An efficient protocol for the construction of tetracyclic fused quinolines (pyrazole-fused azepino-, azocino-, and azonino[3,2-b]quinolinones) via consecutive Friedel–Crafts and Beckmann reactions has been developed. The key steps in the syntheses of these new molecular scaffolds involve acid-mediated cyclization of 2-(pyrazol-3-yl)quinoline based carboxylic acids 6a–c, 8, and 12 to ketones 13a–e,

A mesoscale coarse-grained model of the conjugated polymer poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV) in implicit solvent is developed. The model is parametrized to reproduce the local structure and dynamics of an atomistic simulation model and accounts for the effects of solvent quality and saturation chemical defects on the polymer structure. Polymers with defect concentrations

Cyanation of aryl perfluorooctylsulfonates with potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) catalyzed by an efficient catalyst system comprising Pd(OAc)2, CuI and PPh3 or 1,12-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene (dppf) is described.

The isolation and structure elucidation of seven new oxygenated terpenoids and eight known terpene metabolites from marine invertebrates collected at the Inner Gneerings Reef, South East Queensland, is discussed. Investigation of the sponge Coscinoderma matthewsi yielded an epoxylactone derivative (1) of the known furanoterpene tetradehydrofurospongin-1 (2). A chemical investigation of the dissected

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Dermatomyositis (DM) is frequently complicated by interstitial lung disease (ILD), which increases mortality. This study aims to elucidate the clinical significance of nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) on assessing the disease activity and prognosis of DM-ILD. We compared the NVC findings between anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (anti-MDA5) antibody-positive and anti-aminoacyl tRNA

Weight loss for obese populations has been a challenging subject. There are numerous mobile applications to address weight loss, but the low retention rate is a barrier for the intervention. This is a retrospective study, aiming to investigate the effectiveness of financial incentives to achieve weight loss via a monetary reimbursement model on a smartphone application. Participants voluntarily purchased

Optic nerve injury induces optic nerve degeneration and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death that lead to visual disturbance. In this study, we examined if topical ripasudil has therapeutic potential in adult mice after optic nerve crush (ONC). Topical ripasudil suppressed ONC-induced phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and ameliorated RGC death. In addition, topical ripasudil significantly

This work compares the electrochemical windows of polished and unpolished boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes with hydrogen and oxygen terminations at a series of temperatures up to 125 °C. The experiment was run at 5 bar pressure to avoid complications due to bubble formation. An alternative method for determining the electrochemical window is compared to the most commonly used method, which defines

Wide-angle optical systems play a vital role in imaging applications and have been researched for many years. In traditional lenses, attaining a wide field of view (FOV) by using a single optical component is difficult because these lenses have crucial aberrations. In this study, we developed a wide-angle metalens with a numerical aperture of 0.25 that provided a diffraction-limited FOV of over 170°

Rotator cuff tear (RCT) is one of the most common shoulder injuries. When diagnosing RCT, skilled orthopedists visually interpret magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan data. For automated and accurate diagnosis of RCT, we propose a full 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) based method using deep learning. This 3D CNN automatically diagnoses the presence or absence of an RCT, classifies the tear size

Disproportionate muscle atrophy is a distinct phenomenon in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); however, preferentially affected leg muscles remain unknown. We aimed to identify this split-leg phenomenon in ALS and determine its pathophysiology. Patients with ALS (n = 143), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA, n = 36), and age-matched healthy controls (HC, n = 53) were retrospectively identified from

A consequence of a complete spinal cord injury (SCI) is the loss of gait capacity. Wearable exoskeletons for the lower extremity enable household and community ambulation in people with SCI. This study assessed the amount, purpose, and location of exoskeleton use in the home and community environment, without any restrictions. The number of steps taken was read from the exoskeleton software. Participants

In patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the effects of antifibrotic agents on the prognosis remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of antifibrotic treatment on the risks of mortality, hospitalisation, and acute exacerbation in real-world patients with IPF. A total of 1213 IPF patients (biopsy-proven cases: 405) were included in this retrospective study. Propensity

An understanding of immunological mechanisms in kidney diseases has advanced using mouse kidneys. However, the profiling of immune cell subsets in human kidneys remains undetermined, particularly compared with mouse kidneys. Normal human kidneys were obtained from radically nephrectomised patients with urogenital malignancy (n = 15). Subsequently, human kidney immune cell subsets were analysed using

The incidence of anastomotic leakage after esophagectomy remains around 10%. It was previously reported that PDSII rapidly loses tensile strength at pH 1.0 and pH 8.5. By contrast, LACLON degradation is reportedly insensitive to pH. We therefore compared LACLON with PDSII for esophago-gastric conduit, layer-to-layer, handsewn anastomosis. Between January 2016 and January 2020, 90 patients who received

The authors examine study participants who have Type 2 diabetes to determine whether cognition affects glucose levels in contrast to widely held suppositions. Thirty participants who have type 2 diabetes consume beverages that have identical ingredients but have deceptive nutrition facts labels. Blood glucose levels measured four times before and after beverage consumption show that blood glucose levels

In the eyeblink conditioning paradigm, cerebellar Purkinje cells learn to respond to the conditional stimulus with an adaptively timed pause in its spontaneous firing. Evidence suggests that the pause is elicited by glutamate released from parallel fibers and acting on metabotropic receptors (mGluR7) which initiates a delayed-onset suppression of firing. We suggested that G protein activation of hyperpolarizing

Nickel oxide (NiO) films cover numerous electronic applications, including transparent conducting oxides and hole transport layer, because of its high transparency and wide band gap. A sparking discharge is a new and unique method for the deposition of NiO films due to non-complex operation and non-requirement of a vacuum atmosphere. Unfortunately, NiO films by the sparking method display a porous

Abundance profiling via 16S rRNA targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) is a common procedure to characterize mixtures of prokaryotic populations inhabiting an environment. Depending on the variable region/s addressed, different maps can be obtained due to their different information content. In this work, we focussed on wastewater microbial communities and we compared several recently developed

Incorporating optical cavities in ion traps is becoming increasingly important in the development of photonic quantum networks. However, the presence of the cavity can hamper efficient laser cooling of ions because of geometric constraints that the cavity imposes and an unfavourable Purcell effect that can modify the cooling dynamics substantially. On the other hand the coupling of the ion to the cavity

Lung disease is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The onset of lung involvement in RA is not well known. The objective is to describe the features and evolution of lung involvement in early RA, its relationship with disease activity parameters, smoking and treatments. Consecutive patients with early RA without respiratory symptoms were included and tracked for 5 years. Lung assessment

A corrosion-resistant non-crystalline coating was fabricated by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) on Q235 low carbon steel for ship pipes. The distribution and composition of chemical elements and phases of PEO coatings were analyzed by an orthogonal experiment, and the formation mechanism of PEO coatings was discussed. The corrosion current densities and corrosion potentials were measured. The results

The Younger Dryas (YD) is recognized as a cool period that began and ended abruptly during a time of general warming at the end of the last glacial. New multi-proxy data from a sediment gravity core from Storfjordrenna (western Barents Sea, 253 m water depth) reveals that the onset of the YD occurred as a single short-lived dramatic environment deterioration, whereas the subsequent warming was oscillatory

Phase shifting metasurfaces typically consist of an ordered metallic geometry that is patterned onto a dielectric substrate and incorporate active devices or materials that enable dynamic tuning. Existing methods at mm-wave and submillimeter bands typically suffer from high losses, which are predominantly produced by the inherent limitations of the tuning elements or materials. This report presents

The purpose of this work is to present a body size and tube voltage dependent correction scheme for the Hounsfield Unit, HU, in medical X-ray Computed Tomography imaging. Boltzmann photon transport equation was employed to study X-ray interaction with bulk water in CT imaging. Experimentally measured X-ray output in body of phantoms and attenuation cross sections of water were employed in the derivation

We explore the dynamics of a group of unconnected chaotic relaxation oscillators realized by mercury beating heart systems, coupled to a markedly different common external chaotic system realized by an electronic circuit. Counter-intuitively, we find that this single dissimilar chaotic oscillator manages to effectively steer the group of oscillators on to steady states, when the coupling is sufficiently

Enumeration of very small quantities is a common task that we perform everyday. Much research has highlighted that in these conditions humans display fast, near errorless performance, a phenomenon dubbed subitizing. It has been suggested that this regime has a pivotal role in numerosity perception. Here we asked if this system can process multiple sets of items in parallel. At odds with what happens

Hyperuricemia is prevalent throughout the world. However, a well-designed large-scale epidemiological investigation of hyperuricemia in southwestern China is lacking. A regional representative sample of 10,141 participants were included using multistage, stratified sampling in Chengdu and Chongqing from September 2013 to March 2014. Hyperuricemia was defined as the self-reported of the doctor's diagnosis

There are conflicting hypotheses regarding the initial pathogenesis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). One hypothesis characterizes it as inflammation of the median nerve caused by compression, while another hypothesis characterizes CTS as non-inflammatory fibrosis of the subsynovial connective tissue (SSCT). This study aimed to investigate the differences in the ultrasonography parameters before and

1–2% of pregnancies are ectopic, the majority implanting in the Fallopian tube. A single, systemic dose of methotrexate, a DNA-synthesis (S phase) inhibitor, has been used since 1991 for outpatient treatment of women with stable EP. However, methotrexate has limited clinical and cost effectiveness, restricting its use to 25–30% of these women. There is an unmet need for better medical treatment for

This study investigated the association between the duration of pharmacotherapy treatment for depression, or discontinuation from treatment, and work functioning impairment. This was a retrospective cohort study examining 30,409 workers. Work functioning impairment was assessed using a questionnaire, and treatment status was assessed using medical claims data. Odds ratios (ORs) of workers with severe

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of perinatal asphyxia and is associated with poorer short-term and long-term outcomes. This retrospective study describes the incidence of AKI in asphyxiated neonates who have received therapeutic hypothermia using the proposed modified Kidney Diseases: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition and investigates clinical markers that would allow

Most patients needing diabetic tractional retinal detachment (TRD) surgery are working-age adults that drive and participate in other vision-dependent activities of daily living. We sought to determine the proportion of patients that achieve functional visual acuity (VA) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of ‘low vision’ (≤ 20/80) and US driving standards (≥ 20/40) after vitrectomy

The use of microwells is popular for a wide range of applications due to its’ simplicity. However, the seeding of conventional microwells, which are closed at the bottom, is restricted to gravitational sedimentation for cell or particle deposition and therefore require lengthy settling times to maximize well occupancy. The addition of microfluidics to the capture process has accelerated cell or particle

An increasing number of studies have indicated that red blood cell distribution width (RDW) may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of various malignancies. However, to date, data on the association of RDW with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unclear. Our present study aimed to explore the value of RDW in NSCLC patients. A total of 338 NSCLC patients, 109 small cell lung cancer

Ozone (O3) is a highly potent and reactive air pollutant. It has been linked to acute and chronic respiratory diseases in humans by inducing inflammation. Our studies have found evidence that 0.05 ppm of O3, within the threshold of air quality standards, is capable of inducing acute lung injury. This study was undertaken to examine O3-induced lung damage using [18F]F-FDG (2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose)

The adult K/BxN transgenic mouse develops spontaneous autoimmune arthritis with joint remodeling and profound bone loss. We report that both males and females display a severe sustained tactile allodynia which is reduced by gabapentin but not the potent cyclooxygenase inhibitor ketorolac. In dorsal horn, males and females show increased GFAP+ astrocytic cells; however, only males demonstrate an increase

The benefits of plant–microbe interactions have been exploited extensively for nutrient removal. Radial oxygen loss in aquatic macrophytes potentially promotes nitrification and accelerates nitrogen removal through coupled nitrification–denitrification process. Nitrification is likely the limiting activity for an effective nitrogen removal in wetlands. In this work, we have quantified the effect of

The purpose of this study was to determine whether (1) sodium nitrate (SN) treatment progressed or alleviated doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cachexia and muscle wasting; and (2) if a more-clinically relevant low-dose metronomic (LDM) DOX treatment regimen compared to the high dosage bolus commonly used in animal research, was sufficient to induce cachexia in mice. Six-week old male Balb/C mice (n = 16)

Bronchial diseases are characterised by the weak efficiency of mucus transport through the lower airways, leading in some cases to the muco-obstruction of bronchi. It has been hypothesised that this loss of clearance results from alterations in the mucus rheology, which are reflected in sputum samples collected from patients, making sputum rheology a possible biophysical marker of these diseases and

Enzymatic degradation of vegetal biomass offers versatile procedures to improve the production of alternative fuels and other biomass-based products. Here we present the three-dimensional structure of a xylanase from Nectria haematococca (NhGH11) at 1.0 Å resolution and its functional properties. The atomic resolution structure provides details and insights about the complex hydrogen bonding network

Juvenile bone growth is well described (physiological and anatomical) but there are still lacks of knowledge on intrinsic material properties. Our group has already published, on different samples, several studies on the assessment of intrinsic material properties of juvenile bone compared to material properties of adult bone. The purpose of this study was finally to combine different experimental

Cachexia is a progressive muscle wasting disease that contributes to death in a wide range of chronic diseases. Currently, the cachexia field lacks animal models that recapitulate the long-term kinetics of clinical disease, which would provide insight into the pathophysiology of chronic cachexia and a tool to test therapeutics for disease reversal. Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite

Tailoring the photoluminescence (PL) properties in two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) crystals using external factors is critical for its use in valleytronic, nanophotonic and optoelectronic applications. Although significant effort has been devoted towards enhancing or manipulating the excitonic emission in MoS2 monolayers, the excitonic emission in few-layers MoS2 has been largely unexplored

Determining the cellular content of the nervous system in terms of cell types and the rules of their connectivity represents a fundamental challenge to the neurosciences. The recent advent of high-throughput techniques, such as single-cell RNA-sequencing has allowed for greater resolution in the identification of cell types and/or states. Although most of the current neuronal classification schemes

Babesia microti, an emerging human pathogen, is primarily transmitted through a bite of an infected tick and blood transfusions in human. Stable transfection technique has been reported in many protozoan parasites over the past few years. However, in vivo transient and stable transfection method has not been established for Babesia microti. Here, for the first time, we present a method of transient

Recent studies have reported that high mean corpuscular volume (MCV) might be associated with mortality in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the question of whether a high MCV confers a risk for mortality in Japanese patients remains unclear. We conducted a longitudinal analysis of a cohort of 8571 patients using data derived from the Japan Dialysis Outcomes and Practice

Several blood-based age prediction models have been developed using less than a dozen to more than a hundred DNA methylation biomarkers. Only one model (Z-P1) based on pyrosequencing has been developed using DNA methylation of a single locus located in the ELOVL2 promoter, which is considered as one of the best age-prediction biomarker. Although multi-locus models generally present better performances

RNA-Seq expression analysis currently relies primarily upon exon expression data. The recognized role of introns during translation, and the presence of substantial RNA-Seq counts attributable to introns, provide the rationale for the simultaneous consideration of both exon and intron data. We describe here a method for the coordinated analysis of exon and intron data by investigating their relationship

The early diagnosis and monitoring of cancers are key factors in effective cancer treatment. Particularly, the separation of biomolecules is an essential step for both diagnostic and analytical purposes. However, the current techniques used to isolate biomolecules are intensive, laborious, and require multiple instruments as well as repeated sample preparations to separate each biomolecule. Thus, an

Food waste is a major constituent in municipal solid wastes and its accumulation or disposal of in landfills is problematic, causing environmental issues. Herein, a techno-economic study is carried out on the potential of biogas production from different types of food waste generated locally. The biogas production tests were at two-time sets; 24-h and 21-day intervals and results showed a good correlation