A Novel Self-Regulated, Non-Directional Magnetic Thermos-Brachytherapy I Seed Enhances Anticancer Efficacy by Rescuing Immune Escape.

Integrating mild hyperthermia (MH) with I brachytherapy holds potential for overcoming treatment resistance and improving anticancer efficacy. Here, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with a suitable Curie temperature are constructed and incorporated with silver rods coated with I to form composite seeds. In vitro simulations and in vivo validations demonstrated their effective performance in radiation dose and temperature control.

Research progress on surgical approach and intestinal anastomosis methods for laparoscopic right hemicolectomy: A review.

Patients with tumors located in the cecum, ascending colon, and hepatic flexure of the colon often use laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. Although with the help of laparoscope, the surgery is more visual and refined, due to the different shapes of the blood vessels and the different positions of the frequently occurring blood vessels, the surgeons face challenges during surgery. Improper operation may cause unnecessary damage.

Requirement of CSR-1 isoforms and catalytic activity for lifespan.

The CSR-1 encodes an essential Argonaute protein that binds to 22 nucleotide small guide RNA to regulate germline gene expression. Recent characterization of the two CSR-1 isoforms (a and b) have demonstrated tissue-specific expression and functions. Here, we found that loss of function to the isoform has minimal effect on lifespan while a mutant with deletion to both and isoforms shows a significant decrease in lifespan.

High-content cell imaging for chemical toxicity screening in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans.

The use of animal models for screening environmental chemicals for toxicity is an important step towards determining potential hazards to humans. Due to the large number of environmental chemicals with unknown biological activity, high-throughput screening has served as the primary method in toxicity testing for the past decades. However, with the emergence of diverse cellular targets that have been shown to be adversely affected by chemicals, a transition towards high-throughput screening that incorporates high-content analysis provides an array of cutting-edge experimental advantages.

Mutant alleles of the Caenorhabditis elegans rde-1 gene identified through chemical mutagenesis of an snRNA misprocessing reporter.

The processing of small nuclear RNA post transcription involves endolytic cleavage of a 3' tail to produce a mature transcript that is incorporated into the spliceosome to regulate RNA splicing. We previously reported in the Caenorhabditis elegans model several novel genetic regulators including those functioning in RNAi processing to be required for snRNA cleavage through a genome-wide RNAi screen using an in vivo snRNA misprocessing reporter. Here, we conducted a forward genetic screen using the mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate to screen for viable mutants that exhibit constitutive snRNA misprocessing.

Gender Differences in Predicting Metabolic Syndrome Among Hospital Employees Using Machine Learning Models: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex condition that captures several markers of dysregulation, including obesity, elevated blood glucose levels, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Using an approach to early prediction of MetS risk in hospital employees that takes into account the differing effects of gender may be expected to improve cardiovascular disease-related health outcomes.

Purpose: In this study, machine learning techniques were applied to construct an optimized MetS prediction model for use on hospital employees.

Differential effect of ubiquitous and germline depletion of Integrator complex function on C. elegans physiology.

The Integrator is a metazoan-conserved protein complex with endonuclease activity that functions to cleave various RNA substrates to shape transcriptome homeostasis by coordinating small nuclear RNA biogenesis to premature transcription termination. Depletion of Integrator results in developmental defects across different model systems and has emerged as a causative factor in human neurodevelopmental syndromes. Here, we used the model system Caenorhabditis elegans to enable study of the temporal effects of Integrator depletion on various physiological parameters with the auxin-inducible degron system that permitted depletion of INTS-4 (Integrator subunit) catalytic subunit of the protein complex.

A role for the C. elegans Argonaute protein CSR-1 in small nuclear RNA 3' processing.

The Integrator is a multi-subunit protein complex that catalyzes the maturation of snRNA transcripts via 3' cleavage, a step required for snRNA incorporation with snRNP for spliceosome biogenesis. Here we developed a GFP based in vivo snRNA misprocessing reporter as a readout of Integrator function and performed a genome-wide RNAi screen for Integrator regulators. We found that loss of the Argonaute encoding csr-1 gene resulted in widespread 3' misprocessing of snRNA transcripts that is accompanied by a significant increase in alternative splicing.

Chemical Genetics in Identifies Anticancer Mycotoxins Chaetocin and Chetomin as Potent Inducers of a Nuclear Metal Homeostasis Response.

(clear-localized etal-esponsive) is an identical gene pair encoding a nuclear protein previously shown to be activated by cadmium and disruption of the integrator RNA metabolism complex. We took a chemical genetic approach to further characterize regulation of this novel metal response by screening 41,716 compounds and extracts for activation. The most potent activator was chaetocin, a fungal 3,6-epidithiodiketopiperazine (ETP) with promising anticancer activity.

Identification of pararosaniline as a modifier of RNA splicing in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Posttranscriptional splicing of premessenger RNA (mRNA) is an evolutionarily conserved eukaryotic process for producing mature mRNA that is translated into proteins. Accurate splicing is necessary for normal growth and development, and aberrant splicing is increasingly evident in various human pathologies. To study environmental factors that influence RNA splicing, we employed a fluorescent Caenorhabditis elegans in vivo splicing reporter as a biomarker for splicing fidelity to screen against the US EPA ToxCast chemical library.

Nano-phononic metamaterials enable an anomalous enhancement in the interfacial thermal conductance of the GaN/AlN heterojunction.

Improving the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) is very important for heat dissipation in microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, taking GaN-AlN contact as an example, we demonstrated a new mechanism to enhance the interfacial thermal conductance using nano-phononic metamaterials. First, how a superlattice affects the ITC is investigated, and it is found that with decreasing superlattice periodic length, the ITC first decreases and then increases, because of the coherent phonon interference effect.

CCR4-NOT subunit CCF-1/CNOT7 promotes transcriptional activation to multiple stress responses in Caenorhabditis elegans.

CCR4-NOT is a versatile eukaryotic protein complex that controls multiple steps in gene expression regulation from synthesis to decay. In yeast, CCR4-NOT has been implicated in stress response regulation, though this function in other organisms remains unclear. In a genome-wide RNAi screen, we identified a subunit of the CCR4-NOT complex, ccf-1, as a requirement for the C.

Tuning interfacial thermal conductance of GaN/AlN heterostructure nanowires by constructing core/shell structure.

The ability to tune the interfacial thermal conductance of GaN/AlN heterojunction nanowires (NWs) with a core/shell structure is shown using molecular dynamics and non-equilibrium Green's functions method. In particular, an increase in the shell thickness leads to a significant improvement of interfacial thermal conductance of GaN/AlN core/shell NWs. At room temperature (300 K), the interfacial thermal conductance of NWs with specific core/shell ratio can reach 0.

High-throughput identification of oxidative stress-inducing environmental chemicals in the C. elegans system.

The metabolism of xenobiotic chemicals from the environment can produce reactive oxygen species leading to oxidative stress that is detrimental to the cell. To study the environmental factors that influence oxidative stress, we employed C. elegans engineered with a GFP tagged to the glutathione s-transferase 4 gene encoding a phase II enzyme as a biomarker for oxidative stress to screen against the U.

Translational suppression via IFG-1/eIF4G inhibits stress-induced RNA alternative splicing in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Splicing of precursor mRNA is an essential process for dividing cells, and splicing defects have been linked to aging and various chronic diseases. Environmental stress has recently been shown to modify alternative splicing, and molecular mechanisms that influence stress-induced alternative splicing remain unclear. Using an in vivo RNA splicing reporter, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen in Caenorhabditis elegans and found that protein translation suppression via silencing of the conserved eukaryotic initiation factor 4G (IFG-1/eIF4G) inhibits cadmium-induced alternative splicing.

Molecular characterization of ethyl carbamate toxicity in .

Ethyl carbamate is a common contaminant prevalent in fermented food with probable carcinogenic effects in animals. To date, other toxicological properties of ethyl carbamate are not well characterized. Using the genetic model , we found that chronic exposure to ethyl carbamate during larval development impedes growth while exposure during adulthood inhibits reproduction, shortens lifespan, and promotes degeneration to dopaminergic neurons.

Customized Hydrogel for Sustained Release of Highly Water-Soluble Drugs.

Highly water-soluble drugs, due to the rapid diffusion in water, are difficult to be released sustainably. To address the issue, a hydrogel with a core-shell structure is designed for the release of highly water-soluble drugs. The core is used to load the drug and the shell is devoted to isolating the drug from the release medium, which can decrease the drug concentration gradient and the driving force of drug release.

Enhancement of thermoelectric performance in graphenylene nanoribbons by suppressing phonon thermal conductance: the role of phonon local resonance.

Based on the method of non-equilibrium Green's function, we investigate the thermal transport and thermoelectric properties of graphenylene nanoribbons (GRNRs) with different width and chirality. The results show that the thermoelectric (TE) performance of GRNRs significantly increases with decreasing ribbon width, which stems from the reduction of thermal conductance. In addition, by changing the ribbon width and chirality, the figure of merit (ZT) can be controllably manipulated and maximized up to 0.

mTOR Signaling in Metabolic Stress Adaptation.

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central regulator of cellular homeostasis that integrates environmental and nutrient signals to control cell growth and survival. Over the past two decades, extensive studies of mTOR have implicated the importance of this protein complex in regulating a broad range of metabolic functions, as well as its role in the progression of various human diseases. Recently, mTOR has emerged as a key signaling molecule in regulating animal entry into a hypometabolic state as a survival strategy in response to environmental stress.