Association of Exposure to Particular Matter and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Long time exposure to particular matter has been linked to myocardial infarction, stroke and blood pressure, but its association with atherosclerosis is not clear. This meta-analysis was aimed at assessing whether PM2.5 and PM10 have an effect on subclinical atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Methods: Pubmed, Ovid Medline, Embase and NICK between 1948 and 31 March 2015 were searched by combining the keywords about exposure to the outcome related words. The random-effects model was applied in computing the change of CIMT and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The effect of potential confounding factors was assessed by stratified analysis and the impact of traffic proximity was also estimated. Results: Among 56 identified studies, 11 articles satisfied the inclusion criteria. In overall analysis increments of 10 μg/m3 in PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with an increase of CIMT (16.79 μm; 95% CI, 4.95–28.63 μm and 4.13 μm; 95% CI, −5.79–14.04 μm, respectively). Results shown in subgroup analysis had reference value for comparing with those of the overall analysis. The impact of traffic proximity on CIMT was uncertain. Conclusions: Exposure to PM2.5 had a significant association with CIMT and for women the effect may be more obvious

Quantitative Analysis of Heroin and its Metabolites in vivo

This study investigated heroin and its metabolites in vivo in the rat by using a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method

Radiation effects in uranium-niobium titanates

Pyrochlore is an important actinide host phase proposed for the immobilization of high level nuclear wastes and excess weapon plutonium.[1] Synthetic pyrochlore has a great variety of chemical compositions due to the possibility of extensive substitutions in the pyrochlore structure.[2] During the synthesis of pyrochlore, additional complex titanate phases may form in small quantities. The response of these phases to radiation damage must be evaluated because volume expansion of minor phases may cause micro-fracturing. In this work, two complex uranium-niobium titanates, U3NbO9.8U3NbO9.8 (U-rich titanate) and Nb3UO10Nb3UO10 (Nb-rich titanate) were synthesized by the alkoxide/nitrate route at 1300 °C under an argon atmosphere. The phase composition and structure were analyzed by EDS, BSE, XRD, EMPA and TEM techniques. An 800 KeVKr2+800KeVKr2+ irradiation was performed using the IVEM-Tandem Facility at Argonne National Laboratory in a temperature range from 30 K to 973 K. The radiation effects were observed by in situ TEM. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87573/2/403_1.pd

Theoretical investigation of structural, energetic and electronic properties of titanate pyrochlores

Ab initio total energy calculations using the plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory were carried out to investigate the structural, energetic and electronic properties of A2Ti2O7 (A =  La, Gd and Yb) pyrochlores. It turned out that the formation energies of antisite defects are not linearly dependent on the ratio of the cation radii, and, for the three compositions, the cation antisite formation energy is largest for Gd2Ti2O7 pyrochlore. It was indicated that Gd2Ti2O7 compound is the least likely to form defect fluorite structure, which gives rise to the least resistance to radiation-induced amorphization. DOS analysis showed that stronger interaction exists in the Gd2Ti2O7 compound, and its electronic structure is very different from that of La2Ti2O7 and Yb2Ti2O7. Our calculations suggested that the electronic structure of the A cation and bond type should be taken into account when explaining the response behavior of A2Ti2O7 (A =  La, Gd, Yb) pyrochlores to ion irradiation-induced amorphization.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58124/2/cm7_34_346203.pd

Optimization of nutritional constituents for carbonic anhydrase production by Bacillus mucilaginosus K02

The objective of this study was to optimize the submerged cultured conditions of carbonic anhydrase (CA) production from the strain of Bacillus mucilaginosus K02 by mono-factor tests with blank control and orthogonal design methodology. When the bacteria was cultured under the condition of monofactor tests with blank control and orthogonal designs, and conventional mono-factor test and orthogonal designs, respectively, the CA productions increased from 5.32 μU/L under the basic medium to 34.53 and 26.12 μU/L. The kinetic analysis of 5 L-fermentor showed that the specific production rate of CA in the optimized medium was almost equaled to the one obtained in the basic and optimized medium with conventional methods. The result demonstrated that CA synthesis was positively correlated with cell growth, and the mono-factor tests with blank control applied in the optimizing composition of the media could achieve better results in contrast to the conventional method.Key words: Bacillus mucilaginosus, carbonic anhydrase, specific production rate, kinetic analysis, orthogonal design

Flow-Based Synthesis of Gold-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetoplasmonic Sensing Applications

Gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles are key materials for the fast separation and ultrasensitive detection of analytes in magnetoplasmonic sensors. However, the synthesis of gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles typically requires small-scale, colloidal methods over hours or days and often results in incomplete shells with variable optical properties. A robust, rapid, and scalable synthesis method is still needed to reliably form a complete gold nanoshell around magnetic nanoparticles. Herein, a new methodology for the synthesis of gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles via a flow-based manufacturing system that can easily be scaled up is presented. The developed method first produces gold-seeded silica coated magnetic nanoparticles and then a complete, tunable gold shell with relatively uniform size and shape. The flow-based method can be performed in a total time of less than 2 min, enabling rapid and complete gold coating. The particles show both excellent magnetic and plasmonic properties, which facilitates application as biosensing agents in dark-field microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman scattering

eNOS-NO-induced small blood vessel relaxation requires EHD2-dependent caveolae stabilization

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-related vessel relaxation is a highly coordinated process that regulates blood flow and pressure and is dependent on caveolae. Here, we investigated the role of caveolar plasma membrane stabilization by the dynamin-related ATPase EHD2 on eNOS-nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vessel relaxation. Loss of EHD2 in small arteries led to increased numbers of caveolae that were detached from the plasma membrane. Concomitantly, impaired relaxation of mesenteric arteries and reduced running wheel activity were observed in EHD2 knockout mice. EHD2 deletion or knockdown led to decreased production of nitric oxide (NO) although eNOS expression levels were not changed. Super-resolution imaging revealed that eNOS was redistributed from the plasma membrane to internalized detached caveolae in EHD2-lacking tissue or cells. Following an ATP stimulus, reduced cytosolic Ca(2+) peaks were recorded in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) lacking EHD2. Our data suggest that EHD2-controlled caveolar dynamics orchestrates the activity and regulation of eNOS/NO and Ca(2+) channel localization at the plasma membrane