Uncommon distant metastasis of pleural mesothelioma detected by whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT

Publication date: Available online 18 March 2017
Source:Revista Española de Medicina Nuclear e Imagen Molecular
Author(s): C. Rapicetta, S. Taddei, M. Casali, R. Valli, F. Lococo, G. Treglia, M. Paci




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Unusual case of tumor of unknown origin found by 18F-FDG PET/CT: Metastatic clear cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland

Publication date: Available online 18 March 2017
Source:Revista Española de Medicina Nuclear e Imagen Molecular
Author(s): G. Treglia, P. Trimboli, V. Zilioli, F. Fulciniti, L. Giovanella




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Effect of alumina content on microstructures, mechanical, wear and machining behavior of Cu-10Zn nanocomposite prepared by mechanical alloying and hot-pressing

Publication date: 30 June 2017
Source:Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 709
Author(s): K.R. Ramkumar, S. Sivasankaran, Abdulaziz S. Alaboodi
In the present research work, novel (Cu-10Zn)100-x – x wt.% Al2O3 (x = 0, 3, 6, 9 & 12) nanocomposites were manufactured by mechanical alloying process followed by vacuum hot-pressing technique. The mechanical properties (sinterability, hardness and compressive strength), wear behavior (coefficient of friction, wear rate and worn surface morphology) and machining behavior (surface roughness and chip thickness) were explained and investigated elaborately. The same compositions of (Cu-10Zn)100-x – x wt.% Al2O3 microcomposites (coarse crystalline matrix alloy reinforced with alumina) were also fabricated and compared with nanocomposites. It was observed that uniform distribution and embedding of nano-alumina in the nanocrystallite (nano-grain) matrix in nanocomposites were achieved which exhibited excellent performances. The (Cu-10Zn)88–12 wt% Al2O3 bulk nanocomposite produced highest compressive strength which was around 9.4 times higher than the same amount of reinforcement of microcomposites. Further, nanocomposites showed lower value of coefficient of friction and surface roughness which means a considerable wear resistance and good surface finish was obtained in nanocomposites.

Graphical abstract

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Synthesis, XRD and spectroscopic characterization of pharmacologically active Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes

Publication date: 5 July 2017
Source:Journal of Molecular Structure, Volume 1139
Author(s): Parveez Gull, Athar Adil Hashmi
The present contribution accounts for the synthesis and structural elucidation of a newly synthesised copper and zinc containing schiff base compounds obtained by the condensation of 1, 2-diphenylethane-1, 2-dione and dinitrophenyl hydrazine as main ligand and benzene-1,2-diamine as co-ligand respectively. The synthesised compounds were characterized by several techniques, including elemental analysis, molar conductance and electronic, FT-IR, XRD, mass and ¹H NMR spectral studies. The analytical and molar conductance values indicated that the complexes have square planar and tetrahedral geometry respectively. X-ray powder diffraction illustrates that they are crystalline in nature. The copper and zinc complexes were screened for their antimicrobial potential against some bacterial and fungi strains and the assay indicate that these complexes are good antimicrobial agents against these tested pathogens.

Graphical abstract

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Antiestrogen use in breast cancer patients reduces the risk of subsequent lung cancer: A population-based study

Publication date: June 2017
Source:Cancer Epidemiology, Volume 48
Author(s): Sung-Chao Chu, Chia-Jung Hsieh, Tso-Fu Wang, Mun-Kun Hong, Tang-Yuan Chu
BackgroundThere is accumulating epidemiological and preclinical evidence that estrogen might be a driver of lung cancer. Breast cancer survivors can offer a unique patient cohort to examine the effect of antiestrogen therapy on lung cancer carcinogenesis because many of these women would have received long-term selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and/or aromatase inhibitors (AIs) as adjuvant treatment. Our hypothesis is that estrogens play a role in lung cancer development, and that antiestrogen therapy would affect the incidence of subsequent lung cancer among breast cancer survivors.MethodsUsing the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) database, the study included 40,900 survivors of non-metastatic breast cancer after primary surgery, and most antiestrogen users complied well with the medication regimen. We evaluate the effect of antiestrogen therapy on the incidence of subsequent lung cancers.ResultsThis population-based study revealed that antiestrogen use in breast cancer patients was associated with a reduced risk of subsequent lung cancer in older patients (≥50 years) (HR 0.73, 95%CI 0.54–0.99) when compared with breast cancer survivors who did not use antiestrogens.ConclusionThe study supports the hypothesis that antiestrogen therapy modifies lung cancer carcinogenesis in older women. Further well-designed clinical trials to explore the potential of antiestrogens in lung cancer prevention and treatment would be worthwhile.



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Title page / Editorial Board

Publication date: April 2017
Source:Cancer Epidemiology, Volume 47





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Table of contents

Publication date: April 2017
Source:Cancer Epidemiology, Volume 47





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Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms among Emirati patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Publication date: Available online 18 March 2017
Source:The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Author(s): Habiba Al Safar, Sarah El Hajj Chehadeh, Laila Abdel-Wareth, Afrozul Haq, Herbert F. Jelinek, Gehad ElGhazali, Fatme Al Anouti
At a prevalence rate close to 19.5%, the UAE has one of the highest rates of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in the world. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have led to the identification of several genetic variants that are associated with T2DM. Recently, genes involved in vitamin D metabolism have gained interest because of the association between vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and increased risk for T2DM. Among these, the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is a good candidate for T2DM susceptibility. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between VDR polymorphisms and T2DM among a representative sample of the Emirati population. In this cross sectional study, two hundred and sixty four patients with T2DM and ninety-one healthy controls were enrolled. The study population was genotyped for the three VDR gene mutations, TaqI (rs731236), FokI (rs2228570) and BsmI (rs1544410). VDR alleles and haplotypes were compared between patients and their healthy controls. The mean age of the T2DM cohort was 60±11.59years and 48.21±12.17years for the healthy controls. The G-allele and GG genotype of rs2228570 and T-allele and TT genotype of rs1544410 SNPs were associated with T2DM. In regards to T2DM-related metabolic complications, the AG and GG genotypes of rs731236 were significantly associated with higher total cholesterol (p=0.011) and LDL-cholesterol (p=0.009) levels in the patients with T2DM. In contrast, the CT genotype of rs1544410 was significantly associated with lower BMI (p=0.031) and the TT genotype was associated with lower LDL-cholesterol level (p=0.007). The frequency of AAT and GGC haplotypes was also different between groups (p=0.014; p=0.032, respectively), implying that these haplotypes of the VDR gene are associated with the susceptibility to T2DM in the Emirati population. To conclude, an association between SNPs in the VDR gene (except for rs731236) and T2DM per se was demonstrated. The rs731236 variant was shown to be associated with high cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in T2DM patients, while rs1544410 was associated with lower BMI and lower LDL cholesterol levels. Our results imply that alleles and haploypes of the VDR gene are associated with the susceptibility to T2DM in the Emirati population.



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Medium doses of Vitamin D Decrease Falls and Higher Doses of Daily Vitamin D3 Increase Falls: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Publication date: Available online 18 March 2017
Source:The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Author(s): Lynette M. Smith, Gallagher J. Christopher, Suiter Corinna
Falls are a serious health problem in the aging population. Because low levels of vitamin D have been associated with increased fall rates, many trials have been performed with vitamin D; two meta-analyses showed either a small effect or no effect of vitamin D on falls. We conducted a study of the effect of vitamin D on serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and data on falls was collected as a secondary outcome. In a 12-month double blind randomized placebo trial, elderly women, mean age 66 years, were randomized to one of seven daily oral doses of vitamin D or placebo. The main inclusion criterion for study was a baseline serum 25OHD<20ng/ml(50nmol/L). A history of falls was collected at baseline and fall events were collected every 3 months. Results showed that the effect of vitamin D on falls followed a U-shaped curve whether analyzed by dose or serum 25OHD levels. There was no decrease in falls on low vitamin D doses 400, 800 IU, a significant decrease on medium doses 1600, 2400,3200 IU (p=0.020) and no decrease on high doses 4000, 4800 IU compared to placebo (p=0.55). When compared to 12-month serum 25OHD quintiles, the faller rate was 60% in the lowest quintile <25ng/ml (<50nmol/L), 21% in the low middle quintile 32–38ng/ml (80–95nmo/L), 72% in the high middle quintile 38–46ng/ml (95–115nmo/L) and 45% in the highest quintile 46–66ng/ml (115–165nmol/L). In the subgroup with a fall history, fall rates were 68% on low dose, 27% on medium doses and 100% on higher doses. Fall rates on high doses were increased compared to medium doses (Odds Ratio 5.6.95% CI: 2.1–14.8). In summary, the maximum decrease in falls corresponds to a 12- month serum 25OHD of 32–38ng/ml (80–95nmol/L) and faller rates increase as serum 25OHD exceed 40–45ng/ml (100–112.5nmol/l). The Tolerable upper limit (TUL) recently increased in 2010 from 2000 to 4000 IU/day may need to be reduced in elderly women especially in those with a fall history.



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Comparison of intravaginal 0.5% prasterone, 0.3mg conjugated estrogens and 10μg estradiol on estrogen-related symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy

Publication date: Available online 18 March 2017
Source:The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Author(s): David F. Archer, Fernand Labrie, Marlene Montesino, Céline Martel
The objective is to compare the effect of intravaginal dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, prasterone), conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) and estradiol (E2) on moderate to severe dyspareunia and/or vaginal dryness.In a review of available data, independent prospective, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled Phase III 12-week clinical trials involved daily administration of 6.5mg (0.50%) prasterone, daily (21days on/7days off) 0.3mg CEE, twice weekly 0.3mg CEE or 10 μg E2 daily for 2 weeks followed by twice weekly for 10 weeks. Vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms were evaluated by questionnaires.The total severity score decreased from 1.27 to 1.63 units with prasterone treatment, 1.4 with CEE and 1.23 in one statistically significant study with E2. Decreases over placebo ranged from 0.36 to 1.21 with prasterone, 0.7 to 1.0 with CEE and 0.36 for the E2 study. The total decreases in vaginal dryness severity ranged from 1.44 to 1.63 units for prasterone, 1.1 unit for CEE and 1.23 unit for E2. The decreases over placebo of vaginal dryness intensity ranged from 0.27 to 0.43 unit for prasterone and 0.40 unit for CEE with no statistically significant difference over placebo for E2.Daily 0.50% prasterone appears to be at least as efficacious as 0.3mg CEE or 10 μg E2 for treatment of the VVA symptoms. In summary, the beneficial effects on the VVA symptomatology can be obtained by the addition of a small amount of intravaginal prasterone to compensate for the low serum concentration of prasterone observed in the majority of women after menopause without concerns about systemic effects.



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A Case-control Study of the Association between Ulcerative Colitis and Hyperthyroidism in an Asian Population

Summary

Objective

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disease with significant clinical diversity. However, the etiology, pathogenesis, and optimal treatment of UC remain unclear. The purpose of this case-control study was to investigate the association between previously diagnosed hyperthyroidism and UC using a large population-based dataset in Taiwan.

Methods

The data for this population-based case-control study were retrieved from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005. We included 2709 patients with UC as cases and 8127 sex- and age-matched patients without UC as controls. A conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted to compute the odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between UC and prior hyperthyroidism.

Results

We found that, in total, 327 of the 10,836 sampled patients (3.02%) had previously been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. There was a higher proportion of prior hyperthyroidism among cases than controls (4.10% vs. 2.66%, p<0.001). A conditional logistic regression showed that the OR of prior hyperthyroidism was 1.57 (95% CI=1.24~1.98) compared to controls. Similarly, after adjusting for monthly income, geographic location, and urbanization level, cases were still more likely to have previously been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism than controls (OR=1.61, 95% CI=1.27~2.05). Furthermore, we analyzed the ORs of prior hyperthyroidism between cases and controls according to age group. We found that of the youngest group of sampled patients (18~39 years), cases had the greatest adjusted OR for having previously been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism than controls (OR=1.98, 95% CI=1.04~3.79).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated an association between UC and hyperthyroidism.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Quantifying the dynamic density driven convection in high permeability packed beds

Publication date: June 2017
Source:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Volume 39
Author(s): Ying Teng, Lanlan Jiang, Yingting Fan, Yu Liu, Dayong Wang, Abuliti Abudula, Yongchen Song
The density driven convection phenomenon is expected to have a significant and positive role in CO2 geological storage capacity and safety. The onset and development of density-driven convective on the core scale is critical to understand the mass transfer mechanism. In this paper, laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the density-driven convective in a vertical tube. The deuterium oxide (D2O)/manganese chloride (MnCl2) water solution in water or brine were as an analog for CO2-rich brine in original brine. Experiments are repeated with variations in permeability to vary the characteristic Rayleigh number. Based on the MRI technology, the intensity images showed the interface clearly, reflecting the transition from diffusion to convective. With the echo-multi-slice pulse sequence method, the intensity images can be obtained as 2min 8s. For the denser fluid pairs, fingers appeared, propagated, coalesced and multi-fingers formed. The finger growth rate of the convective was visualized as three distinct periods: rising, stable and declining. Detailed information regarding the wave number, wave length, onset time and mixing time as functions of Rayleigh number are developed.



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Editorial Board

Publication date: May 2017
Source:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Volume 38





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Contents

Publication date: May 2017
Source:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Volume 38





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Drosophila melanogaster “a potential model organism” for identification of pharmacological properties of plants/plant-derived components

Publication date: May 2017
Source:Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Volume 89
Author(s): Komal Panchal, Anand K. Tiwari
Plants/plant-derived components have been used from ancient times to treat/cure several human diseases. Plants and their parts possess several chemical components that play the vital role in the improvement of human health and their life expectancy. Allopathic medicines have been playing a key role in the treatment of several diseases. Though allopathic medicines provide fast relief, long time consumption cause serious health concerns such as hyperallergic reactions, liver damage, etc. So, the study of medicinal plants which rarely cause any side effect is very important to mankind. Plants contain many health benefit properties like antioxidant, anti-aging, neuroprotective, anti-genotoxic, anti-mutagenic and bioinsecticidal activity. Thus, identification of pharmacological properties of plants/plant-derived components are of utmost importance to be explored. Several model organisms have been used to identify the pharmacological properties of the different plants or active components therein and Drosophila is one of them. Drosophila melanogaster "fruit fly" is a well understood, high-throughput model organism being used more than 110 years to study the different biological aspects related to the development and diseases. Most of the developmental and cell signaling pathways and ∼75% human disease-related genes are conserved between human and Drosophila. Using Drosophila, one can easily analyze the pharmacological properties of plants/plant-derived components by performing several assays available with flies such as survivorship, locomotor, antioxidant, cell death, etc. The current review focuses on the potential of Drosophila melanogaster for the identification of medicinal/pharmacological properties associated with plants/plant-derived components.

Graphical abstract

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Very low dielectric loss and giant dielectric response with excellent temperature stability of Ga3+ and Ta5+ co-doped rutile-TiO2 ceramics

Publication date: 5 June 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 123
Author(s): Wattana Tuichai, Nateeporn Thongyong, Supamas Danwittayakul, Narong Chanlek, Pornjuk Srepusharawoot, Prasit Thongbai, Santi Maensiri
A newly discovered donor/acceptor co-doped rutile-TiO2 with an extremely high permittivity (ε′) and low loss tangent (tanδ) has stimulated much research in capacitors and high-energy-density storage devices. However, poor high-temperature stability of ε′ prevents its use in practical applications. Here, excellent dielectric properties with a very low tanδ≈0.017–0.079 at 1kHz, high ε′≈5.5×10³–3.5×10⁴ and good dielectric-temperature stability with a temperature coefficient, Δε′(T)/ε′RT<±15%, over a wide temperature range (e.g., Δε′(200°C)/ε′RT=6.26%) were simultaneously achieved in heat-treated Ga³⁺ and Ta⁵⁺ co-doped TiO2 (GTTO) ceramics. Both ε′ and tanδ were nearly independent of DC bias up to 40V. Notably, extremely large total-resistivity values of the insulating components were achieved (10⁶–10¹⁰Ω·cm) over the temperature range of 20–150°C. These excellent electrical parameters are extremely hard to simultaneously realize in most giant dielectric materials. According to a first-principles study, there is a rather small coupling between 2Ta diamond and 2GaVo triangular shapes. Therefore, improvement of dielectric permittivity comes from insulating layers. Both the insulating grain boundaries and resistive thin outer-surface layers have remarkable influences on the high-performance giant dielectric properties of GTTO ceramics.

Graphical abstract

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Understanding the growth mechanism of wurtzite Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals and the photodegradation properties

Publication date: 5 June 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 123
Author(s): Yao Gao, Fei Long, Jilin Wang, Jin Zhang, Shuyi Mo, Zhengguang Zou
High quality wurtzite Cu2ZnSnS4 (W-CZTS) nanocrystals (NCs) could be easily obtained by a simple green one-pot reaction process. Forming mechanism of the nanocrystals was investigated by XRD and Raman characterization. It demonstrated that forming W-CZTS started with nucleation of Cu2S, then Sn⁴⁺ diffused into Cu2S to form the Cu2SnS3, finally Zn²⁺ diffused into Cu2SnS3 to obtain W-CZTS. The optical and photocatalytic results of the W-CZTS NCs indicated that W-CZTS nanocrystals with copper-poor composition showed a better photocatalytic activity (the degradation of MB (methylene blue) could reach up to 81.79%). Moreover, this non-injected one-pot method could be further popularized and become a common approach to synthesize other quaternary wurtzite Cu2MSnS4 (M=Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺) nanocrystals.

Graphical abstract

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Gold nanoparticles/glycine derivatives/graphene quantum dots composite with tunable fluorescence and surface enhanced Raman scattering signals for cellular imaging

Publication date: 5 June 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 123
Author(s): Jiefei Liu, Lixia Qin, Shi-Zhao Kang, Guodong Li, Xiangqing Li
Controllable assembly of the hybrids composed of various types of nanoscale objects provides new opportunities for material fabrication. Herein, the tunable bi-functionalities of fluorescence and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals were collected by the assembled composites of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/glycine derivatives (Gn, n=0, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9)/graphene quantum dots (GQDs). The composition and structure of the AuNPs/Gn/GQDs composites were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Results indicated that the fluorescence and SERS response could be tuned effectively by changing the chain length of Gn. Also, the AuNPs/Gn/GQDs composites could be used in a wide pH range and exhibited good stability at room and physiological temperatures. Moreover, the AuNPs/Gn/GQDs composites displayed low cytotoxicity in A549 cells, and the cell viability was found to be above 90% at concentrations ranging from 6.42 to 200μg/mL, which made AuNPs/Gn/GQDs composites very attractive for biological imaging applications in vivo.

Graphical abstract

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Morphology, structure and optical absorption properties of copper sulfides by different TEG based solution processing

Publication date: 5 June 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 123
Author(s): Lu Jia, Huiming Ji, Junyun Lai, Jian Wang, Huayu Chen, Xuerong Zheng, Hui Liu, Zhengguo Jin
In this work, a facile and ambient pressure triethylene glycol based hot injection method with changed sulfur sources was used to prepare copper sulfides of different morphologies and phases. It was found that the phase formation of the final product was quite different when using S powder or thiourea as sulfur source, which may provide an effective way for understanding the phase control of copper sulfides in solution synthesis. Moreover, the light absorption, which was related to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), of the synthesized CuS microspheres, CuS nanoplates, and Cu9S5 nanoparticles was investigated, clearly showing the dependence of the LSPR related properties on different morphologies and phases.

Graphical abstract

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A novel two-layer periodic stepped structure for effective broadband radar electromagnetic absorption

Publication date: 5 June 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 123
Author(s): Qian Zhou, Xiaowei Yin, Fang Ye, Xiaofei Liu, Laifei Cheng, Litong Zhang
This paper presents a novel ultra-broadband two-layer periodic stepped radar absorbing structure (PSRAS). The optimal PSRAS shows more than 90% absorption in the frequency range from 2.64 to 40.0GHz by using a conventional α Fe reinforced epoxy resin composite. The greatly enhanced radar absorption property of designed PSRAS is a result of the multi-scale effect by combing effects of microscopic and mesoscopic scales. The designed PSRAS makes the effective impedance match to that of the free space in a wide frequency: most of the incident energy is dissipated by the simultaneous incorporation of multiple λ/4 resonances, strong resonances between adjacent unit cells and edge diffraction effects. Based on the geometrical parameters optimization for the two-layer PSRAS, it is specified that size of unit cell obeys a simple rule of the Golden Section approximately. Additionally, the incident angle dependent absorption properties are simulated and discussed. It is expected that the proposed PSRAS composite has great potentials in stealth technologies and electromagnetic interferences.

Graphical abstract

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