MgZnO possesses a tunable bandgap and can be prepared at relatively low temperatures, making it suitable for developing optoelectronic devices. MgZnO (~0.1) films were grown on sapphire by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy under different substrate-growth temperatures of 350-650 °C and studied by multiple characterization technologies like X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), Raman scattering, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and first-principle calculations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Epithelial cells have been acknowledged as important players in autoimmune diseases by directing and enhancing inflammatory responses. Here, we summarize recent publications that examine keratinocyte (KC) dysfunction and its contribution to cutaneous and systemic disease in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.
Recent Findings: Chronic upregulation of type I interferon (IFN) in KCs is a feature of both lesional and nonlesional lupus skin.
AlGaN is attractive for fabricating deep ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronic and electronic devices of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, high-electron-mobility field-effect transistors (HEMTs), etc. We investigated the quality and optical properties of AlGaN films with high Al fractions (60-87%) grown on sapphire substrates, including AlN nucleation and buffer layers, by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). They were initially investigated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) and Raman scattering (RS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe liver is an important organ located on the right side of the abdomen, predominantly responsible for controlling mechanisms related to metabolism, immunity, digestion, detoxification, and coagulation. The gallbladder is an organ present in the gallbladder fossa on the inferior surface of the liver. The main function of the gallbladder is to store and concentrate bile, aiding in fat digestion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of ultrasonography to diagnose and manage peripheral nerve injury is not routinely performed, but is an advantageous alternative to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the pediatric population.
Case Description: The authors report a case of a toddler-aged female who sustained a supracondylar fracture and subsequent median and ulnar nerve injuries. All preoperative and postoperative imaging was performed through high-resolution ultrasound as opposed to MRI.
Macrophage metabolic plasticity is central to inflammatory programming, yet mechanisms of coordinating metabolic and inflammatory programs during infection are poorly defined. Here, we show that type I interferon (IFN) temporally guides metabolic control of inflammation during methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. We find that staggered Toll-like receptor and type I IFN signaling in macrophages permit a transient energetic state of combined oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and aerobic glycolysis followed by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-mediated OXPHOS disruption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a valuable assessment of the patient's awareness of time and place. We show that bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) significantly affects MoCA testing when administered by the intravesical route. MoCA scores were lower with increasing age and higher in more formally educated individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGaN on Si plays an important role in the integration and promotion of GaN-based wide-gap materials with Si-based integrated circuits (IC) technology. A series of GaN film materials were grown on Si (111) substrate using a unique plasma assistant molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) technology and investigated using multiple characterization techniques of Nomarski microscopy (NM), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), variable angular spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), Raman scattering, photoluminescence (PL), and synchrotron radiation (SR) near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. NM confirmed crack-free wurtzite (w-) GaN thin films in a large range of 180-1500 nm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDermatologie (Heidelb)
July 2024
Background/purpose: Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) affects up to 70% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and type I interferons (IFNs) are important promoters of SLE and CLE. Our previous work identified IFN-kappa (IFN-κ), a keratinocyte-produced type I IFN, as upregulated in non-lesional and lesional lupus skin and as a critical regulator for enhanced UVB-mediated cell death in SLE keratinocytes. Importantly, the molecular mechanisms governing regulation of IFN-κ expression have been relatively unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Ultraviolet (UV) light is a known trigger of both cutaneous and systemic disease manifestations in lupus patients. Lupus skin has elevated expression of type I interferons (IFNs) that promote increased keratinocyte (KC) death after UV exposure. The mechanisms by which KC cell death is increased by type I IFNs are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an inflammatory disease of the esophagus that belongs to the spectrum of Th2-mediated diseases. It is often associated with atopic comorbidities such as allergic asthma (AA) and poses a therapeutic challenge.
Case Report: We report on a 43-year-old patient with EoE and AA who did not show sufficient therapeutic control despite standard therapy.
Photosensitivity is observed in numerous autoimmune diseases and drives poor quality of life and disease flares. Elevated epidermal type I interferon (IFN) production primes for photosensitivity and enhanced inflammation, but the substrates that sustain and amplify this cycle remain undefined. Here, we show that IFN-induced Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1) stabilizes ultraviolet (UV)B-induced cytosolic Z-DNA derived from oxidized mitochondrial DNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtypical dopamine transporter (DAT) inhibitors have shown therapeutic potential in the preclinical models of psychostimulant use disorders (PSUD). In rats, 1-(4-(2-((bis(4-fluorophenyl)methyl)sulfinyl)ethyl)-piperazin-1-yl)-propan-2-ol () was effective in reducing the reinforcing effects of both cocaine and methamphetamine but did not exhibit psychostimulant behaviors itself. Improvements in DAT affinity and metabolic stability were desirable for discovering pipeline drug candidates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe high-quality aluminum nitride (AlN) epilayer is the key factor that directly affects the performance of semiconductor deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photoelectronic devices. In this work, to investigate the influence of thickness on the quality of the AlN epilayer, two AlN-thick epi-film samples were grown on c-plane sapphire substrates. The optical and structural characteristics of AlN films are meticulously examined by using high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a dual-beam ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Improving racial/ethnic diversity in neurosurgery is a long-standing issue that needs to be addressed. The positive correlation between medical students with home neurosurgery programs and successful matriculation into neurosurgical residency is well documented. In this article, the authors explored the relationship between decreased racial/ethnic diversity in neurosurgery residency programs and racial/ethnic diversity in feeder medical schools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Atrial fibrillation (AF) risk increases with age. We aim to assess the efficacy and safety of catheter ablation in the older population.
Methods: All patients undergoing AF ablation (2013-2021) at our institution were enrolled in a prospectively maintained registry.
Rationale: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease involving different cytokines and chemokines.
Objectives: Here we use single-cell transcriptomic analyses to identify relevant immune cell and nonimmune cell populations for an in-depth characterization of cell types and inflammatory mediators in this disease.
Methods: Psoriasis skin lesions of eight patients are analyzed using single-cell technology.