Two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals, especially graphene, have received much attention. However, the main shortcoming of graphene is its zero band gap. Silicon carbide, composed of silicon and ...carbon, is a typical wurtzite compound semiconductor, with more than 250 alloy types. Herein, we give some evidence of the solution exfoliation of 2D SiC nanoflakes with thickness down to 0.5–1.5 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction characterizations reveal that graphitic (0001)/(0001̅) SiC most possibly has been formed by sonication of wurtzite SiC. Graphene, which is also produced in this process, naturally forms the ultrathin substrate facilitating the TEM characterization of 2D SiC. The mechanism of this exfoliation process should be related to the surface reconstruction of wurtzite SiC into graphitic SiC. Photoluminescence spectra show a strong light-emitting ability and a quantum-confinement-induced emission peak at 373 nm for these ultrathin SiC nanosheets.
Objective
PANSS‐8 and PANSS‐6 are derived from the 30‐item Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS‐30). We investigate whether PANSS‐8 or PANSS‐6 is a reliable, valid, sensitive to change ...measure, and scalable, and whether early improvement using them can predict response/remission.
Method
Data were from 3 trials for 270 schizophrenia inpatients receiving antipsychotics. Internal consistency, validity, sensitivity to change, and scalability using PANSS‐30, PANSS‐8, and PANSS‐6 at each assessment were examined. Early improvement was defined as at least 20% reduction of PANSS‐30, PANSS‐8, or PANSS‐6 scores at week 2. Response was defined as at least 40% reduction of PANSS‐30 and remission as a score of PANSS‐8 ≤ 3 on each item at endpoint. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine which rating scale had better discriminative capacity.
Results
PANSS‐8 and PANSS‐6 showed acceptable internal consistency, were highly correlated with PANSS‐30, and had sensitivity to change. PANSS‐8 and PANSS‐6 were scalable at each assessment, except for PANSS‐6 at baseline. Early improvement using PANSS‐8 or PANSS‐6 had comparable predictive values with that of PANSS‐30 for response/remission.
Conclusion
PANSS‐8 and PANSS‐6 are clinically useful measures. Early improvement, regardless of whether PANSS‐30, PANSS‐8, or PANSS‐6 is used, is a statistically significant predictor of response/remission.
Metabolic syndrome (MS) was conceptualized to identify people at risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes; however, the epidemiology of MS and its combinations of components in older ...adults remains unclear. Data from the Senior Health Examination Program of the New Taipei City Government in Taiwan in 2014 were obtained for this study. All participants aged 65 years or older and those with a prior history of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, or diabetes mellitus were excluded. 29,164 senior citizens were retrieved for this study, and 12,331 (41.28%) of the participants were male. Female participants were more likely to have MS (42.7% vs.31.3%, p <0.001). Female participants with MS were older than those without MS (73.15±6.5 vs. 72.10±6.14 years, p <0.001). Conversely, male participants with MS were younger than those without MS (72.93±6.70 vs. 73.52±6.98 years, p <0.001). The most common combination of MS components was the triad of high blood glucose, high blood pressure and central obesity (25.2% of all participants with MS). Age-related changes in MS component combinations were noted only when central obesity was present. The strongest MS component combination for new-onset diabetes mellitus was high blood glucose, hypertriglyceridemia, reduced HDL-C and central obesity (HR: 5.42, P<0.001). In conclusion, not all component combinations of MS were of the same prognostic impact or the risk for new-onset diabetes mellitus. Further study is needed to develop individualized intervention programs for MS based on risk profiles of older adults is needed.
Molecular sieves for gas separation Lin, Jerry Y. S.
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
07/2016, Letnik:
353, Številka:
6295
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Metal-organic framework materials enable efficient separation of similar gases
Separation and purification are critical industrial processes for separating components of chemical mixtures, and these ...processes account for about half of industrial energy usage (
1
). Gas mixtures of compounds with very similar physical properties are particularly difficult to separate. On pages
137
and
141
of this issue, Cadiau
et al.
(
2
) and Cui
et al.
(
3
), respectively, show that microporous materials can be designed to have high adsorption capacity and selectivity for particular hydrocarbons, enabling energy-efficient separation.
Objective
To investigate the expression of miR-217 and HIF-1α/VEGF pathway in patients with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) and its effect on angiogenesis in DFU rats.
Methods
The serum levels of miR-217, ...HIF-1α and VEGF were detected in DFU and simple diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, and healthy controls. DFU rat models were established and treated with miR-217 inhibitors and/or HIF-1α siRNA. The ulcer healing of DFU rats was observed. Besides, ELISA method was performed to detect the serum level of HIF-1α, VEGF and inflammatory factors, immunohistochemical (IHC) method to test the micro-vessel density (MVD), as well as qRT-PCR and Western blot to determine expressions of miR-217, HIF-1α, VEGF, VEGFR2, eNOS, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in tissues.
Results
The serum levels of miR-217 were up-regulated while HIF-1α and VEGF were down-regulated in DFU patients and rats when compared with DM and healthy controls (all
P
< 0.05). Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that
HIF
-
1α
was the direct target gene of miR-217. DFU rats treated with miR-217 inhibitors had decreased foot ulcer area and accelerated ulcer healing, with significantly reduced inflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6), as well as elevated HIF-1α and VEGF (all
P
< 0.05); meanwhile, they remarkably increased the MVD in foot dorsum wound tissues and the protein expressions of HIF-1α, VEGF, VEGFR2, eNOS, MMP-2, and MMP-9 (all
P
< 0.05).
Conclusion
Inhibiting miR-217 could up-regulate HIF-1α/VEGF pathway to promote angiogenesis and ameliorate inflammation of DFU rats, thereby effectively advancing the healing of ulcerated area.
The application of nanotechnology in the field of drug delivery has attracted much attention in the latest decades. Recent breakthroughs on the morphology control and surface functionalization of ...inorganic‐based delivery vehicles, such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), have brought new possibilities to this burgeoning area of research. The ability to functionalize the surface of mesoporous‐silica‐based nanocarriers with stimuli‐responsive groups, nanoparticles, polymers, and proteins that work as caps and gatekeepers for controlled release of various cargos is just one of the exciting results reported in the literature that highlights MSNs as a promising platform for various biotechnological and biomedical applications. This review focuses on the most recent progresses in the application of MSNs for intracellular drug delivery. The latest research on the pathways of entry into live mammalian and plant cells together with intracellular trafficking are described. One of the main areas of interest in this field is the development of site‐specific drug delivery vehicles; the contribution of MSNs toward this topic is also summarized. In addition, the current research progress on the biocompatibility of this material in vitro and in vivo is discussed. Finally, the latest breakthroughs for intracellular controlled drug release using stimuli‐responsive mesoporous‐silica‐based systems are described.
Recent applications of inorganic nanomaterials in the field of drug delivery have attracted a lot of attention in the last decade. One of the most promising candidates for this matter is mesoporous silica nanoparticles. This review highlights the latest progress in terms of the application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for intracellular drug delivery.
Traffic emissions are a significant source of airborne particulate matter (PM) in ambient environments. These emissions contain an abundance of toxic metals and thus pose adverse effects on human ...health. Size-fractionated aerosol samples were collected from May to September 2013 by using micro-orifice uniform deposited impactors (MOUDIs). Sample collection was conducted simultaneously at the inlet and outlet sites of Hsuehshan Tunnel in northern Taiwan, which is the second-longest freeway tunnel (12.9 km) in Asia. This endeavor aims to characterize the chemical constituents and size distributions, as well as fingerprinting ratios of particulate metals emitted by vehicle fleets. A total of 36 metals in size-resolved aerosols were determined through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Three major groups – namely, tailpipe emissions (Zn, Pb, and V in fine mode), wear debris (Cu, Cd, Fe, Ga, Mn, Mo, Sb, and Sn), and resuspended dust (Ca, Mg, K, and Rb) – of airborne PM metals were categorized on the basis of the results of enrichment factor, correlation matrix, and principal component analysis. Size distributions of wear-originated metals resembled the pattern of crustal elements, which were predominated by super-micron particulates (PM1–10). By contrast, tailpipe exhaust elements such as Zn, Pb, and V were distributed mainly in submicron particles. By employing Cu as a tracer of wear abrasion, several inter-metal ratios – including Fe / Cu (14), Ba / Cu (1.05), Sb / Cu (0.16), Sn / Cu (0.10), and Ga / Cu (0.03) – served as fingerprints for wear debris. However, the data set collected in this work is useful for further studies on traffic emission inventory and human health effects of traffic-related PM.
High tumor mutation burden (TMB-H) has been proposed as a predictive biomarker for response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), largely due to the potential for tumor mutations to generate ...immunogenic neoantigens. Despite recent pan-cancer approval of ICB treatment for any TMB-H tumor, as assessed by the targeted FoundationOne CDx assay in nine tumor types, the utility of this biomarker has not been fully demonstrated across all cancers.
Data from over 10 000 patient tumors included in The Cancer Genome Atlas were used to compare approaches to determine TMB and identify the correlation between predicted neoantigen load and CD8 T cells. Association of TMB with ICB treatment outcomes was analyzed by both objective response rates (ORRs, N = 1551) and overall survival (OS, N = 1936).
In cancer types where CD8 T-cell levels positively correlated with neoantigen load, such as melanoma, lung, and bladder cancers, TMB-H tumors exhibited a 39.8% ORR to ICB 95% confidence interval (CI) 34.9-44.8, which was significantly higher than that observed in low TMB (TMB-L) tumors odds ratio (OR) = 4.1, 95% CI 2.9-5.8, P < 2 × 10−16. In cancer types that showed no relationship between CD8 T-cell levels and neoantigen load, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and glioma, TMB-H tumors failed to achieve a 20% ORR (ORR = 15.3%, 95% CI 9.2-23.4, P = 0.95), and exhibited a significantly lower ORR relative to TMB-L tumors (OR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.24-0.88, P = 0.02). Bulk ORRs were not significantly different between the two categories of tumors (P = 0.10) for patient cohorts assessed. Equivalent results were obtained by analyzing OS and by treating TMB as a continuous variable.
Our analysis failed to support application of TMB-H as a biomarker for treatment with ICB in all solid cancer types. Further tumor type-specific studies are warranted.
•TMB-H failed to predict improved or clinically relevant response to ICB in all cancer types.•Cancer types where TMB-H does not predict response generally show no relationship between tumor neoantigen load and CD8 T-cell infiltration.•Further studies should be carried out before application of TMB-H as a biomarker for ICB in all cancer types.
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