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ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces May 2024Breast cancer is a malignant tumor with a high mortality rate among women. Therefore, it is necessary to develop novel therapies to effectively treat this disease. In...
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor with a high mortality rate among women. Therefore, it is necessary to develop novel therapies to effectively treat this disease. In this study, iron selenide nanorods (FeSe NRs) were designed for use in magnetic hyperthermic, photothermal, and chemodynamic therapy (MHT/PTT/CDT) for breast cancer. To illustrate their efficacy, FeSe NRs were modified with the chemotherapeutic agent methotrexate (MTX). MTX-modified FeSe (FeSe-MTX) exhibited excellent controlled drug release properties. Fe released from FeSe NRs induced the release of OH from HO via a Fenton/Fenton-like reaction, enhancing the efficacy of CDT. Under alternating magnetic field (AMF) stimulation and 808 nm laser irradiation, FeSe-MTX exerted potent hyperthermic and photothermal effects by suppressing tumor growth in a breast cancer nude mouse model. In addition, FeSe NRs can be used for magnetic resonance imaging in vivo by incorporating their superparamagnetic characteristics into a single nanomaterial. Overall, we presented a novel technique for the precise delivery of functional nanosystems to tumors that can enhance the efficacy of breast cancer treatment.
Topics: Methotrexate; Animals; Nanotubes; Mice; Female; Humans; Hyperthermia, Induced; Mice, Nude; Breast Neoplasms; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Photothermal Therapy; Iron; Selenium Compounds; Cell Line, Tumor; Infrared Rays
PubMed: 38739745
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c18450 -
PloS One 2024Global scallop fisheries are economically important but are associated with environmental impacts to seabed communities resulting from the direct physical contact of the...
Global scallop fisheries are economically important but are associated with environmental impacts to seabed communities resulting from the direct physical contact of the fishing gear with the seabed. Gear modifications attempting to reduce this contact must be economically feasible such that the catch numbers for the target species is maintained or increased. This study investigated the outcome of reducing seabed contact on retained catch of scallops and bycatch by the addition of skids to the bottom of the collecting bag of scallop dredges. We used a paired control experimental design to investigate the impact of the gear modification in different habitat types. The modified skid dredge generally caught more marketable scallops per unit area fished compared with the standard dredge (+5%). However, the skid dredge also retained more bycatch (+11%) and more undersize scallops (+16%). The performance of the two dredges was habitat specific which indicates the importance of adjusting management measures in relation to habitat type. To realize the potential environmental benefits associated with the improvement in catchability of this gear modification, further gear modification is required to reduce the catch of undersize scallops and bycatch. Furthermore we advocate that technical gear innovations in scallop dredging need to be part of a comprehensive and effective fisheries management system.
Topics: Pectinidae; Animals; Fisheries; Ecosystem; Conservation of Natural Resources
PubMed: 38739607
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302225 -
Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation Apr 2024The determination of precise exercise intensity is essential for effective exercise rehabilitation. The Borg rating of perceived exertion category ratio (CR) scale is...
The determination of precise exercise intensity is essential for effective exercise rehabilitation. The Borg rating of perceived exertion category ratio (CR) scale is utilized to prescribe an appropriate level of exertion intensity. A Borg CR of approximately 13 coincides with the ventilatory aerobic threshold (VAT). Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) exhibit various symptoms. We hypothesized that the workload at Borg CR13 (Borg CR13-Watt) differs from the workload at the VAT level (VAT-Watt) in AF patients with restored sinus rhythm (SR) following ablation. Accordingly, the relationship between Borg CR13-Watt and VAT-Watt was studied in patients with restored SR. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) was performed at 101±88 days after ablation in 150 patients using a bicycle ergometer. No adverse events were observed during CPET. Borg CR13-Watt was significantly higher than VAT-Watt (67.2±27.8 Watt vs. 54.7±17.6 Watt, <0.0001). Borg CR13-Watt showed significant linear regression with VAT-Watt (regression coefficient, 0.49, <0.01; correlation coefficient, 0.80, <0.01). Higher Borg CR13-Watt was associated with greater differences between Borg CR13-Watt and VAT-Watt (ΔWatt). The Bland-Altman plot showed nonconcordance between the two. Male sex, use of antiarrhythmic drugs, and smoking had contributed to the increased ΔWatt. Duration from ablation to time of CPET did not correlate with ΔWatt. Therefore, Borg CR13-Watt did not coincide with VAT-Watt in patients with restored SR. Higher Borg CR13-Watt was associated with greater ΔWatt. Prescribing exertion intensity as determined solely by perceived exertion is inadequate. CPET is required to determine the precise exercise intensity in AF patients with restored SR after ablation.
PubMed: 38737463
DOI: 10.12965/jer.2448056.028 -
Biophysical Reviews Apr 2024This Commentary describes an open call for submissions to the upcoming Biophysical Reviews' Issue Focus: The 7th Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology (Genova, Italy). The...
This Commentary describes an open call for submissions to the upcoming Biophysical Reviews' Issue Focus: The 7th Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology (Genova, Italy). The submission deadline is August 1st of 2024. Interested parties are requested to make contact with the Issue Focus editors prior to submission.
PubMed: 38737207
DOI: 10.1007/s12551-024-01193-7 -
PNAS Nexus Jan 2024Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the thorax is widely used for the detection and monitoring of pulmonary embolism (PE). However, CT images can contain artifacts due...
Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the thorax is widely used for the detection and monitoring of pulmonary embolism (PE). However, CT images can contain artifacts due to the acquisition or the processes involved in image reconstruction. Radiologists often have to distinguish between such artifacts and actual PEs. We provide a proof of concept in the form of a scalable hypothesis testing method for CT, to enable quantifying uncertainty of possible PEs. In particular, we introduce a Bayesian Framework to quantify the uncertainty of an observed compact structure that can be identified as a PE. We assess the ability of the method to operate under high-noise environments and with insufficient data.
PubMed: 38737009
DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad404 -
Taiwan Journal of Linguistics Jan 2024The acquisition of numeral classifiers and their associated syntactic structures has been documented and studied in a broad range of East and Southeast Asian languages...
The acquisition of numeral classifiers and their associated syntactic structures has been documented and studied in a broad range of East and Southeast Asian languages among typically-developing (TD) young speakers. However, little research has considered how classifiers are acquired by children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The current paper compares and analyzes the development of numeral classifier patterns among a set of Vietnamese speakers, TD and DLD, studied over three years, from kindergarten to second grade. The investigation highlights differences in the performance of children with TD and DLD and describes the areas of classifier use that seem to be most challenging. Children with DLD produced more errors of classifier omission in kindergarten, showed more random alternations in representational forms, and delays in the development of three element classifier structures. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions in the study of classifier use in Vietnamese speakers with DLD.
PubMed: 38736710
DOI: 10.6519/TJL.202401_22(1).0004 -
Current Genetics May 2024The gene products of PRS1-PRS5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are responsible for the production of PRPP (5-phospho-D-ribosyl-α-1-pyrophosphate). However, it has been...
The gene products of PRS1-PRS5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are responsible for the production of PRPP (5-phospho-D-ribosyl-α-1-pyrophosphate). However, it has been demonstrated that they are also involved in the cell wall integrity (CWI) signalling pathway as shown by protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with, for example Slt2, the MAP kinase of the CWI pathway. The following databases: SGD, BioGRID and Hit Predict, which collate PPIs from various research papers, have been scrutinized for evidence of PPIs between Prs1-Prs5 and components of the CWI pathway. The level of certainty in PPIs was verified by interaction scores available in the Hit Predict database revealing that well-documented interactions correspond with higher interaction scores and can be graded as high confidence interactions based on a score > 0.28, an annotation score ≥ 0.5 and a method-based high confidence score level of ≥ 0.485. Each of the Prs1-Prs5 polypeptides shows some degree of interaction with the CWI pathway. However, Prs5 has a vital role in the expression of FKS2 and Rlm1, previously only documented by reporter assay studies. This report emphasizes the importance of investigating interactions using more than one approach since every method has its limitations and the use of different methods, as described herein, provides complementary experimental and statistical data, thereby corroborating PPIs. Since the experimental data described so far are consistent with a link between PRPP synthetase and the CWI pathway, our aim was to demonstrate that these data are also supported by high-throughput bioinformatic analyses promoting our hypothesis that two of the five PRS-encoding genes contain information required for the maintenance of CWI by combining data from our targeted approach with relevant, unbiased data from high-throughput analyses.
Topics: Cell Wall; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; Signal Transduction; Protein Interaction Maps; Protein Interaction Mapping
PubMed: 38733432
DOI: 10.1007/s00294-024-01290-w -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024Label-free measurement and analysis of single bacterial cells are essential for food safety monitoring and microbial disease diagnosis. We report a microwave flow...
Label-free measurement and analysis of single bacterial cells are essential for food safety monitoring and microbial disease diagnosis. We report a microwave flow cytometric sensor with a microstrip sensing device with reduced channel height for bacterial cell measurement. B and K-12 were measured with the sensor at frequencies between 500 MHz and 8 GHz. The results show microwave properties of cells are frequency-dependent. A LightGBM model was developed to classify cell types at a high accuracy of 0.96 at 1 GHz. Thus, the sensor provides a promising label-free method to rapidly detect and differentiate bacterial cells. Nevertheless, the method needs to be further developed by comprehensively measuring different types of cells and demonstrating accurate cell classification with improved machine-learning techniques.
Topics: Microwaves; Flow Cytometry; Escherichia coli; Biosensing Techniques
PubMed: 38732977
DOI: 10.3390/s24092870 -
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Sep 2024Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted significant attention owing to their inherent security, low cost, abundant zinc (Zn) resources and high energy density....
Modulating solvated structure of Zn and inducing surface crystallography by a simple organic molecule with abundant polar functional groups to synergistically stabilize zinc metal anodes for long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted significant attention owing to their inherent security, low cost, abundant zinc (Zn) resources and high energy density. Nevertheless, the growth of zinc dendrites and side reactions on the surface of Zn anodes during repeatedly plating/stripping shorten the cycle life of AZIBs. Herein, a simple organic molecule with abundant polar functional groups, 2,2,2-trifluoroether formate (TF), has been proposed as a high-efficient additive in the ZnSO electrolyte to suppress the growth of Zn dendrites and side reaction during cycling. It is found that TF molecules can infiltrate the solvated sheath layer of the hydrated Zn to reduce the number of highly chemically active HO molecules owing to their strong binding energy with Zn. Simultaneously, TF molecules can preferentially adsorb onto the Zn surface, guiding the uniform deposition of Zn along the crystalline surface of Zn(002). This dual action significantly inhibits the formation of Zn dendrites and side reactions, thus greatly extending the cycling life of the batteries. Accordingly, the Zn//Cu asymmetric cell with 2 % TF exhibits stable cycling for more than 3,800 cycles, achieving an excellent average Columbic efficiency (CE) of 99.81 % at 2 mA cm/1 mAh cm. Meanwhile, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell with 2 % TF demonstrates a superlong cycle life exceeding 3,800 h and 2,400 h at 2 mA cm/1 mAh cm and 5 mA cm/2.5 mAh cm, respectively. Simultaneously, the Zn//VO full cell with 2 % TF possesses high initial capacity (276.8 mAh/g) and capacity retention (72.5 %) at 5 A/g after 500 cycles. This investigation provides new insights into stabilizing Zn metal anodes for AZIBs through the co-regulation of Zn solvated structure and surface crystallography.
PubMed: 38729007
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.014 -
Cyborg and Bionic Systems (Washington,... 2024Continuum manipulators can conform to curvilinear paths and manipulate objects in complex environments, which makes it emerging to be applied in minimally invasive...
Continuum manipulators can conform to curvilinear paths and manipulate objects in complex environments, which makes it emerging to be applied in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, different and controllable operating stiffness of the continuum manipulator is required during different stages of surgery to achieve safe access or stable and precise operation. This work proposes an operating stiffness controller (OSC) for the typical tendon-driven continuum manipulator based on the variable impedance control method with Lagrangian dynamic modeling. This controller can adjust the operating stiffness by modifying the driving forces along the driving tendons of the continuum manipulator without changing its material or structure. The proposed OSC converts the damping and stiffness matrices of the impedance control into variable parameters. This merit allows it to dynamically adjust the operating stiffness of the continuum manipulator according to the desired constant or time-varying stiffness. Furthermore, the OSC stability can be proven based on a Lyapunov function, and its stiffness control performances have been analyzed and evaluated in both simulations and experiments. The OSC controller generated average relevant error values of 7.82% and 3.09% for the operating stiffness control experiments with constant and time-varying desired stiffness, respectively. These experimental results indicate that the OSC has high accuracy, stability, and strong robustness in the operating stiffness control tasks.
PubMed: 38721039
DOI: 10.34133/cbsystems.0110