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The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has provoked a global pandemic, mainly affecting the respiratory tract; however, a percentage of infected individuals can develop gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Some studies describe the development of GI symptoms and how they affect the progression of COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the main mechanisms associated with gut damage during infection by SARS-CoV-2 as well as other organs such as the liver and pancreas. Not only are host factors associated with severe COVID-19 but intestinal microbiota dysbiosis is also observed in patients with severe disease.

Gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas are one of the world’s deadliest cancers. Cancer stem cells and the tissue microenvironment are highly regulated by cell and molecular mechanisms. Cancer stem cells are essential for maintenance and progression and are associated with resistance to conventional treatments. This article reviews the current knowledge of the role of the microenvironment during the primary establishment of gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas in the stomach, colon, and rectum and its relationship with cancer stem cells. We also describe novel developments in cancer therapeutics, such as targeted therapy, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different treatments for improving gastrointestinal cancer prognosis.

Natural apatites have previously shown a great capacity for phosphate retention from wastewater. However, its fine particle size distribution may lead to a premature clogging of the filter. Accordingly, a granulated apatite product was developed and manufactured in order to control the particle size distribution of the media. Experiments were conducted on laboratory columns to assess their phosphorus retention capacity, to identify the processes involved in phosphorus retention and to evaluate their kinetic rates. The results showed phosphorus retention capacities of 10.5 and 12.4 g PO4-P·kg−1 and kinetic rate coefficients in the range of 0.63 and 0.23 h−1 involving lower values than those found for natural apatites in previous studies. Scanning Electron Microscopy images showed that apatite particles in the granules were embedded in the binder and were not readily accessible to act as seeds for calcium phosphate precipitation. The retention processes differ depending on the supersaturation of the solution with respect to calcium phosphate phases: at low calcium concentrations (69.8 ± 3.9 mg·L−1), hydroxyapatite precipitates fill up the porosity of the binder up to a depth of 100–300 μm from the granule surface; at higher calcium concentrations (112.7 ± 7.4 mg·L−1) precipitation occurs at the granule surface, forming successive layers of hydroxyapatite and carbonated calcium phosphates.

Mass cytometry is a highly multiparametric proteomic technology that allows the measurement and quantification of nearly 50 markers with single-cell resolution. Mass cytometry reagents are probes tagged with metal isotopes of defined mass and act as reporters. Metals are detected using inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP-TOF-MS). Many different types of mass-tag reagents have been developed to afford myriad applications. We have classified these compounds into polymer-based mass-tag reagents, nonpolymer-based mass-tag reagents, and inorganic nanoparticles. Metal-chelating polymers (MCPs) are widely used to profile and quantify cellular biomarkers; however, both the range of metals that can be detected and the metal signals have to be improved. Several strategies such as the inclusion of chelating agents or highly branched polymers may overcome these issues. Biocompatible materials such as polystyrene and inorganic nanoparticles are also of profound interest in mass cytometry. While polystyrene allows the inclusion of a wide variety of metals, the high metal content of inorganic nanoparticles offers an excellent opportunity to increase the signal from the metals to detect low-abundance biomarkers. Nonpolymer-based mass-tag reagents offer multiple applications: cell detection, cell cycle property determination, biomarker detection, and mass-tag cellular barcoding (MCB). Recent developments have been achieved in live cell barcoding by targeting proteins (CD45, b2m, and CD298), by using small and nonpolar probes or by ratiometric barcoding. From this perspective, the principal applications, strengths, and shortcomings of mass-tag reagents are highlighted, summarized, and discussed, with special emphasis on mass-tag reagents for MCB. Thereafter, the future perspectives of mass-tag reagents are discussed considering the current state-of-the-art technologies.

We evaluated cell markers of oligodendrocyte-like cells (OLC) and neuron-like cells (NLC) differentiation from human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) cocultured on decellularized sciatic nerves. OLC and NLC were incubated at a 10:1 ratio with decellularized rat nerves. We estimated the percentage of myelin basic protein (MBP)- and neurofilament protein (NFP)-positive cells. OLC and NLC cocultures showed an increase in positive cells for MBP and proteolipid protein (PLP) markers. Oligodendrocytes and neurons cocultured with sciatic nerve scaffolds promoted myelination by OLC within three days, which remained stable for at least 21 days. We propose a reproducible experimental strategy for promoting sciatic nerve myelination by coculturing hADSCs-derived OLC and NLC in nerve scaffolds., Scientific Letters, Vol. 1 No. 1 (2022)

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases complication can give rise to myocardial infarction which produces cell death by blockage of blood flow, leading to loss of heart function. Current treatments directed at heart repair have several disadvantages such as the lack of donors for heart transplantation or the use of non-bioactive inert materials for replacement of the damage tissue. New treatment strategies involve stimulation of heart tissue regeneration with the use of bioactive materials like chitosan, in combination with cells and biochemical factors. Chitosan scaffolds have the necessary proprieties of biocompatibility, porosity, and biodegradation, that imitates the heart extracellular matrix. Chitosan scaffolds physical proprieties, such as electrical conductivity and mechanical proprieties, can be improved by different preparation techniques and by the functionalization with other materials.

Stand out contribution of pericytes and cancer stem cells (CSC) to progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Reported that CSC are responsible for the initiation and spread of the tumor; however, the microenvironment in the tumor plays a decisive role in prognosis; CSC and pericytes interaction are capable of contributing to neovascularization and promoting metastasis. We reviewed the contribution of cellular communication between pericytes, endothelial cells, and CSC with focus vascular remodeling, metastasis, angiogenesis, and vasculogenesis. Also, we were analyzed concise microRNAs and approved therapeutic target with the potential anti-angiogenic as treatment of CRC. This work seeks to give an overview of pericytes in cancer and their role angiogenic with CSC in CRC.

Introduction: Gas gangrene, also known as clostridial myonecrosis, is an acute, potentially life-threatening infection of muscular and soft tissues caused by pathogens in the Clostridium genus. Clinical case: We present the case of spontaneous gas gangrene caused by C. Perfringens in a patient with no history of trauma. Discussion: The treatment of gas gangrene consists of prompt surgical debridement combined with antibiotic therapy. Emergency surgical debridement is especially important for patient survival, preserving the limb and preventing complications. If C. Perfringens is confirmed, the antibiotic therapy should consist of penicillin (3-4 million units intravenously every 4h) with clindamycin (900 mg intravenously every 8h) or tetracycline (500 mg intravenously every 6h). Even when we encounter a patient with no history of trauma, gastrointestinal pathology, neutropenia or immunodeficiencies, we should quickly suspect this diagnosis when there is extreme pain in a limb, with or without fever. This suspicion is important due to the need for rapid and aggressive treatment to save the limb and life of the patient and to prevent complications.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers remarkable advantages in relation to traditional methods used to obtain solid structures, such as the capability to obtain customized complex geometries adapted to individual requirements. The design of novel nanocomposites suitable for AM is an excellent strategy to widen the application field of these techniques. In this work, we report on the fabrication of metal/polymer nanocomposites with enhanced optical/electrical behaviour for stereolithography (SLA). In particular, we analyse the in situ generation of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) from Ag precursors (AgNO3 and AgClO4) within acrylic resins via SLA. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis confirmed the formation of Ag NPs smaller than 5 nm in all nanocomposites, providing optical activity to the materials. A high density of Ag NPs with a good distribution through the material for the larger concentration of AgClO4 precursor tested was observed, in contrast to the isolated agglomerations found when the precursor amount was reduced to 0.1%. A significant reduction in the electrical resistivity up to four orders of magnitude was found for this material compared to the unfilled resin. However, consumption of part of the photoinitiator in the formation process of the Ag NPs contributed to a reduction in the polymerization degree of the resin and, consequently, degraded the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. Experiments with longer curing times showed that, for the higher AgClO4 concentrations tested, post-curing times of 300 min allowed an 80% degree of polymerization to be achieved. These conditions turned these materials into promising candidates to obtain solid structures with multifunctional properties.

The infiltration of secondary treated effluent (STE) into the soil downstream of wastewater treatment plants is becoming increasingly common in a climate change context. In STE infiltration, STE is discharged onto the soil over a large surface allowing for a gradual infiltration of the water. This paper investigates a novel time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography strategy to evaluate the impact of STE infiltration on the water pathways of two planted loamy-soil trenches located in a Fluvisol region in southwestern France. The system has been monitored for 3 years using discontinuous monitoring of electrical resistivity tomography during four saline tracer tests. Results show that: 1) the new methodology has successfully highlighted the evolution of water pathways in the soil over time; 2) such evolution is in agreement with reeds root distribution in the trenches which seems to be affected by water quality i.e. sludge losses and TSS, for this study case. Indeed, for the infiltration trench receiving STE with lower pollution levels (2.2 mg TSS. L

Pancreatic cancer leads the most common lethal tumor in America. This lethality is related to limited treatment options. Conventional treatments involve a non-specific use of chemotherapeutical agents like 5-FU, capecitabine, gemcitabine, cisplatine, oxaliplatine, or irinotecan, that produce several side effects. This review we focus on the use of targeted nanoparticles as an alternative to the standard treatment for the pancreatic cancer. The principal objective of the use of nanoparticles is the reduction in side effects that conventional treatments produce, mostly because of their nonspecificity. Currently, several molecular markets of pancreatic cancer cells have been studied to target nanoparticles and improve the actual treatment. Therefore, properly functionalizated nanoparticles with specific aptamers or antibodies can be used to recognize pancreatic cancer cells and once cancer is recognized, these nanoparticles can attack the tumor by drug delivery, hyperthermia, or gene therapy.

SUMMARY Tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is unresponsive to immune checkpoint blockade despite significant frequencies of exhausted T cells. Here we apply mass cytometry and uncover decidual-like natural killer (dl-NK) cell subpopulations (CD56+CD9+CXCR3+KIR+CD3−CD16−) in newly diagnosed HGSC samples that correlate with both tumor and transitioning epithelial-mesenchymal cell abundance. We show different combinatorial expression patterns of ligands for activating and inhibitory NK receptors within three HGSC tumor compartments: epithelial (E), transitioning epithelial-mesenchymal (EV), and mesenchymal (vimentin expressing [V]), with a more inhibitory ligand phenotype in V cells. In cocultures, NK-92 natural killer cells acquire CD9 from HGSC tumor cells by trogocytosis, resulting in reduced anti-tumor cytokine production and cytotoxicity. Cytotoxicity in these cocultures is restored with a CD9-blocking antibody or CD9 CRISPR knockout, thereby identifying mechanisms of immune suppression in HGSC. CD9 is widely expressed in HGSC tumors and so represents an important new therapeutic target with immediate relevance for NK immunotherapy., Graphical Abstarct, In brief In their mass cytometry study of newly diagnosed tubo-ovarian HGSC, Gonzalez et al. identify decidual-like NK cells that correlate with tumor cell abundance. CD9 distinguishes decidual NK cells from other NK cell phenotypes. In coculture, CD9 trogocytosis from ovarian tumor to NK cells confers NK cells with immune-suppressive properties.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of mortality. Recent studies suggest that cancer stem cells (CSCs) can survive after chemotherapy and promote tumor invasiveness and aggression. According to a higher hierarchy complexity of CSC, different protocols for isolation, expansion, and characterization have been used; however, there are no available resistance biomarkers that allow predicting the clinical response of treatment 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and oxaliplatin. Therefore, the primary aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of gene resistance on tumors and CSC-derived isolates from patients CRC. In the present study, adenocarcinomas of the colon and rectum (CRAC) were classified based on an in vitro adenosine triphosphate-based chemotherapy response assay, as sensitive and resistant and the percentage of CD24 and CD44 markers are evaluated by immunohistochemistry. To isolate resistant colon-CSC, adenocarcinoma tissues resistant to 5FU and oxaliplatin were evaluated. Finally, all samples were sequenced using a custom assay with chemoresistance-associated genes to find a candidate gene on resistance colon-CSC. Results showed that 59% of the CRC tissue analyzed was resistant and had a higher percentage of CD44 and CD24 markers. An association was found in the expression of some genes between the tumor-resistant tissue and CSC. Overall, isolates of the CSC population CD44+ resistant to 5FU and oxaliplatin demonstrated different expression profiles; however, the present study was able to identify overexpression of the KRT-18 gene, in most of the isolates. In conclusion, the results of the present study showed overexpression of KRT-18 in CD44+ cells is associated with chemoresistance to 5FU and oxaliplatin in CRAC.

miRNAs are well known for being implicated in a myriad of biological situations, including those related to serious diseases. Amongst miRNAs, miRNA-21 has the spotlight as it is reported to be up-regulated in multiple severe pathological conditions, being its quantification a key point in medicine. To date, most of the techniques for miRNA quantification have shown to be less effective than expected; thus, we herein present a novel, rapid, cost-effective, robust and PCR-free approach, based on dynamic chemistry, for the identification and quantification of miRNA directly from tumour cells using both FACS and a fluorescent microplate. This dynamic chemistry novel application involves bead based reagents and allows quantifying the number of miR-21 molecules presented in MDA-MB-468 and H1975 tumour cells.

Q (1) What are the effects on the social and communication skills of a person with developmental disability when intervention is implemented by a family member? (2) Are differential effects of fami...

Summary Soil infiltration is regularly practised downstream of wastewater treatment plants, particularly in areas without surface water systems. In France, stakeholders are considering the use of biodegradable and renewable material such as woodchips. This material has two main advantages: it has a high capillarity, thus a great capacity for water retention, and it amends the soil with carbon improving its structure. Moreover, woodchips have been told to promote biodiversity in particular for bioturbating species like earthworms, which play a major role regarding soil structure and organic matter transport into the soil. Such macrofaune is expected to promote water infiltration for poorly infiltrating capacity soils and to limit soil clogging caused by the infiltration of treated wastewater. In this study, we evaluate the interaction between woodchips and loamy soils on woodchip-filled trenches operated for 2 to 6 years using a non-destructive geophysical approach: Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Time Domain Induced Polarisation (TDIP). ERT provided information of the structure of the soil under the woodchip-filled trenches, but anything could be said about the impact of such system in the soil. By contrast, TDIP showed significant variations of the signal around the trenches which may result from the presence of organic matter.

Herein, we describe the synthesis and application of cross-linked polystyrene-based dual-function nano- and microparticles containing both fluorescent tags and metals. Despite containing a single dye, these particles exhibit a characteristic dual-band fluorescence emission. Moreover, these particles can be combined with different metal ions to obtain hybrid metallofluorescent particles. We demonstrate that these particles are easily nanofected into living cells, allowing them to be used for effective fingerprinting in multimodal fluorescence-based and mass spectrometry-based flow cytometry experiments. Likewise, the in situ reductions of the metal ions enable other potential uses of the particles as heterogeneous catalysts., This work was funded by the Consejeria de Economia, Innovacion, Ciencia y Empleo (Junta de Andalucia, grant BIO-1778), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grants BIO2016-80519-R and CTQ2014-56370-R) and the Fundación Ramón Areces. A.D.-G. acknowledges scholarships from the Spanish Ministry of Education (grant FPU14/02181) and the University of Granada, PhD programme in Biomedicine. T.V. thanks the Talentia Postdoc Fellowship Programme (grant 267226, co-funded by the Andalusian Knowledge Agency and the 7th Framework Program of the European Union). A.U.-B. is grateful to the EPSRC (EP/N021134/1) for funding. The authors thank the staff at the microscopy facility of the Centre for Integrative Biology (CIBIO) of the University of Trento (Italy), the staff at the electron microscopy facilities of the Centre for Scientific Instrumentation (CIC) of the University of Granada, and the staff at the Flow Cytometry unit at the Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucia Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO).

SummaryTubo-ovarian high-grade serous cancer (HGSC) is unresponsive to immune checkpoint blockade despite significant frequencies of exhausted T cells. Here we applied mass cytometry to uncover decidual-like (dl)-NK cell subpopulations (CD56+CD9+CXCR3+KIR+CD3-CD16-) in chemo-naïve HGSC tumors that correlated with both tumor and transitioning epithelial-mesenchymal cell abundance. We showed different combinatorial expression patterns of ligands for activating and inhibitory NK receptors within the three HGSC tumor cell compartments; epithelial (E), transitioning epithelial-mesenchymal (EV) and mesenchymal (vimentin-expressing cells, V) with a more inhibitory ligand phenotype in V cells. When co-cultured with HGSC cell lines the NK-92 cell line acquired CD9 from tumor cells by trogocytosis with a resultant reduction in both anti-tumor cytokine production and cytotoxicity. Critically, a CD9 blocking antibody restored the killing activity of CD9+-NK-92 cells. These findings identify previously unrecognized mechanisms of immune suppression in HGSC. Furthermore, since CD9 is widely expressed in HGSC tumors it represents an important new therapeutic target with immediate relevance for NK immunotherapy.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies Nowadays, constant overpopulation and urban expansion in cities worldwide have led to several transport-related challenges. Traffic congestion, long commuting, parking difficulties, automobile dependence, high infrastructure maintenance costs, poor public transportation, and loss of public space are some of the problems that afflict major metropolitan areas. Trying to provide a solution for the future inner-city transportation, several companies have worked in recent years to design aircraft prototypes that base their technology on current UAVs. Therefore, vehicles with electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) technology are rapidly emerging so that they can be included in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) system. For this to become a reality, space agencies, governments and academics are generating concepts and recommendations to be considered a safe means of transportation for citizens. However, one of the most relevant points for this future implementation is the suitable location of the potential UAM hubs within the metropolitan areas. Since although UAM vehicles can take advantage of infrastructure such as roofs of buildings to clear and land, several criteria must be considered to find the ideal location. As a solution, this thesis seeks to carry out an integral rooftop-place suitability analysis by involving both the essential variables of the urban ecosystem and the adequate rooftop surfaces for UAM operability. The study area selected for this research is Manhattan (New York, U.S), which is the most densely populated metropolitan area of one of the megacities in the world. The applied methodology has an unsupervised-data-driving and GIS-based approach, which is covered in three sections. The first part is responsible for analyzing the suitability of place when evaluating spatial patterns given by the application of Self-Organizing Maps on the urban ecosystem variables attached to the city census blocks. The second part is based on the development of an algorithm in Python for both the evaluation of the flatness of the roof surfaces and the definition of the UAM platform type suitable for its settlement. The final stage performs a combined analysis of the suitability indexes generated for the development of UAM hubs. Results reflect that 16% of the roofs in the study area have high integral suitability for the development of UAM hubs, where UAVs platforms and Vertistops (small size platforms) are the types that can be the most settled in Manhattan. The reproducibility self-assessment of this research when considering Nüst et al. [45] criteria (https://osf.io/j97zp/) is: 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 (input data, preprocessing, methods, computational environment, results). GitHub repository code is available in https://github.com/carlosjdelgadonovaims/rooftop-place_suitability_analysis_for_Urban_Air_Mobility_hubs