New echocardiographic techniques in the evaluation of left ventricular function in obesity

Objective:

Obesity has reached global epidemic proportions and is associated with numerous comorbidities, including major cardiovascular (CV) diseases.

Design and Methods:

It has many adverse effects on hemodynamics and CV structure and function: it increases total blood volume and cardiac output, and the cardiac workload is greater. Typically, obese patients have a higher cardiac output but a lower level of total peripheral resistance at any given level of arterial pressure. Most of the increase in cardiac output in obesity is caused by stroke volume, although heart rate typically mildly increases also due to enhanced sympathetic activation.

Results:

Over the last few years, experimental investigations have unraveled some important pathogenetic mechanisms that may underlie a specific form of “obesity cardiomyopathy.” Bariatric surgery represents an effective alternative to treat obesity when nonsurgical weight loss programs (diet + behavior modifications + regular exercise) have failed. A great numbers of questions are still open in the global comprehension of the pathophysiological interactions between obesity and heart.

Conclusion:

Conventional two‐dimensional Doppler echocardiography, integrated by relative new technological ultrasonic approaches, represents the reference technique to study and possibly clarify both the very complex hemodynamic changes induced by obesity and those relative to obesity treatment.     

The Phosphate Source Influences Gene Expression and Quality of Mineralization during In Vitro Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

For in vitro differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells/mesenchymal stromal cells into osteoblasts by 2-dimensional cell culture a variety of protocols have been used and evaluated in the past. Especially the external phosphate source used to induce mineralization varies considerably both in respect to chemical composition and concentration. In light of the recent findings that inorganic phosphate directs gene expression of genes crucial for bone development, the need for a standardized phosphate source in in vitro differentiation becomes apparent. We show that chemical composition (inorganic versus organic phosphate origin) and concentration of phosphate supplementation exert a severe impact on the results of gene expression for the genes commonly used as markers for osteoblast formation as well as on the composition of the mineral formed. Specifically, the intensity of gene expression does not necessarily correlate with a high quality mineralized matrix. Our study demonstrates advantages of using inorganic phosphate instead of β-glycerophosphate and propose colorimetric quantification methods for calcium and phosphate ions as cost- and time-effective alternatives to X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for determination of the calcium phosphate ratio and concentration of mineral matrix formed under in vitro-conditions. We critically discuss the different assays used to assess in vitro bone formation in respect to specificity and provide a detailed in vitro protocol that could help to avoid contradictory results due to variances in experimental design.     

Extracellular Sphingosine-1-Phosphate: A Novel Actor in Human Glioblastoma Stem Cell Survival

Glioblastomas are the most frequent and aggressive intracranial neoplasms in humans, and despite advances and the introduction of the alkylating agent temozolomide in therapy have improved patient survival, resistance mechanisms limit benefits. Recent studies support that glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs), a cell subpopulation within the tumour, are involved in the aberrant expansion and therapy resistance properties of glioblastomas, through still unclear mechanisms. Emerging evidence suggests that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) a potent onco-promoter able to act as extracellular signal, favours malignant and chemoresistance properties in GSCs. Notwithstanding, the origin of S1P in the GSC environment remains unknown. We investigated S1P metabolism, release, and role in cell survival properties of GSCs isolated from either U87-MG cell line or a primary culture of human glioblastoma. We show that both GSC models, grown as neurospheres and expressing GSC markers, are resistant to temozolomide, despite not expressing the DNA repair protein MGMT, a major contributor to temozolomide-resistance. Pulse experiments with labelled sphingosine revealed that both GSC types are able to rapidly phosphorylate the long-chain base, and that the newly produced S1P is efficiently degraded. Of relevance, we found that S1P was present in GSC extracellular medium, its level being significantly higher than in U87-MG cells, and that the extracellular/intracellular ratio of S1P was about ten-fold higher in GSCs. The activity of sphingosine kinases was undetectable in GSC media, suggesting that mechanisms of S1P transport to the extracellular environment are constitutive in GSCs. In addition we found that an inhibitor of S1P biosynthesis made GSCs sensitive to temozolomide (TMZ), and that exogenous S1P reverted this effect, thus involving extracellular S1P as a GSC survival signal in TMZ resistance. Altogether our data implicate for the first time GSCs as a pivotal source of extracellular S1P, which might act as an autocrine/paracrine signal contributing to their malignant properties.     

台湾和日本拟步甲在纬度分布上的比较研究

台湾和日本处在不同的地理纬度上,同属岛屿海洋性气候,前者地域面积远小于后者,拟步甲的物种多样性却大于后者。为弄清楚这些科学问题,作者采用G-F指数对从台湾到日本不同纬度梯度上的拟步甲多样性分布格局进行了比较分析,得到如下初步结论：(1) G-F指数从大到小依次是：台湾(21°N-25°N)(0．826)>日本(24°N-45°N)(0．824)>日本Ⅱ纬度区(30°N-35°N)(0．792)>日本Ⅰ纬度区(24°N-30°N)(0．765)>日本Ⅲ纬度区(35°N-40°N)(0．761)>日本Ⅳ纬度区(40°N-45°N)(0．603);(2)台湾拟步甲属的多样性(DG)、族的多样性(DF)和G-F指数(DG-F)均最高,分别是4．263、24．464和0．826;(3)各纬度上拟步甲的物种分布情况：台湾(21°N-25°N)(541种)>日本(24°N-45°N)(489种)>日本Ⅰ纬度区(24°N-30°N)(257种)>日本Ⅱ纬度区(30° N-35° N)(231种)>日本Ⅲ纬度区(35° N-40° N)(172种)>日本Ⅳ纬度区(40° N-45° N)(60种)。研究数据显示, G-F指数能较好地反映台湾和日本各地拟步甲族、属的多样性。其物种多样性在纬度上的分布表现为从南向北递减的趋势,并对其基本原因进行分析。作者首次基于台湾和日本两个岛屿拟步甲物种多样性的比较分析,对现有岛屿生物多样性的有关理论提出个人看法,认为岛屿生物地理学的“物种-面积关系理论”中的“岛屿面积越大,物种数量就越多”可能存在一定的局限性,不一定能客观地反映种类众多的现生岛屿昆虫物种多样性的实际情况。     

Effects of Nanoparticle Shape and Size on Optical Properties of LaB<Subscript>6</Subscript>

The optical response of lanthanum hexaboride (LaB₆) nanoparticles has been investigated by both theoretically and experimentally. The LaB₆ nanoparticles obtained by solid-state reaction could avoid serious surface oxidization and exhibit excellent optical performance. The discrete dipole approximation (DDA) has been used to investigate the optical response of LaB₆ nanoparticles with different sizes and different shapes. The calculation results coincide with the experimental results and reveal that the largest extinction peak value appears at 60 nm for cubic particles and 40 nm for spherical particles, respectively. Our calculation results show that the existence of the largest extinction peak value is not only due to the surface oxides but also relate to the particle shape of LaB₆ compound. In addition, the LaB₆ nanoparticles with cubic and spherical shapes exhibit different optical responses, and the cubic particles exhibit stronger near infrared (NIR) extinction than spherical particles. With increasing particle size, the extinction peak value of spherical particle decreases more rapidly than that of cubic ones.     

Tailoring of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances of Core-Shell Au@Ag Nanorods by Changing the Thickness of Ag Shell

We report the synthesis and the characterization of core-shell Au@Ag nanorods through reduction by the wet chemical method. UV-visible absorption spectra of core-shell Au@Ag nanorods demonstrate the longitudinal mode of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) can be tailored from 724 to 786 nm by controlling the thickness of the silver shell, as is assessed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). Furthermore, the tunable and well-controlled LSPRs of core-shell Au@Ag nanorods are also investigated by numerical simulation using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, which strongly supports the experimental observations. The growth mechanism for core-shell Au@Ag nanorods is proposed, according to experimental observations and numerical calculations.     

Analysis of Mid-Infrared Surface Plasmon Modes in a Graphene-Based Cylindrical Hybrid Waveguide

A graphene-based cylindrical hybrid surface plasmon polariton waveguide, composed of a silicon nanowire core surrounded by a silica layer and then a graphene layer, is investigated using the finite-difference time-domain method. The analytical solutions and the numerical simulation show that an ultra-small mode area and a large propagation length can be achieved with this waveguide. Utilizing the perturbation theory of coupled mode, we demonstrate that the six lowest-order coupling modes originate from the coupling of the three lowest-order single-waveguide modes, and the m?=?1 order yy-coupling mode possesses the maximum coupling length and the minimum crosstalk. This waveguide can be used for photonic integrated circuits in the mid-infrared range.     

Magnetic-Based Fano Resonance by a Trimer with Y-shaped Gap

We introduce a Y-shaped gap into a silver disk to break the structure symmetry which can be looked as a loop-linked structure. Magnetic resonances are excited by incident light when incident electric field is parallel to the trimer plane. Fano resonance is generated by the coupling between bright electric mode and dark magnetic mode. These resonances can be adjusted by tuning the gap size, the radius of trimer, and the position of Y-shaped gap. The extinction cross section of the structure is calculated with the finite element method (FEM). The maximum figure of merit (FOM) is 37.8. Both the magnetic and electric field are greatly enhanced at the Fano dip and the magnetic resonance peak.     

Common Metal-Dielectric-Metal Nanocavities for Multispectral Narrowband Light Absorption

We present a method to theoretically achieve multispectral narrowband light absorption in common metal-dielectric-metal nanocavities. Polarization-independent and wide-angle multi-band light absorption with absorbance up to 99 % is achieved owing to the excitation of multiple localized plasmon cavity modes. Strong interactions between plasmon resonances and photonic modes are further introduced for achieving sharp absorption spectrum with sub-10-nm bandwidth via a high-index dielectric spacer with a thickness exceeding λ/2. These findings can offer new perspectives for multispectral nano-optics devices including perfect light absorbers and subtractive polychromatic filters.