5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) is a key biomass derived platform chemical used to produce fuel precursors or additives and value-added chemicals, synthesised by the cascade isomerisation of glucose and subsequent dehydration of reactively formed fructose to HMF over Lewis and Bronsted acid catalysts, respectively. Zirconia is a promising catalyst for such reactions; however, the impact of acid properties of different zirconia phases is poorly understood. In this work, we unravel the role of the zirconia crystalline phase in glucose isomerisation and fructose dehydration to HMF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGMS Hyg Infect Control
April 2024
Aim: Seasonal influenza poses a significant burden of disease, affecting not only older adults but also individuals under the age of 60. It carries a high economic burden, mainly driven by influenza-associated productivity losses in the working population. Conventional egg-based influenza vaccines may have reduced effectiveness due to antigen adaptation in eggs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The role of cytoreductive surgery for epithelioid pleural mesothelioma within a multimodal treatment approach remains controversial. Carefully selected patients benefit from cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, but there is no established biomarker to predict tumor recurrence or progression during the course of the disease. The aim of this study was to identify potential biomarkers to predict therapeutic response in terms of progression-free survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFG protein-coupled receptors show preference for G protein subtypes but can recruit multiple G proteins with various downstream signaling cascades. This functional selection can guide drug design. Dopamine receptors are both stimulatory (D-like) and inhibitory (D-like) with diffuse expression across the central nervous system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWien Klin Wochenschr
February 2024
The population < 60 years of age is also affected by a significant disease burden from seasonal influenza. It carries a high economic burden, mainly driven by influenza-associated productivity losses in the working population. Conventional egg-based influenza vaccines may experience reduced effectiveness due to antigen adaptation in eggs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are established risk factors for liver fibrosis (LF), but data on the impact of methotrexate on LF in patients with psoriasis are lacking.
Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of LF in patients with psoriasis and to evaluate the relationship between LF, cumulative methotrexate dose and other LF risk factors.
Methods: Adults with a history of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis were recruited between June 2020 and March 2021.
Childhood infections have been shown to stunt growth, contribute to malnutrition and reduce cognition in early adulthood. This study aimed to assess relationships between early life infections and childhood cognition at age 11 years in the Newcastle Thousand Families Study (NTFS). The analysis included 741 members from the NTFS who had complete data for infections between birth and 5 years, and the 11-plus examinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBr J Hist Sci
December 2023
This article interrogates the scientific conference as a means by which the organizers of the World League for Sexual Reform's 1929 conference attempted to marshal the 'scientific spirit' in order to present progressive sexual reform as a rational and scientifically informed undertaking. The conference was carefully curated to make the sex reform movement (and the assorted characters that gathered under its banner) look serious, legitimate and, most importantly, scientific. The conference was also an attempt by organizer Norman Haire to exert control over the strategy of sexology, an enterprise that put him at odds with other prominent sexologists of the time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In myasthenia gravis (MG), depression and anxiety have frequently been reported as comorbidities. However, little is known about personality characteristics in MG patients. We aimed to characterise personality traits in MG and to correlate them with disease severity and disease course.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNaunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol
January 2024
Clonidine has various clinical effects mediated by agonism of α- or α-adrenoceptors and the blocking of hyperpolarization-activated-nucleotide-gated pacemaker channels (HCN). It is unknown whether clonidine can also stimulate human cardiac histamine H receptors (hHRs). We used isolated electrically stimulated left and spontaneously beating right atrial preparations from mice overexpressing the hHR specifically in the heart (H-TG), and spontaneously beating right atrial preparations of guinea pigs for comparison.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe manipulation of carbon nitride (CN) structures is one main avenue to enhance the activity of CN-based photocatalysts. Increasing the efficiency of photocatalytic heterogeneous materials is a critical step toward the realistic implementation of sustainable schemes for organic synthesis. However, limited knowledge of the structure/activity relationship in relation to subtle structural variations prevents a fully rational design of new photocatalytic materials, limiting practical applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNaunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol
December 2023
Ergometrine (6aR,9R)-N-((S)-1-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-7-methyl-4,6,6a,7,8,9-hexa-hydro-indolo-[4,3-fg]chinolin-9-carboxamide or lysergide acid β-ethanolamide or ergonovine) activates several types of serotonin and histamine receptors in the animal heart. We thus examined whether ergometrine can activate human serotonin 5-HT receptors (h5-HTR) and/or human histamine H receptors (hHR) in the heart of transgenic mice and/or in the human isolated atrium. Force of contraction or beating rates were studied in electrically stimulated left atrial or spontaneously beating right atrial preparations or spontaneously beating isolated retrogradely perfused hearts (Langendorff setup) of mice with cardiac specific overexpression of the h5-HTR (5-HT-TG) or of mice with cardiac specific overexpression of the hHR (H-TG) or in electrically stimulated human right atrial preparations obtained during cardiac surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Hearing loss is most prevalent among older adults, yet underestimated by patients, clinicians, and research communities. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of self-reported hearing difficulties among a group of adults aged 61-63 years, against audiometric measures.
Method: The analysis used a sample ( = 346) of the Newcastle Thousand Families Study birth cohort.
In 2011, the American Medical Association added a section on professionalism and social media (i.e., e-professionalism) to the Code of Medical Ethics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerein, the alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol in a series of SBA-15-pr-SOH catalysts with different pore sizes is reported. Elemental analysis and NMR relaxation/diffusion methods show that changes in pore size have a significant effect on catalyst activity and durability. In particular, the decrease in catalyst activity after catalyst reuse is mainly due to carbonaceous deposition, whereas leaching of sulfonic acid groups is not significant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlginate-based hydrogels are a promising class of biomaterials due to their usability, biocompatibility, and high water-binding capacity which is the reason for their broad use in biofabrication. One challenge of these biomaterials is, however, the lack of cell adhesion motifs. This drawback can be overcome by oxidizing alginate to alginate dialdehyde (ADA) and by subsequent cross-linking with gelatin (GEL) to fabricate ADA-GEL hydrogels, which offer improved cell-material interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Overweight and obesity represent huge concerns for children's physical and mental well-being. This study examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), somatoform complaints, and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Additionally, the influence of sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES) on these associations was considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Workforce shortage is a contributing cause of health inequality in rural Australia. There is inconclusive evidence demonstrating which factors cause doctors to choose rural practice. This study's objective is to determine predictive factors for medical students' intent to work rurally and for graduates' current rural employment location choice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF3D neuronal cultures attempt to better replicate the in vivo environment to study neurological/neurodegenerative diseases compared to 2D models. A challenge to establish 3D neuron culture models is the low elastic modulus (30-500 Pa) of the native brain. Here, an ultra-soft matrix based on thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) reinforced with a microfiber frame is formulated and used.
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