Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Complement Integr Med 2021 May 13. Epub 2021 May 13.

Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Objectives: Medicated oil has been traditionally used as an analgesic medicine to relieve pain by applying to the skin over painful muscles, and has been established in The National List of Essential Medicines (2556 B.E.). Read More

Forum Health Econ Policy 2020 Nov 25;23(2):1-23. Epub 2020 Nov 25.

AbbVie, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, 1 North Waukegan Rd, D-GMH1, AP31-1E, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.

Objectives: Quantify the value of functional status (FS) improvements consistent in magnitude with improvements due to levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) treatment, among the advanced Parkinson's disease (APD) population.

Methods: The Health Economic Medical Innovation Simulation (THEMIS), a microsimulation that estimates future health conditions and medical spending, was used to quantify the health and cost burden of disability among the APD population, and the value of quality-adjusted life-years gained from FS improvement due to LCIG treatment compared to standard of care (SoC). A US-representative Parkinson's disease (PD)-comparable cohort was constructed in THEMIS based on observed PD patient characteristics in a nationally representative dataset. Read More

Rev Environ Health 2021 May 13. Epub 2021 May 13.

Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, New Delhi, India.

The holistic Unani medicine is fundamentally different from the reductionist conventional medicine. It asserts the self-integration amongst its basic disciplines, without considering them underlying principles of Unani system of medicine cannot be understood. The diagnosis, selection of drugs, and plan of treatment is also overlooked. Read More

J Neural Eng 2021 May 13. Epub 2021 May 13.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 842 W Taylor St, 2039 ERF, MC 251, USA, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, UNITED STATES.

Objective: Our laboratory has proposed chemical stimulation of retinal neurons using exogenous glutamate as a biomimetic strategy for treating vision loss caused by photoreceptor degenerative diseases. Although our previous in-vitro studies using pneumatic actuation indicate that chemical retinal stimulation is achievable, an actuation technology that is amenable to microfabrication, as needed for an in-vivo implantable device, has yet to be realized. In this study, we sought to evaluate electroosmotic flow (EOF) as a mechanism for delivering small quantities of glutamate to the retina. Read More

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2021 May 1;201:114101. Epub 2021 May 1.

Pharmaceutical Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, Pudong, China. Electronic address:

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) was commonly known as a class of significant differential metabolites of high relevance with many diseases including psoriasis, of which the accurate determination is of great importance to diagnosis or prediction to many diseases. However, it is challenging and complicated because of the enormous biological sample complexity and impurities interference. In this study, we synthesized a magnetic nanocomposite MG@PD@TiO and took advantage of the interactions of Lewis acid-base between the phosphate groups in LPCs and Ti ions on MG@PD@TiO nanomaterials for selective separation and enrichment of LPCs from complex biological matrix. Read More

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2021 Apr 30;201:114107. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy; European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno, Via De Renzi 50, I-84125, Salerno, Italy. Electronic address:

Bitter acids are a class of prenylated phloroglucinol derivatives present in Humulus lupulus L., known for their multiple healthy properties, nevertheless, research regarding their metabolism and stability is lacking. This study was aimed to elucidate the metabolic stability of hop α- and β-acids and characterize I and II phase metabolites in vitro and in vivo. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2021 May 4;323:110820. Epub 2021 May 4.

Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, 2185 E Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Electronic address:

Proteomics is the global analysis of proteins in a sample, and its methodologies are commonly applied in life science research. Despite its wide applicability however, proteomics is rarely used as a tool in criminal investigations. Here we present a case where the technique provided key evidence in a case that involved the death of a two-year old girl. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2021 May 8;140:109758. Epub 2021 May 8.

Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address:

Purpose: This retrospective study aims to analyze the distribution of demand and the duration of the diagnostic workup of suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) using computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA).

Methods: Time data from physical examination to report creation were identified for each CTPA in 2013 and 2018 at a tertiary hospital. Multivariable multinomial logistic and linear regression models were used to evaluate differences between 3 time intervals (I1: 6am-2pm, I2: 2pm-10pm, I3: 10pm-6am). Read More

Eur J Med Chem 2021 May 4;221:113519. Epub 2021 May 4.

School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China. Electronic address:

Arsenic (As), as well as its various compounds have been widely used for nearly 4000 years either as drugs or poisons. These compounds are valuable in the treatment of various diseases ranging from dermatosis to cancer, thereby emphasizing their important roles as therapeutic agents. The ability of As compounds, especially arsenic trioxide (ATO) in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), has fundamentally altered people's understanding of the poison, and has become a major factor in the re-emergence of Western medicine candidates to treat leukemia and other solid tumors. Read More

Biosens Bioelectron 2021 May 10;186:113309. Epub 2021 May 10.

State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China; Center for Molecular Recognition and Biosensing, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, PR China. Electronic address:

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is continuously worsening globally, herein we have proposed an electrochemical biosensor for the sensitive monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The presence of target RNA firstly triggers the catalytic hairpin assembly circuit and then initiates terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated DNA polymerization. Consequently, a large number of long single-stranded DNA products can be produced, and these negatively charged DNA products will bind a massive of positively charged electroactive molecular of Ru(NH) due to the electrostatic adsorption. Read More

J Hazard Mater 2021 Apr 21;417:125908. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address:

The increasing amount of antibiotics entering the environment through manure usage and sludge application from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) attracts much concern due to their potential threat to ecological security and human health. When biochar, a soil and water amendment, is introduced into the soil for remediation, the antibiotics are usually co-present with the biochar colloids (BC) or pre-accumulated in soils. However, little is known about the effect of antibiotics on the behavior of BC. Read More

J Hazard Mater 2021 May 10;417:125953. Epub 2021 May 10.

Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660-701, South Korea; Division of Applied Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660-701, South Korea. Electronic address:

The host plant and its rhizosphere microbiome are similarly exposed to abiotic stresses under arsenic (As)-enriched cropping systems. Since silicon (Si) fertilization is effective in alleviating As-induced stresses in plants, and plant-microbe interactions are tightly coupled, we hypothesized that Si-fertilization would improve soil microbial functional potentials to environmental stress tolerance, which was not yet studied. With the help of high throughput metagenome, microarray and analyzing plant impacts on soil microbiome and the environment, we tested the hypothesis in two geographically different rice (i. Read More

Environ Pollut 2021 May 4;286:117291. Epub 2021 May 4.

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Noise pollution is a pervasive factor that increasingly threatens natural resources and human health worldwide. In particular, large-scale changes in road networks have driven shifts in the acoustic environment of rural landscapes during the past few decades. Using sampling plots from the Spanish Landscape Monitoring System (SISPARES), 16 km each, we modelled the spatio-temporal changes in road traffic noise pollution in Ecoregion 1 of Spain (approximately 66,000 km). Read More

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021 May 10;560:93-98. Epub 2021 May 10.

Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Yokohama, 223-8522, Japan. Electronic address:

Glucosyl-galactosyl-hydroxylation (GGH) is one type of post-translational modification, which is mainly observed in collagen-like domain-containing proteins. Using LC-MS/MS analysis, we found a GGH-like modification at Lys65 of fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FGL1), although it does not contain a collagen-like domain. To identify the glycosyltransferases responsible for this modification, we established LH3/GLT25D1-knockout FGL1-overexpressing HT1080 cell lines. Read More

Food Chem 2021 Mar 29;357:129729. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, P.O. Box 306, Santiago 7820436, Chile. Electronic address:

Multi-response optimization of hot pressurized liquid extraction (HPLE) was applied for the first time to obtain maqui (Aristotelia chilensis [Mol.] Stuntz) leaf extracts. The total polyphenol content (TPC), the antioxidant capacity (AC) as well as the total polyphenol purity of the maqui leaf extracts were accurately predicted (RSD < 8%) at the evaluated extraction scales. Read More

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2021 May 4;262:7-12. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erlangen University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany; Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.

Objective: This study aimed to provide an overview of the extent to which women with endometriosis are informed about, interested in, and make use of CAM, and to evaluate which of the methods are most often applied.

Study Design: A retrospective, two-center cohort study was conducted using a validated questionnaire among women with laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis at two urban teaching hospitals, certified as endometriosis centres.

Results: A total of 592 patients were included in the study and received the questionnaire; 114 (19. Read More

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2021 May 4;262:45-56. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), the Netherlands.

Introduction: An antepartum screening method to determine normal and abnormal placental function is desirable in the prevention of maternal and fetal pregnancy complications. Placental appearance can easily be obtained and evaluated using 2D ultrasonography, but surprisingly little is known about the change in placental appearance during gestation. Aim of this systematic review was to describe the antepartum placental appearance in placenta syndrome (PS) pregnancies, and to compare this to the appearance in healthy pregnancies. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2021 Apr 9;259:119797. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.

Because traditional methods based on thermal coupling energy level temperature measurement have large errors, a new temperature sensing strategy is proposed to attain strong sensitivity and excellent signal resolution ability. The rare-earth and also transition metal ions with poles apart thermal quenching channels are used as dual emission centers to find a suitable host to achieve high-efficiency dual-mode emission. In this work, a string of phosphors with NaLaMgWO (NLMW) as the host, the single-doped and double-doped Mn and Er phosphors were adopted by the traditional high temperature solid-state reaction method. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2021 Apr 30;259:119891. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, College of Life Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China. Electronic address:

As primary industrial raw material, the widespread usage of bisphenol A (BPA) has resulted in sustained release and accumulation in the environment. Besides its endocrine-disrupting character, BPA was reported to generate excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the potential toxic mechanisms of the BPA-induced oxidative damage to plants were poorly understood. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 29;786:147415. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Vienna, Austria; AgriFood Institute of Aragon (IA2), Zaragoza, Spain.

Depletion of groundwater aquifers along with all of the associated quality and quantity problems which affect profitability of direct agricultural and urban users and linked groundwater-ecosystems have been recognized globally. During recent years, attention has been devoted to land subsidence-the loss of land elevation that occurs in areas with certain geological characteristics associated with aquifer exploitation. Despite the large socioeconomic impacts of land subsidence most of these effects are still not well analyzed and not properly recognized and quantified globally. Read More

Ultramicroscopy 2021 May 4;226:113300. Epub 2021 May 4.

Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais (LNE), 29 avenue Roger Hennequin, 78197 Trappes Cedex, France.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique is widely used to characterize nanoparticle (NP) size. The landing energy (LE) of the primary electron beam is considered to be a key parameter related to the ability of electrons to penetrate the sample. However, few studies have been carried out so far on the influence of this parameter on the measurement of NP size by SEM. Read More

Mult Scler Relat Disord 2021 Apr 28;52:102980. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Department of Neurology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Schleusenweg 2-16, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

The asymmetrical structure of the human brain is reflected not only by innate interhemispheric differences but also by lateralization in neurological disease. We tested if unilateral autoimmune optic neuritis (aON) manifests more frequently on the left than the right eye in clinical and neuroimaging terms and whether Google searches for aON symptoms reflect this bias, too. We employed a retrospective analysis of a patient cohort from 2009 to 2019 with 552 unilateral aONs and 374 corresponding MRI imaging data sets. Read More

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2021 Mar 24;1173:122672. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shanxi 710061, PR China. Electronic address:

The demand for analysis of carotenoids (CAR) and fat-soluble vitamins (FSV) is continuously expanding, but currently used sample preparation methods either require complicated extraction procedure or large sample volume, let alone the reliability of the results. This study aimed to develop a fast, high-efficient, and high-throughput method based on supported liquid extraction (SLE) for the simultaneous extraction of FSV and CAR from human serum before using high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) analysis. The optimization of SLE parameters was achieved through response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box-Behnken design (BBD) and included serum-water-extraction solvent ratio and eluent volume. Read More

Brain Lang 2021 May 10;219:104962. Epub 2021 May 10.

CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address:

This study aimed to identify the functional brain networks underlying the distinctions between automatic and controlled handwriting in Chinese. Network-based analysis was applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected while adult participants performed a copying task under automatic and speed-controlled conditions. We found significant differences between automatic and speed-controlled handwriting in functional connectivity within and between the frontoparietal network, default mode network, dorsal attention network, somatomotor network and visual network; these differences reflect the variations in general attentional control and task-relevant visuomotor operations. Read More

Int J Paleopathol 2021 May 10;33:209-219. Epub 2021 May 10.

Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.

Objective: The current study evaluates the feasibility of using clinical cranial computed tomography (CT) scans for assessing the presence and morphology of porous cranial lesions (cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis).

Methods: Observers (n = 4) conducted three independent evaluations of porous cranial lesions based on photographs, 2-D CT, and 3-D CT scans of archaeological crania. Evaluations of the crania from each viewing scenario were compared to findings from direct macroscopic observation. Read More

Int J Paleopathol 2021 May 10;33:196-208. Epub 2021 May 10.

School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, AZ, 85287-2402, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: The article reviews the study of rare diseases and their nomenclature, emerging government policies and initiatives, and the concerns voiced by the modern rare disease communities. An interpretive model is then presented for the bioarchaeological interpretations of individuals with paleopathological evidence of rare diseases.

Materials: In demonstration of the application of the proposed framework, we evaluate the skeletal remains of an adult female (EZ 3-7-1) excavated in the 1980s from the Middle Woodland (50BCE-CE400) context of the Elizabeth site (11PK512) in the lower Illinois Valley, USA. Read More

Plant Physiol Biochem 2021 May 5;164:115-121. Epub 2021 May 5.

School of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. Electronic address:

Excessive cadmium (Cd) causes toxic effects on crops. The effects of chitosan (CTS) with different molecular weight (MW) (5 kDa, 3 kDa, and 1 kDa) on the growth and biochemical parameters, as well as Cd concentrations in Cd-treated wheat plants were examined in a pot experiment. The results demonstrated that foliar spraying with CTS significantly improve the wheat growth, reduce malondialdehyde content and reactive oxygen species accumulation in leaves and decrease Cd concentrations in roots and shoots of wheat seedling under Cd stress. Read More

Asian J Psychiatr 2021 May 9;61:102671. Epub 2021 May 9.

Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Schizotypy is the latent personality reflecting the liability to schizophrenia. The Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) is a newly developed questionnaire to measure the levels of schizotypy. The Chinese version of MSS has been developed and previous findings supported its structure validity. Read More

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2021 May 9;204:111832. Epub 2021 May 9.

Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Sector-81 (Knowledge City), Mohali, 140306, PB, India. Electronic address:

Here, a chimeric bifunctional enzyme was developed for two activities xylanase and deacetylase. Chimeric enzyme was designed by combining the relevant amino acid stretches from two different parent sequences, such as polysaccharide/xylan deacetylase (ref id: MT682066) and xylanase (ref id WP_110897546.1). Read More

Int J Hyg Environ Health 2021 May 10;235:113754. Epub 2021 May 10.

School of Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address:

Polyfluoroalkyl substances and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of anthropogenic chemicals that are used in food packaging, waterproof clothing, and firefighting foams for their water and oil resistant properties. Though levels of some PFAS appear to be decreasing in Canada's south, environmental levels have been increasing in the Arctic due to long-range transport. However, the implications of this on human exposures in sub-Arctic and Arctic populations in Canada have yet to be established. Read More