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Cuproptosis is a newly identified form of cell death driven by copper. Recently, the role of copper and copper triggered cell death in the pathogenesis of cancers have attracted attentions. Cuproptosis has garnered enormous interest in cancer research communities because of its great potential for cancer therapy. Copper-based treatment exerts an inhibiting role in tumor growth and may open the door for the treatment of chemotherapy-insensitive tumors. In this review, we provide a critical analysis on copper homeostasis and the role of copper dysregulation in the development and progression of cancers. Then the core molecular mechanisms of cuproptosis and its role in cancer is discussed, followed by summarizing the current understanding of copper-based agents (copper chelators, copper ionophores, and copper complexes-based dynamic therapy) for cancer treatment. Additionally, we summarize the emerging data on copper complexes-based agents and copper ionophores to subdue tumor chemotherapy resistance in different types of cancers. We also review the small-molecule compounds and nanoparticles (NPs) that may kill cancer cells by inducing cuproptosis, which will shed new light on the development of anticancer drugs through inducing cuproptosis in the future. Finally, the important concepts and pressing questions of cuproptosis in future research that should be focused on were discussed. This review article suggests that targeting cuproptosis could be a novel antitumor therapy and treatment strategy to overcome cancer drug resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nosema ceranae is a unicellular fungal parasite of honey bees and causes huge losses for apiculture. Until present, no study on N. ceranae long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) was documented. Here, we sequenced purified spores of N. ceranae using strand-specific library construction and high-throughput RNA sequencing technologies. In total, 83 novel lncRNAs were predicted from N. ceranae spore samples, including lncRNAs, long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs), and sense lncRNAs. Moreover, these lncRNAs share similar characteristics with those identified in mammals and plants, such as shorter length and fewer exon number and transcript isoforms than protein-coding genes. Finally, the expression of 12 lncRNAs was confirmed with RT-PCR, confirming their true existence. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of lncRNAs produced by a microsporidia species, offering novel insights into basic biology such as regulation of gene expression of this widespread taxonomic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is highly prevalent in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and associated with high rates of death and disability. IE presenting as an acute ischemic stroke, especially recurrent concurrence of acute anterior and posterior circulation infarct, has rarely been reported. Herein, we report a case study of a 60-year-old man with a history of aortic valve replacement and was under warfarin, presented with recurrent acute ischemic stroke which was found to have no vegetation secondary to infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus constellatus as the embolic source. This is the first case report of recurrent ischemic stroke secondary to IE without vegetation caused by Streptococcus constellatus involving concurrence of acute anterior and posterior circulation. We also then systematically analyze the cases with IE initially presenting as AIS reported in the literature to establish possible demographic, clinical, laboratory patterns, and prognostic features of these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of resistance to chemotherapy in cancer continues to be a major challenge in cancer management. Ferroptosis, a unique type of cell death, is mechanistically and morphologically different from other forms of cell death. Ferroptosis plays a pivotal role in inhibiting tumour growth and has presented new opportunities for treatment of chemotherapy-insensitive tumours in recent years. Emerging studies have suggested that ferroptosis can regulate the therapeutic responses of tumours. Accumulating evidence supports ferroptosis as a potential target for chemotherapy resistance. Pharmacological induction of ferroptosis could reverse drug resistance in tumours. In this review article, we first discuss the key principles of chemotherapeutic resistance in cancer. We then provide a brief overview of the core mechanisms of ferroptosis in cancer chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Finally, we summarise the emerging data that supports the fact that chemotherapy resistance in different types of cancers could be subdued by pharmacologically inducing ferroptosis. This review article suggests that pharmacological induction of ferroptosis by bioactive compounds (ferroptosis inducers) could overcome chemotherapeutic drug resistance. This article also highlights some promising therapeutic avenues that could be used to overcome chemotherapeutic drug resistance in cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detoxification and immobilization of Cr(VI) using metakaolin-based geopolymer coupled with ferrous chloride was solved successfully. Adding potassium dichromate and ferrous chloride in the base colloid formed by mixing metakaolin and the alkaline activator, Cr(VI)-contaminated metakaolin-based geopolymer was prepared, whose compressive strength was more than 30 MPa. The optimized capacity of chromium in the geopolymer was 0.8 wt.% with an optimized Fe 2+ /Cr(VI) mole ratio of 4:1, which ensured a low leached chromium concentration below 5 mg/L. This product was mainly amorphous except by-product sodium chloride. According to XRD, SEM and XPS, the mechanism of Cr detoxification/immobilization was speculated and explained. In the colloid, the negatively charged [AlO 4 ] was first formed because of the geopolymerization, and at the same time, Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr 3+ under the participation of Fe 2+ . Then, Cr 3+ was attracted by [AlO 4 ] due to the electrostatic attraction and stabilized in geopolymerical matrices. Therefore, the immobilization of Cr(VI) in geopolymer contained a redox and a fixation process. This method is expected to be used for the disposal of Cr(VI)-contaminated solid wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A very short-time synthesis of morphology-controlled MCM-41 molecular sieve was formulated by using industry by-product silica fume as the silica source. In this synthesis, only by regulating the dose of ethyl acetate, we can well-realize the silica nanoparticle morphological transformation from worm-like to sphere, and popcorn-like shapes. The structure and morphology of the as-fabricated silica nanoparticles were quantitatively investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Owing to the specific surface area and regular morphology, the bimodal mesoporous silica material MSF1 shows a better adsorption property for methylene blue. It was also demonstrated that it is possible to employ silica fume as an ideal silica source in 90 min self-assemble synthesis for large scale production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a faujasite block with certain compressive strength was successfully fabricated from fly ash based geopolymer via in-situ hydrothermal method. The effects of various factors, such as the SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 molar ratio of the geopolymer, the concentration of NaOH, crystallization time and crystallization temperature of the hydrothermal curing solution on the structure and morphology of the hydrothermal products were investigated. SEM and XRD results confirmed that these factors played essential roles in controlling the morphology and crystallinity of the hydrothermal products. The optimum faujasite block showed an octahedral shape and sharp edges with good crystallinity. In addition, the BET specific surface area, the total pore volume and the compressive strength of the faujasite block were 136.23 m 2 /g, 0.14 cm 3 /g and 5.14 MPa, respectively. The optimum conditions for the synthesis of faujasite block were SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 molar ratio of 4.0, NaOH solution concentration of 1.0 mol/L, and 24 h for crystallization at 70 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) were successfully synthesized by vapor deposition polymerization (VDP) method with diatomite (Dt) as template. This study presents the first attempt to understand the influence of furfuryl alcohol (FA) and/or glucose (GL) on the properties of final diatomite based HPCs. Electron microscopy characterization indicated that three types of HPCs structures (disordered carbon pillars, ordered carbontubes, and discrete carbon spheres) were obtained by employing different carbon sources. When mixed FA/GL was employed as the precursor, tubular HPCs were obtained with a larger surface area and more ordered atomic order in the final amorphous structure compared to other type of HPCs. Influence of other parameters such as hydrothermal temperature and ratio of FA to GL on the structure of HPCs were also investigated. Based on the study carried out, it could be concluded that HPCs with proper carbon source, along with the optimum values of other parameters, can have a larger surface area (472.62 m2/g) compared to other type of HPCs. In addition, formation mechanism of the amorphous HPCs was proposed accordingly. It can be concluded that changing synthesis conditions can affect HPCs structure and therefore can be exploited with great potential, to obtain HPCs with desirable structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] PI/kaolinite composites were successfully synthesized via in situ polymerization. [•] PI chains intercalated into the layers of kaolinite by replacing KAc molecules. [•] PI/kaolinite composites exhibited more excellent thermal properties than pure PI. [•] Mechanical properties of PI were significantly improved at low clay content. [•] PI/kaolinite composite films exhibited better waterproof property than PI film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Hexagonally ordered mesoporous aluminosilicate molecular sieve has been synthesized successfully from natural halloysite without addition of silica or aluminum reagents. [•] The BET surface area and pore volume of the prepared sample reached up to 524.6m2/g and 0.87cm3/g, respectively. [•] 27Al solid state MAS NMR spectrum showed that all of aluminum species were tetrahedrally coordinated into the framework of the mesoporous material. [•] A possible mechanism for the formation of mesoporous aluminosilicate molecular sieve from natural halloysite was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Optimum activation condition of zeolite was 1M NaCl, 70°C and stirring time of 30min. [•] Zeolite performance for NH4 + removal was up to 98% and can be regenerated four times with high efficiency. [•] Performance depends on the stirring time, temperature, initial NH4 + concentration and pH. [•] Various adsorption isotherms and kinetic calculations were applied. [•] The adsorption was spontaneous and exothermic as revealed by ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]