Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), known for more than 50 years, have attracted attention because of their unique properties such as high specific strength and modulus, high surface area, and fascinating ...optical properties. Just recently, however, their potential in supramolecular templating was identified by making use of their self‐assembly behavior in aqueous dispersions in the presence of compatible precursors. The combination of the mesoporosity, photonic properties, and chiral nematic order of the materials, which are available as freestanding films, has led to a significant number of interesting and promising discoveries towards new functional materials. This Review summarizes the use of cellulose derivatives, especially CNCs, as novel templates and gives an overview of the recent developments toward new functional materials.
Out of the woods: Novel mesoporous and nanostructured materials can be generated by templating approaches based on cellulose‐based liquid crystals derived from trees. This Review focuses on materials templated by cellulose nanocrystals, since their chiral nematic order allows their use in various optical applications such as optical filters, sensors, and optoelectronics.
Background
Preterm birth may leave the brain vulnerable to dysfunction. Knowledge of future neurodevelopmental delay in children born with various degrees of prematurity is needed to inform practice ...and policy.
Objective
To quantify the long‐term cognitive, motor, behavioural and academic performance of children born with different degrees of prematurity compared with term‐born children.
Search strategy
PubMed and Embase were searched from January 1980 to December 2016 without language restrictions.
Selection criteria
Observational studies that reported neurodevelopmental outcomes from 2 years of age in children born preterm compared with a term‐born cohort.
Data collection and analysis
We pooled individual estimates of standardised mean differences (SMD) and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals using a random effects model.
Main results
We included 74 studies (64 061 children). Preterm children had lower cognitive scores for FSIQ (SMD: −0.70; 95% CI: −0.73 to −0.66), PIQ (SMD: −0.67; 95% CI: −0.73 to −0.60) and VIQ (SMD: −0.53; 95% CI: −0.60 to −0.47). Lower scores for preterm children in motor skills, behaviour, reading, mathematics and spelling were observed at primary school age, and this persisted to secondary school age, except for mathematics. Gestational age at birth accounted for 38–48% of the observed IQ variance. ADHD was diagnosed twice as often in preterm children (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3–1.8), with a differential effect observed according to the severity of prematurity (I2 = 49.4%, P = 0.03).
Conclusions
Prematurity of any degree affects the cognitive performance of children born preterm. The poor neurodevelopment persists at various ages of follow up. Parents, educators, healthcare professionals and policy makers need to take into account the additional academic, emotional and behavioural needs of these children.
Tweetable
Adverse effect of preterm birth on a child's neurodevelopment persists up to adulthood.
Tweetable
Adverse effect of preterm birth on a child's neurodevelopment persists up to adulthood.
An electrical application of green synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) by developing a unique bio-electrochemical cell (BEC) has been addressed in the report. Here, garlic extract (GE) has been ...used as a reducing agent to synthesize Ag NPs, and as a bio-electrolyte solution of BEC. Ag NPs successfully formed into face-centered cubic structures with average crystallite and particle sizes of 8.49 nm and 20.85 nm, respectively, according to characterization techniques such as the UV-vis spectrophotometer, XRD, FTIR, and FESEM. A broad absorption peak at 410 nm in the UV-visible spectra indicated that GE played a vital role as a reducing agent in the transformation of Ag
ions to Ag NPs. After that four types of BEC were developed by varying the concentration of GE, CuSO
. 5H
O, and Ag NPs electrolyte solution. The open circuit voltage and short circuit current of all cells were examined with the time duration. Moreover, different external loads (1 Ω, 2 Ω, 5 Ω, and 6 Ω) were used to investigate the load voltage and load current of BEC. The results demonstrated that the use of Ag NPs on BEC played a significant role in increasing the electrical performance of BEC. The use of GE-mediated Ag NPs integrated the power, capacity, voltage efficiency, and energy efficiency of BEC by decreasing the internal resistance and voltage regulation. These noteworthy results can take a frontier forward to the development of nanotechnology for renewable and low-cost power production applications.
Mechanotransduction is the physiological process where cells sense and respond to mechanical loads. This paper reclaims the term "mechanotherapy" and presents the current scientific knowledge ...underpinning how load may be used therapeutically to stimulate tissue repair and remodelling in tendon, muscle, cartilage and bone. The purpose of this short article is to answer a frequently asked question "How precisely does exercise promote tissue healing?" This is a fundamental question for clinicians who prescribe exercise for tendinopathies, muscle tears, non-inflammatory arthropathies and even controlled loading after fractures. High-quality randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews show that various forms of exercise or movement prescription benefit patients with a wide range of musculoskeletal problems.1(-)4 But what happens at the tissue level to promote repair and remodelling of tendon, muscle, articular cartilage and bone? The one-word answer is "mechanotransduction", but rather than finishing there and limiting this paper to 95 words, we provide a short illustrated introduction to this remarkable, ubiquitous, non-neural, physiological process. We also re-introduce the term "mechanotherapy" to distinguish therapeutics (exercise prescription specifically to treat injuries) from the homeostatic role of mechanotransduction. Strictly speaking, mechanotransduction maintains normal musculoskeletal structures in the absence of injury. After first outlining the process of mechanotransduction, we provide well-known clinical therapeutic examples of mechanotherapy-turning movement into tissue healing.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used therapeutic class in clinical medicine. These are sub-divided based on their selectivity for inhibition of cyclooxygenase ...(COX) isoforms (COX-1 and COX-2) into: (1) non-selective (ns-NSAIDs), and (2) selective NSAIDs (s-NSAIDs) with preferential inhibition of COX-2 isozyme. The safety and pathophysiology of NSAIDs on the renal and cardiovascular systems have continued to evolve over the years following short- and long-term treatment in both preclinical models and humans. This review summarizes major learnings on cardiac and renal complications associated with pharmaceutical inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 with focus on preclinical to clinical translatability of cardio-renal data.
Almost all Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapeutic trials have failed in recent years. One of the main reasons for failure is due to designing the disease-modifying clinical trials at the advanced stage ...of the disease when irreversible brain damage has already occurred. Diagnosis of the preclinical stage of AD and therapeutic intervention at this phase, with a perfect target, are key points to slowing the progression of the disease. Various AD biomarkers hold enormous promise for identifying individuals with preclinical AD and predicting the development of AD dementia in the future, but no single AD biomarker has the capability to distinguish the AD preclinical stage. A combination of complimentary AD biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (Aβ
, tau, and phosphor-tau), non-invasive neuroimaging, and genetic evidence of AD can detect preclinical AD in the
ante mortem brain. Neuroimaging studies have examined region-specific cerebral blood flow (CBF) and microstructural changes in the preclinical AD brain. Functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MRI, arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI, and advanced PET have potential application in preclinical AD diagnosis. A well-validated simple framework for diagnosis of preclinical AD is urgently needed. This article proposes a comprehensive preclinical AD diagnostic algorithm based on neuroimaging, CSF biomarkers, and genetic markers.
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