Tacrolimus regulates extracellular vesicle secretion from T cells via autophagy-lysosomal pathway.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from T cells have been proposed to mediate intercellular communication and orchestrate immune responses. The immunosuppressive drug, tacrolimus (TAC), suppresses T cell activity; however, the impact of TAC on T cell-derived EVs remains primarily unexplored. In this study, human primary T cells purified from healthy donors were used to investigate TAC-mediated regulation of EV secretion by T cells.

Protective Effect of Vaccine Doses and Antibody Titers Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Patients undergoing kidney transplantation have a poor response to vaccination and a higher risk of disease progression of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The effectiveness of vaccine doses and antibody titer tests against the mutant variant in these patients remains unclear. We retrospectively analyzed the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a single medical center according to vaccine doses and immune responses before the outbreak.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Involving Pharmacist for Medication Therapy Management in a Heart Transplant Clinic.

Background: Drug-related problems (DRPs) are common in recipients of solid organ transplants. Pharmacist-led medication therapy management (MTM) has cost benefits in kidney and liver transplants; however, whether MTM is also beneficial in heart transplants remains unclear. This study explored the cost benefits of involving pharmacists in the heart transplant clinic.

Immunogenicity and safety of two-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccination different platforms in kidney transplantation recipients.

After kidney transplantation, patients exhibit a poor response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. However, the efficacy and adverse effects of vaccines based on different platforms in these patients remain unclear. We prospectively analyzed both anti-spike protein antibody and cellular responses 1 month after the first and second doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in 171 kidney transplant patients.

Gender-Specific Determinants of eHealth Literacy: Results from an Adolescent Internet Behavior Survey in Taiwan.

Adolescents' Internet health information usage has rarely been investigated. Adolescents seek all kinds of information from the Internet, including health information, which affects their Health Literacy that eHealth Literacy (eHL). This study is a retrospective observational study, we have total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, 87% of which were recovered, and we explored the channels that adolescents use to search for health information, their ability to identify false information, and factors affecting the type and content of health information queried.

In-Situ Synchrotron SAXS and WAXS Investigation on the Deformation of Single and Coaxial Electrospun P(VDF-TrFE)-Based Nanofibers.

Coaxial core/shell electrospun nanofibers consisting of ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) and relaxor ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) are tailor-made with hierarchical structures to modulate their mechanical properties with respect to their constituents. Compared with two single and the other coaxial membranes prepared in the research, the core/shell-TrFE/CTFE membrane shows a more prominent mechanical anisotropy between revolving direction (RD) and cross direction (CD) associated with improved resistance to tensile stress for the crystallite phase stability and good strength-ductility balance. This is due to the better degree of core/shell-TrFE-CTFE nanofiber alignment and the crystalline/amorphous ratio.

Microstructure and Biological Properties of Electrospun In Situ Polymerization of Polycaprolactone-Graft-Polyacrylic Acid Nanofibers and Its Composite Nanofiber Dressings.

In this study, polycaprolactone (PCL)- and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-based electrospun nanofibers were prepared for the carriers of antimicrobials and designed composite nanofiber mats for chronic wound care. The PCL- and PAA-based electrospun nanofibers were prepared through in situ polymerization starting from PCL and acrylic acid (AA). Different amounts of AA were introduced to improve the hydrophilicity of the PCL electrospun nanofibers.

Tunable Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Coaxial Electrospun Composite Nanofibers of P(VDF-TrFE) and P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE).

The coaxial core/shell composite electrospun nanofibers consisting of relaxor ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) and ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) polymers are successfully tailored towards superior structural, mechanical, and electrical properties over the individual polymers. The core/shell-TrFE/CTFE membrane discloses a more prominent mechanical anisotropy between the revolving direction (RD) and cross direction (CD) associated with a higher tensile modulus of 26.9 MPa and good strength-ductility balance, beneficial from a better degree of nanofiber alignment, the increased density, and C-F bonding.

Association Between Statin Use and Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Patients Receiving Corticosteroids.

Purpose: The role of statins as anti-inflammatory drugs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is controversial. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of statins used with or without corticosteroids in COPD patients.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study and used the two million outpatients and inpatients in Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database covering 2000 to 2015.

A panel of anti-influenza virus nucleoprotein antibodies selected from phage-displayed synthetic antibody libraries with rapid diagnostic capability to distinguish diverse influenza virus subtypes.

Immunoassays based on sandwich immuno-complexes of capture and detection antibodies simultaneously binding to the target analytes have been powerful technologies in molecular analyses. Recent developments in single molecule detection technologies enable the detection limit of the sandwich immunoassays approaching femtomolar (10 M), driving the needs of developing sensitive and specific antibodies for ever-increasingly broad applications in detecting and quantifying biomarkers. The key components underlying the sandwich immunoassays are antibody-based affinity reagents, for which the conventional sources are mono- or poly-clonal antibodies from immunized animals.

Anserine Reverses Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress and Preserves Cellular Homeostasis in Healthy Men.

The study tested whether anserine (beta-alanyl-3-methyl-l-histidine), the active ingredient of chicken essence affects exercise-induced oxidative stress, cell integrity, and haematology biomarkers. In a randomized placebo-controlled repeated-measures design, ten healthy men ingested anserine in either a low dose (ANS-LD) 15 mg.kg.

Intensive measures of luminescence in GaN/InGaN heterostructures.

The intensive measures of luminescence in a GaN/InGaN multiple quantum well system are used to examine the thermodynamics and phenomenological structure. The radiative /nonradiative transitions along with absorbed or emitted phonons that occur between the different quantum states of the electrons and holes associated with these processes make the quantum efficiency of a semiconductor nanosystem in an equilibrium state an extensive property. It has long been recognized that tuning of the indium (In) composition in InGaN interlayers gives the potential to obtain a spectrum in the near-infrared to near-ultraviolet spectral range.

A randomized, open-label pharmacokinetic trial of tacrolimus extended-release dosing in obese de novo kidney transplant recipients.

Purpose: Tacrolimus extended-release (TAC-ER; Astagraf XL ) is utilized in many immunosuppressive regimens post-renal transplantation. Current dosing recommendation for the TAC-ER in renal transplant is 0.15-0.

Graphene/h-BN Heterostructures for Vertical Architecture of RRAM Design.

The development of RRAM is one of the mainstreams for next generation non-volatile memories to replace the conventional charge-based flash memory. More importantly, the simpler structure of RRAM makes it feasible to be integrated into a passive crossbar array for high-density memory applications. By stacking up the crossbar arrays, the ultra-high density of 3D horizontal RRAM (3D-HRAM) can be realized.

Dual-functional Memory and Threshold Resistive Switching Based on the Push-Pull Mechanism of Oxygen Ions.

The combination of nonvolatile memory switching and volatile threshold switching functions of transition metal oxides in crossbar memory arrays is of great potential for replacing charge-based flash memory in very-large-scale integration. Here, we show that the resistive switching material structure, (amorphous TiOx)/(Ag nanoparticles)/(polycrystalline TiOx), fabricated on the textured-FTO substrate with ITO as the top electrode exhibits both the memory switching and threshold switching functions. When the device is used for resistive switching, it is forming-free for resistive memory applications with low operation voltage (<± 1 V) and self-compliance to current up to 50 μA.

Iridovirus CARD Protein Inhibits Apoptosis through Intrinsic and Extrinsic Pathways.

Grouper iridovirus (GIV) belongs to the genus Ranavirus of the family Iridoviridae; the genomes of such viruses contain an anti-apoptotic caspase recruitment domain (CARD) gene. The GIV-CARD gene encodes a protein of 91 amino acids with a molecular mass of 10,505 Daltons, and shows high similarity to other viral CARD genes and human ICEBERG. In this study, we used Northern blot to demonstrate that GIV-CARD transcription begins at 4 h post-infection; furthermore, we report that its transcription is completely inhibited by cycloheximide but not by aphidicolin, indicating that GIV-CARD is an early gene.

Recognition of Linear B-Cell Epitope of Betanodavirus Coat Protein by RG-M18 Neutralizing mAB Inhibits Giant Grouper Nervous Necrosis Virus (GGNNV) Infection.

Betanodavirus is a causative agent of viral nervous necrosis syndrome in many important aquaculture marine fish larvae, resulting in high global mortality. The coat protein of Betanodavirus is the sole structural protein, and it can assemble the virion particle by itself. In this study, we used a high-titer neutralizing mAB, RG-M18, to identify the linear B-cell epitope on the viral coat protein.

Effects of signal sequence on phage-displayed disulfide-stabilized single chain antibody variable fragment (sc-dsFv) libraries.

Phage-displayed single chain variable fragment (scFv) libraries are powerful tools in antibody engineering. Disulfide-stabilized scFv (sc-dsFv) with an interface disulfide bond is structure-wise more stable than the corresponding scFv. A set of recently discovered signal sequences replacing the wild type (pelB) signal peptidase cleavage site in the c-region has been shown to be effective in rescuing the expression of sc-dsFv libraries on the phage surface.

[Loneliness: a concept analysis].

Loneliness is a kind of mood that most people have experienced at one time or another. Individual experiences with loneliness as joyful or painful saturation are highly personal and can be defined only in such a context. Loneliness has differing effects on the long-term health of individuals.

The genetic background difference between diabetic patients with and without nephropathy in a Taiwanese population by linkage disequilibrium mapping using 382 autosomal STR markers.

The genome-wide linkage disequilibrium screening for loci associated with genetic difference between diabetic patients with and without nephropathy was conducted employing 382 autosomal STR markers involving 185 diabetic subjects. Among them, 25 STR markers showed evidence for nominal association with a difference between the two diabetic groups. To investigate the reliability of the association result, the E2a/Pbx1-activated gene in pre-B cells 1 (EB-1) gene was selected from 267 diabetic subjects for single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping because its genomic region encircles the significant STR marker D12S346.

Signal sequence as a determinant in expressing disulfide-stabilized single chain antibody variable fragments (sc-dsFv) against human VEGF.

Phage-displayed single chain variable fragment (scFv) libraries have been powerful tools in antibody engineering. But the scFv structures are frequently unstable due to the dissociation of the dimeric interface between the two variable domains. One solution is the sc-dsFv construct, where the single chain variable domain fragment is stabilized with an additional interface disulfide bond, leading to stable and homogeneous dimeric interface for the sc-dsFv structure.

Engineering anti-vascular endothelial growth factor single chain disulfide-stabilized antibody variable fragments (sc-dsFv) with phage-displayed sc-dsFv libraries.

Phage display of antibody fragments from natural or synthetic antibody libraries with the single chain constructs combining the variable fragments (scFv) has been one of the most prominent technologies in antibody engineering. However, the nature of the artificial single chain constructs results in unstable proteins expressed on the phage surface or as soluble proteins secreted in the bacterial culture medium. The stability of the variable domain structures can be enhanced with interdomain disulfide bond, but the single chain disulfide-stabilized constructs (sc-dsFv) have yet to be established as a feasible format for bacterial phage display due to diminishing expression levels on the phage surface in known phage display systems.

Gene-gene interactions among genetic variants from obesity candidate genes for nonobese and obese populations in type 2 diabetes.

Recent studies indicate that obesity may play a key role in modulating genetic predispositions to type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study examines the main effects of both single-locus and multilocus interactions among genetic variants in Taiwanese obese and nonobese individuals to test the hypothesis that obesity-related genes may contribute to the etiology of T2D independently and/or through such complex interactions. We genotyped 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms for 10 obesity candidate genes including adrenergic beta-2-receptor surface, adrenergic beta-3-receptor surface, angiotensinogen, fat mass and obesity associated gene, guanine nucleotide binding protein beta polypeptide 3 (GNB3), interleukin 6 receptor, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 (PCSK1), uncoupling protein 1, uncoupling protein 2, and uncoupling protein 3.