Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of Surfactant-Free and D-Fructose-Coated Gold Nanoparticles for Multiple Applications.

The excellent optical properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) make them promising for numerous applications. Herein, we present a facile synthesis of both surfactant-free (SF-AuNPs) and non-toxic D-fructose (DF)-coated gold nanoparticles (DF-AuNPs) via the plasma-liquid interactions (PLIs) method. Moreover, we demonstrate that both SF-AuNPs and DF-AuNPs are potential candidates for trace detection via surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and catalytic degradation of toxic dyes. However, SF-AuNPs have superior SERS and catalytic performance compared to the DF-AuNPs due to their surfactant-free nature. Moreover, SF-AuNPs have also been shown to quench the fluorescence of analyte molecules, making their SERS-based trace detection more efficient. In particular, SERS enhancement of rhodamine 6G (R6G) and catalytic reduction of a toxic dye methylene blue (MB) have been explored.

Myrica salicifolia Hochst. ex A. Rich. suppress acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rats by reducing TNF-alpha and interleukin-6, oxidative stress parameters and improving mucosal protection.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with rising prevalence in developing countries, and limited success of current therapies, natural products have immense potential for therapy due to their "disease modifying and side-effect neutralizing" potential. Myrica salicifolia is traditionally used for gastrointestinal diseases and have reported antiinflammatory activities, but its use in IBD has not yet been studied. Therefore, in the present study, the effects of the root extract of M. salicifolia (Ms.Cr) were investigated using the acetic acid-induced UC model in rats. For 6 days, the rats were given either vehicle (10 mL/kg), lower (200 mg/kg), and higher (400 mg/kg) doses of Ms.Cr, or the positive control drug (prednisolone; 2 mg/kg) orally. A single dosage of 5% acetic acid (1.0 mL) was administered intrarectally to rats on day 6 to induce UC. Disease activity index (DAI), histological observations, the biochemical parameters related to oxidative stress, and specific cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were determined to assess the effect of Ms.Cr. In comparison to the AA-induced colitis rats, Ms.Cr's pretreatment significantly decreased DAI, colonic ulceration, and inflammatory score. Total glutathione levels and catalase activity were considerably recovered in the colitis group treated with Ms.Cr, whereas enhanced lipid peroxidation in colon tissues was significantly decreased. Moreover, Ms.Cr pretreatment also caused inhibition of the activation of IL-6 and TNF-α in the colonic tissues of respective groups. Based on these findings, Ms.Cr might be developed to treat UC in the future.

Development of simple designs of multitip probe diagnostic systems for RF plasma characterization.

Multitip probes are very useful diagnostics for analyzing and controlling the physical phenomena occurring in low temperature discharge plasmas. However, DC biased probes often fail to perform well in processing plasmas. The objective of the work was to deduce simple designs of DC biased multitip probes for parametric study of radio frequency plasmas. For this purpose, symmetric double probe, asymmetric double probe, and symmetric triple probe diagnostic systems and their driving circuits were designed and tested in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) generated by a 13.56 MHz radio frequency (RF) source. Using I-V characteristics of these probes, electron temperature, electron number density, and ion saturation current was measured as a function of input power and filling gas pressure. An increasing trend was noticed in electron temperature and electron number density for increasing input RF power whilst a decreasing trend was evident in these parameters when measured against filling gas pressure. In addition, the electron energy probability function (EEPF) was also studied by using an asymmetric double probe. These studies confirmed the non-Maxwellian nature of the EEPF and the presence of two groups of the energetic electrons at low filling gas pressures.

Assessment of acute right ventricular dysfunction induced by right coronary artery occlusion using echocardiographic atrioventricular plane displacement.

Right ventricular (RV) systolic function analysis by echocardiography has traditionally required RV endocardial border definition with subsequent tracing and is often inaccurate or impossible in technically poor studies. The atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) method attempts to use the descent of the tricuspid annular ring, a reflection of the longitudinal shortening of the right ventricle, as a surrogate marker for RV systolic function. We hypothesized that RV ischemia induced during right coronary artery occlusion proximal to the major right ventricular branches would result in severe right ventricular systolic dysfunction detectable by the AVPD method. During this pilot study, seven patients undergoing elective proximal RCA angioplasty had echocardiographic measurement of RV AVPD performed at baseline (i.e., immediately prior to RCA balloon inflation), during the last 30 seconds of first RCA balloon inflation, and at 1 minute after balloon deflation (recovery). Lateral and medial RV AVPD were significantly reduced from baseline values during intracoronary balloon inflation. (Lateral: 2.45 cm +/- 0.22 vs 1.77 cm +/- 0.13, P < 0.001; medial: 1.46 cm +/- 0.37 vs 1.28 cm +/- 0.32, P < 0.05). Additionally, lateral and medial RV AVPD significantly returned towards baseline values during recovery. (Lateral: 2.39 cm +/- 0.20, P < 0.001; medial: 1.58 cm +/- 0.27, P = 0.01). At baseline, all lateral RV AVPD values were > 2.0 cm, whereas during balloon inflation all were < 2.0 cm. No such clear distinction was found in medial RV AVPD values. Proximal RCA angioplasty is associated with a significant reduction in lateral and medial RV AVPD. Thus RV AVPD may serve as a marker for RV systolic dysfunction.

Spontaneous intramural atrial hematoma presenting as a left atrial mass.

We describe an unusual case of spontaneously occurring intramural atrial hematoma with no communication with either atrium. The diagnosis of left atrial mass was made from transthoracic echocardiography. Subsequent examination with transesophageal echocardiography confirmed a large mass essentially filling the whole left atrium but failed to provide an etiologic diagnosis, which was eventually made at surgery.