Tunable Aryl Imidazolium Recyclable Ionic Liquid with Dual Brønsted-Lewis Acid as Green Catalyst for Friedel-Crafts Acylation and Thioesterification.

Unique tunable aryl imidazolium ionic liquids successfully catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation and thioesterification in sealed tubes. These reactions can form a C-C bond and a C-S bond with high atom economy. Ionic liquids exhibited high activity and catalyzed essential reactions with good to excellent yields while retaining their catalytic activities for recycling.

Treatment success with titratable thermoplastic mandibular advancement devices for obstructive sleep apnea: A comparison of patient characteristics.

A titratable thermoplastic mandibular advancement device (MAD) is clearly an effective treatment option in some patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Determining which patients may be more likely to respond to treatment with thermoplastic MADs and to adhere to treatment would be of obvious clinical relevance. This was an experimental descriptive study (N = 60). Patients with OSA were instructed to wear a titratable thermoplastic MAD for 3 months. Treatment success was defined as a ≥50% reduction from baseline in the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) or AHI <10 when wearing MAD. Adherence was defined as MAD use ≥5 nights/week. Treatment was successful in 66.7% of patients and 60.0% were adherent. All polysomnographic parameters and visual analogue scale scores (sleep quality, snoring, waking refreshed) were significantly improved after treatment. The patients in whom treatment failed had significantly higher neck circumferences (39.3 cm vs. 37.5 cm, p = 0.014), higher baseline AHI values (26.6 vs. 18.0, p = 0.016), and smaller AHI reduction (-31.8 vs -53.1, p < 0.001) than those in the group in whom treatment succeeded. There were no significant differences in polysomnographic, cephalometric, or visual analogue scale measures between patients for whom treatment was and was not successful, regardless of baseline values or the change rates after the MAD was placed. Titratable thermoplastic MADs can improve indicators of sleep quality, even in patients in whom treatment is considered to have failed.

Lead Screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease of IKK2 Inhibited by Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic obstructive lung disease and is frequently found in well-developed countries due to the issue of aging populations. Not all forms of medical treatment are unable to return a patient's limited pulmonary function back to normal and eventually they could require a lung transplant. At this time, COPD is the leading cause of death in the world. Studies surveying I-kappa-B-kinase beta (IKK2) are very relevant to the occurrence and deterioration of the condition COPD. The sinapic acid-4-O-sulfate, kaempferol, and alpha-terpineol were found to be IKK2 inhibitors and helped prevent COPD occurrence and worsening according to a screening of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database. The protein-ligand interaction of these three compounds with regard to IKK2 was also done by molecular dynamics. The docking poses, hydrogen bond variation, and hydrophobic interactions found Asp103 and Lys106 are crucial to IKK2 binding areas for IKK2 inhibition. Finally, we found the three compounds that have an equally strong effect in terms of IKK2 binding proven by the TCM database and perhaps these may be an alternative treatment for COPD in the future.

Investigation of anti-infection mechanism of lactoferricin and splunc-1.

The innate immune system is the first line in the defense system and prevents the body from further bacteria, virus, or fungal infections. Most of the innate immune system is relevant to mucosa immunity. Lactotransferrin is secreted from the human mammal breast duct epithelial tissue and strengthens infant immunity to defense with regard to outward pathogens. Splunc-1 is also an innate material secreted from the soft palate, lung, nasal cavity epithelium, and mucosa. It helps with mucosa defense against bacterial, virus, and even fungus. LPS is the main etiology of Gram-negative bacilla infection source. And studies of lactoferricin and slpunc-1 both can combine with LPS and subsequently cause insults to the mucosa. Although, we know that both of them partake in an important role in innate immunity, we do not know the effects when they work together. In this study, we just overview silicon stimulation to examine the combination of Lactoferricin and Splunc-1 and the effect with regard to LPS.

Peripheral neuropathology of the upper airway in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common sleep disorder that leads to significant morbidity and mortality without adequate treatment. Though much emphasis on the pathogenesis of OSAS has been placed on a narrow upper airway space and associated muscular factors, possible neuropathy of the upper airway has not been fully elucidated. Increasing peer reviewed evidence suggests involvement of neurologic lesions of the upper airway in OSAS patients. In this article, we review the etiology and pathophysiology of OSAS, the evidence and possible mechanisms leading to upper airway neuropathy, and the relationship between upper airway neuropathy and OSAS. Further studies should focus on the long term effects of the upper airway neuropathy as related to the duration and severity of snoring and or apnea, and also on the potential methods of prevention and management of the neuropathy in sleep disordered breathing.

Metastasis-suppressing potential of ribonucleotide reductase small subunit p53R2 in human cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Previous gene transfection studies have shown that the accumulation of human ribonucleotide reductase small subunit M2 (hRRM2) enhances cellular transformation, tumorigenesis, and malignancy potential. The latest identified small subunit p53R2 has 80% homology to hRRM2. Here, we investigate the role of p53R2 in cancer invasion and metastasis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The immunohistochemistry was conducted on a tissue array including 49 primary and 59 metastatic colon adenocarcinoma samples to determine the relationship between p53R2 expression and metastasis. A Matrigel invasive chamber was used to sort the highly invasive cells and to evaluate the invasion potential of p53R2. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that p53R2 is negatively related to the metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma samples (odds ratio, 0.23; P<0.05). The decrease of p53R2 is associated with cell invasion potential, which was observed in both p53 wild-type (KB) and mutant (PC-3 and Mia PaCa-2) cell lines. An increase in p53R2 expression by gene transfection significantly reduced the cellular invasion potential to 54% and 30% in KB and PC-3 cells, respectively, whereas inhibition of p53R2 by short interfering RNA resulted in a 3-fold increase in cell migration. CONCLUSIONS: Opposite regulation of hRRM2 and p53R2 in invasion potential might play a critical role in determining the invasion and metastasis phenotype in cancer cells. The expression level of ribonucleotide reductase small subunits may serve as a biomarker to predict the malignancy potential of human cancers in the future.