Histidine-capped copper nanoclusters for in situ amplified fluorescence monitoring of doxycycline through inner filter effect.

There is a significant need to accurately measure doxycycline concentrations in view of the adverse effects of an overdose on human health. A fluorescence (FL) detection method was adopted and copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) were synthesized using chemical reduction technology. Based on FL quenching with doxycycline, the prepared CuNCs were used to explore a fluorescent nanoprobe for doxycycline detection. In an optimal sensing environment, this FL nanosensor was sensitive and selective in doxycycline sensing and displayed a linear relationship in the range 0.5-200 µM with a detection limit of 0.092 µΜ. A characterization test demonstrated that CuNCs offered active functional groups for identifying doxycycline using electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonds. Static quenching and the inner filter effect (IFE) resulted in weakness in the FL of His@CuNCs with doxycycline with great efficiency. This suggested nanosensor was revealed to be a functional model for simple and rapid detection of doxycycline in real samples with very pleasing accuracy.

Research and Development of Self-Waterproofing Concrete for Tunnel Lining Structure and Its Impermeability and Crack Resistance Characteristics.

This research paper systematically investigates the combined influence of fly ash, cementitious capillary crystalline waterproofing (CCCW) materials, and polypropylene fibers on the mechanical properties and impermeability of concrete through comprehensive orthogonal tests. Microscopic morphological changes in the concrete induced by different composite materials are examined via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) testing. The objective is to facilitate a beneficial synergetic interaction among these materials to develop highly permeable, crack-resistant concrete. Key findings of this study are: (1) The study unveils the impact of the concentration of three additive materials on the concrete's compressive strength, tensile strength, and penetration height, thereby outlining their significant influence on the mechanical properties and impermeability of the concrete; (2) An integrated scoring method determined the optimal composite dosage of three materials: 15% fly ash, 2% CCCW, and polypropylene fibers at 1.5 kg/m3. This combination increased the concrete's compressive strength by 12.5%, tensile strength by 48.4%, and decreased the average permeability height by 63.6%; (3) The collective introduction of these three materials notably augments the hydration reaction of the cement, resulting in denser concrete microstructure, enhanced bonding between fibers and matrix, and improved concrete strength and durability.

SAPHO Syndrome with Palmoplantar Pustulosis as the First Manifestation Successfully Treated with Adalimumab.

Introduction: Synovitis-acne-pustulosis-hyperostosis-osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome is an acronym for synovitis, pustulosis, acne, hyperostosis, and osteitis, and clinically manifests as dermatological and musculoskeletal damage. Two major manifestations that co-occur in a single patient are rare. Methods/Results: This literature describes a 44-year-old male affected by SAPHO syndrome, whose first manifestation was palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). Symptomatic treatments such as anti-inflammatory and analgesics did not work well for him. Adalimumab provided noteworthy improvement in the neck and thoracic back pain improvement after two weeks. The palmoplantar pustules were alleviated after four weeks. Conclusion: The literature on SAPHO syndrome therapy is increasing. Thus, adalimumab is a novel therapeutic agent. This report demonstrates the efficiency of adalimumab in SAPHO syndrome.

Design of combination therapy for engineered bacterial therapeutics in non-small cell lung cancer.

Synthetic biology enables the engineering of bacteria to safely deliver potent payloads to tumors for effective anti-cancer therapies. However, a central challenge for translation is determining ideal bacterial therapy candidates for specific cancers and integrating them with other drug treatment strategies to maximize efficacy. To address this, we designed a screening and evaluation pipeline for characterization of bacterial therapies in lung cancer models. We screened 10 engineered bacterial toxins across 6 non-small cell lung cancer patient-derived cell lines and identified theta toxin as a promising therapeutic candidate. Using a bacteria-spheroid co-culture system (BSCC), analysis of differentially expressed transcripts and gene set enrichment revealed significant changes in at least 10 signaling pathways with bacteria-producing theta toxin. We assessed combinatorial treatment of small molecule pharmaceutical inhibitors targeting 5 signaling molecules and of 2 chemotherapy drugs along with bacterially-produced theta toxin and showed improved dose-dependent response. This combination strategy was further tested and confirmed, with AKT signaling as an example, in a mouse model of lung cancer. In summary, we developed a pipeline to rapidly characterize bacterial therapies and integrate them with current targeted therapies for lung cancer.

A rare case of condyloma acuminatum caused by HPV73 and HPV33 infection.

Condyloma acuminatum (CA) is a sexually transmitted disease caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, mainly by HPV DNA types 6 and 11. Except for HPV16 and HPV18, CA caused by other intermediate or high-risk subtypes is rare in clinical settings. Here, we report a case that was positive for HPV73 and 33 and negative for other common subtypes. This case highlights that caution should be taken in cases that are negative for common HPV subtypes but have typical clinical manifestations. That the detection of other subtypes and tissue biopsy should not be ignored.

Cryotherapy combined with photodynamic therapy for successful treatment of condyloma acuminatum in special sites such as the nipple and the nasal vestibule: A series of two case reports.

Condyloma acuminatum is a benign tumor principally resulting from a human papillomavirus type 6 or 11 infection. The lesions mostly damage the genital and perianal squamous epithelium and skin but occasionally emerge outside the perianal and genital regions. We studied the cases of a 29-year-old man with left nasal vestibule vegetation and a 22-year-old woman with left nipple vegetation. Each was diagnosed with condyloma acuminatum by histopathological examination and a human papillomavirus DNA test. The two patients received cryotherapy combined with 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy and experienced no relapses during follow-up. These results suggest that physicians cannot ignore condyloma acuminatum outside the perianal and genital regions during diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, cryotherapy combined with 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy is not only safe and effective for the treatment of condyloma acuminatum in special sites, but it is also less destructive to the affected regions. Thus, cryotherapy combined with 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy may have more advantages than traditional therapy in the treatment of condyloma acuminatum in special sites.

A new option for the treatment of condyloma acuminatum in the male urethra: Multimodal ultrasound image-guided scraping and photodynamic therapy (USP).

OBJECTIVES: Condyloma acuminatum (CA) is a sexually transmitted disease with a high recurrence rate due to the rapid replication of human papillomavirus (HPV) and its subtle immune escape mechanism, which makes the diagnosis and treatment of CA in the male urethra particularly difficult. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of comprehensive treatments for male urethral CA after accurate localization of warts under ultrasound guidance. METHODS: The study included 15 men with intraurethral CA. Before treatment, the urethra was examined by ultrasonography and HPV-PCR. After examination of the invisible urethral warts, wart curettage (penetrating operation with a special stainless steel medical curettage tool) combined with ALA-PDT was used for treatment. The ultrasound and HPV load were reviewed 1 week after treatment, and again at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. RESULTS: All patients achieved satisfactory results 1 week after the last treatment. The viral load of human papilloma was significantly reduced or turned negative, ultrasound imaging exploration showed no neoplasm in the urethra, and no obvious intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. The side effects in patients included a mild burning or tingling sensation confined to the treated area. After a 6 month follow-up period, only 2 patient relapsed. CONCLUSION: The combined diagnosis and treatment of CA in the male urethra under the guidance of multi-mode ultrasound imaging is an effective, economical, safe, and well-tolerated treatment method.

Local Chiral Inversion of Thymine Dimers by Manipulating Single Water Molecules.

Water, as one of the most important and indispensable small molecules in vivo, plays a crucial role in driving biological self-assembly processes. Real-space detection and identification of water-induced organic structures and further capture of dynamic dehydration processes are important yet challenging, which would help to reveal the cooperation and competition mechanisms among water-involved noncovalent interactions. Herein, introduction of water molecules onto the self-assembled thymine (T) structures under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions results in the hydration of hydrogen-bonded T dimers forming a well-ordered water-involved T structure. Reversibly, a local dehydration process is achieved by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) manipulation on single water molecules, where the adjacent T dimers connected with water molecules undergo a local chiral inversion process with the hydrogen-bonding configuration preserved. Such a strategy enables real-space identification and detection of the interactions between water and organic molecules, which may also shed light on the understanding of biologically relevant self-assembly processes driven by water.

Formation of Unconventional Stoichiometric Na-Cl Magic-Number Nanoclusters and 2D Assembly on Ir(111).

Sodium chlorides in non-1:1 stoichiometry are counterintuitive but recently their existence has been found under the high pressure condition or in the confined space between graphene sheets. Here the direct observation of the formation of Na3 Cl nanoclusters, a stable magic-number structure, is reported on an Ir(111) surface using scanning tunneling microscopy and noncontact atomic force microscopy. The stability of Na3 Cl nanoclusters in the free and adsorbed state is corroborated by density functional theory calculations. It is also found that a density of nanoclusters together with Cl adatoms may further aggregate and self-assemble into a Na3 Cl4 monolayer, forming a novel metastable phase of NaCl(111) with a honeycomb lattice. Further calculations suggest that charge transfer between the polar nanoclusters and the metal substrate stabilizes NaCl of non-1:1 stoichiometry. The work exhibits the possibility of exploring unconventional ionic crystals on the surface with atomically precise control of structure and composition.

A Case of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated with HPV58 Infection.

We report the case of a 55-year-old man with penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We found a mass in the patient's penis, which gradually increased in size. We performed a partial penectomy to remove the mass. Histopathology revealed a highly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction. HPV was found to be present in the squamous cell carcinoma, and sequencing analysis showed that it was type 58.

Water-Induced Chiral Separation on a Au(111) Surface.

Facing the scientific question of the origin of chirality in life, water is considered to play a crucial role in driving many biologically relevant processes in vivo. Water has been demonstrated in vitro to be related to chiral generation, amplification, and inversion, while the underlying mechanism is still not fully understood. Real-space evidence at the single-molecule level is thus urgently required to understand the role of water molecules in biomolecular chirality related issues. Herein, we choose one of the RNA bases, the biomolecule uracil (U), which self-assembles into racemic hydrogen-bonded structures. Upon water exposure, surprisingly, racemic structures could be transformed to homochiral water-involved structures, resulting in an unexpected chiral separation on the surface. The origin of chiral separation is due to preferential binding between water and the specific site of U molecules, which leads to the formation of the energetically most favorable homochiral (U-H2O-U)2 cluster as seed for subsequent chiral amplification. Such a water-driven self-assembly process may also be extended to other biologically relevant systems such as amino acids and sugars, which would provide general insights into the role that water molecules may play in the origin of homochirality in vivo.

Effect of Naphthalene-Based Superplasticizer and Polycarboxylic Acid Superplasticizer on the Properties of Sulfoaluminate Cement.

In order to study what the effect of superplasticizers on the setting time, fluidity and compressive strength of calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSA) a naphthalene-based superplasticizer (BNS) and a polycarboxylic acid superplasticizer (PC) were selected to interact with CSA pastes and ye'elimite, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analytical methods were used to investigate the class, amount and microstructure of the CSA pastes and ye'elimite pastes hydration products under the effect of the superplasticizers. The results showed that the addition of BNS can promote ettringite generation and thus improve the early compressive strength. As the addition of BNS increased from 0.8 wt% to 2.0 wt%, the initial setting time was prolonged 10 min, the final setting time was prolonged 7 min, the 5 min fluidity was improved from no fluidity to 220 mm. However, as the addition of PC increased from 0.08 wt% to 0.20 wt%, the setting time of the PC just changed within 3 min; the 5 min fluidity increased from 110 mm to 195 mm and no 15 min fluidity at all was observed. AS seen by SEM, it can be stated that generated ettringite under the addition of PC was layered and lacking bonding, and its morphology changed from rod-like to flake-like, leading to a decrease in early compressive strength.

RT-qPCR with chimeric dU stem-loop primer is efficient for the detection of bacterial small RNAs.

Small non-coding RNAs are considered be involved in the regulation of multiple cellular processes. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is widely used in the detection of eukaryotic microRNA, and the stem-loop primers can improve the specificity and efficiency of reverse transcription. However, the loop structure of primers probably influence the next quantitative amplification due to the base stacking and steric hindrance. Here, we designed a chimeric stem-loop primer with a deoxyuracil (dU) base located near the RNA matching part. After the reverse transcription, uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) treatment was used to remove the dU base and destroy the stem-loop structure of RT product. Enzymatic assay confirmed that the recombinant UDG could efficiently eliminate the dU base in the oligonucleotide. Transcriptions of two small RNAs (TFF and ryeA) in Escherichia coli were detected by RT-qPCR with different primers. Results showed that the use of the chimeric dU stem-loop primer and UDG treatment could enhance the detection specificity and sensitivity about 1.1- to 3.4-fold, compared to those with traditional stem-loop primer and linear primer. Total RNA of 1-10 pg was enough for efficient detection with the chimeric stem-loop primers. In a word, this strategy could promote the RT-qPCR detection efficiency on the transcription of bacterial small RNAs even in trace samples and can facilitate the detection of exiguous change in cellular metabolism.