Autoparty: Machine Learning-Guided Visual Inspection of Molecular Docking Results.

Human inspection of potential drug compounds is crucial in the virtual drug screening pipeline. However, there is a pressing need to accelerate this process, as the number of molecules humans can realistically examine is extremely limited relative to the scale of virtual screens. Furthermore, computational medicinal chemists can evaluate different poses inconsistently, and there is no standard way of recording annotations.

A New PD-L1 Nanobody Enhances Cell Death in Lung Cancer and .

Background/aim: The development of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) agents targeting programmed death protein 1(PD-1), PD-1 ligand (PD-L1), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte- associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), and CD40 has gained increasing interest in clinical cancer treatment. Among these targets, blocking of PD-1 binding to its ligand PD-L1 managed to induce immune responses and inhibit tumor growth. In this work, we aimed to screen a specific PD-L1 nanobody against human PD-L1, derived through phage display assay, and further study its biological characteristics and antitumor ability.

VvCCD7, a novel strigolactone synthesis gene in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), increases sensitivity to drought and low-phosphorus stress in transgenic Arabidopsis.

As a new plant hormone, strigolactone not only promotes leaf senescence, inhibits plant branching and regulates root structure, but also plays an important role in abiotic stress resistance. However, little is known about the function of VvCCD7 under abiotic stress, a key gene for the synthesis of strigolactone in grapevine. In this study, VvCCD7 gene was cloned from grape leaves of 'Cabernet Sauvignon'.

Targeting Dual Immune Checkpoints PD-L1 and HLA-G by Trispecific T Cell Engager for Treating Heterogeneous Lung Cancer.

Immunotherapy targeting immune checkpoints (ICPs), such as programmed death-ligand-1 (PD-L1), is used as a treatment option for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, overall response rate to anti-PD-L1 treatment is limited due to antigen heterogeneity and the immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment. Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G), an ICP as well as a neoexpressed tumor-associated antigen, is previously demonstrated to be a beneficial target in combination with anti-PD-L1.

Effects of Table Grape Cultivars on Fruit Quality and Aroma Components.

The basic physical and chemical qualities, nutrition, aroma components, and sensory evaluation of 17 varieties of table grapes were studied. The quality evaluation system of different table grape varieties was preliminarily determined. Our results show that the soluble solid content in was 21.

Politics matters for individual attitudes toward vaccine donation: cross-national evidence from the United States and Taiwan.

Background: Vaccine equity has been a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the principle of vaccine equity, donor countries should apply the criterion of needs to make decisions about vaccine donation instead of considering recipient countries' economic status. We examine whether people follow the same criterion or consider other factors to decide which country to donate vaccines and how many vaccines should be delivered.

BiTE-Secreting CAR-γδT as a Dual Targeting Strategy for the Treatment of Solid Tumors.

HLA-G is considered as an immune checkpoint protein and a tumor-associated antigen. In the previous work, it is reported that CAR-NK targeting of HLA-G can be used to treat certain solid tumors. However, the frequent co-expression of PD-L1 and HLA-G) and up-regulation of PD-L1 after adoptive immunotherapy may decrease the effectiveness of HLA-G-CAR.

Regulation of Aqueous Humor Secretion by Melatonin in Porcine Ciliary Epithelium.

Secretion of melatonin, a natural hormone whose receptors are present in the ciliary epithelium, displays diurnal variation in the aqueous humor (AH), potentially contributing to the regulation of intraocular pressure. This study aimed to determine the effects of melatonin on AH secretion in porcine ciliary epithelium. The addition of 100 µM melatonin to both sides of the epithelium significantly increased the short-circuit current (Isc) by ~40%.

CAR-T cells targeting HLA-G as potent therapeutic strategy for EGFR-mutated and overexpressed oral cancer.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common malignancy in the world. Recently, scientists have focused on therapeutic strategies to determine the regulation of tumors and design molecules for specific targets. Some studies have demonstrated the clinical significance of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in malignancy and NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in promoting tumorigenesis in OSCC.

Intraoperative Needle Tip Tracking with an Integrated Fibre-Optic Ultrasound Sensor.

Ultrasound is an essential tool for guidance of many minimally-invasive surgical and interventional procedures, where accurate placement of the interventional device is critical to avoid adverse events. Needle insertion procedures for anaesthesia, fetal medicine and tumour biopsy are commonly ultrasound-guided, and misplacement of the needle may lead to complications such as nerve damage, organ injury or pregnancy loss. Clear visibility of the needle tip is therefore critical, but visibility is often precluded by tissue heterogeneities or specular reflections from the needle shaft.

Infection Patterns of a Liberibacter Associated with Macrohomotoma gladiata, a Psyllid Feeding on Ficus microcarpa.

Almost all known Liberibacters can be transmitted by psyllids. This suggests that there is a coevolutionary relationship between these two groups of organisms. However, detailed investigation of Liberibacters and psyllids have often focused on only a few species, thus potentially limiting knowledge on Liberibacter-psyllid associations.

Role of air pollutants in dengue fever incidence: evidence from two southern cities in Taiwan.

Air pollution may be involved in spreading dengue fever (DF) besides rainfalls and warmer temperatures. While particulate matter (PM), especially those with diameter of 10 μm (PM10) or 2.5 μm or less (PM25), and NO2 increase the risk of coronavirus 2 infection, their roles in triggering DF remain unclear.

PM exposure and risk of lung adenocarcinoma in women of Taiwan: A case-control study with density sampling.

Background And Objective: The prevalence of smoking among women in Taiwan is <5%, but the incidence of lung cancer remains high. This study determined the association between PM (fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm) exposure and lung cancer among women in Taiwan.

Intelligent Healthcare System Using Patients Confidential Data Communication in Electrocardiogram Signals.

With the advent of the aging era, healthcare and elderly care have become the focus of medical care, especially the care of the elderly with dementia. Patients' confidential data hiding is a useful technology for healthcare and patient information privacy. In this study, we implement an intelligent healthcare system using the multiple-coefficient quantization technology in transform domain to hide patients' confidential data into electrocardiogram (ECG) signals obtained by ECG sensor module.

The role of urease in the acid stress response and fimbriae expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae CG43.

Background/purpose: Two urease operons were identified in Klebsiella pneumoniae CG43, ure-1 and ure-2. This study investigates whether a differential regulation of the expression of ure-1 and ure-2 exists and how urease activity influences the acid stress response and expression of type 1 and type 3 fimbriae.

Methods: The ureA1 and ureA2 gene specific deletion mutants were constructed.

Neutral Nonenzymatic Glucose Biosensors Based on Electrochemically Deposited Pt/Au Nanoalloy Electrodes.

Background: Type I diabetes occurs when the pancreas can only make limited or minimal insulin. Patients with type 1 diabetes need effective approaches to manage diabetes and maintain their blood-glucose concentration. Recently, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been used to help control blood-glucose levels in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Physiological and transcriptomic analysis of Cabernet Sauvginon (Vitis vinifera L.) reveals the alleviating effect of exogenous strigolactones on the response of grapevine to drought stress.

Drought stress can significantly affect the growth and yield of grapevine. The application of exogenous strigolactone can relieve the drought symptoms of grapevine; however, little is known about the transcription levels in grapevine under drought stress following exogenous strigolactone application. The mitigative effect of exogenous strigolactone on grapevine leaves under drought stress was studied by transcriptome analysis based on RNA sequencing.

Species-Specific Endotoxin Stimulus Determines Toll-Like Receptor 4- and Caspase 11-Mediated Pathway Activation Characteristics.

The innate immune system is the body's first line of defense against pathogens and its protection against infectious diseases. On the surface of host myeloid cells, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) senses lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the major outer membrane component of Gram-negative bacteria. Intracellularly, LPS is recognized by caspase 11 through the noncanonical inflammasome to induce pyroptosis-an inflammatory form of lytic cell death.

The condensed tannin chemistry and astringency properties of fifteen Foex grapes and wines.

This study sought to determine the effects of variety on the astringency and chemistry of condensed tannins of spine grapes and wines. Fifteen varieties of red spine grape ( Foex) were used. Condensed tannin content, composition, and wine astringency were determined.

Anthocyanin and Phenolic Acids Contents Influence the Color Stability and Antioxidant Capacity of Wine Treated With Mannoprotein.

Wine is consumed by humans worldwide, but the functional components are lost and the color changes during its production. Here, we studied the effects of mannoprotein (MP) addition (0, 0.1, and 0.

Inhibitors of Coronavirus 3CL Proteases Protect Cells from Protease-Mediated Cytotoxicity.

We describe a mammalian cell-based assay to identify coronavirus 3CL protease (3CLpro) inhibitors. This assay is based on rescuing protease-mediated cytotoxicity and does not require live virus. By enabling the facile testing of compounds across a range of 15 distantly related coronavirus 3CLpro enzymes, we identified compounds with broad 3CLpro-inhibitory activity.

Lead compounds for the development of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitors.

We report the identification of three structurally diverse compounds - compound 4, GC376, and MAC-5576 - as inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease. Structures of each of these compounds in complex with the protease revealed strategies for further development, as well as general principles for designing SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitors. These compounds may therefore serve as leads for the basis of building effective SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitors.