Luminescence Thermometry Based on the Upconversion Luminescence from the Stark Sublevels of BaY2F8:Yb3+, Tm3+ Phosphor.

Visible and near-infrared (NIR) upconversion luminescence (UCL) emissions originating from the BaY2F8: Yb3+, Tm3+ systems were investigated under a laser excitation at 980 nm. The BaY2F8:20 mol% Yb3+, x mol% Tm3+ and BaY2F8: y mol% Yb3+, 0.5 mol% Tm3+ phosphors showed prominent UCL at 800 and 810 nm. The optimized doping concentrations of Yb3+ and Tm3+ in the BaY2F8 host matrix were evaluated, their spectroscopic properties were determined, and studies on their temperature-dependent behaviour were carried out. The temperature-sensing properties were studied by generating the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) of the UCL peaks originating from the thermally-coupled energy levels of the Tm3+ ions. The Stark sublevels of 1G4 level of Tm3+ ions were utilized to estimate the temperature-sensing abilities of the phosphor.

Single-cell analyses reveal SARS-CoV-2 interference with intrinsic immune response in the human gut.

Exacerbated pro-inflammatory immune response contributes to COVID-19 pathology. However, despite the mounting evidence about SARS-CoV-2 infecting the human gut, little is known about the antiviral programs triggered in this organ. To address this gap, we performed single-cell transcriptomics of SARS-CoV-2-infected intestinal organoids. We identified a subpopulation of enterocytes as the prime target of SARS-CoV-2 and, interestingly, found the lack of positive correlation between susceptibility to infection and the expression of ACE2. Infected cells activated strong pro-inflammatory programs and produced interferon, while expression of interferon-stimulated genes was limited to bystander cells due to SARS-CoV-2 suppressing the autocrine action of interferon. These findings reveal that SARS-CoV-2 curtails the immune response and highlights the gut as a pro-inflammatory reservoir that should be considered to fully understand SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis.

Upconversion process in BaY2 F8 :Yb3+ ,Ho3+ phosphor for optical thermometry.

A BaY2 F8 :Yb3+ ,Ho3+ phosphor was synthesized using a simple precipitation method. The temperature-sensing properties of BaY2 F8 :Yb3+ ,Ho3+ phosphor were investigated using the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) of the thermally coupled energy levels (5 F4 and 5 S2 ) of Ho3+ . Energy transitions 5 F4 →5 I8 and 5 S2 →5 I8 gave rise to emission peaks at 538 nm and 549 nm, respectively. The areas under these two emission peaks were used to calculate the FIR. Temperature-dependent upconversion luminescence was recorded in the temperature range 303-623 K using a 980 nm laser excitation source. The results suggested that the BaY2 F8 :Yb3+ , Ho3+ phosphor has the potential to be used as a non-contact optical temperature sensor.

Efficacy of cellulose paper treated with Cu and Ag oxide nanoparticles synthesized via pulsed laser ablation in distilled water in the annihilation of bacteria from contaminated water.

In the present work, nanoparticles of copper and silver synthesized via pulsed laser ablation of the respective targets in distilled water are applied to cellulose filter paper to check their effectiveness in the annihilation of bacteria from contaminated water. The treatment of the filter paper with the nanoparticles is found to be an excellent way to get rid of two common bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, from contaminated water. The spread plate method on agar, employed to test the antibacterial efficacy of the nanoparticle-treated papers, clearly shows the absence of bacterial growth upon coming into contact with the nanoparticles in the filter paper. These results were further substantiated by the growth kinetic study of the bacteria that exhibited slow growth of the bacteria that were exposed to the nanoparticles. The morphology of the bacteria that came into contact with the nanoparticles is found to be adversely affected by the nanoparticles. Both copper and silver nanoparticles show a similar extent of antibacterial activity.

Role of confining liquids on the properties of Cu@Cu2O nanoparticles synthesized by pulsed laser ablation and a correlative ablation study of the target surface.

The effect of confining liquid on the properties of copper nanoparticles synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in two organic solvents, methanol and 2-propanol is investigated along with the effect of the laser irradiation time on the synthesized nanoparticles. To understand the role of confining liquids on the formation mechanism of the nanoparticles in different environments, the results obtained in the organic solvents are compared to those obtained in distilled water. The increase in the average size of the nanoparticles from 7-19 nm with the laser irradiation time from 15-60 minutes is accompanied by a shift in the plasmonic peak towards longer wavelength from 606-621 nm, respectively in methanol. In the case of nanoparticles synthesized in 2-propanol, the average size of the nanoparticles increases from 9-17 nm and there is a corresponding shift in the SPR peak from 581-601 nm, respectively. The increase in the size of the nanoparticles with the increase in irradiation time in the organic solvents is the reverse trend of that obtained for nanoparticles synthesized in distilled water. The range of the plasmonic peak positions is blue shifted for the nanoparticles synthesized in methanol and 2-propanol as compared to that of 626-641 nm for the nanoparticles synthesized in distilled water indicating the formation of insufficiently oxidized nanoparticles in organic solvents. Formation of core-shell spherical copper nanoparticles with carbon encapsulation in methanol and 2-propanol is another interesting observation. The origin of the dependence of properties of the synthesized nanoparticles on the ambient liquid lies in the way the laser beam interacts with the target surface in the ambient. A detailed ablation study on the laser produced crater in all the three liquids is carried out to understand the factors that affect the properties of the nanoparticles.

Anomalous kinetic roughening in growth of MoS2 films under pulsed laser deposition.

Growth dynamics of thin films expressed by scaling theory is a useful tool to quantify the statistical properties of the surface morphology of the thin films. To date, the growth mechanism for 2D van der Waals materials has been rarely investigated. In this work, an experimental investigation was carried out to identify the scaling behavior as well as the growth mechanism of 2D MoS2 thin films, grown on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition for different deposition time durations, using atomic force microscopy images. The growth of MoS2 films evolved from layer-by-layer to layer plus island with the increase in deposition time from 20 s to 15 min. The film surface exhibited anisotropic growth dynamics in the vertical and lateral directions where RMS roughness varied with deposition time as w ∼ t ß with the growth exponent ß = 0.85 ± 0.11, while the lateral correlation length ξ was ξ = t 1/z with 1/z = 0.49 ± 0.09. The films showed a local roughness exponent α loc = 0.89 ± 0.01, global roughness exponent α = 1.72 ± 0.14 and spectral roughness exponent α s = 0.85 ± 0.03, suggesting that the growth of MoS2 thin films followed intrinsic anomalous scaling behavior (α s < 1, α loc = α s ≠ α). Shadowing owing to conical incoming particle flux distribution towards the substrate during deposition has been attributed to the anomalous growth mode. The optical properties of the films, extracted from ellipsometric analysis, were also correlated with RMS roughness and cluster size variation which unveiled the important role played by surface roughness and film density.

Induction of ER and mitochondrial stress by the alkylphosphocholine erufosine in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays an essential role in cell function and survival. Accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the lumen of the ER activates the unfolded protein response (UPR), resulting in ER stress and subsequent apoptosis. The alkylphosphocholine erufosine is a known Akt-mTOR inhibitor in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In the present study, we evaluate erufosine's role to induce ER and mitochondrial stress leading to autophagy, apoptosis, and ROS induction. The cellular toxicity of erufosine was determined in two OSCC cell lines and gene expression and enrichment analyses were performed. A positive enrichment of ER stress upon erufosine exposure was observed, which was verified at protein levels for the ER stress sensors and their downstream mediators. Knockdown and pharmacological inhibition of the ER stress sensors PERK and XBP1 revealed their involvement into erufosine's cellular effects, including proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagy induction. Autophagy was confirmed by increased acidic vacuoles and LC3-B levels. Upon erufosine exposure, calcium influx into the cytoplasm of the two OSCC cell lines was seen. Apoptosis was confirmed by nuclear staining, Annexin-V, and immunoblotting of caspases. The induction of mitochondrial stress upon erufosine exposure was predicted by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and shown by erufosine's effect on mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP, and ROS production in OSCC cells. These data show that ER and mitochondrial targeting by erufosine represents a new facet of its mechanism of action as well as a promising new framework in the treatment of head and neck cancers.

Upregulation of cell cycle genes in head and neck cancer patients may be antagonized by erufosine's down regulation of cell cycle processes in OSCC cells.

The TCGA database was analyzed to identify deregulation of cell cycle genes across 24 cancer types and ensuing effects on patient survival. Pan-cancer analysis showed that head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks amongst the top four cancers showing deregulated cell cycle genes. Also, the median gene expression of all CDKs and cyclins in HNSCC patient samples was higher than that of the global gene expression. This was verified by IHC staining of CCND1 from HNSCC patients. When evaluating the quartiles with highest and lowest expression, increased CCND1/CDK6 levels had negative implication on patient survival. In search for a drug, which may antagonize this tumor profile, the potential of the alkylphosphocholine erufosine was evaluated against cell lines of the HNSCC subtype, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using in-vitro and in-vivo assays. Erufosine inhibited growth of OSCC cell lines concentration dependently. Initial microarray findings revealed that cyclins and CDKs were down-regulated concentration dependently upon exposure to erufosine and participated in negative enrichment of cell cycle processes. These findings, indicating a pan-cdk/cyclin inhibition by erufosine, were verified at both, mRNA and protein levels. Erufosine caused a G2/M block and inhibition of colony formation. Significant tumor growth retardation was seen upon treatment with erufosine in a xenograft model. For the decreased cyclin D1 and CDK 4/6 levels found in tumor tissue, these proteins can serve as biomarker for erufosine intervention. The findings demonstrate the potential of erufosine as cell cycle inhibitor in HNSCC treatment, alone or in combination with current therapeutic agents.

Evaluation of reverse phase protein array (RPPA)-based pathway-activation profiling in 84 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines as platform for cancer proteomics and biomarker discovery.

The reverse phase protein array (RPPA) approach was employed for a quantitative analysis of 71 cancer-relevant proteins and phosphoproteins in 84 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and by monitoring the activation state of selected receptor tyrosine kinases, PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK1/2 signaling, cell cycle control, apoptosis, and DNA damage. Additional information on NSCLC cell lines such as that of transcriptomic data, genomic aberrations, and drug sensitivity was analyzed in the context of proteomic data using supervised and non-supervised approaches for data analysis. First, the unsupervised analysis of proteomic data indicated that proteins clustering closely together reflect well-known signaling modules, e.g. PI3K/AKT- and RAS/RAF/ERK-signaling, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. However, mutations of EGFR, ERBB2, RAF, RAS, TP53, and PI3K were found dispersed across different signaling pathway clusters. Merely cell lines with an amplification of EGFR and/or ERBB2 clustered closely together on the proteomic, but not on the transcriptomic level. Secondly, supervised data analysis revealed that sensitivity towards anti-EGFR drugs generally correlated better with high level EGFR phosphorylation than with EGFR abundance itself. High level phosphorylation of RB and high abundance of AURKA were identified as candidates that can potentially predict sensitivity towards the aurora kinase inhibitor VX680. Examples shown demonstrate that the RPPA approach presents a useful platform for targeted proteomics with high potential for biomarker discovery. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Biomarkers: A Proteomic Challenge.

Osteosynthesis and primary valgus intertrochanteric osteotomy in displaced intracapsular fracture neck of femur with osteoporosis in adults.

Fifty-three adults sustaining intracapsular femoral neck fractures (subcapital 38 and transcervical 15) with osteoporosis were treated primarily by osteosynthesis with valgus intertrochanteric osteotomy. Final evaluation was done in 50 patients (1 patient died and 2 lost to follow up, were not considered). Union was achieved in 47 (94%) patients in an average period of 12.2 weeks (range 10-18 weeks) with 100% union at osteotomy site. An axial collapse between 2 and 14 mm was observed in 74% of patients at the fracture site. Average neck shaft angle achieved was 141 degrees . Retroversion of the femoral head was seen in 28% of patients postoperatively, but none demonstrated a further posterior tilt of proximal femoral fragment, thus preventing implant cut through. One of the four patients with avascular necrosis of the femoral head exhibited late segmental collapse between 98 and 171 weeks. Final results were excellent to good in 76% of patients (average hip score 92), fair in 18% (average Harris hip score 73) and poor in 6% (average Harris hip score 30). Deep infection in 2%, superficial infection in 4%, implant penetration into the joint in 4%, limb length discrepancy in 6% and external rotation in 68% were other complications. Primary osteosynthesis with valgus intertrochanteric osteotomy is a dependable procedure to provide stable fixation in fresh fractures of the neck of femur with osteoporosis. The potential benefit of retaining a viable biologic joint justifies the usefulness of this procedure.

An innovative technique to cut and extract loose bent Kuntscher nail.

Removal of a grossly deformed nail can be a serious and perplexing problem. We report an innovative technique to cut and extract a loose bent Kuntscher nail. The technique is simple and effective; can be used in peripheral hospitals where advanced gadgetries may not be present.

Nodular fasciitis of the thumb: a case report.

Nodular fasciitis is an uncommon, benign, reactive fibroblastic soft tissue tumour. It is infrequently seen in the hand. A case of nodular fasciitis involving the thumb of a 34-year-old male is reviewed, and its clinicopathologic features are presented. Main significance lies in clinical and pathological recognition of the lesion to avoid over-treatment.