Abstract Despite major advances in cancer therapeutics, the prognosis for lung cancer patients is still poor and the median survival for patients presenting with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ...(NSCLC) is only 8–10 months. Angiogenesis is an important biological process and a relatively early event during lung cancer pathogenesis. Anti-angiogenic agents are used in treating patients with NSCLC, and their molecular biomarkers are also being assessed to predict response. A better understanding of the biology of angiogenesis in NSCLC may reveal new targets for treating this malignancy. In this article, we review the expression and prognostic impact of the angiogenic growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, in NSCLC.
We investigate by modeling supported by experiments the role of oxygen in carbon nanotubes (CNT) growth by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. We found that a suitable content ...of molecular oxygen in a H
2
/CH
4
mixture can significantly increase the vertical CNT growth rate. We take the advantage of such system in order to better understand the mechanisms responsible for nanotube growth in a chemical environment represented by a ternary C–H–O system. In our approach, gas phase and surface chemistries are considered through two quantitative modeling approaches. As a first approximation, the plasma is described by spatially averaged bulk properties, and the species molar fractions are determined using transient zero-dimensional (0D) thermo-chemical model. Then two-dimensional model (2D) is proposed with reducing gas chemistry and considering surface reactions through site fraction and surface molar concentrations. The nanotube growth rate is then obtained by compiling the effects of gas and surface reactions at the gas/substrate interface via surface CHEMKIN software. To get an accurate estimation of the density of sites for bulk CNT growth, SEM and HRTEM analysis were used. The influence of the oxygen content, substrate temperature and microwave power on CNT growth rate are obtained from the model and compared to the experiments. There was good agreement between experimental and the modeling results, providing an insight into optimizing PECVD CNT growth. The specific role of generated oxygenated species such as H
2
O, OH, CO and O is found to be decisive.
Introduction
Post-inguinal pain after a hernia surgery is prevalent and can be quite frustrating for the surgeon and patient alike. There are several sources for possible post-operative inguinal pain ...after a successful hernia repair; however, in the setting where a recurrent inguinal hernia is not present, it is likely related to the nerves in the inguinal canal or pelvis. Chronic inguinal groin pain after hernia repairs have been reported in a high percentage of patients following inguinal hernia surgery despite being one of the most common procedures performed annually in the USA and worldwide.
Materials and methods
We present ten of the basic concepts utilized by peripheral nerve surgeons to limit nerve injury, which can easily be applied to open inguinal hernia surgery with or without mesh, starting with the firm understanding of the inguinal anatomy to addressing the nerves, meticulous placement of the mesh and the active revision of the surrounding structures and nerve position before closure.
Conclusions
Understanding the proper handling of the inguinal nerves during hernia surgery can decrease the incidence of post-operative chronic pain by employing microsurgical concepts to day-to-day surgical procedures and prevent complications in an extensive set of patients.
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the withering disorders that has been making the lives of patients miserable. Arising as a result of chronic high blood sugar levels in diabetes patients, retinopathy ...has become a major reason causing permanent blindness, retinal detachment, vitreous humor, rage, or glaucoma among patients. Angiogenesis being the major culprit behind the development of this condition is the growth of new blood vessels from the earlier ones existing. The abnormal growth and poor development of blood vessels also lead to aggravation of the conditions, with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) playing a major role in the process. Various anti-angiogenic therapies or anti-VEGF therapies are being explored for the treatment of this condition. 4 widely explored drugs being-Bevacizumab, pegaptanib sodium, ranibizumab, and aflibercept. The review article tries to summarize studies illustrating the efficacy of these drugs in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy along with some of the herbal therapeutic paradigms displaying anti-angiogenic action that is being used to treat this condition.
In this article, we report on some of the fundamental chemical and physical processes responsible for the deposition of graphene by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The graphene ...is grown by plasma decomposition of a methane and hydrogen mixture (CH4/H2) at moderate pressures over polycrystalline metal catalysts. Different conditions obtained by varying the plasma power (300-400 W), total pressure (10-25 mbar), substrate temperature (700 °C-1000 °C), methane flow rate (1-10 sccm) and catalyst nature (Co-Cu) were experimentally analyzed using the in situ optical emission spectroscopy technique to assess the species rotational temperature of the plasma and the H-atom relative concentration. Then, two modeling approaches were developed to analyze the plasma environment during graphene growth. As a first approximation, the plasma is described by spatially averaged bulk properties, and the species compositions are determined using kinetic rates in the transient zero-dimensional (0D) configuration. The advantage of this approach lies in its small computational demands, which enable rapid evaluation of the effects of reactor conditions and permit the identification of dominant reactions and key species during graphene growth. This approach is useful for identifying the relevant set of species and reactions to consider in a higher-dimensional model. The reduced chemical scheme was then used within the self-consistent two-dimensional model (2D) to determine auto-coherently the electromagnetic field, gas and electron temperatures, heavy species, and electron and ion density distributions in the reactor. The 0D and 2D models are validated by comparison with experimental data obtained from atomic and molecular emission spectra.
•SILAR-developed V:ZnO thin films-based optoelectronic devices are reported.•The V doping was confirmed through SEM e-mapping and EDX analyses in ZnO.•Eg value reduced from 3.21 to 3.04 eV with ...increased V-doping in ZnO.•The substantial improvements in the electrical parameters are ascribed to V-doping.•The average decay time in 1 wt% V:ZnO is 16.5 times greater than that of pure ZnO.
Wide bandgap semiconductors such as Zinc Oxide (ZnO) have earned much attention on account of its interesting optical and electrical properties. Also, doping ZnO with suitable transition elements enables to tune its properties, making it suitable for applications like transparent conducting oxides and LEDs. To this aim, Vanadium-doped ZnO (V:ZnO) thin films are fabricated using the SILAR method and studied the structural, optical, vibrational, photophysical and electrical properties. Introducing vanadium creates lattice relaxation in the ZnO wurtzite structure, influencing its electronic band structure. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses have verified the structural integrity of the vanadium-doped zinc oxide (V:ZnO) films, revealing their polycrystalline composition. The Raman spectroscopy shows the reduced phonon line widths due to the improved crystallite quality with the presence of vanadium. Furthermore, it has been noted that optical characteristics such as the bandgap and refractive index are sensitive to vanadium doping as a consequence of modified electronic structures. Hall-effect experiments have shown that undoped ZnO films possess a mobility of 1.31 cm2/Vs and a charge carrier density of 5.58 × 1013 cm−3. It has been observed that doping with V markedly influences these parameters of ZnO films. Then, the time-resolved photoluminescence measurements reveal the increased carrier lifetimes, suggesting the introduction of dopants mitigates carrier-phonon interactions. Such interactions need to be minimized to prevent the dissipation of carrier energy. In essence, the reported work demonstrates the potential of V:ZnO for optoelectronic applications.
Objectives
Anti-ribosomal P protein (anti-P) autoantibodies are highly specific for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the evaluation of this autoantibody in childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) ...populations has been limited to a few small series, hampering the interpretation of the clinical and laboratorial associations. Therefore, the objective of this multicenter cohort study was to evaluate demographic, clinical/laboratorial features, and disease damage score in cSLE patients with and without the presence of anti-P antibody.
Methods
This was a retrospective multicenter study performed in 10 pediatric rheumatology services of São Paulo state, Brazil. Anti-P antibodies were measured by ELISA in 228 cSLE patients.
Results
Anti-P antibodies were observed in 61/228 (27%) cSLE patients. Frequencies of cumulative lymphadenopathy (29% vs. 15%, p = 0.014), acute confusional state (13% vs. 5%, p = 0.041), mood disorder (18% vs. 8%, p = 0.041), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (34% vs. 15%, p = 0.001), as well as presence of anti-Sm (67% vs. 40%, p = 0.001), anti-RNP (39% vs. 21%, p = 0.012) and anti-Ro/SSA antibodies (43% vs. 25%, p = 0.016) were significantly higher in cSLE patients with anti-P antibodies compared to those without these autoantibodies. A multiple regression model revealed that anti-P antibodies were associated with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (odds ratio (OR) = 2.758, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.304–5.833, p = 0.008) and anti-Sm antibody (OR = 2.719, 95% CI: 1.365–5.418, p = 0.004). The SLICC/ACR damage index was comparable in patients with and without anti-P antibodies (p = 0.780).
Conclusions
The novel association of anti-P antibodies and autoimmune hemolytic anemia was evidenced in cSLE patients and further studies are necessary to determine if anti-P titers may vary with this hematological manifestation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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