Nanostructure controlled sustained delivery of human growth hormone using injectable, biodegradable, pH/temperature responsive nanobiohybrid hydrogel.

The clinical efficacy of a therapeutic protein, the human growth hormone (hGH), is limited by its short plasma half-life and premature degradation. To overcome this limitation, we proposed a new protein delivery system by the self-assembly and intercalation of a negatively charged hGH onto a positively charged 2D-layered double hydroxide nanoparticle (LDH). The LDH-hGH ionic complex, with an average particle size of approximately 100 nm, retards hGH diffusion.

New and emerging drugs and targets for type 2 diabetes: reviewing the evidence.

Background: Diabetes is a deadly and costly disease. The number of adults in the United States with newly diagnosed diabetes has nearly tripled from 1980 to 2011. At the current pace, 1 in 3 US adults will have diabetes in their lifetime.

Novel method for screening microbes for application in microbial fuel cell.

The ability to produce and to transport exo-electrons by microbes either to external acceptors or to electrodes are reported in our study. All investigated microorganisms (exception of Lactobacillus plantarum) exhibited strong iron-reducing capabilities in the absence of mediator meaning production and secretion of exo-electrons to the growth medium. L.

Epidemiology and prevention of prostate cancer in Vietnam.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and a leading cause of mortality. Incidences continues to rise and vary substantially between populations. Although the prevalence of prostate cancer is relatively low in Vietnam, some hospital-based reports have shown an upward trend in recent years.

Molecular imaging of the pulmonary circulation in health and disease.

The pulmonary circulation, at the unique crossroads between the left and the right heart, is submitted to large physiologic hemodynamic variations and possesses numerous important metabolic functions mediated through its vast endothelial surface. There are many pathologic conditions that can directly or indirectly affect the pulmonary vasculature and modify its physiology and functions. Pulmonary hypertension, the end result of many of these affections, is unfortunately diagnosed too late in the disease process, meaning that there is a crying need for earlier diagnosis and surrogate markers of disease progression and regression.

Hepatitis B: are at-risk individuals vaccinated if screened and found negative for HBV? Results of an online survey conducted in six EU countries.

Introduction: Vaccination is the best way to prevent hepatitis B infection and its consequences. The aim of the present study is to analyze the current vaccination practices within various population subgroups who are offered screening for hepatitis B, when found negative, in Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

Methods: Online surveys were conducted in the six countries.

Prevalence of comorbidities and their impact on hospital management and short-term outcomes in Vietnamese patients hospitalized with a first acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. We conducted a pilot study of Hanoi residents hospitalized with a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at the Vietnam National Heart Institute in Hanoi for purposes of describing the prevalence of cardiovascular (CVD) and non-CVD comorbidities and their impact on hospital management, in-hospital clinical complications, and short-term mortality in these patients.

Methods: The study population consisted of 302 Hanoi residents hospitalized with a first AMI at the largest tertiary care medical center in Hanoi in 2010.

Biological control of Xanthomonas Oryzae pv. Oryzae causing rice bacterial blight disease by Streptomyces toxytricini VN08-A-12, isolated from soil and leaf-litter samples in Vietnam.

A total of 2690 actinomycete strains were screened as potential biological control agents in controlling rice bacterial blight (BB) in Vietnam. From these microorganisms, seventeen actinomycete strains were found to be capable of inhibiting all 10 major Xoo races isolated from Xoo-infected rice leaves. One strain, namely VN08-A-12, contained effective characteristics in selectively inhibiting all 10 races in vitro, but did not inhibit most of the other tested microorganisms.

Scaling of olfactory antennae of the terrestrial hermit crabs Coenobita rugosus and Coenobita perlatus during ontogeny.

Although many lineages of terrestrial crustaceans have poor olfactory capabilities, crabs in the family Coenobitidae, including the terrestrial hermit crabs in the genus Coenobita, are able to locate food and water using olfactory antennae (antennules) to capture odors from the surrounding air. Terrestrial hermit crabs begin their lives as small marine larvae and must find a suitable place to undergo metamorphosis into a juvenile form, which initiates their transition to land. Juveniles increase in size by more than an order of magnitude to reach adult size.

New drug therapies for the treatment of overweight and obese patients.

Background: Obesity is a serious and costly disease that is growing in epidemic proportions. Obesity-related hospitalizations have nearly tripled from 1996 to 2009. If the current trend in the growth of obesity continues, the total healthcare costs attributable to obesity could reach $861 billion to $957 billion by 2030.

CTSH regulates β-cell function and disease progression in newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients.

Over 40 susceptibility loci have been identified for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Little is known about how these variants modify disease risk and progression. Here, we combined in vitro and in vivo experiments with clinical studies to determine how genetic variation of the candidate gene cathepsin H (CTSH) affects disease mechanisms and progression in T1D.

Systematic fine-mapping of association with BMI and type 2 diabetes at the FTO locus by integrating results from multiple ethnic groups.

Background/objective: The 16q12.2 locus in the first intron of FTO has been robustly associated with body mass index (BMI) and type 2 diabetes in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To improve the resolution of fine-scale mapping at FTO, we performed a systematic approach consisting of two parts.

Combination of brinzolamide and brimonidine for glaucoma and ocular hypertension: critical appraisal and patient focus.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness and is characterized by optic nerve damage that results in visual field loss. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) has been associated with glaucoma progression; thus, IOP-lowering medications are the standard of care for glaucoma. Guidelines suggest monotherapy with IOP-lowering agents such as β-blockers (eg, timolol), prostaglandin analogs, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (eg, brinzolamide), and α2-receptor agonists (eg, brimonidine).

Effect of molecular structure of sulphonated polyimide membranes on water sorption.

Water sorption in sulphonated polyimides with or without ionic block structure was analysed with Feng's new dual mode model. The effect of their molecular structure that determines the chain organisation in the solid materials was analysed by using the model parameters. The model parameters Cp and A' correspond to the sorbed water molecules on the first layer close to the ionic groups and on the subsequent layers, respectively.

Evaluation of drought tolerance of the Vietnamese soybean cultivars provides potential resources for soybean production and genetic engineering.

Drought is one of the greatest constraints to soybean production in many countries, including Vietnam. Although a wide variety of the newly produced cultivars have been produced recently in Vietnam through classical breeding to cope with water shortage, little knowledge of their molecular and physiological responses to drought has been discovered. This study was conducted to quickly evaluate drought tolerance of thirteen local soybean cultivars for selection of the best drought-tolerant cultivars for further field test.

Sex differences in clinical characteristics, hospital management practices, and in-hospital outcomes in patients hospitalized in a Vietnamese hospital with a first acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. We conducted a pilot study of Hanoi residents hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at the Vietnam National Heart Institute in Hanoi. The objectives of this observational study were to examine sex differences in clinical characteristics, hospital management, in-hospital clinical complications, and mortality in patients hospitalized with an initial AMI.

Inhibitory and excitatory amino acid neurotransmitters are utilized by the projection from the dorsal deep mesencephalic nucleus to the sublaterodorsal nucleus REM sleep induction zone.

The sublaterodorsal nucleus (SLD) in the pons of the rat is a locus supporting short-latency induction of a REM sleep-like state following local application of a GABAA receptor antagonist or kainate, glutamate receptor agonist. One putatively relevant source of these neurotransmitters is from the region of the deep mesencephalic nucleus (DpMe) just ventrolateral to the periaquiductal gray, termed the dorsal DpMe (dDpMe). Here, the amino acid neurotransmitter innervation of SLD from dDpMe was studied utilizing anterograde tract-tracing with biotinylated dextranamine (BDA) and fluorescence immunohistochemistry visualized with laser scanning confocal microscopy.

DNA from pre-erythrocytic stage malaria parasites is detectable by PCR in the faeces and blood of hosts.

Following the bite of an infective mosquito, malaria parasites first invade the liver where they develop and replicate for a number of days before being released into the bloodstream where they invade red blood cells and cause disease. The biology of the liver stages of malaria parasites is relatively poorly understood due to the inaccessibility of the parasites to sampling during this phase of their life cycle. Here we report the detection in blood and faecal samples of malaria parasite DNA throughout their development in the livers of mice and before the parasites begin their growth in the blood circulation.

Effectiveness of intraocular pressure-lowering medication determined by washout.

IMPORTANCE While medication efficacy is well documented in clinical trials, less is known of medication effectiveness in real-world clinical settings. OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering medications in patients with open-angle glaucoma. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective, multicenter, interventional cohort from the prerandomization phase of a randomized clinical trial at multiple ophthalmology clinics.

A genetic map of Peromyscus with chromosomal assignment of linkage groups (a Peromyscus genetic map).

The rodent genus Peromyscus is the most numerous and species-rich mammalian group in North America. The naturally occurring diversity within this genus allows opportunities to investigate the genetic basis of adaptation, monogamy, behavioral and physiological phenotypes, growth control, genomic imprinting, and disease processes. Increased genomic resources including a high quality genetic map are needed to capitalize on these opportunities.

Learning classification models with soft-label information.

Objective: Learning of classification models in medicine often relies on data labeled by a human expert. Since labeling of clinical data may be time-consuming, finding ways of alleviating the labeling costs is critical for our ability to automatically learn such models. In this paper we propose a new machine learning approach that is able to learn improved binary classification models more efficiently by refining the binary class information in the training phase with soft labels that reflect how strongly the human expert feels about the original class labels.

Integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA during differentiation of human CD34+ cells delineates the regulatory roles of microRNA in hematopoiesis.

In the process of human hematopoiesis, precise regulation of the expression of lineage-specific gene products is critical for multiple cell-fate decisions that govern cell differentiation, proliferation, and self-renewal. Given the important role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in development and differentiation, we examined the global expression of miRNA in CD34(+) cells during lineage specific hematopoiesis and found 49 miRNAs to be differentially expressed, with functional roles in cellular growth and proliferation, and apoptosis. miR-18a was upregulated during erythropoiesis and downregulated during megakaryopoiesis.