Strain and atomic stacking of bismuth thin film in its quasi-van der Waals epitaxy on (111) Si substrate.

We report on the structural properties of Bi thin films grown on (111) Si substrates with a thickness of 22-30 BL. HRXRD and EBSD measurements show that these Bi films are mainly composed of twinning grains in the (0003) direction. The grain size can be as large as tens of microns. From a double-peak (01[Formula: see text]4) φ-scan, we found two pairs of twinning phases coexisting with a rotation angle of ~ 3.6°. We proposed a coincidence site lattice model based on preferential close-packed sites for Bi atoms on Si (111) surface to explain the coexistence of the rotation phases in the quasi-van der Waals epitaxy. From the measured lattice constants c and a of our samples, along with the data from the literature, we derived a c-a relation: (c-c0) = - 2.038(a-a0), where c0 and a0 are the values of bulk Bi. The normalized position of the second basis atom in the unit cell x, in these strained Bi films is found very close to that of bulk Bi, indicating that the strain does not disturb the Peierls distortion of the lattice. The fixed ratio of bilayer thickness to lattice constant c, reveals that the elastic properties of covalent-bonded bilayer dominate those of Bi crystal.

Trojan-horse nanotube on-command intracellular drug delivery.

A major challenge to nanomaterial-based medicine is the ability to release drugs on-command. Here, we describe an innovative drug delivery system based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), in which compounds can be released inside cells from within the nanotube "on-command" by inductive heating with an external alternating current or pulsed magnetic field. Without inductive heating the drug remains safely inside the CNTs, showing no toxicity in cell viability tests. Similar to the "Trojan-Horse" in function, we demonstrate the delivery of a combination of chemotherapeutic agents with low aqueous solubility, paclitaxel (Taxol), and C6-ceramide, to multidrug resistant pancreatic cancer cells. Nanotube encapsulation permitted the drugs to be used at a 100-fold lower concentration compared to exogenous treatment yet achieve a comparable ~70% cancer kill rate.

Fermentation with Bacillus spp. as a bioprocess to enhance anthocyanin content, the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory effect, and the reducing activity of black soybeans.

Food possessing anthocyanins, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity or reducing activity show beneficial effect on human health. To develop healthy food, black soybeans were fermented with either Bacillus subtilis BCRC 14715 or Bacillus sp. CN11, or a mixture of both Bacillus spp. in the present study. The anthocyanin content, the ACE inhibitory activity and the reducing power of the fermented black soybean were then examined. It was found that the ACE inhibitory activity of the extracts of bean and viscous material from the fermented black soybeans varied with extraction solvents and starter organism, yet increased as the fermentation period was extended, regardless of starter organism. After 18 h of fermentation, the water extract of bean showed less ACE inhibitory activity than did the respective 80% ethanol extract. While the water extract of viscous material showed a higher ACE inhibitory activity than the respective ethanol extract. With respect to extraction yield, it was found that the ACE inhibitor in the fermented black soybean could be extracted more efficiently with water than 80% ethanol. Fermentation with B. subtilis BCRC 14715 was also found to increase the anthocyanin content of black soybean and the reducing activity of the extracts. Finally, the 80% ethanol extract showed a higher reducing activity than the water extract.

Enhancement of aglycone, vitamin K2 and superoxide dismutase activity of black soybean through fermentation with Bacillus subtilis BCRC 14715 at different temperatures.

In the present study, the change in the content and activity of some functional constituents including aglycone, the bioactive form of isoflavone, vitamin K2, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) of black soybeans during their solid fermentation with Bacillus subtilis BCRC 14715 at different temperatures (35, 40, 45, and 50 degrees C) for 18 h was investigated. It was generally found that fermentation resulted in an enhancement of these constituents, regardless of fermentation temperature, while varying the fermentation temperature of black soybeans produced variations in the enhancement. The 50 degrees C -fermented black soybean showed the most marked increase in the content of daidzein and genistein aglycone. On the other hand, the highest SOD activity and vitamin K2 content were found in the black soybeans fermented at 45 and 40-45 degrees C, respectively. Thus functional properties of black soybeans can be further improved through fermentation with B. subtilis BCRC 14715.

A nationwide population-based cohort study shows reduced hospitalization for peptic ulcer disease associated with H pylori eradication and proton pump inhibitor use.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The incidence of peptic ulcer diseases has decreased significantly during past decades. Despite several significant population-based studies in Western countries, studies of Asian populations are lacking. We therefore investigated the incidence of hospital admissions for peptic ulcer disease in Taiwan during a 10-year period. METHODS: This nationwide population-based cohort study was based on data obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (a population of 23 million). In total, 403,567 patients with peptic ulcer diseases were recruited for the study. Standardized incidences of admissions were calculated to estimate changes. RESULTS: Hospitalization for peptic ulcer diseases decreased significantly between 1997 and 2006 in Taiwan. The incidences of admissions decreased from 68.3 to 39.6 per 100,000 for uncomplicated gastric ulcer, from 116.9 to 61.1 for bleeding gastric ulcer, and from 11.0 to 6.3 for perforated gastric ulcer. The incidences decreased from 46.4 to 13.6 per 100,000 for uncomplicated duodenal ulcer, from 108.0 to 40.1 for bleeding duodenal ulcer, and from 9.8 to 5.8 for perforated duodenal ulcer. The declines were observed in both genders, in all age groups, and at all hospital levels. Significant increases in Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy (202% increase) and proton pump inhibitor use (1071% increase) might have contributed to these decreases. CONCLUSIONS: The incidences of gastric and duodenal ulcer diseases decreased 42%-48% and 41%-71%, respectively, in Taiwan between 1997 and 2006.

Web-based tools can be used reliably to detect patients with major depressive disorder and subsyndromal depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Although depression has been regarded as a major public health problem, many individuals with depression still remain undetected or untreated. Despite the potential for Internet-based tools to greatly improve the success rate of screening for depression, their reliability and validity has not been well studied. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of a Web-based system, the Internet-based Self-assessment Program for Depression (ISP-D). METHODS: The ISP-D to screen for major depressive disorder (MDD), minor depressive disorder (MinD), and subsyndromal depressive symptoms (SSD) was developed in traditional Chinese. Volunteers, 18 years and older, were recruited via the Internet and then assessed twice on the online ISP-D system to investigate the test-retest reliability of the test. They were subsequently prompted to schedule face-to-face interviews. The interviews were performed by the research psychiatrists using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the diagnoses made according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were used for the statistics of criterion validity. Kappa (kappa) values were calculated to assess test-retest reliability. RESULTS: A total of 579 volunteer subjects were administered the test. Most of the subjects were young (mean age: 26.2 +/- 6.6 years), female (77.7%), single (81.6%), and well educated (61.9% college or higher). The distributions of MDD, MinD, SSD and no depression specified were 30.9%, 7.4%, 15.2%, and 46.5%, respectively. The mean time to complete the ISP-D was 8.89 +/- 6.77 min. One hundred and eighty-four of the respondents completed the retest (response rate: 31.8%). Our analysis revealed that the 2-week test-retest reliability for ISP-D was excellent (weighted kappa = 0.801). Fifty-five participants completed the face-to-face interview for the validity study. The sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values for major depressive disorder were 81.8% and 72.7%, 66.7%, and 85.7% respectively. The overall accuracy was 76.4%. CONCLUSION: The evidence indicates the ISP-D is a reliable and valid online tool for assessing depression. Further studies should test the ISP-D in clinical settings to increase its applications in clinical environments with different populations and in a larger sample size.

Quantitative relations of acoustic inertial cavitation with sonoporation and cell viability.

Ultrasound-induced acoustic cavitation assists gene delivery, possibly by increasing the permeability of the cell membranes. How the cavitation dose is related to the sonoporation rate and the cell viability is still unknown and so this in vitro study quantitatively investigated the effects of cavitation induced by 1-MHz pulsed ultrasound waves and the contrast agent Levovist (containing microbubbles when reconstituted by adding saline and shaken) on the delivery of short DNA-FITC molecules into HeLa cells. The concentrations of cells and DNA-FITC were 2 x 10(5) cells/mL and 40 microg/mL, respectively. The cavitation was quantified as the inertial cavitation dose (ICD), corresponding to the spectral broadband signal enhancement during microbubble destruction. The relations of ICD with sonoporation and cell viability were examined for various acoustic pressures (0.48-1.32 MPa), Levovist concentrations (1.12 x 10(5)-1.12 x 10(7) bubbles/mL) and pulse durations (1-10 cycles). The linear regressions of the sonoporation rate versus ICD and the cell viability versus ICD were y = 28.67x + 10.71 (R(2) = 0.95) and z = -62.83x + 91.18 (R(2) = 0.84), respectively, where x is ICD, y is the sonoporation rate and z is the cell viability. These results show that the sonoporation rate and the cell viability are highly correlated with the ICD, indicating that sonoporation results may be potentially predicted using ICD.

DNA-gold nanorod conjugates for remote control of localized gene expression by near infrared irradiation.

Gold nanorods were attached to the gene of enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) for the remote control of gene expression in living cells. The UV-vis spectroscopy, electrophoresis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the optical and structural properties of the EGFP DNA and gold nanorod (EGFP-GNR) conjugates before and after femto-second near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Upon NIR irradiation, the gold nanorods of EGFP-GNR conjugates underwent shape transformation that resulted in the release of EGFP DNA. When EGFP-GNR conjugates were delivered to cultured HeLa cells, induced GFP expression was specifically observed in cells that were locally exposed to NIR irradiation. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using gold nanorods and NIR irradiation as means of remote control of gene expression in specific cells. This approach has potential applications in biological and medical studies.

Outcome of short-term hospitalization in a psychosomatic ward.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigated the short-term outcome of patients with common mental disorders (CMDs) admitted to a psychosomatic ward. Multidimensional outcome measurements were used, including psychological symptoms, global functioning, and service satisfaction. METHODS: A total of 56 consecutive patients with CMDs admitted to a 33-bed psychosomatic ward for crisis intervention or due to refractory conditions unresponsive to treatment at outpatient clinics were enrolled. Structured measurements including psychological symptoms, personality traits, family functioning and global functioning, at admission and discharge, were used to assess outcome. Baseline social functioning was measured at admission. Perspective on life satisfaction and satisfaction with therapy were assessed at discharge. Univariate analysis and multiple regression models that employed the stepwise method were used to determine the predictors of outcome. RESULTS: Psychological symptoms, global functioning and family function demonstrated significant improvement after hospitalization (p<0.05). Personality traits remained stable during hospitalization. Baseline social functioning, educational level, marital status, comorbid mental disorder, length of hospital stay, and neuroticism were significantly associated with psychological stress at discharge (adjusted R2=0.51). Higher educational level and male gender were significantly correlated with better global functioning at discharge (adjusted R2=0.18). Perspective on life satisfaction and improvement of family functioning predicted satisfaction with therapy during the index hospitalization (adjusted R2=0.19). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a significant improvement after short-term hospitalization in a psychosomatic ward. Demographic and clinical variables were able to predict the outcome measurement of symptoms, functioning and service satisfaction. This study also suggested that individual psychotherapy is a useful approach to the treatment of hospitalized patients with CMDs.

Validity of the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale among subjects admitted for general health screening.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hospital-based general health screening plays an important role in the early detection of mental disorders. The present study examined the validity of the 5-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5) in subjects admitted for a 2-day general health screening program. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey with a modified 2-phase design was conducted at a medical center in Taipei. A total of 283 consecutive subjects who received health screening in a 1-month period completed the BSRS-5 in the first phase. There were 172 (60.8%) males and 111 (39.2%) females with a mean age of 54.4+/-12.0 years. 115 subjects received a standard psychiatric interview with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus in the second phase. RESULTS: In this hospital-based sample, the internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) coefficient for the BSRS-5 was 0.84 and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.91 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.86-0.95]. The optimal cut-off point was 5/6. The rate of accurate classification was 82.2% (82.6% sensitivity, 81.8% specificity, 81.9% positive predictive value, 82.5% negative predictive value). The estimated prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity in this sample was 27.2% (95% CI, 22.2-32.4%). CONCLUSION: The BSRS-5 is an effective screening instrument for the identification of psychiatric morbidity in hospital-based health screening settings.

Development and verification of validity and reliability of a short screening instrument to identify psychiatric morbidity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The accurate identification of minor mental disorders associated with depression and anxiety in non-psychiatric medical settings is an important component of mental health care. The present study aimed to develop a reliable and valid short screening tool to improve the identification of psychiatric morbidity. METHODS: Data from the 50-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-50) obtained from 721 medical inpatients were used to develop a short screening tool (BSRS-5) to identify psychiatric morbidity. The BSRS-5 comprises 5 symptom items, selected from the BSRS-50, each of which has the highest correlation with the corresponding subscale score of Anxiety, Depression, Hostility, Interpersonal Sensitivity and Additional Symptoms in the BSRS-50. Various types of reliability and validity of the BSRS-5 were assessed in different populations, including 253 human immunodeficiency virus-1 infected outpatients, 257 psychiatric outpatients, 56 psychiatric inpatients, 100 rehabilitation outpatients with chronic low back pain, 2915 university freshmen, and 1090 community members. RESULTS: Internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) coefficients of the BSRS-5 ranged from 0.77 to 0.90. The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.82. Concurrent validity coefficients between the sum score of BSRS-5 and the General Severity Index of BSRS-50 ranged from 0.87 to 0.95. Choosing 6+ as the cut-off score for psychiatric cases, the rate of accurate classification of BSRS-5 was 76.3% (78.9% sensitivity, 74.3% specificity, 69.9% positive predictive value, 82.3% negative predictive value). The BSRS-5 could differentiate the severity of illness in psychiatric outpatients based on psychiatrist's ratings using the Clinical Global Impression scale, severity of psychopathology of psychiatric inpatients between admission and discharge, levels of pain indicated by 4 dimensions of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire for outpatients with chronic low back pain, and the severity of psychopathology between university students and community members with and without suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION: The BSRS-5 can be used to identify psychiatric morbidity in both medical practice and the community.

The validity of an Internet-based Self-assessment Program for Depression.

The Internet-based Self-assessment Program for Depression (ISPD) has been found to have good test-retest reliability for major depressive disorder (MDD). The purpose of this study was to further examine the validity of the ISPD for MDD. We found sensitivity and specificity of MDD by ISPD to be 81.8% and 72.7% respectively. Internet may play an important role for patients to self-assess their possibility of getting MDD.