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Electrosprayed Zein and Quercetin Particles: Formation and Properties
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to physically modify zein (8–20% wt) using electrospraying (ESP) and to evaluate the changes in its morphology, chemical structure, and physical properties. The apparent viscosity and surface tension of zein solution affect the particles produced by ESP. The produced particles were spherical and in the sub-micron size (average size 2000 nm) and exhibited lower contact angle and surface hydrophobicity compared to commercial zein, which is attributed to changes in the secondary structure during processing. The addition of quercetin (0.1–0.4% wt), further improved the microstructure and interfacial properties. Wettability (6.24–17.86%) and interfacial tension of ESP-zein particles can be proportionally altered through the addition of quercetin. The molecular docking results suggest that hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions exist between quercetin and zein, which may be responsible for the regulation of ESP-zein by quercetin. Such particles with tunable physical properties are strong candidates for the development of future food products
Transport of continental particulate over the Labrador Sea and entrainment are important pathways for glaciation of remote marine clouds
Get PDFMarine Arctic clouds greatly influence the radiative balance across the Arctic region and their effectiveness at scattering radiation changes considerably depending on cloud phase. Glaciation of these clouds relies on the presence of ice nucleating particles, which are often limited in number, so often clouds may be liquid even at temperatures well below 0 °C. As the Arctic region warms, cloud feedbacks may accelerate change or lessen absorbed solar radiation. Understanding aerosol–cloud interactions and the sources and pathways of aerosol particles across the Arctic region is central to improving our knowledge of these poorly understood processes. In this paper, aircraft observations of single particle chemical and physical properties are presented and the composition of cloud residuals in both warm and glaciated clouds are examined using a single-particle laser ablation aerosol particle mass spectrometer (LAAPToF). In cloud, the LAAPToF sampled behind a Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) to detect cloud particle residuals, separated into liquid, mixed phase and ice clouds using in situ observations of the fractional ice water content. Three different air mass regimes were sampled: northerly winds in both the marine boundary layer and the lower free troposphere; westerly winds from Canada in both the marine boundary layer and the free troposphere; and periods when the boundary layer winds were northerly but the air immediately above the boundary layer was from continental Canada. When the air in the boundary layer and free troposphere was from the north, most clouds were in the liquid phase, however, considerably more glaciation was observed when the air immediately above the boundary layer clouds was from Canada regardless of the flow direction in the boundary layer. Sea salt particles dominate the observed out of cloud aerosol particle population and liquid cloud particle residuals. However, in the detected mixed phase and ice cloud particle residuals dust and bioaerosol particles were substantial in number. Since these are known to be effective ice-nucleating particles, the observations suggest that long range transport of continental air and entrainment is an important pathway for the supply of aerosol to the remote Arctic boundary layer
Social determinants and risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases among urban population in Nepal: A comparative study of poor, middle and rich wealth categories of urban population using STEPS survey
Get PDFBackground
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are significant public health concern globally, and the burden is disproportionately high among urban populations. This study aims to compare the social determinants, NCD risk, and NCD prevalence among different wealth categories and to determine the factors associated with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes among the urban population of Nepal.
Methods
This study used urban population data from cross-sectional STEP wise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) survey of 2019, resulting in a sample of 3460 individuals of 15-69 years for inclusion in the analysis. We used bivariate analysis to compare the social determinants, NCD risk and NCD prevalence among urban poor, urban middle and urban rich and multivariate logistic regression to determine the association between social determinants, NCD risks and obesity, hypertension and diabetes among urban population.
Results
The study found significant differences in hypertension, obesity and diabetes by gender, ethnicity, education, employment, smoking habits, and cholesterol levels between the three wealth groups. Among the urban poor, low education, unemployment and smoking habits were more prevalent, while high cholesterol was more prevalent among the urban rich.
The significant factors associated with overweight and obesity after Bonferroni correction included Hilly region with higher odds of overweight (AOR=2.33, 95% CI=1.45-3.75,). In contrast, being from Karnali (AOR= 0.36, 95% CI=0.22-0.58) and Sudurpaschim (AOR=0.42, 95% CI=0.26-0.66) provinces were associated with lower odds of overweight and cholesterol, while cholesterol was associated with higher odds of obesity (AOR=1.01, 95% CI=1.01-1.02). Disadvantaged janajatis had the lower odds of overweight (AOR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.36-0.78). Factors that remained significantly associated with hypertension and pre-hypertension after Bonferroni correction included: age, with higher odds of hypertension (AOR=1.03, 95% CI=1.02-1.04); men, who had higher odds of both pre-hypertension (AOR=1.68, 95% CI=1.19-2.36) and hypertension (AOR=2.23, 95% CI=1.56-3.47). Being obese (AOR = 5.12, 95% CI = 2.95-8.87, p = 0.001) and overweight (AOR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.19-2.39, p = 0.003) were significantly associated with hypertension. Similarly, urban population residing in the hilly region had higher odds of diabetes (AOR=6.44, 95% CI=3.31-11.10) compared to the mountain region; those living in the Tarai region had higher odds of pre-diabetes (AOR=5.07, 95% CI=2.44-10.5) and diabetes (AOR=5.96, 95% CI=3.12-19.86). Respondents with high cholesterol higher odds of both pre-hypertension (AOR=1.00, 95% CI=1.00–1.02) and hypertension (AOR=1.03, 95% CI=1.02-1.04), pre-diabetics (AOR=1.00, 95% CI=1.00–1.02) and diabetics (AOR=1.03, 95% CI=1.02-1.04).
Conclusion
The findings indicate significant disparities in education, employment, and lifestyle habits across wealth groups; urban poor lacked education and employment. Factors such as ecological region, province, gender and age were associated with an increased risk of various health conditions such as being overweight, pre-hypertension, pre-diabetes, and diabetes. Improved health outcomes among urban populations interventions targeting increased access to education, additional investment in specific areas where outcomes are worst, and interventions to improve equitable access to healthcare are needed
Clustering pulmonary hypertension patients using the plasma proteome.
Get PDFIntroduction: Patients with pulmonary hypertension are classified according to clinical criteria to inform treatment decisions. Knowledge of the molecular drivers of pulmonary hypertension might better inform treatment choice. Methods: Between 2013 and 2021, 470 patients with pulmonary hypertension, 136 disease controls and 59 healthy controls were enrolled as a discovery cohort. Plasma levels of 7288 proteins were assayed (SomaScan 7K platform). Proteins that distinguished pulmonary hypertension from both control groups were selected for unsupervised clustering (k-means clustering of UMAP dimensions). Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared across clusters. Separate cohorts of serially sampled patients from pulmonary hypertension centers in the United Kingdom (n=229) and France (n=79) provided independent validation. Results: 156 plasma proteins that distinguished pulmonary hypertension from disease and healthy controls formed 4 clusters with diverse 5-year survival rates: 78% (cluster 4), 62% (cluster 2), 44% (cluster 3), and 33% (cluster 1). The distinction and clinical relevance of the clusters were confirmed in validation cohorts by their association with survival. To further characterise the therapeutic relevance of the clusters we investigated 2 experimental drug targets: the Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) pathway was up-regulated in cluster 3 compared to other clusters and the Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) pathway was up-regulated in cluster 1. Conclusion: Plasma proteomic profiling of patients with pulmonary hypertension distinguishes 4 clusters, independent of the clinical classification. These groups, based on differential plasma protein levels, could act as theragnostic biomarkers for new therapies targeting PDGF and TGF-β pathways. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Decentralized Distributed Massive MIMO
Get PDFIn this paper, we introduce the concept of "Decentralized Distributed Massive MIMO" (multiple-input multipleoutput), which decentralizes the baseband processing to the network edge and distributes the Massive MIMO (also known as cell-free massive MIMO). In Decentralized Distributed Massive MIMO (DD-mMIMO), the signal processing is performed at edge processing units (EPUs) located closer to the access points (APs) rather than in a single remote central processing unit (CPU), significantly reducing the latency. This avoids cluster edge effects that may arise in cell-free massive MIMO. To avoid this, DD-mMIMO defines coordination regions which may overlap, which implies the APs in the overlap area may be coordinated by more than one EPU. To analyse the performance of the system, we derive an expression of the achievable uplink spectral efficiency (SE) within multiple-antenna APs for various data detection algorithms. The numerical results demonstrate that DD-mMIMO has the potential to fulfill the ultra-dense low-latency requirement in the next generation mobile network and beyond
Clusters in context: Towards a typology of industrial decarbonisation initiatives
Get PDFPolicy-makers and researchers are increasingly focused on the decarbonisation of clusters of energy-intensive industries. However, relatively little is known about the trajectory of different cluster decarbonisation initiatives. This paper aims to bring clarity to an emerging field. It highlights the evolving landscape of industrial decarbonisation initiatives, and the growing importance of clear definitions for effective communication and knowledge exchange among stakeholders. Drawing on insights from cluster theory, it proposes a typology of industrial cluster decarbonisation initiatives to understand and categorise different types of project. These four categories— ‘forerunner clusters’, ‘dispersed clusters’, ‘classic clusters’ and ‘dispersed sites’—allow a more focused understanding of the policy implications and challenges associated with each type. To demonstrate the application of the typology, the paper presents profiles of three cluster initiatives that illustrate some of the dynamics involved. Through this work, we seek to provide guidance for future research and policy development in the transition towards a low-carbon industrial future
Patient and parent perspectives on being invited to join a trial of night-time only versus full-time bracing for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Get PDFAims
The Bracing Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (BASIS) study is a randomized controlled non-inferiority pragmatic trial of ‘full-time bracing’ (FTB) compared to ‘night-time bracing’ (NTB) for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). We anticipated that recruiting patients to BASIS would be challenging, as it is a paediatric trial comparing two markedly different bracing pathways. No previous studies have compared the experiences of AIS patients treated with FTB to those treated with NTB. This qualitative study was embedded in BASIS to explore families’ perspectives of BASIS, to inform trial communication, and to identify strategies to support patients treated in a brace.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents (n = 26) and young people (n = 21) who had been invited to participate in BASIS at ten of the 22 UK paediatric spine services in hospitals recruiting to BASIS. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically.
Results
Families viewed their interactions with BASIS recruiters positively, but were often confused about core aspects of BASIS, such as the aims, expectations of bracing, and the process of randomization. Participants typically expressed a preference for NTB, but recruiters may have framed NTB more favourably. Patients and parents reported challenges wearing a brace, such as physical discomfort, feelings of self-consciousness, difficulty participating in physical activities, and strain on financial resources to support brace use. Patients in FTB reported more pronounced challenges. While families valued health professional support, they felt there was a lack of social, emotional, and school support, and relied on online resources, as well private counselling services to address this need.
Conclusion
The findings informed the development of resources and strategies, including guidance for schools and the recommendations in this paper, to support patients to wear NTB and FTB as prescribed. The results indicated opportunities for recruiters to enhance trial communication in ways that could improve informed consent and recruitment to BASIS, and inform future trials of bracing
Actin from within – how nuclear myosins and actin regulate nuclear architecture and mechanics
Get PDFOver the past two decades, significant progress has been made in understanding mechanotransduction to the nucleus. Nevertheless, most research has focused on outside-in signalling orchestrated by external mechanical stimuli. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of intrinsic nuclear mechanisms in the mechanoresponse. The discovery of actin and associated motor proteins, such as myosins, in the nucleus, along with advances in chromatin organisation research, has raised new questions about the contribution of intranuclear architecture and mechanics. Nuclear actin and myosins are present in various compartments of the nucleus, particularly at sites of DNA processing and modification. These proteins can function as hubs and scaffolds, cross-linking distant chromatin regions and thereby impacting local and global nuclear membrane shape. Importantly, nuclear myosins are force-sensitive and nuclear actin cooperates with mechanosensors, suggesting a multi-level contribution to nuclear mechanics. The crosstalk between nuclear myosins and actin has significant implications for cell mechanical plasticity and the prevention of pathological conditions. Here, we review the recent impactful findings that highlight the roles of nuclear actin and myosins in nuclear organisation. Additionally, we discuss potential links between these proteins and emphasize the importance of using new methodologies to unravel nuclear-derived regulatory mechanisms distinct from the cytoskeleton
PEGylation of indium phosphide quantum dots prevents quantum dot mediated platelet activation
Get PDFQuantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting inorganic nanocrystals, that have garnered interest in biological and medical spheres due, to their potential benefits in biomedical imaging and drug-delivery systems. Indium phosphide QDs shelled with zinc sulphide (InP/ZnS) are viewed as more biocompatible than previous heavy metal based QDs. However, little is known about how InP/ZnS QDs affect a key blood cell, the platelet. Understanding how platelets interact with QDs is critical as unwanted activation can lead to pathological thrombus formation. Herein, we demonstrate PEGylation of InP/ZnS QDs coated with lipoic acid (QD-LA) or coated with penicillamine (QD-Pen) surface ligands induced markedly less platelet aggregation, platelet-QD interactions, integrin activation, alpha granule secretion and restored platelet spreading in washed platelets in comparison to their non-PEGylated counterparts. Furthermore, in whole blood, PEGylation of QDs reduced the number of QDs in the thrombus, thereby helping to minimise the chance of dysfunctional thrombus formation. Overall, we show that QD PEGylation is important to help prevent QD mediated platelet activation. In combination with the most biocompatible coating, PEGylation markedly reduced platelet activation, widening the concentrations at which QDs were viable for development as potential drug delivery or imaging agents
Structural Bifurcation in the High→Low‐Spin and Low→High‐Spin Phase Transitions Explains the Asymmetric Spin‐Crossover in [FeL2][BF4]2 (L=2,6‐Di{pyrazol‐1‐yl}isonicotinonitrile)
No full textPolycrystalline [FeL2][BF4]2 (L=2,6-di(pyrazol-1-yl)isonicotinonitrile) exhibits an abrupt hysteretic spin transition near 240 K, with a shoulder on the warming branch whose appearance depends on the sample history. The freshly isolated material is a ca 60 : 40 mixture of triclinic (HS1) and tetragonal (HS2) high-spin polymorphs, which are structurally closely related. Both HS1 and HS2 undergo a high→low-spin transition on cooling at 230±10 K. HS1 transforms to a new triclinic low-spin phase with a doubled unit cell volume (LS3), while HS2 forms a monoclinic low-spin phase (LS4) with similar unit cell dimensions to HS2. Single crystals of LS3 and LS4 both convert to HS1 on rewarming. The low→high-spin transition for LS4 is ca 10 K higher in temperature than for LS3, explaining the asymmetric thermal hysteresis. Powder diffraction, calorimetry and magnetic data show that multiple cycling about the spin-transition leads to slow enrichment of the HS1 and LS3 phases at the expense of HS2 and LS4. That is consistent with the HS2/LS4 fraction of the polycrystalline sample undergoing rare, bifurcated HS2→(LS3+LS4) and LS4→(HS1+HS2) phase transitions. The rate of enrichment of HS1/LS3 differed between these experiments, implying it is sample and/or measurement-dependent. Three other salts of this iron(II) complex and the coordination polymer [Ag(μ-L)]BF4 are also briefly described
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