Focus: Rare Disease: Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor in a Pregnant Woman: A Case Report and Literature Review

Background: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is an aggressive malignant tumor commonly found in young men; most occurs in the abdominal cavity. Here we conducted an in-depth analysis of a pregnant patient in our hospital and explored all the case information in the literature on small round cell carcinoma of women. Case presentation: A 27-year-old pregnant woman underwent tumor resection in our hospital at 29 weeks gestational age for a large progressive shoulder lump. The postoperative pathology showed that the mass was a DSRCT. Genetic testing found no fusion gene. At 36 weeks gestation, a painful mass was found in the breast and proved to be a metastatic focus of the desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Twenty days after a successful cesarean section at 40 weeks gestation, she received the VAC-IE chemotherapy regimen, successfully completed the first course, but when awaiting the next chemotherapy, unfortunately, the patient died during follow-up due to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Conclusion: The treatment of DSRCT in pregnant women requires a multidisciplinary consultation, and the treatment and examination during pregnancy are subject to many constraints, which may have a negative impact on the patient’s prognosis. Also, a review of the literature found that there is still no standard treatment protocol for DSRCT, and its prognosis in female patients is independent of age and tissue origin.     

Synthesis and evaluation of modified chalcone based p53 stabilizing agents

Tumor suppressor protein p53 induces cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death in response to various cellular stresses thereby preventing cancer development. Activation and stabilization of p53 through small organic molecules is, therefore, an attractive approach for the treatment of cancers retaining wild-type p53. In this context, a series of nineteen chalcones with various substitution patterns of functional groups including chloro, fluoro, methoxy, nitro, benzyloxy, 4-methyl benzyloxy was prepared using Claisen-Schmidt condensation. The compounds were characterized using NMR, HRMS, IR and melting points. Evaluation of synthesized compounds against human colorectal (HCT116) and breast (CAL-51) cancer cell lines revealed potent antiproliferative activities. Nine compounds displayed GI₅₀ values in the low micromolar to submicromolar range; for example (E)-1-phenyl-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (SSE14108) showed GI₅₀ of 0.473 ± 0.043 µM against HCT116 cells. Further analysis of these compounds revealed that (E)-3-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (SSE14105) and (E)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (SSE14106) caused rapid (4 and 8-h post-treatment) accumulation of p53 in HCT116 cells similar to its induction by positive control, Nutlin-3. Such activities were absent in 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)propiophenone (SSE14106H2) demonstrating the importance of conjugated ketone for antiproliferative and p53 stabilizing activity of the chalcones. We further evaluated p53 levels in the presence of cycloheximide (CHX) and the results showed that the p53 stabilization was regulated at post-translational level through blockage of its degradation. These chalcones can, therefore, act as fragment leads for further structure optimization to obtain more potent p53 stabilizing agents with enhanced anti-proliferative activities.     

Impact of dengue virus (serotype DENV-2) infection on liver of BALB/c mice: A histopathological analysis

In this research, we characterized the histopathological impact of dengue virus (serotype DENV-2) infection in livers of BALB/c mice. The mice were infected with different doses of DENV-2 via intraperitoneal injection and liver tissues were processed for histological analyses and variation was documented. In the BALB/c mouse model, typical liver tissues showed regular hepatocyte architecture, with normal endothelial cells surrounding sinusoid capillary. Based on histopathological observations, the liver sections of BALB/c mice infected by DENV-2 exhibited a loss of cell integrity, with a widening of the sinusoidal spaces. There were marked increases in the infiltration of mononuclear cells. The areas of hemorrhage and micro- and macrovesicular steatosis were noted. Necrosis and apoptosis were abundantly present. The hallmark of viral infection, i.e., cytopathic effects, included intracellular edema and vacuole formation, cumulatively led to sinusoidal and lobular collapse in the liver. The histopathological studies on autopsy specimens of fatal human DENV cases are important to shed light on tissue damage for preventive and treatment modalities, in order to manage future DENV infections. In this framework, the method present here on BALB/c mouse model may be used to study not only the effects of infections by other DENV serotypes, but also to investigate the effects of novel drugs, such as recently developed nano-formulations, and the relative recovery ability with intact immune functions of host.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma lixii ID11D</Emphasis> seed biopriming mitigates dose dependent salt toxicity in maize

Certain number of commercial products has been developed to grow stress resistant plants for the sustainability of agriculture in current era with full of energy dependency and hunger besides global warming. Given the risk of these products on the microbial environment in the rhizosphere and food security of mankind due to the accumulated chemical pollution through the food web, organic fungal plant growth promoting agents might be used. Hence, effects of Trichoderma lixii ID11D (TXD), our local fungal isolate on Zea mays L. cv. Samada 07 as a seed biopriming agent was investigated under dose dependent NaCl stress in this study. Fungus was characterized based on ITS (internal transcribed spacer) regions via clustering approach after isolated from tea plantation area. The higher the NaCl concentration, the more effective the TXD was observed. Improved electron transport rate (ETR), maximum quantum efficiency of PS II (Fv/Fm), the effective quantum yield of PS2 (ΦPS2), photochemical quenching (qP) and decreased non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) was detected in TXD primed plants after NaCl expose. TXD seed biopriming increased the lengths, fresh and dry weights of root/shoots and decreased the lipid peroxidation (MDA) remarkably. Non-enzymatic pathway was found to be more effective than enzymatic one for seed bioprimed plants proven by higher RWC, soluble protein, proline, chlorophyll, carotenoid, and less H₂O₂ and MDA levels under each dose of NaCl. Detected phenotypic and biochemical improvements pave the way of the potential usage of the formulated fungus biopreperations as a pre-harvest agent in agriculturally important cereals in the future and going beyond lab-based level.     

CaCO3 and MgCO3 Dissolving Halophilic Bacteria

In the current study, fifteen halophilic and halotolerant bacteria were isolated from salt-affected soil of ?anl?urfa, Turkey. The isolates were characterized by conventional and molecular techniques (16S rDNA sequence analyses) as belonging to seven different genus including Bacillus (5 isolates), Halobacillus (1 isolate), Oceanobacillus (2 isolates), Halomonas (3 isolate), Nesterenkonia (1 isolate), Chromohalobacter (2 isolates) and Jeotgalibacillus (2 isolates). According to the results obtained, the investigated bacterial strains have high salt tolerance and significant enzyme activities which can improve soil nutrient cycling and fertility. Furthermore, these bacterial strains have been investigated for their ability to dissolve common salts available in salt-affected soils. Salt dissolving experiments showed that two Chromohalobacter isolates were able to dissolve CaCO₃ and one of the Halomonas isolate was able to dissolve both CaCO₃ and MgCO₃. As these bacterial isolates can dissolve CaCO₃ and MgCO₃, the availability of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions may increase which can enhance the removal of the excess Na⁺ in soil profile.     

Enhanced Electrocatalysis for Energy‐Efficient Hydrogen Production over CoP Catalyst with Nonelectroactive Zn as a Promoter

As a non‐toxic species, Zn fulfills a multitude of biological roles, but its promoting effect on electrocatalysis has been rarely explored. Herein, the theoretic predications and experimental investigations that nonelectroactive Zn behaves as an effective promoter for CoP‐catalyzed hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in both acidic and alkaline media is reported. Density function theory calculations reveal that Zn doing leads to more thermal‐neutral hydrogen adsorption free energy and thus enhanced HER activity for CoP catalyst. Electrochemical tests show that a Zn_0.08Co_0.92P nanowall array on titanium mesh (Zn_0.08Co_0.92P/TM) needs overpotentials of only 39 and 67 mV to drive a geometrical catalytic current of 10 mA cm^‐2 in 0.5 m H₂SO₄ and 1.0 m KOH, respectively. This Zn_0.08Co_0.92P/TM is also superior in activity over CoP/TM for urea oxidation reaction (UOR), driving 115 mA cm^‐2 at 0.6 V in 1.0 m KOH with 0.5 m urea. The high HER and UOR activity of this bifunctional electrode enables a Zn_0.08Co_0.92P/TM‐based two‐electrode electrolyzer for energy‐saving hydrogen production, offering 10 mA cm^‐2 at a low voltage of 1.38 V with strong long‐term electrochemical stability.     

En route to economical eco‐friendly solvent system in enhancing sustainable recovery of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate) copolymer

Separation of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB‐co‐4HB)] from bacterial cell matter is a critical step in the downstream process with respect to material quality and eco‐balance as P(3HB‐co‐4HB) is widely used for biomedical applications. Therefore, an efficient and eco‐based extraction of P(3HB‐co‐4HB) using a combination of NaOH and Lysol in digesting the non‐polymeric cell material (NPCM) digestion is developed. The NaOH and Lysol show synergistic influence on the copolymer extraction at a high purity and recovery of 97 and 98 wt% respectively. The optimized cell digestion method was found applicable to a vast batch of cells containing copolymers from various 4HB monomer compositions. At the largest extraction volume of 100 L, P(3HB‐co‐4HB) with a purity of 89 wt% was extracted with a maximum recovery of 90 wt%. The method developed has also eliminated the cell pretreatment step. The extraction method developed in this research has not only produced an economic and efficient copolymer recovery but has also retained the copolymer quality, in term of its molecular weight and thermal properties. It demonstrates a practical and promising downstream processing method in recovering the copolymer effectively from the bacterial biomass.     

Positive Maternal Attitude to the Family Eating Together Decreases the Risk of Adolescent Overweight

Objectives: To determine whether maternal attitude towards the family regularly eating together and maternal report of how often the family eat together are associated with adolescent offspring overweight. Research Methods and Procedures: A cross‐sectional mother‐child‐linked analysis was carried out using 14‐year follow‐up data from a population‐based prospective birth cohort of 3795 children (52% males) who were participants in the Mater‐University study of pregnancy, Brisbane, Australia. Maternal reports on family eating pattern reported at age 14 were used. Results: The prevalence of overweight at age 14 was 24.1% (95% confidence interval (CI), 22.3, 26.1) for males and 27.1% (CI, 25.1, 29.2) for females. The majority of mothers (78%) reported that the family ate together at least once a day, but only 43% reported that they felt that family eating together was important. The offspring of women who felt that the family eating together was not important had increased odds of being overweight at age 14 (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05, 1.53) in age‐ and sex‐adjusted models. Adjustment for potential confounding factors had no substantive effect on the association. There was no association between maternal reports of how often the family actually did eat together and overweight at age 14 in the offspring. Discussion: These findings suggest that maternal attitude towards family eating patterns, but not maternal report of how often the family do eat together, are associated with childhood overweight status. Maternal attitude towards family eating (as opposed to a report of actual frequency at one time‐point) may reflect broader maternal influences (beyond family eating pattern) on their child's diet and eating patterns over a long time course.