Crystal structure of bis-(ß-alaninium) tetra-bromidoplumbate.

The title compound, poly[bis-(ß-alaninium) [[di-bromido-plumbate]-di-µ-di-bromido]] {(C2H8NO2)2[PbBr4]} n or (ß-AlaH)2PbBr4, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n. The (PbBr4)2- anion is located on a general position and has a two-dimensional polymeric structure. The Pb center is holodirected. The supra-molecular network is mainly based on O-H⋯Br, N-H⋯Br and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

Crystal structure of hexa-glycinium dodeca-iodo-triplumbate.

The crystal structure of hexa-glycinium tetra-µ-iodido-octa-iodido-triplumbate, (C2H6NO2)6[Pb3I12] or (GlyH)6[Pb3I12], is reported. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic space group P. The [Pb3I12]6- anion is discrete and located around a special position: the central Pb ion located on the inversion center is holodirected, while the other two are hemidirected. The supra-molecular nature is mainly based on C-H⋯I, N-H⋯I, O-H⋯I and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Dimeric cations of type (A +⋯A +) for the amino acid glycine are observed for the first time.

Vaccination with DC-SIGN-Targeting αGC Liposomes Leads to Tumor Control, Irrespective of Suboptimally Activated T-Cells.

Cancer vaccines have emerged as a potent strategy to improve cancer immunity, with or without the combination of checkpoint blockade. In our investigation, liposomal formulations containing synthetic long peptides and α-Galactosylceramide, along with a DC-SIGN-targeting ligand, Lewis Y (LeY), were studied for their anti-tumor potential. The formulated liposomes boosted with anti-CD40 adjuvant demonstrated robust invariant natural killer (iNKT), CD4+, and CD8+ T-cell activation in vivo. The incorporation of LeY facilitated the targeting of antigen-presenting cells expressing DC-SIGN in vitro and in vivo. Surprisingly, mice vaccinated with LeY-modified liposomes exhibited comparable tumor reduction and survival rates to those treated with untargeted counterparts despite a decrease in antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses. These results suggest that impaired induction of antigen-specific CD8+ T-cells via DC-SIGN targeting does not compromise anti-tumor potential, hinting at alternative immune activation routes beyond CD8+ T-cell activation.

Fabrication of high efficiency coronavirus filter using activated carbon nanoparticles.

In this study design and fabrication of coronavirus filter based on the cellulose and carbon nanomaterials have been investigated. Particulate matter (PM) corona virus has attracted a lot of attention due to its great threat to human health. Nanoparticles are intertwined with fibers and form highly porous air filter paper. The structure of the filter has been characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. In addition, by optimization with activated carbon (AC) nanoparticles, the prepared AC air filter paper shows a high removal efficiency of more than 95% for PM 100 nm. More importantly, this filter shows less pressure drop and less thickness. This filter has a positive effect on the prevention of this disease during the coronavirus epidemic and show high absorption efficiency air filter for PM more than 100 nm.

Uptake Kinetics Of Liposomal Formulations of Differing Charge Influences Development of in Vivo Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs) control adaptive immunity and are therefore attractive for in vivo targeting to either induce immune activation or tolerance, depending on disease. Liposomes, nanoparticles comprised of a lipid bi-layer, provide a nanoplatform for loading disease-relevant antigen, adjuvant and DC-targeting molecules simultaneously. However, it is yet not fully understood how liposomal formulations affect uptake by DCs and DC function. Here, we examined monocyte-derived DC (moDC) and skin DC uptake of six different liposomal formulations, together with their DC-modulating effect. Contrary to literature, we show using imaging flow cytometry that anionic or neutral liposomes are taken up more efficiently than cationic liposomes by moDCs, or by skin DCs after intradermal injection. None of the formulations yielded significant modulation of DC function as determined by the upregulation of maturation markers and cytokine production. These results suggest that anionic liposomes would be more suitable as vaccine carriers for a dermal application.

Efficacy of erythritol powder air-polishing in active and supportive periodontal therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to analyse available evidence to answer two focused questions about the efficacy of erythritol powder air-polishing (EPAP) (i) as an adjunctive during active periodontal therapy (APT) and (ii) as an alternative to hand/ultrasonic instrumentation during supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). Additionally, microbiological outcomes and patient's comfort/perceptions were assessed as secondary outcomes. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane and Medline were searched for relevant articles published before February 2021 following PRISMA guidelines. The search was conducted by three independent reviewers, and the agreement was measured by Cohen's kappa score. Out of 1043 articles, eight randomized clinical trials were selected for systematic review and quantitative synthesis. Only periodontal parameters, such as clinical attachment level (CAL), probing pocket depth (PPD) and bleeding on probing (BoP), showed homogeneity and, thus, were selected for meta-analysis. RESULTS: The improvement in PPD and BoP scores after using EPAP was comparable with hand/ultrasonic instrumentation during both APT and SPT. Significant CAL gain was achieved with EPAP during APT (0.16 mm, p < 0.02) compared with hand/ultrasonic instrumentation at the end point, whereas non-significant CAL gain was achieved during SPT. No differences were observed regarding microbiological outcomes between the two treatment modalities. However, EPAP inflicted less pain and was better perceived by the patients. CONCLUSION: Erythritol powder air-polishing can substitute hand/ultrasonic instrumentation for SPT, and CAL gain is significantly improved when EPAP is used as an adjunct during APT. For microbiological outcomes, no significant differences were observed between the two approaches; however, EPAP was better tolerated by the patients than hand/ultrasonic instrumentation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Erythritol powder air-polishing can be used as an adjunct during APT and as an alternative to conventional mechanical debridement during SPT.

Therapeutic Liposomal Vaccines for Dendritic Cell Activation or Tolerance.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are paramount in initiating and guiding immunity towards a state of activation or tolerance. This bidirectional capacity of DCs sets them at the center stage for treatment of cancer and autoimmune or allergic conditions. Accordingly, many clinical studies use ex vivo DC vaccination as a strategy to boost anti-tumor immunity or to suppress immunity by including vitamin D3, NF-κB inhibitors or retinoic acid to create tolerogenic DCs. As harvesting DCs from patients and differentiating these cells in vitro is a costly and cumbersome process, in vivo targeting of DCs has huge potential as nanoparticulate platforms equipped with activating or tolerogenic adjuvants can modulate DCs in their natural environment. There is a rapid expansion of the choices of nanoparticles and activation- or tolerance-promoting adjuvants for a therapeutic vaccine platform. In this review we highlight the most recent nanomedical approaches aimed at inducing immune activation or tolerance via targeting DCs, together with novel fundamental insights into the mechanisms inherent to fostering anti-tumor or tolerogenic immunity.

Effect of Pistacia atlantica subsp. kurdica Gum in Experimental Periodontitis Induced in Wistar Rats by Utilization of Osteoclastogenic Bone Markers.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of local application of essential oil of Pistacia atlantica kurdica (EOK) gel in treatment of experimentally induced periodontitis in rats and its effect on osteoclastogenic bone markers. Twenty-four male Wistar rats of 250 to 350 g were used in this study and were allocated into four groups. Control negative (without induced periodontitis), control positive (induced experimental periodontitis left without treatment), treatment control (induced experimental periodontitis and treated with Chlorhexidine gel) and EOK treated group (induced experimental periodontitis treated with EOK gel). The animals were sacrificed after 30 days, and the mandibular central incisor and surrounding tissue were dissected from the mandible and further processed for preparing H&E slides. Inflammatory cells, osteoclast cells, and periodontal ligament (PDL) were examined and measured histologically. Finally, the mean concentrations of both markers, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL) and (Interleukin-1ß) IL-1ß, were analyzed by ELISA. A significant reduction of inflammatory reaction and osteoclast numbers with improvement of PDL and low mean concentrations of RANKL and IL-1ß were seen in the EOK treated group in comparison to the control group and the chlorhexidine group as well. The extract showed a protective effect in the healing of periodontitis that had been induced in rats and decreased bone resorption by down regulation of serum RANKL and IL-1ß markers.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Oral Fluids Biomarker Profile to Determine the Current and Future Status of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases.

Severe periodontitis is ranked as the sixth most prevalent disease affecting humankind, with an estimated 740 million people affected worldwide. The diagnosis of periodontal diseases mainly relies upon assessment of conventional clinical parameters. However, these parameters reflect past, rather than current, clinical status or future disease progression and, likely, outcome of periodontal treatment. Specific and sensitive biomarkers for periodontal diseases have been examined widely to address these issues and some biomarkers have been translated as point-of-care (PoC) tests. The aim of this review was to provide an update on PoC tests for use in the diagnosis and management of periodontal diseases. Among the PoC tests developed so far, active matrix metalloproteinase-8 has shown promising results in terms of diagnostic and prognostic values. However, further studies are required to increase the sensitivity and specificity via combining more than one biomarker and merging these test kits with periodontal risk assessment tools. Furthermore, the validity of these test kits needs to be investigated by applying the results in further independent studies and the impact on these test kits', together with the results of risk factors for periodontal diseases, such as diabetes and smoking, also needs to be examined.

Cat Swarm Optimization Algorithm: A Survey and Performance Evaluation.

This paper presents an in-depth survey and performance evaluation of cat swarm optimization (CSO) algorithm. CSO is a robust and powerful metaheuristic swarm-based optimization approach that has received very positive feedback since its emergence. It has been tackling many optimization problems, and many variants of it have been introduced. However, the literature lacks a detailed survey or a performance evaluation in this regard. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to review all these works, including its developments and applications, and group them accordingly. In addition, CSO is tested on 23 classical benchmark functions and 10 modern benchmark functions (CEC 2019). The results are then compared against three novel and powerful optimization algorithms, namely, dragonfly algorithm (DA), butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA), and fitness dependent optimizer (FDO). These algorithms are then ranked according to Friedman test, and the results show that CSO ranks first on the whole. Finally, statistical approaches are employed to further confirm the outperformance of CSO algorithm.

The strategy for controlling COVID-19 in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)/Iraq: Identification, epidemiology, transmission, treatment, and recovery.

This study has carried out a mini-review on first wave of COVID-19 infection and its control by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)/Iraq. COVID-19 infection, which was named by the International Committee of Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) as SARS-CoV-2, is a newly identified coronavirus. The last century has seen the outbreak of numerous life-threatening human pathogens including Nipah, Ebola, Zika, Chikungunya, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and more recently a novel coronavirus has been observed. COVID-19 infection has so far spread to more than 186 countries around the world and KRG/Iraq has not been free from this virus. In this survey, the control of COVID-19 infection in KRG as a part of Iraq is discussed in detail. The methods of identification as well as the drugs that are currently in common use to reduce the wide distribution of COVID-19 infection and their effects in countries around the world are considered. So far, 714 positive cases have been reported by the ministry of health in Kurdistan Region Government-Iraq (KRG), among which there have been only 8 deaths, and 420 cases have recovered. Those who died had a previous history of a chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and hypercholesteremia. Alternative medicine based on natural green methods has been widely used by Kurdish people in past years for treatment of strong coughs. In the present study, some natural products which are cost free and effective in enhancing the body's resistance against the virus are considered. A surprising finding is that the patients in KRG have not in general had a severe cough, flu, or fever. The possible explanation may relate to the patients' strong immune systems, since none of them had a history of using alcohol and drugs, or of chronic disease. The epidemiology and transmission of the virus are discussed as well.

Structural Characterization, Antimicrobial Activity, and In Vitro Cytotoxicity Effect of Black Seed Oil.

This study was aimed to investigate the structure of bioactive components of black seed oil (BSO) and their antimicrobial and cytotoxic effects. Initially, the structural examination was conducted using various spectroscopic techniques, such as FTIR, TLC, and UV-visible spectroscopy, which are important in determining substituents, functional groups, and the presence of conjugated double bonds in BSO. From the FTIR spectra, a variety of sharp, strong, and weak peaks were specified relating to the main components of thymoquinone (TQ), dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, and thymol in BSO. The results of UV-visible spectroscopy confirmed the presence of thymoquinone as a major compound, and conjugated double bonds were also found. In addition, qualitative TLC analysis was used to identify thymoquinone from the methanol-extracted layer in BSO, by calculating the retention factor (R f) value. Furthermore, antimicrobial activity of BSO was studied against various types of bacteria. Strong bacterial inhibitory effects were observed, especially against Bacillus subtilis, with an average inhibition zone of 15.74 mm. Moreover, through the use of the MTT assay in vitro, it was shown that BSO does not exhibit any cytotoxicity towards human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). It was also found from the structural characterization of BSO that the existence of TQ is responsible for potential antibacterial activity without any cytotoxic effects. The main observation of this work is that BSO has antimicrobial activity even against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

A vaccine based on recombinant modified Vaccinia Ankara containing the nucleoprotein from Lassa virus protects against disease progression in a guinea pig model.

Lassa fever remains the most imported viral haemorrhagic fever in Europe and is responsible for 5000 deaths per year throughout Western Africa. There is no vaccine and treatment is often ineffective. We have developed a vaccine based on modified Vaccinia Ankara expressing the nucleoprotein from Lassa virus (MVALassaNP). This study investigated the immunogenicity (in mice) and efficacy (in guinea pigs) of the MVALassaNP vaccine as a prime/boost or single vaccination regime. ELISA and ELISpot assays confirmed humoral and T-cell immunity following both a prime and prime/boost vaccination, with the prime/boost regime producing a statistically increased response compared to a prime only vaccine (P < 0.0001). The vaccine offered protection in guinea pigs against disease manifestations after challenge with virulent Lassa virus. Clinical signs, weight loss and temperature increases were observed in all animals receiving a control MVA vaccine, after challenge with Lassa virus. In contrast, no clinical signs, fever or weight loss were observed in any of the MVALassaNP vaccinated animals demonstrating that both a single immunisation, and prime/boost regime confer protection against disease progression. In conclusion, the MVALassaNP vaccine candidate elicits an immune response, demonstrates efficacy against Lassa virus disease and is suitable for further preclinical and clinical development.

L-Argininium phosphite - a new candidate for NLO materials.

In order to investigate the possibility of salt formation in the L-Arg-H3PO3-H2O system, single crystals of L-argininium phosphite, C6H15N4O2(+)·H2PO3(-), were prepared by evaporation of an aqueous solution containing equimolar quantities of L-arginine and phosphorous acid. The asymmetric unit contains one L-argininium(+) cation and one phosphite [HPO2(OH)](-) anion. The phosphite anions form chains parallel to [010] by O-H...O hydrogen bonding, with an O...O distance of 2.630 (3) Å. The protonated amine and guanidyl groups of the L-argininium(+) cations form N-H...O hydrogen bonds with the carboxylate groups and anions. The IR and Raman spectra are discussed in relation to the crystal structure. The salt displays nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. Another salt was obtained from a solution with a 1:2 molar ratio of components, but was characterized by vibrational spectra only.

Diaquaiodidotetrasarcosinepotassium: an overview of sarcosine metal halogenide structures.

The monoclinic crystal structure of tetrasarcosine potassium iodide dihydrate {or catena-poly[[potassium-tetra-µ-sarcosine-κ(4)O:O';κ(4)O:O] iodide dihydrate]}, {[K(C(3)H(7)NO(2))(4)]I·2H(2)O}(n) or Sar(4)·KI·2H(2)O (space group C2/c), comprises two crystallographically different sarcosine molecules and one water molecule on general positions, and one K(+) cation and one I(-) anion located on twofold axes. The irregular eight-coordinated K(+) polyhedra are connected into infinite chains along [001] via sarcosine molecules. This compound is the first sarcosine metal halogenide salt with a 4:1 ratio. A short overview of other sarcosine metal halogenide salts is presented and relationships to similar glycine salts are discussed.

Comment on "Growth and characterization of glycine picrate single crystal" by T. Uma Devi et al. [Spectrochim. Acta A71 (2008) 340-343].

The crystal grown and characterized in the title paper in reality is diglycine picrate.

Metal-free superoxide dismutase-1 and three different amyotrophic lateral sclerosis variants share a similar partially unfolded beta-barrel at physiological temperature.

The structure and unfolding of metal-free (apo) human wild-type SOD1 and three pathogenic variants of SOD1 (A4V, G93R, and H48Q) that cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have been studied with amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange and mass spectrometry. The results indicate that a significant proportion of each of these proteins exists in solution in a conformation in which some strands of the beta-barrel (i.e. beta2) are well protected from exchange at physiological temperature (37 degrees C), whereas other strands (i.e. beta3 and beta4) appear to be unprotected from hydrogen/deuterium exchange. Moreover, the thermal unfolding of these proteins does not result in the uniform incorporation of deuterium throughout the polypeptide but involves the local unfolding of different residues at different temperatures. Some regions of the proteins (i.e. the "Greek key" loop, residues 104-116) unfold at a significantly higher temperature than other regions (i.e. beta3 and beta4, residues 21-53). Together, these results show that human wild-type apo-SOD1 and variants have a partially unfolded beta-barrel at physiological temperature and unfold non-cooperatively.

Detergent-insoluble aggregates associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in transgenic mice contain primarily full-length, unmodified superoxide dismutase-1.

Determining the composition of aggregated superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) species associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), especially with respect to co-aggregated proteins and post-translational modifications, could identify cellular or biochemical factors involved in the formation of these aggregates and explain their apparent neurotoxicity. The results of mass spectrometric and shotgun-proteomic analyses of SOD1-containing aggregates isolated from spinal cords of symptomatic transgenic ALS mice using two different isolation strategies are presented, including 1) resistance to detergent extraction and 2) size exclusion-coupled anti-SOD1 immunoaffinity chromatography. Forty-eight spinal cords from three different ALS-SOD1 mutant mice were analyzed, namely G93A, G37R, and the unnatural double mutant H46R/H48Q. The analysis consistently revealed that the most abundant proteins recovered from aggregate species were full-length unmodified SOD1 polypeptides. Although aggregates from some spinal cord samples contained trace levels of highly abundant proteins, such as vimentin and neurofilament-3, no proteins were consistently found to co-purify with mutant SOD1 in stoichiometric quantities. The results demonstrate that the principal protein in the high molecular mass aggregates whose appearance correlates with symptoms of the disease is the unmodified, full-length SOD1 polypeptide.

Binding of a single zinc ion to one subunit of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase apoprotein substantially influences the structure and stability of the entire homodimeric protein.

The thermodynamics of zinc binding to metal-free (apo) human and bovine copper-zinc superoxide dismutases (SOD1) were measured using isothermal titration calorimetry. The apparent thermodynamics of zinc binding to the apoproteins were favorable (Ka > 108 M-1), with an observed stoichiometry of one zinc per homodimer. The change in heat capacity for the one-zinc binding event was large and negative (approximately -650 cal mol-1 K-1), suggestive of significant structural changes to the protein upon zinc binding. We further characterized the one-zinc derivative by circular dichroism and determined that this derivative had nearly the same secondary structure as the two-zinc derivative and that both are structurally distinct from the metal-free protein. In addition, we monitored the effect of zinc binding on hydrogen-deuterium exchange and accessibility of histidyl residues to modification by diethyl pyrocarbonate and observed that more than 50% protection was afforded by the binding of one zinc in both assays. Differential scanning calorimetry on the human SOD1 zinc derivatives also showed increased thermostability of the protein due to zinc binding. Further, the melting transitions observed for the one-zinc derivative closely resembled those of the two-zinc derivative. Finally, we observed that the quaternary structure of the protein is stabilized upon binding of one and two zinc ions in analytical ultracentrifugation experiments. Combined, these results suggest communication between the two monomers of SOD1 such that the binding of one zinc ion per homodimer has a more profound effect on the homodimeric protein structure than the binding of subsequent metal ions. The relevance of these findings to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is discussed.

Local unfolding in a destabilized, pathogenic variant of superoxide dismutase 1 observed with H/D exchange and mass spectrometry.

Hydrogen exchange monitored by mass spectrometry has been used to study the structural behavior of the pathogenic A4V variant of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in the metal-free (apo) form. Mass spectrometric data revealed that in the disulfide-intact (S-S) form, the A4V variant is destabilized at residues 50-53, in the disulfide subloop of the dimer interface, but many other regions of the A4V protein exhibited hydrogen exchange properties identical to that of the wild type protein. Additionally, mass spectrometry revealed that A4V apoSOD1(S-S) undergoes slow localized unfolding in a large segment of the beta-barrel that included beta3, beta4, and loops II and III. In the disulfide-reduced form, A4V apoSOD1 exchanged like a "random coil" polypeptide at 20 degrees C and began to populate folded states at 4 degrees C. These local and global unfolding events could facilitate intermolecular protein-protein interactions that cause the aggregation or neurotoxicity of A4V SOD1.