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Water-in-oil (W/O) Lipiodol emulsions remain the preferable choice for local delivery of chemotherapy in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, their low stability severely hampers their efficiency. Here, remarkably stable W/O Lipiodol emulsion stabilized by biodegradable particles was developed thanks to Pickering technology. The addition of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles (NPs) into the aqueous-phase of the formulation led to W/O Pickering emulsion by a simple emulsification process through two connected syringes...

PURPOSE: ABCA4-associated disease, a recessive retinal dystrophy, is hallmarked by a large proportion of patients with only one pathogenic ABCA4 variant, suggestive for missing heritability. METHODS: By locus-specific analysis of ABCA4, combined with extensive functional studies, we aimed to unravel the missing alleles in a cohort of 67 patients (p), with one (p = 64) or no (p = 3) identified coding pathogenic variants of ABCA4. RESULTS: We identified eight pathogenic (deep-)intronic ABCA4 splice variants, of which five are novel and six structural variants, four of which are novel, including two duplications...

PURPOSE: Using exome sequencing, the underlying variants in many persons with autosomal recessive diseases remain undetected. We explored autosomal recessive Stargardt disease (STGD1) as a model to identify the missing heritability. METHODS: Sequencing of ABCA4 was performed in 8 STGD1 cases with one variant and p.Asn1868Ile in trans, 25 cases with one variant, and 3 cases with no ABCA4 variant. The effect of intronic variants was analyzed using in vitro splice assays in HEK293T cells and patient-derived fibroblasts...

Muscovite mica (001) is a widely-used model surface for controlling molecular assembly and a common substrate for environmental adsorption processes. The mica (001) surface displays near-trigonal symmetry, but many molecular adsorbates - including water - exhibit unequal probabilities of alignment along its three nominally equivalent lattice directions. Buried hydroxyl groups within the muscovite structure are speculated to be responsible, but direct evidence is lacking. Here we utilize vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (vSFG) to characterize the orientation and hydrogen-bonding environment of near-surface hydroxyls inside mica...

The original version of this Article contained an incorrect version of Fig. 3, which included two variants initially shown in black text in Fig. 3a that the authors removed from the final manuscript. The correct version of Fig. 3 without the two variants now appears in the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Patients with early AML/MDS relapse after hematopoietic cell transplantation have poor prognosis and no standard treatment. Twenty-nine patients with early disease recurrence posttransplant were treated with azacitidine (median dose 40 mg/m2 /day x 5-7 days). At a median follow-up of 6.3 (range 1.3-41.1) months, 7 (27%) had response to azacitidine defined as complete remission, hematologic improvement, or improved donor chimerism. Response occurred at a median of 3 cycles, and median duration of response was 70 (range 26-464) days...

Cytotoxic chemotherapy is an effective treatment for invasive breast cancer. However, experimental studies in mice also suggest that chemotherapy has pro-metastatic effects. Primary tumours release extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, that can facilitate the seeding and growth of metastatic cancer cells in distant organs, but the effects of chemotherapy on tumour-derived EVs remain unclear. Here we show that two classes of cytotoxic drugs broadly employed in pre-operative (neoadjuvant) breast cancer therapy, taxanes and anthracyclines, elicit tumour-derived EVs with enhanced pro-metastatic capacity...

All social insects with obligate reproductive division of labour evolved from strictly monogamous ancestors, but multiple queen-mating (polyandry) arose de novo in several evolutionarily derived lineages. Polyandrous ant queens are inseminated soon after hatching and store sperm mixtures for a potential reproductive life of decades. However, they cannot re-mate later in life and are thus expected to control the loss of viable sperm because their life-time reproductive success is ultimately sperm-limited. In the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica, the survival of newly inseminated sperm is known to be compromised by seminal fluid of rival males and to be protected by secretions of the queen sperm storage organ (spermatheca)...

A clinical case in Belgium demonstrated that feeding a feed concentrate containing considerable levels of deoxynivalenol (DON, 1.13 mg/kg feed) induced severe liver failure in 2- to 3-month-old beef calves. Symptoms disappeared by replacing the highly contaminated corn and by stimulating ruminal development via roughage administration. A multi-mycotoxin contamination was demonstrated in feed samples collected at 15 different veal farms in Belgium. DON was most prevalent, contaminating 80% of the roughage samples (mixed straw and maize silage; average concentration in positives: 637 ± 621 µg/kg, max...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The outer membrane protein STM3031 had been shown to confer Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium resistance to ceftriaxone. In this study, the STM3030 was increased in strain R200 and decreased in strain R200(Δstm3031). How stm3030 and stm3031 contributing to antibiotic resistance was investigated. METHODS: The level of STM3030 protein in R200(Δstm3031) were compared between 01-4, R200, and R200(Δstm3031) by 2-DE analysis. The stm3030 gene deleted strain, R200(Δstm3030), was generated by the one-step inactivation chromosome gene method...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, representing the sixth leading cause of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Patient stratification and treatment allocation are based on tumor stage, liver function, and performance status. According to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the first-line treatment for patients with intermediate stage HCC, including those with large or multinodular HCC, well-preserved liver function, and no cancer-related symptoms or evidence of vascular invasion or extrahepatic spread...

Background: Inherited CARD9 deficiency constitutes a primary immunodeficiency predisposing uniquely to chronic and invasive fungal infections. Certain mutations are shown to negatively impact CARD9 protein expression and/or NF-κB activation, but the underlying biochemical mechanism remains to be fully understood. Objectives: To investigate a possible founder origin of a known CARD9 R70W mutation in five families of Turkish origin. To explore the biochemical mechanism of immunodeficiency by R70W CARD9. Methods: We performed haplotype analysis using microsatellite markers and SNPs...

The prevalence of patients with painful bone metastases is constantly increasing. This is related to the rising incidence of cancer and increasing life expectancy of patients with metastatic stage. Advances in imaging and development of percutaneous techniques have gradually allowed offering minimally invasive acts on these metastases: cementing, vertebral augmentation, osteosynthesis, percutaneous thermal ablation, neurolysis, embolization. The purpose of this article is to present the main tools available to date for the interventional radiologist so that each participant can understand their functioning, indications, and limits...

The technical art to percutaneous injection of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cement for the palliative treatment of osseous metastases is not without pitfalls. Pathologic fracture, cortical bone erosion, large lytic tumor, aggressive tumor biology, and tumor vascularity may increase the risk of cement leakage or limit complete consolidation. A calculated and determined approach is often necessary to achieve satisfactory patient-tailored results. This article reviews the challenges and potential complications during the consolidation of osseous metastases...

Interventional radiology expertise in image guidance has expanded the treatment options for cancer patients with unstable osseous disease. Percutaneous fixation by internal cemented screw (FICS) describes the technique by which the interventional radiologist stabilizes a fracture or impending fracture with the percutaneous placement of a cannulated screw that is locked in position by polymethyl methacrylate cement. The durable metallic screws provide added resistance to torque and tension stresses that complement the axial compression resistance of cement...

Integrated CT-fluoroscopy equipment augments the comprehensive approach to the treatment of musculoskeletal (MSK) malignancy by interventional radiology techniques. As the role of minimally invasive treatment expands to meet the highly variable presentation of MSK malignancy, creative solutions to treatment challenges are required to improve locoregional tumor control and durability of pain palliation. Challenges to effective treatment can often be attributed to a combination of aggressive tumor biology, large size, forbidding location, and adverse vascularity...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Conventional treatments of systemic chemotherapy and surgical resection for recurrent or metastatic hepatoblastoma (HB) may be inhibitive for the pediatric patient and family who have already been through extensive therapies. This single-institution case series evaluates the safety and efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the management of metastatic HB. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2008 and February 2015, RFA was used as part of multidisciplinary management for HB recurrence or metastasis in 5 children (median 5...

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to test the antidepressant effect of transcranial photobiomodulation (t-PBM) with near-infrared (NIR) light in subjects suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). BACKGROUND: t-PBM with NIR light is a new treatment for MDD. NIR light is absorbed by mitochondria; it boosts cerebral metabolism, promotes neuroplasticity, and modulates endogenous opioids, while decreasing inflammation and oxidative stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, sham-controlled study on the safety and efficacy (change in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HAM-D17 ] total score at end-point) of adjunct t-PBM NIR [823 nm; continuous wave (CW); 28...