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Single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) have been greatly developed for rapid detection, owing to their rich active sites and excellent catalytic activity. Although several excellent reviews concentrating on SAzymes have been reported, they mainly focused on advanced synthesis, sensing mechanisms, and biomedical applications. To date, few reviews elaborate on the promising applications of SAzymes in food safety inspection and food nutrition evaluation. In this paper, we systematically reviewed the enzyme-like activity of SAzymes and the catalytic mechanism, in addition to recent research advances of SAzymes in the domain of food safety inspection and food nutrition evaluation in the past few years. Furthermore, current challenges hampering practical applications of SAzymes in food assay are summarized and analyzed, and possible research areas focusing on SAzyme-based sensors in rapid food testing are also proposed.
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Inocuidad de los Alimentos , Nanoestructuras/química , Análisis de los Alimentos/métodos , Humanos , Técnicas BiosensiblesRESUMEN
The air filtration materials with high efficiency, low resistance, and extra antibacterial property are crucial for personal health protection. Herein, a tree-like polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous membrane with hierarchical structure (trunk fiber of 447 nm, branched fiber of 24.7 nm) and high filtration capacity is demonstrated. Specifically, 2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride terminated hyperbranched polymer (HBP-HTC) with near-spherical three-dimensional molecular structure and adjustable terminal positive groups is synthesized as an additive for PVDF electrospinning to enhance the jet splitting and promote the formation of branched ultrafine nanofibers, achieving a coverage rate of branched nanofibers over 90% that is superior than small molecular quaternary ammonium salts. The branched nanofibers network enhances mechanical properties and filtration efficiency (99.995% for 0.26 µm sodium chloride particles) of the PVDF/HBP-HTC membrane, which demonstrates reduced pressure drop (122.4 Pa) and a quality factor up to 0.083 Pa-1 on a 40 µm-thick sample. More importantly, the numerous quaternary ammonium salt groups of HBP-HTC deliver excellent antibacterial properties to the PVDF membranes. Bacterial inhibitive rate of 99.9% against both S. aureus and E. coli is demonstrated in a membrane with 3.0 wt% HBP-HTC. This work provides a new strategy for development of high-efficiency and antibacterial protection products.
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Antibacterianos , Escherichia coli , Nanofibras , Polímeros , Polivinilos , Staphylococcus aureus , Nanofibras/química , Antibacterianos/farmacología , Antibacterianos/química , Antibacterianos/síntesis química , Escherichia coli/efectos de los fármacos , Staphylococcus aureus/efectos de los fármacos , Polivinilos/química , Polímeros/química , Polímeros/farmacología , Polímeros/síntesis química , Membranas Artificiales , Pruebas de Sensibilidad Microbiana , Filtros de Aire , Compuestos de Amonio Cuaternario/química , Compuestos de Amonio Cuaternario/farmacología , Filtración/métodos , Tamaño de la Partícula , Polímeros de FluorocarbonoRESUMEN
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), which is a chronic autoimmune disease, results from the destruction of insulin-producing ß cells targeted by autoreactive T cells. The recent discovery that mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) function as therapeutic tools for autoimmune conditions has attracted substantial attention. However, the in vivo distribution and therapeutic effects of MSC-EVs potentiated by pro-inflammatory cytokines in the context of T1D have yet to be established. Here, it is reported that hexyl 5-aminolevulinate hydrochloride (HAL)-loaded engineered cytokine-primed MSC-EVs (H@TI-EVs) with high expression of immune checkpoint molecule programmed death-legend 1 (PD-L1) exert excellent inflammatory targeting and immunosuppressive effects for T1D imaging and therapy. The accumulated H@TI-EVs in injured pancreas not only enabled the fluorescence imaging and tracking of TI-EVs through the intermediate product protoporphyrin (PpIX) generated by HAL, but also promoted the proliferative and anti-apoptotic effects of islet ß cells. Further analysis revealed that H@TI-EVs exhibited an impressive ability to reduce CD4+ T cell density and activation through the PD-L1/PD-1 axis, and induced M1-to-M2 macrophage transition to reshape the immune microenvironment, exhibiting high therapeutic efficiency in mice with T1D. This work identifies a novel strategy for the imaging and treatment of T1D with great potential for clinical application.
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Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1 , Vesículas Extracelulares , Animales , Ratones , Citocinas/metabolismo , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1/terapia , Antígeno B7-H1/metabolismo , Vesículas Extracelulares/metabolismo , Linfocitos T/metabolismo , Ácido HialurónicoRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders. Oral drugs play a crucial role in treating ET, with various available options such as propranolol, primidone, and topiramate. However, the medication status and related factors among Chinese ET patients are unknown yet. METHODS: This study used the baseline data from the National Survey of Essential Tremor Plus in China cohort. ET patients with information related to medication intake were included. Medication patients were defined as patients who were taking medication at the time of the survey. We further defined recommended medication users according to Chinese guideline recommendations and clinical knowledge. We used mean and standard deviation (SD), median and interquartile range (IQR), or frequencies and percentages when appropriate for descriptive analysis. We used multivariate logistic regression analyses to explore factors related to medication intake in all ET patients and in recommended medication users. RESULTS: Of 1,153 included ET participants, 207 (18.0%) took medication. Arotinolol (115, 55.6%) and propranolol (63, 30.4%) were the top 2 used medicines. Patients with middle school education (odds ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.39-0.83), college or higher level education (0.46, 0.28-0.76), and late-onset ET (LO-ET) (0.38, 0.23-0.63) were less likely to take medication. Patients with intention tremor (1.90, 1.38-2.62), every 10-unit increase in age (1.10, 1.00-1.21), Tremor Research Group Essential Tremor Rating Assessment Scale (TETRAS) Part 1 (1.63, 1.37-1.93), and TETRAS Part 2 (1.81, 1.48-2.22) were more likely to take medication. Among 332 recommended medication users, only 104 (31.3%) took medicine. The associations of LO-ET (0.36, 0.17-0.75), intention tremor (2.27, 1.35-3.81), TETRAS Part 1 (1.52, 1.09-2.13), and TETRAS Part 2 (1.59, 1.15-2.20) with medication were similar to all ET patients. CONCLUSION: The proportion of medication intake is low among both all ET patients and recommended medication users. The top 2 commonly used medications among all ET patients are arotinolol and propranolol. Influencing factors of medication intake are different between all ET patients and recommended medication users. Clinicians are suggested to provide counseling and education on ET medication to promote medication intake.
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Food safety is a global concern that deeply affects human health. To ensure the profitability of the food industry and consumer safety, there is an urgent need to develop rapid, sensitive, accurate, and cost-effective detection methods for food contaminants. Recently, the Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) has been successfully used to detect food contaminants. AIEgens, fluorescent dyes that cause AIE, have several valuable properties including high quantum yields, photostability, and large Stokes shifts. This review provides a detailed introduction to the principles and advantages of AIE-triggered detection, followed by a focus on the past five years' applications of AIE in detecting various food contaminants including pesticides, veterinary drugs, mycotoxins, food additives, ions, pathogens, and biogenic amines. Each detection principle and component is comprehensively covered and explained. Moreover, the similarities and differences among different types of food contaminants are summarized, aiming to inspire future researchers. Finally, this review concludes with a discussion of the prospects for incorporating AIEgens more effectively into the detection of food contaminants.
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Sepsis is a life-threatening disease caused by systemic bacterial infections, with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. As the standard treatment for sepsis, antibiotic therapy faces the challenge of impaired macrophages and drug-resistant bacteria. In this study, we developed a membrane-camouflaged metal-organic framework (MOF) system for plasmid DNA (pDNA) delivery to combat sepsis. The antimicrobial gene LL37 was efficiently encapsulated in the pH-sensitive MOF, and the nanoparticles were decorated with macrophage membranes in a compatible manner. Macrophage membrane coating allows targeted delivery of LL37 to macrophages and creates macrophage factories for the continuous generation of antimicrobial peptides. Compared to naked nanoparticles, primary bone marrow mesenchymal macrophage membrane-modified nanoparticles greatly improved the survival rate of immunodeficient septic mice through the synergistic effect of efficient gene therapy and inflammatory cytokine sequestration. This study demonstrates an effective membrane biomimetic strategy for efficiently delivering pDNA, offering an excellent option for overcoming sepsis.
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Estructuras Metalorgánicas , Nanopartículas , Sepsis , Animales , Antibacterianos/farmacología , Antibacterianos/uso terapéutico , Citocinas , ADN/genética , ADN/uso terapéutico , Macrófagos , Ratones , Sepsis/genética , Sepsis/terapiaRESUMEN
Abundant glutathione (GSH) is a biological characteristic of lots of tumor cells. A growing number of studies are utilizing GSH depletion as an effective adjuvant therapy for tumor. However, due to the compensatory effect of intracellular GSH biosynthesis, GSH is hard to be completely exhausted and the strategy of GSH depletion remains challenging. Herein, we report an L-buthionine-sulfoximine (BSO)-based hypertoxic self-assembled peptide derivative (NSBSO) with dual functions of GSH depletion and biosynthesis inhibition for selective tumor ferroptosis and pyroptosis. The NSBSO consists of a hydrophobic self-assembled peptide motif and a hydrophilic peptide derivative containing BSO that inhibits the synthesis of GSH. NSBSO was cleaved by GSH and thus experienced a morphological transformation from nanoparticles to nanofibers. NSBSO showed GSH-dependent cytotoxicity and depletion of intracellular GSH. In 4T1 cells with medium GSH level, it depleted intracellular GSH and inactivated GSH peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and thus induced efficient ferroptosis. While in B16 cells with high GSH level, it exhausted GSH and triggered indirect increase of intracellular ROS and activation of Caspase 3 and gasdermin E, resulting in severe pyroptosis. These findings demonstrate that GSH depletion- and biosynthesis inhibition-induced ferroptosis and pyroptosis strategy would provide insights in designing GSH-exhausted medicines.
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Ferroptosis , Butionina Sulfoximina/farmacología , Glutatión , PiroptosisRESUMEN
Polycyclic musks (PCMs) in soils have been of increasing concern because of their potential characteristics of persistence, bioaccumulation, and ecological risk. However, little is known about their fate process in soil environment. Here, two PCMs namely galaxolide (HHCB) and tonalide (AHTN) were selected as sorbates to explore their sorption process in soils. Sorption batch experiments with six soils and their different aggregate fractions were carried out to elucidate the effect of organic matter-mineral interactions in different aggregate fractions on sorption of these two PCMs. The possible causes of variation in the organic carbon-normalized partition coefficient (Koc) for HHCB and AHTN have been investigated. The strong influence of organic matter-mineral interactions on Koc was evidenced by the large variation in Koc on HF-treatment for both bulk soils and their different aggregate fractions. This study verified the dual effect of organic matter-mineral interactions among selected soils, and in promoting or inhibiting sorption may be related to the types of organic matter-mineral interactions. There were also interactions between soil components with different aggregate sizes, which affected the variation of Koc in the bulk soil. This study represents a valuable contribution to the understanding of the fate processes and behaviors of HHCB and AHTN in soils and its implication on the risk assessment.
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Contaminantes del Suelo , Suelo , Adsorción , Carbono , Minerales , Contaminantes del Suelo/análisisRESUMEN
Manganese oxides are promising cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) due to their high energy density and low cost. However, in their discharging processes, the Jahn-Teller effect and Mn3+ disproportionation often lead to irreversible structural transformation and Mn2+ dissolution, deteriorating the cycling stability of ZIBs. Herein, ZnMn2 O4 quantum dots (ZMO QDs) were introduced into a porous carbon framework by in-situ electrochemically inducing Mn-MIL-100-derived Mn3 O4 quantum dots and the carbon composite. In such ZMO QDs and carbon composite, the quantum dot structure endows ZnMn2 O4 with a shorter ion diffusion route and more active sites for Zn2+ . The conductive carbon framework is beneficial to the fast transport of electrons. Furthermore, at the interface between the ZMO QDs and the carbon matrix, the Mn-O-C bonds are formed. They can effectively suppress the Jahn-Teller effect and manganese dissolution of discharge products. Therefore, Zn/ZMO QD@C batteries display remarkably enhanced electrochemical performance.
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All-organic proton batteries are attracting extensive attention due to their sustainability merits and excellent rate capability. Generally, strong acids (e.g. H2 SO4 ) have to be employed as the electrolytes to provide H+ for all-organic proton batteries due to the high H+ intercalation energy barrier. Until now, the design of all-organic proton batteries in mild electrolytes is still a challenge. Herein, a poly(2,9-dihydroquinoxalino[2,3-b]phenazine) (PO) molecule was designed and synthesized, where the adjacent C=N groups show two different chemical environments, resulting in two-step redox reactions. Moreover, the two reactions possess considerable voltage difference because of the large LUMO energy gap between PO and its reduction product. More impressively, the C=N groups endow the π-conjugated PO molecule with H+ uptake/removal in the ZnSO4 electrolyte. As a result, a symmetric all-organic proton battery is achieved in a mild electrolyte for the first time, which exhibits enhanced electrochemical performance and also broadens the chemistry of proton-based batteries.
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Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) with two-dimensional structures have exhibited promising visible-light-induced H2 evolution performance. However, it is still a challenge to improve their activity. Herein, we report π-conjugation-linked CTF-1/GO for boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution. The CTF-1/GO hybrid material was obtained by a facile low-temperature condensation of 1,4-dicyanobenzene in the presence of GO. The results of photocatalytic H2 evolution indicate that the optimum hybrid, CTF-1/GO-3.0, exhibited an H2 evolution rate of 2262.4â µmol â g-1 â h-1 under visible light irradiation, which was 9 times that of pure CTF-1. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the fact that GO in CTF-1/GO hybrids not only acts as an electron collector and transporter like a "bridge" to facilitate the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges but also shortens the electron migration path due to its thin sheet layer uniformly distribution over CTF-1. This work could help future development of novel conjugated CTF-based composite materials as high-efficiency photocatalyst for photocatalysis.
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BACKGROUND: The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) caused psychological stress in Chinese adults population. But we are unaware of whether the pandemic causes psychological stress on children. METHODS: We used the Children's Impact of Event Scale questionnaire (CRIES-13) to investigate the degree of Post-traumatic Stress (PTSD) symptoms caused by the pandemic in students selected from schools in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Henan, Yunnan, and Chongqing provinces of China. RESULTS: A total of 7769 students(3692 male and 4077 female), aged 8-18 years, were enrolled in the study, comprising 1214 in primary schools, 2799 in junior high schools and 3756 in senior high schools. A total of 1639 students (21.1%) had severe psychological stress reactions. A large proportion of senior high school students (23.3%) experienced severe psychological stress, and they had the highest median total CRIES-13 score. Female students were more likely to experience severe psychological stress and had higher median CRIES-13 total scores than males. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 has placed psychological stresses on primary and secondary school students in China. These stresses are more likely to reach severe levels among female students and senior high school students.
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COVID-19 , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático , Adulto , Niño , China/epidemiología , Depresión , Brotes de Enfermedades , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , SARS-CoV-2 , Instituciones Académicas , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático/epidemiología , Estudiantes , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Hypoxia is a major contributor to global kidney diseases. Targeting hypoxia is a promising therapeutic option against both acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease; however, an effective strategy that can achieve simultaneous targeted kidney hypoxia imaging and therapy has yet to be established. Herein, we fabricated a unique nano-sized hypoxia-sensitive coassembly (Pc/C5A@EVs) via molecular recognition and self-assembly, which is composed of the macrocyclic amphiphile C5A, the commercial dye sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine (Pc) and mesenchymal stem cell-excreted extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs). RESULTS: In murine models of unilateral or bilateral ischemia/reperfusion injury, MSC-EVs protected the Pc/C5A complex from immune metabolism, prolonged the circulation time of the complex, and specifically led Pc/C5A to hypoxic kidneys via surface integrin receptor α4ß1 and αLß2, where Pc/C5A released the near-infrared fluorescence of Pc and achieved enhanced hypoxia-sensitive imaging. Meanwhile, the coassembly significantly recovered kidney function by attenuating cell apoptosis, inhibiting the progression of renal fibrosis and reducing tubulointerstitial inflammation. Mechanistically, the Pc/C5A coassembly induced M1-to-M2 macrophage transition by inhibiting the HIF-1α expression in hypoxic renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) and downstream NF-κB signaling pathway to exert their regenerative effects. CONCLUSION: This synergetic nanoscale coassembly with great translational potential provides a novel strategy for precise kidney hypoxia diagnosis and efficient kidney injury treatment. Furthermore, our strategy of coassembling exogenous macrocyclic receptors with endogenous cell-derived membranous structures may offer a functional platform to address multiple clinical needs.
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Lesión Renal Aguda/diagnóstico por imagen , Lesión Renal Aguda/tratamiento farmacológico , Hipoxia de la Célula/efectos de los fármacos , Vesículas Extracelulares/química , Compuestos Macrocíclicos/química , Tensoactivos/química , Lesión Renal Aguda/metabolismo , Lesión Renal Aguda/patología , Animales , Calixarenos/química , Calixarenos/metabolismo , Calixarenos/farmacología , Calixarenos/uso terapéutico , Línea Celular , Células Epiteliales/efectos de los fármacos , Células Epiteliales/metabolismo , Vesículas Extracelulares/metabolismo , Humanos , Subunidad alfa del Factor 1 Inducible por Hipoxia/metabolismo , Indoles/química , Indoles/metabolismo , Indoles/farmacología , Indoles/uso terapéutico , Inflamación , Integrinas/metabolismo , Compuestos Macrocíclicos/metabolismo , Compuestos Macrocíclicos/farmacología , Compuestos Macrocíclicos/uso terapéutico , Macrófagos/efectos de los fármacos , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Ratones , FN-kappa B/metabolismo , Compuestos Organometálicos/química , Compuestos Organometálicos/metabolismo , Compuestos Organometálicos/farmacología , Compuestos Organometálicos/uso terapéutico , Transducción de Señal/efectos de los fármacos , Tensoactivos/metabolismo , Tensoactivos/farmacología , Tensoactivos/uso terapéuticoRESUMEN
Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries as a promising energy storage candidate have attracted attention due to their high energy density (2600 Wh kg-1 ). However, the serious shuttle effect caused by the dissolution of the lithium polysulfides (LiPS) in electrolyte significantly degrades their cycling life and rate performance. Herein, the "binary active sites" concept in a Li-S battery system via the design of a cobalt vanadium oxide (CVO) modified multifunctional separator is designed. In the case of CVO, active vanadium sites simultaneously anchor the LiPS through the chemical affinity and active cobalt sites can dominate a rapid kinetic conversion. Such a synergistic effect contributes to improving the utilization of sulfur in the electrochemical process for the enhanced electrochemical performance. As a result, the Li-S battery with the CVO modified separator possesses a high reversible capacity of 1585.5 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and superior cycling stability with 0.012% capacity decay cycle-1 after 3000 cycles. More impressively, the assembled soft-packaged Li-S devices can exhibit the excellent stability under bending states. This binary active sites strategy provides a route to design the functional materials for modifying separators of Li-S batteries to improve the performance.
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Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet (CNS) represents an attractive candidate for solar fuel production. However, the abundant defects in CNS lead to serious charge recombination and limit the photocatalytic performance. Herein, the synthesis of a CNS-covalent organic framework (CNS-COF) nanosheet composite is presented for the first time. CNS with significantly reduced defects is first obtained by rationally tuning the thermal exfoliation conditions of bulk carbon nitride. Subsequent modification of the CNS with trace COF nanosheet through chemical imine bonding can not only passivate the surface termination of carbon nitride in the boundary region, but also establish strong electronic coupling between these two components. As a consequence, enhanced charge separation and photocatalytic activity are realized on the resulting CNS-COF nanosheet composite. Under optimum conditions, hydrogen is evolved at a rate of 46.4 mmol g-1 h-1 . This corresponds to an apparent quantum efficiency of 31.8% at 425 nm, which is among the best values ever reported for carbon nitride-based materials.
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The study found that microRNAs play an important role in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the function of MicroRNA-216a (miR-216a) in PD is unclear. Therefore, this experiment aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of miR-216a in PD. Using the toxicity of MPP+ to polyhexamine neurons, apoptosis of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells was induced at different time by MPP+ to construct a stable acute PD cell model. The effects of DNA breakage, mitochondrial membrane potential (A ^ m), caspase-3 activity and nucleosome enrichment on cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry, TUNEL. MPP+ increased the toxic effects of dopaminergic neurons in a PD model. The introduction of miR-216a inhibited MPP + -induced neuronal apoptosis. The main manifestations were the decreased levels of positive rate of Tunel cells, caspase 3 activity and nucleosome enrichment factor. Bax was a direct target of miR-216a. In addition, Bax overexpression reversed the effects of miR-216a on neural cells. Bax downstream factors were also involved in miR-216a regulation of MPP + -triggered neuronal apoptosis. miR-216a regulated the progression of PD by regulating Bax, and miR-216a may be a potential target for PD.
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Apoptosis/fisiología , MicroARNs/metabolismo , Neuronas/metabolismo , Enfermedad de Parkinson/metabolismo , Proteína X Asociada a bcl-2/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Neuronas Dopaminérgicas/metabolismo , Humanos , Potencial de la Membrana Mitocondrial/fisiología , MicroARNs/genética , Enfermedad de Parkinson/genética , Especies Reactivas de Oxígeno/metabolismo , Transducción de Señal/fisiología , Proteína X Asociada a bcl-2/genéticaRESUMEN
Properly disposing of unused pharmaceuticals is essential to minimize emissions of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The aim of this study was to determine whether disposing of unused pharmaceuticals in household solid waste is a cost-effective way of attenuating pharmaceutical emissions. We calculated attenuation rates (ARs) for unused pharmaceuticals by performing mass balance calculations for disposal to landfill. The results indicated that the average ARs for disposal as household solid waste reached 63% to 100% for our investigated pharmaceuticals at the worst scenario, indicating that disposal as household solid waste strongly attenuated emissions of APIs. Disposing of unused pharmaceuticals as household solid waste could be a cost-effective disposal method from the view of reducing APIs emission, but should be used with caution.
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Preparaciones Farmacéuticas/análisis , Eliminación de Residuos/métodos , Residuos Sólidos/análisis , Instalaciones de Eliminación de Residuos , ChinaRESUMEN
There is an urgent need of sensitive bioanalytical platforms for sensitive and precise quantification of low-abundance microRNA targets in complex biological samples, including liquid biopsies of tumors. Many of current miRNA biosensing methods require laborious sample pretreatment procedures, including extraction of total RNA, which largely limits their biomedical and clinical applications. Herein we developed an integrated Microfluidic Exponential Rolling Circle Amplification (MERCA) platform for sensitive and specific detection of microRNAs directly in minimally processed samples. The MERCA system integrates and streamlines solid-phase miRNA isolation, miRNA-adapter ligation, and a dualphase exponential rolling circle amplification (eRCA) assay in one analytical workflow. By marrying the advantages of microfluidics in leveraging bioassay performance with the high sensitivity of eRCA, our method affords a remarkably low limit of detection at <10 zeptomole levels, with the ability to discriminate single-nucleotide difference. Using the MERCA chip, we demonstrated quantitative detection of miRNAs in total RNA, raw cell lysate, and cellderived exosomes. Comparing with the parallel TaqMan RT-qPCR measurements verified the adaptability of the MERCA system for detection of miRNA biomarkers in complex biological materials. In particular, high sensitivity of our method enables direct detection of low-level exosomal miRNAs in as few as 2 × 106 exosomes. Such analytical capability immediately addresses the unmet challenge in sample consumption, a key setback in clinical development of exosome-based liquid biopsies. Therefore, the MERCA would provide a useful platform to facilitate miRNA analysis in broad biological and clinical applications.
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BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare the morphological changes in cerebral and cerebellar gray matter in patients with essential tremor under 60-years-of-age, with age-matched and gender-matched normal healthy volunteer control subjects, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective, controlled, comparative clinical study included 17 patients with essential tremor, <60 years-of-age, and 17 age-matched and gender-matched healthy volunteer control subjects, recruited between June 2010-July 2012. MRI and VBM analysis were used to compare cerebral and cerebellar gray matter density between groups. The Washington Heights-Inwood Genetic Study of Essential Tremor (WHIGET) rating scale was used to assess tremor severity in the patient group. Clinical and demographic characteristics were recorded for all study participants. RESULTS MRI and VBM analysis showed significant bilateral expansion of the cerebellum, occipital fusiform cortices, right inferior temporal gyrus, and precentral lobes in patients with essential tremor (P<0.005); reduction in gray matter was found in the left parietal lobe. The region of interest (ROI) analysis showed volume enlargement in the thalamus, midbrain, and the precuneus (P<0.005). No significant correlation between changes in gray matter and changes in clinical variables, including age, gender, tremor duration, the activity of daily living (ADL) scale, the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scale, family history, and tremor severity were found. CONCLUSIONS Predominantly cerebellar gray matter expansion in patients less than 60 years-of-age with essential tremor might be the result of compensation for the decline in cerebellar function.
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Cerebelo/diagnóstico por imagen , Cerebelo/patología , Temblor Esencial/diagnóstico por imagen , Temblor Esencial/patología , Sustancia Gris/diagnóstico por imagen , Sustancia Gris/patología , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Adulto , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Demografía , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana EdadRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the effects of (body mass index) BMI on health related quality of life (HRQoL) among the elderly in Jiangsu, China. METHODS: A total of 10,257 community dwelling elderly (≥60 years old) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. HRQoL was measured via the Eq-5d-3 L. Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA analyses were used to compare the frequencies and scores of Eq-5d responses among different BMI groups (defined as "underweight", "normal weight", "overweight" and "obese"). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between BMI and HRQoL. RESULTS: Among the subjects, the proportion of "normal weight", "underweight", "overweight" and "obese" were 66.0, 8.3, 23.1, and 2.6%, respectively. The score of the Eq-5d index among total participants was 0.8036 and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score was 75.47. For both the responses frequency and scores of Eq-5d-3 L, there were significant differences among BMI groups (P < 0.001). The Logistic regression model showed that both in men and women, underweight elderly were more likely to suffer low HRQoL. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for Eq-5d index/VAS was 2.03 (1.48, 2.79)/1.83 (1.34, 2.50) in men and 1.47(1.09,1.98)/1.52(1.20,1.91) in women. Overweight women more likely to have a low Eq-5d index, while overweight men were less likely to have a low Eq-5d VAS. CONCLUSION: This study shows that underweight is an explicit risk factor of low HRQoL in both the male and female elderly, while the effect of overweight on low HRQoL varies slightly by gender.