The association between illness perception and quality of life among Chinese adults with epilepsy: The mediating role of coping style.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between illness perception, quality of life (QOL), and coping style among patients with epilepsy (PWE), and to establish the behavior of coping style as a mediator of the interplay between illness perception and QOL.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 135 adult Chinese PWE was performed. All patients completed clinical and demographic questionnaires, the Chinese version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (CIPQ-R), the quality of life in epilepsy-31 inventory (QOLIE-31), and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ).

Folic acid modified FeO nanoclusters by a one-step ultrasonic technique for drug delivery and MR imaging.

Multifunctional nanoclusters based on FeO nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and drug delivery are reported here. At first, oleic acid (OA)-coated FeO nanoparticles were prepared. Then block copolymer Pluronic F127 or folic acid (FA) conjugated-Pluronic F127 was used to modify the hydrophobic nanoparticles to become hydrophilic FeO@F127 nanoclusters facile ultrasonic treatment.

Facile fabrication of water-dispersible nanocomposites based on hexa--hexabenzocoronene and FeO for dual mode imaging (fluorescent/MR) and drug delivery.

The facile fabrication of multifunctional nanocomposites (FeO/HBC@F127) consisting of superparamagnetic FeO nanoparticles and fluorescent organic hexa--hexabenzocoronene (HBC) molecules incorporated in block copolymer diacylphospholipid-polyethyleneglycol F127 have been demonstrated for dual mode imaging (fluorescent/MR) and drug delivery. The obtained nanocomposites were water-dispersible, stable and biocompatible, as confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Relativity measurements showed a relaxivity ( ) of 214.

Biliary epithelial cells proliferate during oxygenated liver culture.

Biliary complications remain a major source of morbidity in liver transplant patients. Among these complications, nonanastomotic biliary strictures (NAS) are especially common and they are frequently therapy resistant in part because biliary epithelial cells are more sensitive to warm ischemic injury than hepatocytes. It has been a challenge to maintain the physiological function of biliary epithelial cells during liver transplantation.

Sauchinone augments cardiomyocyte viability by enhancing autophagy proteins -PI3K, ERK(1/2), AMPK and Beclin-1 during early ischemia-reperfusion injury in vitro.

Background. Sauchinone has proved its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in various animal tissues. This study sought to illustrate its regulatory nature on autophagy associated proteins (PI3K, ERK1/2, AMPK, and Beclin-1) during early cardiomyocyte ischemia and subsequent reperfusion.

Growing a whole porcine liver organ ex situ for six hours without red blood cells or hemoglobin.

Unlabelled: Liver transplantation is an effective approach to end-stage liver disease. Shortage of donor liver and increased waiting time for liver transplantation necessitate the development of an organ culture system by which livers can be cultured and maintained ex situ for a prolonged period of time. The aim of this work is to test whether cell culture condition in vitro could be used to culture whole livers ex situ without the use of erythrocytes.

Potential roles of IL-9 in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.

T helper (Th) cells and their cytokines play a pleiotropic role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recently, a new effector T cell subset, Th9 cells, which preferentially secrete IL-9, has been identified. IL-9 is mainly produced by several T cell subsets including Th9 and Th17, and effective on the functions of Th cells and mast cell.