Search

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women, and researchers are seeking more effective treatments. Nanotechnology offers a promising approach by creating nanocarriers to reduce the side effects of cancer drugs. This study synthesized AgNPs-5FU nanoparticles by binding the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) to a silver nanocarrier, significantly increasing 5FU's cytotoxicity. Characterization using DLS, SEM, UV-Vis, and FTIR confirmed the nanoparticles' properties, with a size of 18–28 nm and a PDI of 0.598. The release of 5FU from AgNPs-5FU was about 70%, demonstrating sustained and controlled release. Cytotoxicity results showed that AgNPs-5FU had an IC50 value of 23.006 in MCF-7 cells and 10.41 in 4T1 cells, making it 2.14 and 4.64 times more effective than free 5FU, respectively. Low cytotoxicity was observed in HUVEC cells. This study indicates that AgNPs-5FU has significantly higher potential activity against cancer cells compared to free 5FU.

The aim of this work was to investigate the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of propolis on human breast cancer cells using a simple and inexpensive nanoformulation. Various methods were used to characterize the surface and morphology of propolis nanoparticles (NP-Pro), including UV-VIS, FTIR, DLS, and EDX-SEM. The cytotoxic activity of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells was measured by XTT technique and compared with healthy cells (MCF-10A). The apoptotic effect of NP-Pro was assessed by flow cytometry using Annexin/PI. The IC50 values of NP-Pro on MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10A cells were 13.67 ± 0.89, 17.89 ± 0.6, 29.9 ± 0.56 µg, respectively. According to these findings, the NP-Pro form we prepared was more cytotoxic on cancer cells than propolis. Cancer cells had much stronger apoptotic activity than healthy cells (p

In our study, fluorine doped transparent conductive glass plates are initially covered by TiO2 with electrochemical deposition method for obtained working electrode of dye sensitized solar cell. It has been used both for different surface enhancing materials and different experimental conditions to increase the covering of conductive glass surface by TiO2. In the first part of the study, five different solutions have been prepared using various surface enhancing materials. TiO2 thin films at different thicknesses have been obtained using chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry methods with five different solutions prepared. Then scanning electron microscopy images of thin films were analyzed and were found to be more suitable for the conditions of the solution of our coating. The best of two different solutions were selected for covering the second part of the study. It has been repeated five times with those solutions using chronoamperometry method for 20 min and at a potential of 1 V. After each covering, the drying process has been performed at 100 °C for 20 min. Also, the coatings have been obtained by cyclic voltammetry method for 20 cycles with two different solutions. Hence the best solution and method were decided on the basis of the results of UV and X-ray beam refraction analyses of obtained thin films. The working electrode of dye sensitized solar cell has been formed. Then, efficiency analysis of solar cell was performed after counter electrode had been coated with platinum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the winner of a basketball game is a difficult task, due to the inherent complexity of team sports. All 10 players on the court interact with each other and this intricate web of relationships makes the prediction task difficult, especially if the prediction model aims to account for how different players amplify or inhibit other players. Building our approach on complex systems and prototype heuristics, we identify player types through clustering and use cluster memberships to train prediction models. We achieve a prediction accuracy of ∼76% over a period of five NBA seasons and a prediction accuracy of ∼71% over a season not used for model training. Our best models outperform human experts on prediction accuracy. Our research contributes to the literature by showing that player stereotypes extracted from individual statistics are a valid approach to predict game winners.

This paper reports production of nanofibers with voltage value of 20 kV, different fluid velocities (0.1 ml/h, 0.5 ml/h), different durations (2 min, 5 min), and distance of 7 cm in the electrospin assembly. The morphology of the produced nanofibers was observed before and after heat treatment by scanning electron microscope. The crystal structure of the nanofibers was examined by X-ray diffraction. In addition, thermal analysis/thermal gravimetric analysis of nanofibers was performed. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the samples were crystalline in barium titanate. It was observed that the diameters of the nanofibers increased when the flow rate and time increased, while the diameters of the nanofibers decreased when the flow rate and time decreased. Scanning electron microscope images showed how the morphology of the samples changed by heat treatment. As a result, characterization results were found to be consistent with the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Post-fixation of sections is especially required for cryostat sections of fresh frozen tissues. Vimentin is an intermediate filament in both fibrillary and non-fibrillary form, expressed in Müller's cells and astrocytes of the retina. Our aim was to determine the best post-fixation method for visualising vimentin in archival mouse eyes.Materials and Methods: We used an archival mouse eye, slightly pre-fixed with paraformaldehyde and stored at -80°C for 4 years. We tried three fixatives (pa-raformaldehyde [PFA], alcohol/acetic acid [AAA] and methanol) for post-fixation of eye sections.Results: We showed that post-fixation alters the labelling properties of vimentin expressed in the retina. In the sections with no post-fixation, vimentin positivity was observed in and around the nuclei in non-fibrillary form. In PFA post-fixed sections, the vimentin in the retina was not observed as fibrils. Positivity was observed in the nuclei and in perinuclear regions of the cells. In AAA post-fixed sections, positive labelling was observed around the nuclei as fibrils. In methanol post-fixed sections, labelling was observed around the nuclei as fibrils.Conclusions: We conclude that post-fixation with AAA is more convenient for immunofluorescent labelling of vimentin in the retina for slightly PFA pre-fixed and long-term stored retina. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 2: 246-252). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, we detail three personality traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) that have gained popularity in the last decade as the ‘Dark Triad’. These traits are useful to augment research on personality, like the Big Five traits, as they capture individual differences in ‘darker’ aspects of personality more fully. We briefly review the body of work surrounding these traits, how they are measured, how they can be understood through the exploration of their nomological network, and the role each trait plays in various domains like organisational psychology and interpersonal relationships. We then detail how an evolutionary paradigm can provide a novel and powerful way of understanding these traits. Finally, we explore broad‐spectrum concerns about the research and thoughts on how one might think about these issues.

In addition to providing a macromolecular scaffold, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a critical regulator of cell function by virtue of specific physical, biochemical, and mechanical properties. Collagen is the main ECM component and hence plays an essential role in the pathogenesis and progression of chronic lung disease. It is well-established that many chronic lung diseases, e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) primarily manifest in the elderly, suggesting increased susceptibility of the aged lung or accumulated alterations in lung structure over time that favour disease. Here, we review the main steps of collagen biosynthesis, processing, and turnover and summarise what is currently known about alterations upon lung ageing, including changes in collagen composition, modification, and crosslinking. Recent proteomic data on mouse lung ageing indicates that, while the ER-resident machinery of collagen biosynthesis, modification and triple helix formation appears largely unchanged, there are specific changes in levels of type IV and type VI as well as the two fibril-associated collagens with interrupted triple helices (FACIT), namely type XIV and type XVI collagens. In addition, levels of the extracellular collagen crosslinking enzyme lysyl oxidase are decreased, indicating less enzymatically mediated collagen crosslinking upon ageing. The latter contrasts with the ageing-associated increase in collagen crosslinking by advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), a result of spontaneous reactions of protein amino groups with reactive carbonyls, e.g., from monosaccharides or reactive dicarbonyls like methylglyoxal. Given the slow turnover of extracellular collagen such modifications accumulate even more in ageing tissues. In summary, the collective evidence points mainly toward age-induced alterations in collagen composition and drastic changes in the molecular nature of collagen crosslinks. Future work addressing the consequences of these changes may provide important clues for prevention of lung disease and for lung bioengineering and ultimately pave the way to novel targeted approaches in lung regenerative medicine.

Objective: In juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) cardiac involvement is usually silent without typical symptoms. The purpose of this study was to assess left ventricular functions with tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE), strain and strain rate in children with JIA. Methods: Our study was designed as a cross-sectional observational study. Thirty pediatric patients with JIA and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. In addition to standard echocardiographic methods, tissue Doppler, strain and strain rate imaging's were performed to assess left ventricular functions in all participants. The means of variables that did not distributed normally were compared with Mann-Whitney U test. Results: In patients with JIA, E' values of mid and apical regions of left ventricular lateral wall were significantly lower than those of the controls (15.76±3.24 vs 17.91±3.29 cm/s, 11.10±2.96 vs12.64± 2.42 cm/s, p<0.05). In longitudinal strain reflecting left ventricular regional systolic functions, apical-lateral, basal and mid-septum peak S values, lateral peak S values in circumferential strain (-17.30±6.22 vs -21.97±4.32, -18.23±4.62 vs -21.53±2.69, -20.35±3.75 vs -22.75±3.50, -9.68±7.12 vs -13.70±6.81 cm/s, p<0.05, r:0.42, 0.41, 0.42), in longitudinal strain reflecting diastolic functions, apical-lateral, mid-lateral, apical-septum, mid-septum peak E values (2.22±1.00 vs 3.17±0.87, 1.62±0.84 vs 2.15±0.72, 2.51±0.76 vs 3.31±0.87, 1.99±0.64 vs 2.47±0.57 cm/s, p<0.05, r:-0.39,-0.55,-0.43) and in circumferential strain lateral and posterior peak E values (1.32±0.83 vs 1.88±0.94, 1.31±0.71 vs 1.85±0.91 cm/s, p<0.05, r:-0.33, -0.22) were significantly lower than those of the controls. Conclusion: Although marked myocardial involvement was not detected with tissue Doppler imaging in JIA patients with subclinical cardiac disease, regional impairments in left ventricular strain and strain rates were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) meningitis/ventriculitis is a difficult therapeutic problem owing to the limited penetration of antibiotics into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A 2-month-old girl with ventriculitis caused by MDRAB is reported. Despite therapy with intravenous (IV) colistin ventricular fluid, cultures remained positive for MDRAB. Institution of combination therapy with IV and intraventricular colistin resulted in a successful clinical and microbiological outcome. Intraventricular/intrathecal and IV colistin might be the best therapeutic option in the treatment of central nervous system infection caused by MDRAB. Further studies are required to evaluate pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of combined IV and intraventricular/intrathecal colistin administration, especially in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim. Infantile esotropia (ET), entitled as congenital ET, is defined as an alternating, cross-fixational ET that occurs within the first 6 months of life. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term motor and sensory outcomes after surgical correction of patients with infantile ET. Methods. Medical records of 108 consecutive children who had bimedial rectus recession (BMR) initially for ET were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into 3 groups: the group I, surgery before one-year old; the group II, surgery between one and two-year old; the group III, surgery after two-year old. Results. No significant differences were determined among the groups for preoperative mean angle of deviation and refractive error (p > 0.05, for both). Development rate of dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) was greater (40%) in the group I, and the relationship between the rate of DVD and the timing of the initial surgery was statistically significant (p = 0.03). Risk for additional surgery was significantly greater in patients with a younger mean age at initial surgery (p = 0.01). Although measurable stereopsis rate was higher in the group I (35%, 32.4%, 27.8%, respectively) the difference among the groups was insignificant (p = 0.80). Conclusion. Patients with ET have limited potential of high grade stereoacuity despite the early alignment of eyes. Early surgery also has potential effects for the development of both inferior oblique overaction and DVD earlier.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.