2(Phenylmethylthio)benzaldehyde

In the title compound, C14H12OS, the two planar benzaldehyde and benzyl groups are inclined at 77.7 (1) °. The torsion angle about the central C--S bond is 174.9 (2) °. The molecules are held together in the crystal by van der Waals interactions.published_or_final_versio

A Chinese version of the psychotic symptom rating scales : psychometric properties in recent-onset and chronic psychosis

2016-2017 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201804_a bcmaVersion of RecordPublishe

The International Atomic Energy Agency global initiatives on nasopharyngeal cancer treatment

published_or_final_versio

Dual Drug-Loaded Biofunctionalized Amphiphilic Chitosan Nanoparticles: Enhanced Synergy between Cisplatin and Demethoxycurcumin against Multidrug-Resistant Stem-Like Lung Cancer Cells

Lung cancer kills more humans than any other cancer and multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer stem-like cells (CSC) is emerging as a reason for failed treatments. One concept which addresses this root cause of treatment failure is the utilization of nanoparticles to simultaneously deliver dual drugs to cancer cells with synergistic performance, easy to envision - hard to achieve. It is challenging to simultaneously load drugs of highly different physicochemical properties into one nanoparticle, release kinetics may differ between drugs and general requirements for biomedical nanoparticles apply. Here self-assembled nanoparticles of amphiphilic carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan (CHC) were shown to present nano-microenvironments enabling simultaneous loading of hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. This was expanded into a dual-drug nano-delivery system to treat lung CSC. CHC nanoparticles were loaded/chemically modified with the anticancer drug cisplatin and the MDR-suppressing Chinese herbal extract demethoxycurcumin, followed by biofunctionalization with CD133 antibody for enhanced uptake by lung CSC, all in a feasible one-pot preparation. The nanoparticles were characterized with regard to chemistry, size, zeta potential and drug loading/release. Biofunctionalized and non-functionalized nanoparticles were investigated for uptake by lung CSC. Subsequently the cytotoxicity of single and dual drugs, free in solution or in nanoparticles, was evaluated against lung CSC at different doses. From the dose response at different concentrations the degree of synergy was determined through Chou-Talalay's Plot. The biofunctionalized nanoparticles promoted synergistic effects between the drugs and were highly effective against MDR lung CSC. The efficacy and feasible one-pot preparation suggest preclinical studies using relevant disease models to be justified

Spatial Variability of the ‘Airbnb Effect’: A Spatially Explicit Analysis of Airbnb’s Impact on Housing Prices in Sydney

Over the last decade, the emergence and significant growth of home-sharing platforms, such as Airbnb, has coincided with rising housing unaffordability in many global cities. It is in this context that we look to empirically assess the impact of Airbnb on housing prices in Sydney—one of the least affordable cities in the world. Employing a hedonic property valuation model, our results indicate that Airbnb’s overall effect is positive. A 1% increase in Airbnb density is associated with approximately a 2% increase in property sales price. However, recognizing that Airbnb’s effect is geographically uneven and given the fragmented nature of Sydney’s housing market, we also employ a GWR to account for the spatial variation in Airbnb activity. The findings confirm that Airbnb’s influence on housing prices is varied across the city. Sydney’s northern beaches and parts of western Sydney experience a statistically significant value uplift attributable to Airbnb activity. However, traditional tourist locations focused around Sydney’s CBD and the eastern suburbs experience insignificant or negative property price impacts. The results highlight the need for policymakers to consider local Airbnb and housing market contexts when deciding the appropriate level and design of Airbnb regulation

The schizophrenia care management program for family caregivers of Chinese patients with schizophrenia

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Pitfalls in the design and analysis of paediatric clinical trials: a case of a ‘failed’ multi-centre study, and potential solutions

Aim: To increase awareness of possible pitfalls in the design and analysis of a multi-centre randomized clinical trial and to give an overview of alternative study designs and their consequences for power analyses in case of limited availability of trial participants

Rapid Identification of Pathogenic Variants in Two Cases of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease by Gene-Panel Sequencing

published_or_final_versio

Signal peptide peptidases and gamma-secretase: Cousins of the same protease family?

Signal peptide peptidase (SPIP) is an unusual aspartyl protease, which mediates clearance of signal peptides by proteolysis within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Like presenilins, which provide the proteolytically active subunit of the,gamma-secretase complex, SPP contains a conserved GxGD motif in its C-terminal domain which is critical for its activity. While SPIP is known to be an aspartyl protease of the GxGD type, several presenilin homologues/SPP-like proteins (PSHs/ SPPL) of unknown function have been identified by database searches. In contrast to SPP and SPPL3, which are both restricted to the endoplasmic reticulum, SPPL2b is targeted through the secretory pathway to endosomes/lysosomes. As suggested by the differential subcellular localization of SPPL2b and SPPL3 distinct phenotypes were found upon antisense gripNA-mediated knockdown in zebrafish. spp and sppl3 knockdowns in zebrafish result in cell death within the central nervous system, whereas reduction of sppl2b expression causes erythrocyte accumulation in an enlarged caudal vein. Moreover, expression of D/A mutants of the putative C-terminal active sites of spp, sppl2, and spp13 produced phenocopies of the respective knockdown phenotypes. These data suggest that all investigated PSHs/SPPLs are members of the novel family of GxGD aspartyl proteases. More recently, it was shown that SPPL2b utilizes multiple intramembrane cleavages to liberate the TNF(x intracellular domain into the cytosol and to release the C-terminal counterpart into the lumen. These findings suggest common principles of intramembrane proteolysis by GxGD type aspartyl proteases. In this article,we will review the similarities of SPPs and gamma-secretase based on recent findings by us and others