10/04/2024


Microorganisms are considered one of the most promising niches for prospecting, production, and application of bioactive compounds of biotechnological interest. Among them, bacteria offer certain distinctive advantages due to their short life cycle, their low sensitivity to seasonal and climatic changes, their easy scaling as well as their ability to produce pigments of various colors and shades. Natural pigments have attracted the attention of industry due to an increasing interest in the generation of new products harmless to humans and nature. This is because pigments of artificial origin used in industry can have various deleterious effects. On this basis, bacterial pigments promise to be an attractive niche of new biotechnological applications, from functional food production to the generation of new drugs and biomedical therapies. This review endeavors to establish the beneficial properties of several relevant pigments of bacterial origin and their relation to applications in the biomedical area.Fracture characteristics were used to effectively evaluate the performance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites. The fracture parameters provided the basis for crack stability analysis, service performance, safety evaluation, and protection. Much research has been carried out in the proposed study field over the previous two decades. Therefore, it was required to analyze the research trend from the available bibliometric data. In this study, the scientometric analysis and science mapping techniques were performed along with a comprehensive discussion to identify the relevant publication field, highly used keywords, most active authors, most cited articles, and regions with largest impact on the field of fracture properties of cement-based materials (CBMs). Furthermore, the characteristic of various fibers such as steel, polymeric, inorganic, and carbon fibers are discussed, and the factors affecting the fracture properties of fiber-reinforced CBMs (FRCBMs) are reviewed. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pluripotin-sc1.html In addition, future gaps are identified. The graphical representation based on the scientometric review could be helpful for research scholars from different countries in developing research cooperation, creating joint ventures, and exchanging innovative technologies and ideas.Ferroelectric capacitors (FeCAPs) with high process compatibility, high reliability, ultra-low programming current and fast operation speed are promising candidates to traditional volatile and nonvolatile memory. In addition, they have great potential in the fields of storage, computing, and memory logic. Nevertheless, effective methods to realize logic and memory in FeCAP devices are still lacking. This study proposes a 1T2C FeCAP-based in situ bitwise X(N)OR logic based on a charge-sharing function. First, using the 1T2C structure and a two-step write-back circuit, the nondestructive reading is realized with less complexity than the previous work. Second, a method of two-line activation is used during the operation of X(N)OR. The verification results show that the speed, area and power consumption of the proposed 1T2C FeCAP-based bitwise logic operations are significantly improved.Piezoelectric three-dimensional inkjet printing has been used to manufacture heterogeneous objects due to its high level of flexibility. The materials used are non-Newtonian inks with complex rheological properties, and their behavior in the context of inkjet printing has not been fully understood for example, the fact that the shear-thinning viscosity affects the droplet generation. Therefore, a control strategy coping with shear-thinning behaviors is needed to ensure printing consistency. In this paper, a novel model-based approach is presented to describe the shear-thinning ink dynamics inside the piezoelectric inkjet printhead, which provides the basis to design the excitation parameters in a systematic way. The dynamic equation is simplified into a quasi-one-dimensional equation through the combination of the boundary layer theory and the constitutive equation of the power-law fluid, of which the viscosity is shear-thinning. Based on this, a nonlinear time-varying equivalent circuit model is presented to simulate the power-law fluid flow rate inside the tube. The feasibility and effectiveness of this model can be evaluated by comparing the results of computational fluid dynamics and the experimental results.The performance of artificial nerve guidance conduits (NGC) in peripheral nerve regeneration can be improved by providing structures with multiple small channels instead of a single wide lumen. 3D-printing is a strategy to access such multi-channeled structures in a defined and reproducible way. This study explores extrusion-based 3D-printing of two-component hydrogels from a single cartridge printhead into multi-channeled structures under aseptic conditions. The gels are based on a platform of synthetic, anhydride-containing oligomers for cross-linking of gelatinous peptides. Stable constructs with continuous small channels and a variety of footprints and sizes were successfully generated from formulations containing either an organic or inorganic gelation base. The adjustability of the system was investigated by varying the cross-linking oligomer and substituting the gelation bases controlling the cross-linking kinetics. Formulations with organic N‑methyl-piperidin-3-ol and inorganic K2HPO4 yielded hydrogels with comparable properties after manual processing and extrusion-based 3D-printing. The slower reaction kinetics of formulations with K2HPO4 can be beneficial for extending the time frame for printing. The two-component hydrogels displayed both slow hydrolytic and activity-dependent enzymatic degradability. Together with satisfying in vitro cell proliferation data, these results indicate the suitability of our cross-linked hydrogels as multi-channeled NGC for enhanced peripheral nerve regeneration.Improving outcomes among patients with resectable pancreatic cancer is one of the greatest challenges of modern medicine. Major improvements in survival will result from the development of novel therapies. However, optimising existing pathways, so that patients realise benefits of already proven treatments, presents a clear opportunity to improve outcomes in the short term. This narrative review will focus on treatments and interventions where there is a clear evidence base to improve outcomes in pancreatic cancer, and where there is also evidence of variation and under-treatment. Avoidance of preoperative biliary drainage, treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, prehabiliation and enhanced recovery after surgery, reducing perioperative complications, optimising opportunities for elderly patients to receive therapy, optimising adjuvant chemotherapy and regular surveillance after surgery are some of the strategies discussed. Each treatment or pathway change represents an opportunity for marginal gain. Accumulation of marginal gains can result in considerable benefit to patients. Given that these interventions already have evidence base, they can be realised quickly and economically.Magnetic seed enhancement has been practicing as a promising tool to improve germination and seedling growth of low vigor seeds stored under suboptimal conditions, but there is still ambiguity regarding the prospects for magnetism in oilseeds. Present study elucidates the potential of magnetic seed stimulation to improve sunflower germination, growth and yield. Germination and emergence tests were performed to optimize the strength of the magnetic field to sunflower seed enhancement. The seeds were directly exposed to magnetic field strengths of 50, 100 and 150 millitesla (mT) for 5, 10 and 15 min (min) and then standard germination tests were performed. Secondly, the emergence potential of untreated seeds was compared with seed exposed to hydropriming, priming with 3% moringa leaf extract (MLE), priming with magnetically treated water (MTW) for 10 min and priming with 3% MLE solution prepared in magnetically treated water (MTW + MLE). Germination, emergence, seedling growth and seed biochemical properties were used to select the best treatment for field evaluation. The results of the study revealed that magnetic seed treatment with 100 mT for 10 min and seed priming with 3% MLE solution in magnetically treated water (MTW + MLE) significantly improved emergence, crop growth rate and sunflower yield.Methanolic leaf extracts of four Lauraceae species endemic to Laurisilva forest (Apollonias barbujana, Laurus novocanariensis, Ocotea foetens and Persea indica) were investigated for the first time for their potential to inhibit key enzymes linked to type-2 diabetes (α-amylase, α-glucosidase, aldose reductase) and obesity (pancreatic lipase), and protein glycation. Lauraceae extracts revealed significant inhibitory activities in all assays, altough with different ability between species. In general, P. indica showed the most promissing results. In the protein glycation assay, all analysed extracts displayed a stronger effect than a reference compound aminoguanidine (AMG). The in vitro anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and anti-glycation activities of analysed extracts showed correlation with their flavonols and flavan-3-ols (in particular, proanthocyanins) contents. These Lauraceae species have the capacity to assist in adjuvant therapy of type-2 diabetes and associated complications, through modulation of the activity of key metabolic enzymes and prevention of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation.Cereblon (CRBN) is a component of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that plays crucial roles in various cellular processes. However, no systematic studies on the expression and functions of CRBN in solid tumors have been conducted to date. Here, we analyzed CRBN expression and its clinical value using several bioinformatic databases. CRBN mRNA expression was downregulated in various cancer types compared to normal cells. Survival analysis demonstrated that overall survival was significantly positively correlated with CRBN expression in some cancer types including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), and skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM). CRBN expression was downregulated regardless of clinicopathological characteristics in LUAD and KIRC. Analysis of genes that are commonly correlated with CRBN expression among KIRC, LUAD, and SKCM samples elucidated the potential CRBN-associated mechanisms of cancer progression. Overall, this study revealed the prognostic value of CRBN and its potential associated mechanisms, which may facilitate the development of anti-cancer therapeutic agents.Cancer during pregnancy is rarely studied due to its low incidence (11000). However, as a result of different sociocultural and economic changes, women are postponing pregnancy, so the number of pregnant women with cancer has been increasing in recent years. The importance of studying cancer during pregnancy is not only based on maternal and foetal prognosis, but also on the evolutionary mechanisms of the cell biology of trophoblasts and neoplastic cells, which point out similarities between and suggest new fields for the study of cancer. Moreover, the magnitude of how cancer factors can affect trophoblastic cells, and vice versa, in altering the foetus's nutrition and health is still a subject to be understood. In this context, the objective of this narrative review was to show that some researchers point out the importance of supplementing branched-chain amino acids, especially leucine, in experimental models of pregnancy associated with women with cancer. A leucine-rich diet may be an interesting strategy to preserve physiological placenta metabolism for protecting the mother and foetus from the harmful effects of cancer during pregnancy.