Platinum(
iv
) complexes with a heterocyclic ligand and an ancillary ligand have been investigated and applied for treating various tumour cell lines. Another application of the Pt(
iv
) complexes in ...forming peptide disulfide bonds was investigated in this work. For development of Pt(
iv
) complex chemistry for disulfide bond formation in peptides, two Pt(
iv
) complexes, PtCl
2
(phen)(en)Cl
2
and PtCl
2
(bpy)(en)Cl
2
, were synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, ESI-MS and NMR. Subsequently, they were investigated as oxidants for the formation of disulfide bonds in various peptides. Excellent purities and yields of disulfide-containing peptides were achieved when the reactions were carried out in aqueous solution. The reactions were completed rapidly in a wide range of pH values even in acidic medium at room temperature. An intramolecular disulfide bond was formed in each of the peptides in a solution containing two dithiol-containing peptides, making the Pt(
iv
) complexes useful for generating disulfide-containing peptide libraries. In addition, the two Pt(
iv
) complexes can be used as oxidants for the synthesis of disulfide bonds on a resin, which is a more convenient method to synthesize disulfide-containing peptides through automation.
Platinum(
iv
) complexes with a heterocyclic ligand and an ancillary ligand have been investigated and applied for the formation of disulfide bonds in peptides.
Objective
To investigate the incidence of incontinence‐associated dermatitis (IAD) among patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify potential risk factors to establish a reference for ...clinical nursing work.
Background
Patients in the ICU are susceptible to IAD. IAD is painful, reduces the patient's quality of life and adds to the workload of clinical medical staff. However, risk factors associated with IAD may differ between countries and healthcare settings.
Design
Prospective cohort study
Methods
From November 2016 to November 2017, a prospective cohort study was conducted among109 patients in three Class 3, Grade A hospitals (comprising 9 ICUs in total) in Beijing. The Incontinence‐associated Dermatitis and Its Severity (IADS) instrument in Chinese was applied to assess IAD. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for IAD.
Results
The study population had 29 community‐acquired and 80 nosocomial infections, and 26 (incidence: 23.9%) of these had IAD. On univariate analysis, a significant difference was observed between patients with and without IAD with respect to the following indices: Barthel index, Braden scale score, Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) score, serum albumin level, occurrence of infection, faecal incontinence, frequency of faecal incontinence, stool property and double (faecal and urinary) incontinence and perineal assessment tool (PAT) score (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that three factors entered the regression equation—that is, the Braden Scale Score, serum albumin level and double incontinence. Of these, the Braden Scale Score and serum albumin level were protective factors for IAD. Thus, the higher the Braden Scale Score, the lower the risk of IAD (OR = 0.678, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.494–0.931); a higher level of serum albumin implies a lower risk of IAD, provided it is within the normal range (OR = 0.884, 95%CI = 0.797–0.981). Double incontinence was an independent risk factor for IAD (OR = 10.512, 95% CI = 2.492–44.342).
Conclusion
A higher morbidity of IAD is seen in the ICU. Specific preventive and nursing measures are required to maintain the skin integrity of critically ill patients in daily nursing practice to improve patient quality of life and the quality of nursing care.
Relevance to clinical practice
Incontinence‐associated dermatitis is characterised by inflammation and tissue damage due to prolonged/repeated exposure to urine and/or stool. Not every patient with urine and/or stool incontinence develops IAD. Medical staff can use research‐based evidence to identify ICU patients at risk of IAD to reduce morbidity and improve health outcomes.
In order to have a comprehensive view of the propagation and evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun to deep interplanetary space beyond 1 au, we carry out a kinematic analysis of ...seven CMEs in solar cycle 23. The events are required to have coordinated coronagraph observations, interplanetary type II radio bursts, and multi-point in situ measurements at the Earth and Ulysses. A graduated cylindrical shell model, an analytical model without free parameters, and a magnetohydrodynamic model are used to derive CME kinematics near the Sun, to quantify the CME/shock propagation in the Sun-Earth space, and to connect in situ signatures at the Earth and Ulysses, respectively. We find that each of the seven CME-driven shocks experienced a major deceleration before reaching 1 au and thereafter propagated with a gradual deceleration from the Earth to larger distances. The resulting CME/shock propagation profile for each case is roughly consistent with all the data, which verifies the usefulness of the simple analytical model for CME/shock propagation in the heliosphere. The statistical analysis of CME kinematics indicates a tendency that the faster the CME, the larger the deceleration, and the shorter the deceleration time period within 1 au. For several of these events, the associated geomagnetic storms were mainly caused by the southward magnetic fields in the sheath region. In particular, the interaction between a CME-driven shock and a preceding ejecta significantly enhanced the pre-existing southward magnetic fields and gave rise to a severe complex geomagnetic storm.
As one of the most widespread protein post-translational modifications, phosphorylation is involved in many biological processes such as cell cycle, apoptosis. Identification of phosphorylated ...substrates and their corresponding sites will facilitate the understanding of the molecular mechanism of phosphorylation. Comparing with the labor-intensive and time-consuming experiment approaches, computational prediction of phosphorylation sites is much desirable due to their convenience and fast speed. In this paper, a new bioinformatics tool named CKSAAP_PhSite was developed that ignored the kinase information and only used the primary sequence information to predict protein phosphorylation sites. The highlight of CKSAAP_PhSite was to utilize the composition of k-spaced amino acid pairs as the encoding scheme, and then the support vector machine was used as the predictor. The performance of CKSAAP_PhSite was measured with a sensitivity of 84.81%, a specificity of 86.07% and an accuracy of 85.43% for serine, a sensitivity of 78.59%, a specificity of 82.26% and an accuracy of 80.31% for threonine as well as a sensitivity of 74.44%, a specificity of 78.03% and an accuracy of 76.21% for tyrosine. Experimental results obtained from cross validation and independent benchmark suggested that our method was very promising to predict phosphorylation sites and can be served as a useful supplement tool to the community. For public access, CKSAAP_PhSite is available at http://59.73.198.144/cksaap_phsite/.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In the present work, poly(aryl ether ketone) containing pendant carboxyl groups (PEK-L) is prepared to develop efficient adsorbent for heavy metal ions, Cu(II), Pb(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Cd(II), ...from aqueous solution. The property of PEK-L is investigated by using FT-IR and XRD analysis. Effects of pH and contact time, kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and thermodynamics are examined in batch experiments. Kinetic experiments indicate that the processes can be simulated by a pseudo-second-order model. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin models are applied to analyze the experimental data, and the best interpretation for the experimental data is given by the Freundlich isotherm equation. Thermodynamic parameters, the Gibbs free energy change (Δ
G°), enthalpy change (Δ
H°), and entropy change (Δ
S°), are calculated and show that adsorption of heavy metals on PEK-L is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The regeneration study indicates that PEK-L can be used repeatedly without significantly changed their adsorption capacities and desorption percentage.
Munc13-1 plays a crucial role in neurotransmitter release. We recently proposed that the C-terminal region encompassing the C
, C
B, MUN and C
C domains of Munc13-1 (C
C
BMUNC
C) bridges the synaptic ...vesicle and plasma membranes through interactions involving the C
C domain and the C
-C
B region. However, the physiological relevance of this model has not been demonstrated. Here we show that C
C
BMUNC
C bridges membranes through opposite ends of its elongated structure. Mutations in putative membrane-binding sites of the C
C domain disrupt the ability of C
C
BMUNC
C to bridge liposomes and to mediate liposome fusion in vitro. These mutations lead to corresponding disruptive effects on synaptic vesicle docking, priming, and Ca
-triggered neurotransmitter release in mouse neurons. Remarkably, these effects include an almost complete abrogation of release by a single residue substitution in this 200 kDa protein. These results show that bridging the synaptic vesicle and plasma membranes is a central function of Munc13-1.
A Web-based interface has been developed to facilitate researchers in collecting language history information online. Most researchers use their own versions of language history questionnaires for ...specific studies in second language acquisition. Although these versions of questionnaires all differ from one another in some respects, there is a significant amount of overlap between them. Here we identify the crucial dimensions that most investigators consider important to include in such a questionnaire. We have examined the most commonly asked questions in 41 published questionnaires, and on the basis of our analyses we propose a general L2 language history questionnaire. Subjects can enter some or all of the information on the Web, and the results are automatically generated as an RTF output file on the user's desktop.
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•Bi2Sn2O7 nanoparticles were used as flame retardants of flexible PVC for the first time.•Bi2Sn2O7 nanoparticles exhibited excellent flame retardancy and smoke suppression.•Excellent ...flame retardancy is ascribed to the synergistic effects of Bi and Sn elements.•Bi2Sn2O7 nanoparticles will be a promising substitute for toxic Sb2O3 flame retardants.
To replace traditional toxic Sb2O3 flame retardants, Bi2Sn2O7 (BSO) nanoparticles were prepared by a co-precipitation method and used as flame retardants of flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for the first time. Structural characterization revealed that as-prepared BSO nanoparticles had a cubic phase with an average diameter of 20 nm. Under 3 wt% loading, the PVC/BSO composite gained a limiting oxygen index of 29%, very close to 29.5% of PVC/Sb2O3. In particular, the PVC/BSO composites passed the UL-94V-0 rating, while PVC/Sb2O3 failed. The PVC/BSO composite also showed better heat and smoke suppression performance than Sb2O3, with a 27.4% decrease in peak heat release rate and a 39.9% decrease in total smoke production, compared with the PVC matrix. The excellent performance is attributed to following two reasons: In the gas phase, similar to Sb, Bi can form BiCl3, which dilutes the combustion gas and captures hydroxyl radicals; In the condensed phase, Sn in BSO helps form more protective char residue with the least pores and the highest degree graphitization. In addition, the tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC/BSO were also slightly superior to those of PVC/Sb2O3. In conclusion, BSO nanoparticles will be a promising substitute for toxic Sb2O3 flame retardants.
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