•Porous 3D network, ultra-light graphene oxide (GO) gels were fabricated.•GO–SA gel was reduced to RGO–SA gel by glucose.•MB adsorption was researched including kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic ...study.
Porous 3D network, monolithic graphene oxide (GO) gels were fabricated using a simple process of aqueous gel precursor freezing, solvent exchange, and ethanol drying. The randomly oriented GO sheets were consolidated by cross-linked sodium alginate (SA). The obtained GO–SA gel was reduced to RGO–SA gel by glucose. GO–SA and RGO–SA gels had low densities of 16.79 and 12.93mg/cm3, respectively. The effects of contact time and temperature on the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) onto the gels were investigated. The kinetic adsorption fit the pseudo second-order and intra-particle diffusion models. The isotherm data followed the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The maximum adsorption capacity from the Langmuir isotherm equation reached 833.3mg/g for GO–SA indicating that it is a good adsorbent for MB. The MB absorption mechanisms can be different for these two gels. Electrostatic interaction is the main interaction between the negative surface oxygen containing groups of GO and cationic MB, but π–π stacking is the primary interaction between the aromatic rings of RGO–SA and MB molecules.
Ultrafast infrared nano-imaging has demonstrated access to ultrafast carrier dynamics on the nanoscale in semiconductor, correlated-electron, or polaritonic materials. However, mostly limited to ...short-lived transient states, the contrast obtained has remained insufficient to probe important long-lived excitations, which arise from many-body interactions induced by strong perturbation among carriers, lattice phonons, or molecular vibrations. Here, we demonstrate ultrafast infrared nano-imaging based on excitation modulation and sideband detection to characterize electron and vibration dynamics with nano- to micro-second lifetimes. As an exemplary application to quantum materials, in phase-resolved ultrafast nano-imaging of the photoinduced insulator-to-metal transition in vanadium dioxide, a distinct transient nano-domain behavior is quantified. In another application to lead halide perovskites, transient vibrational nano-FTIR spatially resolves the excited-state polaron-cation coupling underlying the photovoltaic response. These examples show how heterodyne pump-probe nano-spectroscopy with low-repetition excitation extends ultrafast infrared nano-imaging to probe elementary processes in quantum and molecular materials in space and time.
Highlights • Health literacy is an emerging public health and research field. • There are limited studies focused on health literacy and infectious diseases. • Infections such as malaria with a high ...burden of morbidity were underrepresented. • Most investigations considered functional but not critical health literacy.
Early response is a well-established predictor of positive outcomes at the end of psychological treatments for common mental disorders. There is some prior evidence that this conclusion also applies ...to eating disorders, including three meta-analyses, but no moderators of that relationship have been identified. However, a number of further papers have been published since, which might influence the size of the effect of early response or the potential role of moderating factors. This pre-registered systematic review presents a comprehensive examination of this literature. Three databases were searched (Scopus, PsycInfo, PubMed). In total, 33 eligible studies were included in a narrative synthesis, and 25 studies were included in random-effects meta-analysis. The majority (91%) of studies were rated as having low or moderate risk of bias. Approximately half of patients across clinical samples showed early response to psychological therapy, which was most often defined as reliable symptomatic improvement during the first four sessions. A significant and moderate association was found between early response and post-treatment outcomes (r = 0.41 95% CI: 0.32–0.481, p < .0001). Significant evidence of heterogeneity (Q28 = 136.42, p < .0001; I2 = 80.2%) was evident. The review was limited by the exclusion of grey literature and only 76% of studies provided sufficient statistical information for meta-analytic synthesis, although we found no significant evidence of publication bias, χ2(1) = 0.001, p = .97. Overall, evidence accumulated over twenty years establishes early response as the most robust predictor of treatment outcomes in the field of eating disorders. However, only half of patients show early change in this way. Further research is needed to determine whether there are patient or clinician characteristics that predict early response to psychological treatment for eating disorders.
•The early change literature has grown since last reviewed.•Early change predicts the outcome of psychotherapies for eating disorders, with moderate to strong effect sizes.•There is no evidence that any factors moderate the influence of early change on outcomes of eating disorders.
Cancer stem cell (CSC) theory has drawn much attention, with evidence supporting the contribution of stem cells to tumor initiation, relapse, and therapy resistance.
To screen drugs that target CSCs ...to improve the current treatment outcome and overcome drug resistance in patients with lung cancer.
We used publicly available embryonic stem cell and CSC-associated gene signatures to query the Connectivity Map for potential drugs that can, at least in part, reverse the gene expression profile of CSCs. High scores were noted for several phenothiazine-like antipsychotic drugs, including trifluoperazine. We then treated lung CSCs with different EGFR mutation status with trifluoperazine to examine its anti-CSC properties. Lung CSCs resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor or cisplatin were treated with trifluoperazine plus gefitinib or trifluoperazine plus cisplatin. Animal models were used for in vivo validation of the anti-CSC effect and synergistic effect of trifluoperazine with gefitinib.
We demonstrated that trifluoperazine inhibited CSC tumor spheroid formation and down-regulated the expression of CSC markers (CD44/CD133). Trifluoperazine inhibited Wnt/β-catenin signaling in gefitinib-resistant lung cancer spheroids. The combination of trifluoperazine with either gefitinib or cisplatin overcame drug resistance in lung CSCs. Trifluoperazine inhibited the tumor growth and enhanced the inhibitory activity of gefitinib in lung cancer metastatic and orthotopic CSC animal models.
Using in silico drug screening by Connectivity Map followed by empirical validations, we repurposed an existing phenothiazine-like antipsychotic drug, trifluoperazine, as a potential anti-CSC agent that could overcome epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor and chemotherapy resistance.
Chemoradiotherapy is the standard of care for unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. We aimed to assess if addition of avelumab (anti-PD-L1) to chemoradiotherapy ...could improve treatment outcomes for this patient population.
In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study, patients were recruited from 196 hospitals and cancer treatment centres in 22 countries. Patients aged 18 years or older, with histologically confirmed, previously untreated, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, or oral cavity (unselected for PD-L1 status), an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0 or 1, and who could receive chemoradiotherapy were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) centrally by means of stratified block randomisation with block size four (stratified by human papillomavirus status, tumour stage, and nodal stage, and done by an interactive response technology system) to receive 10 mg/kg avelumab intravenously every 2 weeks plus chemoradiotherapy (100 mg/m2 cisplatin every 3 weeks plus intensity-modulated radiotherapy with standard fractionation of 70 Gy 35 fractions during 7 weeks; avelumab group) or placebo plus chemoradiotherapy (placebo group). This was preceded by a single 10 mg/kg avelumab or placebo lead-in dose given 7 days previously and followed by 10 mg/kg avelumab or placebo every 2 weeks maintenance therapy for up to 12 months. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival by investigator assessment per modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1, in all randomly assigned patients. Adverse events were assessed in patients who received at least one dose of avelumab or placebo. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02952586. Enrolment is no longer ongoing, and the trial has been discontinued.
Between Dec 12, 2016, and Jan 29, 2019, from 907 patients screened, 697 patients were randomly assigned to the avelumab group (n=350) or the placebo group (n=347). Median follow-up for progression-free survival was 14·6 months (IQR 8·5–19·6) in the avelumab group and 14·8 months (11·6–18·8) in the placebo group. Median progression-free survival was not reached (95% CI 16·9 months–not estimable) in the avelumab group and not reached (23·0 months–not estimable) in the placebo group (stratified hazard ratio 1·21 95% CI 0·93–1·57 favouring the placebo group; one-sided p=0·92). The most common grade 3 or worse treatment-related adverse events were neutropenia (57 16% of 348 patients in the avelumab group vs 52 15% of 344 patients in the placebo group), mucosal inflammation (50 14% vs 45 13%), dysphagia (49 14% vs 47 14%), and anaemia (41 12% vs 44 13%). Serious treatment-related adverse events occurred in 124 (36%) patients in the avelumab group and in 109 (32%) patients in the placebo group. Treatment-related deaths occurred in two (1%) patients in the avelumab group (due to general disorders and site conditions, and vascular rupture) and one (<1%) in the placebo group (due to acute respiratory failure).
The primary objective of prolonging progression-free survival with avelumab plus chemoradiotherapy followed by avelumab maintenance in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was not met. These findings may help inform the design of future trials investigating the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors plus CRT.
Pfizer and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
Data Analysis WorkbeNch (DAWN) Basham, Mark; Filik, Jacob; Wharmby, Michael T. ...
Journal of synchrotron radiation,
20/May , Letnik:
22, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Synchrotron light source facilities worldwide generate terabytes of data in numerous incompatible data formats from a wide range of experiment types. The Data Analysis WorkbeNch (DAWN) was developed ...to address the challenge of providing a single visualization and analysis platform for data from any synchrotron experiment (including single‐crystal and powder diffraction, tomography and spectroscopy), whilst also being sufficiently extensible for new specific use case analysis environments to be incorporated (e.g. ARPES, PEEM). In this work, the history and current state of DAWN are presented, with two case studies to demonstrate specific functionality. The first is an example of a data processing and reduction problem using the generic tools, whilst the second shows how these tools can be targeted to a specific scientific area.
•Xanthate and carboxylate groups were attached to the walls of porous starch.•Concentration effect on the adsorption capacity of Pb2+ was investigated.•Adsorption behavior of Pb2+ on modified porous ...starches fit the kinetic models.•Maximum adsorption capacities were 109.1 and 57.6mg/g for these modified starches.
Porous starch xanthate (PSX) and porous starch citrate (PSC) were prepared in anticipation of the attached xanthate and carboxylate groups respectively forming chelation and electrostatic interactions with heavy metal ions in the subsequent adsorption process. The lead(II) ion was selected as the model metal and its adsorption by PSX and PSC was characterized. The adsorption capacity was highly dependent on the carbon disulfide/starch and citric acid/starch mole ratios used during preparation. The adsorption behaviors of lead(II) ion on PSXs and PSCs fit both the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity from the Langmuir isotherm equation reached 109.1 and 57.6mg/g for PSX and PSC when preparation conditions were optimized, and the adsorption times were just 20 and 60min, respectively. PSX and PSC may be used as effective adsorbents for removal of heavy metals from contaminated liquid.
Radiographic assessment with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used to characterize gliomas, which represent 80% of all primary malignant brain tumors. Unfortunately, glioma biology is ...marked by heterogeneous angiogenesis, cellular proliferation, cellular invasion, and apoptosis. This translates into varying degrees of enhancement, edema, and necrosis, making reliable imaging assessment challenging. Deep learning, a subset of machine learning artificial intelligence, has gained traction as a method, which has seen effective employment in solving image-based problems, including those in medical imaging. This review seeks to summarize current deep learning applications used in the field of glioma detection and outcome prediction and will focus on (1) pre- and post-operative tumor segmentation, (2) genetic characterization of tissue, and (3) prognostication. We demonstrate that deep learning methods of segmenting, characterizing, grading, and predicting survival in gliomas are promising opportunities that may enhance both research and clinical activities.
A novel and facile method for surface acetylation of cellulose nanocrystals (CN) was developed by reaction with acetic anhydride and hydroxyl groups on the surface of CN. The resultant acetylated ...cellulose nanocrystals (ACN) exhibited improved dispersion in various organic solvents and reduced polarity as compared with unmodified CN. These ACN were subsequently introduced into a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymeric matrix to produce fully biodegradable nanocomposites, which showed superior mechanical performance and thermal stability. This improvement was primarily attributed to uniform dispersion of the ACN and to strong interfacial adhesion between filler and matrix. This high performance and eco-friendly nanocomposite will expand the utilization of cellulose nanocrystals from renewable bioresources and the practical application of PLA-based plastic.
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