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Old age alone does not reflect an intolerability to chemotherapy. However, upfront dose reduction (UDR) of the first cycle of first-line palliative chemotherapy has sometimes been chosen by physicians for older adults with metastatic cancer due to concerns regarding adverse events. The development of predictive factors for UDR of palliative chemotherapy would be helpful for treatment planning among older adults. This was a secondary analysis of a study on predicting adverse events of first-line palliative chemotherapy in 296 patients (&ge, 70 years) with solid cancer. We assessed the prevalence of UDR of the first cycle of first-line chemotherapy and the association of UDR with the variables of geriatric assessment (GA) and chemotherapy compliance. Among the 296 patients, 177 (59.8%) patients were treated with UDR. The mean percentage of UDR for the total patient group was 19.2% (range: 4&ndash, 47%) of the standard dose. In a multivariate analysis, poor performance status (PS) and living without a spouse were independent predictive factors of UDR of first-line palliative chemotherapy in older adults. Patients with UDR showed fewer grade 3&ndash, 5 adverse events versus the standard dose group. Study completion as planned was significantly higher in the UDR group versus the standard dose group. Older adults with UDR better tolerated chemotherapy than patients with a standard dose.

The translocation of orchids (Orchidaceae) cannot be successful if one is unaware of their effective pollinators and plant–pollinator interactions. Cypripedium guttatum is a generalized food-deceptive orchid, which is highly threatened in the Republic of Korea, thus, requiring immediate translocation actions. Although effective pollinators of the orchid are well known in China, little is known about the pollinators in the Republic of Korea and the ecological context in which the orchid can be successfully pollinated. To briefly assess the pollination of C. guttatum prior to translocation, we conducted a one-month survey of general pollination and the community-wide plant–pollinator network properties. Over 21 h of observation, we found that an effective pollinator of the orchid was the sweat bee Lasioglossum virideglaucum. The network was significantly specialized and modular, but not significantly nested. L. virideglaucum (pollinator) and Arabis gemmifera (plant) were determined to be keystone species, based on network metrics. A total of six network modules were identified and the flower colors of the plant species belonging to the C. guttatum module were purple, white, and yellow. After comparing the daily network patterns, we found that pollination of the orchid was accomplished when various flowering plant species bloom, and the nestedness value was high. This study revealed that high plant and pollinator richness could increase the chance that the deceptive orchid would be pollinated. Our study suggests that the network properties of this food-deceptive orchid community could provide useful insight into understanding the ecologically suitable habitat for the translocation of the highly threatened orchid species C. guttatum.

Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) have promising potential for diverse biological application, but it has not been completely determined whether Au-NP has potential toxicity in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, toxicity of Au-NP was evaluated in human intestinal cells as well as in rats after 14-day repeated oral administration. Biokinetic study was also performed to assess oral absorption and tissue distribution. The results demonstrated that Au-NP did not cause cytotoxic effects on cells after 24 h exposure in terms of inhibition of cell proliferation, membrane damage, and oxidative stress. However, when a small number of cells were exposed to Au-NP for seven days, colony forming ability remarkably decreased by Au-NP treatment, suggesting its potential toxicity after long-term exposure at high concentration. Biokinetic study revealed that Au-NP slowly entered the blood stream and slightly accumulated only in kidney after oral administration to rats. Whereas, orally administered Au ions were rapidly absorbed, and then distributed in kidney, liver, lung, and spleen at high levels, suggesting that the biological fate of Au-NP is primarily in nanoparticulate form, not in ionic Au. Fourteen-day repeated oral toxicity evaluation showed that Au-NP did not cause severe toxicity in rats based on histopathological, hematological, and serum biochemical analysis.

In this study, electroless-plating of a nickel-phosphor (Ni&ndash, P) thin film on surface-controlled thermoelectric elements was developed to significantly increase the bonding strength between Bi&ndash, Te materials and copper (Cu) electrodes in thermoelectric modules. Without electroless Ni&ndash, P plating, the effect of surface roughness on the bonding strength was negligible. Brittle SnTe intermetallic compounds were formed at the bonding interface of the thermoelectric elements and defects such as pores were generated at the bonding interface owing to poor wettability with the solder. However, defects were not present at the bonding interface of the specimen subjected to electroless Ni&ndash, P plating, and the electroless Ni&ndash, P plating layer acted as a diffusion barrier toward Sn and Te. The bonding strength was higher when the specimen was subjected to Ni&ndash, P plating compared with that without Ni&ndash, P plating, and it improved with increasing surface roughness. As electroless Ni&ndash, P plating improved the wettability with molten solder, the increase in bonding strength was attributed to the formation of a thicker solder reaction layer below the bonding interface owing to an increase in the bonding interface with the solder at higher surface roughness.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used for food fortification, because zinc is essential for many enzyme and hormone activities and cellular functions, but public concern about their potential toxicity is increasing. Interactions between ZnO and biomatrices might affect the oral absorption, distribution, and toxicity of ZnO, which may be influenced by particle size. In this study, ZnO interactions with biomatrices were investigated by examining the physicochemical properties, solubility, protein fluorescence quenching, particle–protein corona, and intestinal transport with respect to the particle size (bulk vs. nano) in simulated gastrointestinal (GI) and plasma fluids and in rat-extracted fluids. The results demonstrate that the hydrodynamic radii and zeta potentials of bulk ZnO and nano ZnO in biofluids changed in different ways, and that nano ZnO induced higher protein fluorescence quenching than bulk ZnO. However, ZnO solubility and its intestinal transport mechanism were unaffected by particle size. Proteomic analysis revealed that albumin, fibrinogen, and fibronectin play roles in particle–plasma protein corona, regardless of particle size. Furthermore, nano ZnO was found to interact more strongly with plasma proteins. These observations show that bulk ZnO and nano ZnO interact with biomatrices in different ways and highlight the need for further study of their long-term toxicity.