Effectiveness of gold nanoparticles in prevention and treatment of oral mucositis in animal models: a systematic review

Background: Oral mucositis remains a significant complication during cancer therapy with no effective treatment. Gold nanoparticles offer anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties with low toxicity. This study systematically reviews the literature assessing gold nanoparticles in the management of oral mucositis in animal models. Methods: A literature search was undertaken using MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, using the format for Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation. Prior to the review, the protocol was registered in the systematic review register, PROSPERO (registration no. CRD42021272169). Outcome measures included ulceration, histopathological scores, inflammatory mediators, microbial growth, and pain. Study quality was analysed by SYRCLE risk-of-bias tool. Results: Only one study met the inclusion criteria, documenting reduction in ulceration, inflammatory, and oxidative biomarkers. Exposure to AuNPs prevented inflammatory response induced by 5-fluorouracil in oral mucosa of hamsters. However, a high risk of bias necessitates further research. Conclusion: This review identifies a potential therapeutic strategy for prevention and management of oral mucositis. It also provides future direction for gold nanoparticle research in oral mucositis; however, there is lack of sufficient evidence to derive any conclusion. Research with standardized parameters including nanoparticle size, capping agent, surface charge, and appropriate oral mucositis animal models will establish risk–benefit balance and margin of safety for therapeutic use of gold nanoparticles for oral mucositis

Energy Savings Resulting from Shading Devices on Single-Family Residences in Austin, Texas

Potential annual energy savings resulting from window shading devices on three prototypical Austin, Texas, single-family residences were computed in this study. Savings were calculated for interior (shades, blinds, draperies, window film, and tinted windows) and exterior (solar screens, awnings, overhangs, and the effects of recessed windows and vegetation) shading devices. The analysis was conducted with the DOE-2 building energy analysis computer program. Nominal baseline cases (single glazing, gas heating, and nominal shading from eaves and neighboring buildings) were run for each prototype. Selected baseline variants (double glazing, all electric, and no eaves or neighbor shading) were run to test parameter sensitivity. Results are reported in terms of the annual heating and cooling energy use and energy cost, with each device in place, as compared to the baseline cases. The devices are ranked in term of energy savings and energy coat savings. Another significant result is the multiple-regression correlation of annual heating and cooling energy savings with Shading Coefficient and U-value that generalizes the performance of the shading devices

Social Value Orientation, Expectations, and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas:A Meta-analysis

Interdependent situations are pervasive in human life. In these situations, it is essential to form expectations about the others' behaviour to adapt one's own behaviour to increase mutual outcomes and avoid exploitation. Social value orientation, which describes the dispositional weights individuals attach to their own and to another person's outcome, predicts these expectations of cooperation in social dilemmas—an interdependent situation involving a conflict of interests. Yet, scientific evidence is inconclusive about the exact differences in expectations between prosocials, individualists, and competitors. The present meta-analytic results show that, relative to proselfs (individualists and competitors), prosocials expect more cooperation from others in social dilemmas, whereas individualists and competitors do not significantly differ in their expectations. The importance of these expectations in the decision process is further highlighted by the finding that they partially mediate the well-established relation between social value orientation and cooperative behaviour in social dilemmas. In fact, even proselfs are more likely to cooperate when they expect their partner to cooperate

Enhanced expression of codon optimized Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis antigens in Lactobacillus salivarius

It is well documented that open reading frames containing high GC content show poor expression in A+T rich hosts. Specifically, G+C-rich codon usage is a limiting factor in heterologous expression of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) proteins using Lactobacillus salivarius. However, re-engineering opening reading frames through synonymous substitutions can offset codon bias and greatly enhance MAP protein production in this host. In this report, we demonstrate that codon-usage manipulation of MAP2121c can enhance the heterologous expression of the major membrane protein (MMP), analogous to the form in which it is produced natively by MAP bacilli. When heterologously over-expressed, antigenic determinants were preserved in synthetic MMP proteins as shown by monoclonal antibody mediated ELISA. Moreover, MMP is a membrane protein in MAP, which is also targeted to the cellular surface of recombinant L. salivarius at levels comparable to MAP. Additionally, we previously engineered MAP3733c (encoding MptD) and show herein that MptD displays the tendency to associate with the cytoplasmic membrane boundary under confocal microscopy and the intracellularly accumulated protein selectively adheres to the MptD-specific bacteriophage fMptD. This work demonstrates there is potential for L. salivarius as a viable antigen delivery vehicle for MAP, which may provide an effective mucosal vaccine against Johne’s disease

Switching between local and global aromaticity in a conjugated macrocycle for high-performance organic sodium-ion battery anodes

Aromatic organic compounds can be used as electrode materials in rechargeable batteries and are expected to advance the development of both anode and cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, most aromatic organic compounds assessed as anode materials in SIBs to date exhibit significant degradation issues under fast-charge/discharge conditions and unsatisfying long-term cycling performance. Now, a molecular design concept is presented for improving the stability of organic compounds for battery electrodes. The molecular design of the investigated compound, [2.2.2.2]paracyclophane-1,9,17,25-tetraene (PCT), can stabilize the neutral state by local aromaticity and the doubly reduced state by global aromaticity, resulting in an anode material with extraordinarily stable cycling performance and outstanding performance under fast-charge/discharge conditions, demonstrating an exciting new path for the development of electrode materials for SIBs and other types of batteries

Human organoid biofilm model for assessing antibiofilm activity of novel agents

Bacterial biofilms cause 65% of all human infections and are highly resistant to antibiotic therapy but lack specific treatments. To provide a human organoid model for studying host-microbe interplay and enabling screening for novel antibiofilm agents, a human epidermis organoid model with robust methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) USA300 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm was developed. Treatment of 1-day and 3-day MRSA and PAO1 biofilms with antibiofilm peptide DJK-5 significantly and substantially reduced the bacterial burden. This model enabled the screening of synthetic host defense peptides, revealing their superior antibiofilm activity against MRSA compared to the antibiotic mupirocin. The model was extended to evaluate thermally wounded skin infected with MRSA biofilms resulting in increased bacterial load, cytotoxicity, and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels that were all reduced upon treatment with DJK-5. Combination treatment of DJK-5 with an anti-inflammatory peptide, 1002, further reduced cytotoxicity and skin inflammation.Immunogenetics and cellular immunology of bacterial infectious disease

Определение области нестабильных параметров системы микрогравитации, гарантирующих допустимую степень устойчивости

На основании найденных значений интервалов коэффициентов характеристического полинома и их зависимостей от нестабильных параметров составляется система неравенств, решение которой дает границы искомой области.Based on the found values of the intervals of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial and their dependences on unstable parameters, a system of inequalities is drawn up, the solution of which gives the boundaries of the desired region

Social Value Orientation, Expectations, and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas:A Meta-analysis

Interdependent situations are pervasive in human life. In these situations, it is essential to form expectations about the others’ behaviour to adapt one’s own behaviour to increase mutual outcomes and avoid exploitation. Social value orientation, which describes the dispositional weights individuals attach to their own and to another person’s outcome, predicts these expectations of cooperation in social dilemmas—an interdependent situation involving a conflict of interests. Yet, scientific evidence is inconclusive about the exact differences in expectations between prosocials, individualists, and competitors. The present meta-analytic results show that, relative to proselfs (individualists and competitors), prosocials expect more cooperation from others in social dilemmas, whereas individualists and competitors do not significantly differ in their expectations. The importance of these expectations in the decision process is further highlighted by the finding that they partially mediate the well-established relation between social value orientation and cooperative behaviour in social dilemmas. In fact, even proselfs are more likely to cooperate when they expect their partner to cooperate

Sex differences in the Simon task help to interpret sex differences in selective attention.

In the last decade, a number of studies have reported sex differences in selective attention, but a unified explanation for these effects is still missing. This study aims to better understand these differences and put them in an evolutionary psychological context. 418 adult participants performed a computer-based Simon task, in which they responded to the direction of a left or right pointing arrow appearing left or right from a fixation point. Women were more strongly influenced by task-irrelevant spatial information than men (i.e., the Simon effect was larger in women, Cohen's d = 0.39). Further, the analysis of sex differences in behavioral adjustment to errors revealed that women slow down more than men following mistakes (d = 0.53). Based on the combined results of previous studies and the current data, it is proposed that sex differences in selective attention are caused by underlying sex differences in core abilities, such as spatial or verbal cognition