In situ redox reactions facilitate the assembly of a mixed-valence metal-organic nanocapsule

C-alkylpyrogallol[4]arenes (PgCs) have been studied for their ability to form metal-organic nanocapsules (MONCs) through coordination to appropriate metal ions. Here we present the synthesis and characterization of an MnII/MnIII-seamed MONC in addition to its electrochemical and magnetic behavior. This MONC assembles from 24 manganese ions and 6 PgCs, while an additional metal ion is located on the capsule interior, anchored through the introduction of bridging nitrite ions. The latter originate from an in situ redox reaction that occurs during the self-assembly process, thus representing a new route to otherwise unobtainable nanocapsules

A new direct detection electron scattering experiment to search for the X17 particle

A new electron scattering experiment (E12-21-003) to verify and understand the nature of hidden sector particles, with particular emphasis on the so-called X17 particle, has been approved at Jefferson Lab. The search for these particles is motivated by new hidden sector models introduced to account for a variety of experimental and observational puzzles: excess in $e^+e^-$ pairs observed in multiple nuclear transitions, the 4.2$\sigma$ disagreement between experiments and the standard model prediction for the muon anomalous magnetic moment, and the small-scale structure puzzle in cosmological simulations. The aforementioned X17 particle has been hypothesized to account for the excess in $e^+e^-$ pairs observed from the $^8$Be M1, $^4$He M0, and, most recently, $^{12}$C E1 nuclear transitions to their ground states observed by the ATOMKI group. This experiment will use a high resolution electromagnetic calorimeter to search for or set new limits on the production rate of the X17 and other hidden sector particles in the $3 - 60$ MeV mass range via their $e^+e^-$ decay (or $\gamma\gamma$ decay with limited tracking). In these models, the $1 - 100$ MeV mass range is particularly well-motivated and the lower part of this range still remains unexplored. Our proposed direct detection experiment will use a magnetic-spectrometer-free setup (the PRad apparatus) to detect all three final state particles in the visible decay of a hidden sector particle for an effective control of the background and will cover the proposed mass range in a single setting. The use of the well-demonstrated PRad setup allows for an essentially ready-to-run and uniquely cost-effective search for hidden sector particles in the $3 - 60$ MeV mass range with a sensitivity of 8.9$\times$10$^{-8}$ - 5.8$\times$10$^{-9}$ to $\epsilon^2$, the square of the kinetic mixing interaction constant between hidden and visible sectors.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2108.1327

Fusariosis in haematological malignancy – the skin is the clue… Experiences from the National Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka: a case report

We present two patients with haematological malignancies who developed skin lesions while neutropaenic and were subsequently diagnosed as having fusariosis. Although fusariosis is not as common as other fungal infections such as aspergillosis and candidiasis, it has to be considered in the diagnosis of immunocompromised patients who present with skin manifestations. Awareness of fusariosis, and early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is essential to reduce mortality. </p

Structure-Based Exploration and Exploitation of the S4 Subsite of Norovirus 3CL Protease in the Design of Potent and Permeable Inhibitors

Human noroviruses are the primary cause of epidemic and sporadic acute gastroenteritis. The worldwide high morbidity and mortality associated with norovirus infections, particularly among the elderly, immunocompromised patients and children, constitute a serious public health concern. There are currently no approved human vaccines or norovirus-specific small-molecule therapeutics or prophylactics. Norovirus 3CL protease has recently emerged as a potential therapeutic target for the development of anti-norovirus agents. We hypothesized that the S4 subsite of the enzyme may provide an effective means of designing potent and cell permeable inhibitors of the enzyme. We report herein the structure-guided exploration and exploitation of the S4 subsite of norovirus 3CL protease in the design and synthesis of effective inhibitors of the protease

HIVToolbox, an Integrated Web Application for Investigating HIV

Many bioinformatic databases and applications focus on a limited domain of knowledge federating links to information in other databases. This segregated data structure likely limits our ability to investigate and understand complex biological systems. To facilitate research, therefore, we have built HIVToolbox, which integrates much of the knowledge about HIV proteins and allows virologists and structural biologists to access sequence, structure, and functional relationships in an intuitive web application. HIV-1 integrase protein was used as a case study to show the utility of this application. We show how data integration facilitates identification of new questions and hypotheses much more rapid and convenient than current approaches using isolated repositories. Several new hypotheses for integrase were created as an example, and we experimentally confirmed a predicted CK2 phosphorylation site. Weblink: [http://hivtoolbox.bio-toolkit.com