Adsorption of Colloidal Nanoparticles to Supports: Employing Electrostatic Charge Screening and Barrierless Self-Assembly as Nanointegration Strategy.

Surfactant-free nanoparticles can be adsorbed on a support material by electrostatic deposition which requires electrostatic attraction between the nanoparticles and the support material. However, when nanoparticles and support have a similar isoelectric point (IEP), it is difficult to create such electrostatically attractive conditions and trigger the adsorption process by pH adjustment. In this work, we present an alternative approach to support laser-generated metal nanoparticles by controlled precipitation onto thin graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets via a kinetically barrierless process induced by high ionic strength.

Physical Regimes and Mechanisms of Picosecond Laser Fragmentation of Gold Nanoparticles in Water from X-ray Probing and Atomistic Simulations.

Laser fragmentation in liquids has emerged as a promising green chemistry technique for changing the size, shape, structure, and phase composition of colloidal nanoparticles, thus tuning their properties to the needs of practical applications. The advancement of this technique requires a solid understanding of the mechanisms of laser-nanoparticle interactions that lead to the fragmentation. While theoretical studies have made impressive practical and mechanistic predictions, their experimental validation is required.

Increasing cellular fitness and product yields in Pseudomonas putida through an engineered phosphoketolase shunt.

Background: Pseudomonas putida has received increasing interest as a cell factory due to its remarkable features such as fast growth, a versatile and robust metabolism, an extensive genetic toolbox and its high tolerance to oxidative stress and toxic compounds. This interest is driven by the need to improve microbial performance to a level that enables biologically possible processes to become economically feasible, thereby fostering the transition from an oil-based economy to a more sustainable bio-based one. To this end, one of the current strategies is to maximize the product-substrate yield of an aerobic biocatalyst such as P.

Photomechanical Laser Fragmentation of IrO Microparticles for the Synthesis of Active and Redox-Sensitive Colloidal Nanoclusters.

Pulsed laser fragmentation of microparticles (MPs) in liquid is a synthesis method for producing high-purity nanoparticles (NPs) from virtually any material. Compared with laser ablation in liquids (LAL), the use of MPs enables a fully continuous, single-step synthesis of colloidal NPs. Although having been employed in several studies, neither the fragmentation mechanism nor the efficiency or scalability have been described.

Problems with the MetaBLIND study: An examination of data on blinding patients in trials with patient-reported outcomes.

MetaBLIND is the largest meta-epidemiological study on the impact of blinding in randomized trials to date. We examined MetaBLIND data on the impact of blinding patients on patient-reported outcomes. 68 out of 132 included trials tested knowledge recall and had questionable relevance to clinical trials.

Scheimpflug-Based Analysis of the Reflectivity of the Cornea in Marfan Syndrome.

Purpose: We sought to investigate corneal reflectivity in Marfan syndrome (MFS) on the basis of Scheimpflug light intensity distribution.

Methods: In a retrospective case-control analysis, the left eyes of 40 MFS patients and 40 age- and refraction-matched healthy controls were investigated. Patients with MFS meeting the Ghent II diagnostic criteria and with genetic confirmation of disease were included.

Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS): Faults and Implications.

The classification of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) could have negative consequences for patients with functional somatic syndromes (FSS). By grouping related but distinct syndromes into one label, the MUS classification fails to inform clinicians about their patients' health condition. In research settings, the MUS classification makes patient samples more heterogeneous, obstructing research into the underlying pathology of FSS.

Expression analysis and potential functional role of the CXCR4 chemokine receptor in bladder cancer.

Objective: Recent analysis gave evidence for the fact that the chemokine receptor CXCR4 is of functional significance in the multistep procedure of metastasis directing tumor cells to their metastatic target organs. In our study we investigated the expression of the CXCR4 receptor on bladder cancer cells and the functional activation of the CXCR4 receptor in bladder cancer cell lines regarding signal transduction pathways, which are involved in metastasis.

Methods: Receptor transcript expression was analysed and quantified by reverse transcription PCR with RNA extracted from different samples of native human bladder cancer tissue, normal urothelium and the bladder cancer cell lines J82 and T24.

Preventing the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in a long-term care facility.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that infection control practices can prevent the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) to residents of a long-term care facility (LCF) from an affiliated acute care facility with a high endemic rate of colonization.

Design: Point prevalence study of the rate of rectal colonization.

Setting: A state-supported veterans nursing home and an acute care veterans hospital.

Dysthyroid orbitopathy: invasive treatment and the value of radiotherapy.

In this retrospective review of 29 patients with severe dysthyroid orbitopathy, the authors compare 3 invasive therapeutic modalities corticosteroids, radiotherapy and surgical orbital decompression) with special emphasis on the role of radiotherapy.

Effects of aging on sensation of respiratory force and displacement.

The psychophysical technique of magnitude production was used to evaluate the sensation of inspiratory force and inspired volume in young and older subjects. Inspiratory force was generated during a static inspiratory maneuver against a closed airway. The exponent of the power function relationship between airway pressure and sensation intensity during force scaling was not significantly different between young and older subjects.

Effect of aging on the perception of resistive ventilatory loads.

We have shown previously, using the technique of magnitude estimation, that the change in sensation level for a given change in elastic loading is less in elderly than in young subjects. In the present study, we used the same technique to compare the perception of added inspiratory and expiratory resistive loads in 40 young (18 to 30 yr of age) and 19 elderly (60 yr of age and older) subjects. Two different ranges of loads were studied and the relation between load magnitude and sensation intensity (the exponent for magnitude estimation) was determined.

Effect of aging on respiratory responses to CO2 and inspiratory resistive loads.

We studied 10 elderly individuals over 60 years of age and 18 individuals less than 30 years to determine whether aging affects the response of the respiratory control system to chemical stimuli or to altered mechanical conditions. Both groups consisted of males and females who were nonsmokers. Ventilation and the isometric force developed by the inspiratory muscles (occlusion pressure) was assessed during hypercapnia while the subjects breathed under control conditions or through a load at the mouth that increased inspiratory resistance.

Effect of aging on respiratory sensations produced by elastic loads.

We compared the effects of graded elastic loads on respiratory sensations in 19 healthy subjects greater than 60 yr of age to 21 healthy subjects less than 30 yr old. The magnitude of the respiratory sensation was quantitated by two well-established psychophysical techniques. In the magnitude-estimation method, subjects indicated the intensity of the sensation experienced with numbers; in the cross-modality method, the level of sensation was signaled with a dynamometer activated by thumb pressure.