Colon-targeted drug delivery is gradually attracting attention because it can effectively treat colon diseases. Furthermore, electrospun fibers have great potential application value in the field of ...drug delivery because of their unique external shape and internal structure. In this study, a core layer of hydrophilic polyethylene oxide (PEO) and the anti-colon-cancer drug curcumin (CUR), a middle layer of ethanol, and a sheath layer of the natural pH-sensitive biomaterial shellac were used in a modified triaxial electrospinning process to prepare beads-on-the-string (BOTS) microfibers. A series of characterizations were carried out on the obtained fibers to verify the process-shape/structure-application relationship. The results of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy indicated a BOTS shape and core-sheath structure. X-ray diffraction results indicated that the drug in the fibers was in an amorphous form. Infrared spectroscopy revealed the good compatibility of the components in the fibers. In vitro drug release revealed that the BOTS microfibers provide colon-targeted drug delivery and zero-order drug release. Compared to linear cylindrical microfibers, the obtained BOTS microfibers can prevent the leakage of drugs in simulated gastric fluid, and they provide zero-order release in simulated intestinal fluid because the beads in BOTS microfibers can act as drug reservoirs.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of low-energy blue LED irradiation on the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAPs). SCAPs were derived from human tooth root ...tips and were irradiated with 0 (control group), 1 J/cm
2
, 2 J/cm
2
, 3 J/cm
2
, or 4 J/cm
2
blue light in osteogenic induction medium. Cell proliferation was analyzed using the 3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Osteogenic differentiation activity was evaluated by monitoring alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alizarin red staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results of the MTT assay indicated that SCAPs in the LED groups exhibited a lower proliferation rate than those in the control group, and there were statistically differences between the 2 J/cm
2
, 3 J/cm
2
, and 4 J/cm
2
groups and the control group (
P
< 0.05). The results of the ALP and alizarin red analyses showed that blue LED promoted osteogenic differentiation of the SCAPs. And 4 J/cm
2
blue light upregulates the expression levels of the osteogenic/dentinogenic genes ALP, dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), dentin matrix protein-1 (DMP-1), and osteocalcin (OCN) in SCAPs. Our results confirmed that low-energy blue LED at 1 J/cm
2
, 2 J/cm
2
, 3 J/cm
2
, and 4 J/cm
2
could inhibit the proliferation of SCAPs and promotes osteogenic differentiation of SCAPs. Further in vitro studies are required to explore the mechanisms of the effects by low-energy blue LED.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of low-energy red light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). ...PDLSCs were derived from human periodontal ligament tissues of premolars and were irradiated with 0 (control group), 1, 3, or 5 J/cm
2
red LED in osteogenic induction medium. Cell proliferation was analyzed using the 3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Osteogenic differentiation activity was evaluated by monitoring alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, alizarin red staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results. Osteoblast-associated proteins (Runx2, OCN, OPN, and BSP) were detected using western blotting. The results of the MTT assay indicated that PDLSCs in the irradiation groups exhibited a higher proliferation rate than those in the control group (
P
< 0.05). ALP results showed that after 7 days of illumination, only 5 J/cm
2
promoted the expression of ALP of PDLSCs. However, after 14 days of illumination, the irradiation treatments did not increase ALP activity. The results of alizarin red staining showed that red LED promoted osteogenic differentiation of the PDLSCs. The real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results demonstrated that red LED upregulated the expression levels of osteogenic genes. Expression of the proteins BSP, OPN, OCN, and Runx2 in the irradiation groups was higher than that in the control group. Our results confirmed that low-energy red LED at 1, 3, and 5 J/cm
2
promotes proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs.
The effect of fluxes on CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+ phosphors obtained via conventional solid-state reaction at atmospheric pressure is systematically investigated. The photoluminescence excitation and emission ...spectra of CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+ phosphors containing fluxes are investigated and discussed in detail. A strong emission band is observed peaked at 548 nm originating from transitions between 4f65d1 emitting state and 4f7 ground state of Eu2+ under near ultraviolet light (398 nm) excitation. The results show that the best synthesis temperature of the sample is 1450 °C with the absence of combustion aid to obtain single phase of CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+. After adding BaF2, NH4Cl and Na2CO3, single phase samples of CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+ with well-defined morphology can be successfully prepared at a temperature as low as 1400 °C. It is interesting that in the samples prepared under the assistance of BaF2 fluxes, the luminous intensity of Eu2+ is much higher than in the absence of fluxes.
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•A single-phase CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+ phosphor was obtained by using high temperature solid phase method at atmospheric pressure.•Using BaF2 as flux, a single-phase CaSi2O2N2:Eu2+ phosphor was obtained at 1400 °C, and the luminous intensity was increased.•After using BaF2 as a flux, with the increase of Eu2+ content, the concentration quenching phenomenon is not evident.
Herb medicines are popular for safe application due to being a source of natural herbs. However, how to deliver them in an efficacious and convenient manner poses a big challenge to researchers. In ...this study, a new concept is demonstrated that the electrospun polymer-based hybrid films can be a platform for promoting the delivery of a mixture of active herb extract, i.e., Lianhua Qingwen Keli (LQK), also a commercial traditional Chinese patent medicine. The LQK can be co-dissolved with the filament-forming polymeric polyvinylpyrrolidone K60 and a sweeter sucralose to prepare an electrospinnable solution. A handheld electrospinning apparatus was explored to transfer the solution into solid nanofibers, i.e., the LQK-loaded medicated films. These films were demonstrated to be composed of linear nanofibers. A puncher was utilized to transfer the mat into circular membrane a diameter of 15 mm. Two self-created methods were developed for disclosing the dissolution performances of the electrospun mats. Both the water droplet experiments and the wet paper (mimic tongue) experiments verified that the hybrid films can rapidly disintegrate when they encounter water and release the loaded LQK in an immediate manner. Based on the reasonable selections of polymeric excipients, the present protocols pave a way for delivering many types of active herb extracts in an effective and convenient manner.
To identify the patterns of antibiotic use and irrational antibiotic prescriptions in primary healthcare institutions (PHIs) in Dongcheng District of Beijing, China.
All primary healthcare ...institutions (7 community healthcare centres and 59 community healthcare stations in total) in Dongcheng District were included in the study. Prescription data from January 2015 to December 2018 was derived from the Beijing Prescription Reviewing System of Primary healthcare institutions and analysed retrospectively. The antibiotic prescription rate was calculated and cases of irrational antibiotic prescriptions were identified.
We extracted 11,166,905 prescriptions from the database. Only 189,962 prescriptions were included in the study, among which 9167 (4.8%) contained antibiotics. The antibiotic prescription rate fell from 5.2% in 2015 to 4.1% in 2018 while irrational antibiotic prescription rate increased from 10.4 to 11.8%. Acute Bronchitis was the most prevalent diagnosis (17.6%) for antibiotic prescriptions, followed by Unspecified Acute Respiratory Tract Infection (14.4%), Acute Tonsillitis (9.9%), and Urinary Tract Infection (6.4%). Around 10% of the prescriptions for the top 7 diagnoses identified were rated as irrational. Cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides were the most prescribed antibiotics, which accounted for 89.3% of all antibiotic prescriptions. Of all the antibiotic prescriptions, 7531 were reviewed, among which 939 (12.5%) were rated as irrational because of antibiotic use. Among all the irrational prescriptions, prescriptions with inappropriate antibiotic use and dosage accounted for the majority (54.4%).
Although a relatively low level of antibiotic utilization was found in PHIs in Dongcheng District of Beijing, the utilization patterns differed considerably from developed countries and irrational prescriptions remained. Considering the imbalanced allocation of medical resources between primary healthcare setting and secondary and tertiary hospitals, there need to be more efforts invested in regions with different levels of economic development.
Mycoviruses are usually transmitted horizontally via hyphal anastomosis and vertically through sporulation in natural settings. Oyster mushroom spherical virus (OMSV) is a mycovirus that infects ...Pleurotus ostreatus, with horizontal transmission via hyphal anastomosis. However, whether OMSV can be vertically transmitted is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the transmission characteristics of OMSV to progeny via basidiospores and horizontally to a new host. A total of 37 single-basidiospore offspring were obtained from OMSV-infected P. ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius for Western blot detection of OMSV. The OMSV-carrying rate among monokaryotic isolates was 19% in P. ostreatus and 44% in P. pulmonarius. Then, OMSV-free and OMSV-infected monokaryotic isolates were selected for hybridization with harvested dikaryotic progeny strains. Western blot analyses of the offspring revealed that the OMSV transmission efficiency was 50% in P. ostreatus and 75% in P. pulmonarius, indicating vertical transmission via sexual basidiospores. Furthermore, we observed the horizontal transfer of OMSV from P. pulmonarius to Pleurotus floridanus. OMSV infection in P. floridanus resulted in significant inhibition of mycelial growth and yield loss. This study was novel in reporting the vertical transmission of OMSV through basidiospores, and its infection and pathogenicity in a new host P. floridanus.
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is considered as a key technique in augmented reality (AR), robotics and unmanned driving. In the field of SLAM, solutions based on monocular sensors have ...gradually become important due to their ability to recognize more environmental information with simple structures and low costs. Feature-based ORB-SLAM is popular in many applications, but it has many limitations in complex indoor scenes. Firstly, camera pose estimation based on monocular images is greatly affected by the environment; secondly, monocular images lack scale information and cannot be used to obtain image depth information; thirdly, monocular based SLAM builds a fused map of feature points that lacks semantic information, which is incomprehensible for machine. To solve the aforementioned issues, this paper proposes an SDF-SLAM model based on deep learning, which can perform camera pose estimation in a wider indoor environment and can also perform depth estimation and semantic segmentation on monocular images to obtain an understandable three-dimensional map. SDF-SLAM is tested and verified using a CPU platform and two sets of indoor scenes. The results show that the average accuracy of the predicted point cloud coordinates reaches 90%, and the average accuracy of the semantic labels reaches 67%. Moreover, compared with the state-of-the-art SLAM frameworks, such as ORB-SLAM, LSD-SLAM, and CNN-SLAM, the absolute error of the camera trajectory on indoor data with more feature points is reduced from 0.436 m, 0.495 m, and 0.243 m to 0.037 m, respectively. On indoor data with fewer feature points, they decrease from 1.826 m, 1.206 m, and 0.264 m to 0.124 m, respectively.
Kidney transplantation is considered to be the best treatment for end-stage renal disease. To reduce the incidence of rejection and improve the survival of recipients and kidney grafts, kidney ...transplant recipients must take immunosuppressive agents, and some patients require them for the rest of their lifetime. These treatment regimens can result in susceptibility to opportunistic infections and disrupt the intestinal microbiota, thereby leading to diarrhea, which causes water and electrolyte metabolism disorder, nutrient malabsorption, and instability in the blood concentrations of the immunosuppressive agents. Fluctuating blood concentration levels of these agents necessitate frequent laboratory monitoring and dose adjustments to avoid poor adherence and increase the risk of graft rejection. Furthermore, severe diarrhea can cause kidney transplant failure or death. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of diarrhea after renal transplantation. Traditional antibiotics can kill C. difficile ; however, spores can remain in the gut. Disruption of the intestinal flora caused by antibiotherapy increases the risk of developing recurrent CDI (rCDI). Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been proven to be a safe and effective treatment for CDI and is recommended for rCDI owing to its convenient material acquisition method, high efficacy, and low incidence of adverse reactions. This review summarizes the recent progress in FMT for CDI-associated diarrhea after renal transplantation.
In this study, a series of AgCl/ZnO-loaded nanofibrous membranes were prepared using coaxial electrospinning. Their physical and chemical characteristics were evaluated by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, IR, PL, ...and UV-visible spectrometer, and the photocatalytic experiments using methylene blue (MB) as a model pollutant. The formation of AgCl/ZnO heterojunction and the structure of core-shell nanofibers with porous shell layer were confirmed. AgCl/ZnO photocatalysts were also effectively loaded onto the surfaces of the porous core-shell nanofibers. The results of photocatalytic experiments revealed that the AgCl/ZnO (M
:M
= 5:5)-loaded nanofibrous membrane achieved a degradation efficiency of 98% in just 70 min and maintained a photocatalytic efficiency exceeding 95% over the first five experimental cycles, which successfully addressed the issues of photocatalytic efficiency loss during the photodegradation of MB with AgCl/ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalyst. The photodegradation mechanism was also researched and proposed.
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