Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Infect Public Health 2021 Feb 20;14(5):655-660. Epub 2021 Feb 20.

Sultan Moulay Slimane University of Beni Mellal, Laboratory of Chemistry, Modeling and Environmental Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty, 25 000 Khouribga, Morocco.

The management of SARS-CoV-2 has not yet been clearly determined and is based on potential therapies evaluated during the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks. An emerging potential therapeutic approach currently being evaluated in numerous clinical trials is the remdesivir agent, which acts on COVID-19 by interfering with key steps in the virus replication cycle. It is considered a therapeutic option to be evaluated against COVID-19, based on data on its in vitro and in vivo activity against MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV coronaviruses. Read More

Acta Biomater 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089; Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033; USC Stem Cell, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033. Electronic address:

Tumor immunotherapy is rapidly evolving as one of the major pillars of cancer treatment. Cell-based immunotherapies, which utilize patient's own immune cells to eliminate cancer cells, have shown great promise in treating a range of malignancies, especially those of hematopoietic origins. However, their performance on a broader spectrum of solid tumor types still fall short of expectations in the clinical stage despite of the promising preclinical assessments. Read More

Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 2021 Apr 12:110601. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Colorado Mesa University, 1100 North Ave., Grand Junction, CO 81501, USA.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are a diverse class of materials whose distinct properties make them desirable in a multitude of applications. The proliferation of nanotoxicology research has improved our understanding of ENM toxicity, but an under appreciation for their potential to interfere with biochemical assays has hampered progress in the field. The physicochemical properties of ENMs can promote their interaction with membranes or biomacromolecules (e. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Centre of Reproduction, Development and Aging, Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. Electronic address:

Diabetic retinopathy is a frequent microvascular complication of diabetes and a major cause of visual impairment. In advanced stages, the abnormal neovascularization can lead to fibrosis and subsequent tractional retinal detachment and blindness. The low bioavailability of the drugs at the target site imposed by the anatomic and physiologic barriers within the eye, requires long term treatments with frequent injections that often compromise patient's compliance and increase the risk of developing more complications. Read More

Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2021 Apr 12:110326. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, School of Medicine Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a severe and lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder, with high social costs and a dramatic burden on the quality of life of patients and family members. Despite its high prevalence, reaching 1/54 children and 1/45 adults in the United States, no pharmacological treatment is still directed to core symptoms of ASD, encompassing social and communication deficits, repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and abnormal sensory processing. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of psychopharmacological therapy available today for ASD in children and adolescents, in order to foster best practices and to organize new strategies for future research. Read More

Chemistry 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

CUNY Graduate Center: CUNY The Graduate Center, Biology Doctoral Program, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn Colllege, 11210, United States, 11210, Brooklyn, UNITED STATES.

This review focuses on studies of coordination and organometallic compounds as potential chemotherapeutics against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) which has one of the poorest prognoses and worst survival rates from all breast cancer types. At present, chemotherapy is still the standard of care for TNBC since only one type of targeted therapy has been recently developed. We will list references for metal-based compounds studied in TNBC cell lines and those of metal-specific reviews, but we will provide a detailed overview on compounds studied in vivo (mostly in mice models) and those compounds for which some preliminary mechanistic data was obtained (in TNBC cell lines and tumors) and/or for which bioactive ligands have been used. Read More

J Leukoc Biol 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology (Peking University), Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.

Ubiquitination is a common form of posttranslational modification that has been implicated in regulating considerable immune signaling pathways. The functions of canonic K48- and K63-linked ubiquitination have been well studied. However, the roles of noncanonic ubiquitination remain largely unexplored and require further investigations. Read More

J Am Mosq Control Assoc 2021 Mar;37(1):38-40

Microbiota are vital for the development, physiology, and vectorial capacity of mosquitoes. The composition and role of microbiota in Anopheles species, especially Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi, have been extensively studied, but little is known about the microbiota of Anopheles species in China. We characterized the microbial communities of Anopheles dirus, Anopheles sinensis, and Anopheles lesteri by 16S rRNA sequencing. Read More

Cell Oncol (Dordr) 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563003, Guizhou Province, China.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant cancers in the world and has only few treatment options and, concomitantly, a poor prognosis. It is generally accepted now that the tumor microenvironment, particularly that under hypoxia, plays an important role in cancer development. Hypoxia can regulate the energy metabolism and malignancy of tumor cells by inducing or altering various important factors, such as oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS), hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), autophagy and acidosis. Read More

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2021 Apr 15:1-15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

College of Food Science, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China.

As an emerging digital production technology, 3D food printing intends to meet the demand for customized food design, personalized nutrition, simplification of the food supply chain system, and greater food material diversity. Most 3D food printing studies focus on the development of materials for extrusion-based food printing. Plant-based foods are essential for a healthy diet, and they are growing in popularity as their positive effects on human health gain wider recognition. Read More

ACS Nano 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Institute of Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, 210008 Nanjing, China.

Medical patches have been widely explored and applied in various medical fields, especially in wound healing, tissue engineering, and other biomedical areas. Benefiting from emerging biomaterials and advanced manufacturing technologies, great achievements have been made on medical patches to evolve them into a multifunctional medical device for diverse health-care purposes, thus attracting extensive attention and research interest. Here, we provide up-to-date research concerning emerging functional biomaterials as medical patches. Read More

ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, TongJi University, 150 Ji Mo Road, Shanghai 200120, PR China.

Meshes have been the overwhelmingly popular choice for the repair of abdominal wall defects to retrieve the bodily integrity of musculofascial layer. Broadly, they are classified into synthetic, biological and composite mesh based on their mechanical and biocompatible features. With the development of anatomical repair techniques and the increasing requirements of constructive remodeling, however, none of these options satisfactorily manages the conditional repair. Read More

Chempluschem 2021 Apr 1;86(4):629-645. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron, IBMM, University of Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Montpellier, France., 15 Av. Charles Flahault BP 14 491, 34093, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.

Despite their concomitant emergence in the 1990s, γ-peptide foldamers have not developed as fast as β-peptide foldamers and to date, only a few γ-oligomer structures have been reported, and with sparse applications. Among these examples, sequences containing α,β-unsaturated γ-amino acids have recently drawn attention since the Z/E configurations of the double bond provide opposite planar restrictions leading to divergent conformational behaviors, from helix to extended structures. In this Review, we give a comprehensive overview of the developments of γ-peptide foldamers containing α,β-unsaturated γ-amino acids with examples of applications for health and catalysis, as well as materials science. Read More

Oncol Nurs Forum 2021 05;48(3):291-307

Virginia Commonwealth University.

Problem Identification: Although frailty is an important parameter in treatment planning and in predicting prognosis and overall survival among patients with hematologic malignancies and recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, frailty assessment tools are not standardized in clinical care settings. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the literature on frailty assessment tools in these patient populations.

Literature Search: A systematic search of CINAHL®, Embase®, MEDLINE®, PubMed®, and Web of Science was performed using keywords and controlled vocabulary for the concepts "bone marrow transplants," "hematologic neoplasms," and "frailty. Read More

J Public Health Res 2021 Apr 14;10(2). Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Community Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Indonesia, Depok.

Background: Inadequate glycemic control usually leads to peripheral neuropathy, vasculopathy, and foot deformities that leads to diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), and a 10-years history of diabetes and inadequate self-management increases the risk of reoccurring DFU. A home-based intervention program, which includes Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) and wound care is the most likely approach, to engage families and overcoming the barriers in self-care management. The aim of this study is to provide an overview on the effectiveness of home-based nursing intervention in the elderly patients with reoccurring diabetic foot ulcers. Read More

Bio Protoc 2021 Mar 20;11(6):e3963. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

Tissue engineering has emerged as a strategy to combat the donor shortage of human corneas for transplantation. Synthetic corneal substitutes are currently unable to support the normal phenotype of human cells and so decellularized animal corneas have been deployed to more closely provide the topographical and biochemical cues to promote cell attachment and function. Although full thickness decellularized corneas can support corneal cells, the cells are slow to populate the scaffold and density declines from the surface. Read More

Front Oncol 2021 29;11:636681. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Laboratory for Translational Cell and Tissue Research, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

The state-of-the-art for melanoma treatment has recently witnessed an enormous revolution, evolving from a chemotherapeutic, "one-drug-for-all" approach, to a tailored molecular- and immunological-based approach with the potential to make personalized therapy a reality. Nevertheless, methods still have to improve a lot before these can reliably characterize all the tumoral features that make each patient unique. While the clinical introduction of next-generation sequencing has made it possible to match mutational profiles to specific targeted therapies, improving response rates to immunotherapy will similarly require a deep understanding of the immune microenvironment and the specific contribution of each component in a patient-specific way. Read More

PeerJ 2021 9;9:e10925. Epub 2021 Mar 9.

Departamento de Recursos del Mar, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N, Mérida, Yucatán, México.

Over the past few decades, coral reef ecosystems have been lost at accelerated rates as a result of global climate change and local stressors. Local management schemes can help improve the condition of coral reefs by enhancing their ecosystem recovery capacity. Caribbean conservation efforts include mitigation of local anthropogenic stressors, and integrating social participation. Read More

Front Pharmacol 2021 29;12:603736. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Laboratorio Elea Phoenix S.A, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

COVID-19 pandemic demands a swift response to find therapeutic tools that effectively reduce morbidity and mortality. Despite initial fears, evidence from retrospective observational studies supports the inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system as an emerging pathway to delay or moderate angiotensin II-driven lung inflammation. This has triggered several prospective clinical trials. Read More

Syst Rev 2021 Apr 14;10(1):109. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Center (Amsterdam UMC), Location AMC, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Background: Gender-affirming hormone (GAH) therapy aims to support the transition of transgender people to their gender identity. GAHs can induce changes in their secondary sex characteristics such as the development of breasts in transgender females and increased muscle mass in transgender males. The face and its surrounding tissues also have an important role in gender confirmation. Read More

Int J Ment Health Syst 2021 Apr 14;15(1):33. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Experimental Psychology, Radcliffe Observatory, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK.

Background: Psychological safety-speaking up about ideas and concerns, free from interpersonal risk-are essential to the high-risk environment, such as healthcare settings. Psychologically safe working is particularly important in mental health where recovery-oriented approaches rely on collaborative efforts of interprofessional teams to make complex decisions. Much research focuses on antecedents and outcomes associated with psychological safety, but little focus on the practical steps for how to increase psychological safety across and at different levels of a healthcare organisation. Read More

Nephron 2021 Apr 14:1-11. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Section of Nephrology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Recent advances in large-scale RNA sequencing and genome-wide profiling projects have unraveled a heterogeneous group of RNAs, collectively known as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which play central roles in many diverse biological processes. Importantly, an association between aberrant expression of lncRNAs and diverse human pathologies has been reported, including in a variety of kidney diseases. These observations have raised the possibility that lncRNAs may represent unexploited potential therapeutic targets for kidney diseases. Read More

Prog Retin Eye Res 2021 Apr 11:100968. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

University Côte d'Azur, France; Inserm, Biology and Pathologies of Melanocytes, Team1, Equipe Labellisée Ligue 2020 and Equipe Labellisée ARC 2019, Centre Méditerranéen de Médecine Moléculaire, Nice, France. Electronic address:

Uveal melanoma (UM) is an aggressive and deadly neoplasm. In recent decades, great efforts have been made to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of genetics, genomics and molecular changes in UM, enabling the identification of key cellular processes and signalling pathways. Still, there is no effective treatment for the metastatic disease. Read More

Can J Physiol Pharmacol 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Dalhousie University, 3688, College of Pharmacy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in the death of over 18000 Canadians and has impacted the lives of all Canadians. Many Canadian research groups have expanded their research programs to include COVID-19. Over the past year, our knowledge of this novel disease has grown and has led to the initiation of a number of clinical vaccine and drug trials for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Read More

Acc Chem Res 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P. R. China.

ConspectusConjugated polymers for application in organic solar cells (OSCs) have been developed from poly(phenylenevinylene) to poly(3-hexylthiophene) and then to "donor-acceptor" structures, providing power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) over 18% when blending with the electron acceptor as a two-component photoactive layer. Besides, graft-structural double-cable conjugated polymers that use an electron donor as conjugated backbones and an electron acceptor as pendant side units are one kind of conjugated polymer, in which charge carriers are generated in a single polymer. Therefore, double-cable conjugated polymers can be used as a single photoactive layer in single-component OSCs (SCOSCs). Read More

JBI Evid Synth 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Rehabilitation Research Program, G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada Faculty of Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centre-University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Objective: The objective of this review is to review the existing evidence on definitions, concepts, measurement instruments, and interventions for chronic fatigue in spinal cord injury.

Introduction: Chronic fatigue in people with spinal cord injury is an under-studied issue that affects between 25% and 56.6% of people with spinal cord injury. Read More

Rev Neurol 2021 Apr;72(8):269-282

Università di Catania, Catania, Italia.

Introduction: Focal hand dystonia in musicians is a task-specific movement disorder characterized by an involuntary loss of control and coordination of finger movements during instrumental playing.

Materials And Methods: Literature searches with the keywords 'dystonia' AND 'musician' AND 'finger' OR 'treatment' OR 'therapy' OR 'rehabilitation' were conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science to perform the systematic review about the several strategies used to treat dystonia in musicians. The search was performed independently by two authors (R. Read More

Eur J Clin Invest 2021 Apr 13:e13572. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Laboratory of Experimental Rheumatology and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, IRCCS Rheumatology Unit, San Martino Polyclinic, Genoa, Italy.

Background: Uveitis is one of the most frequent ophthalmologic manifestations in rheumatology. Uveal inflammation can underlie a systemic inflammatory rheumatic disease (SIRD) in approximately 30 % of cases with a significant burden on the quality of life since it represents a cause of blindness in up to 20 % of cases in Western countries.

Methods: In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the pathophysiology of uveitis associated with SIRDs. Read More

Semin Thromb Hemost 2021 Apr 1;47(3):283-294. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Heparan sulfate is a glycosaminoglycan present in nearly all mammalian tissues. Heparan sulfate moieties are attached to the cell surface via heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) which are composed of a protein core bound to multiple heparan sulfate chains. HSPGs contribute to the structural integrity of the extracellular matrix and participate in cell signaling by releasing bound cytokines and chemokines once cleaved by an enzyme, heparanase. Read More

Rev Endocr Metab Disord 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Human Biology, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Humans living at a higher altitude are less prone to suffer from impaired glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which might at least partly be explained by lower oxygen availability at higher altitudes. The present systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the current literature on the effects of hypoxia exposure on glucose homeostasis in metabolically compromised humans. Several databases were searched up to August 10, 2020. Read More