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Sesame is one of the important traditional oil crops in the world, and has high economic and nutritional value. Recently, due to the novel high throughput sequencing techniques and bioinformatical methods, the study of the genomics, methylomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabonomics of sesame has developed rapidly. Thus far, the genomes of five sesame accessions have been released, including white and black seed sesame. The genome studies reveal the function and structure of the sesame genome, and facilitate the exploitation of molecular markers, the construction of genetic maps and the study of pan-genomes. Methylomics focus on the study of the molecular level changes under different environmental conditions. Transcriptomics provide a powerful tool to study abiotic/biotic stress, organ development, and noncoding RNAs, and proteomics and metabonomics also provide some support in studying abiotic stress and important traits. In addition, the opportunities and challenges of multi-omics in sesame genetics breeding were also described. This review summarizes the current research status of sesame from the perspectives of multi-omics and hopes to provide help for further in-depth research on sesame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coumarins and its derivatives are an important class of heterocyclic compounds that have attracted much attention because of their diverse therapeutic, biological, and pharmacological activities. In recent years, much attention has been directed toward the synthesis of coumarins such as 3-aminoalkyl-4-hydroxycoumarin, 3-aminobenzyl-4-hydroxycoumarin and 3-amidoalkyl-4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives owing to their tremendous application in various research fields such as biological science and medicinal chemistry. Herein, we reviewed the history of synthesis approaches of 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives with substitution at C-3 position in the presence of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts under various conditions, and their biological activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for developing innovative and intelligent drug delivery technologies by targeting the endocannabinoid system are becoming more apparent. This review provides an overview of strategies to develop targeted drug delivery using the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Recent advances in endocannabinoid system targeting showcase enhanced pharmaceutical therapy specificity while minimizing undesirable side effects and overcoming formulation challenges associated with cannabinoids. This review identifies advances in targeted drug delivery technologies that may permit access to the full pharmacotherapeutic potential of the ECS. The design of optimized nanocarriers that target specific tissues can be improved by understanding the nature of the signaling pathways, distribution in the mammalian body, receptor structure, and enzymatic degradation of the ECS. A closer look at ligand-receptor complexes, endocannabinoid tone, tissue distribution, and G-protein activity leads to a better understanding of the potential of the ECS toolkit for therapeutics. The signal transduction pathways examine the modulation of downstream effector proteins, desensitization, signaling cascades, and biased signaling. An in-depth and overall view of the targeted system is achieved through homology modeling where mutagenesis and ligand binding examine the binding site and allow sequence analysis and the formation of libraries for molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations. Internalization routes exploring receptor-mediated endocytosis and lipid rafts are also considered for explicit signaling. Furthermore, the review highlights nanotechnology and surface modification aspects as a possible future approach for specific targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of people that are 65 years old or older has been increasing due to the improvement in medicine and public health. However, this trend is not accompanied by an increase in quality of life, and this population is vulnerable to most illnesses, especially to infectious diseases. Vaccination is the best strategy to prevent this fact, but older people present a less efficient response, as their immune system is weaker due mainly to a phenomenon known as immunosenescence. The adaptive immune system is constituted by two types of lymphocytes, T and B cells, and the function and fitness of these cell populations are affected during ageing. Here, we review the impact of ageing on T and B cells and discuss the approaches that have been described or proposed to modulate and reverse the decline of the ageing adaptive immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato is an important vegetable crop for fresh and processed products. In the past decades, conventional breeding cum marker-assisted selection (MAS) has been deployed widely to develop modern tomato cultivars with desirable agronomic traits, market classes, and consumer preferences. The rapid developments in sequencing technologies with the reduced costs per sample, high-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping platforms, and bioinformatics tools have revolutionized crop improvement programs, and deciphered the tomato genome sequence in 2012. Since then thousands of cultivated, its close relatives, and wild species have been genome resequenced to analyze structural variants population structure, genetic diversity, high-density map construction so on. Further, tomato pan-genomes have been constructed to search genomics regions associated with agronomic traits to expedite the breeding process. Importantly, genomics-assisted research has begun in tomatoes with the identification of genes, and SNP markers associated with phenotypic variation by applying genome resequencing, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using SNP array, and genotyping-by-sequencing techniques. Further, the genomic selection (GS) method is expected to increase breeding efficiency and genetic gain rapidly. This review provides the latest information on progress in MAS to genome resequencing, pan-genomes, SNP genotyping, GWAS, and GS for genomics-assisted breeding in tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are rare neurologic autoimmune diseases that have a poor prognosis if left untreated. For many years, generic oral immunosuppressants and repurposed monoclonal antibodies that target the interleukin-6 pathway or B cells were the mainstays of drug treatment. Recently, these drug treatments have been complemented by new biologics developed and approved specifically for NMOSD. In principle, all of these drugs are effective, but treatment recommendations that take this into account are still pending. Instead, the choice of a drug may depend on other criteria such as drug safety or tolerability. In this review, we summarise current knowledge on the adverse effects of azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, rituximab, tocilizumab, eculizumab, satralizumab, and inebilizumab in NMOSD. Infections, cytopenias, and infusion-related reactions are most common, but the data are as heterogeneous as the manifestations are diverse. Nevertheless, knowledge of safety issues may facilitate treatment choices for individual patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several books on academic libraries such as `The Academic Library in the American University,' by Stephen E. Atkins, `College Library Newsletters,' compiled by Patricia S. Butcher and S.M. Campbell and `The Role of the American Academic Library in International Programs,' edited by Bruce D. Bonta and J.G. Neal.

Research on sulfoxides (compounds containing S=O bond) and disulfides (compounds containing S-S bond) is an important and fundamental challenge for chemists, because these compounds are privileged in the structure of drugs and pharmaceutical molecules. Therefore, synthesis of sulfoxides and disulfides has become an attractive target for synthetic organic chemists. In recent years, nanomaterials have been proposed as ideal support for catalysts. Amongst nanomaterials, mesoporous silica MCM-41 and MCM-48 was introduced as an ideal nanomaterial for immobilization of metal complexes. In recent years, the immobilization of metal complexes on the surface of MCM nanomaterials has been widely utilized as an efficient catalytic strategy for oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and oxidative coupling of thiols to disulfides. In this review, we focused on the catalytic application of metal-MCM nanomaterials for these oxidation reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During early development, the hindbrain is sub-divided into rhombomeres that underlie the organisation of neurons and adjacent craniofacial tissues. A gene regulatory network of signals and transcription factors establish and pattern segments with a distinct anteroposterior identity. Initially, the borders of segmental gene expression are imprecise, but then become sharply defined, and specialised boundary cells form. In this Review, we summarise key aspects of the conserved regulatory cascade that underlies the formation of hindbrain segments. We describe how the pattern is sharpened and stabilised through the dynamic regulation of cell identity, acting in parallel with cell segregation. Finally, we discuss evidence that boundary cells have roles in local patterning, and act as a site of neurogenesis within the hindbrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) also called satellite cells are the building blocks of skeletal muscle, the largest tissue in the human body which is formed primarily of myofibers. While MuSCs are the principal cells that directly contribute to the formation of the muscle fibers, their ability to do so depends on critical interactions with a vast array of nonmyogenic cells within their niche environment. Therefore, understanding the nature of communication between MuSCs and their niche is of key importance to understand how the skeletal muscle is maintained and regenerated after injury. MuSCs are rare and therefore difficult to study in vivo within the context of their niche environment. The advent of single-cell technologies, such as switching mechanism at 5' end of the RNA template (SMART) and tagmentation based technologies using hyperactive transposase, afford the unprecedented opportunity to perform whole transcriptome and epigenome studies on rare cells within their niche environment. In this review, we will delve into how single-cell technologies can be applied to the study of MuSCs and muscle-resident niche cells and the impact this can have on our understanding of MuSC biology and skeletal muscle regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly functionalized piperidines are a versatile class of nitrogen-containing heterocycles which find broad applications in numerous fields such as medicinal chemistry and drug discovery research. The synthesis of this privileged scaffold from readily available materials remains is a hot topic research for the synthetic chemistry community. This review aims to describe the different strategies developed so far for the synthesis of highly functionalized piperidines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current review covers explosive development of various synthetic approaches for piperidine scaffold and its analogues in the last few decades. The piperidine ring system is a key motif in many natural alkaloids and synthetic organic compounds. Further, piperidine moiety has gained significant consideration in drug discovery due to its wide range of therapeutic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms acquire energy and nutrients from dynamic environments, where substrates vary in both type and abundance. The regulatory system responsible for prioritizing preferred substrates is known as carbon catabolite repression (CCR). Two broad classes of CCR have been documented in the literature. The best described CCR strategy, referred to here as classic CCR (cCCR), has been experimentally and theoretically studied using model organisms such as Escherichia coli. cCCR phenotypes are often used to generalize universal strategies for fitness, sometimes incorrectly. For instance, extremely competitive microorganisms, such as Pseudomonads, which arguably have broader global distributions than E. coli, have achieved their success using metabolic strategies that are nearly opposite of cCCR. These organisms utilize a CCR strategy termed 'reverse CCR' (rCCR), because the order of preferred substrates is nearly reverse that of cCCR. rCCR phenotypes prefer organic acids over glucose, may or may not select preferred substrates to optimize growth rates, and do not allocate intracellular resources in a manner that produces an overflow metabolism. cCCR and rCCR have traditionally been interpreted from the perspective of monocultures, even though most microorganisms live in consortia. Here, we review the basic tenets of the two CCR strategies and consider these phenotypes from the perspective of resource acquisition in consortia, a scenario that surely influenced the evolution of cCCR and rCCR. For instance, cCCR and rCCR metabolism are near mirror images of each other; when considered from a consortium basis, the complementary properties of the two strategies can mitigate direct competition for energy and nutrients and instead establish cooperative division of labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several books related to medical care. "Poor Health," edited by Virginia Berridge and Stuart Blume; "The Sociology of Health and Illness Reader," by Sarah Nettleton and Ulla Gustafsson; "Assistive Technology and Telecare: Forging Solutions for Independent Living," by Simon Brownsell and David Bradley; "Regulating the Health Professions," edited by Judith Allsop and Mike Sakes; "Children Caring for Patients with Mental Illness: Perspectives of Young Caretakers, Parents and Professionals," by Jo Aldridge and Saul Becker; "Disability," by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer; "Disability Studies Today," edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver and Len Barton; "Key Nursing Skills," by Barbara A. Workman and Clare L. Bennett.

The National Electronic Library: A Guide to the Future for Library Managers, edited by Gary M. Pitkin 8 1 Reviewed by Laverna M. Saunders Introducing and Managing Academic Library Autotnation Projects, edited by John W. Head and Gerard B. McCabe 83 Reviewed by William L. Stewart Outsourcing Library Technical Services: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians, by Arnold Hirshon and Barbara Winters 84 Reviewed by C. C. Bush [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reviews the book "North American Landbird Conservation Plan," by R.D. Rich, C.J. Beardmore, H. Berlanga, P.J. Blancher, M.S.W. Bradstreet, G.S. Butcher, D.W. Demarest, E.H. Dunn, W.C. Hunter, E.E. Iñigo-Elias, J.A. Kennedy, A.M. Martell, A.O. Panjabi, D.N. Pahsley, K.V. Rosenberg, C.M. Rustay, J.S. Wendt, and T.C. Will.

Reviews the book 'The Fun Food Factory,' by Nanette Newman and color illustration by Alan Cracknell.

Reviews the book 'Beloved Benjamin Is Waiting,' by Jean E. Karl.

Reviews the book 'The Amazing Dandelion,' by Millicent E. Selsam, with color photographs by Jerome Wexler.

Reviews the book 'The Sleeping Beauty,' by Charles Perrault, translated and color illustrated by David Walker.

Reviews the book 'Johnny Bench: King of Catchers,' by Louis Sabin.

Reviews the book 'Haiku--Vision in Poetry and Photography,' by Ann Atwood.

Reviews several books on various topics. 'Call Me Clown,' by Harriette Sheffer Abels; 'Shell Hunter,' by Carl Geren; 'Pictures and Pollution,' by Barbara Slavin Kataoka; 'The Blue Angels,' by Peter Mohn.

Reviews the books 'A Closer Look at Apes,' by David Cook and Jill Hughes, 'A Closer Look at Ocean Life,' by David and Susannah Cook, 'A Closer Look at Prehistoric Mammals,' by Beverly Halstead and 'A Closer Look at Birds,' by J.L. Hicks.

Reviews the book 'White King Black King: Book for Children,' by J.I. Roberts.

Reviews the book 'Zenas and the Shaving Mill,' by F.N. Monjo.

Reviews the book 'A Certain Magic,' by Doriss Orgel.

Reviews the book 'Willie Jasper's Golden Eagle: Being an Eyewitness Account of the Great Steamboat Race Between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee,' by F.N. Monjo and illustrated by Douglas Gorsline.

Reviews the book 'Vegetation Dynamics and Global Change,' edited by A.M. Solomon and H.H. Shugart.

Reviews the book 'Peace Treaty,' by Ruth Nulton Moore and illustrated by Marvin Espe.

Reviews the book 'Favorite Tales From Shakespeare,' by Bernard Miles and color illustration by Victor G. Ambrus.

Reviews the book 'Talpa: The Story of a Mole,' by Kenneth Mellanby and illustrated by Bert Kitchen.

Reviews the book 'T.J. Folger, Thief,' by Steven Kroll and color illustration by Bill Morrison.

Reviews the book 'Hidden Valleys and Unknown Shores,' by Marie M. Keesing and illustrated by Charles Robinson.