197 research outputs found
Topical clobetasol for the treatment of toxic epidermal necrolysis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
BackgroundToxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare systemic allergic drug eruption with high patient mortality. Currently, no established treatments have been shown to be effective for TEN beyond supportive care. Prior studies of systemic corticosteroids have yielded conflicting data, with some showing a possible benefit and others reporting in increased mortality. However, topical steroids have shown promise for treatment of ocular sequelae of TEN, such as scarring and vision loss. We have designed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate topical clobetasol for treatment of the epidermal manifestations of TEN. In addition, we propose genetic studies to characterize the TEN transcriptome and alterations in cutaneous gene expression that might occur following topical steroid treatment.Methods/designThis split-body randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIa proof-of-concept trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of once-daily topical clobetasol applied to the skin of patients with TEN. This multicenter trial will recruit a total of 15 patients between the ages of 12 and 85 from the University of California Davis Medical Center and Shriners Hospital for Children inpatient burn units. Designated treatment areas on opposite sides of the body will be treated with blinded clobetasol 0.05% ointment or control petrolatum ointment daily for 14 days. On day 3 of therapy, a biopsy will be taken from the treated area for genetic studies. The primary study aims will be to establish the safety of topical clobetasol treatment and determine the time to cessation of skin detachment for the control and clobetasol-treated areas. Secondary endpoints will evaluate efficacy using parameters such as time to 90% re-epithelialization and percentage of affected skin at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days. Genomic DNA and RNA will be obtained from biopsy samples, to characterize the TEN transcriptome and identify changes in gene expression after topical steroid treatment.DiscussionTopical steroids have shown promise for treating ocular complications of TEN, but to date have not been evaluated for cutaneous manifestations of the disease. This trial will investigate clinical and molecular outcomes of topical clobetasol application and hopefully provide insight into the disease pathophysiology.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02319616. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02351037
Global Advances and Frontiers of Phytochemicals in Tumor Research: A Bibliometric Study (2010-2023)
Objectives: Analysis of advances, hotspots and frontiers of tumor-related phytochemicals by scientifc bibliometric methods during 2012-2023. Background: Natural phytochemicals are abundantly found in nature and have a wide range of biological activities. Phytochem-icals have been shown to provide both curative and preventive benefts on many chronic diseases such as cancers. Tumor research on phyto-chemicals is one of the felds with the greatest potential for expansion in the world. However, there is still much to explore about the action mechanism of phytochemicals, the efcacy and safety of application in vivo, and the value of clinical practice. Methods: Atotal of 6523 arti-cles on tumor-related phytochemicals were identifed from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database for research on tumor-re-lated phytochemicals. The bibliometric analysis was carried out using CiteSpace and the R package âBibliometrixâ. Results: The analysis includes 6523 publications from 144 nations or regions, with China leading the way. The number of annual publications increased rapidly from 2012 to 2022 and reached a maximum in 2022. China published the most articles, followed by India and the United States. There is a wide range of collaborations between countries, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt being the closest partners. LI Y has produced the most research outputs, yet Prof. Liu RH has received the most local citations. Although MOLECULES has the most articles, FOOD CHEMISTRY is the journal with the highest H-index. The main topics include phytochemical mechanisms and clinical applications in carcinogenesis and devel-opment. âSecondary metaboliteâ, âgreen synthesisâ, âfunctional foodâ, and âdegradationâ all exhibit signifcant citation burstness between 2019-2023. Conclusions: This study is the frst to apply bibliometrics to examine the development of phytochemicals in oncology research over the period 2010-2023, which gives researchers a brief overview of advances, hotspots, and potential future trends in the feld
Lengthâweight relationship and condition factor of giant tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon (Fabricius, 1798) from four breeding families
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.Background: Lengthâweight relationships and condition factors of giant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon (Fabricius,
1798) from four breeding families (family S: South China seas family, family A: African family, family SA: â South China
seas family Ă â Africa family, family AS: â Africa family Ă â South China seas family) were evaluated in this study.
Findings and conclusion: Lengthâweight relationships can be expressed as W = 0.0239BL2.789 (R2 = 0.8977) in family
S, W = 0.0206BL2.9107 (R2 = 0.9107) in family A, W = 0.0211BL2.831 (R2 = 0.8869) in family SA, and W = 0.0249BL2.781
(R2 = 0.9159) in family AS. The growth of P. monodon from four breeding families follows a negative allometric trend.
Fultonâs body condition factor (K) was not significantly different in males, while in females, the highest K (3.07) was
observed in family AS, and the lowest K was found in family A (1.88). Results from the present study indicate that the
cross group family AS (â Africa family Ă â South China seas family) has obvious heterosis in females. This may suggest
that the direction of further breeding of P. monodon, should be conducted by using Africa family as male parent, and
South China seas family as female parent. Results from the present study will provide valuable information on selective
breeding in P. monodon. Methodology used in the present study can also be applied in other similar species
Complete mitochondrial genome of Metapenaeus affinis (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) and Metapenaeus ensis (De Haan, 1844)
Penaeid shrimp is one of the marine germplasm resources in tropical and subtropical regions. To better understand shrimp germplasm resources and develop cultured shrimp species, the complete mitochondrial genome of Metapenaeus affinis and Metapenaeus ensis was assembled. The length of M. affinis and M. ensis mitochondrial sequences is 15,957 and 15,943, respectively. Both mitochondrial sequences contain 13 protein coding, 22 tRNA, and two rRNA genes. The GC content of the genome was 34.23% and 34.12% in M. affinis and M. ensis, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the M. affinis and M. ensis are closely related, and assigned to a branch of Metapenaeus. We assembled and published the mitochondrial genome sequences of these two species, which will provide important information for the research and utilization of shrimp germplasm resources
The relationship between sodium excretion and blood pressure, urine albumin, central retinal arteriolar equivalent
Association analysis of alpha-amylase (AMY) and cathepsin L (CTSL) SNPs with growth traits in giant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon
Alpha-amylase (AMY) and cathepsin-L (CTSL) were selected as candidate genes for SNP discovery for growth traits of P. monodon. Six SNPs were found in AMY and three in CTSL in P. monodon. Association analyses for the candidate SNPs with important economic traits were performed in populations. That allele A at CTLS-213 SNP, AA, and GA, tended to be associated with increased body weight. Shrimps with genotype GG had significantly smaller CL, CW, and CH values than those with GT and TT genotypes (P < 0.05). While CTLS-820 SNP was found to be significantly associated with CH and FSL (P <0.05). These SNPs will be valid for marker-assisted selection breeding programs in P. monodon
Layer-dependent mechanical properties and enhanced plasticity in the van der Waals chromium trihalide magnets
The mechanical properties of magnetic materials are instrumental for the
development of the magnetoelastic theory and the optimization of
strain-modulated magnetic devices. In particular, two-dimensional (2D) magnets
hold promise to enlarge these concepts into the realm of low-dimensional
physics and ultrathin devices. However, no experimental study on the intrinsic
mechanical properties of the archetypal 2D magnet family of the chromium
trihalides has thus far been performed. Here, we report the room temperature
layer-dependent mechanical properties of atomically thin CrI3 and CrCl3,
finding that bilayers of CrI3 and CrCl3 have Young's moduli of 62.1 GPa and
43.4 GPa, with the highest sustained strain of 6.09% and 6.49% and breaking
strengths of 3.6 GPa and 2.2 GPa, respectively. Both the elasticity and
strength of the two materials decrease with increased thickness, which is
attributed to a weak interlayer interaction that enables interlayer sliding
under low levels of applied load. The mechanical properties observed in the
few-layer chromium trihalide crystals provide evidence of outstanding
plasticity in these materials, which is qualitatively demonstrated in their
bulk counterparts. This study will contribute to various applications of the
van der Waals magnetic materials, especially for their use in magnetostrictive
and flexible devices.Comment: Main text and supplementary informatio
Outstanding Thermal Conductivity of Single Atomic Layer Isotope-Modified Boron Nitride
Materials with high thermal conductivities (k) is valuable to solve the
challenge of waste heat dissipation in highly integrated and miniaturized
modern devices. Herein, we report the first synthesis of atomically thin
isotopically pure hexagonal boron nitride (BN) and its one of the highest k
among all semiconductors and electric insulators. Single atomic layer (1L) BN
enriched with 11B has a k up to 1009 W/mK at room temperature. We find that the
isotope engineering mainly suppresses the out-of-plane optical (ZO) phonon
scatterings in BN, which subsequently reduces acoustic-optical scatterings
between ZO and transverse acoustic (TA) and longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonons.
On the other hand, reducing the thickness to single atomic layer diminishes the
interlayer interactions and hence Umklapp scatterings of the out-of-plane
acoustic (ZA) phonons, though this thickness-induced k enhancement is not as
dramatic as that in naturally occurring BN. With many of its unique properties,
atomically thin monoisotopic BN is promising on heat management in van der
Waals (vdW) devices and future flexible electronics. The isotope engineering of
atomically thin BN may also open up other appealing applications and
opportunities in 2D materials yet to be explored
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