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Pathol Int 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Department of Urology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

The development of systemic therapies, including vascular endothelial growth factor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGF-TKI) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, represents a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, inherent resistance is observed in some patients and acquired resistance commonly develops in many patients within several months of the initiation of systemic therapies. Since these treatments rarely cure patients, their aim is to suppress tumor progression and prolong survival. Read More

Evol Anthropol 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Mortuary behavior (activities concerning dead conspecifics) is one of many traits that were previously widely considered to have been uniquely human, but on which perspectives have changed markedly in recent years. Theoretical approaches to hominin mortuary activity and its evolution have undergone major revision, and advances in diverse archeological and paleoanthropological methods have brought new ways of identifying behaviors such as intentional burial. Despite these advances, debates concerning the nature of hominin mortuary activity, particularly among the Neanderthals, rely heavily on the rereading of old excavations as new finds are relatively rare, limiting the extent to which such debates can benefit from advances in the field. Read More

Pharmacotherapy 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Services, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Annually, approximately 50,000 patients undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) worldwide with almost 22,000 of these patients receiving HCT in the United States. HCT is a curative option for a wide range of hematologic malignancies and advances in transplantation medicine have resulted in an increase in HCT survivors. It is anticipated that the number of HCT survivors will more than double from 242,000 in 2020 to approximately 500,000 in 2030. Read More

Curr Opin Microbiol 2020 Jul 8;56:38-44. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. Electronic address:

Once overlooked as passive bystanders of the human intestinal microbiota, new evidence is shedding light on the importance of enterococci and their bacteriophages (phages) in shaping human health. Natural predators of enterococci, phages represent a narrow spectrum, precision targeting modality for the eradication of problematic enterococci within the microbiota or infected tissue. The identification of enterococcal phage receptors, absorption factors, and transcriptional responses following phage infection reveals a complex predator-prey relationship that modulates enterococcal cell surface architecture, susceptibility to antibiotics, and adaptation to host associated environments. Read More

Eur J Med Chem 2020 May 31;201:112473. Epub 2020 May 31.

Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Kenneth Li Marine Biopharmaceutical Research Center, Department of Marine Pharmacy, College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315832, China. Electronic address:

Cyanobacteria are one of the oldest creatures on earth, originated 3.5-3.3 billion years ago, and are distributed all over the world, including freshwater ponds and lakes, hot springs, and polar ice, especially in tropical and subtropical marine locations. Read More

Drug Discov Today 2020 Jul 8. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 800 East Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23298, USA. Electronic address:

Mounting evidence indicates that single-target drugs might be inadequate to achieve satisfactory therapeutic effects on complex diseases. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to developing drugs that can manipulate multiple targets to generate beneficial effects through potential synergy. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) become desirable targets for developing multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) because of their crucial roles in the pathophysiology of various human diseases and the accessibility of druggable sites at the cell surface. Read More

J Neurosci Methods 2020 Jul 8:108857. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA; Departments of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Pharmacology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA. Electronic address:

Animal models have significantly contributed to the understanding of reward-related behaviors, such as in Substance Use Disorder research. One of the most heavily utilized paradigms to date is conditioned place preference (CPP). However CPP is limited by non-contingent exposure. Read More

J Control Release 2020 Jul 8. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address:

In the past decades, nanosized drug delivery systems based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymers (pHPMA) have gained increasing attention in nanomedicine field due to their hydrophilicity, versatility, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and non-immunogenicity. Indeed, pHPMA nanosystems with various controlled drug release capabilities inside targeted tissues or cells have been intensively studied. This paper summarizes recent advances in the design and application of pHPMA conjugates with specific antibodies or their fragments, focusing predominantly on the systems for the cancer therapy, particularly, the mechanisms of action of therapeutic antibodies, the approaches of their modification and subsequent attachment of pHPMA and their conjugates with diverse active moieties. Read More

Presse Med 2020 Jul 8:104036. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Referral Center for Rare Systemic and Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France. Electronic address:

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA, formerly Churg-Strauss syndrome) is the least frequent antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). Major advances of our knowledge on its pathophysiology have revealed features of both AAV and eosinophilic disorders. The development of targeted biotherapies for both diseases opened new possibilities for EGPA management. Read More

Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2020 Jul 8:172995. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Cell Host Microbe 2020 Jul 9. Epub 2020 Jul 9.

Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba and Developmental Origins of Chronic Diseases in Children Network (DEVOTION), Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Electronic address:

Gut microbiota play a critical role in infant health. It is now accepted that breastmilk contains live bacteria from endogenous and exogenous sources, but it remains unclear whether these bacteria transfer to the infant gut and whether this process is influenced by breastmilk feeding practices. Here, we show that certain bacteria, including Streptococcus spp. Read More

Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr 2020 Jul 8:183408. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume 830-0011, Japan.

Vesicular nucleotide transporter (VNUT) is the last identified member of the SLC17 organic anion transporter family, which plays a central role in vesicular storage in ATP-secreting cells. The discovery of VNUT demonstrated that, despite having been neglected for a long time, vesicular ATP release represents a major pathway for purinergic chemical transmission, which had been mainly attributed to ATP permeation channels. This article summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism of VNUT and its physiopathological roles as well as the development of inhibitors. Read More

Plant Cell Physiol 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Science, Palacký University, CZ-783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic and Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.

Gibberellins are produced by all vascular plants as well as several fungal and bacterial species that associate with plants as pathogens or symbionts. In the 60 years since the first experiments on the biosynthesis of gibberellic acid in the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi, research on gibberellin biosynthesis has advanced to provide detailed information on the pathways, biosynthetic enzymes and their genes in all three kingdoms, in which the production of the hormones evolved independently. Gibberellins function as hormones in plants, affecting growth and differentiation in organs in which their concentration is very tightly regulated. Read More

Integr Comp Biol 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL.

Teeth lie at the interface between an animal and its environment and, with some exceptions, act as a major component of resource procurement through food acquisition and processing. Therefore, the shape of a tooth is closely tied to the type of food being eaten. This tight relationship is of use to biologists describing the natural history of species and given the high instance of tooth preservation in the fossil record, is especially useful for paleontologists. Read More

J Mol Cell Biol 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.

Recent advances in development of protocols for directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to defined lineages, in combination with three-dimensional (3D) organoid technology, have facilitated the generation of various endoderm-derived organoids for in vitro modeling of human gastrointestinal development and associated diseases. In this review, we discuss current state-of-the-art strategies for generating hPSC-derived endodermal organoids including stomach, liver, pancreatic, small intestine, and colonic organoids. We also review the advantages of using this system to model various human diseases and evaluate the shortcomings of this technology. Read More

Aesthet Surg J 2020 Jul 11. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Background: Capsular contracture is a challenging problem for plastic surgeons despite advances in surgical technique. Breast pocket irrigation decreases bacterial bioburden. Studies have shown hypochlorous acid (PhaseOne Health, Nashville, TN) to effectively penetrate and disrupt biofilms; however, there is limited clinical data regarding this irrigation in breast augmentation. Read More

J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2020 Jul 13. Epub 2020 Jul 13.

Pediatric Endocrinology, Hospital Infantil João Paulo II - Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais (HIJPII/MG - FHEMIG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a highly prevalent autosomal recessive disorder that is caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene (7q31.2), which encodes the CFTR chloride-anion channel that is expressed in several tissues. Life expectancy has increased significantly over the past few decades due to therapeutic advances and early diagnosis through neonatal screening. Read More

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020 Jul 10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Institut für Biologie, Humboldt Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

The application of biocontrol biopesticides based on plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), particularly members of the genus Bacillus, is considered a promising perspective to make agricultural practices sustainable and ecologically safe. Recent advances in genome sequencing by third-generation sequencing technologies, e.g. Read More

Nat Protoc 2020 Jul 10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.

Streptomycetes are prominent sources of bioactive natural products, but metabolic engineering of the natural products of these organisms is greatly hindered by relatively inefficient genetic manipulation approaches. New advances in genome editing techniques, particularly CRISPR-based tools, have revolutionized genetic manipulation of many organisms, including actinomycetes. We have developed a comprehensive CRISPR toolkit that includes several variations of 'classic' CRISPR-Cas9 systems, along with CRISPRi and CRISPR-base editing systems (CRISPR-BEST) for streptomycetes. Read More

Commun Biol 2020 Jul 10;3(1):372. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University, 2-2 Wakamatsu-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8480, Japan.

Raman imaging has become an attractive technology in molecular biology because of its ability to detect multiple molecular components simultaneously without labeling. Two major limitations in accurately accounting for spectral features, viz., background removal and spectral unmixing, have been overcome by employing a modified and effective routine in multivariate curve resolution (MCR). Read More

Nat Commun 2020 Jul 10;11(1):3450. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.

Recent advances in nanomaterials and nano-microfabrication have enabled the development of flexible wearable electronics. However, existing manufacturing methods still rely on a multi-step, error-prone complex process that requires a costly cleanroom facility. Here, we report a new class of additive nanomanufacturing of functional materials that enables a wireless, multilayered, seamlessly interconnected, and flexible hybrid electronic system. Read More

Nat Commun 2020 Jul 10;11(1):3477. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China.

Gold nanoparticles have been used for centuries, both for decoration and in medical applications. More recently, many of the major advances in cluster chemistry have involved well-defined clusters containing tens or hundreds of atoms, either with or without a ligand shell. In this paper we report the synthesis of two gold/lead clusters, [AuPb] and [AuPb], both of which contain nido [Au@Pb] icosahedra surrounding a core of Au atoms. Read More

J Med Ethics 2020 Jul 10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Manchester Centre for Genomic, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK

Genetic testing has historically been performed in the context of chronic disease and cancer diagnostics. The timelines for these tests are typically measured in days or weeks, rather than in minutes. As such, the concept that genetic information might be generated and then used to alter management in the acute setting has, thus far, not been feasible. Read More

Trends Biotechnol 2020 Jul 7. Epub 2020 Jul 7.

Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. Electronic address:

Natural tissues and organs exhibit an array of spatial gradients, from the polarized neural tube during embryonic development to the osteochondral interface present at articulating joints. The strong structure-function relationships in these heterogeneous tissues have sparked intensive research into the development of methods that can replicate physiological gradients in engineered tissues. In this Review, we consider different gradients present in natural tissues and discuss their critical importance in functional tissue engineering. Read More

BMC Palliat Care 2020 Jul 10;19(1):103. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO), Girona, Spain.

Background: Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, pancreatic adenocarcinoma often progresses rapidly and causes death. The physical decline of these patients is expected to impact their quality of life (QoL). Therefore, in addition to objective measures of effectiveness, the evaluation of health-related QoL should be considered a matter of major concern when assessing therapy outcomes. Read More

BMC Bioinformatics 2020 Jul 10;21(1):298. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

Background: Even though we have established a few risk factors for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) through epidemiologic studies, these risk factors have not proven to be effective in predicting an individual's risk of developing metastasis. Therefore, identifying critical risk factors for MBC continues to be a major research imperative, and one which can lead to advances in breast cancer clinical care. The objective of this research is to leverage Bayesian Networks (BN) and information theory to identify key risk factors for breast cancer metastasis from data. Read More

Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2020 Jul 10;29(2S):1044-1064. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester, Salford, United Kingdom.

Purpose The swallowing motor system and, specifically, its cortical substrates appear to have certain unique properties that make it highly susceptible to brain plasticity, both driven and following injury. Furthermore, neurogenic dysphagia is a common complication of brain disease, associated with poor outcomes, and yet treatment options remain limited. Therefore, translating the physiology of neurostimulation into clinical populations becomes imperative. Read More

Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2020 Jul 10;29(2S):992-1000. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA.

High-resolution cervical auscultation (HRCA) is an evolving clinical method for noninvasive screening of dysphagia that relies on data science, machine learning, and wearable sensors to investigate the characteristics of disordered swallowing function in people with dysphagia. HRCA has shown promising results in categorizing normal and disordered swallowing (i.e. Read More

Br J Radiol 2020 Jul 10:20200159. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of high-energy photons for mitigating alopecia due to whole-brain irradiation (WBRT).

Methods: Planning computed tomography data from 10 patients who received WBRT were collected. We prepared four WBRT plans that used six or 15 MV photon beams, with or without use of a field-in-field technique (FiF), and compared outcomes using a treatment planning system. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2020 Jul 8;20(14). Epub 2020 Jul 8.

College of Electronic Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.

Recent advances in time series classification (TSC) have exploited deep neural networks (DNN) to improve the performance. One promising approach encodes time series as recurrence plot (RP) images for the sake of leveraging the state-of-the-art DNN to achieve accuracy. Such an approach has been shown to achieve impressive results, raising the interest of the community in it. Read More

Polymers (Basel) 2020 Jul 8;12(7). Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry & Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Chitosan (CS) is a hemi-synthetic cationic linear polysaccharide produced by the deacetylation of chitin. CS is non-toxic, highly biocompatible, and biodegradable, and it has a low immunogenicity. Additionally, CS has inherent antibacterial properties and a mucoadhesive character and can disrupt epithelial tight junctions, thus acting as a permeability enhancer. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2020 Jul 8;12(7). Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Centre for Circulating Tumour Cell Diagnostics and Research, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, 1 Campbell St, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal primary central nervous system cancers with a median overall survival of only 12-15 months. The best documented treatment is surgical tumor debulking followed by chemoradiation and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide, but treatment resistance and therefore tumor recurrence, is the usual outcome. Although advances in molecular subtyping suggests GBM can be classified into four subtypes, one concern about using the original histology for subsequent treatment decisions is that it only provides a static snapshot of heterogeneous tumors that may undergo longitudinal changes over time, especially under selective pressure of ongoing therapy. Read More

Adv Biosyst 2017 Oct 24;1(10):e1700108. Epub 2017 Aug 24.

WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.

There is increasing evidence that tau protein behaves in a prion-like manner in tauopathy. The stabilization of tau protein using a small molecular compound can limit tauopathy associated morbidity that advances with ageing. Here, a lab-on-a-chip experiment is reported, where gold citrate nanoparticles (5 nm, AuNPs) can remodel mutant tau protein (P301L) and prion, thus resolving the mutant tau- and prion-mediated impairment of kinesin cargo transport on microtubules. Read More

Adv Biosyst 2017 Jul 14;1(7):e1700067. Epub 2017 Jun 14.

BioPhysics Group, UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, UCL Department of Mechanical Engineering and UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom.

Scaffolds are instrumental in the engineering of functional tissues, and therefore have been an intense area of interest within regenerative biology and medicine in areas of research and development. Many approaches exist for creating scaffolds with either natural or synthetic advanced materials, which are subsequently coupled with cells and other materials and microintegrated with the aid of a bioreactor, finally forming a functional three-dimensional tissue. Although many advances have been made over the years, none of these have truly been successful, as postulated by literature for either biomedical or clinical utility. Read More

Soft Matter 2006 Feb;2(3):190-204

Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.

Monolayer-protected nanoparticles feature tunable size, surface functionality and core material, providing scaffolds for targeting biomacromolecules. This review highlights recent advances in nanoparticle-biomacromolecule interactions, focusing on two key areas: (1) The modulation of structure and function of biomacromolecules through engineered interactions with nanoparticle surfaces; (2) The use of biomacromolecules as building blocks for nanostructured materials. Read More

Soft Matter 2005 Nov;1(6):417-427

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

The cell membrane, confining some ions and molecules on one side and exchanging others with the other side, is the ultimate unit of the physiology of life. The delicate task of regulating the transport of ions across the membrane is carried out by biological nanotubes called 'ion channels'. Recently, there have been enormous strides in our understanding of the structure-function relationships of biological ion channels. Read More

Soft Matter 2005 Oct;1(5):338-347

School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKBS8 1TS.

This review covers recent advances with an intriguing class of functionalised light-sensitive surfactants. The main chemical classes are described, and the photo-responses in interfacial and aggregation systems are discussed. Read More

Curr Opin Insect Sci 2020 May 29;40:94-103. Epub 2020 May 29.

Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States; Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States; The Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States. Electronic address:

We have reviewed recent progress and the remaining challenges in vector-omics. We have highlighted several technologies and applications that facilitate novel biological insights beyond achieving a reference-quality genome assembly. Among other topics, we have discussed the applications of chromatin conformation capture, chromatin accessibility assays, optical mapping, full-length RNA sequencing, single cell RNA analysis, proteomics, and population genomics. Read More

DNA Repair (Amst) 2020 Jun 23;94:102875. Epub 2020 Jun 23.

Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States. Electronic address:

Telomeres consist of repetitive tracts of DNA that shield a chromosome's contents from erosion and replicative attrition. However, telomeres are also late-replicating regions of the genome in which a myriad of replicative obstructions reside. The obstacles contained within telomeres, as well as their genomic location, drive replicative stalling and subsequent fork collapse in these regions. Read More

Oral Oncol 2020 Jul 7;110:104879. Epub 2020 Jul 7.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States. Electronic address:

Proton therapy has recently gained substantial momentum worldwide due to improved accessibility to the technology and sustained interests in its advantage of better tissue sparing compared to traditional photon radiation. Proton therapy in head and neck cancer has a unique advantage given the complex anatomy and proximity of targets to vital organs. As head and neck cancer patients are living longer due to epidemiological shifts and advances in treatment options, long-term toxicity from radiation treatment has become a major concern that may be better mitigated by proton therapy. Read More

Curr Opin Chem Biol 2020 Jul 6;59:77-83. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Lowy Packer Building, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia; St Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, 405 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia.

In the industrial l-glutamate production established on the use of Corynebacterium glutamicum, l-glutamate synthesized intracellularly is exported through mechanosensitive transmembrane channel proteins (MscCG and MscCG2) activated by the force-from-lipids. The involvement of MscCG2 in l-glutamate export by C. glutamicum was demonstrated in 2018; however, MscCG was previously found to be the major exporter of l-glutamate. Read More

Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2020 Jun 27;282:102204. Epub 2020 Jun 27.

State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China. Electronic address:

Thin-film composite (TFC) structured membranes based on polyamide (PA) chemistry is the gold standard of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis-based technologies for water purification and desalination. Constructing interlayer between porous substrate and PA layer is a promising strategy to address the ubiquitous trade-off between permeability and selectivity, which is typically encountered by conventional TFC PA membranes. The progress in the interlayer benefits the precise control of interfacial polymerization process, which therefore can tailor the structure and performance of advanced TFC PA membranes. Read More

Presse Med 2020 Jul 7:104034. Epub 2020 Jul 7.

Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Rare Systemic and Autoimmune Diseases, Hôpital Cochin, 27, rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, Paris, France. Electronic address:

Treatment of vasculitides has benefited from the results of several prospective clinical trials focusing on the evaluation of new drugs, therapeutic strategies and adjuvant treatments. In the field of autoimmunity, vasculitides are the group of diseases for which the most important medical progress has been made, combining advances in understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms, classification of the various entities and willingness to evaluate treatments. Several international groups have been actively involved in these tasks. Read More

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2020 Jul 10:1-10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, UNIROUEN, ABTE, Caen, France.

Bacteriophages (phages) are considered the most abundant biological entities on Earth. An increasing interest in understanding phage communities, also called viromes or phageomes, has arisen over the past decade especially thanks to the development and the accessibility of Next Generation Sequencing techniques. Despite the increasing amount of available metagenomic data on microbial communities in various habitats, viromes remain poorly described in the scientific literature particularly when it comes to fermented food and beverages such as wine and cider. Read More

Biomacromolecules 2020 Jul 10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Under the right conditions, some biological systems can maintain high viability after being frozen and thawed, but many others (e.g., organs, many mammalian cells) cannot. Read More

Bioconjug Chem 2020 Jul 10. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Fluorescent microscopy techniques are widely used in biological studies. However, the spatial resolution of fluorescent mi-croscopy is restricted by the optical diffraction limit. In the past two decades, super-resolution imaging techniques with dif-ferent principles have been invented to visualize biomolecules at nanometer scales. Read More

Clin Adv Hematol Oncol 2020 Jun;18(6):316-318

Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

J Craniofac Surg 2020 Jul 3. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Background: The petrous apex is a complex anatomic region for which each surgical approach each has distinct limitations. The authors describe the use of frontal sinus instrumentation for the endonasal endoscopic approach to petrous apex lesions OBJECTIVE:: To demonstrate that the angled design of frontal sinus instrumentation has pronounced clinical utility for the transsphenoidal transclival approach to the petrous apex.

Methods: The authors present cases of expansile petrous apex lesions approached endoscopically via transsphenoid and transclival corridors, and highlight the technique of using curved frontal sinus instruments and angled endoscopes for posterolateral reach in the petrous apex dissection. Read More

Chin Med J (Engl) 2020 Jul 1. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. The mechanism of how GC develops is vague, and therapies are inefficient. The function of microRNAs (miRNAs) in tumorigenesis has attracted the attention from many scientists. Read More

Chin Med J (Engl) 2020 Jul 1. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery III, Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Ministry of Education, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China.

Patient-derived tumor organoids (PDOs) currently represent important modeling tools in pre-clinical investigation of malignancies. Organoid cultures conserve the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of the original tumor and maintain its heterogeneity, allowing their application in many research fields. PDOs derived from colorectal cancer (CRC) have been used for genetic modeling to investigate the function of driver genes. Read More