To achieve strong coupling, conventional fiber-based directional couplers often require complicated fabrication. Here, by placing two identical THz subwavelength fibers parallel to each other and by ...simply tuning the separation in between, we investigate the strong coupling characteristics of the directional fiber coupler, which has not been experimentally explored before in the THz region. This strong coupling directional coupler is able to provide superior performance with an extremely short coupling length (30 times of wavelength) and a record low insertion loss (<; 0.3 dB). These performances are much improved when compared with the previously reported THz fiber/waveguide-based directional couplers.
To challenge the Taiwan Ministry of Education's (TMOE) dominant enforcement of a person-environment fit model, the Chinese Career Research Center incorporated yin-yang alternation principles from the ...Classic of Changes (I Ching, Yi Jing or 易經) to develop the model of career development touching the sky yet grounded (TSG) and corresponding practice guidelines, a career website (CCN), and four career service projects. Using Lewin's (1946) cyclical-spiral process of action research, CCN and TSG service projects were promoted to complement the TMOE's fit model, and feedback was utilised to revise our TSG model and its applications. Yin-yang alternation principles and the four stages of chien (the creative) from the Classic of Changes were applied to develop social action strategies. Social change was indicated by counsellors’ and students’ changes in their career views, as well as the TMOE's direct financial support for TSG service projects. This progress is encouraging for whoever is interested in developing culture-inclusive indigenous psychology with practical outcomes.
Abstract The successful delivery of anti-cancer drugs relies on the simultaneous capability to actively target a specific location, a sufficient lifetime in the active form in the circulation, and ...traceability and quantification of drug distribution via in vivo medical imaging. Herein, a highly magnetic nanocarrier (HMNC) composed of an Fe3 O4 core and an aqueous-stable, self-doped poly N -(1-one-butyric acid)aniline (SPAnH) shell was chemically synthesized. This nanocarrier exhibited a high capacity for 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) drug loading. BCNU and o -(2-aminoethyl)polyethylene glycol (EPEG) were covalently immobilized on the surface of the HMNC to form a self-protecting magnetic nanomedicine (i.e., SPMNM) that could simultaneously provide low reticuloendothelial system uptake, high active-targeting, and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) traceability. Meanwhile, the SPMNM was found to reduce the phagocytosis by macrophages and reduce the hydrolysis rate of BCNU. The high magnetization (approximately 1.2-fold higher than Resovist) of the HMNC allowed efficient magnetic targeting to the tumor. The synergetic drug delivery approach provided approximately a 3.4-fold improvement of the drug’s half-life (from 18 h to 62 h) and significantly prolonged the median survival rate in animals that received a low dose of BCNU, compared with those that received a high dose of free BCNU (63 days for those that received 4.5 mg BCNU/kg carried by the nanocarrier versus 50 days for those that received 13.5 mg of free-BCNU). This improvement could enhance the potential of magnetic targeting therapy in clinical applications of cancer treatments.
Malignant glioma is a common and severe primary brain tumor with a high recurrence rate and an extremely high mortality rate within 2 years of diagnosis, even when surgical, radiological, and ...chemotherapeutic interventions are applied. Intravenously administered drugs have limited use because of their adverse systemic effects and poor blood-brain barrier penetration. Here, we combine 2 methods to increase drug delivery to brain tumors. Focused ultrasound transiently permeabilizes the blood-brain barrier, increasing passive diffusion. Subsequent application of an external magnetic field then actively enhances localization of a chemotherapeutic agent immobilized on a novel magnetic nanoparticle. Combining these techniques significantly improved the delivery of 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea to rodent gliomas. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles allowed their delivery to be monitored by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The resulting suppression of tumor progression without damaging the normal regions of the brain was verified by MRI and histological examination. This noninvasive, reversible technique promises to provide a more effective and tolerable means of tumor treatment, with lower therapeutic doses and concurrent clinical monitoring.
Cytokine-mediated interactions among inflammatory cells may contribute to pathogenesis of allergic asthma. To understand the role of soluble interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor-β ...(TGF-β) on the disease activity and regulation in asthma, changes in serum concentrations of IL-10 and TGF-β elaborated by activated T-lymphocyte before and after prednisolone therapy with clinical improvement were determined. Circulating levels of IL-10 and TGF-β in sera from 16 normal control subjects and in sera from 22 allergic asthmatic children with acute exacerbation and in stable condition were respectively detected by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits.
The mean concentrations of serum IL-10 in asthmatics with acute exacerbation (6.77 ± 4.08 pg/mL) and during stable condition (5.14 ± 1.17 pg/mL) were lower than that in control subjects (7.15 ± 4.72 pg/mL). However, the difference was not statistically significant among these three study groups. The mean concentration of serum TGF-β in stable asthmatics (40.73 ± 15.95 pg/mL) was significantly higher than that in asthmatics with acute exacerbation (27.64 ± 3.66 pg/mL; p < 0.05) and that in healthy control group (28.77 ± 8.35 pg/mL; p < 0.05), while there was no statistical difference between the latter two groups.
This study provides further evidence that serum TGF-β, rather than IL-10, may play a role in regulation of disease activity and serve as an indicator for clinical control of allergic asthmatics.
Regulation of CO
fixation in cyanobacteria is important both for the organism and global carbon balance. Here we show that phosphoketolase in Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 (SeXPK) possesses a ...distinct ATP-sensing mechanism, where a drop in ATP level allows SeXPK to divert precursors of the RuBisCO substrate away from the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. Deleting the SeXPK gene increased CO
fixation particularly during light-dark transitions. In high-density cultures, the Δxpk strain showed a 60% increase in carbon fixation and unexpectedly resulted in sucrose secretion without any pathway engineering. Using cryo-EM analysis, we discovered that these functions were enabled by a unique allosteric regulatory site involving two subunits jointly binding two ATP, which constantly suppresses the activity of SeXPK until the ATP level drops. This magnesium-independent ATP allosteric site is present in many species across all three domains of life, where it may also play important regulatory functions.
Abstract
Background. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor. It is a rapidly progressive, highly recurrent, fatal intracranial neoplasm, and the demand for ...novel treatment is urgent. Valproic acid (VPA) is a potential anticancer agent that belongs to a class of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, targeting the epigenetic control of gene functions in cancer cells. This drug has been administered for the prevention or treatment of seizure disorder in GBM patients; therefore, a retrospective analysis may further our understanding of the effect of VPA on GBM patients. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of 102 patients with GBM was conducted to study the effects of VPA on disease outcome. Tumor samples from seven patients receiving VPA treatment between the first and second operations were obtained in order to verify the HDAC inhibitory activity of VPA in these patients. Results. In univariate analysis, administration of VPA within 2 weeks of initial diagnosis seemed to confer a survival benefit. However, stratified analysis according to chemotherapy showed that VPA did not have significant impact on the GBM patients' overall survival. Analysis of tissue samples from these patients revealed that a small subset of patients had increased histone acetylation after VPA treatment. Conclusion. VPA treatment, when administered according to a protocol targeting seizure control, may result in HDAC inhibition in a small subset of patients, but does not significantly affect overall patient survival. Early administration of VPA as an adjunct to temozolomide chemotherapy may have its merits, but the optimal dosing schedule and target serum level require further investigation.
Background COVID-19 vaccination is essential. However, no study has reported adverse events (AEs) after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis ...(HD). This study investigated the AEs within 30-days after the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) in ESRD patients on HD. Methods and findings A total of 270 ESRD patients on HD were enrolled in this study. To determine the significance of vascular access thrombosis (VAT) post vaccination, we performed a self-controlled case study (SCCS) analysis. Of these patients, 38.5% had local AEs; local pain (29.6%), tenderness (28.9%), and induration (15.6%) were the most common. Further, 62.2% had systemic AEs; fatigue (41.1%), feverishness (20%), and lethargy (19.9%) were the most common. In addition, post-vaccination thirst affected 18.9% of the participants with female predominance. Younger age, female sex, and diabetes mellitus were risk factors for AEs. Five patients had severe AEs, including fever (n = 1), herpes zoster (HZ) reactivation (n = 1), and acute VAT (n = 3). However, the SCCS analysis revealed no association between vaccination and VAT; the incidence rate ratio (IRR)-person ratio was 0.56 (95% CI 0.13-2.33) and 0.78 (95% CI 0.20-2.93) IRR-event ratio 0.78 (95% CI 0.15-4.10) and 1.00 (95% CI 0.20-4.93) in the 0-3 months and 3-6 months period prior to vaccination, respectively. Conclusions Though some ESRD patients on HD had local and systemic AEs after first-dose vaccination, the clinical significance of these symptoms was minor. Our study confirmed the safety profile of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in HD patients and presented a new viewpoint on vaccine-related AEs. The SCCS analysis did not find an elevated risk of VAT at 1 month following vaccination. Apart from VAT, other vaccine-related AEs, irrespective of local or systemic symptoms, had minor clinical significance on safety issues. Nonetheless, further coordinated, multi-center, or registry-based studies are needed to establish the causality.
To examine how sleep patterns change over the first year following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to determine whether specific demographic and disease characteristics predict the trajectories of ...sleep.
Prospective study.
Fifty-three patients with first-ever mild to severe TBI.
Sleep measured by actigraphy for 7 consecutive days in the first, third, sixth, and twelfth months following TBI: Chinese versions of Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II (CBDI-II) measured at the same time points. Data were analyzed with a linear mixed model.
Sleep efficiency (the ratio of sleep time to the total time spent in bed) showed a significant upward trend during the study period. Scores on the Chinese version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the CBDI-II as well as the use of analgesics significantly predicted the slope of change in sleep efficiency over time.
Poor sleep efficiency is a common symptom in the first year among patients with first-ever TBI. Healthcare providers should consider both mental health and pain issues when dealing with sleep complaints in patients with TBI.
We sought to determine whether the MNA (Mininutritional Assessment) would be an effective tool for assessing the nutritional status of patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Purposive sampling.
Two ...hospital-managed hemodialysis centers in central Taiwan.
Subjects were 95 ambulatory patients older than 40 years without acute diseases or infections who had received hemodialysis treatment at the center for longer than 30 days.
Each subject was interviewed with a structured questionnaire to elicit basic personal data and health- and lifestyle-related information and answered questions on the Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire and MNA. Serum biochemical data were obtained from their routine measurement. The nutritional status of each subject was graded with two modified MNA versions. MNA-TI adopted population-specific anthropometric cut-points, and MNA-TII further had the body mass index question deleted from the scale and question scores adjusted but maintained the same 30 total points.
Based on the strength of correlation with the key nutrition-related parameters including appetite status, serum creatinine, percent weight loss, hospital length of stay, number of prescribed drugs, and hemodialysis time, both modified MNA versions reflected the nutritional status of Taiwanese hemodialysis patients better than the Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire. Serum albumin did not reflect nutritional status well in these hemodialysis patients. MNA-TI predicted 26.4% and MNA-TII predicted 29.5% of hemodialysis patients were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.
Both versions of the modified MNA are effective in assessing the nutritional status of hemodialysis patients. MNA-TII without body mass index is a significant improvement for hemodialysis patients because body weights fluctuate significantly between dialysis sessions.
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