Temperature-modulated solution-based synthesis of copper oxide nanostructures for glucose sensing

Glucose sensors are widely applied in society as an effective way to diagnose and control diabetes by monitoring the blood glucose level. With advantages in stability and efficiency in glucose detection, non-enzymatic glucose sensors are gradually replacing their enzymatic counterparts and copper(ii) oxide (CuO) is a leading material. However, previous work extensively shows that even if the synthesis of CuO nanostructures is performed under nominally similar conditions, entirely different nanostructured products are obtained, resulting in varying physical and chemical properties of the final product, thereby leading to a differing performance in glucose detection. This work investigates the temperature dependence of a wet chemical precipitation synthesis for CuO nanostructures with the resulting samples showing selectivity for glucose in electrochemical tests. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrate that all products are predominantly CuO, with some contribution from Cu(OH)2 and other surface species varying across synthesis temperatures. The most important change with increasing synthesis temperature is that the overall nanostructure size changes and the morphology shifts from nanoneedles to nanoparticles between 65 and 70 °C. This work helps to understand the critical relationship between synthesis temperature and final nanostructure and can explain the seemingly random nanostructures observed in the literature. The variations are key to controlling sensor performance and ultimately offering further development in copper oxide-based glucose sensors

Iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia (Irida): a propósito de un caso

Poster [PC-130] Introducción: IRIDA es una entidad que cursa con anemia ferropénica, de herencia autosómica recesiva, aunque se han reportado algunos casos que son sólo heterocigotos (herencia autosómica dominante), debidos a mutaciones en el gen TMPRSS6 que codifica la proteína matriptasa-2. Se cree que la prevalencia de IRIDA es inferior a 1: 1.000.000, pero probablemente está infradiagnosticada. Caso clínico: Mujer de 17 años con antecedentes personales de retraso psicomotor y trastorno de espectro autista. Cariotipo 46 XX, descartándose síndrome X-frágil FRAXA, síndrome de Angelman y síndrome de Rett. Ha presentado varios episodios de trastornos de conducta con desorganización motora y dificultad de convivencia. Controlada en Hematología desde 2015 por anemia microcítica hipocrómica ferropénica sin respuesta al hierro oral y con respuesta parcial al hierro intravenoso. A lo largo del seguimiento en esta consulta se han descartado enfermedad celiaca (anticuerpos anti-gliadina (IgG e IgA), anti-transglutaminasa (IgA) negativos), helicobacter pylori (test del aliento negativo), pérdidas digestivas de hierro (sangre oculta en heces negativa), pérdidas urinarias y pulmonares. Ha presentado niveles bajos de hemoglobina (máximo 69 g/L) con microcitosis importante (máximo VCM 68, 50 fl) e índices de saturación de hasta 2, 5%. Desarrollo ponderoestatural y puberal normal. Tras recibir diferentes compuestos de hierro oral, sin respuesta a ninguno de ellos, se inicia tratamiento con hierro endovenoso, precisando medidas de contención para la administración del mismo, motivo por el que ha recibido tratamiento con hierro-carboximaltosa (Ferinject®) 500 mg, permitiendo administrar mayor cantidad de hierro en una sola dosis (Figura 1 y 2). Ante la sospecha de IRIDA se solicita un análisis de mutaciones puntuales en el gen TMPRSS6 que codifica la proteína matriptasa-2. La paciente no presenta mutaciones puntuales en las regiones analizadas, sin embargo, en el análisis de las secuencias se observan los siguientes polimorfismos (SNPs) en el gen TMPRSS6: p.Lys253Glu (exón 7), IVS7+23A>G (intrón 7), p.Val736Ala (exón17) interpretados como variantes benignas (no patogénicas). Conclusiones: Existen aproximadamente 69 defectos diferentes del gen TMPRSS6 en 65 familias diferentes. Sin embargo, están apareciendo nuevas mutaciones, no descritas por el momento y que podrían ser causa IRIDA, respaldando la hipótesis de que este síndrome clínico puede ser más común de lo que se pensaba anteriormente y su genética ser más heterogénea de lo que se describió inicialmente. Además se han descrito nuevos polimorfimos como p.Val736Ala que asocian mayor susceptibilidad al desarrollo de anemia ferropénica. Dado que su cuadro neurológico sigue sin diagnóstico preciso, ante la presencia concomitante de estos polimorfismos, se decide el estudio de secuenciación del exoma completo

Exploiting evolutionary steering to induce collateral drug sensitivity in cancer

Drug resistance mediated by clonal evolution is arguably the biggest problem in cancer therapy today. However, evolving resistance to one drug may come at a cost of decreased fecundity or increased sensitivity to another drug. These evolutionary trade-offs can be exploited using 'evolutionary steering' to control the tumour population and delay resistance. However, recapitulating cancer evolutionary dynamics experimentally remains challenging. Here, we present an approach for evolutionary steering based on a combination of single-cell barcoding, large populations of 108-109 cells grown without re-plating, longitudinal non-destructive monitoring of cancer clones, and mathematical modelling of tumour evolution. We demonstrate evolutionary steering in a lung cancer model, showing that it shifts the clonal composition of the tumour in our favour, leading to collateral sensitivity and proliferative costs. Genomic profiling revealed some of the mechanisms that drive evolved sensitivity. This approach allows modelling evolutionary steering strategies that can potentially control treatment resistance

Proceedings of the 3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) 2015: advancing efficient methodologies through community partnerships and team science

It is well documented that the majority of adults, children and families in need of evidence-based behavioral health interventionsi do not receive them [1, 2] and that few robust empirically supported methods for implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) exist. The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) represents a burgeoning effort to advance the innovation and rigor of implementation research and is uniquely focused on bringing together researchers and stakeholders committed to evaluating the implementation of complex evidence-based behavioral health interventions. Through its diverse activities and membership, SIRC aims to foster the promise of implementation research to better serve the behavioral health needs of the population by identifying rigorous, relevant, and efficient strategies that successfully transfer scientific evidence to clinical knowledge for use in real world settings [3]. SIRC began as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded conference series in 2010 (previously titled the “Seattle Implementation Research Conference”; $150,000 USD for 3 conferences in 2011, 2013, and 2015) with the recognition that there were multiple researchers and stakeholdersi working in parallel on innovative implementation science projects in behavioral health, but that formal channels for communicating and collaborating with one another were relatively unavailable. There was a significant need for a forum within which implementation researchers and stakeholders could learn from one another, refine approaches to science and practice, and develop an implementation research agenda using common measures, methods, and research principles to improve both the frequency and quality with which behavioral health treatment implementation is evaluated. SIRC’s membership growth is a testament to this identified need with more than 1000 members from 2011 to the present.ii SIRC’s primary objectives are to: (1) foster communication and collaboration across diverse groups, including implementation researchers, intermediariesi, as well as community stakeholders (SIRC uses the term “EBP champions” for these groups) – and to do so across multiple career levels (e.g., students, early career faculty, established investigators); and (2) enhance and disseminate rigorous measures and methodologies for implementing EBPs and evaluating EBP implementation efforts. These objectives are well aligned with Glasgow and colleagues’ [4] five core tenets deemed critical for advancing implementation science: collaboration, efficiency and speed, rigor and relevance, improved capacity, and cumulative knowledge. SIRC advances these objectives and tenets through in-person conferences, which bring together multidisciplinary implementation researchers and those implementing evidence-based behavioral health interventions in the community to share their work and create professional connections and collaborations

A study of the optical absorption in CdTe by photoacoustic

Abstract We show that the Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) is an useful alternative method for the determination of the optical-absorption coefficient of CdTe thin films, in the spectral region near to the fundamental absorption edge, ranging from 1.0 eV to 2.4 eV, using an open cell in the transmission configuration. We applied this method to the optical characterization of CdTe layers for several values of their thickness. These CdTe samples were deposited by closed-space vapor transport (CSVT) technique under different growth conditions

Pilot clinical trial of type 1 dendritic cells loaded with autologous tumor lysates combined with GM-CSF, pegylated IFN, and cyclophosphamide for metastatic cancer patients

Twenty-four patients with metastatic cancer received two cycles of four daily immunizations with monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC). DC were incubated with preheated autologous tumor lysate and subsequently with IFN-α, TNF-α, and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid to attain type 1 maturation. One DC dose was delivered intranodally, under ultrasound control, and the rest intradermally in the opposite thigh. Cyclophosphamide (day -7), GM-CSF (days 1-4), and pegIFN alpha-2a (days 1 and 8) completed each treatment cycle. Pretreatment with cyclophosphamide decreased regulatory T cells to levels observed in healthy subjects both in terms of percentage and in absolute counts in peripheral blood. Treatment induced sustained elevations of IL-12 in serum that correlated with the output of IL-12p70 from cultured DC from each individual. NK activity in peripheral blood was increased and also correlated with the serum concentration of IL-12p70 in each patient. Circulating endothelial cells decreased in 17 of 18 patients, and circulating tumor cells markedly dropped in 6 of 19 cases. IFN-γ-ELISPOT responses to DC plus tumor lysate were observed in 4 of 11 evaluated cases. Tracing DC migration with [(111)In] scintigraphy showed that intranodal injections reached deeper lymphatic chains in 61% of patients, whereas with intradermal injections a small fraction of injected DC was almost constantly shown to reach draining inguinal lymph nodes. Five patients experienced disease stabilization, but no objective responses were documented. This combinatorial immunotherapy strategy is safe and feasible, and its immunobiological effects suggest potential activity in patients with minimal residual disease. A randomized trial exploring this hypothesis is currently ongoing