Rational construction of porous cobalt nanoparticle integrated nitrogen doped hollow carbon nanostructures for peptide agonist exendin-4 biosensing.

In this study, we designed a point-of-care (POC) testing electrochemical biosensor using an integrated biosensing assay based on hollow-like nitrogen-doped carbon nanostructures combined with cobalt nanoparticles (Co@HNCNs, CoO@HNCNs, and CoP@HNCNs). These are functionalized with Anti-Exendin-4 Antibodies (Anti-Ex-4-Abs) and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) to create sensitive probes (Co@HNCNs/Anti-Ex-4-Abs/BSA, CoO@HNCNs/Anti-Ex-4-Abs/BSA, and CoP@HNCNs/Anti-Ex-4-Abs/BSA) for the ultrasensitive detection of exendin-4 (Ex-4), a peptide agonist used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Among the cobalt-based carbon nanostructures, the CoO@HNCNs/Anti-Ex-4-Abs/BSA nanoprobe demonstrated superior ability to specifically recognize Ex-4.

Thermal stability and coalescence dynamics of exsolved metal nanoparticles at charged perovskite surfaces.

Exsolution reactions enable the synthesis of oxide-supported metal nanoparticles, which are desirable as catalysts in green energy conversion technologies. It is crucial to precisely tailor the nanoparticle characteristics to optimize the catalysts' functionality, and to maintain the catalytic performance under operation conditions. We use chemical (co)-doping to modify the defect chemistry of exsolution-active perovskite oxides and examine its influence on the mass transfer kinetics of Ni dopants towards the oxide surface and on the subsequent coalescence behavior of the exsolved nanoparticles during a continuous thermal reduction treatment.

Gross morphology and adhesion-associated physical properties of Drosophila larval salivary gland glue secretion.

One of the major functions of the larval salivary glands (SGs) of many Drosophila species is to produce a massive secretion during puparium formation. This so-called proteinaceous glue is exocytosed into the centrally located lumen, and subsequently expectorated, serving as an adhesive to attach the puparial case to a solid substrate during metamorphosis. Although this was first described almost 70 years ago, a detailed description of the morphology and mechanical properties of the glue is largely missing.

Rapid and Universal Synthesis of 2D Transition Metal (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, and W) Sulfides through Oxide Sulfurization in CS Vapor.

Transition metal (TM) sulfides belong to the class of 2D materials with a wide application range. Various methods, including solvothermal, hydrothermal, chemical vapor deposition, and quartz ampoule-based approaches, have been employed for the synthesis of TM sulfides. Some of them face limitations due to the low stability of TM sulfides and their susceptibility to oxidation, and others require more sophisticated equipment or complex and rare precursors or are not scalable.

Exercise capacity after total cavopulmonary anastomosis: a longitudinal paediatric and adult study.

Aims: Fontan palliation is a surgical strategy for patients with complex congenital heart disease, in whom biventricular circulation cannot be achieved. Long-term survival is negatively affected by the absence of sub-pulmonary ventricle and increased systemic venous pressure. Exercise capacity is a known predictor of overall survival and quality of life in congenital heart defects.

Plastic ingestion by the Wels catfish ( L.): detailed chemical analysis and degradation state evaluation.

Plastic ingestion by various organisms within different trophic levels, including humans, is becoming a serious problem worldwide. Plastic waste samples are often found concentrated in an organism's digestive tract and can be degraded and further translocate to the surrounding tissue or circulatory systems and accumulate in food chains. In the present work, we report a detailed chemical analysis and degradation state evaluation of a relatively large piece of plastic waste found in the gastrointestinal tract of a Wels catfish ( L.

Remarkable differences in the voltammetric response towards hydrogen peroxide, oxygen and Ru(NH) of electrode interfaces modified with HF or LiF-HCl etched TiCT MXene.

An electrochemical study was performed on the behavior of TiCT MXenes prepared by using either HF (MXene1) or LiF/HCl as etchants (MXene2). The use of two redox probes indicates the presence of a higher negative charge density on MXene2 in comparison to MXene1. The characterization of two nanomaterials shows that titanium and fluoride are present higher by one order of magnitude at the interface of MXene2, compared to MXene1.

de.NBI Cloud federation through ELIXIR AAI.

The academic de.NBI Cloud offers compute resources for life science research in Germany.  At the beginning of 2017, de.

Common ELIXIR Service for Researcher Authentication and Authorisation.

A common Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) that would allow single sign-on to services has been identified as a key enabler for European bioinformatics. ELIXIR AAI is an ELIXIR service portfolio for authenticating researchers to ELIXIR services and assisting these services on user privileges during research usage. It relieves the scientific service providers from managing the user identities and authorisation themselves, enables the researcher to have a single set of credentials to all ELIXIR services and supports meeting the requirements imposed by the data protection laws.

Surface Nanostructures Composed of Thiolated Cyclodextrin/Au and Fe Species: Gas- and Liquid-Phase Preparation.

Supramolecular surface nanostructures have application potential as functional devices. The complex combination of thiolated cyclodextrin, chemisorbed on an Au surface (Au-S-CD), with deposited Fe species is studied by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Fe species are prepared by pulsed laser ablation in water and thermal effusion in vacuum.

Validation of physical activity monitors in individuals with diabetes: energy expenditure estimation by the multisensor SenseWear Armband Pro3 and the step counter Omron HJ-720 against indirect calorimetry during walking.

Background: The purpose of this study is to test the agreement between energy expenditure estimate of the SenseWear(®) Armband Pro3 (SWA) (BodyMedia, Pittsburgh, PA) and the Omron HJ-720 (Omron Healthcare, Kyoto, Japan) step counter with indirect calorimetry (IC) as a gold standard in older individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus while walking on a treadmill.

Subjects And Methods: In total, six men (60.3±3.

Incidence, severity, and etiology of drug-induced acute pancreatitis.

Introduction: Drug-induced acute pancreatitis is considered to be a rare diagnosis. The incidence of drug-induced acute pancreatitis is usually estimated from case reports.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, etiology, and severity of drug-induced pancreatitis during a 2-year period in a tertiary hospital.

Secure and pervasive collaborative platform for medical applications.

Providing secure, extensible, pervasive and easy to implement collaborative environment for medical applications poses significant challenge for state-of-the-art computer systems and networks. In this paper, we describe such a collaborative environment developed for Ithanet project, based on Grid authentication mechanisms. Significant effort has been put into developing a system, that is capable of deployment across tightly secured networking environments as implemented in vast majority of hospitals.

CHRM3 gene variation is associated with decreased acute insulin secretion and increased risk for early-onset type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians.

The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype M3 (CHRM3) gene is expressed in islet beta-cells and has a role in stimulating insulin secretion; therefore, CHRM3 was analyzed as a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians. Ten variants were genotyped in a family-based sample (n = 1,037), and 1 variant (rs3738435) located in the 5' untranslated region of an alternative transcript was found to be modestly associated with both early-onset type 2 diabetes and the acute insulin response in a small subset of these subjects. To better assess whether this variant has a role in acute insulin secretion, which could affect risk for early-onset type 2 diabetes, rs3738435 was genotyped in a larger group of normal glucose-tolerant Pima Indians who had measures of acute insulin secretion (n = 282) and a larger case-control group of Pima Indians selected for early-onset type 2 diabetes (n = 348 case subjects with age of onset <25 years; n = 392 nondiabetic control subjects aged >45 years).

Association of amino acid variants in the activating transcription factor 6 gene (ATF6) on 1q21-q23 with type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians.

Activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) is important for protective cell response to accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins in endoplasmic reticulum, and disturbances of this process can contribute to beta-cell apoptosis. We analyzed the structural gene located within a region on 1q21-q23 linked with type 2 diabetes in several populations for variants in the Pima Indians. Functionally important segments of ATF6 were sequenced in 15 diabetic and 15 nondiabetic Pimas and representative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) tested for association with type 2 diabetes in 900-1,000 subjects.

The transcribed endosulfine alpha gene is located within a type 2 diabetes-linked region on 1q: sequence and expression analysis in Pima Indians.

Endosulfine alpha (ENSA) is an endogenous ligand of the sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) that can stimulate insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells. Originally, an intronless gene coding for this protein was assigned to Chr. 14q, but more recent information available in public databases indicated the position of ENSA on 1q21.

Evaluation of the microsomal glutathione S-transferase 3 (MGST3) locus on 1q23 as a Type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene in Pima Indians.

Elevation of plasma glucose concentration may induce generation of oxygen-free radicals, which can play an important role in the progression of diabetes and/or development of its complications. Various glutathione transferases utilize the availability of reduced glutathione for the cellular defense against oxygen-free radicals. One such enzyme is microsomal glutathione S-transferase 3 encoded by MGST3, which maps to chromosome 1q23, a region linked to Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Pima Indians, Caucasian, and Chinese populations.

Molecular analysis of KCNJ10 on 1q as a candidate gene for Type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians.

The KCNJ10 gene is located within a region on chromosome 1q linked to type 2 diabetes in the Pima Indians and six other populations. We therefore investigated this gene as a potential type 2 diabetes candidate gene in Pima Indians. KCNJ10 consists of two exons, spans approximately 33 kb, and we identified eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including one (SNP2) in the coding region leading to a Glu359Lys substitution.

Identification of susceptibility genes for complex metabolic diseases.

There are few successful attempts to identify genes for common, non-Mendelian diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, etc. Such common disorders are typically both metabolically and genetically complex and the genetic technologies to identify their underlying susceptibility genes are still in their infancy. Nonetheless, genetic strategies have emerged that, when the technologies are fully developed, should allow similar success rates as for Mendelian diseases.

Cloning, expression and genomic structure of human LMX1A, and variant screening in Pima Indians.

LIM-homeodomain containing protein LMX1A activates transcription of the insulin gene. The human LMX1A gene maps to 1q22-q23, a region identified as a putative type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) locus in several different populations. We analyzed LMX1A as a positional and biological candidate gene for T2DM in the Pima Indians, in whom a linkage of T2DM to 1q21-q23 has been previously reported.