A Carbonate Controlled-Addition Method for Amorphous Calcium Carbonate Spheres Stabilized by Poly(acrylic acid)s

Stable amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) composite particle with a size-controlled monodispersed sphere was obtained by a new simple carbonate controlled-addition method by using poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) (Mw = 5000), in which an aqueous ammonium carbonate solution was added into an aqueous solution of PAA and CaCl2 with a different time period. The obtained ACC composite products consist of about 50 wt % of ACC, 30 wt % of PAA, and H2O. Average particle sizes of the ACC spheres increased from (1.8 ± 0.4) × 102 to (5.5 ± 1.2) × 102 nm with an increase of the complexation time of the PAA−CaCl2 solution from 3 min to 24 h, respectively. The ACC formed from the complexation time for 3 min was stable for 10 days with gentle stirring as well as 3 months under a quiescent condition in the aqueous solution. Moreover, the ACC was also stable at 400 °C. Stability of the amorphous phase decreased with an increase of the complexation time of the PAA−CaCl2 solution. No ACC was obtained when the lower molar mass PAAs (Mw = 1200 and 2100) were used. In the higher molar mass case (Mw = 25 000), a mixture of the amorphous phase and vaterite and calcite crystalline product was produced. The present results demonstrate that the interaction and the reaction kinetics of the PAA−Ca2+−H2O complex play an important role in the mineralization of CaCO3

Formation of Stable Vaterite with Poly(acrylic acid) by the Delayed Addition Method

The crystallization of CaCO3 was examined by changing the addition time of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) to an aqueous solution of calcium carbonate by selectively interacting with the crystal at different stages during the crystal-forming process. The precipitation of CaCO3 was carried out by a double jet method to prevent heterogeneous nucleation on glass walls, and the sodium salt of PAA was added by a delayed addition method. In the initial presence of PAA in an aqueous solution of calcium carbonate, PAA acted as an inhibitor for the nucleation and growth of crystallization. However, it was found that stable vaterite particles were successfully obtained by delaying the addition of PAA from 1 to 60 min. The vaterite particles were stable in the aqueous solution for more than 30 days, and the CaCO3 particles were formed by a spherulitic growth mechanism. It is suggested that PAA strongly binds with the Ca2+ ion on the surface of CaCO3 particles to stabilize the unstable vaterite form effectively. Upon changing the addition time of PAA, we found that CaCO3 particles were formed through different formation mechanisms in selectively controlled crystallization at different stages during the crystallization process

Additional file 1 of Prohemocytes are the main cells infected by dengue virus in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Schematic representation of DENV2-EGFP. The EGFP gene was inserted into the DENV capsid (C) for production during viral replication

Additional file 2 of Prohemocytes are the main cells infected by dengue virus in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

Additional file 2: Figure S2. Hemocytes of Ae. aegypti can be infected with DENV. Adult female mosquitoes were injected with DENV2-EGFP, which is used as a fluorescent indicator for DENV infection. Hemocytes were collected from uninfected (left panel) and infected (right panel) mosquitoes, and their morphologies observed with 100× phase contrast (BF) and green channel (GFP) fluorescence microscopy, shown on the left and right of each pair of images, respectively. Hemocytes can be divided into three groups based on their observed morphology under fluorescent microscopy and Giemsa staining: prohemocytes, oenocytoids, and granulocytes

Supplementary Table 1, Figures 1 and 2 from MicroRNA Polymorphisms and Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Supplementary Table 1. Sources of genetic variants on the Axiom® miRNA Target Site Genotyping Array. Supplementary Figure 1. Quality control and filtering pipeline for Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer (MECC) samples genotyped on the Affymetrix Axiom® miRNA Target Site Genotyping Array. PC = principal component. MAF = minor allele frequency. Supplementary Figure 2. INSR gene expression [log2(normalized intensity)] in 135 MECC CRC cases by rs1051690 genotype. ANOVA F-statistic = 21.3 and p-value = 8.98x10-6. Probe = 206295_at F = 21.3; p = 9.0 x 10</p

Histogram and density plot of visual analogue scale (VAS) change scores.

<p>Frequency distribution of pruritus VAS change scores in the study participants. The density of vertical axis represents the percentage of study participants. The VAS change score = VAS score at follow-up − VAS score at baseline.</p

Laboratory and clinical characteristics of participants with improved and unimproved pruritus intensity, at baseline and at follow-up.

<p>NOTE. Data are expressed as mean ± S.D for normally distributed continuous variables; as median (interquartile range) for non-normally distributed continuous variables; and as number (percentage) for categorical variables.</p><p>Abbreviations: VAS, visual analog scale.</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05 for the statistical testing between participants with improved pruritus and those with unimproved pruritus.</p>**<p>Ca×P = Product of albumin-adjusted serum calcium (Ca) and serum phosphorus (P).</p

Identifying the appropriate threshold of baseline Kt/V by the generalized additive models (GAM) plot.

<p>(A) The GAM plot adjusted for the important covariates at baseline only (gender, Kt/V, use of high-flux dialyzer, pruritus intensity, hematocrit, creatinine, uric acid, fasting glucose, total bilirubin, and Ca×P).(B) The GAM plot adjusted for the important covariates at baseline (Kt/V, pruritus intensity, AST, and Ca×P) and the change scores of the covariates (uric acid, fasting glucose, and AST). The solid red lines show nonlinearity of multivariable-adjusted relation between baseline Kt/V and change score of pruritus (with 95% confidence intervals shown in black dotted lines). Pruritus intensity was assessed by visual analog scale scores. The little vertical bars (i.e., rugs) on the horizontal axis of the GAM plots display the distribution of individual observations. Both GAM plots identified the value around 1.5 to be the appropriate threshold of baseline Kt/V for uremic pruritus, which indicated start of the aggravation of pruritus intensity began at Kt/V <1.5.</p

Laboratory and clinical characteristics of participants at baseline and follow-up.

<p>NOTE. Data are expressed as mean ± S.D for normally distributed continuous variables; as median (interquartile range) for non-normally distributed continuous variables; and as number (percentage) for categorical variables.</p><p>Abbreviations: VAS, visual analog scale.</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05 for the statistical testing between baseline and follow-up.</p>**<p>Ca×P = Product of albumin-adjusted serum calcium (Ca) and serum phosphorus (P).</p

Histogram and density plot of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores.

<p>(A) Frequency distribution of pruritus VAS scores at baseline in the study participants. (B) Frequency distribution of pruritus VAS scores at follow-up in the study participants. The density of vertical axis represents the percentage of study participants.</p