Phase-Tunable Calcium Phosphate Biomaterials Synthesis and Application in Protein Delivery

Calcium phosphates (CaP) are important biomaterials used in tissue engineering and drug delivery, due to their biocompatibility, low toxicity, and osteoconductivity. However, controlling the phase of CaP, especially tricalcium phosphate (TCP), is very challenging under mild conditions, particularly when using one preparation protocol for all CaP phases. It is also crucial to produce these biomaterials economically and reproducibly. Herein, three of the most commonly employed CaP, including beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA), and hydroxyapatite (HA) were, for the first time, successfully synthesized by altering the reaction solvent, using calcium acetate monohydrate as a precursor and a rapid microwave-assisted synthetic method. A variety of CaP particle morphologies were obtained, including elliptical and plate-shaped with different porosities. Compared with conventional heating, CaP biomaterials synthesized using microwave heating showed greater reproducibility, higher yields, and shorter reaction time. By varying the reaction solvents, morphologies and phases of CaP were controlled, leading to an enhanced protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) loading, with a higher BSA absorption observed according to the trend DCPA> β-TCP > HA. Furthermore, the phase, specific surface area, and pore size were shown to play decisive roles in protein desorption with a higher release amount observed according to the trend DCPA > β-TCP > HA. Finally, it is found that larger pores are also beneficial to BSA adsorption

Written records of historical tsunamis in the northeastern South China Sea - Challenges associated with developing a new integrated database

Comprehensive analysis of 15 previously published regional databases incorporating more than 100 sources leads to a newly revised historical tsunami database for the northeastern (NE) region of the South China Sea (SCS) including Taiwan. The validity of each reported historical tsunami event listed in our database is assessed by comparing and contrasting the information and descriptions provided in the other databases. All earlier databases suffer from errors associated with inaccuracies in translation between different languages, calendars and location names. The new database contains 205 records of "events" reported to have occurred between AD 1076 and 2009. We identify and investigate 58 recorded tsunami events in the region. The validity of each event is based on the consistency and accuracy of the reports along with the relative number of individual records for that event. Of the 58 events, 23 are regarded as "valid" (confirmed) events, three are "probable" events and six are "possible". Eighteen events are considered "doubtful" and eight events "invalid". The most destructive tsunami of the 23 valid events occurred in 1867 and affected Keelung, northern Taiwan, killing at least 100 people. Inaccuracies in the historical record aside, this new database highlights the occurrence and geographical extent of several large tsunamis in the NE SCS region and allows an elementary statistical analysis of annual recurrence intervals. Based on historical records from 1951-2009 the probability of a tsunami (from any source) affecting the region in any given year is relatively high (33.4%). However, the likelihood of a tsunami that has a wave height >1 m, and/or causes fatalities and damage to infrastructure occurring in the region in any given year is low (1-2%). This work indicates the need for further research using coastal stratigraphy and inundation modeling to help validate some of the historical accounts of tsunamis as well as adequately evaluate the recurrence intervals of tsunamis along the now heavily developed coastlines of the region. © Author(s) 2010.published_or_final_versio

Short circuit current improvement in planar heterojunction organic solar cells by multijunction charge transfer

A multijunction structure was applied on an organic photovoltaic (OPV) device for broadening the absorption spectrum and enhancing the power conversion efficiency through charge transfer process. By inserting the tris[4-(2-thienyl)]amine (TTPA) into a boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc)/C 60 OPV device, the short circuit current density (J sc) showed a 47.5% increases from 3.05 to 4.50 mA/cm 2 in the bilayer planar heterojunction device, while the open circuit voltage (V oc) remained constant. Based on the single junction (TTPA/SubPc) device and photoluminescence absorption results, we confirmed both TTPA/SubPc and SubPc/C 60 junctions are contributing to the exciton dissociation process hence the efficiency enhancement. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Combination of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and irbesartan for the treatment of heart failure

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Boundaries of Disk-like Self-affine Tiles

Let $T:= T(A, {\mathcal D})$ be a disk-like self-affine tile generated by an integral expanding matrix $A$ and a consecutive collinear digit set ${\mathcal D}$, and let $f(x)=x^{2}+px+q$ be the characteristic polynomial of $A$. In the paper, we identify the boundary $\partial T$ with a sofic system by constructing a neighbor graph and derive equivalent conditions for the pair $(A,{\mathcal D})$ to be a number system. Moreover, by using the graph-directed construction and a device of pseudo-norm $\omega$, we find the generalized Hausdorff dimension $\dim_H^{\omega} (\partial T)=2\log \rho(M)/\log |q|$ where $\rho(M)$ is the spectral radius of certain contact matrix $M$. Especially, when $A$ is a similarity, we obtain the standard Hausdorff dimension $\dim_H (\partial T)=2\log \rho/\log |q|$ where $\rho$ is the largest positive zero of the cubic polynomial $x^{3}-(|p|-1)x^{2}-(|q|-|p|)x-|q|$, which is simpler than the known result.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure

Tailoring degree of esterification and branching of poly(glycerol sebacate) by energy efficient microwave irradiation

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is known as an exciting biomaterial owing to its tunable mechanical properties and controllable degradation rate. However, it is always challenging to control these properties. In this study, we have proposed a solvent-based system to provide a better control of reaction temperature in a microwave cavity, which can minimize evaporation of monomers, and water was collected to analyse the degree of esterification. Pre-PGSs with varied degrees of esterification were prepared using both single mode and multimode microwave cavity irradiation (MI) in this solvent-based reaction system. For a similar degree of esterification of pre-PGSs, the reaction time was almost halved with a better control on mechanical properties by single mode MI compared to multimode MI. Furthermore, the single mode MI approach was compared with the conventional heating (CH) approach. The mechanical properties and degradation rate of PGSs can be controlled readily by using the single mode MI approach compared to CH, which are crucial for their application as a biomaterial. It has been found that the single mode MI not only accelerates the pre-polymerisation process rate by six times, but also speeds up the curing time to the same extent. The Young's modulus of PGSs prepared by single mode MI is increased from 0.77 to 3.14 MPa when the degree of esterification is 66.82%, which is 50% higher than that reported in the literature. Furthermore, PGS using a highly branched pre-PGS prepared by the single mode MI method has a large degree of flexibility. It can achieve a much higher Young's modulus than that obtained by CH with a short curing time (<10 hours). In addition, the residual mass of PGSs prepared by single mode MI is varied from 78.54% to 92.96% compared to the CH method that ranges from 84.24% to 93.31%. Thus, these highly branched PGSs produced by single mode MI also show a wider degradation window (approximately 59% higher degree of flexibility than the CH method), which is found to be highly dependent on the degree of esterification and curing time of the pre-polymer, and controlled by branching

Plasma EGFR Mutation Detection Associated With Survival Outcomes in Advanced-Stage Lung Cancer

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Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Analysis of Chinese Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Identified Hypomethylation in Genes Related to the Type I Interferon Pathway

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Structure formation in active networks

Structure formation and constant reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton are key requirements for the function of living cells. Here we show that a minimal reconstituted system consisting of actin filaments, crosslinking molecules and molecular-motor filaments exhibits a generic mechanism of structure formation, characterized by a broad distribution of cluster sizes. We demonstrate that the growth of the structures depends on the intricate balance between crosslinker-induced stabilization and simultaneous destabilization by molecular motors, a mechanism analogous to nucleation and growth in passive systems. We also show that the intricate interplay between force generation, coarsening and connectivity is responsible for the highly dynamic process of structure formation in this heterogeneous active gel, and that these competing mechanisms result in anomalous transport, reminiscent of intracellular dynamics

Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating the effects of inorganic nitrate in hypertension-induced target organ damage: protocol of the NITRATE-TOD study in the UK

© 2020 Author(s). Introduction: Arterial stiffness and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy are the key markers of hypertensive target organ damage (TOD) associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We have previously shown that dietary inorganic nitrate supplementation lowers blood pressure (BP) in hypertension, however, whether this approach might also improve markers of hypertensive TOD is unknown. In this study, we will investigate whether daily dietary inorganic nitrate administration reduces LV mass and improves measures of arterial stiffness. Methods and design: NITRATE-TOD is a double-blind, randomised, single-centre, placebo-controlled phase II trial aiming to enrol 160 patients with suboptimal BP control on one or more antihypertensives. Patients will be randomised to receive 4 months once daily dose of either nitrate-rich beetroot juice or nitrate-deplete beetroot juice (placebo). The primary outcomes are reduction in LV mass and reduction in pulse wave velocity (PWV) and central BP. The study has a power of 95% for detecting a 9 g LV mass change by cardiovascular MRI (∼6% change for a mildly hypertrophied heart of 150 g). For PWV, we have a power of >95% for detecting a 0.6 m/s absolute change. For central systolic BP, we have a>90% power to detect a 5.8 mm Hg difference in central systolic BP. Secondary end points include change in ultrasound flow-mediated dilation, change in plasma nitrate and nitrite concentration and change in BP. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the London - City and East Research Ethics Committee (10/H0703/98). Trial results will be published according to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement and will be presented at conferences and reported in peer-reviewed journals