Knee pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA) is commonly seen in geriatric patients. Patients with knee OA are often complicated with joint pain, soreness, and weakness. The injection of autologous ...platelet rich plasma (aPRP) has been proven to be effective in treating mild knee OA. The effect of injecting aPRP in treating moderate to severe degrees of knee OA remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of aPRP in treating patients with at least grade 2 on the Kellgren and Lawrence system for the classification of knee OA using a proteomic approach and clinical evaluation tool of Lequesne index. Musculoskeletal ultrasound was used for accurate needle placement into the knee joint, and to the perimeniscal soft tissue for the injection of aPRP. Three monthly aPRP injections were performed. Group 1 patients received intra-articular (IA) injection only, while group 2 received simultaneous IA and pes anserinus aPRP injections. After two monthly aPRP injections, both groups revealed significant drops in average SF total protein concentrations, and increases in the protein concentrations associated with chelation and anti-aging (eg/transthyretin, matrilin, and complement). However, it is group 2 that revealed significant decreases in the protein concentrations associated with inflammation (eg/immunoglobulin and apolipoprotein), and improved knee functional status. SF appeared to become less susceptible to degeneration after aPRP injections in group 2. As a result, at least 2 monthly injection of IA aPRP in conjunction with accurate injection of aPRP to the perimeniscal soft tissue structure such as the pes anserinus may be a viable option in treating patients with moderate to severe degrees of knee OA.
•Evaluate the effectiveness of autologous platelet rich plasma (aPRP) in treating moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis (OA)•Multiple monthly injection of aPRP is effective in treating patients with moderate to severe degrees of knee OA.•But the treatment must combine intra-articular and perimeniscal soft tissue aPRP injections.•Proteins associated with inflammation decreased significantly after aPRP injections.•Proteins associated with anti-aging and chelation increased significantly after aPRP injections.
Atomic layer plasma treatment (ALPT) enhances the corrosion protection of the ZrO2 film prepared by thermal-driven ALD mode (TALD-ZrO2) and further reduces the corrosion rate of MgCa alloy by more ...than an order of magnitude. The ALPT effect significantly increases the crystallinity and reduces the oxygen defects of TALD-ZrO2 film. The ALPT time of 30 s has the most increase in the polarization resistance of TALD-ZrO2 film, from 1.8kΩ·cm2 to 74.7kΩ·cm2. The enhancement of corrosion resistance of TALD-ZrO2 film caused by the 30s-ALPT is equivalent to the thickness effect of increasing the thickness from 200 cycles to 300 cycles. ALPT technique is considered as a potential and feasible method to prepare TALD-ZrO2 films with high film quality and excellent corrosion protection.
•ALPT effectively enhances the corrosion protection performance of TALD-ZrO2 film on Mg-Ca alloy.•Clarify that ALPT technique effectively improves the quality of the TALD-ZrO2 films.•30s-ALPT greatly enhances the polarization resistance from 1.8kΩ·cm2 to 74.7kΩ·cm2.•Clarify that ALPT significantly improves the long-term protection performance of TALD-ZrO2 film on Mg-Ca alloy.
Abstract
Dental caries, erosion and hypersensitivity are major public health problems. SnF
2
is used widely in oral care products to help prevent/treat these conditions. Casein ...phosphopeptide-stabilised amorphous calcium phosphate nanocomplexes (CPP-ACP) are a biomimetic nanotechnology of salivary phosphopeptide-ACP complexes that deliver bioavailable calcium and phosphate ions to promote dental remineralisation (repair). We show here using
in vitro
studies and a double-blind, randomised controlled, cross-over design
in situ
clinical trial that SnF
2
and CPP-ACP interact to form a nanofilament coating on the tooth surface and that together they are superior in their ability to promote dental remineralisation. Sn(II) by cross-linking the CPP-ACP helps to stabilise the complexes which improves delivery to the tooth surface and enhances binding and ion incorporation into tooth mineral. The combination of SnF
2
and CPP-ACP in oral care products may significantly improve their efficacy in prevention/treatment of dental caries/erosion and hypersensitivity.
Both neurocognitive deficits and schizophrenia are highly heritable. Genetic overlap between neurocognitive deficits and schizophrenia has been observed in both the general population and in the ...clinical samples. This study aimed to examine if the polygenic architecture of susceptibility to schizophrenia modified neurocognitive performance in schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were first derived from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) on schizophrenia, and then the scores were calculated in our independent sample of 1130 schizophrenia trios, who had PsychChip data and were part of the Schizophrenia Families from Taiwan project. Pseudocontrols generated from the nontransmitted parental alleles of the parents in these trios were compared with alleles in schizophrenia patients in assessing the replicability of PGC‐derived susceptibility variants. Schizophrenia PRS at the P‐value threshold (PT) of 0.1 explained 0.2% in the variance of disease status in this Han‐Taiwanese samples, and the score itself had a P‐value 0.05 for the association test with the disorder. Each patient underwent neurocognitive evaluation on sustained attention using the continuous performance test and executive function using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. We applied a structural equation model to construct the neurocognitive latent variable estimated from multiple measured indices in these 2 tests, and then tested the association between the PRS and the neurocognitive latent variable. Higher schizophrenia PRS generated at the PT of 0.1 was significantly associated with poorer neurocognitive performance with explained variance 0.5%. Our findings indicated that schizophrenia susceptibility variants modify the neurocognitive performance in schizophrenia patients.
Schizophrenia PRS at threshold 0.1 was associated with poorer neurocognitive performance (R2 = 0.5%).
Initially, a set of guidelines for the use of ultrasound contrast agents was published in 2004 dealing only with liver applications. A second edition of the guidelines in 2008 reflected changes in ...the available contrast agents and updated the guidelines for the liver, as well as implementing some non-liver applications. Time has moved on, and the need for international guidelines on the use of CEUS in the liver has become apparent. The present document describes the third iteration of recommendations for the hepatic use of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using contrast specific imaging techniques. This joint WFUMB-EFSUMB initiative has implicated experts from major leading ultrasound societies worldwide. These liver CEUS guidelines are simultaneously published in the official journals of both organizing federations (i.e., Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology for WFUMB and Ultraschall in der Medizin/European Journal of Ultrasound for EFSUMB). These guidelines and recommendations provide general advice on the use of all currently clinically available ultrasound contrast agents (UCA). They are intended to create standard protocols for the use and administration of UCA in liver applications on an international basis and improve the management of patients worldwide.
Do People's World Views Matter? The Why and How Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua; Lam, Ben C. P; Wu, Wesley C. H ...
Journal of personality and social psychology,
05/2016, Letnik:
110, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Over the past decades, personality and social psychologists have extensively investigated the role of self-views in individual functioning. Research on world views, however, has been less well ...studied due to overly specific conceptualizations, and little research about how and why they impact life outcomes. To answer why and how world views matter, we conducted 7 studies to examine the functions, antecedents, and consequences of generalized beliefs about the world, operationalized as social axioms (Leung et al., 2002). This research focused on 2 axiom factors, namely, social cynicism and reward for application. These axioms were found to explain individual differences in self-views over and above personality traits in Hong Kong and U.S. samples (Study 1) and to explain cultural differences in self-views in addition to self-construals among Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, East Asian Canadians, and European Canadians (Study 2). Endorsement of social axioms by participants, their parents, and close friends was collected from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Canada to infer parental and peer influences on world views (Study 3). World views affected psychological well-being through the mediation of positive self-views across 3 age groups, including children, adolescents, and young adults (Study 4) and over time (Study 5). The mediation of negative self-views was through comparative self-criticism rather than internalized self-criticism (Study 6). Holistic thinking moderated the effect of social cynicism on self-views and psychological well-being (Study 7). These results converge to show that world views as a distal force and self-views as a proximal force matter in people's subjective evaluation of their lives.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of mortality in children. There are few studies focused on school-aged children with TBI. We conducted this study to identify the early predictors of ...in-hospital mortality in school-aged children with severe TBI. In this 10 year observational cohort study, a total of 550 children aged 7-18 years with TBI were enrolled. Compared with mild/moderate TBI, children with severe TBI were older; more commonly had injury mechanisms of traffic accidents; and more neuroimage findings of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), subdural hemorrhage (SDH), parenchymal hemorrhage, cerebral edema, and less epidural hemorrhage (EDH). The in-hospital mortality rate of children with severe TBI in our study was 23%. Multivariate analysis showed that falls, being struck by objects, motor component of Glasgow coma scale (mGCS), early coagulopathy, and SAH were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. We concluded that school-aged children with severe TBI had a high mortality rate. Clinical characteristics including injury mechanisms of falls and being struck, a lower initial mGCS, early coagulopathy, and SAH are predictive of in-hospital mortality.
Abstract
The incorporation of interface passivation structures in ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
based solar cells is shown. The fabrication used an industry scalable lithography technique—nanoimprint ...lithography (NIL)—for a 15 × 15 cm
2
dielectric layer patterning. Devices with a NIL nanopatterned dielectric layer are benchmarked against electron-beam lithography (EBL) patterning, using rigid substrates. The NIL patterned device shows similar performance to the EBL patterned device.The impact of the lithographic processes in the rigid solar cells’ performance were evaluated via X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and through a Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator. The device on stainless-steel showed a slightly lower performance than the rigid approach, due to additional challenges of processing steel substrates, even though scanning transmission electron microscopy did not show clear evidence of impurity diffusion. Notwithstanding, time-resolved photoluminescence results strongly suggested elemental diffusion from the flexible substrate. Nevertheless, bending tests on the stainless-steel device demonstrated the mechanical stability of the CIGS-based device.
Gold nanorods were attached to the gene of enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) for the remote control of gene expression in living cells. The UV−vis spectroscopy, electrophoresis, and ...transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the optical and structural properties of the EGFP DNA and gold nanorod (EGFP−GNR) conjugates before and after femto-second near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Upon NIR irradiation, the gold nanorods of EGFP−GNR conjugates underwent shape transformation that resulted in the release of EGFP DNA. When EGFP−GNR conjugates were delivered to cultured HeLa cells, induced GFP expression was specifically observed in cells that were locally exposed to NIR irradiation. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using gold nanorods and NIR irradiation as means of remote control of gene expression in specific cells. This approach has potential applications in biological and medical studies.
We investigate dynamic pre-configured-cycle (p-cycle) protection design for spectrum-sliced elastic optical networks (EONs). Several novel algorithms are proposed to use the spectrum planning of ...working and backup resources. We first combine the protected working capacity envelope (PWCE) p-cycle design with spectrum planning, and design an algorithm that can achieve dynamic p-cycle design in EONs. Then, to resolve the coverage issue of the PWCE-p-cycles, we consider dynamic p -cycle design with Hamiltonian cycles and propose to use topology partition for reducing the lengths of backup paths. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithms achieve lower blocking probability than the shared path-protection (SPP) algorithm, while the average length of backup paths per request can be controlled well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to address dynamic p-cycle protection design with spectrum planning for EONs.
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