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From 2010 to 2020, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has achieved many achievements in urbanization. The urban population size is continuously increasing, the urban population rate is higher than the national average, the urban economy grows stably, the urban economic structure shifts in a positive direction, the labor force non-agriculture continuously increased, and urban infrastructure was modernized synchronously. The article focuses on studying the status of urbanization in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province through the population, economy, land use, city infrastructure, and city network indicators. From the study of the current status of urbanization, the author proposes some solutions for urban development in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

Background: Abnormal changes in blood hemoglobin (Hb) levels depend on maternal and neonatal factors, and could be an important indicator to evaluate the progression of neonatal diseases. This study aims to describe the hemoglobin concentration in ill neonates and to identify several factors associated with anemia and polycythemia status in newborns in early neonatal period. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive was conducted. A convenient sample included 169 ill neonates less than 7 day-old at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital from July 2021 to May 2022. Results: Mean gestational age in study group was 38.5 ± 2.2 weeks. The mean Hb concentration of study group was 180 ± 26.4 g/l. Prevalence of anemia and polycythemia were 18.9% and 6.5%, respectively. The mean Hb level in common diseases such as early-onset neonatal sepsis (EOS), meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), ABO hemolytic disease of newborn (ABO HDN) was 181.7 ± 24.5 g/l, 164.5 ± 20.5g/l and 136.2 ± 18.5g/l, respectively. The incidence of anemia in EOS was 18.8%, in ABO HDN was 80.0%, in MAS was 33.3%. Factors significantly associated with neonatal anemia were ABO HDN (OR = 17.9, p < 0.05), maternal anemia (OR = 3.57, p < 0.05). Low birth weight neonates (< 2500 gram) increased the risk of polycythemia with OR = 3.94 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The abnormal changes of hemoglobin concentration appears in 25.4% of ill neonates. The hemoglobin level should be screened to evaluate the disease characteristics of neonates. Key words: ill neonates, neonatal anemia, polycythemia.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of Vietnamese ginseng extract(VGE) on the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Cobalt chloride (CoCl2)-exposedH9C2 cells. Methods: H9C2 cells were subjected to CoCl -induced hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR)model with or without treatment of VGE. The hydroperoxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2-)productions in H9C2 cells in the experimental groups were assessed by suitable fluorescencekits. Results: The obtained data showed that VGE at a dose of 31.25 μg/ml significantly reducedROS levels in HR-subjected H9C2 cells. In the HR group, the H2O2 and O2- content in H9C2 cellswere sharply increased to 156.81±7.82% and 160.10±2.07% (of 100% control), respectively.Interestingly, in the VGE-treated HR group, these indicators were significantly decreased to119.67± 3.37% and 124.72 ± 3.21% (p

Hoa Binh reservoir area is planned to become one of 12 key national tourist areas of the northern mountainous region of Vietnam by 2030. In order to support the planning and sustainable tourism development, this study has conducted an integrated assessment of tourism potential in Hoa Binh reservoir based on 29 criteria. Next, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to group tourist destinations according to evaluation criteria. GIS was used to integrate attribute data with spatial data and present assessment results on maps. The results show that Hoa Binh reservoir area has high potential for tourism development with 3 international tourist sites, 23 national-level sites, 7 regional-level sites and 9 provincial-level sites. The spatial assessment results show that Hoa Binh city, Ngoi Hoa commune and Thung Nai commune have the highest potential for tourism development. 5 communes with high tourism potential are distributed in Da Bac and Mai Chau districts, 2 communes have medium potential and 11 communes with little potential for tourism development. Despite having rich tourism resources, the study area is facing poor tourism infrastructure. It is necessary to upgrade tourism infrastructure and strengthen links with neighboring areas to increase the attractiveness and diversity Hoa Binh tourist area.

Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate the affect of Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) concentration on the viability of H9C2 cells under the different cultural conditions. Methods: H9C2 cells were cultured under normal conditions and subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation model. DMSOat the doses of 0,001÷10% (v/v) was added to the cultural medium during normal culture period and reoxygenation period. Cellular viability of the experimental groups was assessed by using CCK-8 kit. Results: The results indicated that the viability of H9C2 cardiomyocytes was stable in the different culture media supplied with DMSO at the doses of0,001÷0,5% (v/v). Meanwhile, supplementation of DMSO at the doses of1% and 2% significantly decreased the survival rate of H9C2 cells (v/v,p

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials are ideal gas sensing materials with ultrahigh sensitivity due to the high surface-to-volume ratio, low electronic noise, and tunable Fermi level alig...

Peptides can recognize and selectively bind to a wide variety of materials dependent on both their surface properties and the environment. Biopanning with phage or cell peptide display libraries can identify material-specific binding peptides. However, the limitations with sequence diversity of traditional bacteriophage (phage) display libraries and loss of unique phage clones during the amplification cycles results in a smaller pool of peptide sequences identified. False positive sequences tend to emerge during the biopanning process due to highly proliferating, yet nonspecific, phages. In order to overcome this limitation of traditional biopanning methodology, a modified method using high-throughput next generation sequencing (HTS) was tested to select for unique peptides specific to two types of single wall carbon nanotube (SWNTs) sources with varying diameter distribution and chirality. Here, the process, analysis, and characterization of peptide sequences identified using the modified method is further described and compared to a peptide identified in literature using the traditional method. Selected sequences from this study were incorporated in a SWNT dispersion experiment to probe their selectivity to the nanotube diameter. We show that NHTS can uncover unique binding sequences that might have otherwise been lost during the traditional biopanning method.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Objective There is a controversy about the performance of blood tests for the diagnostic of metabolic liver disease in patients with type-2-diabetes in comparison with patients without type-2-diabetes. These indirect comparisons assumed that the gold-standard is binary, whereas fibrosis stages, steatosis and nonalcoholic-steato-hepatitis (NASH) grades use an ordinal scale. The primary aim was to compare the diagnostic performances of FibroTest in type-2-diabetes vs. controls matched on gender, age, fibrosis stages and obesity, and taking into account the spectrum effect by Obuchowski measure. Methods Data were retrospectively compared among patients prospectively included, with simultaneous biopsy and blindly assessed FibroTest, SteatoTest-2 and NashTest-2. The secondary aim was to construct an index (SpectrumF3F4-Index) to predict an adjusted-area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) for F3F4 diagnosis from the prevalences of fibrosis stages, permitting to reduce the spectrum effect when performances of FibroTest, transient elastography and magnetic resonance elastography are indirectly compared. Results In 505 patients at risk of NASH, the Obuchowski measures [95% confidence interval (CI)] of FibroTest, SteatoTest-2 and NashTest-2 were all equivalent in 136 type-2-diabetes cases vs. 369 matched controls: 0.871 (0.837–0.905), vs. 0.880 (0.879–0.881), 0.835 (0.797–0.873) vs. 0.806 (0.780–0.832) and 0.829 (0.793–0.865) vs. 0.855 (0.829–0.869), respectively. Standard-AUROCs (95% CI) were 0.932 (0.898–0.965), 0.872 (0.837–0.907) and 0.834 (0.699–0.969) and reduced after adjustment by SpectrumF3F4-Index to 0.794 (0.749–0.838), 0.767 (0.750–0.783) and 0.773 (0.725–0.822) for transient, magnetic resonance elastography and FibroTest, respectively. Conclusions When compared by Obuchowski measures, the performances of tests were not different in patients with T2-diabetes vs. patients without T2-diabetes. When individual data are not available, adjusted-AUROCs reduced the spectrum effect.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is being pushed to new capabilities which enable studies on systems that were previously out of reach. Among recent innovations, TEM through liquid cells (LC-TEM) enables in operando observation of biological phenomena. This work applies LC-TEM to the study of biological components as they interact on an abiotic surface. Specifically, analytes or target molecules like neuropeptide Y (NPY) are observed in operando on functional graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) biosensors. Biological recognition elements (BREs) identified using biopanning with affinity to NPY are used to functionalize graphene to obtain selectivity. On working devices capable of achieving picomolar responsivity to neuropeptide Y, LC-TEM reveals translational motion, stochastic positional fluctuations due to constrained Brownian motion, and rotational dynamics of captured analyte. Coupling these observations with the electrical responses of the GFET biosensors in response to analyte capture and/or release will potentially enable new insights leading to more advanced and capable biosensor designs.

International audience; BACKGROUND: No blood test has been shown to be effective in the prediction of primary liver cancer in patients without cirrhosis.AIM: To construct and internally validate two sequential tests for early prediction of liver cancer. These tests enable an algorithm which could improve the performance of the standard surveillance protocol recommended (imaging with or without AFP), limited to patients with cirrhosis.METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis in prospectively collected specimens from an ongoing cohort. We designed an early sensitive high-risk test (LCR1) that combined (using Cox model) hepatoprotective proteins (apolipoproteinA1, haptoglobin) with known risk factors (gender, age, gammaglutamyltranspeptidase), and a marker of fibrosis (alpha2-macroglobulin). To increase the specificity, we then combined (LCR2) these components with alpha-fetoprotein.RESULTS: A total of 9892 patients, 85.9% without cirrhosis, were followed up for 5.9 years [IQR: 4.3-9.4]. LCR1 and LCR2 time-dependent AUROCs were not different in construction and validation randomised subsets. Among 2027 patients with high-LCR1 then high-LCR2, 167 cancers (113 with cirrhosis, 54 without cirrhosis) were detected, that is 12 patients needed to screen one cancer. The negative predictive value was 99.5% (95% CI 99.0-99.7) in the 2026 not screened patients (11 cancers without cirrhosis) higher than the standard surveillance, which detected 113 cancers in 755 patients screened, that is seven patients needed to screen one cancer, but with a lower negative predictive value 98.0% (97.5-98.5; Z = 4.3; P < 0.001) in 3298 not screened patients (42 cancers without cirrhosis).CONCLUSIONS: In patients with chronic liver disease the LCR1 and LCR2 tests identify those with a high risk of liver cancer, including in those without cirrhosis. NCT01927133.

Background Combination of liver stiffness measurement and platelets count is a tool to safely rule out varices needing treatment (VNT) in patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD). Aims: to evaluate 4-year liver-related complications and survival in low-risk patients according to Baveno VI criteria. Methods we conducted a monocentric retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of all consecutive patients, with cirrhosis (LSM≥12.5 kPa) and without previous complication, evaluated between 2012 and 2015. Liver-related complications and survival were compared between 2 groups of patients: favourable (LSM 150.000/mm3) and unfavourable Baveno VI status patients (LSM ≥ 20 kPa or platelet count ≤150.000/mm3). Results 455 patients with cACLD were analysed. Two hundred patients had favourable Baveno VI criteria, 3.6% with VNT. The 4-year probability of being free of acute decompensation was higher in low-risk patients (94.4 ± 1.8% vs. 85.7%±2.6%, p = 0.018). Unfavourable Baveno status was independently associated with acute decompensation. The probability of being free of HCC was significantly higher in low-risk patients (94.2 ± 1.8% vs. 87.6 ± 2.4%, p = 0.048). Liver-related mortality was not different between the 2 groups (p = 0.56). Conclusion The Baveno VI criteria could predict clinical outcome in cACLD.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Background Serum biomarkers of steatosis such as the SteatoTest are recommended for large-scale screening studies, because imaging is less accessible and more expensive. Aims The primary aim of this retrospective analysis of prospective studies was to construct a new SteatoTest-2 that was not inferior to the reference first-generation SteatoTest, but that did not include BMI or bilirubin, as these two components can increase test variability because of the assessment of weight and height and in case of Gilbert syndrome or hemolysis, respectively. Patients and methods Five different subsets of 2997 patients with biopsies were evaluated for test construction and validation, and four to assess the prevalence of steatosis in target populations with increasing risks of steatosis. The performance of the SteatoTest-2 was compared with the reference test, using the noninferiority test (0.10 margin) and the Lin concordance coefficient. Results Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the SteatoTest-2 were noninferior to the reference test (P

BackgroundSince 1920, a decrease in serum cholesterol has been identified as a marker of severe pneumonia. We have assessed the performance of serum apolipoprotein-A1, the main transporter of HDL-cholesterol, to identify the early spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the general population and its diagnostic performance for the Covid-19.MethodsWe compared the daily mean serum apolipoprotein-A1 during the first 30 weeks of 2020 in a population that is routinely followed for a risk of liver fibrosis risk in the USA (183,112 sera) and in France (18,316 sera) in relation to a local increase in confirmed cases, and in comparison to the same period in 2019 (respectively 234,881 and 26,056 sera). We prospectively assessed the sensitivity of this marker in an observational study of 136 consecutive hospitalized cases and retrospectively evaluated its specificity in 7,481 controls representing the general population.ResultsThe mean serum apolipoprotein-A1 levels in these populations began decreasing in January 2020, compared to the same 30 weeks in 2019. This decrease was highly correlated to and in parallel with the daily increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases in the following 30 weeks, in both France and USA, including the June and mid-July recovery periods in France. Apolipoprotein-A1 at the 1.25 g/L cutoff had a sensitivity of 90.6% (95%CI84.2-95.1) and a specificity of 96.1% (95.7-96.6%) for the diagnosis of Covid-19. The area under the characteristics curve was 0.978 (0.957-0.988), and outperformed haptoglobin and liver function tests. The adjusted risk ratio for survival without transfer to intensive care unit was 5.61 (95%CI 1.02-31.0;P=0.04).ConclusionApolipoprotein-A1 could be both a sentinel of the pandemic in existing routine surveillance of the general population with no new blood sample, as well as a candidate predictor of suspected Covid-19 in multivariate analysis in cases with a negative virological test. NCT01927133, CER-2020-14.Key PointsQuestionDoes serum apolipoprotein-A1 decrease could be a very early biomarker of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?FindingsDuring the 30 weeks of 2020 we observed in two large cohorts of patients at risk of liver fibrosis a highly significant decrease of serum apolipoprotein-A1, not observed in previous years. This decrease was highly correlated to and in parallel with the daily increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases, including the recovery period.MeaningApolipoprotein-A1 could be used as a sentinel of the pandemic in existing routine surveillance of the general population.

BACKGROUND/AIM Radiotherapy for carcinoma invasion of the sacrum (CIS) is an alternative treatment to surgery in patients with advanced, inoperable tumors or those not medically eligible for resection of the neoplasm. Herein we present an observational study of patients with imaging-confirmed CIS who were treated non-operatively with radiation. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective chart review of CIS patients treated with palliative radiotherapy (PR) during a 9-year period (2004-2013) was performed. RESULTS Six women and 13 men with an average age of 60 years took part in this study. Most patients (84%) exhibited extrasacral metastases. Primary tumors included lung (n=6), colorectal (n=6), breast (n=3), bladder or kidney (n=2), and liver carcinoma or a tumor in an unknown primary site (n=2). The mean follow-up time was 10 months with a 2-year survival rate of 9%. The majority (71%) of symptomatic patients obtained relief from pain following PR. Half of those individuals who were non-ambulatory prior to therapy regained mobility. There were no acute ill-effects or later complications after irradiation. CONCLUSION Despite the small cohort and poor overall survival rate, non-operative radiation treatment is a beneficial method of palliative care in patients with CIS.

International audience; Background: Although the FibroTest has been validated as a biomarker to determine the stage of fibrosis in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with results similar to those in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), B (CHB), and alcoholic liver disease (ALD), it has not yet been confirmed for the prediction of liver‐related death. Aim: To validate the 10‐year prognostic value of FibroTest in NAFLD for the prediction of liver‐ related death. Method: Patients in the prospective FibroFrance cohort who underwent a FibroTest between 1997 and 2012 were pre‐included. Mortality status was obtained from physicians, hospitals or the national register. Survival analyses were based on univariate (Kaplan‐Meier, log rank, AUROC) and multivariate Cox risk ratio taking into account age, sex and response to anti‐viral treatment as covariates. The comparator was the performance of the FibroTest in CHC, the most validated population. Results: 7082 patients were included; 1079, 3449, 2051, and 503 with NAFLD, CHC, CHB, and ALD, respectively. Median (range) follow‐up was 6.0 years (0.1‐19.3). Ten year survival (95% CI) without liver‐related death in patients with NAFLD was 0.956 (0.940‐0.971; 38 events) and 0.832 (0.818‐0.847; 226 events; P = 0.004)in CHC. The prognostic value (AUROC / Cox risk ratio) of FibroTest in patients with NAFLD was 0.941 (0.905‐0.978)/1638 (342‐7839) and even higher than in patients with CHC 0.875 (0.849‐0.901; P = 01)/2657 (993‐6586). Conclusions: The FibroTest has a high prognostic value in NAFLD for the prediction of liver‐related death. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01927133).

BACKGROUND One of the unmet needs in patients with metabolic risks is the prediction of metabolic liver disease (MLD) by noninvasive tests (NITs). OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this study was to construct a new quantitative test for the diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) using a simplified histological definition. PATIENTS AND METHODS As a reference, we used a simplified histological definition of NASH derived from the FLIP-CRN-definition that does not require the presence of steatosis and the presence of both lobular inflammation and ballooning. We analyzed 1081 patients from two prospective cohorts at risk of MLD who had biopsies and contemporaneous blood samples. These patients were divided randomly into a training group (n=541) and a control group (n=540) for internal validation. The new test was compared with standard tests, and applied in two large populations at risk of MLD. RESULTS Out of 1081 patients with biopsy, 39 (3.6%) cases with significant inflammatory activity or fibrosis (A2orF2) were missed by the current histological definitions. The combination of 11 parameters permitted to construct a test (NIT-NASHs) predicting NASH with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.773 (95% confidence interval: 0.730-0.810), confirmed in the control group 0.814 (0.774-0.847). The AUROCs of NIT-NASHs were higher (all P

Context: Over the last ten years, many research studies concerning pharmacists’ perceptions of generic medicines have been conducted worldwide, although this issue remains underexplored in Vietnam. Aims: To evaluate pharmacists’ views on generic medicines and to investigate the generic substitution practices in community pharmacies in the context of Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional survey comprising a 24-item self-administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 480 pharmacists in eleven provinces in southern Vietnam between December 2016 and March 2017. The main outcome measures were pharmacists’ views on generic medicines. Results: Of the 480 pharmacists who received the questionnaire, the effective response rate was 35.63% (n=171 pharmacists); however, 45 pharmacists chose all three correct generic names. Some 47.3% of respondents indicated that all the products that are approved as exhibiting generic equivalence can be considered therapeutically equivalent to the innovator drugs. Yet, 25.2% of respondents agreed that generic medicines are of inferior quality to branded medicines. The pharmacists who graduated from universities and those who had undergone only a short period of training differed significantly in terms of their knowledge and perceptions. About 60.2% of pharmacists recommended generics over branded products. Approximately 89% of respondents disagreed with the notion of implementing certain compulsory generic substitutions in Vietnam. Conclusions: The pharmacists who had completed only a short training period exhibited a lack of knowledge regarding generic names. This issue should hence be addressed by both pharmacy educators and relevant government agencies in order to ensure the wider use of generic products.

Context: According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 1.4 million deaths worldwide in 2015 from tuberculosis (TB), with 3.9% being new cases and 21% being previously treated cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Aims: To review the literature concerning the costing analysis situation of MDR-TB treatment. Methods: The study was conducted as a systematic review, with a modified checklist being used as the vital instrument. A search was performed of three databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus) using the terms (cost OR economic, socioeconomic, expenditure, burden, fee, charge, budget impact) AND (resistance OR multidrug resistance, MDR) AND (tuberculosis OR TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis) in order to identify relevant articles published from 2006 to the present. Results: A total of 1238 abstracts were identified, and 12 papers were ultimately included in the study. The quantity of the published articles was found to increase during in the period 2008 to 2016. Almost all the studies were based on patients’ and healthcare systems’ perceptions. The main data sources used were medical establishments and the reports of various relevant organizations. Primary data were used twice as much as secondary data. All the costing types, including direct costs and indirect costs, were mentioned, albeit not with the same frequency. Conclusions: Africa owns one-third of the articles included. Further, it was found that MDR-TB should be treated using ambulatory care rather than hospital-based models. Future research studies should focus on Asia, where drug resistance has proved to be a challenging issue.

Summary Background Haptoglobin bifucosylated tetra-antennary glycan have been identified in patients with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma, but its specificity according to the presence or not of cirrhosis has never been assessed. The aims of this study were to determine if haptoglobin bifucosylated tetra-antennary glycan (1) could be a marker of HCC in patients without cirrhosis; (2) could increase the performance of standard alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) or recent blood tests for HCC detection, i.e., lectin-reactive alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3), des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) and Liver-Cancer-Risk-test (LCR1-test). Methods We retrospectively selected patients, 102 with HCC (21 without cirrhosis), matched by stages with 140 controls without HCC (81 without cirrhosis). Haptoglobin fucosylation was assessed by MALDI-TOF. LCR-glycan algorithm was constructed combining components of the LCR-1 test (haptoglobin, gammaglutamyl-transpeptidase, apolipoproteinA1, alpha-2-macroglobulin) with AFP, AFP-L3, DCP and haptoglobin bifucosylated tetra-antennary glycan. Results In 102 patients without cirrhosis (21 HCC and 81 controls), the intention-to-diagnose analyses showed that haptoglobin bifucosylated tetra-antennary glycan alone had a sensitivity of 71% (15/21;95%CI 50–86), significantly better (P = 0.02) than standard AFP (43%;9/21;95%CI 24–63), and a specificity of 96% (78/81;95% 90–99). The sensitivity of LCR-glycan, in patients without cirrhosis, was 86% (18/21; 95%CI 63–95) significantly better (P = 0.001) than standard AFP (43%; 9/21; 95%CI 24–63), with an AUROC of 0.943 (95%CI 0.806–0.98) compared to 0.811 (95%CI 0.630–0.908) for AFP (P = 0.06). Conclusion Haptoglobin bifucosylated tetra-antennary glycan is associated with the presence of HCC in patients with chronic liver disease including those without cirrhosis. Its combination with existing HCC biomarkers could improve the performance of standard AFP for HCC detection.

Controlled oxidation of graphene is important for electronic and sensing applications as it offers routes for hole doping and metal–insulator transition. Current methods of oxidation, however, disrupt the graphene lattice and yield pores having diameter > 20 nm for any oxidizing species. In this work, a method for photo-thermal oxidation of graphene is presented for the first time that suggests absence of pores in the graphene layer during atomic force microscopy. The mechanism of oxidation is studied on CVD (chemical vapor deposition)-grown graphene using in situ Raman spectroscopy. Analysis of the temporal evolution of Raman spectra in different oxidizing environments enabled extraction of the reaction energy of oxidation – providing fundamental insight into the oxidation process. Additionally, atomic force microscopy revealed clear phase contrast between the oxidized and un-oxidized domains which were randomly distributed across the graphene layer. This work will enable engineering of oxygen-related defects in graphene for electronic and sensing applications.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Background and aim One of the unmet needs in subjects with metabolic risks is the prediction of metabolic liver disease by noninvasive tests. The construction of performant tests is dependent on the appropriateness of the histological reference definition. The aim of this study was to analyze the limitations of similar European (Fatty Liver Inhibition of Progression) and USA (Clinical-Research-Network) standard definitions and their impact on the construction of tests. Methods We hypothesized that a simpler histological definition of non-alcoholo steato-hepatitis (NASH), which does not require the presence of steatosis and the presence of both lobular inflammation and ballooning, should improve the concordance rates with previously validated blood tests. We reviewed the landmark studies in metabolic liver disease, sources of the standard definitions, and we compared the adequacy of these standards to other possible definitions in 1081 subjects with biopsies, by concordance and accuracy rates. Results The limitations of standard definitions included the presence of appropriate controls in only 6.6% of landmark studies, an arbitrary definition of steatosis and NASH covering only four (15%) out of 27 possible combinations of features, compared with 18 (67%) for a simplified NASH definition, which did not require steatosis. A total of 39/1081 (3.6%) cases were not identified by standard definition, but were identified by the simplified definition as significant active disease, including 15 cases with significant fibrosis. The simplified definition increased the κ concordance (P

Understanding the factors that influence the interaction between biomolecules and abiotic surfaces is of utmost interest in biosensing and biomedical research. Through phage display technology, several peptides have been identified as specific binders to abiotic material surfaces, such as gold, graphene, silver, and so forth. Using graphene-peptide as our model abiotic-biotic pair, we investigate the effect of graphene quality, number of layers, and the underlying support substrate effect on graphene-peptide interactions using both experiments and computation. Our results indicate that graphene quality plays a significant role in graphene-peptide interactions. The graphene-biomolecule interaction appears to show no significant dependency on the number of graphene layers or the underlying support substrate.

Guanine and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layers 60 nm thick were fabricated by physical vapor deposition and spin-coating, respectively, for potential application as bio-based field-effect transistors. A few layers of graphene on a variety of non-flexible and flexible supports were used as substrates for the guanine and PMMA layers. The interactions between these layers and graphene were studied and their effects on the electrical properties of the graphene were monitored over an extended period of time. Guanine had no noticeable effects on the transport properties of graphene. The presence of PMMA reduced the charge-carrier mobility of graphene by up to 42%. This combination has potential for use as a device in biosensors, environmental science, computer-processing, and graphene-based electronics.

Hepatitis B (HBV) virus infection is characterized by the overproduction of subviral particles (SVP) over infectious Dane particles (VP). Precise regulation of the ratio between these forms is unknown, but its fluctuation may have a clinical impact. An enrichment method was applied to assess the SVP/VP ratio in chronically infected patients (CHB) and to compare the sensitivity of HBs antigen (HBsAg) and DNA detection methods. Plasmas from 9 genotype A-D CHB patients were fractionated on Nycodenz(®) gradients, and both HBV DNA and HBsAg were quantified in each collected fraction using standardized techniques expressed in IU/mL. Infection of primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) was performed with crude or fractionated plasma. Independently of the genotype, all plasmas showed a similar rate-zonal separation profile characterized by a bottom DNA-enriched peak surmounted by HBsAg-enriched fractions. Inoculation of PHH with plasma-derived VP-enriched fractions led to long-lasting production of virus in cell supernatants with a SVP/VP ratio similar to that observed in patient plasmas. In the VP fraction, one IU of HBsAg corresponded to approximately 5 million IU of HBV DNA. Rate-zonal gradient separation directly applied on patient plasma allows a better insight into the distribution of VP in HBeAg-positive CHB carriers. This study highlights the sensitivity difference of the techniques classically used to monitor HBV infection and indicates that VP-associated HBsAg contributes modestly to the overall amount of total circulating HBsAg in CHB. Such a fractionation approach should help to understand the fine regulation of HBsAg production over replication at different stages of CHB.