Optimization of a Cas12a-Driven Synthetic Gene Regulatory Network System.

Gene regulatory networks, which control gene expression patterns in development and in response to stimuli, use regulatory logic modules to coordinate inputs and outputs. One example of a regulatory logic module is the gene regulatory cascade (GRC), where a series of transcription factor genes turn on in order. Synthetic biologists have derived artificial systems that encode regulatory rules, including GRCs.

Optimization of Medium Composition and Fluidized Bed Drying Conditions for Efficient Production of Dry Yeast.

Yeast formulations such as dry yeast are essential for supplying microbial starters to the alcoholic beverage industry. In Korea, the expensive freeze-drying method is used to manufacture brewer's dry yeast, and therefore an economical process such as fluidized bed drying is needed. In the dry yeast manufacturing process, the medium and drying conditions are key factors that determine its quality and manufacturing cost.

Ultrahigh Sensitivity for Thermographic Human-Machine Interface via Precious Metals Atomic Layer Deposition on V-MXene: Computational and Experimental Exploration.

Global healthcare based on the Internet of Things system is rapidly transforming to measure precise physiological body parameters without visiting hospitals at remote patients and associated symptoms monitoring. 2D materials and the prevailing mood of current ever-expanding MXene-based sensing devices motivate to introduce first the novel iridium (Ir) precious metal incorporated vanadium (V)-MXene via industrially favored emerging atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques. The current work contributes a precise control and delicate balance of Ir single atomic forms or clusters on the V-MXene to constitute a unique precious metal-MXene embedded heterostructure (Ir-ALD@V-MXene) in practical real-time sensing healthcare applications to thermography with human-machine interface for the first time.

Differences in health-related quality of life and somatic symptoms in employed and unemployed patients with epilepsy.

This study compared overall and specific aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and self-report of somatic, anxiety, and depressive symptoms between employed (n = 71) and unemployed (n = 48) patients with epilepsy (PWE). The Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-89) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) were examined. The unemployed group reported significantly worse overall HRQOL including aspects of HRQOL related to epilepsy, physical health, mental health, and cognitive function.

SGRN: A Cas12a-driven Synthetic Gene Regulatory Network System.

Gene regulatory networks, which control gene expression patterns in development and in response to stimuli, use regulatory logic modules to coordinate inputs and outputs. One example of a regulatory logic module is the gene regulatory cascade (GRC), where a series of transcription factor genes turn on in order. Synthetic biologists have derived artificial systems that encode regulatory rules, including GRCs.

Chronic frontal neurobehavioural symptoms in combat-deployed military personnel with and without a history of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury.

Objective: This study evaluated frontal behavioural symptoms, via the FrSBe self-report, in military personnel with and without a history of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI).

Methods: Prospective observational cohort study of combat-deployed service members leveraging 1-year and 5-year demographic and follow up clinical outcome data.

Results: The blast mild TBI group ( = 164) showed greater frontal behavioural symptoms, including clinically elevated apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction, during a 5-year follow-up, compared to a group of combat-deployed controls ( = 107) without mild TBI history or history of blast exposure.

Stretchable and Skin-Mountable Temperature Sensor Array Using Reduction-Controlled Graphene Oxide for Dermatological Thermography.

Since thermometry of human skin is critical information that provides important aspects of human health and physiology, accurate and continuous temperature measurement is required for the observation of physical abnormalities. However, conventional thermometers are uncomfortable because of their bulky and heavy features. In this work, we fabricated a thin, stretchable array-type temperature sensor using graphene-based materials.

Different contribution of exoelectrogens in methanogenesis via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) by the different substrate in continuous anaerobic bioreactor.

Direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) is a syntrophic mechanism for electron transfer between exo- and endoelectrogens. Previous studies have demonstrated that methanogenesis performance was significantly improved via the DIET mechanism through conductive materials (CMs) under batch conditions with a single substrate, while that under continuous condition is still under investigation. To investigate how the DIET via CM on methanogenesis performance was changed in response to the different substrates (acetate versus glucose)-fed in continuous anaerobic bioreactors, continuous bioreactors were operated by cross-feeding with acetate and glucose.

Specificity of performance validity tests in patients with confirmed epilepsy.

While assessment of performance validity is essential to neuropsychological evaluations, use of performance validity tests (PVTs) in an epilepsy population has raised concerns due to factors that may result in performance fluctuations. The current study assessed whether specificity was maintained at previously suggested cutoffs in a confirmed epilepsy population on the Warrington Recognition Memory Test (WRMT) - Words and Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM). Eighty-two confirmed epilepsy patients were administered the WRMT-Words and TOMM as part of a standardized neuropsychological evaluation.

A Case of Linear Exacerbation of Atopic Dermatitis with Secondary Prurigo Nodularis.

Inflammatory acquired Blaschko-linear dermatoses (IABLD) are a continuous concept involving diseases such as lichen striatus, blaschkitis, and atopic dermatitis. However, atopic dermatitis that showed increase in severity along Blaschko lines is rarely reported on its own. Herein, we report a rare case of atopic dermatitis with secondary prurigo nodularis along Blaschko lines, which may be valuable in broadening the concept of IABLD.

A study on the performance of the Donation Improvement Program in Korea.

Background: The Donation Improvement Program (DIP) is intended to increase organ donation at hospitals. The program includes education for healthcare professionals of participating hospitals about each step of donation as well as evaluation. The DIP consists of medical record review (MRR) and a Hospital Attitude Survey (HAS).

Evaluation of Swab-Seq as a scalable, sensitive assay for community surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and subsequent demand for viral testing has led to issues in scaling diagnostic lab efforts and in securing basic supplies for collection and processing of samples. This has motivated efforts by the scientific community to establish improved protocols that are more scalable, less resource intensive, and less expensive. One such developmental effort has resulted in an assay called "Swab-Seq", so named because it was originally developed to work with dry nasal swab samples.

Recurrent Cellulitis Associated with Acupuncture with Migratory Gold Threads.

In Asian countries, acupuncture with gold threads has been widely used in the treatment of pain. However, several reports have suggested that the implanted gold threads can become fragmented and migrate to other parts of the body, damaging surrounding tissues. A 75-year-old female presented with diffuse erythematous edema with multiple vesicles on the right lower leg for 3 days.

Recent advances in methanogenesis through direct interspecies electron transfer via conductive materials: A molecular microbiological perspective.

Conductive materials can serve as biocatalysts during direct interspecies electron transfer for methanogenesis in anaerobic reactors. However, the mechanism promoting direct interspecies electron transfer in anaerobic reactors, particularly under environments in which diverse substrates and microorganisms coexist, remains to be elucidated from a scientific or an engineering point of view. Currently, many molecular microbiological approaches are employed to understand the fundamentals of this phenomenon.

Effect of broad-spectrum biofilm inhibitor raffinose, a plant galactoside, on the inhibition of co-culture biofilm on the microfiltration membrane.

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) integrates process such as membrane filtration and biological treatment of activated sludge. However, organic, inorganic and biological matters cause membrane fouling, which seriously affects membrane performance. The goal of this study was to evaluate the biofouling inhibition capacity of raffinose during the MBR process.

Effect of inoculum concentration on methanogenesis by direct interspecies electron transfer: Performance and microbial community composition.

To understand the effect of inoculum concentration on direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) for methanogenesis, batch-type anaerobic bioreactors with different inoculum concentrations were operated with and without supplemented granular activated carbon (GAC). With decrease in inoculum concentration, GAC-supplemented bioreactors showed faster methane production rates and reduced lag times. Geobacter species were specifically enriched on the GAC surfaces under lower inoculum concentration conditions.

Small-Molecule-Targeting Hairpin Loop of hTERT Promoter G-Quadruplex Induces Cancer Cell Death.

Increased telomerase activity is associated with malignancy and poor prognosis in human cancer, but the development of targeted agents has not yet provided clinical benefit. Here we report that, instead of targeting the telomerase enzyme directly, small molecules that bind to the G-hairpin of the hTERT G-quadruplex-forming sequence kill selectively malignant cells without altering the function of normal cells. RG260 targets the hTERT G-quadruplex stem-loop folding but not tetrad DNAs, leading to downregulation of hTERT expression.

Antibacterial application of covalently immobilized photosensitizers on a surface.

Singlet oxygen produced by irradiating photosensitizers (PSs) can be used to kill pathogens during water treatment. Chemical immobilization of the PSs on surfaces can maintain their disinfection function long-term. In this study, two model PSs (rose bengal (RB) and hematoporphyrin (HP)) were immobilized on a glass surface using a silane coupling agent with an epoxide group, and their antibacterial properties were analyzed.

Direct interspecies electron transfer via conductive materials: A perspective for anaerobic digestion applications.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a microbial process that produces renewable energy in the form of methane by treating organic waste and high-strength wastewater. Recent studies have demonstrated that conductive materials can promote direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) between exoelectrogenic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. DIET via conductive materials is more effective for methane production than interspecies electron transfer using electron carriers such as hydrogen, a principal route of methane production in conventional AD.

A Pharmacological Chaperone Molecule Induces Cancer Cell Death by Restoring Tertiary DNA Structures in Mutant hTERT Promoters.

Activation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is necessary for limitless replication in tumorigenesis. Whereas hTERT is transcriptionally silenced in normal cells, most tumor cells reactivate hTERT expression by alleviating transcriptional repression through diverse genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Transcription-activating hTERT promoter mutations have been found to occur at high frequencies in multiple cancer types.

Interaction of Individual Structural Domains of hnRNP LL with the BCL2 Promoter i-Motif DNA.

The recently discovered role of the BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2 gene) promoter i-motif DNA in modulation of gene expression via interaction with the ribonucleoprotein hnRNP L-like (hnRNP LL) has prompted a more detailed study of the nature of this protein-DNA interaction. The RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) of hnRNP LL were expressed individually, and both RRM1 and RRM2 were found to bind efficiently to the BCL2 i-motif DNA, as well as being critical for transcriptional activation, whereas RRM3-4 bound only weakly to this DNA. Binding was followed by unfolding of the DNA as monitored by changes in the CD spectrum.