A single molecular layer of titanium diselenide (TiSe2) is a promising material for advanced electronics beyond graphene-a strong focus of current research. Such molecular layers are at the quantum ...limit of device miniaturization and can show enhanced electronic effects not realizable in thick films. We show that single-layer TiSe2 exhibits a charge density wave (CDW) transition at critical temperature TC=232±5 K, which is higher than the bulk TC=200±5 K. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal a small absolute bandgap at room temperature, which grows wider with decreasing temperature T below TC in conjunction with the emergence of (2 × 2) ordering. The results are rationalized in terms of first-principles calculations, symmetry breaking and phonon entropy effects. The observed Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) behaviour of the gap implies a mean-field CDW order in the single layer and an anisotropic CDW order in the bulk.
Summary
The role of protein intake in bone has been controversial. Our case-control study among Chinese elderly concluded that a higher consumption of protein, even substituted for fat, is associated ...with lowered hip fracture risk. Differences in protein sources, amino acids composition, gender, and calcium sufficiency may explain the inconsistency.
Purpose
The aim of the study was to investigate the association of dietary protein intakes with hip fracture risk among Chinese elderly.
Methods
This was a 1:1 age and sex matched cross-sectional study of case-control design among 1070 pairs of elderly Chinese people aged 55 to 80 years. Patients who were newly diagnosed (within 2-week) hip fracture by X-ray were recruited from four hospitals in Guangdong Province of China. Dietary intakes were evaluated by a validated food frequency questionnaire for total protein, protein from different sources, amino acids profiles, and estimated renal acid load in diet.
Results
Daily average intakes of total protein were 58.1±27.0 (women) and 65.7±31.8 (men) g/d for cases, and 66.8±21.5 (women) and 72.1±24.4 (men) for controls (
p
<0.001). Multivariable regression indicated that, compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of consumption of energy adjusted total protein OR: 0.360 (0.206~0.630) for women and 0.381 (0.153~0.949) for men and animal protein 0.326 (0.183, 0.560) for women and 0.335 (0.136~0.828) for men was significantly associated with the lowered risk of hip fracture in a dose-response manner (all
p
for trend <0.05). A significant hip fracture risk reduction was observed in women with higher intakes of sulfur amino acids OR: 0.464 (0.286~0.753) and aromatic amino acids 0.537 (0.326~0.884) but not in men. Subgroup analysis suggested that these associations were more evident in elderly with lower body mass index and dietary calcium intake less than 400 mg/d.
Conclusions
A higher level of protein intake, even substituted for fat, is associated with lowered hip fracture risk.
Because cerebral morphological abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD) may be modulated by antidepressant treatment, inclusion of medicated patients may have biased previous meta-analyses of ...voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies. A meta-analysis of VBM studies on medication-free MDD patients should be able to distinguish the morphological features of the disease itself from those of treatment.
A systematic search was conducted for the relevant studies. Effect-size signed differential mapping was applied to analyse the grey matter differences between all medication-free MDD patients and healthy controls. Meta-regression was used to explore the effects of demographics and clinical characteristics.
A total of 14 datasets comprising 400 medication-free MDD patients and 424 healthy controls met the inclusion criteria. The pooled meta-analysis and subgroup meta-analyses showed robustly reduced grey matter in prefrontal and limbic regions in MDD. Increased right thalamus volume was only seen in first-episode medication-naive patients, and increased grey matter in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex only in medication wash-out patients. In meta-regression analyses the percentage of female patients in each study was negatively correlated with reduced grey matter in the right hippocampus.
By excluding interference from medication effects, the present study identified grey matter reduction in the prefrontal-limbic network in MDD. The subgroup meta-analysis results suggest that an increased right thalamus volume might be a trait directly related to MDD, while an increased anterior cingulate cortex volume might be an effect of medication. The meta-regression results perhaps reveal the structural underpinning of the sex differences in epidemiological and clinical aspects of MDD.
While plasma biomarkers have been proposed to aid in the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD), few biomarkers have been validated in independent patient cohorts. Here we aim to determine ...plasma biomarkers associated with AD in 2 independent cohorts and validate the findings in the multicenter Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
Using a targeted proteomic approach, we measured levels of 190 plasma proteins and peptides in 600 participants from 2 independent centers (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Washington University, St. Louis, MO), and identified 17 analytes associated with the diagnosis of very mild dementia/mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Four analytes (apoE, B-type natriuretic peptide, C-reactive protein, pancreatic polypeptide) were also found to be altered in clinical MCI/AD in the ADNI cohort (n = 566). Regression analysis showed CSF Aβ42 levels and t-tau/Aβ42 ratios to correlate with the number of APOE4 alleles and plasma levels of B-type natriuretic peptide and pancreatic polypeptide.
Four plasma analytes were consistently associated with the diagnosis of very mild dementia/MCI/AD in 3 independent clinical cohorts. These plasma biomarkers may predict underlying AD through their association with CSF AD biomarkers, and the association between plasma and CSF amyloid biomarkers needs to be confirmed in a prospective study.
Summary
Background
The burden of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasing in the Asia area and the majority of GERD patients have non‐erosive reflux disease (NERD).
Aim
To evaluate the ...efficacy and safety of sodium alginate suspension compared to omeprazole in adult subjects with NERD.
Methods
In this 4‐week, double‐blind, parallel study, 195 NERD subjects were randomised to one of two treatment groups: sodium alginate suspension 20 mL three times a day and omeprazole 20 mg once daily. The primary efficacy endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving adequate heartburn or regurgitation relief at day 28 assessed by patient diary. The secondary efficacy endpoints included percentage of patients achieving adequate heartburn or regurgitation relief, change from baseline of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire total score at day 14 and 28 from baseline, and patients’ overall satisfaction.
Results
In this study, 183 subjects were included in the intent‐to‐treat population, and 172 subjects were included in the per‐protocol population. Non‐inferiority of sodium alginate to omeprazole was demonstrated in the intent‐to‐treat population difference, 2.7% (53.3% vs. 50.5%, P = 0.175), 95% lower confidence interval −11.9%, above the preset margin of −19%. All of the secondary efficacy endpoints were comparable between two groups. The incidence of adverse event was relatively low and there was no difference between the two groups (5.4% vs. 5.5% for sodium alginate vs. omeprazole). No severe adverse event was noted in this study.
Conclusion
The study showed that sodium alginate was as effective as omeprazole for symptomatic relief in patients with non‐erosive reflux disease (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01338077).
Persistent excessive sympathetic activation greatly contributes to the pathogenesis of chronic heart failure (CHF) and hypertension. Cardiac sympathetic afferent reflex (CSAR) is a sympathoexcitatory ...reflex with positive feedback characteristics. Humoral factors such as bradykinin, adenosine and reactive oxygen species produced in myocardium due to myocardial ischaemia stimulate cardiac sympathetic afferents and thereby reflexly increase sympathetic activity and blood pressure. The CSAR is enhanced in myocardial ischaemia, CHF and hypertension. The enhanced CSAR at least partially contributes to the sympathetic activation and pathogenesis of these diseases. Nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and rostral ventrolateral medulla are the most important central sites involved in the modulation and integration of the CSAR. Angiotensin II, AT1 receptors and NAD(P)H oxidase‐derived superoxide anions pathway in the PVN are mainly responsible for the enhanced CSAR in CHF and hypertension. Central angiotensin‐(1‐7), nitric oxide, endothelin, intermedin, hydrogen peroxide and several other signal molecules are involved in regulating CSAR. Blockade of the CSAR shows beneficial effects in CHF and hypertension. This review focuses on the anatomical and physiological basis of the CSAR, the interaction of CSAR with baroreflex and chemoreflex, and the role of enhanced CSAR in the pathogenesis of CHF and hypertension.
Solid-state nanopore (SSN)-based analytical methods have found abundant use in genomics and proteomics with fledgling contributions to virology - a clinically critical field with emphasis on both ...infectious and designer-drug carriers. Here we demonstrate the ability of SSN to successfully discriminate adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) based on their genetic cargo double-stranded DNA (AAVdsDNA), single-stranded DNA (AAVssDNA) or none (AAVempty), devoid of digestion steps, through nanopore-induced electro-deformation (characterized by relative current change; ΔI/I0). The deformation order was found to be AAVempty > AAVssDNA > AAVdsDNA. A deep learning algorithm was developed by integrating support vector machine with an existing neural network, which successfully classified AAVs from SSN resistive-pulses (characteristic of genetic cargo) with >95% accuracy - a potential tool for clinical and biomedical applications. Subsequently, the presence of AAVempty in spiked AAVdsDNA was flagged using the ΔI/I0 distribution characteristics of the two types for mixtures composed of ∼75 : 25% and ∼40 : 60% (in concentration) AAVempty : AAVdsDNA.
Summary
Background
Cirrhotic patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have high mortality rates. The Chronic Liver Failure–Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (CLIF‐SOFA) score, a modified ...Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, is a newly developed scoring system exclusively for patients with end‐stage liver disease.
Aim
To externally validate the efficacy of the CLIF‐SOFA score and evaluate other scoring systems for 6‐month mortality in critically ill cirrhotic patients.
Methods
This study prospectively recorded and analysed the data for 30 demographical parameters and some clinical characteristic variables on day 1 of 250 cirrhotic patients admitted to a 10‐bed specialised hepatogastroenterology ICU in a 2000‐bed tertiary care referral hospital during the period from September 2010 to August 2013.
Results
The overall in‐hospital and 6‐month mortality rate were 58.8% (147/250) and 78.0% (195/250), respectively. Liver diseases were mostly attributed to hepatitis B virus infection (32%). Multiple Cox logistic regression hazard analysis revealed that Glasgow coma scale, both the CLIF‐SOFA and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III (ACPACHE III) scores determined on the first day of ICU admission were independent predictors of 6‐month mortality. Analysis of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that the CLIF‐SOFA score had the best discriminatory power (0.900 ± 0.020). Moreover, the cumulative 6‐month survival rates differed significantly for patients with a CLIF‐SOFA score ≤11 and those with a CLIF‐SOFA score >11 on the ICU admission day.
Conclusion
Both CLIF‐SOFA and APACHE III scores are excellent prognosis evaluation tools for critically ill cirrhotic patients.
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