Highly Efficient Solar-Light-Driven Photodegradation of Metronidazole by Nickel Hexacyanoferrate Nanocubes Showing Enhanced Catalytic Performances.

Environmental pollution is a complex problem that threatens the health and life of animal and plant ecosystems on the planet. In this respect, the scientific community faces increasingly challenging tasks in designing novel materials with beneficial properties to address this issue. This study describes a simple yet effective synthetic protocol to obtain nickel hexacyanoferrate (Ni-HCF) nanocubes as a suitable photocatalyst, which can enable an efficient photodegradation of hazardous anthropogenic organic contaminants in water, such as antibiotics.

Confinement Accelerates Water Oxidation Catalysis: Evidence from In Situ Studies.

Basic insight into the structural evolution of electrocatalysts under operating conditions is of substantial importance for designing water oxidation catalysts. The first-row transition metal-based catalysts present state-of-the-art oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance under alkaline conditions. Apparently, confinement has become an exciting strategy to boost the performance of these catalysts.

Long-term clinical outcome of dental implants: A retrospective clinical study with a minimum follow-up between 9.5 and 17.7 years.

The aim of this retrospective case series was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of the patients that underwent implant surgery in all indication classes, with a follow-up of at least 9 years. 121 healthy patients in need for oral rehabilitation with dental implants were included in this study. 196 implants (160 conical, 73 cylindric design implants) were inserted.

Mathematical modeling of multicomponent NaCl and KCl diffusion process during the salting of pre-cooked champignon mushrooms.

Wet salting is an old preservation method however the NaCl has been frequently associated to high blood pressure issues. The KCl has been used as partial replacement without affecting the acceptability of the final product. In this study, the simultaneous diffusion of NaCl and KCl in champignon mushrooms in static brine and brine under agitation was modeled based on the generalization of Fick's second diffusion law and simulated using the finite element method.

Bilateral non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy treated with HBO2 therapy: A case report of angiographic and electrodiagnostic findings.

Introduction: Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is one of the most widespread visually disabling diseases in the middle-aged and elderly population. It typically presents as acute painless unilateral vision loss in patients over 50 years of age. The fellow eye of NAION patients is often sequentially affected.

[Flight nurses' comprehension about their role in the multiprofesional team of aero-medical transport].

This is a descriptive qualitative research which aimed at identifying the flight nurses' comprehension by about their role in the aero-medical multiprofesional team. A semi-structured interview was carried out with eight flight nurses from Curitiba-PR, from June to August 2009. The speeches were analyzed by the content analysis, from which three categories emerged.

The Italian version of the Glaucoma Symptom Scale Questionnaire: translation, validation, and reliability.

Purpose: To validate the Italian version of the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) Questionnaire and its symptoms and function subscales.

Methods: This transversal validation study enrolled nonhospitalized patients with glaucoma, and a reference sample of patients without eye diseases. Eligible participants had to be cognitively able to respond to a health status interview.

From dorzolamide 2%/timolol 0.5% to brinzolamide 1%/timolol 0.5% fixed combination: a 6-month, multicenter, open-label tolerability switch study.

Purpose: To assess ocular surface status and tolerability after switching glaucoma patients from dorzolamide/timolol to brinzolamide/timolol fixed combination (FC).

Methods: Six-month, multicenter, open-label, prospective study that switched 72 patients from dorzolamide/timolol to brinzolamide/timolol FC. Intraocular pressure (IOP), tear film break-up-time (TF-BUT), fluorescein staining and Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) questionnaire were recorded at baseline and after 6 months.

Recycling of aromatic amino acids via TAT1 allows efflux of neutral amino acids via LAT2-4F2hc exchanger.

The rate of amino acid efflux from individual cells needs to be adapted to cellular demands and plays a central role for the control of extracellular amino acid homeostasis. A particular example of such an outward amino acid transport is the basolateral efflux from transporting epithelial cells located in the small intestine and kidney proximal tubule. Because LAT2-4F2hc (Slc7a8-Slc3a2), the best known basolateral neutral amino acid transporter of these epithelial cells, functions as an obligatory exchanger, we tested whether TAT1 (Slc16a10), the aromatic amino-acid facilitated diffusion transporter, might allow amino acid efflux via this exchanger by recycling its influx substrates.

A novel mutation in the E-cadherin gene in the first family with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer reported in Spain.

Aims: Mutations of the E-cadherin gene (CDH1) result in dominantly inherited hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC). We report a study in the first family diagnosed with HDGC in Spain, examining the presence of mutations in the CDH1 gene.

Methods: The presence of mutations was studied by direct sequencing of all CDH1 exons.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors up-regulate the expression of tight junction proteins.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors promote cell maturation, differentiation, and apoptosis through changes in gene expression. Differentiated epithelial cells are characterized by apical tight junctions (TJ), which play a role in cell-cell adhesion, polarity, and the permeability barrier function of epithelia. The relationship between cellular differentiation and expression of TJ-associated proteins is not known.

Identification of CDH1 germline missense mutations associated with functional inactivation of the E-cadherin protein in young gastric cancer probands.

E-cadherin is involved in the formation of cell-junctions and the maintenance of epithelial integrity. Direct evidence of E-cadherin mutations triggering tumorigenesis has come from the finding of inactivating germline mutations of the gene (CDH1) in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC). We screened a series of 66 young gastric cancer probands for germline CDH1 mutations, and two novel missense alterations together with an intronic variant were identified.

Screening E-cadherin in gastric cancer families reveals germline mutations only in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer kindred.

The International Gastric Cancer Linkage Consortium (IGCLC) predicted that up to 25% of families fulfilling the criteria for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) would harbor CDH1 germline mutations. This was based on observations from the low number of diffuse gastric cancer families described at the time, and its validation would require analysis of larger numbers. Here we report the results of germline CDH1 mutation screening in 39 kindred with familial aggregation of gastric cancer, a subset of which fulfills the criteria defined by the IGCLC for HDGC.

Comparison between superficial and deep acupuncture in the treatment of the shoulder's myofascial pain: a randomized and controlled study.

The principle aim of the present work is the evaluation of the importance of the variable "depth" of needle insertion in the determination of acupuncture's therapeutic results. A randomized clinical trial carried out on 44 patients belonging to two groups of 22 each, suffering from shoulder myofascial pain: group A: superficial acupuncture; group B: deep acupuncture. All of them subjected to the same model of treatment with 13 needles and the treatment of the most painful 4 trigger points (TP) found in the shoulder's area.

Evaluation of diagnostic reliability of DCA 2000 for rapid and simple monitoring of HbA1c.

The monitoring of diabetic patients by evaluating glycated protein levels is now widely accepted and performed. The microchromatographic version of the high performance liquid chromatography method is the technique most frequently used in clinical practice. The DCA 2000 instrument (Bayer Diagnostics, Milan, Italy), based on an immunochemical technique, has been proposed for the rapid and simple evaluation of HbAlc, using even capillary blood.

Characterization of pigs transgenic for human decay-accelerating factor.

Background: To prevent the central role played by complement activation in the hyperacute rejection of pig organs transplanted into primates, pigs transgenic for human decay-accelerating factor (HDAF) have recently been produced. The data presented here extend previous immunohistochemical findings by documenting the immunological characterization and the levels of expression of HDAF in these transgenic pigs.

Methods: Animals from 30 independently derived lines were included in this study.

Effect of rIL-2 treatment on anti-tetanus toxoid response in the elderly.

To explore the effects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment in a vaccination protocol in the elderly, we administered low-dose rIL-2 to a group of aged subjects before primary tetanus toxoid immunization. A specific antibody response was detectable in the serum of 6/8 treated individuals after primary immunization, but in only 2/6 untreated controls; following antigenic boosting, specific antibody levels remained relatively unchanged in all the seroconverters. The data were confirmed by studying the ability to produce tetanus-specific antibodies in vitro, and by isoelectrofocusing analysis of serum anti-tetanus antibodies; this latter study showed a more restricted clonal response to the immunogen in untreated individuals.

Increased urinary NO2-/NO3- and cyclic guanosine monophosphate levels in patients with Bartter's syndrome: relationship to vascular reactivity.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent endogenous vasodilator and plays a pivotal role in the control of vascular tone by the formation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP). Patients affected by Bartter's syndrome have lower than normal vascular reactivity with normohypotension and decreased peripheral resistances in spite of biochemical and hormonal abnormalities typical of hypertension, and it is possible that increased production of NO may be involved in maintaining this reduced vascular response and vasodilatation. We have examined this possibility by studying NO2-/NO3- and cyclic GMP urinary excretions to assess NO production in vivo in seven patients affected by Bartter's syndrome compared with seven healthy controls.

HLA expression in type II mixed cryoglobulinemia and chronic hepatitis C virus.

Objective: Hepatitis C virus infection is closely associated not only with hepatic damage, but also with mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) and other autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders. Because HCV is both hepatotropic and lymphotropic, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the genetic background may influence the clinical pattern seen in different patients.

Method: Two groups of patients with HCV infection were studied: 16 with type II MC and 18 with chronic active hepatitis (CAH).

[Torsional defects of the lower limb: an evaluation of the reliability of the results obtained by CT].

The torsional angle was calculated goniometrically of 9 femurs and 2 tibio-peroneal groups, and then compared to the values obtained from CT scans of the corresponding bones. The results show how the methods adopted up to now have been inaccurate and have yielded only gross definitions of the axis of the femoral neck. As far as this feature is concerned, an error of +/- 6.