Notes

Preparation of mRNA Polyplexes along with Post-conjugated Endosome-Disruptive Peptides.
Despite years of interventions intended to reduce child malnutrition in South Africa, its negative effects, stunting in particular, persist mainly among children under five years old living in under-resourced regions. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and associated factors among 404 children under age five attending childcare services with their mothers in selected healthcare facilities of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Anthropometry, socio-demographics and obstetric history were collected. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age Z-scores were used to determine stunting, underweight and thinness among children, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were performed to generate the factors associated with malnutrition. Stunting (45.3%) was the prevalent form of malnutrition among children under age five, affecting boys (51.7%) more than girls (38.8%) and children aged 12-23 months (62.4%) more than those less then 11 months old (40.1%), i school education. Suboptimal complementary feeding predisposed children to stunting and underweight. National nutrition programs should be context-specific to improve the introduction of complementary foods among children, especially in the remote and poor areas.Ezrin links the cytoskeleton to cell surface integrins and plasma membrane receptors, contributing to the proliferative and metastatic potential of cancer cells. Elevated ezrin expression in several cancers is associated with poor outcomes. Tumor cell ezrin expression and function have been investigated in depth; however, its role in macrophages and other tumor microenvironment cells remains unexplored. Macrophages profoundly influence tumorigenesis, and here we explore ezrin's influence on tumor-promoting macrophage functions. Ezrin knockdown in THP-1 macrophages reveals its important contribution to adhesion to endothelial cells. Unexpectedly, ezrin is essential for the basal and breast cancer cell-stimulated THP-1 expression of ITGAM mRNA that encodes integrin CD11b, critical for cell adhesion. Ezrin skews the differentiation of THP-1 macrophages towards the pro-tumorigenic, M2 subtype, as shown by the reduced expression of FN1, IL10, and CCL22 mRNAs following ezrin knockdown. Additionally, macrophage ezrin contributes to the secretion of factors that stimulate tumor cell migration, invasion, and clonogenic growth. Lastly, THP-1 ezrin is critical for the expression of mRNAs encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, consistent with pro-tumorigenic function. Collectively, our results provide insight into ezrin's role in tumorigenesis, revealing a bidirectional interaction between tumor-associated macrophages and tumor cells, and suggest myeloid cell ezrin as a target for therapeutic intervention against cancer.Taking a technology from the laboratory to industry is a long and resource-consuming process. Discovered more than a century ago, the phenomenon of superconductivity is testament to this process. Despite the promise of this technology, currently the only major use of superconductors outside the laboratory is in MRI machines. The advent of high-temperature superconductors in 1986 heralded a new dawn. Machines which do not require cooling with liquid helium are a very attractive target. A myriad range of different superconductors were rapidly discovered over the next decade. This process of discovery continues to this day with, most recently, a whole new class, the pnictides, being discovered in 2006. Many different usages have been identified, including in motors, generators, wind turbines, fault current limiters, and high-current low-loss cables. This Special Issue looks at some of the different factors which will help to realise these devices and thereby bring about a superconducting world.The incidence and prevalence of cardiac diseases, which are the main cause of death worldwide, are likely to increase because of population ageing and changes in lifestyle. Prevailing theories about the mechanisms of cardiac disease onset feature the gradual derailment of cellular protein homeostasis (proteostasis) and loss of the protein quality control as central factors. In the heart, loss of protein patency, due to flaws in design (genetically) or environmentally-induced wear and tear, may overwhelm protein quality control, thereby triggering derailment of proteostasis and contributing to cardiac disease onset.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising non-invasive imaging technique that can be safely used to study placental development and function. However, studies of the human placenta performed by MRI are limited by uterine motion and motion in the uterus during MRI remains one of the major limiting factors. Here, we aimed to investigate the characterization of uterine activity during MRI in the second trimester of pregnancy using MRI-based motion tracking. In total, 46 pregnant women were scanned twice (first scan between 14 and 18 weeks and second scan between 19 and 24 weeks), and 20 pregnant subjects underwent a single MRI between 14 and 18 weeks GA, resulting in 112 MRI scans. An MRI-based algorithm was used to track uterine motion in the superior-inferior and left-right directions. Uterine contraction and maternal motion cases were separated by the experts, and unpaired Wilcoxon tests were performed within the groups of gestational age (GA), fetal sex, and placental location in terms of the overall intensity measures of the uterine activity. In total, 22.3% of cases had uterine contraction during MRI, which increased from 18.6% at 14-18 weeks to 26.4% at 19-24 weeks GA. The dominant direction of the uterine contraction and maternal motion was the superior to the inferior direction during early gestation.This study explores novel metaphor comprehension in a 7.2-year-old child (conventionally called RJ) with complete and isolated agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC). RJ's cognitive level was adequate for his age as well as most of his linguistic competencies. selleckchem The child's performance was compared to typically developing (TD) controls on a test assessing novel metaphor comprehension for preschoolers. RJ's performance showed a delay of about three years in relation to the expected level for his age, and also a significant gap compared to the TDs. The results highlighted the possibility to detect weaknesses in understanding novel metaphors in children with ACC, in spite of their apparently adequate linguistic capabilities. An early detection of a weakness in this area can pave the way to neurolinguistic treatment in order to enhance the understanding of nonliteral meaning, which, in the developmental trajectory, will be increasingly involved in everyday life communication. Future research should explore more in-depth a capability that intrinsically requires high interconnectivity, such as novel metaphor comprehension, in a brain in development where the major tract connecting the two hemispheres is missing.
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