Human iPSC and CRISPR targeted gene knock-in strategy for studying the somatic TIE2L914F mutation in endothelial cells.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived endothelial cells (iECs) have emerged as a promising tool for studying vascular biology and providing a platform for modelling various vascular diseases, including those with genetic origins. Currently, primary ECs are the main source for disease modelling in this field. However, they are difficult to edit and have a limited lifespan. To study the effects of targeted mutations on an endogenous level, we generated and characterized an iPSC derived model for venous malformations (VMs). CRISPR-Cas9 technology was used to generate a novel human iPSC line with an amino acid substitution L914F in the TIE2 receptor, known to cause VMs. This enabled us to study the differential effects of VM causative mutations in iECs in multiple in vitro models and assess their ability to form vessels in vivo. The analysis of TIE2 expression levels in TIE2L914F iECs showed a significantly lower expression of TIE2 on mRNA and protein level, which has not been observed before due to a lack of models with endogenous edited TIE2L914F and sparse patient data. Interestingly, the TIE2 pathway was still significantly upregulated and TIE2 showed high levels of phosphorylation. TIE2L914F iECs exhibited dysregulated angiogenesis markers and upregulated migration capability, while proliferation was not affected. Under shear stress TIE2L914F iECs showed reduced alignment in the flow direction and a larger cell area than TIE2WT iECs. In summary, we developed a novel TIE2L914F iPSC-derived iEC model and characterized it in multiple in vitro models. The model can be used in future work for drug screening for novel treatments for VMs.

Valorization of Agriculture Residues into Value-Added Products: A Comprehensive Review of Recent Studies.

Global agricultural by-products usually go to waste, especially in developing countries where agricultural products are usually exported as raw products. Such waste streams, once converted to "value-added" products could be an additional source of revenue while simultaneously having positive impacts on the socio-economic well-being of local people. We highlight the utilization of thermochemical techniques to activate and convert agricultural waste streams such as rice and straw husk, coconut fiber, coffee wastes, and okara power wastes commonly found in the world into porous activated carbons and biofuels. Such activated carbons are suitable for various applications in environmental remediation, climate mitigation, energy storage, and conversions such as batteries and supercapacitors, in improving crop productivity and producing useful biofuels.

Efficacy of lengthening right renal veins using accompanying gonadal veins in living donor kidney transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Short harvested right renal veins (RV) are quite common in living donor kidney transplantation (KT). This technical difficulty might interfere implanting and increase warm ischemic time. Several techniques to overcome this problem have been applied, including iliac vein transposition, inverted transplant, synthetic graft, saphenous vein… Application of accompanying gonadal vein (GV), which is easily approachable and less time-consuming, has been recently published. This study aims to evaluate its effectiveness and safety. METHODS: Retrospective study on KT using the gonadal vein to lengthen the short right renal vein at Viet Duc University Hospital from April 2019 to April 2022. The following data were gathered: baseline characteristics, vascular imaging in CT scan/after nephrectomy and after reconstruction (mm), reconstruction and surgical time, hospitalization days. The outcomes were determined by kidney function after transplantation (plasma creatinine, creatinine clearance) and related complications. RESULTS: Twenty-five cases with procured right kidney with short RV from the living donor which were reconstructed and lengthened by the accompanying GV were collected. The additional length of RV was 15.9 ± 2.4 mm. Average cold ischemic time, venoplasty time, warm ischemic time were 60.4 ± 8.2, 21.2 ± 5.3, and 38.1 ± 5.6 min, respectively. The average hospital stay was 15.3 ± 3.2 days. Average follow-up time was 31 ± 5.2 months, creatinine clearance was around 60 ml/min after 1 year, no vascular or urologic complications was observed. CONCLUSION: Accompanying GV from a living donor to lengthen short right RV in KT is a feasible, safe, and effective technique.

Clinical features and outcome of retinoblastoma at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the clinical features, treatment, and outcome of children diagnosed with retinoblastoma (RB) at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital. METHODS: The study enrolled all RB patients newly diagnosed at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and the eye salvage rate. RESULTS: In total, 139 patients were enrolled, 51.8% patients were male. Median age was 18.9 months. Most patients presented with leukocoria (63.3%), followed by strabismus (14.4%), and 43.9% had bilateral disease. Of 200 eyes, 129 (64.5%) were classified as group E. Extraocular extension was noted in 10 of 139 patients (7.2%). About one-third of the patients lived more than 300 kilometers (km) away from these hospitals, and 17.3% of the patients belonged to minority groups, both of which were dominated by group E and extraocular or high-risk eyes at the time of consultation. Primary enucleation was done for 57 eyes (28.5%), and 51 of 61 patients (83.6%) received eye salvage therapy in bilateral RB group. At study closure, 127 children were alive at the last follow-up, 12 cases were confirmed dead. The 5-year OS and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 90.3% and 85.9%, respectively. In particular, ethnic minority, distance to hospital more than 150 km, and extraocular disease were significantly associated with higher mortality among children with RB treated in Vietnam National Cancer Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to support for screening RB with early symptoms in grassroots medical facilities and raise awareness among patients' families through health education programs. Besides, caring and supporting treatment for patients from the ethnic minority and who live far from hospitals are also extremely necessary.

Effective aqueous chromate treatment using triethanolamine anacardate coated magnetic nanoparticles.

Low-cost adsorbents derived from agricultural by-products incorporated magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) are promising for wastewater treatment. They are always preferred due to their great performance and easy separation. This study reports cobalt superparamagnetic (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated with triethanolamine (TEA) based surfactants from cashew nut shell liquid, namely TEA-CoFe2O4, for the removal of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions. To have detailed characteristics of the morphology and structural properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were employed. The fabricated TEA-CoFe2O4 particles exhibit soft and superparamagnetic properties, which make the nanoparticles easily recycled by using a magnet. Chromate adsorption on the TEA-CoFe2O4 nanomaterials reached an optimal efficiency of 84.3% at pH = 3 with the initial adsorbent dose of 10 g/L and chromium (VI) concentration of 40 mg/L. The TEA-CoFe2O4 nanoparticles can maintain the effective adsorption of chromium (VI) ion (by 29% of efficiency loss) and retain the magnetic separation using a magnet up to three cycles of the regeneration, which promise a high potential of this low-cost adsorbent for long-term treatment of heavy metal ions from polluted waters.

Lipidated peptides derived from intracellular loops 2 and 3 of the urotensin II receptor act as biased allosteric ligands.

Over the last decade, the urotensinergic system, composed of one G protein-coupled receptor and two endogenous ligands, has garnered significant attention as a promising new target for the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, this system is associated with various biomarkers of cardiovascular dysfunctions and is involved in changes in cardiac contractility, fibrosis, and hypertrophy contributing, like the angiotensinergic system, to the pathogenesis and progression of heart failure. Significant investment has been made toward the development of clinically relevant UT ligands for therapeutic intervention, but with little or no success to date. This system therefore remains to be therapeutically exploited. Pepducins and other lipidated peptides have been used as both mechanistic probes and potential therapeutics; therefore, pepducins derived from the human urotensin II receptor might represent unique tools to generate signaling bias and study hUT signaling networks. Two hUT-derived pepducins, derived from the second and the third intracellular loop of the receptor (hUT-Pep2 and [Trp1, Leu2]hUT-Pep3, respectively), were synthesized and pharmacologically characterized. Our results demonstrated that hUT-Pep2 and [Trp1, Leu2]hUT-Pep3 acted as biased ago-allosteric modulators, triggered ERK1/2 phosphorylation and, to a lesser extent, IP1 production, and stimulated cell proliferation yet were devoid of contractile activity. Interestingly, both hUT-derived pepducins were able to modulate human urotensin II (hUII)- and urotensin II-related peptide (URP)-mediated contraction albeit to different extents. These new derivatives represent unique tools to reveal the intricacies of hUT signaling and also a novel avenue for the design of allosteric ligands selectively targeting hUT signaling potentially.

Transverse Anderson localization of mid-infrared light in a chalcogenide transversely disordered optical fiber.

We successfully fabricate a transversely disordered optical fiber made of AsSe2 and As2S5 glasses for high-resolution mid-infrared image transport. By using the fabricated fiber, we experimentally observe transverse Anderson localization of mid-infrared light at the wavelength of 3 µm. Moreover, we numerically evaluate the localization in the fiber by using a cross-sectional image of the fiber.

Chalcogenide all-solid hybrid microstructured optical fiber with polarization maintaining properties and its mid-infrared supercontinuum generation.

In this paper, we report a successful fabrication of a highly nonlinear chalcogenide all-solid hybrid microstructured optical fiber with polarization maintaining properties and a mid-infrared SC generation. Up to 4.5 × 10-4 at 10 µm of the fiber birefringence can be realized by employing a single As2Se3 core and two As2S5 rods horizontally aligned in the AsSe2 cladding. The fiber possesses a near-zero and flattened all-normal chromatic dispersion profile over the wavelength range from 5 to 10 µm. The polarization maintaining properties of the fiber is experimentally confirmed and a broadband supercontinuum spectrum from 2 to 10 µm in the mid-infrared window was experimentally demonstrated.

Halides and oxyhalides-based photocatalysts for abatement of organic water contaminants - An overview.

Recently, halides (silver halides, AgX; perosvkite halides, ABX3) and oxyhalides (bismuth oxyhalides, BiOX) based nanomaterials are noticeable photocatalysts in the degradation of organic water pollutants. Therefore, we review the recent reports to explore improvement strategies adopted in AgX, ABX3 and BiOX (X = Cl, Br and I)-based photocatalysts in water pollution remediation. Herein, the photocatalytic degradation performances of each type of these photocatalysts were discussed. Strategies such as tailoring the morphology, crystallographic facet exposure, surface area, band structure, and creation of surface defects to improve photocatalytic activities of pure halides and BiOCl photocatalysts are emphasized. Other strategies like metal ion and/or non-metal doping and construction of composites, adopted in these photocatalysts were also reviewed. Furthermore, the way of production of active radicals by these photocatalysts under ultraviolet/visible light source is highlighted. The deciding factors such as structure of pollutant, light sources and other parameters on the photocatalytic performances of these materials were also explored. Based on this literature survey, the need of further research on AgX, ABX3 and BiOX-based photocatalysts were suggested. This review might be beneficial for researchers who are working in halides and oxyhalides-based photocatalysis for water treatment.

Augmentation Rhinoplasty in Cleft Lip Nasal Deformity Using Alloplastic Material and Autologous Cartilage.

Secondary cleft rhinoplasty typically requires large amounts of cartilage grafts for augmentation. The purpose of this study was to present our short-term experience with alloplastic implants in cleft rhinoplasty. This was a retrospective cohort study of cleft lip and palate patients treated with secondary rhinoplasty at Hanoi Medical University Hospital and Ruby Hospital between 2017 and 2020. All rhinoplasty procedures consisted of lower lateral cartilage repositioning, a dorsal augmentation with silicone implant, columellar strut implant or graft, and onlay tip grafts. Cartilage was obtained from the septum and concha, and no cartilage was harvested from the rib. The study outcomes included the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation (ROE) survey, a modified Mortier scoring scale, 8 intranasal measures of symmetry, and 4 nasofacial measures of tip projection and nasal length. Changes in patient satisfaction and nasal esthetics were compared before and after surgery. A total of 38 patients were included in the final study sample, of whom 65.79% had unilateral clefts. The overall complication rate was 7.89%, and there were 2 cases of infection and 1 case of dorsal implant displacement. Following rhinoplasty, ROE satisfaction scores significantly increased (+39.36, P <0.01) and Mortier severity scores decreased (-3.06, P <0.01). Nostril symmetry nearly normalized in width, height, and inclination. Mean columellar deviation decreased from 8.82 to 2.08 degrees, and nasal projection increased as assessed on multiple analyses. Patients with bilateral clefts had similar improvements in ROE and Mortier scores. In our experience, synthetic implants simplified the correction of cleft nasal deformity and eliminated the need for costal cartilage. We found that our protocol produced acceptable and stable short-term clinical results without increasing the complication rate above what has been reported with autologous grafts.