The defining feature of eukaryotic cells is the double lipid bilayer of the nuclear envelope (NE) that serves as a physical barrier separating the genome from the cytosol. Nuclear pore complexes ...(NPCs) are embedded in the NE to facilitate transport of proteins and other macromolecules into and out of the nucleus. In fungi and early embryos where the NE does not completely breakdown during mitosis, microtubule-organizing centers such as the spindle pole body (SPB) must also be inserted into the NE to facilitate organization of the mitotic spindle. Several recent papers have shed light on the mechanism by which SPB complexes are inserted into the NE. An unexpected link between the SPB and NPCs suggests that assembly of these NE complexes is tightly coordinated. We review the findings of these reports in light of our current knowledge of SPB, NPC and NE structure, assembly and function.
Oncological emergencies present in a multitude of manners-structural, metabolic, hematologic, etc. affecting multiple systems, often. Urgent institution of therapy is often required for a successful ...outcome. Occasionally, the treatment of one emergency can initiate a related or unrelated emergency, necessitating management of all the complications simultaneously. Superior vena cava obstruction (SVCO) is a medical emergency and most often manifests in patients with a malignant disease process requiring immediate diagnostic evaluation and therapy due to its’ life threatening presentation. The management of the SVCO is usually with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or intervention. In cases of large tumor burden, management of SVCO can trigger other complications. Tumor lysis syndrome is an oncologic emergency, which is characterized by a massive release of intracellular potassium, phosphate, and nucleic acid metabolites into the systemic circulation, which can be life-threatening. We present the case of a T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with superior vena cava syndrome, developing tumor lysis syndrome on instituting definitive chemotherapy in a young patient. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2021-0301-6 Full Text: PDF
Herein we report a facile transformation of hydroxylated cucurbitnuril (CBn, n = 6 and 7) to other functionality-conjugated CBns by nucleophilic substitution of the hydroxyl group with a wide ...range of nitriles and alcohols. The reaction proceeds efficiently via generation of a superelectrophilic carbocation on the CB framework from hydroxylated CBns under superacidic conditions. One of the resulting CBn derivatives with reactive functionality, monocarboxylated CB7, is efficiently conjugated to an enzyme (horseradish peroxidase, HRP) by amide coupling. This provides a CB7-conjugated functional biomaterial (CB7-HRP) that selectively detects proteins labeled with a guest, adamantylammonium (AdA), based on bioorthogonal high-affinity host–guest interactions between CB7 and AdA. We demonstrated the potential of overcoming the limitations in preparing reactive functional CBn derivatives, enabling the exploration of novel bioapplications of CBn-based host–guest chemistry with new CBn-conjugated functional materials.
•Novel conductive co-continuous thermoplastic elastomeric blend composite films were fabricated by wet mixing method.•Selective distribution of hybrid nanofillers of functionalized high aspect ratio ...filler and carbon black in EMA phase facilitates co-supportive dense interconnected conductive network.•Hybrid filler containing f-CNF based blend composites exhibit excellent EMI SE and thermal conductivity than that for hybrid filler containing f-CNT.•Maximum EMI SE obtained for composite films is −31 and −32.5 dB, respectively with 15 wt% of hybrid filler loading containing 50% of f-CNT or f-CNT.
The utilization of conductive hybrid carbonaceous fillers to fabricate highly efficient electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials has become a popular area of research interest recently. Here, we report the facile fabrication of lightweight thermoplastic elastomeric blend composite films by solution mixing technique, taking advantage of both the hybrid carbonic nanofillers (high aspect ratio carbon inclusion and conductive carbon black) and the co-continuous polystyrene (PS)/ethylene-co-methyl acrylate (EMA) blend. Combination of acid-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-CNT) and carbon nanofibers (f-CNF) with conductive Vulcan-XC 72 carbon black (VCB) aids in the more uniform dispersion of hybrid carbonaceous inclusion in this blend system. The selective location of hybrid nanofillers in EMA phase of binary polymer mix enhanced the electrical properties, thermal conductivity, and microwave shielding performance of the resultant blend composites by constructing a dense, co-supportive, double percolated conductive network throughout the blend. The effect of f-CNT or f-CNF concentration in hybrid composites on the above-mentioned properties of blend composites has been investigated in this work. The as-prepared PS/EMA/VCB/f-CNT and PS/EMA/VCB/f-CNF blend composite films exhibited a thermal conductivity of 0.81 and 0.83 W/m.K and absorption-dominated microwave shielding of -31 and -32.5 dB, respectively with 15 wt% hybrid filler loading containing 50 wt% of f-CNT or f-CNF. These conductive thermal management composite films could be excellent choices to mitigate EM pollution.
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Colonization by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans varies significantly, depending upon the pH and availability of oxygen. Because of our interest in extracellular molecules as potential ...quorum-sensing molecules, we examined the physiological conditions which regulate the production of the aromatic alcohols, i.e., phenethyl alcohol, tyrosol, and tryptophol. The production of these fusel oils has been well studied for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our data show that aromatic alcohol yields for C. albicans are determined by growth conditions. These conditions include the availability of aromatic amino acids, the pH, oxygen levels, and the presence of ammonium salts. For example, for wild-type C. albicans, tyrosol production varied 16-fold merely with the inclusion of tyrosine or ammonium salts in the growth medium. Aromatic alcohol production also depends on the transcription regulator Aro80p. Our results are consistent with aromatic alcohol production--aromatic transaminases (gene products for ARO8 and ARO9), aromatic decarboxylase (ARO10), and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)--via the fusel oil pathway. The expression of ARO8, ARO9, and ARO10 is also pH dependent. ARO8 and ARO9 were alkaline upregulated, while ARO10 was alkaline downregulated. The alkaline-dependent change in expression of ARO8 was Rim101 independent, while the expression of ARO9 was Rim101 dependent.
The budding yeast spindle pole body (SPB) is anchored in the nuclear envelope so that it can simultaneously nucleate both nuclear and cytoplasmic microtubules. During SPB duplication, the newly ...formed SPB is inserted into the nuclear membrane. The mechanism of SPB insertion is poorly understood but likely involves the action of integral membrane proteins to mediate changes in the nuclear envelope itself, such as fusion of the inner and outer nuclear membranes. Analysis of the functional domains of the budding yeast SUN protein and SPB component Mps3 revealed that most regions are not essential for growth or SPB duplication under wild-type conditions. However, a novel dominant allele in the P-loop region, MPS3-G186K, displays defects in multiple steps in SPB duplication, including SPB insertion, indicating a previously unknown role for Mps3 in this step of SPB assembly. Characterization of the MPS3-G186K mutant by electron microscopy revealed severe over-proliferation of the inner nuclear membrane, which could be rescued by altering the characteristics of the nuclear envelope using both chemical and genetic methods. Lipid profiling revealed that cells lacking MPS3 contain abnormal amounts of certain types of polar and neutral lipids, and deletion or mutation of MPS3 can suppress growth defects associated with inhibition of sterol biosynthesis, suggesting that Mps3 directly affects lipid homeostasis. Therefore, we propose that Mps3 facilitates insertion of SPBs in the nuclear membrane by modulating nuclear envelope composition.
The aim of this study was to translate and validate the European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer (EORTC) “Radiation Proctitis” (PRT-20) module in Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla ...languages. The EORTC PRT-20 was translated into Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla using EORTC guidelines. Two separate translators first translated the original questionnaire into the three regional languages, following which a reconciled forward translation was compiled. This reconciled version in each language was then back-translated into English by two other translators. This back-translated version was then compared with the original the EORTC questionnaire for correctness, and the preliminary questionnaires were formed in all three languages. The EORTC translation unit approved the questionnaires. The preliminary questionnaires were administered to 30 patients (10 for each language) diagnosed with rectal or anal canal cancer who had received pelvic radiotherapy and were at risk of developing PRT. None of the patients had seen the questionnaire before. After filling out the questionnaire, each patient was interviewed for difficulty in answering, confusion, understanding, or if any of the questions were upsetting and if patients would have asked the question differently. No changes were suggested for Marathi and Bangla translations. Two modifications were suggested in the Hindi translation, which was then retested in five patients and finalized. All the suggestions were incorporated into the preliminary questionnaires, which were sent back to the EORTC for final approval. After reviewing the entire report of pilot testing for the translated quality-of-life questionaire-PRT-20 in three languages, it was approved by the EORTC translation unit. The translated questionnaires were reliable, with Cronbach α values of 0.767, 0.799, and 0.898 for Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla, respectively. The Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla translations of PRT-20 have been approved by the EORTC and can be used in routine clinical practice.
•Novel liquid-liquid CCTPF-structures in an 11 mm ID tube are explored & characterized at seven flow-orientations.•Complex & time-varying interfacial distribution & attributes of the flow-structures ...are explored.•Objective signatures of flow-structures are extracted in terms of time-series signals.•Signals are parameterized, & the flow-structures are characterized in terms of signals’ NPPD plots & statistical parameters.•CI-based categorizer is developed, & the flow-structures are automatically categorized at each orientation.
Attempts are made to identify, characterize, and automatically categorize the liquid-liquid counter-current two-phase flow-structures in a circular-conduit of 11 mm diameter by varying the flow-orientation. Rigorous experimentations are performed for a wide range of superficial kerosene and water velocities at seven conduit-orientations. Some unique liquid-liquid counter-current two-phase flow-structures, not reported in the literature to date, are found in the present investigation. Interfacial distributions and the highly time-varying nonlinear attributes of the flow-structures corresponding to different combinations of the superficial water and kerosene velocities at each conduit-orientation are detected and recognized through high-resolution photography and high-speed videography. Objective descriptions of the flow-structures are accumulated in the form of time-series current and voltage signals using a differential-pressure-transmitter and in-house fabricated conductivity-probes, respectively. Statistical analyses are performed to parameterize the time-series repetitive objective signatures. The non-parametric probability distribution plot and statistical parameters extracted from the signals are found to be very effective in detecting and distinguishing the individual flow-structures. Flow-structures are parameterized using those statistical parameters. A computational intelligence-based categorization methodology is developed to automatically categorize the obtained flow-structures considering these statistical parameters as the inputs. A good agreement is found for each orientation between the flow-regime groups based on visual observation and those obtained through the categorization methodology. It simply establishes that the flow-structures are perfectly characterized by the statistical parameters extracted from their objective-signatures.
Metal core and dielectric shell nanoparticles (NPs) have garnered considerable attention for their multifaceted properties and extensive applications across diverse fields of nanoscience and ...nanotechnology. However, a literature gap exists regarding the impact of assembled metallic nanostar cores within a single shell, particularly concerning surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and electrochemical sensing. In this study, we have demonstrated the better performance of assemblies of gold nanostars (AuNSs) enclosed in single silica shell for SERS enhancement and electrocatalytic activity, particularly in the fields of ascorbic acid (AA) and glucose sensing. We have devised a method to isolate and passivate nanostar assemblies, ranging from 2 to 30 nanostars per assembly, with a functionalized silica (SiO2) shell, facilitating their preservation. The engineered thickness of the silica shell ensures unhindered optical measurements while elucidating the influence of multiple AuNS cores. Due to the formation of nanogaps and nanojunctions between AuNSs within assembly, we have achieved a maximum SERS enhancement factor (EF) of 1.416 × 1010 for the rhodamine 6G analyte. Utilizing assembled AuNS cores within a single silica shell, we have demonstrated AA (sensitivity of 5.278 × 10–5 μA μM–1 cm–2) and glucose (sensitivity of 7.519 × 10–4 μA μM–1 cm–2) sensing via a nonenzymatic electrochemical pathway.
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