Structural evolution of GeMn/Ge superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy under different growth conditions

GeMn/Ge epitaxial 'superlattices' grown by molecular beam epitaxy with different growth conditions have been systematically investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It is revealed that periodic arrays of GeMn nanodots can be formed on Ge and GaAs substrates at low temperature (approximately 70°C) due to the matched lattice constants of Ge (5.656 Å) and GaAs (5.653 Å), while a periodic Ge/GeMn superlattice grown on Si showed disordered GeMn nanodots with a large amount of stacking faults, which can be explained by the fact that Ge and Si have a large lattice mismatch. Moreover, by varying growth conditions, the GeMn/Ge superlattices can be manipulated from having disordered GeMn nanodots to ordered coherent nanodots and then to ordered nanocolumns

Ethical conflict and its psychological correlates among hospital nurses in the pandemic: A cross-sectional study within Swiss COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, nurses experienced increased pressure. Consequently, ethical concerns and psychological distress emerged. This study aimed to assess nurses’ ethical conflict, resilience and psychological impact, and compare these variables between nurses who worked in Covid-19 wards and nurses who did not. Methods: Design—Multicentre online survey. Setting—Multi-site public hospital; all nursing staff were invited to participate. The survey included validated tools and a novel instrument to assess ethical conflict. Spearman’s rho coefficient was used to assess correlations between ethical conflict and psychological distress, logistic regressions to evaluate relationships between nurses’ characteristics and outcome variables, and the Mann–Whitney/t-test to compare groups. Results: 548 questionnaires out of 2039 were returned (275 = Covid-19; 273 = non-Covid-19). We found a low–moderate level of ethical conflict (median = 111.5 [76–152]), which emerged mostly for seeing patients dying alone. A moderate and significant positive correlation emerged between ethical conflict and psychological distress rs (546) = 0.453, p < 0.001. Nurses working in Covid-19-ICUs (OR = 7.18; 95%CI = 3.96–13.01; p < 0.001) and Covid-19 wards (OR = 5.85; 95%CI = 3.56–9.6; p < 0.001) showed higher ethical conflict. Resilience was a protective factor for ethical conflict. Conclusions: Ethical conflict was significantly linked to psychological distress, while a higher level of resilience was found to be a protective factor. These results can be informative for nursing management in future similar crises

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of normalized expression data obtained from Uremic, PD and EPS samples.

<p>The first component with highest variance (42.2%) is on the X-axis separating Uremic and PD from EPS samples. The second highest (26.4%) is on the Y-axis depicting maximum variation between PD and Uremic samples. The Uremic, PD and EPS samples formed three separate clusters on the PCA plot.</p

Differentially expressed genes identified from supervised analyses.

<p><b>A.</b> Venn diagram comparing significantly differentially expressed genes identified from the pairwise comparisons Uremic vs. PD (yellow), PD vs. EPS (blue), and Uremic vs. EPS (red). The genes were selected using supervised analysis on the basis of the 90% lower confidence bound (LCB) of the fold change (FC) by pairwise comparison of the groups. The analysis was performed on preprocessed data by filtering out low-expressing probes on the basis of absolute intensity (Intensity <10 in 90% of samples). <b>B.</b> Heatmap of genes differentially expressed in both EPS and PD groups as compared to Uremic group (P<0.05). <b>C.</b> Heatmap of genes differentially expressed only in EPS as compared to both PD and Uremic groups (P<0.05). Columns represent the samples, with rows representing genes. Gene expression levels are presented in pseudocolor (scale −3 to 3), with red and green respectively denoting high and low expression levels.</p

Immunohistochemical expression patterns of collagen 1 α 1 (Col1a1) polypeptide in peritoneal biopsy samples.

<p>Peritoneal biopsy sections from (<b>A.</b>) EPS, (<b>B.</b>) PD, and (<b>C.</b>) Uremic groups were analyzed for Col1a1 immunolocalization. Each panel indicates location of peritoneal cavity adjacent to the tissue surface. <b>D.</b> Normalized ratios of staining intensities measured in rectangular areas of thickness depth 0–100 µm and 100–200 µm from the peritoneal cavity tissue surface. P<0.05 for EPS vs. PD (One Way ANOVA with Dunn's Multiple Comparison post-test).</p

Network representation of the cellular functions affected specifically in both EPS and PD groups, but not in the Uremic group.

<p><b>A.</b> Network related to inflammatory and immunological diseases, including NF-κB, JUN, and SP1 genes as primary regulatory focus nodes. <b>B.</b> Network enriched with genes involved in lipid metabolism, cellular assembly and movement, and cell death, including PI3K, AKT and TP53 genes as primary regulatory focus nodes. The Ingenuity Pathways Analysis tool was used to generate comprehensive gene networks that merged with affected networks of related function. Downregulated genes are shown in green, upregulated genes in red. Geometric shapes are associated with individual gene products according to Ingenuity definitions. All networks shown were significantly affected in EPS with a score >20 (−log 10[Fisher's Exact Test]).</p

Transcriptional patterns in peritoneal tissue of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis, a complication of chronic peritoneal dialysis

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a devastating complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), characterized by marked inflammation and severe fibrosis of the peritoneum, and associated with high morbidity and mortality. EPS can occur years after termination of PD and, in severe cases, leads to intestinal obstruction and ileus requiring surgical intervention. Despite ongoing research, the pathogenesis of EPS remains unclear. We performed a global transcriptome analysis of peritoneal tissue specimens from EPS patients, PD patients without EPS, and uremic patients without history of PD or EPS (Uremic). Unsupervised and supervised bioinformatics analysis revealed distinct transcriptional patterns that discriminated these three clinical groups. The analysis identified a signature of 219 genes expressed differentially in EPS as compared to PD and Uremic groups. Canonical pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes showed enrichment in several pathways, including antigen presentation, dendritic cell maturation, B cell development, chemokine signaling and humoral and cellular immunity (P value<0.05). Further interactive network analysis depicted effects of EPS-associated genes on networks linked to inflammation, immunological response, and cell proliferation. Gene expression changes were confirmed by qRT-PCR for a subset of the differentially expressed genes. EPS patient tissues exhibited elevated expression of genes encoding sulfatase1, thrombospondin 1, fibronectin 1 and alpha smooth muscle actin, among many others, while in EPS and PD tissues mRNAs encoding leptin and retinol-binding protein 4 were markedly down-regulated, compared to Uremic group patients. Immunolocalization of Collagen 1 alpha 1 revealed that Col1a1 protein was predominantly expressed in the submesothelial compact zone of EPS patient peritoneal samples, whereas PD patient peritoneal samples exhibited homogenous Col1a1 staining throughout the tissue samples. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis is a distinct pathological process from the simple peritoneal fibrosis that accompanies all PD treatment

mRNA expression levels of selected gene products determined through qRT-PCR correlate well with corresponding data from the DNA chip array.

<p>Collagen 1 α 1 (Col1a1), Fibronectin 1 (FN1), and thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) were highly upregulated in EPS compared to PD and Uremic groups, while retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) was highly downregulated in EPS and PD groups compared to the Uremic group. <b>A.</b>, <b>C.</b>, <b>E.</b>, and <b>G.</b> Normalized mRNA expression levels determined through qRT-PCR of indicated gene products. Individual gene expression levels were calculated using the equation 2^−ΔCT with β-actin (ACTB) as endogenous control. Mean gene expression levels of biological groups were normalized to the Uremic group, defining the relative gene expression in this group as 1.0. <b>B.</b>, <b>D.</b>, <b>F.</b>, and <b>H.</b> Mean raw signal intensity of indicated gene products calculated from DNA array probe signals.</p

Network representation of cellular functions differentially expressed specifically in EPS but not in PD or Uremic groups.

<p><b>A.</b> Network related to cell assembly and organization as well as to connective tissue and skeletal muscle tissue disorders. This network has NF-κB, collagen, and ERK1/2 genes as primary regulatory focus nodes. <b>B.</b> Network enriched with genes involved in cellular growth and proliferation, carbohydrate metabolism, and gastrointestinal and immunological diseases. This network has PI3K, IFNγ and MAPK1 genes as primary regulatory focus nodes. Ingenuity Pathways Analysis software was used to generate comprehensive gene networks that merged affected networks of related function. Downregulated genes are shown in green, upregulated genes in red. All networks shown were significantly affected in EPS with a score >15 (−log 10[Fisher's Exact Test]).</p