Managing fire risk in housebound people who smoke and require air-alternating pressure-relieving equipment.

Air-alternating pressure mattresses are advised for housebound patients with poor mobility and at risk of developing pressure ulcers. However, those patients who smoke are under significant dangers of fire risks, especially as the pump to provide alternating pressure requires oxygen. This article describes the development and introduction of a comprehensive risk assessment to help guide community nurses' discussions with any patient on their caseload who smokes and also requires air alternative mattresses.

Incidence and type of restrictive practice use in nursing homes in Ireland.

Background: Use of restrictive practices (RP) in care settings may sometimes be warranted but can also conflict with human rights. Research to date has focused primarily on physical and chemical RP, however other forms are also used. Better understanding of practice can inform RP reduction.

Site-specific variations in surface structure and Young's modulus of human hair surfaces at the nanometer scale as induced through bleach treatment.

The effect of bleach treatments on the morphology and mechanical properties of hair surfaces was measured at the nanometer scale using atomic force microscopy. We used an ultrahigh-precision relocation technique to observe the variations in these properties at precise locations on hair surfaces in their virgin state and then after each of the two bleach treatments, to rule out position-dependent fluctuations. We demonstrate that statistically significant variations in roughness and Young's modulus are observed as a result of exposure to bleach, which is known to disrupt the disulfide linkage network throughout the fiber.

Photooxidation crosslinking to recover residual stress in decellularized blood vessel.

Decellularization method based on trypsin-digestion is widely used to construct small diameter vascular grafts. However, this method will reduce the opening angle of the blood vessel and result in the reduction of residual stress. Residual stress reduced has an adverse effect on the compliance and permeability of small diameter vascular grafts.

Recent advances of electrochemical sensors for detecting and monitoring ROS/RNS.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are prominent metabolic products which show well-established significance. At relatively low concentrations, they play multifaceted roles in regulating a number of physiological processes. Overproduction of ROS/RNS contributes to the pathogenesis of a plethora of physiological disorders, including but not limited to cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer.

Plasmon-Induced Trap State Emission from Single Quantum Dots.

Charge carriers trapped at localized surface defects play a crucial role in quantum dot (QD) photophysics. Surface traps offer longer lifetimes than band-edge emission, expanding the potential of QDs as nanoscale light-emitting excitons and qubits. Here, we demonstrate that a nonradiative plasmon mode drives the transfer from two-photon-excited excitons to trap states.

Cadmium-induced dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier depends on ROS-mediated inhibition of PTPase activity in zebrafish.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that cadmium accumulation in the blood increases the risk of neurological diseases. However, how cadmium breaks through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and is transferred from the blood circulation into the central nervous system is still unclear. In this study, we examined the toxic effect of cadmium chloride (CdCl) on the development and function of BBB in zebrafish.

Theoretical estimation of size effects on the electronic transport in tailored graphene nanoribbons.

Focusing on the potential applications of tailored graphene nanoribbons (t-GNRs), in this work, we systematically study size effects on the electronic transport in t-GNR-based molecular junctions. As a result of the manufacturing error generated during the processing or synthesis of t-GNRs using techniques such as ion beam lithography, the final dimensions of the as-fabricated devices often deviate from the design values, giving rise to a size distribution around the mean value which could considerably affect the device performance. To simulate the effects of the manufacturing error, a series of t-GNR-based junctions with various dimensions have been modelled and systematically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) coupled with the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF).

Area-level deprivation and oral cancer in England 2012-2016.

Background: The relationship between deprivation and oral cancer is complex. We examined magnitude and shape of deprivation-related inequalities in oral cancer in England 2012-2016.

Methods: Oral cancer was indicated by cancers of the lip and oral cavity (ICD10 C00-C06) and lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C00-C14) and deprivation by the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Nanoparticles retard immune cells recruitment in vivo by inhibiting chemokine expression.

The large-scale utilization of nanotechnology depends on public and consumer confidence in the safety of this new technology. Studying the interaction of nanoparticles with immune cells plays a vital role in the safety assessment of nanomedicine. Although some researches have indicated that the immune cells undergo severe interfere after phagocytosis of nanoparticles, the impact on immune system of the whole body are still unclear.

M2 macrophage-derived exosomes promote the c-KIT phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells during vascular tissue repair after intravascular stent implantation.

For intravascular stent implantation to be successful, the processes of vascular tissue repair and therapy are considered to be critical. However, the mechanisms underlying the eventual fate of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during vascular tissue repair remains elusive. In this study, we hypothesized that M2 macrophage-derived exosomes to mediate cell-to-cell crosstalk and induce dedifferentiation phenotypes in VSMCs.

SRGN, a new identified shear-stress-responsive gene in endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells (ECs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, especially atherosclerosis (AS). The abnormal wall shear stress (WSS) which directly contacts with ECs is the key stimulating factor leading to AS. However, the underlying mechanism of ECs responding to WSS is still incompletely understood.

Overview of Crosstalk Between Multiple Factor of Transcytosis in Blood Brain Barrier.

Blood brain barrier (BBB) conserves unique regulatory system to maintain barrier tightness while allowing adequate transport between neurovascular units. This mechanism possess a challenge for drug delivery, while abnormality may result in pathogenesis. Communication between vascular and neural system is mediated through paracellular and transcellular (transcytosis) pathway.

Adsorption of 4--Nonylphenol, Carvacrol, and Ethanol onto Iron Oxide from Nonaqueous Hydrocarbon Solvents.

The adsorption of 4--nonylphenol (4NP), carvacrol, and ethanol onto the surface of iron oxide from nonaqueous solutions is presented. It is found that adsorption of 4NP from alkanes is strong and proceeds to monolayer formation, where the molecules are essentially "upright". However, at high relative concentrations, ethanol successfully out-competes 4NP for the iron oxide surface.

Size effects in the resistivity of graphene nanoribbons.

The electrical resistivity of single-layer graphene nanoribbons has been studied experimentally for ribbon widths from 16 to 320 nm and is shown to validate the expected quantum scattering model for conduction through confined graphene structures. The experimental findings are that the resistivity follows a more dramatic trend than that seen for metallic nanowires of similar dimensions, due to a combination of the nature of the charge carriers in this 2D material, surface scattering from the edges, bandgap related effects and shifts in the Fermi level due to edge effects. We show that the charge neutrality point switches polarity below a ribbon width of around 50 nm, and that at this point, the thermal coefficient of resistance is a maximum.

Mussel adhesive protein fused with VE-cadherin extracellular domain promotes endothelial-cell tight junctions and in vivo endothelization recovery of vascular stent.

Improving the surface properties of vascular stents to accelerate endothelialization in vivo could play an important role in minimizing the risk of late thrombosis. We previously showed that mussel adhesive protein fused with VE-cadherin extracellular domain (VE-M) specifically triggered endothelial cell adhesion in vitro. In this study, using stent implants coated with VE-M, we evaluated the clinical applicability of VE-M in endothelialization recovery in vivo.

Atherosclerosis Treatment with Stimuli-Responsive Nanoagents: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.

Atherosclerosis is the root of approximately one-third of global mortalities. Nanotechnology exhibits splendid prospects to combat atherosclerosis at the molecular level by engineering smart nanoagents with versatile functionalizations. Significant advances in nanoengineering enable nanoagents to autonomously navigate in the bloodstream, escape from biological barriers, and assemble with their nanocohort at the targeted lesion.

Anomalously Large Spectral Shifts near the Quantum Tunnelling Limit in Plasmonic Rulers with Subatomic Resolution.

The resonance wavelength of a coupled plasmonic system is extremely sensitive to the distance between its metallic surfaces, resulting in "plasmon rulers". We explore this behavior in the subnanometer regime using self-assembled monolayers of bis-phthalocyanine molecules in a nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPoM) construct. These allow unprecedented subangstrom control over spacer thickness via choice of metal center, in a gap-size regime at the quantum-mechanical limit of plasmonic enhancement.

Electron transport behavior of quinoidal heteroacene-based junctions: effective electron-transport pathways and quantum interference.

The electron transport behavior through a series of molecular junctions composed of tetracene (TC) and S/O substituted-TC (S/O-TC) has been studied using density functional theory (DFT) combined with the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method. The unique transport behavior has been interpreted using correlated quantum interference and electron transport pathway models. In the TC system, two dominant electron transfer channels exist as demonstrated by a detailed transmission pathway analysis.

Recent advancements in the use of exosomes as drug delivery systems.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are the substances that are released by most types of cells and have an important role in cell to cell communication. Among the most highly researched EVs are exosome. Recent studies show that exosomes derived from cells have different roles and targets.

Periodic ripples on thermally-annealed graphene on Cu (110)-reconstruction or moiré pattern?

We have used ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to investigate the effect of thermal annealing of graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on a Cu(110) foil. We show that the annealing appears to induce a reconstruction of the Cu surface along the [210] direction, with a period of 1.43 nm.

Effect of Surface Treatments on the Nanomechanical Properties of Human Hair.

The structural properties of hair are largely determined by the state of the surface. Advanced imaging modes of atomic force microscopy, where the surface mechanics can be correlated with surface topography, have been used to spatially map variations in hair surfaces following chemical and mechanical treatments. Through analysis of multilayered data obtained in this way, we show that the processes of bleaching and combing of hair not only alter the surface roughness, but also alter the mechanical stiffness, adhesion properties, and surface potential of hair, in terms of the mean values and their distributions.

Endogenous pH-responsive nanoparticles with programmable size changes for targeted tumor therapy and imaging applications.

Nanotechnology-based antitumor drug delivery systems, known as nanocarriers, have demonstrated their efficacy in recent years. Typically, the size of the nanocarriers is around 100 nm. It is imperative to achieve an optimum size of these nanocarriers which must be designed uniquely for each type of delivery process.

On the use of nanomechanical atomic force microscopy to characterise oil-exposed surfaces.

Oil-exposed surfaces are susceptible to carbonaceous deposits (CDs). In turn, deposits are responsible for fouling, compromising performance and reducing profitability across the hydrocarbon value chain. An understanding of the deposition behaviour of these organic molecules is therefore imperative.