Nanoneedles Induce Targeted siRNA Silencing of p16 in the Human Corneal Endothelium

Nanoneedles can target nucleic acid transfection to primary cells at tissue interfaces with high efficiency and minimal perturbation. The corneal endothelium is an ideal target for nanoneedle-mediated RNA interference therapy aimed at enhancing its proliferative capacity, necessary for tissue regeneration. This work develops a strategy for siRNA nanoninjection to the human corneal endothelium. Nanoneedles can deliver p16-targeting siRNA to primary human corneal endothelial cells in vitro without toxicity. The nanoinjection of siRNA induces p16 silencing and increases cell proliferation, as monitored by ki67 expression. Furthermore, siRNA nanoinjection targeting the human corneal endothelium is nontoxic ex vivo, and silences p16 in transfected cells. These data indicate that nanoinjection can support targeted RNA interference therapy for the treatment of endothelial corneal dysfunction

The endocannabinoid 2-AG controls skeletal muscle cell differentiation via CB1 receptor-dependent inhibition of Kv7 channels.

Little is known of the involvement of endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors in skeletal muscle cell differentiation. We report that, due to changes in the expression of genes involved in its metabolism, the levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are decreased both during myotube formation in vitro from murine C2C12 myoblasts and during mouse muscle growth in vivo. The endocannabinoid, as well as the CB1 agonist arachidonoyl-2-chloroethylamide, prevent myotube formation in a manner antagonized by CB1 knockdown and by CB1 antagonists, which, per se, instead stimulate differentiation. Importantly, 2-AG also inhibits differentiation of primary human satellite cells. Muscle fascicles from CB1 knockout embryos contain more muscle fibers, and postnatal mice show muscle fibers of an increased diameter relative to wild-type littermates. Inhibition of Kv7.4 channel activity, which plays a permissive role in myogenesis and depends on phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), underlies the effects of 2-AG. We find that CB1 stimulation reduces both total and Kv7.4-bound PIP2 levels in C2C12 cells and inhibits Kv7.4 currents in transfected CHO cells. We suggest that 2-AG is an endogenous repressor of myoblast differentiation via CB1-mediated inhibition of Kv7.4 channels

Asymmetric transmission and anomalous refraction in metal nanowires metasurface

Here we investigated the asymmetric transmission and the anomalous refraction introduced by a metasurface of bent gold nanowires. The refraction follows the generalized Snell's law that takes into account the resonant behavior of metallic nanostructures located at the interface between two dielectrics. Measurements performed in the linear optical regime reveal a large sensitivity to the subwavelength features of the gold nanostructures

Light absorption enhancement in thin film hydrgenated amorphus Si solar cells

In this paper, light absorption enhancement in thin film solar cell (SC) is reported and analyzed. The suggested design is based on a nanostructured pattern that increases the diffuse scattered component of radiation and hence the absorption through the active layer. An ion beam sputtering (lBS) approach is used to texture large areas of the glass substrate with high aspect-ratio ripples in order to increase light scattering. Then, thin film SC supported on the textured glass is simulated and analyzed using 3D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The suggested SC can offer an ultimate efficiency of 19.26% with short circuit current of 15.76 mA/cm2 with an enhancement of 31.435% over the SC without texturing surface

Discovery and Genomic Characterization of Noroviruses from a Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Domestic Cats in the US

Norovirus (NoV) RNA was detected in the stools of 6 out 14 (42.8%) 8–12-week-old cats with enteritis from a feline shelter, in New York State. Upon sequence analysis of the complete capsid, the six NoVs were found to be identical, suggesting the spread of a unique NoV strain in the shelter. The full-length genomic sequence (7839 nt) of one feline NoV, CU081210E/2010/US, was determined. In the capsid protein VP1 region, the virus displayed the highest amino acid identity to animal genogroup IV genotype 2 (GIV.2) NoVs: lion/Pistoia-387/06/IT (97.9%) and dog/Bari-170/07/IT (90.4%). These findings document the discovery of a novel feline calicivirus, different from vesiviruses, and extend the spectrum of NoV host range. Epidemiological studies using feline NoV-specific diagnostic tools and experimental infection of cats are required to understand whether NoVs have a pathogenic role in this species

Data trustworthiness and user reputation as indicators of VGI quality

ABSTRACTVolunteered geographic information (VGI) has entered a phase where there are both a substantial amount of crowdsourced information available and a big interest in using it by organizations. But the issue of deciding the quality of VGI without resorting to a comparison with authoritative data remains an open challenge. This article first formulates the problem of quality assessment of VGI data. Then presents a model to measure trustworthiness of information and reputation of contributors by analyzing geometric, qualitative, and semantic aspects of edits over time. An implementation of the model is running on a small data-set for a preliminary empirical validation. The results indicate that the computed trustworthiness provides a valid approximation of VGI quality

Distinct lineages of feline parvovirus associated with epizootic outbreaks in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates

Feline panleukopenia (FPL), a frequently fatal disease of cats, is caused by feline parvovirus (FPV) or canine parvovirus (CPV). We investigated simultaneous outbreaks of FPL between 2014 and 2018 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where FPL outbreaks had not been reported for several decades. Case data from 989 cats and clinical samples from additional 113 cats were obtained to determine the cause of the outbreaks and epidemiological factors involved. Most cats with FPL were shelter-housed, 9 to 10 weeks old at diagnosis, unvaccinated, had not completed a primary vaccination series or had received vaccinations noncompliant with current guidelines. Analysis of parvoviral VP2 sequence data confirmed that all FPL cases were caused by FPV and not CPV. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that each of these outbreaks was caused by a distinct FPV, with two virus lineages present in eastern Australia and virus movement between different geographical locations. Viruses from the UAE outbreak formed a lineage of unknown origin. FPV vaccine virus was detected in the New Zealand cases, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing the co-incidental shedding of vaccine virus in vaccinated cats. Inadequate vaccination coverage in shelter-housed cats was a common factor in all outbreaks, likely precipitating the multiple re-emergence of infection events

Possible human-to-dog transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Italy, 2020

We detected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in an otherwise healthy poodle living with 4 family members who had coronavirus disease. We observed antibodies in serum samples taken from the dog, indicating seroconversion. Full-length genome sequencing showed that the canine and human viruses were identical, suggesting human-to-animal transmission

influence of block copolymer feature size on reactive ion etching pattern transfer into silicon

A successful realisation of sub-20 nm features on silicon (Si) is becoming the focus of many technological studies, strongly influencing the future performance of modern integrated circuits. Although reactive ion etching (RIE), at both micrometric and nanometric scale has already been the target of many studies, a better understanding of the different mechanisms involved at sub-20 nm size etching is still required. In this work, we investigated the influence of the feature size on the etch rate of Si, performed by a cryogenic RIE process through cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-polymethylmethacrylate (PS-b-PMMA) diblock copolymer (DBC) masks with diameter ranging between 19–13 nm. A sensible decrease of the etch depth and etch rate was observed in the mask with the smallest feature size. For all the DBCs under investigation, we determined the process window useful for the correct transfer of the nanometric cylindrical pattern into a Si substrate. A structural and physicochemical investigation of the resulting nanostructured Si is reported in order to delineate the influence of various RIE pattern effects. Feature-size-dependent etch, or RIE-lag, is proved to significantly affect the obtained results