Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of Eu3+-doped silica@coordination polymer core-shell structures and their calcinated silica@Gd2O3:Eu and hollow Gd2O3:Eu microsphere products.

The conjugation of Eu(3+)-doped coordination polymers constructed from Gd(3+) and isophthalic acid (H(2)IPA) with silica particles is investigated for the production of luminescent microspheres. A series of doping ratio-controlled silica@coordination polymer core-shell spheres is easily synthesized by altering the amounts of metal nodes used in the reactions, where the ratios of Gd(3+) and Eu(3+) are 10:0 (1a), 9:1 (1b), 8:2 (1c), 7:3 (1d), 5:5 (1e), and 0:10 (1f). The formation of monodisperse uniform core-shell structures is achieved throughout the entirety of a series. Investigations of the photoluminescence property of the resulting series of silica@coordination polymer core-shell spheres reveal that 20% Eu(3+)-doped product (1c) has the strongest emission intensity. The subsequent calcination process on the silica@coordination polymer core-shell structures (1a-f) results in the formation of a series of doping ratio-controlled silica@Gd(2)O(3):Eu core-shell microspheres (2a-f) with uniform shell thickness. During the calcination step, the coordination polymers within silica@coordination polymer core-shells are transformed into metal oxides, resulting in silica@Gd(2)O(3):Eu core-shell structures. The final etching process on the silica@Gd(2)O(3):Eu core-shell microspheres (2a-f) produces a series of hollow Gd(2)O(3):Eu microspheres (3a-f) as a result of the elimination of silica cores. The luminescence intensities of silica@Gd(2)O(3):Eu core-shell (2a-f) and hollow Gd(2) O(3):Eu microspheres (3a-f) also vary depending upon the doping ratio of Eu(3+) ions.

Epicutaneous exposure to staphylococcal superantigen enterotoxin B enhances allergic lung inflammation via an IL-17A dependent mechanism.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the initial step of the atopic march: the progression from AD to allergic rhinitis and asthma. There is a close association between skin barrier abnormalities and the development of AD and the atopic march. One of cardinal features of AD is that the lesional skin of the majority of AD patients is chronically colonized with Staphylococcus aureus with half isolates producing superantigen enterotoxin B (SEB). Although diverse roles of SEB in the pathogenesis and severity of AD have been recognized, whether SEB contributes to the dermal inflammation that drives lung inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) has not been examined. Here we show a novel role of S. aureus superantigen SEB in augmenting allergen ovalbumin (Ova) induced atopic march through an IL-17A dependent mechanism. When mice epicutaneously (EC) sensitized with allergen Ova, addition of topical SEB led to not only augmented systemic Th2 responses but also a markedly exaggerated systemic Th17/IL-17 immune environment. The ability of SEB in enhancing Th17/IL-17 was mediated through stimulating lymphocytes in spleen and draining lymph nodes to promote IL-6 production. Epicutaneous sensitization of mice with a combination of Ova and SEB significantly enhanced Ova-induced AHR and granulocytic lung inflammation than Ova allergen alone. When IL-17A was deleted genetically, the effects of SEB on augmenting lung inflammation and AHR were markedly diminished. These findings suggest that chronic heavy colonization of enterotoxin producing S. aureus in the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis may have an important role in the development of atopic march via an IL-17A dependent mechanism.

Prognostic accuracy of 12 liver staging systems in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization.

PURPOSE: The objective of the present study was to rank the most common liver staging systems according to prognostic accuracy in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Survival of 172 consecutive patients with unresectable HCC treated with TACE was correlated with the pretreatment Child-Pugh (categoric and nominal), Okuda, Cancer of the Liver Italian Program, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, Model for End-stage Liver Disease, Chinese University Prognostic Index (CUPI), Japanese Integrated Staging, Tumor/Node/Metastasis, Group d'Etude de Traitement du Carcinoma Hepatocellulaire, Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan, and Tokyo staging systems. The systems were ranked according to error reduction in predicting median survival (Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression analysis). The error reduction was normalized to the error in predicting survival in the absence of a staging system. RESULTS: Median survival was 80 weeks. The error in predicting survival of an unstaged population was 51 weeks. The Child-Pugh nominal, CUPI, and Tokyo scores yielded the largest reduction in survival prediction error, at 20.8%, 21.6%, and 19.6%, respectively. Their actual error measurements in predicting survival were 40.4, 40.0, and 41.0 weeks, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Child-Pugh nominal, CUPI, and Tokyo scores provide the best prognostic accuracy among the systems studied. However, those of the Tokyo and CUPI methods are artificially enhanced because of their greater number of staging levels. The Child-Pugh nominal liver staging system is the most accurate in predicting survival of patients with unresectable HCC treated with TACE, and it is recommended that it be adopted as the standard for HCC staging in such patients.