Wileykeller5847

Background Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a noninvasive indicator of eosinophilic airway inflammation and has been used for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. The levels of FeNO are controversial in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Accordingly, this study aimed to assess FeNO levels in patients with stable COPD. Materials and methods A search of the Medline, Embase, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov and The Cochrane Library databases was performed in August 2019. The literature search was restricted to articles published in English. Studies were included if they reported data addressing FeNO levels in patients with stable COPD and healthy controls. Review Manager version 5.3 (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark) was used for meta-analysis. Results A total of 19 studies were included. see more Analysis revealed that FeNO levels in patients with stable COPD were higher than those in the healthy control group (mean difference [MD] 2.49 [95% confidence interval CI 0.99-4.00]; P less then 0.05), those in nonsmoking patients with stable COPD were higher than those in the healthy control group (MD 5.04 [95% CI 2.19-7.89]; P less then 0.05) and those in smoking patients with stable COPD were not higher than those in the healthy control group (MD 0.30 [95% CI -2.81 to 3.41]; P = 0.85). FeNO measured using a chemiluminescence analyzer in nonsmoking patients with stable COPD was higher than those in the healthy control group (MD 4.84 [95% CI 1.83-7.86]; P less then 0.05). Conclusions Findings suggested that FeNO levels in patients with stable COPD were elevated, and that smokers exhibited decreased levels.As an extracellular exopolysaccharide, welan gum could serve as a suspending agent, stabilizer, emulsifier and thickener with characteristics that include bio-adhesion, non-toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this study, Sphingomonas sp. FM01 was applied to effectively produce welan gum using cane molasses as the carbon source. After pretreatment with phosphoric acid and polyacrylamide, 60 g/L cane molasses combined with 6.0 g/L beef extract, 3 g/L KH2PO4, 0.5 g/L MgSO4, 15 mmol/L H2O2 and 4 mg/L niacin significantly improved the fermentation performance of Sphingomonas sp. FM01, increasing the production of welan gum to 37.65 g/L. Investigation of the rheological behavior of the welan gum obtained from the molasses-welan gum mixture showed it had an acceptable molecular weight and similar rheological properties and better viscosity stability compared to that obtained from sucrose, indicating that cane molasses could be explored as a suitable and inexpensive substrate for cost-effective welan gum production.Thermogels that undergo temperature-dependent sol-gel transition have recently attracted attention as a promising biomaterial for injectable tissue engineering. However, conventional thermogels usually suffer from poor physical properties and low cell binding affinity, limiting their practical applications. Here, a simple approach for developing a new thermogel with enhanced physical properties and cell binding affinity is proposed. This thermogel (AcHA/HGC) was obtained by simple blending of a new class of polysaccharide-based thermogel, N-hexanoyl glycol chitosan (HGC), with a polysaccharide possessing good cell binding affinity, acetylated hyaluronic acid (AcHA). Gelation of AcHA/HGC was initially triggered by the thermosensitive response of HGC and gradually intensified by additional physical crosslinking mechanisms between HGC and AcHA, resulting in thermo-irreversible gelation. Compared to the thermos-reversible HGC hydrogel, the thermo-irreversible AcHA/HGC hydrogel exhibited enhanced physical stability, mechanical properties, cell binding affinity, and tissue compatibility. These results suggest that our thermo-irreversible hydrogel is a promising biomaterial for injectable tissue engineering.In recent days, there is an increasing use of green composites in composite manufacturing, where cellulosic natural fibers have been started using for this purpose. In line with this, a novel cellulose fiber was extracted from the Kigelia africana fruit and its physical, chemical and thermal properties, crystallography and surface morphology analysis were studied and reported in this investigative research paper. The physical analysis revealed the mean tensile strength as 50.31 ± 24.71 to 73.12 ± 32.48 MPa, diameter as 0.507 ± 0.162 to 0.629 ± 0.182 mm and density as 1.316 g/cm³ for the Kigelia africana fiber. The proximate chemical analysis estimated the cellulose percentage to be 61.5 % and the existence of different basic components like cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis establishes the thermal stability of the fiber as 212 ⁰C. The crystallinity index, 57.38 % of the fiber was determined by X-ray diffraction. Surface morphology by field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the presence of protrusions in fiber which aid in the better adhesion with the matrix in composite manufacturing.A new self-crosslinked composite hydrogel is prepared with chitosan (CS) and cationic guar gum (CGG), based on the imine and acetal chemistry for gelation. The CS/CGG hydrogel exhibits thermal/pH responsiveness, injectability, adhesiveness and good compressive strength. The hydrogel is effective in removing phosphate from wastewater through an adsorption process, during which KH2PO4 is used as a phosphate model. The adsorption complies with the Freundlich model, indicating that it is a multilayered process with complex adsorption mechanisms. Considering their porous structure and nitrogen/phosphorus heteroatoms doping, the phosphate-adsorbed hydrogels are made into porous N,P doped carbon aerogels that can be potentially used as electrodes for a supercapacitor. The results indicate that these carbon aerogels possess excellent capacitive performance (best specific capacitance of 302.2 ± 4.9 F/g), as well as good cycling stability after 5000 times of charging/discharging.