catena-Poly[[[diaqua­thulium(III)]-μ-6-carboxy­nicotinato-μ-pyridine-2,5-di­carboxyl­ato] dihydrate]

The title compound, {[Tm(C7H3NO4)(C7H4NO4)(H2O)2]·2H2O}n, is isotypic with the analogous TbIII compound [Li et al. (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. E65, m410]. All interatomic distances and angles and the hydrogen-bond geometries are very similar for the two structures. The refined Flack parameter of 0.49 (2) suggests inversion twinning

PSN-PC: A Novel Antimicrobial and Anti-Biofilm Peptide from the Skin Secretion of Phyllomedusa-camba with Cytotoxicity on Human Lung Cancer Cell

Peptides derived from amphibian skin secretion are promising drug prototypes for combating widespread infection. In this study, a novel peptide belonging to the phylloseptin family of antimicrobial peptides was isolated from the skin secretion of the Phyllomedusa camba, namely phylloseptin-PC (PSN-PC). The biosynthetic precursor was obtained by molecular cloning and the mature peptide sequence was confirmed through tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragmentation sequencing in the skin secretion. The synthetic replicate exhibited a broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans at concentrations of 2, 2, 8, 32 and 2 µM, respectively. It also showed the capability of eliminating S. aureus biofilm with a minimal biofilm eradication concentration of 8 µM. The haemolysis of this peptide was not significant at low concentrations but had a considerable increase at high concentrations. Additionally, this peptide showed an anti-proliferation effect on the non-small cell lung cancer cell line (NCI-H157), with low cytotoxicity on the human microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC-1). The discovery of the novel peptide may provide useful clues for new drug discoveries

The construction of curriculum learning pattern of master of education: theoretical foundation and practical framework

The implementation and operation of the “Curriculum for Education” is an important medium and carrier for nurturing the in-depth learning literacy of postgraduates, especially the implementation and operation of the principle courses provide an important platform and guarantee for cultivating the principle thinking of M.Ed. Combined with the analysis of research data, this paper finds that (1) the learning pattern of M.Ed. courses has the characteristics and practical characteristics of openness, initiative and self-adaptability. (2) The practical framework for constructing the learning pattern of the M.Ed. programme consists of two modules that lay out progressive learning tasks that point to “academic competence in the curriculum” and “practical competence in teaching”. (3) Guiding M.Ed. students to participate in course evaluation and promoting the formation of M.Ed. learning experiences are the core mechanisms of M.Ed. course learning patterns in practice

Constraining Dark Energy From Splitting Angle Statistic of Strong Gravitational Lenses

Utilizing the CLASS statistical sample, we investigate the constraint of the splitting angle statistic of strong gravitational lenses(SGL) on the equation-of-state parameter $w=p/\rho$ of the dark energy in the flat cold dark matter cosmology. Through the comoving number density of dark halos described by Press-Schechter theory, dark energy affects the efficiency with which dark-matter concentrations produce strong lensing signals. The constraints on both constant $w$ and time-varying $w(z)=w_0+w_az/(1+z)$ from the SGL splitting angle statistic are consistently obtained by adopting a two model combined mechanism of dark halo density profile matched at the mass scale $M_c$. Our main observations are: (a) the resulting model parameter $M_c$ is found to be $M_c \sim 1.4$ for both constant $w$ and time-varying $w(z)$, which is larger than $M_c \sim 1$ obtained in literatures; (b) the fitting results for the constant $w$ are found to be $w =-0.89^{+0.49}_{-0.26}$ and $w =-0.94^{+0.57}_{-0.16}$ for the source redshift distributions of the Gaussian models $g(z_s)$ and $g^c(z_s)$ respectively, which are consistent with the $\Lambda \rm CDM$ at 95% C.L; (c) the time-varying $w(z)$ is found to be for $\sigma_8 = 0.74$: $(M_c; w_0, w_a)=(1.36; -0.92, -1.31)$ and $(M_c; w_0, w_a)=(1.38; -0.89, -1.21)$ for $g(z_s)$ and $g^c(z_s)$ respectively.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, references added, improved version to be published in Ap

A Combined Molecular Cloning and Mass Spectrometric Method to Identify, Characterize, and Design Frenatin Peptides from the Skin Secretion of Litoria infrafrenata

Amphibian skin secretions are unique sources of bioactive molecules, particularly bioactive peptides. In this study, the skin secretion of the white-lipped tree frog (Litoria infrafrenata) was obtained to identify peptides with putative therapeutic potential. By utilizing skin secretion-derived mRNA, a cDNA library was constructed, a frenatin gene was cloned and its encoded peptides were deduced and confirmed using RP-HPLC, MALDI-TOF and MS/MS. The deduced peptides were identified as frenatin 4.1 (GFLEKLKTGAKDFASAFVNSIKGT) and a post-translationally modified peptide, frenatin 4.2 (GFLEKLKTGAKDFASAFVNSIK.NH2). Antimicrobial activity of the peptides was assessed by determining their minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) using standard model microorganisms. Through studying structure–activity relationships, analogues of the two peptides were designed, resulting in synthesis of frenatin 4.1a (GFLEKLKKGAKDFASALVNSIKGT) and frenatin 4.2a (GFLLKLKLGAKLFASAFVNSIK.NH2). Both analogues exhibited improved antimicrobial activities, especially frenatin 4.2a, which displayed significant enhancement of broad spectrum antimicrobial efficiency. The peptide modifications applied in this study, may provide new ideas for the generation of leads for the design of antimicrobial peptides with therapeutic applications

A pilot study on acute inflammation and cancer: a new balance between IFN-γ and TGF-β in melanoma

Recent data have redefined the concept of inflammation as a critical component of tumor progression. However, there has been little development on cases where inflammation on or near a wound and a tumor exist simultaneously. Therefore, this pilot study aims to observe the impact of a wound on a tumor, to build a new mouse tumor model with a manufactured surgical wound representing acute inflammation, and to evaluate the relationship between acute inflammation or wound healing and the process of tumor growth. We focus on the two phases that are present when acute inflammation influences tumor. In the early phase, inhibitory effects are present. The process that produces these effects is the functional reaction of IFN-γ secretions from a wound inflammation. In the latter phase, the inhibited tumor is made resistant to IFN-γ through the release of TGF-β to balance the inflammatory factor effect on the tumor cells. A pair of cytokines IFN-γ/TGF-β established a new balance to protect the tumor from the interference effect of the inflammation. The tumor was made resistant to IFN-γ through the release of TGF-β to balance the inflammatory effect on the tumor cells. This balance mechanism that occurred in the tumor cells increased proliferation and invasion. In vitro and in vivo experiments have confirmed a new view of clinical surgery that will provide more detailed information on the evaluation of tumors after surgery. This study also provides a better understanding of the relationship between tumor and inflammation, as well as tumor cell attacks on inflammatory factors

Quasi ALE finite element method for nonlinear water waves

This paper presents a newly developed quasi arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element method (QALE-FEM) for simulating water waves based on fully nonlinear potential theory. The main difference of this method from the conventional finite element method developed by one of authors of this paper and others (see, e.g., [11] and [22]) is that the complex mesh is generated only once at the beginning and is moved at all other time steps in order to conform to the motion of the free surface and structures. This feature allows one to use an unstructured mesh with any degree of complexity without the need of regenerating it every time step, which is generally inevitable and very costly. Due to this feature, the QALE-FEM has high potential in enhancing computational efficiency when applied to problems associated with the complex interaction between large steep waves and structures since the use of an unstructured mesh in such a case is likely to be necessary. To achieve overall high efficiency, the numerical techniques involved in the QALE-FEM are developed, including the method to move interior nodes, technique to re-distribute the nodes on the free surface, scheme to calculate velocities and so on. The model is validated by water waves generated by a wavemaker in a tank and the interaction between water waves and periodic bars on the bed of tank. Satisfactory agreement is achieved with analytical solutions, experimental data and numerical results from other methods

Construction and Application of Standardized Postoperative Pain-Management Procedure for Patients With Perianal Abscess: A Retrospective Study

ObjectiveThe present study explored the construction and application of a standardized postoperative pain-management procedure for patients with perianal abscess.MethodsTwo study groups (the observation group and the intervention group) were established retrospectively. The observation group comprised 46 patients with perianal abscess who enrolled in this study between June 2019 and June 2020. The intervention group comprised 48 patients who enrolled in the study between July 2020 and July 2021. All patients were enrolled using the convenience sampling method. A pain-management team was established, and standardized procedure management was implemented in the intervention group, while routine pain management was implemented in the observation group. Indices related to the patients' postoperative pain-control satisfaction and rehabilitation were compared between the two groups.ResultsThe patients' pain-control satisfaction, wound edema score, edema disappearance time, urinary retention, and defecation difficulty following intervention were better in the intervention group than in the observation group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05 for all).ConclusionThe implementation of the standardized postoperative pain-management procedure in patients with perianal abscess can effectively improve the patient's level of pain and satisfaction and promote rehabilitation

A Novel Bradykinin-Related Peptide, RVA-Thr6-BK, from the Skin Secretion of the Hejiang Frog; Ordorrana hejiangensis: Effects of Mammalian Isolated Smooth Muscle

A novel naturally-occurring bradykinin-related peptide (BRP) with an N-terminal extension, named RVA-Thr6-Bradykinin (RVA-Thr6-BK), was here isolated and identified from the cutaneous secretion of Odorrana hejiangensis (O. hejiangensis). Thereafter, in order to evaluate the difference in myotropic actions, a leucine site-substitution variant from Amolops wuyiensis skin secretion, RVA-Leu1, Thr6-BK, was chemically synthesized. Myotropic studies indicated that single-site arginine (R) replacement by leucine (L) at position-4 from the N-terminus, altered the action of RVA-Thr6-BK from an agonist to an antagonist of BK actions on rat ileum smooth muscle. Additionally, both BK N-terminal extended derivatives (RVA-Thr6-BK and RVA-Leu1, Thr6-BK) exerted identical myotropic actions to BK, such as increasing the frequency of contraction, contracting and relaxing the rat uterus, bladder and artery preparations, respectively