Ageing and adrenomedullin in the male reproductive system of the rat

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Ageing and adrenomedullin in the female reproductive system of the rat

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Nurses’ knowledge and practice in relation to peripheral intravenous catheter care

Peripheral Intravenous Catheters (PIC) are widely used. Nurses are required to possess appropriate knowledge and practice. The present study aimed to determine nurses' knowledge and practice towards care of PIC. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted and 84 respondents participated in the study. A 26-item questionnaire comprising 11 items on knowledge and 15 items related to nursing practice was adapted and modified. The findings reported higher mean score from specialty unit respondents, with knowledge (M = 49.19, SD = 3.44) and practice (M = 66.38, SD = 5.15), compared to medical surgical wards with knowledge (M = 46.25, SD = 4.68) and practice (M = 63.17, SD = 4.63) towards the care of PIC, which was significant (p value = 0.010 and p value = 0.009, respectively). The study indicated a higher mean score of charge nurse respondents as compared with registered nurse with knowledge (M = 49.68, SD = 3.23); (M = 46.20, SD = 4.62) and practice (M = 67.11, SD = 4.84); (M = 63.06, SD = 4.61), which was significant (p value = 0.003 and p value = 0.001, respectively). There were no significant differences between respondents’ education qualification towards care of PIC with p > 0.05. However, the findings reported that respondents who possessed Bachelor of Nursing were deemed to score slightly higher in their knowledge and practice towards the care of PIC. In conclusion, the specialty unit and charge nurse respondents were deemed to possess better knowledge and practice towards the care of PIC in the hospital

Optical characteristics of GAN/SI micro-pixel light-emitting diode arrays

Two-dimensional arrays of emissive micro-light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDS) have been developed for a variety of applications such as high resolution micro-displays, maskless photo-lithography and multichannel visible-light optical communications amongst others. μ-LEDs have traditionally been fabricated on InGaN LED wafers grown on transparent sapphire substrates, and have suffered from optical crosstalk issues. When a single pixel is addressed, adjacent pixels and regions appear illuminated simultaneously. Such problems could result in functional failure in high-density μ-LED applications, including reduced resolution of micro-display and decreased signal-to-noise ratio in ...postprin

Intermedin attenuates LPS-induced inflammation in the rat testis

First reported as a vasoactive peptide in the cardiovascular system, intermedin (IMD), also known as adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2), is a hormone with multiple potent roles, including its antioxidant action on the pulmonary, central nervous, cardiovascular and renal systems. Though IMD may play certain roles in trophoblast cell invasion, early embryonic development and cumulus cell-oocyte interaction, the role of IMD in the male reproductive system has yet to be investigated. This paper reports our findings on the gene expression of IMD, its receptor components and its protein localization in the testes. In a rat model, bacterial lippolysaccharide (LPS) induced atypical orchitis, and LPS treatment upregulated the expression of IMD and one of its receptor component proteins, i.e. receptor activity modifying protein 2 (RAMP2). IMD decreased both plasma and testicular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, attenuated the increase in the gene expression of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 6 (IL6) and interleukin 1 beta (IL1β), rescued spermatogenesis, and prevented the decrease in plasma testosterone levels caused by LPS. The restorative effect of IMD on steroidogenesis was also observed in hydrogen peroxide-treated rat primary Leydig cells culture. Our results indicate IMD plays an important protective role in spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis, suggesting therapeutic potential for IMD in pathological conditions such as orchitis.published_or_final_versio

Aggregate accounting earnings and security returns : China evidence and the replication of US results

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Effects of adrenomedullin on the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in oviducts from women with tubal ectopic pregnancy: an in-vitro experimental study

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Split-Drain Magnetic Field-Effect Transistor Channel Charge Trapping and Stress Induced Sensitivity Deterioration

Session EB: Materials for ApplicationsThis paper proposed an analytical model on the deterioration of magnetic sensitivity of sectorial split-drain magnetic field-effect transistors (SD-MAGFETs). The deterioration is governed by the trap fill rate at the channel boundary traps, which is geometric dependent. Experimental results are presented which show good consistency with the analytical derivation. The deterioration is the most severe at a sector angle of 54.6°, which shows a design tradeoff with sensing hysteresis. Design guidelines for sectorial SD-MAGFET to obtain high sensitivity hysteresis and slow sensitivity deterioration are also presented which provide important information for efficient design. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

The association of cytoplasmic overexpression of cyclin d1 and tumor metastasis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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Cyclodextrin-PEI-Tat Polymer as a Vector for Plasmid DNA Delivery to Placenta Mesenchymal Stem Cells

This study aims to modify a cyclodextrin-PEI-based polymer, PEI-β-CyD, with the TAT peptide for plasmid DNA delivery to placenta mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs). By using the disulfide exchange between the SPDP-activated PEI-β-CyD and TAT peptide, the TAT-PEI-β-CyD polymer was fabricated and the success of this was confirmed by the presence of characteristic peaks for PEI (at δ 2.8-3.2 ppm), CyD (at δ 5.2, 3.8-4.0 and 3.4-3. 6 ppm) and TAT (at δ 1.6-1.9 and 6.8-7.2 ppm) in the 1H NMR spectrum of TAT-PEI-β-CyD. The polymer-plasmid-DNA polyplex could condense DNA at an N/P ratio of 7.0-8.0, and form nanoparticles with the size of 150.6±5.6 nm at its optimal N/P ratio (20/1). By examining the transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity of TAT-PEI-β-CyD, conjugation of the TAT peptide onto PEI-β-CyD was demonstrated to improve the transfection efficiency of PEI-β-CyD in PMSCs after 48 and 96 hours of post-transfection incubation. The viability of PEI-β-CyD-treated PMSCs was shown to be over 80% after 5 h of treatment and 24 h of post-treatment incubation. In summary, this study showed that the TAT-PEI-β-CyD polymer as a vector for plasmid DNA delivery to PMSCs and other cells warrants further investigations. © 2011 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201