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Methods Cell Biol 2022 17;169:267-278. Epub 2022 Jan 17.

Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. Electronic address:

Agonist-induced interaction of β-arrestins with GPCRs is critically involved in downstream signaling and regulation. This interaction is associated with activation and major conformational changes in β-arrestins. Although there are some assays available to monitor the conformational changes in β-arrestins in cellular context, additional sensors to report β-arrestin activation, preferably with high-throughput capability, are likely to be useful considering the structural and functional diversity in GPCR-β-arrestin complexes. Read More

Methods Cell Biol 2022 10;169:143-168. Epub 2022 Feb 10.

Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India. Electronic address:

Acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) expressed at the neuromuscular junction synapses are typical allosteric proteins that shuttle between at least two stable conformational states: Closed (C) and Open (O). Agonist binding to their target sites on the receptor in the extracellular domain triggers a global C→O conformational change that results in an open channel pore that allows ion conduction. How the receptor senses the chemical signal of an agonist and communicates it to the channel pore, located ~50Å away, are key to understanding the receptor function. Read More

Microvasc Res 2022 May 24:104386. Epub 2022 May 24.

University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, 842 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607, United States of America. Electronic address:

Appraisal of microvascular erythrocyte velocity as well as aggregation are critical features of hemorheological assessment. Examination of erythrocyte velocity-aggregate characteristics is critical in assessing disorders associated with coagulopathy. Microvascular erythrocyte velocity can be assessed using various methodologic approaches; however, the shared assessment of erythrocyte velocity and aggregation has not been well described. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2022 May 11;336:111342. Epub 2022 May 11.

Department of Forensic Genetics, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address:

The AGCU Expressmarker 20 + 20Y Kit is a newly devised short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex system that simultaneously analyses a set of 19 autosomal STR loci, 20 Y chromosomal STR loci and the amelogenin locus with six-dye fluorescent labelling. Here, the AGCU Expressmarker 20 + 20Y system was validated following the guidelines published by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), including PCR-condition, sensitivity, mixtures, species specificity, models of inhibition, precision, stutter percentage, concordance, population genetic studies, performance on three kinds of degraded DNA and a type of casework samples. The results indicated that the kit had high sensitivity when there was a small amount of DNA (0. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2022 May 24;132:108729. Epub 2022 May 24.

Department of Neurosciences, Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Level 6, Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; Department of Neurology, Alfred Health, Level 6, Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; Department of Neurology, Melbourne Health, 300 Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia. Electronic address:

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and biomarkers of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) in patients with autoimmune encephalitis (AIE).

Methods: Sixty-nine patients with AIE were recruited retrospectively and electroencephalographies (EEGs) were reviewed using a standard reporting proforma. Associations between EEG biomarkers and DRE development at 12 months were examined using logistic regression modeling and were utilized to create a DRE risk score. Read More

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2022 May 20;1201-1202:123294. Epub 2022 May 20.

Institute of Endocrinology, Národni 8, Prague, 11694, Czech Republic.

A development of robust and rapid method with simple sample preparation for the analysis of steroids of C-, C-, C- families is of interest of many research groups. Here we present a novel LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of 32 steroid hormones in human plasma. Twenty-two of them were analyzed directly without the need for derivatization, while ten were derivatized with 2-fluoro-1-methylpyridinium p-toluenesulfonate. Read More

Vet Sci 2022 May 22;9(5). Epub 2022 May 22.

Affiliation Veterinary School, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Antônio Carlos Avenue 6627, 31270-090 Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Despite its high frequency and clinical relevance, the pathogenesis of canine pyometra remains poorly understood. The most accepted hypothesis is that bacteria involved ascend from the intestinal tract, causing the uterine infection. Extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) is the most frequent pathogen in canine pyometra, accounting for 57-100% of cases. Read More

Indoor Air 2022 May;32(5):e13034

School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

To date, although many studies had focused on the impact of environmental factors on sleep, how to choose the proper assessment method for objective sleep quality was often ignored, especially for healthy subjects in bedroom environment. In order to provide methodological guidance for future research, this paper reviewed the assessments of objective sleep quality applied in environmental researches, compared them from the perspective of accuracy and interference, and statistically analyzed the impact of experimental type and subjects' information on method selection. The review results showed that, in contrast to polysomnography (PSG), the accuracy of actigraphy (ACT), respiratory monitoring-oxygen saturation monitoring (RM-OSM), and electrocardiograph (ECG) could reach up to 97%, 80. Read More

Toxics 2022 Apr 19;10(5). Epub 2022 Apr 19.

ChemService Controlli e Ricerche s.r.l.-Lab Analysis Group, Via Fratelli Beltrami 15, 20026 Novate Milanese, Italy.

Considering the large amount of tires that reach the end of life every year, the aim of this study was the evaluation of both acute and chronic effects of end-of-life-tire (ELT)-derived rubber granules (ELT-dg) and powder (ELT-dp) on a freshwater trophic chain represented by the green alga , the crustacean and the teleost (zebrafish). Adverse effects were evaluated at the organism and population levels through the classical ecotoxicological tests. Acute tests on and revealed a 50% effect concentration (EC) > 100. Read More

J Clin Lab Anal 2022 May 27:e24521. Epub 2022 May 27.

Biometrology Group, Division of Chemical and Biological Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon, South Korea.

Background: The standardization of measurement aims to achieve comparability of results regardless of the analytical methods and the laboratory where analyses are carried out. In this paper, a comparison of results from several immunoassay-based insulin analysis kits is described, and the steps necessary to improve comparability are discussed.

Methods: Four manual enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits produced by Mercodia, Alpco, Epitope Diagnostics, and Abcam, and three automated chemiluminescent (CLIA) insulin assay kits (Siemens Centaur XP, Unicel Dxl800, Cobas e801) were compared by analyzing human serum samples and certified reference materials for human insulin. Read More

Ecotoxicology 2022 May 27. Epub 2022 May 27.

Department of Environmental Health, Graduate School at Yongin University, Yongin, 17092, Republic of Korea.

Avobenzone and octinoxate are frequently used as organic ultraviolet filters, and these chemicals are widely detected in water. This study evaluated the potential of avobenzone and octinoxate to disrupt thyroid endocrine system in wild-type and thyroid hormone receptor alpha a knockout (thrαa) zebrafish embryo/larvae. Following a 120 h exposure to various concentrations of avobenzone and octinoxate, larvae mortality and developmental toxicity in wild-type and thrαa fish were assessed. Read More

Mar Drugs 2022 Apr 24;20(5). Epub 2022 Apr 24.

College of Agricultural Sciences, Panzhihua University, Panzhihua 617000, China.

Recently, microalgal biotechnology has received increasing interests in producing valuable, sustainable and environmentally friendly bioproducts. The development of economically viable production processes entails resolving certain limitations of microalgal biotechnology, and fast evolving genetic engineering technologies have emerged as new tools to overcome these limitations. This review provides a synopsis of recent progress, current trends and emerging approaches of genetic engineering of microalgae for commercial applications, including production of pharmaceutical protein, lipid, carotenoids and biohydrogen, etc. Read More

Insects 2022 May 23;13(5). Epub 2022 May 23.

AgResearch Limited, 1365 Springs Road, Lincoln 7674, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.

It is now more than 100 years since the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB: L.) was first detected in the Pacific Island state of Samoa. The exotic pest from Asia became the principal pest of coconut palms in Samoa and, from this first point of invasion, spread to several surrounding countries in the South-West Pacific Ocean. Read More

Gels 2022 May 23;8(5). Epub 2022 May 23.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.

In the field of actuator materials, hydrogels that undergo large volume changes in response to external stimuli have been developed for a variety of promising applications. However, most conventional hydrogels are brittle and therefore rupture when they are stretched to moderate strains (~50%). Thus, gels to be used for actuators still require improved mechanical properties and actuation performance. Read More

Gels 2022 May 18;8(5). Epub 2022 May 18.

Department of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, INSERM UMR_S 1121, Biomaterials and Bioengineering, 67000 Strasbourg, France.

Since the adhesion of resin composites to calcium silicate-based cement is considered challenging. Therefore, the best adhesion strategy should be indicated. This review aimed to assess the effect of different adhesive systems on the bond strength of resin composite to calcium silicate-based cement through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Read More

Gels 2022 May 6;8(5). Epub 2022 May 6.

Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Lobachevsky Str., 2/31, 420111 Kazan, Russia.

Biocompatible, nontoxic, and biodegradable polysaccharides are considered as a promising base for bio-inspired materials, applicable as scaffolds in regenerative medicine, coatings in drug delivery systems, etc. The tunable macroscopic properties of gels should meet case-dependent requirements. The admixture of proteins to polysaccharides and their coupling in more sophisticated structures opens an avenue for gel property tuning via physical cross-linking of components and the modification of gel network structure. Read More

Behav Sci (Basel) 2022 May 9;12(5). Epub 2022 May 9.

School of Nursing, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.

Two hundred and ninety-nine videos representing four categories (people, animals, objects, and scenes) were standardized using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018, with a unified duration of 3 s, a resolution of 1080 pixels/inch, and a size of 1920 × 1080 mm. One-hundred and sixteen participants (mean age 22.60 ± 2. Read More

J Chem Theory Comput 2022 May 27. Epub 2022 May 27.

The Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People's Republic of China.

Variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is a promising method for ground-state calculations on current noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers. However, the research progress of excited-state calculations on quantum computers is relatively slow. In order to extend the framework of VQE for excited-state calculations, we propose a new algorithm, orthogonal state reduction variational eigensolver (OSRVE), to determine the energies of excited states. Read More

Mol Biol (Mosk) 2022 May-Jun;56(3):521-527

Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia.

A new method for evaluating the substrate efficiency of deoxynucleoside triphosphates containing functional groups for the selection of modified aptamers (mod-SELEX) is proposed. The method involves conducting three consecutive rounds of PCR with a combinatorial library and a modified dNTP candidate for mod-SELEX. The conclusion about the applicability of a specific dNTP derivative is made by the nature of the change in the amplification curve during the three rounds of PCR in real time and does not require SELEX rounds. Read More

Hum Mutat 2022 May 27. Epub 2022 May 27.

Cologne Center for Genomics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Pleiotropy is a widespread phenomenon that may increase insight into the etiology of biological and disease traits. Since genome-wide association studies frequently provide information on a single trait only, only univariate pleiotropy detection methods are applicable, with yet unknown comparative performance. Here, we compared five such methods with respect to their ability to detect pleiotropy, including meta-analysis, ASSET, cFDR, CPBayes, and PLACO, by performing extended computer simulations that varied the underlying etiological model for pleiotropy for a pair of traits, including the number of causal variants, degree of traits' overlap, effect sizes as well as trait prevalence, and varying sample sizes. Read More

Front Neurol 2022 9;13:921992. Epub 2022 May 9.

State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Research Center of Biostatistics and Computational Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022. Read More

Crit Care Explor 2022 May 17;4(5):e0697. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Objectives: The Sepsis-3 definition states the clinical criteria for sepsis but lacks clear definitions of the underlying infection. To address the lack of applicable definitions of infection for sepsis research, we propose new criteria, termed the Linder-Mellhammar criteria of infection (LMCI). The aim of this study was to validate these new infection criteria. Read More

MethodsX 2022 5;9:101724. Epub 2022 May 5.

Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, Leuven 3001, Belgium.

The site-specific administration of neuroactive substances or pharmacological agents is a routine practice in neurological studies. To facilitate chronic treatments intercranial cannulae are often implanted in the skull. These surgical procedures are widely described and well-documented for rodents, as the most common animal model, and even refined over the years. Read More

Front Chem 2022 10;10:872251. Epub 2022 May 10.

National Engineering Research Center of Dairy Health for Maternal and Child, Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co. Ltd, Beijing, China.

This study was aimed to establish a method for quantitatively determining the ratio of whey protein in the total protein of infant formula by respectively selecting two characteristic peptides from whey protein and casein and calculating the ratio between the characteristic peptides. A nanoliter high-performance liquid chromatography tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry (Q Exactive) was used to simultaneously detect the characteristic peptides of two main whey proteins and two main caseins. The characteristic peptides were calculated, predicted, and screened using the ExPASy website, and peptide information was confirmed by database retrieval after the analysis by using a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Read More

J Hepatocell Carcinoma 2022 20;9:437-451. Epub 2022 May 20.

Department of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.

Purpose: The contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) treatment response algorithm (TRA) is still in development. The aim of this study was to explore whether the CT/MRI LI-RADS TRA features were applicable to CEUS in evaluating the liver locoregional therapy (LRT) response.

Patients And Methods: This study was a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing ablation between July 2017 and December 2018. Read More

Eur J Popul 2022 May 1;38(2):247-271. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

Institute for Sociology and Demography, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.

After three decades since reunification male life expectancy in East Germany still lags behind that of West Germany. Unlike most of the prior studies focusing on the role of socioeconomic factors, this study aims at assessing the contribution of the population with severe disabilities to the persistent East-West male mortality gap. Our analysis is mainly based on the German Pension Fund data. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 10;13:808227. Epub 2022 May 10.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Reproductive immunology has moved on from the classical Medawar question of 60 years ago "". Looking beyond fetal-maternal tolerance, modern reproductive immunology focuses on how the maternal immune system supports fetal growth. Maternal uterine natural killer (uNK) cells, in partnership with fetal trophoblast cells, regulate physiological vascular changes in the uterus of pregnant women and mice. Read More

Front Psychiatry 2022 9;13:854547. Epub 2022 May 9.

Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Background: Few studies on anxiety in China have used the full version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) due to its length, despite its numerous advantages. The goal of this study was to develop a short Chinese version of the STAI and examine its reliability and validity among the general Chinese population and psychiatric patients diagnosed with anxiety.

Method: A total of 1,142 participants were invited to test the short Chinese version of the STAI; item analysis, validity testing and internal consistency reliability analysis were performed. Read More

ACS Macro Lett 2019 Sep 22;8(9):1160-1165. Epub 2019 Aug 22.

Polymers Branch, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Baltimore, Maryland 21005, United States.

Using molecular simulations and theory, we develop an explicit mapping of the contribution of molecular relaxation modes in glassy thermosets to the shear modulus, where the relaxations were tuned by altering the polarity of side groups. Specifically, motions at the domain, segmental, monomer, and atomic levels are taken from molecular dynamics snapshots and directly linked with the viscoelasticity through a framework based in the lattice dynamics of amorphous solids. This unique approach provides direct insight into the roles of chemical groups in the stress response, including the time scale and spatial extent of relaxations during mechanics. Read More

ACS Macro Lett 2019 Sep 3;8(9):1194-1199. Epub 2019 Sep 3.

State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China.

Chain folding is a motif of polymer crystallization, which is essential for determining the crystallization kinetics. However, the experimental quantification of the chain folding remains a challenge because of limited instrumental resolution. Here, we quantify chain folding in solution-grown single crystals by using atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-molecule force spectroscopy. Read More