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In this work biologically active CuO nanoparticle were discussed. The literature suggests that CuO shows very good antibacterial activity on both Gram positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Further, it is used in antibacterial coatings on various substrates to prevent various kinds of medical equipment's. Here CuO NPs was prepared via greener approach and almond gum is used as a reducing agent. Almond gum is nontoxic and contains huge amount of polysaccharides. Hence, the gum mediated CuO NPs can be used to treat urinary tract infection (UTI). The CuO NPs were characterized using UV, FTIR, XRD and HESEM with EDX analysis. The antibacterial (both Gram positive and Gram negative) effects of CuO NPs were determined with agar well diffusion method. The CuO NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern result indicates that the monoclinic structure with average crystallite size about 12.91 nm. Straight line model in Scherrer method results found to be crystallite size. The crystallite size and microstrain were estimated in W–H analysis. Lorentz polarization factor, size-strain plot (SSP), morphological index (M-I) and dislocation density were calculated based on x-ray diffraction data. The FTIR analysis confirms presence of Cu and O band. From the absorption spectrum of CuO NPs, it was found to be cutoff wavelength of 230 nm and direct bandgap was found to be 4.97 eV. Morphology analysis shows that the synthesized of CuO NPs reveals agglomerated and spherical in shape. It was found to be 16 nm–25 nm. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) result indicates percentages of Cu and O element present in the sample. Antimicrobial studies reveal zone of inhibition of CuO NPs. This was used in different pathogens such as gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This study shows exhibit excellent antimicrobial effects of CuO NPs. Hence, in this article the novel and cost-effective method to prepare CuO NPs was discussed. The prepared CuO NPs can be used as an antifungal and antibacterial reagent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyse the prognostic impact of isolated local recurrence (ILR) on long-term outcome for early-breast cancer patients treated with breast-conserving therapy. The data of the EORTC 22881–10882 'boost-no boost' and 22922–10925 'IM-MS' trials were used to analyse the prevalence and outcome following ILR. A multistate model described the impact of intermediate events on long-term outcomes, taking into account various prognostic factors. This model was used to predict long-term outcomes after ILR. Of the 8367 patients included, 726 experienced an ILR, 11.6% of them within the first 2 years and 30.0% after 10 years. Ten-year cumulative breast cancer mortality rates after ILR were 58.2% in patients with an ILR within 2 years, 31.0% for ILR between 2 and 4 years, 17.6% in patients with an ILR between 4 and 10 years, and 29.7% for ILR after year 10 (p < 0.001). The multistate model showed that when tumour-free, younger breast cancer patients had a higher probability of developing ILR compared to older patients. Shorter time to ILR was associated with a higher chance to develop distant metastases (DM), and a shorter time to development of DM were associated with an increased hazard of breast cancer-related death. The multistate model enabled prediction of long-term outcome based on individual patient covariates, length of follow-up without recurrence and timing of ILR since randomisation. Outcome of early-breast cancer changed not only according to baseline risk factors but also according to the presence of intermediate events, time to these events, and subsequent follow-up without any further events. • Long-term outcome after isolated local recurrence (ILR) in early-breast cancer. • Data pooled from EORTC 'boost-no boost' (N = 5569) and IM-MS (N = 4004) trials. • In the case of ILR, 12% occurred in the first 2 years while 30% only after 10 years. • 10-year breast cancer mortality rate after ILR was higher in the case of early ILR. • Multistate model predicted outcome based on patient data, FU length, the timing of ILR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from Jackson Heart Study, we investigated the associations of neighborhood social and physical environments with prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in African Americans (AA). Among non-diabetic participants at baseline (n=3670), 521 (14.2%) developed T2DM during a median follow-up of 7.3 years. Measures of neighborhood social environments, and food and physical activity resources were derived using survey-and GIS-based methods. Prevalence ratios (PR) and Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated using generalized estimating equations and Cox proportional hazards models. Higher neighborhood social cohesion was associated with a 22% lower incidence of T2DM while higher density of unfavorable food stores was associated with a 34% higher incidence of T2DM after adjusting for individual-level risk factors (HR=0.78 [95% CI:0.62, 0.99] and HR=1.34 [1.12, 1.60], respectively). In addition, neighborhood problems was also associated with prevalence of T2DM (PR=1.12 [1.03, 1.21]) independent of individual-level risk factors. Our findings suggest that efforts to strengthen community ties or to attract healthy food retail outlets might be important strategies to consider for prevention of T2DM in AA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although it is recognized that vitamin D deficiency is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, and is more common in African Americans (AAs), the pathologic mechanisms by which vitamin D may influence these risk factors are poorly understood.Objectives: We explored the association between vitamin D status, as reflected by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, and CVD risk factors including mean arterial pressure (MAP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), plasma HDL cholesterol, and waist circumference (WC) in adult AAs. We also tested whether plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), adipokines (adiponectin and leptin), and aldosterone mediated the associations between 25(OH)D and these risk factors.Methods: Data on 4010 (63.8% women; mean age: 54.0 y) individuals from the Jackson Heart Study were analyzed. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the associations of 25(OH)D with CVD risk factors. We used path analysis and bootstrapping methods to quantify and test the share of these associations that was statistically explained by each of the mediators by decomposing the associations into direct and indirect effects.Results: Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were inversely associated with WC, FPG, and MAP and were positively associated with HDL cholesterol in multivariable analysis. A nearly 20% effect of 25(OH)D on MAP was masked by aldosterone (total indirect effect: β = 0.01, P < 0.05). Approximately 23% of the effect of 25(OH)D on WC (β = -0.03, P < 0.05) and ∼9% of the effect of 25(OH)D on FPG (β = -0.02, P < 0.05) were mediated through CRP, adiponectin, and leptin together. A 23% share of the association between 25(OH)D and HDL cholesterol was mediated by adiponectin alone (β = 0.03, P < 0.05).Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the associations between vitamin D status and CVD risk factors in AAs are partially mediated through circulating adipokines and CRP. More evidence, however, is required from longitudinal and randomized controlled studies to validate our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The biological actions of vitamin D are mediated through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the VDR gene have been previously associated with adiposity traits. However, to our knowledge, few studies have included direct measures of adiposity and adipokine concentrations.Objective: We examined the association of tagging SNPs in the VDR gene with multiple adiposity measures, including waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume, and serum adipokine (adiponectin and leptin) concentrations in adult African Americans (AAs).Methods: Data from 3020 participants (61.9% women; mean age, 54.6 y) from the Jackson Heart Study were used for this analysis. Forty-five tag SNPs were chosen with the use of genotype data from the International HapMap project. We used linear regression to test the associations of imputed VDR SNPs with each of the traits, adjusted for age, sex, educational status, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, serum vitamin D concentration, European ancestry, and multiple testing.Results: The G allele of the SNP rs4328262 remained associated with increased VAT volume after multiple testing correction (β = 45.7; P < 0.001). The A allele of another SNP (rs11574070) was nominally associated with body fat percentage (β = 0.96; P = 0.002). None of the VDR SNPs analyzed showed any link with WC or BMI. The A allele of rs2228570 (β = 0.08; P = 0.001) for men and the T allele of rs2853563 (β = 0.04; P < 0.001) for women remained positively associated with serum adiponectin concentrations after multiple testing correction.Conclusion: Although we did not find any association for anthropometric measures, we did observe associations of VDR variants with serum adipokines and with the more metabolically active fat, VAT. Therefore, our findings demonstrate a possible role of VDR variants in regulating adipose tissue activity and adiposity among AAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives African Americans (AA) experience higher levels of stress related to living in racially segregated and poor neighborhoods. However, little is known about the associations between perceived neighborhood environments and cellular aging among adult AA. This study examined whether perceived neighborhood environments were associated with telomere length (TL) in AA after adjustment for individual-level risk factors. Methods The analysis included 158 women and 75 men AA aged 30–55 years from the Morehouse School of Medicine Study. Relative TL (T/S ratio) was measured from peripheral blood leukocytes using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the associations of perceived neighborhood social cohesion, problems, and overall unfavorable perceptions with log-TL. Results Women had significantly longer TL than men (0.59 vs. 0.54, p = 0.012). After controlling for sociodemographic, and biomedical and psychosocial factors, a 1-SD increase in perceived neighborhood problems was associated with 7.3% shorter TL in women (Mean Difference [MD] = −0.073 (Standard Error = 0.03), p = 0.012). Overall unfavorable perception of neighborhood was also associated with 5.9% shorter TL among women (MD = −0.059(0.03), p = 0.023). Better perceived social cohesion were associated with 2.4% longer TL, but did not reach statistical significance (MD = 0.024(0.02), p = 0.218). No association was observed between perceived neighborhood environments and TL in men. Conclusions Our findings suggest that perceived neighborhood environments may be predictive of cellular aging in AA women even after accounting for individual-level risk factors. Additional research with a larger sample is needed to determine whether perceived neighborhood environments are causally related to TL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right frontal cortex improves language abilities in post-stroke aphasic patients. Yet little is known about the effects of right frontal cathodal tDCS on normal language function. Objective/hypothesis: To explore the cathodal tDCS effects of the right-hemispheric homologue of Broca's area on picture naming in healthy individuals. We hypothesized that cathodal tDCS improves picture naming and that this effect is determined by the anatomical and functional connectivity of the targeted region. Methods: Cathodal and sham tDCS were applied to the right inferior frontal gyrus in 24 healthy subjects before a picture-naming task. All participants were studied with magnetic resonance imaging at pre-interventional baseline. Probabilistic tractography and dynamic causal modeling of functional brain activity during a word repetition task were applied to characterize anatomical and functional connectivity. Results: Subjects named pictures faster after cathodal relative to sham tDCS. The accelerating effect of tDCS was explained by a reduced frequency of very slow responses. tDCS-induced acceleration of picture naming correlated with larger volumes of the tract connecting the right Broca's area and the supplementary motor area (SMA) and greater functional coupling from the right SMA to the right Broca's area. Conclusions: The results support the notion that the after-effects of tDCS on brain function are at least in part determined by the anatomical and functional connectivity of the targeted region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is often hypothesized that psychosocial stress may contribute to associations of socioeconomic position (SEP) with risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, few studies have investigated this hypothesis among African Americans, who may be more frequently exposed to stressors due to social and economic circumstances. Cross-sectional data from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), a large population-based cohort of African Americans, were used to examine the contributions of stressors to the association of SEP with selected cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors and subclinical atherosclerotic disease. Among women, higher income was associated with lower prevalence of hypertension, obesity, diabetes and carotid plaque and lower levels of stress. Higher stress levels were also weakly, albeit positively, associated with hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, but not with plaque. Adjustment for the stress measures reduced the associations of income with hypertension, diabetes and obesity by a small amount that was comparable to, or larger, than the reduction observed after adjustment for behavioral risk factors. In men, high income was associated with lower prevalence of diabetes and stressors were not consistently associated with any of the outcomes examined. Overall, modest mediation effects of stressors were observed for diabetes (15.9%), hypertension (9.7%), and obesity (5.1%) among women but only results for diabetes were statistically significant. No mediation effects of stressors were observed in men. Our results suggest that stressors may partially contribute to associations of SEP with diabetes and possibly hypertension and obesity in African American women. Further research with appropriate study designs and data is needed to understand the dynamic and interacting effects of stressors and behaviors on CVD outcomes as well as sex differences in these effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality is one of the major contributors to racial disparities in health in the United States (US). We examined spatial heterogeneity in black–white differences in CHD mortality across the US and assessed the contributions of poverty and segregation. We used county-level, age-adjusted CHD mortality rates for blacks and whites in the continental US between 1996 and 2006. Geographically weighted regression was employed to assess spatial heterogeneity. There was significant spatial heterogeneity in black–white differences in CHD mortality (median black–white difference 17.7 per 100,000, 25th–75th percentile (IQR): 4.0, 34.0, P value for spatial non-stationarity <0.0001) before controlling for poverty and segregation. This heterogeneity was no longer present after accounting for county differences in race-specific poverty and segregation and interactions of these variables with race (median black–white difference −13.5 per 100,000, IQR: −41.3, 15.7, P value for spatial non-stationarity=0.4346). The results demonstrate the importance of spatial heterogeneity in understanding and eliminating racial disparities in CHD mortality. Additional research to identify the individual and contextual factors that explain the local variations in racial disparities is warranted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The structure elucidation of a novel natural product pavettamine (1), the causal agent of the plant toxicosis gousiekte, is reported. The structure was defined by analysis of NMR and MS data and the relative configuration followed from the 13C NMR data of the acetonide derivative. The absolute stereochemistry was established by total synthesis from (2S)-malic acid using chiral sulfoxide methodology as (2S,4R,8R,10S)-1,11-diamino-6-aza-undecane-2,4,8,10-tetraol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A composite electrolyte membrane composed of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and CsH 2 PO 4 has been prepared via a facile and cost-effective method for solid acid fuel cells. The effect of PVB content on conductivity, mechanical integrity, and fuel cell performance is investigated. A minimum amount of 3 wt% PVB in the CsH 2 PO 4 -based composite electrolyte not only offers the required mechanical integrity but also allows high conductivity (∼28 mS cm −1 at 260 °C). Single cells based on the composite electrolytes demonstrate a peak power density of 108 mW cm −2 at 260 °C. Almost no degradation in electrochemical performance could be observed during the stability test for 10 h and three thermal-cycling test in H 2 /O 2 fuel cell, indicating the promising application of the composite electrolyte in solid acid fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Little research has focused on the social patterning of diabetes among African Americans. We examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes among African Americans. Methods: Education, income and occupation were examined among 4,303 participants (2,726 women and 1,577 men). Poisson regression estimated relative probabilities (RP) of diabetes outcomes by SES. Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 19.6% in women and 15.9% in men. Diabetes awareness, treatment, and control were 90.0%, 86.8%, and 39.2% in women, respectively, and 88.2%, 84.4%, and 35.9% in men, respectively. In adjusted models, low-income men and women had greater probabilities of diabetes than high-income men and women (RP, 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28–2.92; and RP, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.04–1.74, respectively). Lack of awareness was associated with low education and low occupation in women (RP, 2.28; 95%CI 1.01–5.18; and RP, 2.62; 95% CI, 1.08–6.33, respectively) but not in men. Lack of treatment was associated with low education in women. Diabetes control was not patterned by SES. Conclusions: Diabetes prevalence is patterned by SES, and awareness and treatment are patterned by SES in women but not men. Efforts to prevent diabetes in African Americans need to address the factors that place those of low SES at higher risk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Normal hearing listeners exploit the formant transition (FT) detection to identify place of articulation for stop consonants. Neuro-imaging studies revealed that short FT induced less cortical activation than long FT. To determine the ability of hearing impaired listeners to distinguish short and long formant transitions (FT) from vowels of the same duration, 84 mild to severe hearing impaired listeners and 5 normal hearing listeners were asked to detect 10 synthesized stimuli with long (200ms) or short (40ms) FT among 30 stimuli of the same duration without FT. Hearing impaired listeners were tested with and without hearing aids. The effect of the difficulty of the task (short/long FT) was analysed as a function of the hearing loss with and without hearing aids. Normal hearing listeners were able to detect every FT (short and long). For hearing impaired listeners, the detection of long FT was better than that of short ones irrespective of their degree of hearing loss. The use of hearing aids improved detection of both kinds of FT; however, the detection of long FT remained much better than the detection of the short ones. The length of FT modified the ability of hearing impaired patients to detect FT. Short FT had access to less cortical processing than long FT and cochlea damages enhanced this specific deficit in short FT brain processing. These findings help to understand the limit of deafness rehabilitation in the time domain and should be taken into account in future devices development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]