Carcinogenic organic residual compounds readsorbed on thermally reduced graphene materials are released at low temperature.

The preliminary oxidation of graphite to graphite oxide followed by a thermal exfoliation is one of the methods most frequently employed in the preparation of graphene. Such thermally reduced graphene can be widely used for several applications that range from coatings to sensing device fabrication. It is therefore important to investigate in detail the fabrication procedure, the structural features of the resulting graphene, and its potential toxicological effects.

Expression of the immune regulator tripartite-motif 21 is controlled by IFN regulatory factors.

Tripartite-motif 21 (TRIM21) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that regulates innate immune responses by ubiquitinating IFN regulatory factors (IRFs). TRIM21 is mainly found in hematopoietic cells in which its expression is induced by IFNs during viral. infections and in systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren's syndrome.

Unusual inherent electrochemistry of graphene oxides prepared using permanganate oxidants.

Graphene and graphene oxides are materials of significant interest in electrochemical devices such as supercapacitors, batteries, fuel cells, and sensors. Graphene oxides and reduced graphenes are typically prepared by oxidizing graphite in strong mineral acid mixtures with chlorate (Staudenmaier, Hofmann) or permanganate (Hummers, Tour) oxidants. Herein, we reveal that graphene oxides pose inherent electrochemistry, that is, they can be oxidized or reduced at relatively mild potentials (within the range ±1 V) that are lower than typical battery potentials.

Common bile duct lithiasis: therapeutic approach.

Introduction: Treatment of cholecysto-choledocholithiasis has been revisited from the standpoint of either endoscopic or laparoscopic mini invasive approach. A standard diagnostic-therapeutic procedure has not been unanimously defined.

Patients And Methods: Since 1997 to 2011 we have treated 924 patients: 555 gallbladder lithiasis, 276 acute biliary pancreatitis and 93 choledocholithiasis (without pancreatitis).

Carbonaceous impurities in carbon nanotubes are responsible for accelerated electrochemistry of cytochrome c.

There have been many reports on the excellent electrocatalytic properties of carbon nanotubes toward many substrates. Here, we wish to address and investigate the apparent "good promotion" of the electron transfer to cytochrome c as previously shown and attributed to the electrocatalytic properties of carbon nanotubes (Wang et al. Anal.

Apparent diffusion coefficient modifications in assessing gastro-oesophageal cancer response to neoadjuvant treatment: comparison with tumour regression grade at histology.

Objectives: To assess changes in apparent diffusion coefficient (ΔADC) and volume (ΔV) after neoadjuvant treatment (NT), and tumour regression grade (TRG) in gastro-oesophageal cancers (GEC), and to discriminate responders from non-responders.

Methods: Thirty-two patients with biopsy-proven locally-advanced GEC underwent diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) pre- and post-NT. Lesion ADC, volume, ΔADC and ΔV were calculated.

Could carbonaceous impurities in reduced graphenes be responsible for some of their extraordinary electrocatalytic activities?

Thermally and chemically reduced graphene materials contain significant amounts of carbonaceous impurities that are similar in structure to amorphous carbon. Herein, we show that the claimed electrocatalytic activities of these materials for the oxidation of NADH, acetaminophen, and hydroquinone are mainly due to the presence of carbonaceous impurities.

Severe acute pancreatitis: clinical forms of different gravity.

Introduction And Aims: Severe Acute Pancreatitis (SAP) is characterized by some degree of severity. The aim of this study is to indentify within severe forms the critical, early severe acute pancreatitis (ESAP).

Methods And Patients: Since 1997 to 2011 we have treated 276 acute biliary pancreatitis.

Precise tuning of surface composition and electron-transfer properties of graphene oxide films through electroreduction.

Graphene materials are generally prepared from the exfoliation of graphite oxide (GO) to graphene oxide, followed by subsequent chemical or thermal reduction. These methods, although efficient in removing most of the oxygen functionalities from the GO material, lack control over the extent of the reduction process. We demonstrate here an electrochemical reduction procedure that not only allows for precise control of the reduction process to obtain a graphene material with a well-defined C/O ratio in the range of 3 to 10, but also one that is able to tune the electrocatalytic properties of the reduced material.

Large-scale quantification of CVD graphene surface coverage.

The extraordinary properties demonstrated for graphene and graphene-related materials can be fully exploited when a large-scale fabrication procedure is made available. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of graphene on Cu and Ni substrates is one of the most promising procedures to synthesize large-area and good quality graphene films. Parallel to the fabrication process, a large-scale quality monitoring technique is equally crucial.

Genome-wide discovery of small RNAs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Only few small RNAs (sRNAs) have been characterized in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and their role in regulatory networks is still poorly understood. Here we report a genome-wide characterization of sRNAs in M. tuberculosis integrating experimental and computational analyses.

Economic evaluation of levosimendan versus dobutamine for the treatment of acute heart failure in Italy.

Introduction: Inodilators are the first-choice class of drugs for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF). Levosimendan is a relatively recent inodilatory agent, presenting superior outcomes in comparison with traditional inotropes.

Methods: An economic evaluation of levosimendan for the treatment of AHF in Italy was performed.

Self-propelled nanojets via template electrodeposition.

In this paper, we present a rapid, high-yield, low-end and low-cost fabrication of nanojet motors using a template directed electrochemical deposition method. Using an electrochemical deposition method, the bubble-ejecting nanojets were grown within the alumina template, which is commercially available. These fabricated nanosized devices have typical dimensions of 300 nm (diameter) by 4.

IL-17: a new actor in IFN-driven systemic autoimmune diseases.

Systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus are type I IFN-driven diseases with exaggerated B-cell responses and autoantibody production. Th17 cells, a T-helper-cell subset with high inflammatory capacity, was initially discovered and characterized in the context of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis - an animal model of multiple sclerosis. There is now emerging evidence that Th17 cells, and more generally IL-17 and IL-17-producing cells, may play a role in the pathogenesis of type I IFN-driven systemic autoimmune diseases such as lupus.

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness reproducibility using seven different OCT instruments.

Purpose: The clinical utility of new optical coherence tomography (OCT) instruments strongly depends on measurements reproducibility. The aim of this study was to assess retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness reproducibility using six different spectral-domain OCTs (SD-OCTs) and one time-domain OCT.

Methods: RNFL thickness (average and four quadrant) from six SD-OCTs (Spectral OCT/SLO OPKO/OTI, 3D-OCT 2000 Topcon, RS-3000 NIDEK, Cirrus HD-OCT Zeiss, RTVue-100 Optovue, and Spectralis Heidelberg) and one time-domain OCT (Stratus OCT Zeiss) was measured twice in 38 right eyes of 38 randomly chosen healthy volunteers by two masked operators.

Bioavailability of metallic impurities in carbon nanotubes is greatly enhanced by ultrasonication.

Metallic impurities within carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as the main cause of their toxicity. Ultrasonication is a common procedure used to purify and obtain homogeneous dispersions of CNTs as well as to mix them with other components for further processing into composites. Herein, the influence of ultrasonication upon the bioavailability of metallic impurities in CNTs was investigated.

Chemically reduced graphene contains inherent metallic impurities present in parent natural and synthetic graphite.

Graphene-related materials are in the forefront of nanomaterial research. One of the most common ways to prepare graphenes is to oxidize graphite (natural or synthetic) to graphite oxide and exfoliate it to graphene oxide with consequent chemical reduction to chemically reduced graphene. Here, we show that both natural and synthetic graphite contain a large amount of metallic impurities that persist in the samples of graphite oxide after the oxidative treatment, and chemically reduced graphene after the chemical reduction.

Noble metal (Pd, Ru, Rh, Pt, Au, Ag) doped graphene hybrids for electrocatalysis.

Metal decorated graphene materials are highly important for catalysis. In this work, noble metal doped-graphene hybrids were prepared by a simple and scalable method. The thermal reductions of metal doped-graphite oxide precursors were carried out in nitrogen and hydrogen atmospheres and the effects of these atmospheres as well as the metal components on the characteristics and catalytic capabilities of the hybrid materials were studied.

Thermally reduced graphenes exhibiting a close relationship to amorphous carbon.

Graphene is an important material for sensing and energy storage applications. Since the vast majority of sensing and energy storage chemical and electrochemical systems require bulk quantities of graphene, thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) is commonly employed instead of pristine graphene. The sp(2) planar structure of TRGO is heavily damaged, consisting of a very short sp(2) crystallite size of nanometre length and with areas of sp(3) hybridized carbon.

Congenital heart block: evidence for a pathogenic role of maternal autoantibodies.

During pregnancy in autoimmune conditions, maternal autoantibodies are transported across the placenta and may affect the developing fetus. Congenital heart block (CHB) is known to associate with the presence of anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies in the mother and is characterized by a block in signal conduction at the atrioventricular (AV) node. The mortality rate of affected infants is 15% to 30%, and most live-born children require lifelong pacemaker implantation.

Graphenes prepared by Staudenmaier, Hofmann and Hummers methods with consequent thermal exfoliation exhibit very different electrochemical properties.

Large-scale fabrication of graphene is highly important for industrial and academic applications of this material. The most common large-scale preparation method is the oxidation of graphite to graphite oxide using concentrated acids in the presence of strong oxidants and consequent thermal exfoliation and reduction by thermal shock to produce reduced graphene. These oxidation methods typically use concentrated sulfuric acid (a) in combination with fuming nitric acid and KClO(3) (Staudenmaier method), (b) in combination with concentrated nitric acid and KClO(3) (Hofmann method) or (c) in the absence of nitric acid but in the presence of NaNO(3) and KMnO(4) (Hummers method).

Introducing dichlorocarbene in graphene.

The functionalization of graphene with dichlorocarbene has been successfully attained based on a conventional method for the generation of dichlorocarbenes. The obtained material was fully characterized using high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, infrared and Raman spectroscopies.

A genome-wide identification analysis of small regulatory RNAs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by RNA-Seq and conservation analysis.

We propose a new method for smallRNAs (sRNAs) identification. First we build an effective target genome (ETG) by means of a strand-specific procedure. Then we propose a new bioinformatic pipeline based mainly on the combination of two types of information: the first provides an expression map based on RNA-seq data (Reads Map) and the second applies principles of comparative genomics leading to a Conservation Map.

On oxygen-containing groups in chemically modified graphenes.

Reduced graphenes (belonging to the class of chemically modified graphenes, CMG) are one of the most investigated and utilized materials in current research. Oxygen functionalities on the CMG surfaces have dramatic influences on material properties. Interestingly, these functionalities are rarely comprehensively characterized.

The inherent electrochemistry of nickel/nickel-oxide nanoparticles.

The direct detection of nanoparticles is at the forefront of research owing to their environmental and toxicological applications. Herein, we studied the inherent electrochemistry of Ni and NiO nanoparticles and proposed a simple and direct electrochemical method for the determination of the concentrations of both nickel (Ni) and nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles in alkaline solution. A highly sensitive voltammetry technique was used to measure the oxidative signal of Ni(OH)(2) that formed spontaneously on the surface of Ni and NiO nanoparticles in alkaline media.