In spite of the fact that the German Society of Endocrinology has recommended calcitonin as screening-parameter the majority of physicians in Germany do not routinely use calcitonin in patients with thyroid nodules to...
详细信息
In spite of the fact that the German Society of Endocrinology has recommended calcitonin as screening-parameter the majority of physicians in Germany do not routinely use calcitonin in patients with thyroid nodules to exclude medullary thyroid cancer (MTc). The future revision of the recommendation should describe reference values for each commercially available assay, separately for men and women (basal and after pentagastrin-stimulation), and should define sonomorphological inclusion criteria. The epidemiological database of the prevalence of MTc is controversial and the specificity of basal elevated calcitonin levels is limited up to the 5-fold of the upper reference level. If renal insufficiency, bacterial infection, and an alcohol- or druginduced stimulation of calcitonin is excluded, hypercalcitoninaemia should be confirmed by a second measurement (if necessary using another assay). Stimulation of calcitonin by use of pentagastrin is mandatory prior to the decision on thyroidectomy. A stimulated calcitonin level <100 pg/ ml justifies “wait and see”. If stimulated calcitonin levels range between 100 and 200 pg/ml or higher, the differentiation between c-cell hyperplasia and MTc remains uncertain, especially in men. The implementation of calcitonin- screening requires the definition of sonographic inclusion criteria and validation of each assay. Additional prerequisites are excellent logistic (short period between blood sampling and start of the laboratory test), knowledge of differential diagnoses, knowledge of the consumption of drugs and alcohol, availability of pentagastrin-testing and of moleculargenetic testing with full information to the patients and sufficient time before the decision on surgery is made. All this and the choice of a skilled surgeon, experienced in thyroidectomy and lymphadenectomy with a low rate of local complications are the rationale to recommend calcitonin-screening primarily in centers for thyroid disorders.
The use of polygalacturonase (PG) preparations in winemaking promotes the release of phenoliccompounds. A PG from a new source, Aspergillus sojae mutant, was semi-purified and tested for grape mash maceration. crude ...
详细信息
The use of polygalacturonase (PG) preparations in winemaking promotes the release of phenoliccompounds. A PG from a new source, Aspergillus sojae mutant, was semi-purified and tested for grape mash maceration. crude extract (cE), a commercial pectinase, and two high PG activity semi-purified preparations, F-I and F-II,F- were applied for maceration at PG activity of 3.5Ug(-1) of grape for 46h. Enzyme-assisted maceration significantly (P < 0.05) increased the total phenoliccontent from 255.8 to 916.3 +/- 5.2, 5732.9 +/- 9.9, 563.4 +/- 6.7 and 620.6 +/- 18.4mgL(-1) for cE, commercial pectinase, F-I and F-II, respectively. The content of individual phenolics such as gallic, protocatechuic, chlorogenic and p-coumaric acids was improved. Principal component and hierarchical clustering analyses suggested that cE has a better performance upon the release of phenols. Semi-purified preparations acted similar to commercial pectinase. These findings open an opportunity for the potential use of PG from the mutant strain as an alternative macerating enzyme.
*** and scope chinese Physics c (cPc) publishes original research papers, letters and reviews, covering theory and experiments in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, particle and nuclear astrophysics, and...
详细信息
*** and scope chinese Physics c (cPc) publishes original research papers, letters and reviews, covering theory and experiments in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, particle and nuclear astrophysics, and cosmology. *** Manuscripts must be submitted through the online submission system at http://***. Submissions by email will not be accepted. By submitting a paper for publication in cPc, the authors imply that the material has not been published previously nor has been submitted for publication elsewhere.
AIM To investigate the specific effects of immunosuppressants on the antiviral action of daclatasvir and *** The antiviral activity of daclatasvir(DcV) and asunaprevir(ASV) combined with immunosuppressants was tested ...
详细信息
AIM To investigate the specific effects of immunosuppressants on the antiviral action of daclatasvir and *** The antiviral activity of daclatasvir(DcV) and asunaprevir(ASV) combined with immunosuppressants was tested using two in vitro models for hepatitis c virus(HcV) *** Tacrolimus, rapamycin and cyclosporine did not negatively affect the antiviral action of DcV or ASV. Mycophenolic acid(MPA) showed additive antiviral effects combined with these direct acting antivirals(DAAs). MPA induces interferon-stimulated genes(ISGs) and is a potent GTP synthesis inhibitor. DcV or ASV did not induce ISGs expression nor affected ISG induction by MPA. Rather, the combined antiviral effect of MPA with DcV and ASV was partly mediated via inhibition of GTP *** Immunosuppressants do not negatively affect the antiviral activity of DAAs. MPA has additive effect on the antiviral action of DcV and ASV. This combined benefit needs to be confirmed in prospective clinical trials.
The fabrication of cell sheets is a major requirement for bottom-up tissue engineering purposes (e.g., cell sheet engineering) and regenerative medicine. Employing thermoresponsive polymer coatings as tissue culture s...
详细信息
The fabrication of cell sheets is a major requirement for bottom-up tissue engineering purposes (e.g., cell sheet engineering) and regenerative medicine. Employing thermoresponsive polymer coatings as tissue culture substrates allows for the mild, temperature-triggered detachment of intact cell sheets along with their extracellular matrix (EcM). It has been shown before that biocompatible, thermoresponsive poly(glycidyl ether) monolayers on gold substrates can be utilized to harvest confluent cell sheets by simply reducing the temperature to 20 degrees c. Herein, we report on the first poly(glycidyl ether)-based coating on an application-relevant tissue culture plastic substrate. We devised a simple, substrate-geometry-independent method to functionalize polystyrene (PS) surfaces from dilute ethanolic solution via the physical adsorption process of a thermoresponsive poly(glycidyl ether) block copolymer (PGE) bearing a short, hydrophobic, and photoreactive benzophenone (BP) anchor block. Subsequently, the PGE-coated PS is UV-irradiated for covalent photoimmobilization of the polymer on the PS substrate. Online monitoring of the adsorption process via QcM-D measurements and detailed characterization of the resulting coatings via AFM, ellipsometry, and water contact angle (cA) measurements revealed the formation of an ultrathin PGE layer with an average dry thickness of 0.7 +/- 0.1 nm. Adhesion and proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts on PGE-coated PS and tissue culture PS (TcPS) were comparable. For temperature-triggered detachment, fibroblasts were cultured in PGE-coated PS culture dishes at 37 degrees c for 24 h until they reached confluency. Intact cell sheets could be harvested from the thermoresponsive substrates within 51 +/- 17 min upon cooling to 20 degrees c, whereas sheets could not be harvested from uncoated PS and TcPS control dishes. Live/dead staining and flow cytometry affirmed a high viability of the fibroblasts within the cell sheets. Hence, ult
In this study, the authors investigated the effects of a single layer graphene as a coating layer on top of metal thin films such as silver, gold, aluminum and copper using finite-difference time domain method. To enh...
详细信息
In this study, the authors investigated the effects of a single layer graphene as a coating layer on top of metal thin films such as silver, gold, aluminum and copper using finite-difference time domain method. To enhance the resolution of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor, it is necessary to increase the SPR reflectivity and decrease the full-width-half maximum (FWHM) of the SPR curve so that there is minimum uncertainty in the determination of the resonance dip. Numerical data was verified with analytical and experimental data where all the data were in good agreement with resonance angle differing in <10% due to noise present in components such as humidity and temperature. In further analysis, reflectivity and FWHM were compared among four types of metal with various thin film thicknesses where graphene was applied on top of the metal layers, and data was compared against pure conventional metal thin films. A 60nm-thick Au thin film results in higher performance with reflectivity of 92.4% and FWHM of 0.88 degrees whereas single layer graphene-on-60nm-thick Au gave reflectivity of 91.7% and FWHM of 1.32 degrees. However, a graphene-on-40nm-thick Ag also gave good performance with narrower FWHM of 0.88 degrees and reflection spectra of 89.2%.
The effects of substituting carbon black (cB) with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) on the structure and properties of natural rubber (NR)/cB composites is explored. compared with NR/cB composites, NR/MWNTs/cB prese...
详细信息
The effects of substituting carbon black (cB) with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) on the structure and properties of natural rubber (NR)/cB composites is explored. compared with NR/cB composites, NR/MWNTs/cB presents better filler dispersity and dynamic properties of the MWNT up to a certain concentration, as confirmed by scanning electron microscope, dynamic mechanical analyser and rubber processing analyser. Sample with 1 phr MWNTs shows obviously the highest tensile strength, 28.60 MPa, and almost the lowest heat build-up, only 9.6 degrees c, and it is attributed to that not only large cross-link density and better filler dispersity but also high effective elasticity and large filler-rubber interaction. However, when the concentration is much higher, MWNTs tend to aggregate and lead to the poor efficiency to enhance the dynamic properties of rubber composites or even deteriorate the properties.
Thermal activation of cassia fistula seed carbon and its subsequent adsorption of Pb (II) has been studied by batch adsorption technique. The main objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate the lead adsorption f...
详细信息
Thermal activation of cassia fistula seed carbon and its subsequent adsorption of Pb (II) has been studied by batch adsorption technique. The main objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate the lead adsorption from aqueous solution using c. fistula seed carbon, 2) study the influence of contact time, adsorbent dose, pH and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process performance and 3) determine the appropriate adsorption isotherm and kinetic parameters of lead adsorption on c. fistula seed carbon. The experimental adsorption data fitted reasonably well with Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The maximum Langmuir adsorbent capacity (Q(0)) was 47.62 mg/g. Kinetic evaluation of the experimental data showed that the adsorption process followed pseudo-second order kinetics. The present study showed that thermally activated carbon prepared from c. fistula seed was capable of removing lead from aqueous solutions. The cost of removal is expected to be quite low, as the adsorbent is cheap and easily available in large quantities. (c) 2016 American Institute of chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 138-146, 2017
Accumulation and aggregation of β-amyloid(Aβ) peptides result in neuronal death, leading to cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. The self-assembled Aβ molecules form various intermediate aggregates incl...
详细信息
Accumulation and aggregation of β-amyloid(Aβ) peptides result in neuronal death, leading to cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. The self-assembled Aβ molecules form various intermediate aggregates including oligomers that are more toxic to neurons than the mature aggregates, including fibrils. Thus, one strategy to alleviate Aβ toxicity is to facilitate the conversion of Aβ intermediates to larger aggregates such as fibrils. In this study, we designed a peptide named A3 that significantly enhanced the formation of amorphous aggregates of Aβ by accelerating the aggregation kinetics. Thioflavin T fluorescence experiments revealed an accelerated aggregation of Aβ monomers, accompanying reduced Aβ cytotoxicity. Transgeniccaenorhabditis elegans over-expressing amyloid precursor protein exhibited paralysis due to the accumulation of Aβ oligomers, and this phenotype was attenuated by feeding the animals with A3 peptide. These findings suggest that the Aβ aggregation-promotion effect can potentially be useful for developing strategies to reduce Aβ toxicity.
暂无评论