Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pulmonary system associated with many wheeze-to-sleep apnea complications that may lead to death. In 2019, approximately 262 million patients suffered ...from asthma, and 455 thousand died from the disease worldwide. It is a more severe health problem in children and older adults, and as the aging of society intensifies, the problem will continue to worsen. Asthma inducers can be classified as indoor and outdoor allergens and can cause asthma due to their repeated invasion. There are several theories about asthma occurrence, such as the imbalance between Th1 and Th2, inflammation in the pulmonary system, and the abnormal apoptosis/cell proliferation of cells related to asthma. Although there are many medications for asthma, as it is an incurable disease, the purpose of the drugs is only to suppress the symptoms. The current drugs can be divided into relievers and controllers; however, as they have many adverse effects, such as immune suppression, growth retardation, promotion of cataracts, hyperactivity, and convulsions, developing new asthma drugs is necessary. Although natural products can have adverse effects, the development of asthma drugs from natural products may be beneficial, as some have anti-asthmatic effects such as immune modulation, anti-inflammation, and/or apoptosis modulation.
A novel nano-plasmonic sensing platform based on vertical conductive bridge was suggested as an alternative geometry for taking full advantages of unique properties of conductive junction while ...substantially alleviating burdens in lithographic process. The effects of various geometrical parameters on the plasmonic properties were systematically investigated. Theoretical simulation on this structure demonstrates that the presence of vertical conductive bridge with smaller diameter sandwiched between two adjacent thin nanodiscs excites a bridged mode very similar to the charge transfer plasmon and exhibits a remarkable enhancement in the extinction efficiency and the sensitivity when the electric field of incident light is parallel to the conductive bridge. Furthermore, for the electric field perpendicular to the bridge, another interesting feature is observed that two magnetic resonance modes are excited symmetrically through open-gaps on both sides of the bridge together with strongly enhanced electric field intensity, which provides a very favorable environment as a surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate for fluid analysis. These results verify a great potential and versatility of our approach for use as a nanoplasmonic sensing platform. In addition, we demonstrated the feasibility of fabrication process of vertical conductive bridge and high tunability in controlling the bridge width.
This study fabricated alloy films with excellent corrosion resistance by depositing an Mg film on Al-Si coated steel sheets and applying heat treatment. The fabricated Al-Mg-Si alloy film formed a ...corrosion product film composed of two layers, showing an excellent barrier effect against corrosion factors. The Mg in the film fabricated by heat treatment for 5 min was widely distributed in a dissolved state on the AI phase and was continuously involved in the corrosion product formation reaction. The corrosion resistance evaluation results were explained by analyzing the properties of the alloy film and the mechanism of forming corrosion products.
•Al-Mg-Si coating is prepared by PVD Mg coating and heat treatment.•The solidified Mg continuously contributes to the formation of corrosion products.•The Mg corrosion products leads to excellent shielding effect against corrosion factors.•The Al-Mg intermetallic compounds cause inefficient consumption of Mg.
If the signal strength obtained from sonar is higher than the predefined detection threshold, it is considered as a candidate for target tracking. This detection threshold is a parameter that affects ...the detection probability of targets and the distribution of clutter measurements, so it is important to determine a proper threshold to improve target tracking performance. There are various techniques for adjusting the detection threshold. To apply these techniques, it is assumed that the probability density functions of the signal strength for clutter are known in advance. However, in a real environment, the probability density function of the signal strength is unknown in general. In this paper, we propose a detection threshold control method using extremum seeking control in realistic environments. The extremum seeking control is a method used in complex nonlinear systems. We propose a new structure for extremum seeking control that is applicable to detection processes with nonlinear characteristics. This structure is used to adjust the detection threshold of the received signal amplitude to make the estimated clutter measurement density converge to a designed clutter measurement density to achieve the best target tracking performance in the current environment. Simulation studies for the proposed extremum seeking control applied to target tracking in an unknown clutter signal distribution demonstrate the effectiveness and improved target tracking performance.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody assays have high clinical utility in managing the pandemic. We compared antibody responses and seroconversion of coronavirus ...disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients using different immunoassays.
We evaluated 12 commercial immunoassays, including three automated chemiluminescent immunoassays (Abbott, Roche, and Siemens), three enzyme immunoassays (Bio-Rad, Euroimmun, and Vircell), five lateral flow immunoassays (Boditech Med, SD biosensor, PCL, Sugentech, and Rapigen), and one surrogate neutralizing antibody assay (GenScript) in sequential samples from 49 COVID-19 patients and 10 seroconversion panels.
The positive percent agreement (PPA) of assays for a COVID-19 diagnosis ranged from 84.0% to 98.5% for all samples (>14 days after symptom onset), with IgM or IgA assays showing higher PPAs. Seroconversion responses varied across the assay type and disease severity. Assays targeting the spike or receptor-binding domain protein showed a tendency for early seroconversion detection and higher index values in patients with severe disease. Index values from SARS-CoV-2 binding antibody assays (three automated assays, one LFIA, and three EIAs) showed moderate to strong correlations with the neutralizing antibody percentage (r=0.517-0.874), and stronger correlations in patients with severe disease and in assays targeting spike protein. Agreement among the 12 assays was good (74.3%-96.4%) for detecting IgG or total antibodies.
Positivity rates and seroconversion of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies vary depending on the assay kits, disease severity, and antigen target. This study contributes to a better understanding of antibody response in symptomatic COVID-19 patients using currently available assays.
Lymphatic vessels (LVs) are critical for immune surveillance and involved in the pathogenesis of diverse diseases. LV density is increased during inflammation; however, little is known about how the ...resolution of LVs is controlled in different inflammatory conditions. Here we show the negative effects of T helper type 2 (TH2) cells and their cytokines on LV formation. IL-4 and IL-13 downregulate essential transcription factors of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and inhibit tube formation. Co-culture of LECs with TH2 cells also inhibits tube formation, but this effect is fully reversed by interleukin (IL)-4 and/or IL-13 neutralization. Furthermore, the in vivo blockade of IL-4 and/or IL-13 in an asthma model not only increases the density but also enhances the function of lung LVs. These results demonstrate an anti-lymphangiogenic function of TH2 cells and their cytokines, suggesting a potential usefulness of IL-4 and/or IL-13 antagonist as therapeutic agents for allergic asthma through expanding LV mediated-enhanced antigen clearance from the inflammatory sites.
Background Endoscopic placement of fully covered self-expandable metal stents (FCSEMS) has been attempted to manage benign biliary strictures, but currently available FCSEMSs may be associated with ...unintended complications, including de novo strictures, in patients with normal life expectancy. Objective To evaluate the feasibility of an intraductally placed modified FCSEMS to minimize stent-induced bile duct injury in patients with benign biliary strictures. Design Prospective observational clinical feasibility study. Setting Tertiary-care academic center. Patients This study involved 21 patients with symptomatic benign biliary strictures in whom conventional endoscopic management failed. Intervention Strictured segments were 15 mm above the ampulla of Vater. The modified FCSEMS has convex margins, a lasso, and an anti-migrating waist on the central portion. Stents were placed entirely above the papilla and removed after 3 to 5 months. Main Outcome Measurements Success, complications, removability, midterm outcome. Results FCSEMSs were successfully placed inside the bile duct in all patients. No episodes of pancreatitis, cholangitis, or sepsis were noted during the stenting period. Stent migration occurred in 4 patients (19.0%), but 3 were asymptomatic during follow-up. All stents were removed successfully with rat-tooth forceps without complications. Post-stenting cholangiograms showed improvement of strictures in 20 of 21 patients, without de novo focal stricture. The clinical success rate was 95.2%, with one recurrent stricture. Limitations The small number and lack of comparison with other types of FCSEMSs. Conclusion Temporary intraductal placement of a newly modified FCSEMS effectively improved strictures and prevented potential stent-induced complications in patients with benign biliary strictures. Controlled large-scale trials are needed to confirm the long-term efficacy.
•PC survivors showed slightly higher risk for dementia compared to non-cancer control.•ADT was associated with increased risk for all types of dementia and AD.•Surgery + ADT group was at a higher ...risk for dementia than the surgery only group.•ADT and RT + ADT groups had slightly higher risk for VaD than the surgery only group.
Objectives: To investigate the effects of prostate cancer (PC) and various treatment modalities for PC, specifically androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), on the risk of dementia and dementia subtypes in PC survivors. Material and methods: A total of 51,252 patients newly diagnosed with PC from 2007 to 2013, who had no prior diagnosis of cancer or dementia, were included and matched with 209,659 non-cancer control. The screening subset was comprised of subjects who participated in a health screening program. We used Cox proportional hazards model to estimate the relative risk of dementia and dementia subtypes according to the primary treatment for the PC. Results: Compared to non-PC matched controls, PC survivors showed slightly higher risk for dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) only in the screening cohort. While PC survivors who underwent ADT were higher risk for dementia and AD, patients who underwent surgery were lower risk for dementia and AD, compared to the non-cancer population. Compared to surgery, ADT, surgery + ADT, and active surveillance/watchful waiting showed a significantly elevated risk for dementia. Conclusion: PC survivors had slightly higher risk for dementia compared to non-PC controls, which might be related to the screening effects of PC. The risk for dementia was most prominent among PC patients who underwent ADT, followed by patients who underwent AS/WW, and those who underwent surgery + ADT. This finding suggests that individualized ADT strategies that consider the survival benefit and underlying dementia risk in PC survivors are necessary.
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