Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Pillararenes Trimer for Self-Assembly
Pillararenes trimer with particularly designed structural geometry and excellent capacity of recognizing guest molecules is a very efficient and attractive building block for the fabrication of advanced self-assembled materials. Pillararenes trimers could be prepared via both covalent and noncovalent bonds. The classic organic synthesis reactions such as click reaction, Palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction, amidation, esterification and aminolysis are employed to build covalent bonds and integrate three pieces of pillararenes subunits together into the “star-shaped” trimers and linear foldamers. Alternatively, pillararenes trimers could also be assembled in the form of host-guest inclusions and mechanically interlocked molecules via noncovalent interactions, and during those procedures, pillararenes units contribute the cavity for recognizing guest molecules and act as a “wheel” subunit, respectively. By fully utilizing the driving forces such as host-guest interactions, charge transfer, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, C—H…π and π—π stacking interactions, pillararenes trimers-based supramolecular self-assemblies provide a possibility in the construction of multi-dimensional materials such as vesicular and tubular aggregates, layered networks, as well as frameworks. Interestingly, those assembled materials exhibit interesting external stimuli responsiveness to e.g., variable concentrations, changed pH values, different temperature, as well as the addition/removal of competition guests and ions. Thus, they could further be used for diverse applications such as detection, sorption and separation of significant multi-analytes including metal cations, anions and amino acids.
  • 1.1K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Cell–Cell Fusion and Cancer
In addition to physiological processes, such as fertilization, placentation, myogenesis, osteoclastogenesis and wound healing/tissue regeneration the biological phenomenon of cell-cell fusion also plays a role in cancer, which was already postulated by the German physician Otto Aichel in 1911. Indeed, cancer cells could either fuse with other cancer cells or could hybridize with macrophages, fibroblasts and stem cells, thereby giving rise to tumor hybrid cells that could exhibit novel properties, such as an increased drug resistance and/or an enhanced metastasis formation capacity. 
  • 1.1K
  • 28 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Investigation of Natural Beachrock and Physical–Mechanical
Typically, the mitigation of coastal erosion is achieved by amending surface conditions using materials such as concrete. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of constructing artificial beachrocks using natural materials (e.g., microbes, sand, shell, pieces of coral, and seaweed etc.) within a short time, and to propose the method as a novel strategy for coastal protection. Initially, a survey on resistivity and a multichannel analysis of seismic waves (MASW) were conducted along the coastal lines to characterize and elucidate the subsurface structure of existing beachrocks in the Southeast Yogyakarta coastal area, Krakal–Sadranan beach, Indonesia. The field survey on natural beachrocks suggests that both resistivity and shear wave velocity were higher in the deeper deposits compared to the underlying unconsolidated sand layer within a depth of approximately 1.5 m and covering an area of 210.496 m2 for the α-section and 76.936 m2 for the β-section of beachrock deposit. The results of the sand solidification test in the laboratory showed that treated sand achieved unconfined compressive strength of up to around 6 MPa, determined after a treatment period of 14 days under optimum conditions.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 Apr 2020
Topic Review
Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants in sewage
We have shown that environmental surveillance can be used to monitor SARS-CoV-2 transmission detecting virus variants specifically circulating in England and identifying changes in virus variant predominance known to have occurred during the COVID-19 epidemic. It is hoped that environmental surveillance can be used for the early detection of peaks in virus transmission for public health interventions to be timely implemented. 
  • 1.1K
  • 22 Oct 2020
Topic Review
TLR2
Toll-like receptor 2 also known as TLR2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TLR2 gene. TLR2 has also been designated as CD282 (cluster of differentiation 282). TLR2 is one of the toll-like receptors and plays a role in the immune system. TLR2 is a membrane protein, a receptor, which is expressed on the surface of certain cells and recognizes foreign substances and passes on appropriate signals to the cells of the immune system.
  • 1.1K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
The Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors
Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent form of malignancy and second only to lung cancer as cause of deaths in women. Notwithstanding many progresses made in the field, metastatic BC has a very poor prognosis. As therapies are becoming more personalized to meet the needs of patients, a better knowledge of the molecular biology leading to the disease unfolds the possibility to project more precise compounds or antibodies targeting definite alteration at the molecular level and functioning on such cancer-causing molecules expressed in cancer cells of patients, or present as antigens on the surface of cancer cell membranes. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) is one of such druggable targets, activated by its own ligands -namely the Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs). This pathway provides a vast range of interesting molecular targets pursued at different levels of clinical investigation.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Ubiquilin Networking in Cancers
Ubiquilins or UBQLNs, members of the ubiquitin-like and ubiquitin-associated domain (UBL-UBA) protein family, serve as adaptors to coordinate the degradation of specific substrates via both proteasome and autophagy pathways. The UBQLN substrates reveal great diversity and impact a wide range of cellular functions. For decades, researchers have been attempting to uncover a puzzle and understand the role of UBQLNs in human cancers, particularly in the modulation of oncogene’s stability and nucleotide excision repair.
  • 1.1K
  • 18 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the number one chronic liver disease worldwide and is estimated to affect nearly 40% of obese youth and up to 10% of the general pediatric population without any obvious signs or symptoms. Although the early stages of NAFLD are reversible with diet and lifestyle modifications, detecting such stages is hindered by a lack of non-invasive methods of risk assessment and diagnosis. This absence of non-invasive means of diagnosis is directly related to the scarcity of long-term prospective studies of pediatric NAFLD in children and adolescents. In the majority of pediatric NAFLD cases, the mechanisms driving the origin and rapid progression of NAFLD remain unknown. The progression from NAFLD to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in youth is associated with unique histological features and possible immune processes and metabolic pathways that may reflect different mechanisms compared with adults. Recent data suggest that circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are important new biomarkers underlying pathways of liver injury. Several factors may contribute to pediatric NAFLD development, including high-sugar diets, in utero exposures via epigenetic alterations, changes in the neonatal microbiome, and altered immune system development and mitochondrial function.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Oculocutaneous Albinism
Oculocutaneous albinism is a group of conditions that affect coloring (pigmentation) of the skin, hair, and eyes.
  • 1.1K
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Clock Genes
Inflammation is a common feature of several diseases, including obesity, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. Circadian clock genes are expressed and oscillate in many cell types such as macrophages, neurons and pancreatic β cells. During inflammation, these endogenous clocks control the temporal gating of cytokine production, the antioxidant response, chemokine attraction and insulin secretion, among other processes. Deletion of clock genes in macrophages or brain-resident cells induces a higher production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and this is often accompanied by an increased oxidative stress. In the context of obesity and diabetes, a high-fat diet disrupts the function of clock genes in macrophages and in pancreatic β cells, contributing to inflammation and systemic insulin resistance. 
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine
The chloroquine family of antimalarials has a long history of use, spanning many decades. Despite this extensive clinical experience, novel applications, including use in autoimmune disor-ders, infectious disease, and cancer, have only recently been identified. While short term use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is safe at traditional therapeutic doses in patients without pre-disposing conditions, administration of higher doses and for longer durations are associated with toxicity, including retinotoxicity. Additional liabilities of these medications include pharmacokinetic profiles that require extended dosing to achieve therapeutic tissue concentrations. To improve chloroquine therapy, researchers have turned toward nanomedicine reformulation of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to increase exposure of target tissues relative to off-target tissues, thereby improving the therapeutic index.
  • 1.1K
  • 19 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas start to divide uncontrollably and form a mass. There are different types of cancer cells based on their origin, for example, carcinoma (cancer of epithelial cells), sarcoma (cancer of mesenchymal cells in blood vessels, muscles, and other tissues), myeloma/leukemia/lymphoma (blood cell-related cancer), and adenocarcinoma (cancer of mucus-producing glandular cells).
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Renin-Angiotensin System in Liver Fibrosis
There is considerable experimental evidence that the renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a central role in both hepatic fibrogenesis and portal hypertension. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), a key enzyme of the classical RAS, converts angiotensin I (Ang I) to angiotensin II (Ang II), which acts via the Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R) to stimulate hepatic fibrosis and increase intrahepatic vascular tone and portal pressure. Inhibitors of the classical RAS, drugs which are widely used in clinical practice in patients with hypertension, have been shown to inhibit liver fibrosis in animal models but their efficacy in human liver disease is yet to be tested in adequately powered clinical trials. Small trials in cirrhotic patients have demonstrated that these drugs may lower portal pressure but produce off-target complications such as systemic hypotension and renal failure. More recently, the alternate RAS, comprising its key enzyme, ACE2, the effector peptide angiotensin-(1–7) (Ang-(1–7)) which mediates its effects via the putative receptor Mas (MasR), and Mas related G protein-coupled receptor type-D (MrgD) has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and portal hypertension. This system is activated in both preclinical animal models and human chronic liver disease and it is now well established that the alternate RAS counter-regulates many of the deleterious effects of the ACE-dependent classical RAS. Work from our laboratory has demonstrated that liver-specific ACE2 overexpression reduces hepatic fibrosis and liver perfusion pressure without producing off-target effects. On the other hand, activation of the alternate RAS aggravates portal hypertension in cirrhosis via increasing splanchnic vasodilatation and elevating portal blood flow into the liver. Recent studies suggest that the blockers of the receptors of alternate RAS, such as the MasR and MrgD, increase splanchnic vascular resistance in cirrhotic animals, and thus drugs targeting the alternate RAS may be useful in the treatment of portal hypertension.
  • 1.1K
  • 03 Mar 2021
Topic Review
NGF Peptides Bind Copper(II)
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a protein essential to neurons survival, which interacts with its receptor as a non-covalent dimer. Copper affects biological activity of NGF and conversely NGF may regulates copper trafficking in synaptic cleft.
  • 1.1K
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Yogurt Enriched with Isochrysis galbana
Microalgae are a valuable and innovative emerging source of natural nutrients and bioactive compounds that can be used as functional ingredients in order to increase the nutritional value of foods to improve human health and to prevent disease. The marine microalga Isochrysis galbana has great potential for the food industry as a functional ingredient, given its richness in ω3 long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), with high contents of oleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), stearidonic, and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids. This study focuses on the formulation of a functional food by the incorporation of 2% (w/w) of I. galbana freeze-dried biomass and 2% (w/w) of I. galbana ethyl acetate lipidic extract in solid natural yogurts preparation. In the functional yogurt enriched with microalgal biomass, the ω3 LC-PUFA’s content increased (to 60 mg/100 g w/w), specifically the DHA content (9.6 mg/100 g ww), and the ω3/ω6 ratio (augmented to 0.8). The in vitro digestion study showed a poor bioaccessibility of essential ω3 LC-PUFAs, wherein linoleic acid (18:2 ω6) presented a bioaccessibility inferior to 10% and no DHA or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was detected in the bioaccessible fraction of the functional yogurts, thus indicating a low accessibility of lipids during digestion. Notwithstanding, when compared to the original yogurt, an added value novel functional yogurt with DHA and a higher ω3 LC-PUFAs content was obtained. The functional yogurt enriched with I. galbana can be considered important from a nutritional point of view and a suitable source of essential FAs in the human diet. However, this needs further confirmation, entailing additional investigation into bioavailability through in vivo assays. 
  • 1.1K
  • 08 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Fluorescent Materials for Mitochondrial Biology
Mitochondria are double-membraned organelles. The mitochondrial inner membrane has characteristic folds, called cristae, providing a large amount of surface area for chemical reactions, and it is enclosed by a permeable mitochondrial outer membrane, which completes the double membrane-bound architecture of mitochondria. Mitochondria undergo dynamic movement inside cells by fusion and fission and build large interconnected intracellular networks, a process which is called mitochondrial dynamics.
  • 1.1K
  • 12 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Stress Corrosion Cracking in APS-Glasses
Stress corrosion cracking is a well-known phenomenon in oxide glasses. However, how amorphous phase separation (APS) alters stress corrosion cracking, and the overall mechanical response of an oxide glass is less known in literature. APS is a dominant feature concerning many multicomponent systems, particularly the ternary sodium borosilicate (SBN) glass systems.
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Land-Use Intensification on Plant–Pollinator Interactions
Permanent grasslands are main habitats for many plant species and pollinators. Their destruction as well as their intensification has a major impact on plant and pollinator biodiversity, which has a cascading effect on pollination. However, we lack an understanding of these effects, thereby limiting our ability to predict them. In this review, we synthesised the literature on the mechanisms behind this cascade to provide new insights into the relationship between land-use intensification and pollination. By matching functional traits that mediate the relationship between the two trophic levels, we identified major knowledge gaps about how land-use intensification affects plant–pollinator interactions and how it favours plants with generalised floral traits, which are likely harmful to pollination.
  • 1.1K
  • 20 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Polymorphisms in Collagen-Encoding Genes
Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a common pathology of the spine that significantly reduces the quality of life and performance of patients [1]. Neurologists, therapists, rheumatologists and orthopedists take part in the observation and treatment this disorder. The purpose of this entry is to analyze domestic and foreign studies on the role of collagen-encoding genes polymorphism in the development of intervertebral discs (IVDs) degeneration in humans.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Alignment-Free Study of Viral Diversity
Viral sequence variation can expand the host repertoire, enhance the infection ability, and/or prevent the build-up of a long-term specific immunity by the host. The study of viral diversity is, thus, critical to understand sequence change and its implications for intervention strategies.
  • 1.1K
  • 22 Sep 2021
  • Page
  • of
  • 2729
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback