Scalable, printable, surfactant-free graphene ink directly from graphite

In this manuscript, we develop printable graphene ink through a solvent-exchange method. Printable graphene ink in ethanol and water free of any surfactant is dependent on matching the surface tension of the cross-solvent with the graphene surface energy. Percolative transport behavior is observed for films made of this printable ink. Optical conductivity is then calculated based on sheet resistance, optical transmittance, and thickness. Upon analyzing the ratio of dc/optical conductivity versus flake size/layer number, we report that our dc/optical conductivity is among the highest of films based on direct deposited graphene ink. This is the first demonstration of scalable, printable, surfactant-free graphene ink derived directly from graphite.

North American acetone sources determined from tall tower measurements and inverse modeling

We apply a full year of continuous atmospheric acetone measurements from the University of Minnesota tall tower Trace Gas Observatory (KCMP tall tower; 244 m a.g.l.), with a 0.5° × 0.667° GEOS-Chem nested grid simulation to develop quantitative new constraints on seasonal acetone sources over North America. Biogenic acetone emissions in the model are computed based on the MEGANv2.1 inventory. An inverse analysis of the tall tower observations implies a 37% underestimate of emissions from broadleaf trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, and an offsetting 40% overestimate of emissions from needleleaf trees plus secondary production from biogenic precursors. The overall result is a small (16%) model underestimate of the total primary + secondary biogenic acetone source in North America. Our analysis shows that North American primary + secondary anthropogenic acetone sources in the model (based on the EPA NEI 2005 inventory) are accurate to within approximately 20%. An optimized GEOS-Chem simulation incorporating the above findings captures 70% of the variance (R = 0.83) in the hourly measurements at the KCMP tall tower, with minimal bias. The resulting North American acetone source is 11 Tg a-1, including both primary emissions (5.5 Tg a-1) and secondary production (5.5 Tg a-1), and with roughly equal contributions from anthropogenic and biogenic sources. The North American acetone source alone is nearly as large as the total continental volatile organic compound (VOC) source from fossil fuel combustion. Using our optimized source estimates as a baseline, we evaluate the sensitivity of atmospheric acetone and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) to shifts in natural and anthropogenic acetone sources over North America. Increased biogenic acetone emissions due to surface warming are likely to provide a significant offset to any future decrease in anthropogenic acetone emissions, particularly during summer.

Comparison of a paraspinal approach with a percutaneous approach in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures with posterior ligamentous complex injury: a prospective randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

This prospective randomized controlled study compared the efficacy and safety of two paraspinal muscle-sparing surgical approaches for the management of neurologically intact patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures and posterior ligamentous complex injuries.

METHODS

Patients were randomized to undergo either percutaneous (n=31) or paraspinal (n=30) fluoroscopically-guided pedicle screw-rod fixation, and were followed for ≥3 years. Preoperative postural reduction was attempted in all patients.

RESULTS

The percutaneous approach was associated with significantly less intraoperative blood loss and shorter duration of surgery and hospitalization, as well as less pain and better functional recovery at 3 months after surgery compared with the paraspinal approach. Paraspinal surgery resulted in significantly better correction of kyphosis and restoration of vertebral height compared with percutaneous surgery. There were no differences in long-term clinical outcomes between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The minimally invasive percutaneous approach appears to be better in cases of successful postural reduction. The paraspinal approach results in better surgical correction and is, therefore, recommended for patients without successful postural reduction.

Elevated serum levels of interleukin 21 are associated with disease severity in patients with psoriasis

BACKGROUND

Psoriasis is an immune disorder involving numerous cytokines. Recent studies have shown that interleukin (IL)-21 plays an important role in a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. It is highly expressed in psoriatic plaques and promotes the proliferation of epidermis in mice. It seems that IL-21 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, whether or not it is elevated in the peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis and is associated with disease severity is unclear. Therefore, our study focuses on serum IL-21 levels and their correlation with disease severity.

OBJECTIVES

To detect serum IL-21 levels in patients with psoriasis and investigate the correlation between these and the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores.

METHODS

Blood samples were collected from patients with plaque psoriasis and from healthy control subjects. Serum IL-21 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 37 patients with psoriasis and 37 healthy controls. The PASI scores of patients with psoriasis and their correlation with serum IL-21 levels were evaluated.

RESULTS

Serum IL-21 levels were higher in patients with psoriasis than in healthy controls (P < 0·01). Serum IL-21 levels were positively correlated with PASI scores in the patients with psoriasis (r = 0·471, P < 0·01).

CONCLUSIONS

Serum IL-21 levels in patients with psoriasis are elevated and positively correlate with PASI scores. These results indicate that IL-21 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Increased platelet activation and thrombosis in transgenic mice expressing constitutively active P2Y12

BACKGROUND

In our previous in vitro study, we reported a constitutively active chimeric P2Y(12) (cP2Y(12)) and found that AR-C78511 is a potent inverse agonist at this receptor. The role of cP2Y(12) in platelet activation and thrombosis is not clear.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the physiologic implications of cP2Y(12) for platelet activation and thrombus formation, and to evaluate the antiplatelet activity of AR-C78511 as an inverse agonist.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We generated transgenic mice conditionally and platelet-specifically expressing cP2Y(12). High-level expression of cP2Y(12) in platelets increased platelet reactivity, as shown by increased platelet aggregation in response to multiple platelet agonists. Moreover, transgenic mice showed a shortened bleeding time, and more rapid and stable thrombus formation in mesenteric artery injured with FeCl(3). The constitutive activity of cP2Y(12) in platelets was confirmed by decreased platelet cAMP levels and constitutive Akt phosphorylation in the absence of agonists. AR-C78511 reversed the cAMP decrease in transgenic mouse platelets, and exhibited a superior antiplatelet effect to that of AR-C69931MX in transgenic mice.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings further emphasize the importance of P2Y(12) in platelet activation, hemostasis, and thrombosis, as well as the prothrombotic role of the constitutive activity of P2Y(12). Our data also validate the in vivo inverse agonist activity of AR-C78511, and confirm its superior antiplatelet activity over neutral antagonists.

Tropospheric methanol observations from space: retrieval evaluation and constraints on the seasonality of biogenic emissions

Methanol retrievals from nadir-viewing space-based sensors offer powerful new information for quantifying methanol emissions on a global scale. Here we apply an ensemble of aircraft observations over North America to evaluate new methanol measurements from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the Aura satellite, and combine the TES data with observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the MetOp-A satellite to investigate the seasonality of methanol emissions from northern midlatitude ecosystems. Using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model as an intercomparison platform, we find that the TES retrieval performs well when the degrees of freedom for signal (DOFS) are above 0.5, in which case the model:TES regressions are generally consistent with the model:aircraft comparisons. Including retrievals with DOFS below 0.5 degrades the comparisons, as these are excessively influenced by the a priori. The comparisons suggest DOFS >0.5 as a minimum threshold for interpreting retrievals of trace gases with a weak tropospheric signal. We analyze one full year of satellite observations and find that GEOS-Chem, driven with MEGANv2.1 biogenic emissions, underestimates observed methanol concentrations throughout the midlatitudes in springtime, with the timing of the seasonal peak in model emissions 1-2 months too late. We attribute this discrepancy to an underestimate of emissions from new leaves in MEGAN, and apply the satellite data to better quantify the seasonal change in methanol emissions for midlatitude ecosystems. The derived parameters (relative emission factors of 11.0, 0.26, 0.12 and 3.0 for new, growing, mature, and old leaves, respectively, plus a leaf area index activity factor of 0.5 for expanding canopies with leaf area index <1.2) provide a more realistic simulation of seasonal methanol concentrations in midlatitudes on the basis of both the IASI and TES measurements.

The application of a violence risk assessment tool among Chinese psychiatric service users: a preliminary study

The Violence Risk Screening-10 (V-RISK-10) is one of the few instruments available for evaluating violence risk among general psychiatric service users. This naturalistic prospective study involved 376 inpatients in a general psychiatric hospital in Beijing and intended to determine whether this brief instrument could be applied to a sample of Chinese consumers and whether its predictive properties could be retained. Risk assessment at admission was compared to the record of aggression and violence during the first month of hospitalization. During the research period, 108 of the 376 consumers caused 265 incidences of aggression. Receiver operating characteristics for the V-RISK-10 Chinese version yielded an area under the curve of 0.63. Its sensitivity/specificity was 0.80/0.38 and the corresponding positive/negative predictive value was 0.34/0.82. Intraclass correlation coefficient for the whole instrument was 0.89. Compared to the results of the original V-RISK-10, its predictive accuracy was lower. However, with some modification, the V-RISK-10 still shows promise as an instrument for use in daily practice in Chinese clinical settings.

A time-varying source connectivity approach to reveal human somatosensory information processing

Exploration of neural sources and their effective connectivity based on transient changes in electrophysiological activities to external stimuli is important for understanding brain mechanisms of sensory information processing. However, such cortical mechanisms have not yet been well characterized in electrophysiological studies since (1) it is difficult to estimate the stimulus-activated neural sources and their activities and (2) it is difficult to identify transient effective connectivity between neural sources in the order of milliseconds. To address these issues, we developed a time-varying source connectivity approach to effectively capture fast-changing information flows between neural sources from high-density Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. This time-varying source connectivity approach was applied to somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), which were elicited by electrical stimulation of right hand and recorded using 64 channels from 16 subjects, to reveal human somatosensory information processing. First, SEP sources and their activities were estimated, both at single-subject and group level, using equivalent current dipolar source modeling. Then, the functional integration among SEP sources was explored using a Kalman smoother based time-varying effective connectivity inference method. The results showed that SEPs were mainly generated from the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI), bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and cingulate cortex (CC). Importantly, we observed a serial processing of somatosensory information in human somatosensory cortices (from SI to SII) at earlier latencies (<150 ms) and a reciprocal processing between SII and CC at later latencies (>200 ms).

Dynamic characteristics of multisensory facilitation and inhibition

Multimodal integration, which mainly refers to multisensory facilitation and multisensory inhibition, is the process of merging multisensory information in the human brain. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the dynamic characteristics of multimodal integration are not fully understood. The objective of this study is to investigate the basic mechanisms of multimodal integration by assessing the intermodal influences of vision, audition, and somatosensory sensations (the influence of multisensory background events to the target event). We used a timed target detection task, and measured both behavioral and electroencephalographic responses to visual target events (green solid circle), auditory target events (2 kHz pure tone) and somatosensory target events (1.5 ± 0.1 mA square wave pulse) from 20 normal participants. There were significant differences in both behavior performance and ERP components when comparing the unimodal target stimuli with multimodal (bimodal and trimodal) target stimuli for all target groups. Significant correlation among reaction time and P3 latency was observed across all target conditions. The perceptual processing of auditory target events (A) was inhibited by the background events, while the perceptual processing of somatosensory target events (S) was facilitated by the background events. In contrast, the perceptual processing of visual target events (V) remained impervious to multisensory background events.

First Report of a Leaf Spot on Conyza sumatrensis Caused by Phoma macrostoma in China

Conyza sumatrensis (Asteraceae), an annual or biennial plant, is native to North and South America. It is an invasive, noxious weed that is widespread in southern and southeastern China. It invades farm land and causes great losses to dry land crops, including wheat, corn, and beans. It also reduces biological diversity by crowding out native plants in the infested areas (3,4). During a search for fungal pathogens that could serve as potential biological control agents of C. sumatrensis, a leaf spot disease was observed in 2010 in Chongqing, China. An isolate (SMBC22) of a highly virulent fungus was obtained from diseased leaves. Pathogenicity tests were performed by placing 6-mm-diameter mycelial disks of 7-day-old potato dextrose agar (PDA) cultures of SMBC22 on leaves of 15 healthy greenhouse-grown plants of C. sumatrensis; the same number of control plants was treated with sterile PDA disks. Treated plants were covered with plastic bags for 24 h and maintained in a growth chamber with daily average temperatures of 24 to 26°C, continuous light (3,100 lux), and high relative humidity (>90%). Lesions similar to those observed in the field were first obvious on the SMBC22-inoculated leaves 3 days after inoculation. Symptoms became severe 7 to 9 days after inoculation. Control plants remained healthy. The fungus was reisolated from inoculated and diseased leaves and it was morphologically the same as SMBC22. The pathogenicity test was conducted three times. A survey of 10 southern and southeastern Chinese provinces revealed that the disease was widespread and it attacked leaves and stems of seedlings and mature plants of C. sumatrensis. Lesions on leaves were initially small, circular, and water soaked. The typical lesion was ovoid or fusiform, dark brown, and surrounded by a yellow halo. The spots coalesced to form large lesions and plants were often completely blighted. Fungal colonies of SMBC22 on PDA plates were initially white and turned dark gray. Colonies were circular with smooth edges with obvious rings of pycnidia on the surface. Aerial hyphae were short and dense. Pycnidia, black and immersed or semi-immersed in the medium, were visible after 12 days of incubation. Pycnidia were 72 to 140 μm in diameter. Conidia were produced in the pycnidia and were hyaline, unicellular, ellipsoidal, and 4.4 to 6.1 × 1.6 to 2.2 μm. To confirm identification of the fungus, genomic DNA was extracted from mycelia of a 7-day-old culture on PDA at 25°C (2). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene of rDNA was amplified using primers ITS4/ITS5. The gene sequence was 524 bp long and registered in NCBI GenBank (No. HQ645974). BLAST analysis showed that the current sequence had 99% homology to an isolate of Phoma macrostoma (DQ 404792) from Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle) in Canada and reported to cause chlorotic symptoms on that host plant (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. macrostoma causing disease on C. sumatrensis in China. P. macrostoma, thought of as a biocontrol agent of broadleaf weeds in Canada, has been patented in the United States. The current isolate of P. macrostoma is considered as a potential biocontrol agent of C. sumatrensis. References: (1) P. R. Graupner et al. J. Nat. Prod. 66:1558, 2004. (2) S. Takamatsu et al. Mycoscience 42:135, 2001. (3) W. Z. Tan et al. Page 177 in: Manual of Emergency Control Technology Invasive Pests in China. G. L. Zhang, ed. Science Press, Beijing, 2010. (4) C. Wang et al. J. Wuhan Bot. Res. 28:90, 2010.

Clinical efficacy of chemotherapy combined with verapamil in metastatic colorectal patients

In order to determine the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of chemotherapy and verapamil infusion through a target artery to treat colorectal cancer patients with metastasis after failure with previous conventional treatments. Patients with metastatic colon cancer (n = 36) received an infusion of verapamil, interleukin-2, oxaliplatin (or hydroxy camptothecin or irinotecan hydrochloride), fluorouracil and calcium folinate through target artery using the Seldinger puncture technique. From the second day of infusion, the patients were treated with fluorouracil and calcium folinate via systematic intravenous injection for 2-3 days. Efficacy was evaluated after at least two treatment courses. The objective response including complete or partial response was 58.3% in the 36 patients; clinical benefit rate, evaluated by Karnofsky Performance Status score was 91.7%; by weight was 83.3%; by the amount of painkiller consumed was 80.6%. No patient experienced side effects associated with heart function. Post-treatment, the P-R period, Q-T period, QRS, and heart rate were not significantly different than before treatment. Liver function was significantly improved. Side effects of chemotherapy were minor in comparison to those observed with intravenous chemotherapy. Infusion of verapamil and chemotherapy directly into pelvic tumor tissue can increase treatment efficacy and has been shown to be a relatively safe technique.

Tranilast prevents the progression of chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity through regulation of transforming growth factor β/Smad pathways

PURPOSE

Our aim was to investigate the role of tranilast in transforming growth factor (TGF) β/Smad pathways using a rat model of chronic cyclosporine (CsA) nephrotoxicity.

METHODS

Thirty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were equally randomized in to 5 groups for gavage treatments daily for 4 weeks: normal control (N), olive oil; CsA (25 mg/kg), (M) CsA plus low-dose tranilast group (T1; CsA 25 mg/kg and tranilast 100 mg/kg); CsA plus medium-dose tranilast group (T2; CsA 25 mg/kg and tranilast 200 mg/kg); and CsA plus high-dose tranilast group (T4; CsA 25 mg/kg and tranilast 400 mg/kg). Kidneys were harvested at the end of the fourth week. TGF-β1 as well as Smad3 and Smad7 were detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

The administration of tranilast decreased the expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 by CsA-treated rats, whereas it increased both mRNA and protein levels of Smad7. Semiquantitative analysis of mRNA production revealed these treatments to markedly reduce the amount of TGF-β1: T1: 0.8452 ± 0.0825 vs 0.8529 ± 0.0606 (P < .05); T2: 0.8414 ± 0.0696 vs 0.8529 ± 0.0606 (P < .05); T4: 0.8336 ± 0.0592 vs 0.8529 ± 0.0606 (P < .05). For Smad3: T1: 0.8581 ± 0.0328 vs 0.8613 ± 0.0542 (P < .05); T2: 0.8528 ± 0.0599 vs 0.8613 ± 0.0542 (P < .05); T4: 0.8436 ± 0.0185 vs 0.8613 ± 0.0542 (P < .05). The significantly elevated dose-dependent amounts of Smad7 were: T1: 0.9026 ± 0.0522 vs 0.8678 ± 0.0246, (P < .05); T2: 0.9087 ± 0.0506 vs 0.8678 ± 0.0246 (P < .05); T4: 0.9151 ± 0.0793 vs 0.8678 ± 0.0246 (P < .05).

CONCLUSION

Regulation of TGF-β/Smad pathways is one of the mechanisims by which tranilast mitigates the progression of chronic CsA nephrotoxicity in rats.