Experimental Validation of a Kinetic Ballooning Mode in High-Performance High-Bootstrap Current Fraction Fusion Plasmas

We report the observation of a set of coherent high frequency electromagnetic fluctuations that leads to a turbulence induced self-regulating phenomenon in the DIII-D high bootstrap current fraction plasma. The fluctuations have frequency of 130-220  kHz, the poloidal wavelength and phase velocity are 16-30  m^{-1} and ∼30  km/s, respectively, in the outboard midplane with the estimated toroidal mode number n∼5-9. The fluctuations are located in the internal transport barrier (ITB) region at large radius and are experimentally validated to be kinetic ballooning modes (KBM). Quasilinear estimation predicts the KBM to be able to drive experimental particle flux and non-negligible thermal flux, suggesting its significant role in regulating the ITB saturation.

An edible molecularly imprinted material prepared by a new environmentally friendly deep eutectic solvent for removing oxalic acid from vegetables and human blood

A novel deep eutectic solvent-magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (DES-MMIP) for the specific removal of oxalic acid (OA) was prepared by an environmentally friendly deep eutectic solvent, consisting of betaine, citric acid, and glycerol, which acted as the functional monomer for polymerization. The structure and morphology of DES-MMIPs were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. DES-MMIPs had a core-shell structure, with magnetic iron oxide as the core, and showed good thermal stability and high adsorption capacity (18.73 mg/g) for OA. The adsorption process of OA by DES-MMIPs followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. DES-MMIPs had significant selectivity for OA and their imprinting factor was 3.26. When applied to real samples, high performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that DES-MMIPs could remove OA from both spinach and blood serum. These findings provide potential methods for removal of OA from vegetables and for specific removal of OA in renal dialysis.

Swelling of Multilayered Calcium Alginate Microspheres for Drug-Loaded Dressing Induced Rapid Lidocaine Release for Better Pain Control

The development of effective drug-loaded dressings has been considered a hot research topic for biomedical therapeutics, including the use of botanical compounds. For wound healing, adequate dressings can provide a good microenvironment for drug release, such as lidocaine. Biological macromolecular materials such as alginate show excellent properties in wound management. This study involves the preparation and evaluation of biocompatible multilayered-structure microspheres composed of chitosan, porous gelatin, and calcium alginate microspheres. The multilayered structure microspheres were named chitosan@ porous gelatin@ calcium alginate microspheres (CPAMs) and the drugs were rapidly released by the volume expansion of the calcium alginate microspheres. The in vitro release curve revealed that the peak release of lidocaine from CPAMs was reached within 18[Formula: see text]min. After 21[Formula: see text]min, the remaining lidocaine was then slowly released, and the active drug release was converted to a passive drug release phase. The initial release effect of lidocaine was much better than that reported in the published studies. Additionally, blood coagulation experiments showed that CPAMs coagulated blood in 60[Formula: see text]s, and the blood liquidity of the CPAMs group was worse than that of the woundplast group. Therefore, the coagulation characteristics of CPAMs were superior to the commonly used woundplast containing lidocaine healing gel. These study outcomes indicated that the CPAMs acted as fast-release dressings for faster pain control and better coagulation properties.

Specific adsorption and determination of aspartame in soft drinks with a zein magnetic molecularly imprinted modified MGCE sensor

Schematic representation of the synthesis procedure of ZDM-MIPs.

Selective separation and inexpensive purification of paclitaxel based on molecularly imprinted polymers modified with ternary deep eutectic solvents

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a powerful anticancer natural product, with its separation and purification having been widely studied. In this work, new molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with different molar ratios were prepared as functional monomers. These were then used as adsorbents in solid phase extraction (SPE) for the separation of PTX from its structural analogs. The polymers were characterized by energy disperive X-rays (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results suggested that the formative regular DES-MIPs had an even pore-size distribution and a large specific surface area. The dynamic adsorption and static adsorption showed that the DES-MIPs had excellent adsorption performance, with a maximum adsorption capacity and optimum adsorption time of 87.08 mg/g and 180 min, respectively. The selective adsorption experiments showed that the material had outstanding selectivity, and the maximum selectivity factor was 6.20. For stability, after six consecutive adsorption and desorption cycles, the DES-MIPs maintained the perfect stability and reusability. Furthermore, the fabricated SPE column was successfully utilized for extracting and eluting PTX. This study provides a reliable protocol for the separation and purification PTX from its structural analogs and the DES-MIPs materials have excellent potential application value in pharmaceutical industry.

Specific adsorption of tetracycline from milk by using biocompatible magnetic molecular imprinting material and evaluation by ECD

Biocompatible magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (BMMIPs) were prepared with Zein for the first time, and were used to enrich tetracycline compounds selectively. Innovative combination of BMMIPs and electrochemistry to obtain lower detection line to satisfy industrial detection demands. Using Zein as the crosslinking agent, the polymers were synthesized on the surface of Fe₃O₄ particles. The scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction technologies were used to characterize BMMIPs. Through optimization, BMMIPs attained large adsorption capacity (236.40 mg/g) with fast kinetics (40 min) and followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. BMMIPs had good recognition ability, the selective factors of oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline were 4.78, 4.23, and 3.39, respectively. Excellent linearity was attained in the range of 0.025-500 μg/mL, with low detection limits and low quantitation limits of 0.025 and 0.083 μg/mL. According to our exploring, BMMIPs was ideal materials for enrichment of tetracycline in complex biological samples.

Identification of Carassius auratus gibelio liver cell proteins interacting with the GABAA receptor γ2 subunit using a yeast two-hybrid system

The γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA_A) receptor is an important pentameric inhibitory neurotransmitter receptor, and the γ2 subunit of this receptor plays a key role in potentiation of the GABA_A response. We previously detected that the expression of GABA_A receptor in the livers of Carassius auratus gibelio significantly increased after medication (avermectin and difloxacin treatment). In order to better understand the mechanism of action of the GABA_A receptor γ2 subunit in the livers of C. auratus gibelio, we constructed a C. auratus gibelio liver cDNA library (the titer value of 1.2 × 10⁶ cfu/mL) and identified the proteins that interact with the GABA_A receptor γ2 subunit by using a yeast two-hybrid assay. The yeast two-hybrid screening yielded seven positive clones, namely, prelid3b, cdc42, sgk1, spg21, proteasome, chia.5, and AP-3 complex subunit beta-1, all of which have been annotated by the NCBI database. The functions of these proteins are complex; therefore, additional studies are required to determine the specific interactions of these proteins with the GABA_A receptor γ2 subunit in the liver of C. auratus gibelio. Although the interactions identified by the yeast two-hybrid system should be considered as preliminary results, the findings of this study may provide further direction and a foundation for future research focusing on the mechanisms of the GABA_A receptor γ2 subunit in C. auratus gibelio livers.

Development and validation of a more accurate estimating equation for glomerular filtration rate in a Chinese population

Previously published equations to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) have limited accuracy in Asian populations. We aimed to develop and validate a more accurate equation for estimated GFR (eGFR) in the Chinese population, using data from 8571 adults who were referred for direct measurement of GFR by renal dynamic imaging (mGFR) at 3 representative hospitals in China. Patients from the Third Xiangya Hospital were included in our development (n=1730) and internal validation sets (n=1042) and patients from the other hospitals comprised the external validation set (n=5799). We excluded patients who were prescribed medications known to influence the tubular secretion of creatinine, patients on dialysis, kidney transplant recipients, and patients with missing creatinine values or with creatinine >700 μmol/l. We derived a novel eGFR equation by linear regression analysis and compared the performance to 12 creatinine-based eGFR equations, including previously published equations for use in Chinese or Asian populations. In the development and internal validation sets, the novel Xiangya equation had high accuracy (accuracy within 30% [P30], 79.21% and 84.33%, respectively), low bias (mean difference between mGFR and eGFR, -1.97 and -1.85 ml/min per 1.73 m², respectively), and high precision (interquartile range of the differences, 21.13 and 18.88 ml/min per 1.73 m², respectively). In external validation, the Xiangya equation had the highest P30 among all eGFR equations, with P30 ≤ 75% for the other 12 equations. This novel equation provides more accurate GFR estimates in Chinese adults and could replace existing eGFR equations for use in the Chinese population.

A Simple Clinical Pre-procedure Risk Model for Predicting Thrombocytopenia Associated With Periprocedural Use of Tirofiban in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background: No risk model for predicting thrombocytopenia associated with periprocedural tirofiban exposure is available. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple clinical pre-procedure risk model based on pre-procedural characteristics for early prediction of thrombocytopenia before patients were exposed to tirofiban. Methods: The series included 1862 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with tirofiban exposure. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were collected from the hospital information system on admission. The earliest pro-procedural platelets within 72 h were used to evaluate the thrombocytopenia incidence. Risk factors associated with thrombocytopenia in patients with tirofiban exposure were investigated by univariable and multivariable analyses. Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing procedure was used to identify the cut points for the numeric variables. The discriminatory power of the scoring system was assessed with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The occurrence of thrombocytopenia was 4.02% (75 of 1862), 4.01% (56 of 1396), and 4.08% (19 of 466) in the overall, developmental, and validation data sets, respectively. The risk score was developed based on five independent predictors: age ≥65y, white blood cell ≥12 × 10⁹/L, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. This tool was well calibrated (Hosmer Lemeshow χ² = 6.914; P = 0.546) and good discrimination was well obtained in validation data set (C-statistic, 0.82). Conclusion: The clinical pre-procedure risk model is a simple and accurate tool for early identification of high-risk patients of thrombocytopenia before tirofiban exposure, allowing for timely and appropriate intervention.

Population Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Diltiazem in Chinese Renal Transplant Recipients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Diltiazem is a benzothiazepine calcium blocker and widely used in renal transplant patients since it improves the level of tacrolimus or cyclosporine A concentration. Several population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) models had been established for cyclosporine A and tacrolimus but no specific PopPK model was established for diltiazem. The aim of the study is to develop a PopPK model for diltiazem in renal transplant recipients and provide relevant pharmacokinetic parameters of diltiazem for further pharmacokinetic interaction study.

METHODS

Patients received tacrolimus as primary immunosuppressant agent after renal transplant and started administration of diltiazem 90 mg twice daily on 5th day. The concentration of diltiazem at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 8, and 12 h was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Genotyping for CYP3A4*1G, CYP3A5*3, and MDR1 3435 was conducted by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). 25 covariates were considered in the stepwise covariate model (SCM) building procedure.

RESULTS

One-compartment structural pharmacokinetic model with first-order absorption and elimination was used to describe the pharmacokinetic characteristics of diltiazem. Total bilirubin (TBIL) influenced apparent volume of distribution (V/F) of diltiazem in the forward selection. The absorption rate constant (K _a), V/F, and apparent oral clearance (CL/F) of the final population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) model of diltiazem were 1.96/h, 3550 L, and 92.4 L/h, respectively.

CONCLUSION

A PopPK model of diltiazem is established in Chinese renal transplant recipients and it will provide relevant pharmacokinetic parameters of diltiazem for further pharmacokinetic interaction study.

Evaluating tacrolimus pharmacokinetic models in adult renal transplant recipients with different CYP3A5 genotypes

PURPOSE

Numerous studies have been conducted on the population pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus in adult renal transplant recipients. It has been reported that the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A5 genotype is an important cause of variability in tacrolimus pharmacokinetics. However, the predictive performance of population pharmacokinetic (PK) models of tacrolimus should be evaluated prior to their implementation in clinical practice. The aim of the study reported here was to test the predictive performance of these published PK models of tacrolimus.

METHODS

A literature search of the PubMed and Web of Science databases ultimately led to the inclusion of eight one-compartment models in our analysis. We collected a total of 1715 trough concentrations from 174 patients. Predictive performance was assessed based on visual and numerical comparison bias and imprecision and by the use of simulation-based diagnostics and Bayesian forecasting.

RESULTS

Of the eight one-compartment models assessed, seven showed better predictive performance in CYP3A5 extensive metabolizers in terms of bias and imprecision. Results of the simulation-based diagnostics also supported the findings. The model based on a Chinese population in 2013 (model 3) showed the best and most stable predictive performance in all the tests and was more informative in CYP3A5 extensive metabolizers. As expected, Bayesian forecasting improved model predictability. Diversity among models and between different CYP3A5 genotypes of the same model was also narrowed by Bayesian forecasting.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our results, we recommend using model 3 in CYP3A5 extensive metabolizers in clinical practice. All models had a poor predictive performance in CYP3A5 poor metabolizers, and they should be used with caution in this patient population. However, Bayesian forecasting improved the predictability and reduced differences, and thus the models could be applied in this latter patient population for the design of maintenance dose.

Utility of cystatin C-based equations in patients undergoing dialysis

Serum cystatin C (CysC) measurement is regarded as a simple and practical alternative to measure residual renal function for dialysis patients. Recent studies have shown that CysC has better diagnostic accuracy or at least equivalence to creatinine in predicting the early stages of renal damage, and is closely related to clinical outcomes of dialysis patients. Thus, the applicability of CysC-derived equations in patients undergoing dialysis should be paid attention. Here, we review the role of CysC in diagnosis, renal function evaluation, and prognosis outcomes for dialysis patients, so as to provide them with useful suggestions on evaluating renal function and predicting adverse outcomes in clinical practice.

A hand-centric classification of human and robot dexterous manipulation

This work contributes to the development of a common framework for the discussion and analysis of dexterous manipulation across the human and robotic domains. An overview of previous work is first provided along with an analysis of the tradeoffs between arm and hand dexterity. A hand-centric and motion-centric manipulation classification is then presented and applied in four different ways. It is first discussed how the taxonomy can be used to identify a manipulation strategy. Then, applications for robot hand analysis and engineering design are explained. Finally, the classification is applied to three activities of daily living (ADLs) to distinguish the patterns of dexterous manipulation involved in each task. The same analysis method could be used to predict problem ADLs for various impairments or to produce a representative benchmark set of ADL tasks. Overall, the classification scheme proposed creates a descriptive framework that can be used to effectively describe hand movements during manipulation in a variety of contexts and might be combined with existing object centric or other taxonomies to provide a complete description of a specific manipulation task.

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of mangiferin in rat plasma and urine

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography assay for mangiferin in rat plasma and urine was developed. Rutin was employed as an internal standard. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water (16:84, v/v) containing 3% acetic acid at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Detection was at 257 and 365 nm for mangiferin in plasma and urine, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) of mangiferin was 0.6 microg/mL in plasma, and 0.48 microg/mL in urine. The standard curve was linear from 0.6 to 24 microg/mL in plasma, and 0.48 to 24 microg/mL in urine, both intra- and inter-day precision of the mangiferin were determined and their RSD did not exceed 10%. The method provides a technique for rapid analysis of mangiferin in rat plasma and urine, which can be used in pharmacokinetic studies.

Determination of calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside in rat plasma and urine by HPLC

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay for calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside in rat plasma and urine with solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed. Rutin was employed as an internal standard. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water (16:84, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Detection was set at 280 nm. The limit of quantitation of calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside was 0.2 microg/mL in both plasma and urine. The standard curve was linear from 0.2 to 10.0 microg/mL in plasma, and 0.2 to 5.0 microg/mL in urine. Both intra- and inter-day precision of the calycosin-7-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside were determined and their RSD did not exceed 10%. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of samples obtained from a basic pharmacokinetic study, in which calycosin-7-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside was administered orally to rats.