Gonzalezatkins6072
Oral medication is the most acceptable therapy to treat chronic diseases. Natural drugs and excipients have unique advantages, such as low cost and high safety. We first investigated modified ethanol nanosomes for tumor treatment via oral administration. We loaded curcumin (CM) into small ethanol nanosomes coated with the natural alkaline polysaccharide chitosan (CCSET) for increased absorption and bioavailability and enhanced efficacy against small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Compared to CM and noncoated ethanol nanosomes, CCSETs exhibited superior physicochemical, in vitro-in vivo kinetic, and absorptive properties and treatment efficacy at the cellular and animal levels. The interaction of CM and serum albumin (the quantitative binding force) was analyzed. The bioavailability of CCSET increased by 11.84-fold and the tumor growth inhibition rate increased markedly compared to CM. We first confirmed the effect of CM on SCLC stem cells, and CCSET greatly enhanced this action. We first reported that CM had an antitumor effect on SCLC at the animal level and that CCSET enhanced this effect. Natural alkaline polysaccharide-coated small ethanol nanosomes delivering natural medicine may be a potential oral anticancer strategy.To overcome inherent limitations of molybdenum carbide (MoxC) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), i.e., low density of active site and nonideal hydrogen binding strength, we report the synthesis of valence-controlled mesoporous MoxC as a highly efficient HER electrocatalyst. The synthesis procedure uses an interaction mediator (IM), which significantly increases the density of active site by mediating interaction between PEO-b-PS template and Mo source. The valence state of Mo is tuned by systematic control of the environment around Mo by controlled heat treatment under air before thermal treatment at 1100 °C. Theoretical calculations reveal that the hydrogen binding is strongly influenced by Mo valence. Consequently, MoxC achieves a significant increase in HER activity (exceeding that of Pt/C at high current density ∼35 mA/cm2 in alkaline solution). In addition, a volcano-type correlation between HER activity and Mo valence is identified with various experimental indicators. The present strategies can be applied to various carbide and Mo-based catalysts, and the established Mo valence and HER relations can guide development of highly active HER electrocatalysts.Pristine nonstoichiometric Mn-Zn ferrites were synthesized using a facile "heating-up" method. A route for achieving very stable single-crystal spinel Mn-Zn ferrites with enhanced magnetic performance and Curie temperature was explored using annealing procedures, where the protective gas flow velocities, heating rates, and annealing temperatures were critical in determining the phase structures and performance. The annealed Mn-Zn ferrites showed ultrahigh saturation magnetizations of ∼120 emu/g and an ultrahigh Curie temperature of ∼750 K. Mössbauer spectra indicated that the valence state of Mn was maintained at Mn2+, and both Mn and Zn were located at A sites in the inverse spinel structure for the highly stable Mn-Zn ferrites. An excellent microwave-absorbing capability in a broad frequency range of 0.1-18 GHz was realized owing to the large magnetic and dielectric losses. The optimal match thickness of Mn-Zn ferrites was found to be 1.5 mm, corresponding to a maximum reflection loss of 22 dB at 16 GHz. These results indicate that the synthesized Mn-Zn ferrites exhibit significant advantages in microwave absorption in the high-frequency range. The demonstrated multicomponent ferrites with high magnetic performance and Curie temperature may find broad applications in various complicated environments, such as those having elevated temperatures.Fullerenes are known as highly efficient scavengers for reactive oxygen species (ROSs). In this study, a carnosine-modified fullerene derivative (C60-Car) was synthesized via a one-step nucleophilic addition reaction. C60-Car forms nanoparticles (NPs) readily in water at neutral pH and room temperature through self-assembly. The C60-Car NPs were found to possess good water solubility, biocompatibility, and excellent ROSs scavenging capability. The scavenging efficiency of ROSs is as high as 92.49% and significantly better than that of hydroxyfullerene (C60-OH NPs, 70.92%) and l-carnosine. Furthermore, C60-Car NPs showed strong cytoprotective ability against H2O2-induced damage to the normal human fetal hepatocyte cells (L-02) and human epidermal keratinocytes-adult (HEK-a) cells at a lower concentration of 2.5 μM. In contrast, C60-OH NPs showed a minor cytoprotective effect on cells at a high concentration of 10 μM. The excellent properties of such a fullerene derivative, C60-Car, can be attributed largely to the involvement of l-carnosine with biological activity and antioxidant property, which make it better for biomedicine, and it may provide a new strategy for mitigating acute oxidative stress based on fullerene materials.INTRODUCTION Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rapidly progressing inflammatory lung disease with a high mortality rate without specific pharmacological therapy. OBJECTIVES We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on corticosteroid use in ARDS. METHODS A search of four medical literature databases was conducted. We retained randomized trials (RCTs) of corticosteroids in hospitalized adults with ARDS in a search up to February, 2020. click here Two reviewers identified eligible studies, independently extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Authors assessed the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. RESULTS We included seven RCTs (n=851 patients). Corticosteroids reduced all-cause mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.75, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.95, p=0.02, moderate certainty) and duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference [MD] -4.93 days, 95% CI -7.81 days to -2.06 days, p less then 0.001, low certainty), and increased ventilator-free days (VFD) (MD 4.28 days, 95% CI 2.67 days to 5.88 days, p less then 0.001, moderate certainty), when compared to placebo. Corticosteroids also increased the risk of hyperglycemia (RR 1.12%, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.24, p=0.03, moderate certainty), and the effect on neuromuscular weakness was unclear (RR 1.30, 95% CI 0.80 to 2.11, p=0.28, low certainty). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that systemic corticosteroids may potentially improve mortality, ventilator duration, and VFD in patients with ARDS. However, the studies included different corticosteroid classes and initiated the corticosteroid doses at different times, as well as different dosing regimens. Thus caution in the actual clinical application of these results is recommended.