Use of biological based therapy in patients with cardiovascular diseases in a university-hospital in New York City

BACKGROUND: The use of complementary and alternative products including Biological Based Therapy (BBT) has increased among patients with various medical illnesses and conditions. The studies assessing the prevalence of BBT use among patients with cardiovascular diseases are limited. Therefore, an evaluation of BBT in this patient population would be beneficial. This was a survey designed to determine the effects of demographics on the use of Biological Based Therapy (BBT) in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the education level on the use of BBT in cardiovascular patients. This survey also assessed the perceptions of users regarding the safety/efficacy of BBT, types of BBT used and potential BBT-drug interactions. METHOD: The survey instrument was designed to assess the findings. Patients were interviewed from February 2001 to December 2002. 198 inpatients with cardiovascular diseases (94 BBT users and 104 non-users) in a university hospital were included in the study. RESULTS: Users had a significantly higher level of education than non-users (college graduate: 28 [30%] versus 12 [12%], p = 0.003). Top 10 BBT products used were vitamin E [41(43.6%)], vitamin C [30(31.9%)], multivitamins [24(25.5%)], calcium [19(20.2%)], vitamin B complex [17(18.1%)], fish oil [12(12.8%)], coenzyme Q10 [11(11.7%)], glucosamine [10(10.6%)], magnesium [8(8.5%)] and vitamin D [6(6.4%)]. Sixty percent of users' physicians knew of the BBT use. Compared to non-users, users believed BBT to be safer (p < 0.001) and more effective (p < 0.001) than prescription drugs. Forty-two potential drug-BBT interactions were identified. CONCLUSION: Incidence of use of BBT in cardiovascular patients is high (47.5%), as is the risk of potential drug interaction. Health care providers need to monitor BBT use in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Non-covalent Monolayer-Piercing Anchoring of Lipophilic Nucleic Acids:Preparation, Characterization, and Sensing Applications

Functional interfaces of biomolecules and inorganic substrates like semiconductor materials are of utmost importance for the development of highly sensitive biosensors and microarray technology. However, there is still a lot of room for improving the techniques for immobilization of biomolecules, in particular nucleic acids and proteins. Conventional anchoring strategies rely on attaching biomacromolecules via complementary functional groups, appropriate bifunctional linker molecules, or non-covalent immobilization via electrostatic interactions. In this work, we demonstrate a facile, new, and general method for the reversible non-covalent attachment of amphiphilic DNA probes containing hydrophobic units attached to the nucleobases (lipid-DNA) onto SAM-modified gold electrodes, silicon semiconductor surfaces, and glass substrates. We show the anchoring of well-defined amounts of lipid-DNA onto the surface by insertion of their lipid tails into the hydrophobic monolayer structure. The surface coverage of DNA molecules can be conveniently controlled by modulating the initial concentration and incubation time. Further control over the DNA layer is afforded by the additional external stimulus of temperature. Heating the DNA-modified surfaces at temperatures > 80 degrees C leads to the release of the lipid-DNA structures from the surface without harming the integrity of the hydrophobic SAMs. These supramolecular DNA layers can be further tuned by anchoring onto a mixed SAM containing hydrophobic molecules of different lengths, rather than a homogeneous SAM. Immobilization of lipid-DNA on such SAMs has revealed that the surface density of DNA probes is highly dependent on the composition of the surface layer and the structure of the lipid-DNA. The formation of the lipid-DNA sensing layers was monitored and characterized by numerous techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, ellipsometry, contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy, and confocal fluorescence imaging. Finally, this new DNA modification strategy was applied for the sensing of target DNAs using silicon-nanowire field-effect transistor device arrays, showing a high degree of specificity toward the complementary DNA target, as well as single-base mismatch selectivity

Electrochemical Activation of Li2MnO3 Electrodes at 0 °C and Its Impact on the Subsequent Performance at Higher Temperatures

This work continues our systematic study of Li- and Mn- rich cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. We chose Li2MnO3 as a model electrode material with the aim of correlating the improved electrochemical characteristics of these cathodes initially activated at 0 &deg;C with the structural evolution of Li2MnO3, oxygen loss, formation of per-oxo like species (O22&minus;) and the surface chemistry. It was established that performing a few initial charge/discharge (activation) cycles of Li2MnO3 at 0 &deg;C resulted in increased discharge capacity and higher capacity retention, and decreased and substantially stabilized the voltage hysteresis upon subsequent cycling at 30 &deg;C or at 45 &deg;C. In contrast to the activation of Li2MnO3 at these higher temperatures, Li2MnO3 underwent step-by-step activation at 0 &deg;C, providing a stepwise traversing of the voltage plateau at &gt;4.5 V during initial cycling. Importantly, these findings agree well with our previous studies on the activation at 0 &deg;C of 0.35Li2MnO3&middot;0.65Li[Mn0.45Ni0.35Co0.20]O2 materials. The stability of the interface developed at 0 &deg;C can be ascribed to the reduced interactions of the per-oxo-like species formed and the oxygen released from Li2MnO3 with solvents in ethylene carbonate&ndash;methyl-ethyl carbonate/LiPF6 solutions. Our TEM studies revealed that typically, upon initial cycling both at 0 &deg;C and 30 &deg;C, Li2MnO3 underwent partial structural layered-to-spinel (Li2Mn2O4) transition

Disiloxane with nitrile end groups as Co-solvent for electrolytes in lithium sulfur batteries – A feasible approach to replace LiNO3

The lithium-sulfur battery is a leading candidate for a new-generation Li-ion battery, because of its high theoretical capacity and abundance of sulfur. Yet, the flammability of either the organic-carbonate or ether-based electrolytes used in such battery systems is of concern. Moreover, the oxidation of Li2S leads to the formation of polysulfides (Li2S3-8), which dissolve in the electrolyte and initiate a shuttle mechanism, which results in low Coulombic efficiency and growth of a thick SEI on the anode. Therefore, various electrolyte additives, like LiNO3, are added to the electrolyte. Unfortunately, the nitrate additive is gradually consumed and the “shuttle effect” resumes.Here we present a LiNO3-free electrolyte consisting of nitrile-functionalized disiloxane (TmdSx-CN) with dissolved LiTFSI as a candidate electrolyte for lithium-sulfur batteries. We have examined the effect of TmdSx-CN as a co-solvent along with 1,3-dioxolane (DOL) on the performance of Li/S cells. It was found that LiNO3-free TmdSx-CN:DOL electrolyte mitigates the polysulfide shuttle. The cell containing this electrolyte yields an average capacity of 700 mAh g−1 and 96% Coulombic efficiency for more than 100 cycles. Moreover, 87.5% energy efficiency, which is similar to the LiNO3-based control cell. We expect that our preliminary results will encourage the further use of siloxane-based electrolytes in metallic-lithium battery systems, and specifically, in lithium-sulfur batteries