Evaluation of the Anticancer and Biological Activities of Istaroxime via Ex Vivo Analyses, Molecular Docking and Conceptual Density Functional Theory Computations.

Cancer is a disease that occurs as a result of abnormal or uncontrolled growth of cells due to DNA damage, among many other causes. Certain cancer treatments aim to increase the excess of DNA breaks to such an extent that they cannot escape from the general mechanism of cell checkpoints, leading to the apoptosis of mutant cells. In this study, one of the Sarco-endoplasmic reticulum CaATPase (SERCA2a) inhibitors, Istaroxime, was investigated.

Gene-Activated Materials in Regenerative Dentistry: Narrative Review of Technology and Study Results.

Treatment of a wide variety of defects in the oral and maxillofacial regions requires the use of innovative approaches to achieve best outcomes. One of the promising directions is the use of gene-activated materials (GAMs) that represent a combination of tissue engineering and gene therapy. This approach implies that biocompatible materials will be enriched with gene-carrying vectors and implanted into the defect site resulting in transfection of the recipient's cells and secretion of encoded therapeutic protein in situ.

Refinement of Animal Experiments: Replacing Traumatic Methods of Laboratory Animal Marking with Non-Invasive Alternatives.

Reliable methods for identifying rodents play an important role in ensuring the success of preclinical studies. However, animal identification remains a trivial laboratory routine that is not often discussed, despite the fact that more than 6 million rodents are used in animal studies each year. Currently, there are extensive regulations in place to ensure adequate anesthesia and to reduce animal suffering during experiments.

Modelling some rod set imperfections of a quadrupole mass filter.

The problem of modeling the mass peak shape of a quadrupole mass filter (QMF) with round rods is considered. A number of factors leading to the degradation of the mass peak shape are studied, namely, displacement of the electrodes with respect to their original position, changes in the diameter of the electrodes, and asymmetry of the supply potentials. Decomposition of the rod set field on multipole fields allows to obtain an analytical representation of the ion motion equations.

Nanoparticles based on MIL-101 metal-organic frameworks as efficient carriers of therapeuticRe radionuclide for nuclear medicine.

Nuclear medicine presents one of the most promising modalities for efficient non-invasive treatment of a variety of cancers, but the application of radionuclides in cancer therapy and diagnostics is severely limited by their nonspecific tissue accumulation and poor biocompatibility. Here, we explore the use of nanosized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as carriers of radionuclides to order to improve their delivery to tumour. To demonstrate the concept, we prepared polymer-coated MIL-101(Cr)-NHMOFs and conjugated them with clinically utilized radionuclideRe.

Interaction of Methylene Blue with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Envelope Revealed by Molecular Modeling.

Methylene blue has multiple antiviral properties against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The ability of methylene blue to inhibit different stages of the virus life cycle, both in light-independent and photodynamic processes, is used in clinical practice. At the same time, the molecular aspects of the interactions of methylene blue with molecular components of coronaviruses are not fully understood.

Novel Antimicrobial Peptide from the Hepatopancreas of the Red King Crab.

Crustaceans have successfully adapted to survive in their natural habitat, rich in microorganisms, due to the presence of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in their organism. They achieve this adaptation despite lacking the highly specific adaptive immune system found in vertebrates. One valuable source of AMPs is the hepatopancreas, a waste product from crab fishery and its processing.

On point perforating defects in bilayer structures.

This article deals with the issue of perforating point defects (pores) in a bilayer heterostructure composed of striped borophene and graphene. Three types of non-equivalent vacancies of the minimum size are considered. These include a single vacancy and two double vacancies.

Impact of Macrophages on the Interaction of Cetuximab-Functionalized Polyelectrolyte Capsules with EGFR-Expressing Cancer Cells.

Polyelectrolyte capsules (PCs) are a promising tool for anticancer drug delivery and tumor targeting. Surface functionalization of PCs with antibodies is widely used for providing their specific interactions with cancer cells. The efficiency of PC-based targeted delivery systems can be affected by the cellular heterogeneity of the tumor, particularly by the presence of tumor-associated macrophages.

Route to Stabilization of Nanotechnetium in an Amorphous Carbon Matrix: Preparative Methods, XAFS Evidence, and Electrochemical Studies.

Technetium-carbon nanophases are obtained by thermal decomposition of pertechnetates with large organic cations under an argon atmosphere. Parallel carbonization of organic cations (hexamethyleneiminium and triphenylguanidinium), which occurs during the thermal decomposition of their pertechnetates, leads to the formation of X-ray amorphous solid products. An X-ray absorption fine structure study revealed that they have a crystal structure containing technetium-carbon bonds with a length of 1.

A Monoblock Light-Scattering Milk Fat Percentage and Somatic Cell Count Sensor for Use in Milking Systems.

A monoblock light-scattering sensor, which is capable of measuring the fat content of milk and indicating the excess by which the somatic cell count (SCC) is over the permissible level, has been developed for installation in dairy systems. In order for the sensor to perform measurements when the milking machine is working in the "milk plug" mode, a flow-through unit is designed in the form of a pipe with a lateral cylindrical branch, in which milk accumulates so as to eliminate large bubbles and achieve continuity of the milk flow. The operation of the sensor is based on the registration of the angular intensity distribution of light scattered in the transparent cylindrical segment of the tube branch.

Verubulin (Azixa) Analogues with Increased Saturation: Synthesis, SAR and Encapsulation in Biocompatible Nanocontainers Based on Ca or Mg Cross-Linked Alginate.

Tubulin-targeting agents attract undiminished attention as promising compounds for the design of anti-cancer drugs. Verubulin is a potent tubulin polymerization inhibitor, binding to colchicine-binding sites. In the present work, a series of verubulin analogues containing a cyclohexane or cycloheptane ring 1,2-annulated with pyrimidine moiety and various substituents in positions 2 and 4 of pyrimidine were obtained and their cytotoxicity towards cancer and non-cancerous cell lines was estimated.

Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the Electronic and Optical Properties of AlGaAs/InGaAs-Based Quantum Well Structures.

The effect of neutron irradiation on the structural, optical, and electronic properties of doped strained heterostructures with AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs and AlGaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells was experimentally studied. Heterostructures with a two-dimensional electron gas of different layer constructions were subjected to neutron irradiation in the reactor channel with the fluence range of 2 × 10 cm ÷ 1.2 × 10 cm.

Modeling of Short-Pulse Laser Interactions with Monolithic and Porous Silicon Targets with an Atomistic-Continuum Approach.

The acquisition of reliable knowledge about the mechanism of short laser pulse interactions with semiconductor materials is an important step for high-tech technologies towards the development of new electronic devices, the functionalization of material surfaces with predesigned optical properties, and the manufacturing of nanorobots (such as nanoparticles) for bio-medical applications. The laser-induced nanostructuring of semiconductors, however, is a complex phenomenon with several interplaying processes occurring on a wide spatial and temporal scale. In this work, we apply the atomistic-continuum approach for modeling the interaction of an fs-laser pulse with a semiconductor target, using monolithic crystalline silicon (c-Si) and porous silicon (Si).

The effects of helium, strontium, and silver triple ions implanted into SiC.

The effects of helium (He), silver (Ag) and strontium (Sr) ions triple implanted into polycrystalline silicon carbide (SiC) were investigated. Ag ions of 360 keV were first implanted into polycrystalline SiC to a fluence of 2 × 10 cm at 600 °C, followed by implantation of Sr ions of 280 keV to a fluence of 2 × 10 cm also at 600 °C (Ag + Sr-SiC). Some of Ag + Sr-SiC samples were then implanted with 17 keV He ions to a fluence of 1 × 10  cm at 350 °C (Ag + Sr + He-SiC).

Photodynamic inactivation of bacteria: Why it is not enough to excite a photosensitizer.

Background: The development of multidrug resistance (MDR) in infectious agents is one of the most serious global problems facing humanity. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT) shows encouraging results in the fight against MDR pathogens, including those in biofilms.

Methods: Photosensitizers (PS), monocationic methylene blue, polycationic and polyanionic derivatives of phthalocyanines, electroneutral and polycationic derivatives of bacteriochlorin were used to study photodynamic inactivation of Gram-positive and Gram-negative planktonic bacteria and biofilms under LED irradiation.

Optical Differentiation of Brain Tumors Based on Raman Spectroscopy and Cluster Analysis Methods.

In the present study, various combinations of dimensionality reduction methods with data clustering methods for the analysis of biopsy samples of intracranial tumors were investigated. Fresh biopsies of intracranial tumors were studied in the Laboratory of Neurosurgical Anatomy and Preservation of Biological Materials of N.N.

Cost-effective device for locating and circumscribing superficial tumors with contrast enhancement and fluorescence quantification.

Background: Two Bispectral contrast enhancement approaches for the fluorescence diagnosis with chlorine-e6 and a wide field-of-view imaging system with fluorescence excitation at 405 nm and time-resolved background suppression were analyzed and compared.

Methods: Two techniques for the contrast enhancement of a fluorescent video system (Red/Green (R/G) ratio and Red-Green (R-G)) with time-resolved background suppression for fluorescent diagnosis (FD) were tested in four patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

Results: The results of both contrast enhancement methods were compared for the diagnostic efficiency for FD of BCC.

Semiempirical Approach to the Fukui Function Analysis of Uric Acid under Different pH Conditions.

Analytic Fukui functions calculated at a first-principles level are combined with experimental p values and the calculation of tautomerization energies to obtain the effective regioselectivity of uric acid toward electron-transfer reactions under different pH conditions. Second-order electron binding energies are also computed to determine which of the tautomers is more likely to participate in the electron transfer. A comparison of vertical and adiabatic proton detachment energies allows us to conclude that tautomerization is not mediating deprotonation and that two monoanionic species are of comparable relevance.

Nanoribbon Biosensor-Based Detection of microRNA Markers of Prostate Cancer.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the major causes of death among elderly men. PC is often diagnosed later in progression due to asymptomatic early stages. Early detection of PC is thus crucial for effective PC treatment.

Search for tri-nucleon decays of Ge in GERDA.

We search for tri-nucleon decays of Ge in the dataset from the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment. Decays that populate excited levels of the daughter nucleus above the threshold for particle emission lead to disintegration and are not considered. The ppp-, ppn-, and pnn-decays lead to Cu, Zn, and Ga nuclei, respectively.