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Arterial constraint soon after resection of neuroblastic cancers in youngsters: Two-center retrospective study.
The large-scale implementation of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) has long been plagued by the uncontrollable Li deposition triggered safety issues. Herein, a lithiophilic three-dimensional Li anode scaffold, which is prepared by molten Li infusion aided by confined growth of low-cost Zn clusters, is rationally constructed for high-performance LMBs. Owing to the synergy of the carbon host and the effective regulation from the Zn nanoclusters, the large volumetric change of Li metal is well mitigated and shows a smooth and dendrite-free behavior. The Li anode scaffold can deliver much improved Coulombic efficiency, superior rate performance, and long cycle lifespan with much lower voltage polarization. Furthermore, the half cells of Li anode scaffold paired with LiFePO4 /LiCoO2 /sulfur can achieve a higher specific capacity and longer stable cycling life than those with conventional Li foil. The Li|LFP cells can achieve a stable cycling over 250 cycles at 1C with a higher capacity retention of ≈90.8%, and a higher initial discharge capacity of 924.6 mAh g-1 with a high capacity retention over 300 cycles can also be obtained in Li|S cells at 1C. This work demonstrates a cost-effective and scalable strategy for stable Li metal anode toward next-generation and high-performance LMBs. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.The reconstruction of bone and cartilage defects remains a challenge in orthopedics and tissue engineering. In this study, a mimetic natural scaffold based on a demineralized and decellularized bone and collagen type I (Col I) allograft was developed. The resulting hydrogel has the capability of loading allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) resulting in the sustained release of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7). BMSCs transfected with lentivirus loaded with BMP-7 gene were used as the BMP-7 delivery system, and then seeded on a demineralized and decellularized allograft bone-collagen biphasic scaffold to enhance bone and cartilage regeneration. The results indicated that, after transfection, BMSCs had a higher expression of the BMP-7 gene and the sustained release of BMP-7 lasted more than 28 days. The preliminary biphasic scaffold promoted cell adhesion and proliferation. After implanting the transfected cells into the knee joints of beagle dogs, enhanced osteochondral defect regeneration was identified at 12 weeks postimplantation. Our results revealed that the new cell-loaded scaffold can avoid the side effects and the short half-life of BMP-7, and promote the reconstruction of bone and cartilage defects. Such a composite system, therefore, shows potential in bone and cartilage tissue engineering applications. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.AIMS AND INTRODUCTION Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) are used for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus worldwide. However, some patients don't respond well to the therapy and cautions must be taken for certain patients including those with reduced insulin secretory capacity. Thus, it is clinically important to predict the efficacy of GLP-1RA therapy. To visualize and quantify β-cells, GLP-1R-targeted imaging has emerged recently. We investigated whether GLP-1R-targeted imaging can predict the efficacy of GLP-1RA treatment. MATERIALS AND METHOD We developed 111Indium-labeled exendin-4 derivative (111In-Ex4) as a GLP-1R-targeting probe. Diabetic mice were selected from NONcNZO10/LtJ male mice that were fed for different durations with 11%-fat chow. After 3-week administration of dulaglutide as GLP-1RA therapy, mice with non-fasting blood glucose levels under and over 300 mg/dL were defined as responders and non-responders, respectively. read more In addition, ex-vivo 111In-Ex4 pancreatic accumulations (111In-Ex4 pancreatic values) were examined. RESULTS The non-fasting blood glucose levels after treatment were 172.5±42.4 mg/dL in responders (n=4) and 330.8±20.7 mg/dL in non-responders (n=5), respectively. Ex-vivo 111 In-Ex4 pancreatic values showed significant correlations with post-treatment glycohemoglobin and glucose area under curve (AUC) during oral glucose tolerance test (R2=0.76 and 0.80; p less then 0.01 and less then 0.01, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic AUC for identifying responders by ex-vivo 111 In-Ex4 pancreatic values was 1.00 (p less then 0.01). CONCLUSION Ex-vivo 111 In-Ex4 pancreatic values reflected dulaglutide efficacy, suggesting clinical possibilities for expanding GLP-1R-targeted imaging applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Maladaptive cortical plasticity has been described in individuals with heroin and methamphetamine addiction and may mediate other substance abuse disorders. It is unknown whether cannabis dependence in humans alters the capacity for induction of cortical plasticity. The aim of this study was to non-invasively investigate cortical plasticity with transcranial magnetic stimulation in young adults who meet DSM-5 criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD). Thirty men (ages 20- 30) who used cannabis daily over the previous 6 months (15 diagnosed of CUD) and 15 demographically matched non-users were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent two sessions of theta burst stimulation (TBS) in which either continuous TBS (cTBS; 600 pulses, 80% active motor threshold) or intermittent TBS (iTBS; 2-s train of cTBS repeated every 10 s for a total of 190 s, 600 pulses) was applied over the primary motor cortex. The effects of these protocols were assessed by analysing the contralateral motor evoked potentials (MEPs). The relationships between cortical plasticity and problematic cannabis use, degree of dependence, and nicotine addiction were also investigated. Significant MEP inhibition after cTBS was observed in both cannabis users without CUD and non-users, while this inhibition was not seen in cannabis users with CUD. Strikingly, less motor cortical plasticity was observed in subjects with severe problematic cannabis use. No significant differences between users and non-users were found in the iTBS-induced cortical plasticity measures. Our study provides the first evidence of maladaptive cortical plasticity associated with cannabis use disorder and problematic cannabis use in humans. © 2020 Society for the Study of Addiction.
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