Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody titers by fixed cell-based assay: positive predictive value and impact of sample collection timing.

Introduction: In January 2023, our laboratory began performing serum myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody (anti-MOG) titers by fixed cell-based assay (CBA). As a quality assurance (QA) assessment, we evaluated titer positive predictive value (PPV) as well as impact of sample collection timing on titers.

Methods: Among patients who underwent antibody titers to distinguish between low-positive (<1:100) and clear-positive (≥1:100) anti-MOG, records were reviewed to classify results as true-positive (TP) or false-positive (FP) and facilitate PPV calculation.

Carbon-TiO Hybrid Quantum Dots for Photocatalytic Inactivation of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria.

Carbon-semiconductor hybrid quantum dots are classical carbon dots with core carbon nanoparticles doped with a selected nanoscale semiconductor. Specifically, on those with the nanoscale TiO doping, denoted as C-Dots, their synthesis and thorough characterization were reported previously. In this work, the C-Dots were evaluated for their visible light-activated antibacterial function, with the results showing the effective killing of not only Gram-positive but also the generally more resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

Positive predictive value of myositis antibody line blot testing in patients with suspected idiopathic inflammatory myopathy.

Introduction/aims: Line blot (LB) is in widespread use for myositis antibody detection. Yet, studies of its positive predictive value (PPV) in patients with suspected idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), which would be of particular relevance to neuromuscular clinicians, are lacking. We aimed to determine the PPV of myositis antibody LB testing in patients with suspected IIM, and examine whether PPV was significantly impacted by intensity of antibody positivity.

Evaluating yield and utilization of ganglioside antibody testing in clinical practice.

Background And Objectives: Ganglioside antibodies can help diagnose distinct acute and chronic inflammatory neuropathies including axonal variants of Guillain-Barre syndrome, Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS), multifocal motor neuropathy, and chronic sensory ataxic neuropathies. Because ganglioside antibody testing may be routinely ordered in patients with suspected inflammatory neuropathy, we sought to evaluate its yield and utilization in clinical practice.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients at London Health Sciences Centre who underwent ganglioside antibody testing between April 2019 and August 2023.

ATP promotes resident CD34 cell migration mainly through P2Y2-Stim1-ERK/p38 pathway.

Extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is one of the most abundant biochemical constitutes within the stem cell microenvironment and is postulated to play critical roles in cell migration. However, it is unclear whether ATP regulates the cell migration of CD34 vascular wall-resident stem/progenitor cells (VW-SCs) and participates in angiogenesis. Therefore, the biological mechanisms of cell migration mediated by ATP was determined by in vivo subcutaneous matrigel plug assay, ex vivo aortic ring assay, in vitro transwell migration assay, and other molecular methods.

Pediatric Reference Value Profiling of Essential Trace and Toxic Elements in Healthy Children and Adolescents Using High-Resolution and Triple Quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.

Background: Assessment of trace and toxic element status is important for the diagnosis and monitoring of several pediatric conditions. Elemental deficiency and toxicity have serious implications, particularly in pediatrics wherein risk is higher. Pediatric reference intervals (RIs) for trace elements and normal exposure limits for toxic elements are lacking on modern analytical systems.

[Isolation, culture and validation of CD34 vascular wall-resident stem cells from mice].

Vascular wall-resident stem cells (VW-SCs) play a critical role in maintaining normal vascular function and regulating vascular repair. Understanding the basic functional characteristics of the VW-SCs will facilitate the study of their regulation and potential therapeutic applications. The aim of this study was to establish a stable method for the isolation, culture, and validation of the CD34 VW-SCs from mice, and to provide abundant and reliable cell sources for further study of the mechanisms involved in proliferation, migration and differentiation of the VW-SCs under various physiological and pathological conditions.

Carbon Dots: Classically Defined versus Organic Hybrids on Shared Properties, Divergences, and Myths.

Carbon dots are defined as small carbon nanoparticles with effective surface passivation via organic functionalization. The definition is literally a description of what carbon dots are originally found for the functionalized carbon nanoparticles displaying bright and colorful fluorescence emissions, mirroring those from similarly functionalized defects in carbon nanotubes. In literature more popular than classical carbon dots are the diverse variety of dot samples from "one-pot" carbonization of organic precursors.

Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting pelvic lymph node metastasis and prognosis in patients with cervical cancer.

Objective: Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the main causes of death among gynecological malignancies. Patients with CC with lymph node metastasis (LNM) have poor prognoses. We investigated the risk factors and prognosis of LNM in patients with CC patients using data from the SEER database.

Positive Predictive Value of Anti-GAD65 ELISA Cut-Offs for Neurological Autoimmunity.

High anti-GAD65 levels associate with core manifestations of GAD65 neurological autoimmunity. ELISA cut-offs for high anti-GAD65 levels (>10,000 IU/ml in serum, >100 IU/ml in CSF) have been proposed that merit further evaluation. We reviewed patients who underwent anti-GAD65 ELISA for suspected autoimmune encephalitis and found values above these cut-offs to have a positive predictive value (PPV) for neurological autoimmunity of 88%.

Inactivation of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus with Light-Activated Carbon Dots and Mechanistic Implications.

The prevention of viral transmission is an important step to address the spread of viral infections. Using the enveloped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) as a model, this study explored the antiviral functions of the specifically designed and prepared carbon dots (CDots). The CDots were prepared using small carbon nanoparticles with surface functionalization-passivation by oligomeric polyethylenimine (PEI).

Visible Light-Activated Carbon Dots for Inhibiting Biofilm Formation and Inactivating Biofilm-Associated Bacterial Cells.

This study aimed to address the significant problems of bacterial biofilms found in medical fields and many industries. It explores the potential of classic photoactive carbon dots (CDots), with 2,2'-(ethylenedioxy)bis (ethylamine) (EDA) for dot surface functionalization (thus, EDA-CDots) for their inhibitory effect on biofilm formation and the inactivation of cells within established biofilm. The EDA-CDots were synthesized by chemical functionalization of selected small carbon nanoparticles with EDA molecules in amidation reactions.

Carbon "quantum" dots for bioapplications.

Carbon "quantum" dots or carbon dots (CDots) exploit and enhance the intrinsic photoexcited state properties and processes of small carbon nanoparticles via effective nanoparticle surface passivation by chemical functionalization with organic species. The optical properties and photoinduced redox characteristics of CDots are competitive to those of established conventional semiconductor quantum dots and also fullerenes and other carbon nanomaterials. Highlighted here are major advances in the exploration of CDots for their serving as high-performance yet nontoxic fluorescence probes for one- and multi-photon bioimaging and , and for their uniquely potent antimicrobial function to inactivate effectively and efficiently some of the toughest bacterial pathogens and viruses under visible/natural or ambient light conditions.

Exploration for the effect of renal function and renal replacement therapy on pharmacokinetics of remdesivir and GS-441524 in patients with COVID-19: A limited case series.

Remdesivir, an antiviral agent for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is metabolized intracellularly, with these metabolites eliminated predominantly in urine. Because of a lack of safety and pharmacokinetic (PK) data, remdesivir is not currently recommended for patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 30 ml/min/1.73 m and those on hemodialysis.

Decrease of MYPT1 Is Critical for Impairment of NO-mediated Vasodilation in Mesenteric Artery of the Older Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.

Nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilatation is a fundamental response of vasculature, however, regulation of NO signaling pathway on resistance vessels in the older adult with hypertension is still unclear. The 16-week-spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), the 18-month-SHR (OldSHR), and the age-matched Wistar-Kyoto rats were used to study the changes of mesenteric resistance artery dilatation caused by sodium nitroprusside (SNP). After pre-vasoconstriction by norepinephrine (NE), the response of endothelium-denuded mesenteric artery ring to SNP was observed, and the changes in vascular response after pharmacological interventions of key nodes in the NO/sGC/cGMP/PKG1α signaling pathway were observed as well.

Photoactivated Carbon Dots for Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens and Salmonella.

Foodborne pathogens have long been recognized as major challenges for the food industry and repeatedly implicated in food product recalls and outbreaks of foodborne diseases. This study demonstrated the application of a recently discovered class of visible-light-activated carbon-based nanoparticles, namely, carbon dots (CDots), for photodynamic inactivation of foodborne pathogens. The results demonstrated that CDots were highly effective in the photoinactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in suspensions and on stainless steel surfaces.

On the myth of "red/near-IR carbon quantum dots" from thermal processing of specific colorless organic precursors.

Carbon dots were originally found and reported as surface-passivated small carbon nanoparticles, where the effective surface passivation was the chemical functionalization of the carbon nanoparticles with organic molecules. Understandably, the very broad optical absorptions of carbon dots are largely the same as those intrinsic to the carbon nanoparticles, characterized by progressively decreasing absorptivities from shorter to longer wavelengths. Thus, carbon dots are generally weak absorbers in the red/near-IR and correspondingly weak emitters with low quantum yields.

Carbon dots nano-carbon/organic hybrids - dramatically different behaviors in fluorescence sensing of metal cations with structural and mechanistic implications.

Carbon dots (CDots) are defined as surface-passivated small carbon nanoparticles, with the effective passivation generally achieved by organic functionalization. Photoexcited CDots are both potent electron donors and acceptors, and their characteristic bright and colorful fluorescence emissions make them excellent fluorescence sensors for organic analytes and metal ions. For the latter extraordinarily low detection limits based on extremely efficient quenching of fluorescence intensities by the targeted metal cations have been observed and reported in the literature.

Neural Antibody Testing for Autoimmune Encephalitis: A Canadian Single-Centre Experience.

Neural antibodies have emerged as useful biomarkers in suspected autoimmune encephalitis. We reviewed results of neural antibody testing (anti-N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein (LGI1), contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR), γ-aminobutyric acid type B receptor (GABA(B)R), dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (DPPX), IgLON family member 5 (IgLON5) and glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 (GAD65)) using cell-based assays (CBAs) and tissue indirect immunofluorescence (TIIF) at our centre. Our findings suggest increased clinical sensitivity of CBA compared to TIIF.

Neural Antibody Testing in Patients with Suspected Autoimmune Encephalitis.

Background: Autoimmunity is an increasingly recognized cause of encephalitis with a similar prevalence to that of infectious etiologies. Over the past decade there has been a rapidly expanding list of antibody biomarker discoveries that have aided in the identification and characterization of autoimmune encephalitis. As the number of antibody biomarkers transitioning from the research setting into clinical laboratories has accelerated, so has the demand and complexity of panel-based testing.

Carbon dots for effective photodynamic inactivation of virus.

The antiviral function of carbon dots (CDots) with visible light exposure was evaluated, for which the model bacteriophages MS2 as a surrogate of small RNA viruses were used. The results show clearly that the visible light-activated CDots are highly effective in diminishing the infectivity of MS2 in both low and high titer samples to the host cells, and the antiviral effects are dot concentration- and treatment time-dependent. The action of CDots apparently causes no significant damage to the structural integrity and morphology of the MS2 phage or the breakdown of the capsid proteins, but does result in the protein carbonylation (a commonly used indicator for protein oxidation) and the degradation of viral genomic RNA.

Carbon Dots as Potent Antimicrobial Agents.

Carbon dots (CDots) have emerged to represent a highly promising new platform for visible/natural light-activated microbicidal agents. In this article, the syntheses, structures, and properties of CDots are highlighted, representative studies on their activities against bacteria, fungi, and viruses reviewed, and the related mechanistic insights discussed. Also highlighted and discussed are the excellent opportunities for potentially extremely broad applications of this new platform, including theranostics uses.

Essential oil-incorporated carbon nanotubes filters for bacterial removal and inactivation.

In this study, essential oils (EO)-incorporated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) filters were developed for achieving dual functions in effective removing bacteria from aqueous solutions and inactivating bacteria cells captured on the filters. Tea tree essential oil (TTO), lemon essential oil (LEO), and TTO-LEO-mixture were coated on MWCNTs filters with different MWCNTs loadings ranging from 3 mg to 6 mg. MWCNTs filters with 6.