Identification Of New Options Research Articles

Bibliometric analysis of the literature on evaluation models of the bankruptcy risk

Background: To manage an enterprise effectively, it is necessary to analyze and diagnose its financial condition, an activity that can warn management of dangerous business situations. Topics such as assessing financial position, performance, and risk, especially after situations that involve an economic and financial crisis in the company have been widely discussed in scientific literature. Purpose: The purpose of the research is to highlight the main research trends regarding bankruptcy risk assessment models. Study design/methodology/approach: The research strategy is based on two main directions: the first involves the selection of research papers with topics on Conan & Holder and Taffler models published on WoS between 2007 and 2021 and those published on SCOPUS between 2006 and 2021. The second direction aims to select the relevant papers and perform a content analysis of financial-accounting information of Conan & Holder and Taffler models. Findings/conclusions: The results obtained were concretized in the design of a bibliometric analysis of bankruptcy risk assessment models, which provides an overview of the new research trends regarding bankruptcy risk assessment models. Thus, it was found that most of the studies focus on the analysis of the efficiency of the bankruptcy risk assessment methods and the identification of new options that allow predictability of the risk. Limitations/future research: Our study limitations are mainly due to the bibliometric algorithm, in the sense that only papers indexed in WoS and Scopus can be imported, processed, and interpreted, which excludes parts of the existing literature on this topic and omits the analysis of some pertinent contributions to our research area. This research can be used as a cornerstone for new research directions, both quantitative and qualitative, on the mechanism of application of bankruptcy risk prevention methods.

Identification of a novel RNA aptamer that selectively targets breast cancer exosomes

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality in women. Despite advances in its management, the identification of new options for early-stage diagnosis and therapy of this tumor still represents a crucial challenge. Increasing evidence indicates that extracellular vesicles called exosomes may have great potential as early diagnostic biomarkers and regulators of many cancers, including breast cancer. Therefore, exploiting molecules able to selectively recognize them is of great interest. Here, we developed a novel differential SELEX strategy, called Exo-SELEX, to isolate nucleic acid aptamers against intact exosomes derived from primary breast cancer cells. Among the obtained sequences, we optimized a high-affinity aptamer (ex-50.T) able to specifically recognize exosomes from breast cancer cells or patient serum samples. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the ex.50.T is a functional inhibitor of exosome cellular uptake and antagonizes cancer exosome-induced cell migration in vitro. This molecule provides an innovative tool for the specific exosome detection and the development of new therapeutic approaches for breast cancer.

Identification of a novel DNA aptamer that selectively targets lung cancer serum.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical to improving the 5 year survival rate of lung cancer. The identification of new options for early-stage diagnosis and therapy of lung cancer still represents a crucial challenge. Therefore, a new diagnostic method is urgently needed. In this study, we used a new modified SELEX, called serum-SELEX, to isolate aptamers that can specifically bind lung cancer serum, without any prior knowledge of their target. Among the obtained candidate aptamer sequences, Ap-LC-19 was identified as the optimal aptamer probe with the lowest dissociation constant (Kd) value of 15 ± 8.6 nM and higher affinity assessed by qPCR. Furthermore, this molecule could be a suitable aptamer for lung cancer serum and could be used as a recognition element in aptamer-based biosensors for efficient early diagnosis of lung cancer or as an innovative tool for targeted therapy. In addition, we performed MALDI-TOF MS followed by secondary peptide sequencing MS analysis for the identification of the aptamer targeted proteins. CLEC3B could be useful biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer and in monitoring its evolution.

Exposure of Human Seminal Vesicle Tissue to Phosphodiesterase (PDE) Inhibitors Antagonizes the Contraction Induced by Norepinephrine and Increases Production of Cyclic Nucleotides

To investigate further the role of phosphodiesterase (PDE) isoenzymes in the control of human seminal vesicle (SV) smooth muscle contractility, we examined the functional responses of isolated SV tissue to various PDE inhibitors. It has been suggested that the application of inhibitors of the PDE type 5 may facilitate SV smooth muscle relaxation and, subsequently, retard ejaculatory response. Using the organ bath technique, strip preparations of human SV were exposed for 5 minutes to 1 μM of the PDE inhibitors milrinone (PDE3 inhibitor), rolipram, Ro 20-1724 (PDE4 inhibitors), and sildenafil (PDE5 inhibitor). Norepinephrine (NE, alpha agonist) was then added (0,1 μM, 1 μM, and 10 μM) and isometric responses were recorded. A contraction-response curve to NE in the absence of PDE inhibitors was also generated. Drug effects on the production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) were measured by means of radioimmunometric assays. The contraction induced by NE was effectively antagonized by 1 μM of rolipram (83.3% inhibition), Ro 20-1724 (72.3% inhibition), sildenafil (41.6% inhibition), and milrinone (37.5% inhibition). The inhibition of force generation was paralleled by a 1.6-fold to 2.8-fold increase in tissue cyclic AMP (induced by milrinone, rolipram, Ro 20-1724), and a 12-fold rise in cyclic GMP (induced by sildenafil). The findings demonstrate that PDE inhibitors can counteract the contraction of human SV mediated by alpha-adrenergic receptors and enhance levels of cyclic nucleotides. This might be of importance with regard to the identification of new options for the pharmacological treatment of premature ejaculation.