychological harm. Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is one treatment choice for scars, but further evidence is needed to confirm its efficacy.

Methods: This systematic review included randomized controlled trials that investigated the effectiveness of BoNT-A on scars.

Develop companion radiopharmaceutical YKL40 antibodies as potential theranostic agents for epithelial ovarian cancer.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and has poor prognosis. Theranostic agents are the current trend in drug development, but are lacking in EOC. YKL40 is predominantly expressed and involved in tumorigenesis in EOC.

The effects of estrogen induction therapy on pubertal presentations in turner syndrome patients.

Objective: In this study, we investigated various pubertal presentations and progressions before and after estrogen induction therapy and the correlations with Turner syndrome karyotypes.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients with Turner syndrome diagnosed before the age of 18 years between 2000 and 2019. Sixty-six patients were enrolled and distributed into 45,X monosomy group, X chromosome structural abnormalities group and X mosaicism group.

Au@CuO Core-Shell and Au@CuSe Yolk-Shell Nanocrystals as Promising Photocatalysts in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

In this work, we demonstrated the practical use of Au@CuO core-shell and Au@CuSe yolk-shell nanocrystals as photocatalysts in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and photocatalytic hydrogen (H) production. The samples were prepared by conducting a sequential ion-exchange reaction on a Au@CuO core-shell nanocrystal template. Au@CuO and Au@CuSe displayed enhanced charge separation as the Au core and yolk can attract photoexcited electrons from the CuO and CuSe shells.

Strong energy component is more important than spectral selectivity in modeling responses of midbrain auditory neurons to wide-band environmental sounds.

Modeling central auditory neurons in response to complex sounds not only helps understanding neural processing of speech signals but can also provide insights for biomimetics in neuro-engineering. While modeling responses of midbrain auditory neurons to synthetic tones is rather good, modeling those to environmental sounds is less satisfactory. Environmental sounds typically contain a wide range of frequency components, often with strong and transient energy.

Conformational Changes of α-Crystallin Proteins Induced by Heat Stress.

α-crystallin is a major structural protein in the eye lenses of vertebrates that is composed of two relative subunits, αA and αB crystallin, which function in maintaining lens transparency. As a member of the small heat-shock protein family (sHsp), α-crystallin exhibits chaperone-like activity to prevent the misfolding or aggregation of critical proteins in the lens, which is associated with cataract disease. In this study, high-purity αA and αB crystallin proteins were expressed from and purified by affinity and size-exclusion chromatography.

The Development and Evaluation of a Smartphone-Aided Diagnosis Application to Measure Tympanic Membrane Perforations.

Objectives: Chronic otitis media is a long-term infection of the middle ear. It is characterized by persistent discharge from the middle ear through a perforated tympanic membrane. It is one of the most common causes of preventable hearing loss, especially in developing countries.

Substrate-controlled Rh(III)-catalyzed regiodivergent annulation towards fused and spiro benzimidazoles.

A Rh(III)-catalyzed cascade C-H activation and cyclization of 2-aryl benzimidazoles with maleimides for the synthesis of benzimidazole-fused isoquinolines and benzimidazole-spiro isoindoles is reported. Switchable selectivity towards the formation of these two distinct products can be achieved using unsubstituted and substituted benzimidazoles at the -position of the phenyl ring. Mechanistically, C-H activation followed by migratory insertion of maleimide forms a Heck-type intermediate.

First Measurement of High-Energy Reactor Antineutrinos at Daya Bay.

This Letter reports the first measurement of high-energy reactor antineutrinos at Daya Bay, with nearly 9000 inverse beta decay candidates in the prompt energy region of 8-12 MeV observed over 1958 days of data collection. A multivariate analysis is used to separate 2500 signal events from background statistically. The hypothesis of no reactor antineutrinos with neutrino energy above 10 MeV is rejected with a significance of 6.

Enhancement of fatigue resistance by recrystallization and grain growth to eliminate bonding interfaces in Cu-Cu joints.

Cu-Cu joints have been adopted for ultra-high density of packaging for high-end devices. However, cracks may form and propagate along the bonding interfaces during fatigue tests. In this study, Cu-Cu joints were fabricated at 300 °C by bonding 〈111〉-oriented nanotwinned Cu microbumps with 30 μm in diameter.

Failures of Cu-Cu Joints under Temperature Cycling Tests.

In this study, the failure mechanisms of Cu-Cu joints under thermal cycling were investigated. Two structures of dielectrics (PBO/underfill/PBO and SiO) were employed to seal the joints. Stress gradients induced in the joints with the different dielectrics were simulated using a finite element method (FEM) and correlated with experimental observations.

Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Cell Responses of Aromatic IKVAV Peptide Amphiphiles.

Synthetic bioactive aromatic peptide amphiphiles have been recognized as key elements of emerging biomedical strategies due to their biocompatibility, design flexibility, and functionality. Inspired by natural proteins, we synthesized two supramolecular materials of phenyl-capped Ile-Lys-Val-Ala-Val () and perfluorophenyl-capped Ile-Lys-Val-Ala-Val (). We employed UV-vis absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to examine the driving force in the self-assembly of the newly discovered materials.

Associations of decayed and filled teeth with localized stage II/III periodontitis in young adults: The CHIEF oral health study.

Background/purpose: To investigate the associations between treated and untreated dental caries and periodontitis in young adults.

Materials And Methods: The study enrolled 1289 participants aged 18-45 years in Taiwan. Localized periodontitis was categorized into healthy and stage II/III (n = 936 and n = 353, respectively) based on the 2017 criteria of the World Workshop.

Exploring kinase family inhibitors and their moiety preferences using deep SHapley additive exPlanations.

Background: While it has been known that human protein kinases mediate most signal transductions in cells and their dysfunction can result in inflammatory diseases and cancers, it remains a challenge to find effective kinase inhibitor as drugs for these diseases. One major challenge is the compensatory upregulation of related kinases following some critical kinase inhibition. To circumvent the compensatory effect, it is desirable to have inhibitors that inhibit all the kinases belonging to the same family, instead of targeting only a few kinases.

Amelioration of glucose intolerance through directly acting antiviral agents in chronic hepatitis C cirrhotic patients without overt diabetes.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) eradication through antivirals ameliorates metabolic profiles. The changes in 2-h plasma glucose (2HPG) levels by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who receive directly acting antivirals (DAAs) was elusive. Five hundred and thirty-three CHC patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR, undetectable HCV RNA throughout 3 months after the end-of-treatment) by DAAs were consecutively enrolled.

WNK1 kinase signaling in metastasis and angiogenesis.

With-no-lysine kinases (WNKs) are a novel family of serine/threonine protein kinases participating in ion homeostasis via the WNK-OSR1/SPAK-NKCC cascade. Recent studies of WNK1 have revealed that its related signaling pathways mediated tumor-induced angiogenesis and carcinogenesis and uncovered novel roles of WNK1 in endothelial cell migration and proliferation, tumor cell proliferation, and metastasis. Herein, we review the functions of WNK1 in cancer metastasis and angiogenesis and propose WNK1 targeting as an anti-cancer strategy.

Joint Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Green Tea Consumption with miR-29b and mRNA Expression in the Development of Lung Cancer.

In tumor development, increased expression of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) has been observed. In particular, cigarette smoke and tea polyphenols may influence DNMT3B mRNA expression by regulating microRNA (miR)-29b expression. Herein, we designed a case−control study to evaluate the joint effects of smoking and green tea consumption, with miR-29b and DNMT3B mRNA expression, in lung cancer development.