| 1. |
- Wu, Ping-Hsun, et al.
(författare)
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Association between Circulation Indole-3-Acetic Acid Levels and Stem Cell Factor in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients : A Cross-Sectional Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Medicine. - : MDPI. - 2077-0383. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Protein-bound uremic toxin is a cardiovascular (CV) risk factor for patients with end-stage renal disease. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was found to be associated with CV disease but the detailed pathophysiology remains unknown. Moreover, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascades play an important role in the pathogenesis of CV disease. Thus, we explored the association between circulating IAA levels and forty MAPK cascade associated proteins in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Circulating total form IAA was quantified by mass spectrometry and forty MAPK cascade associated proteins by a proximity extension assay in 331 prevalent HD patients. Accounting for multiple testing, and in multivariable-adjusted linear regression models, circulating total form IAA levels were positively associated with stem cell factor (beta coefficient 0.13, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.21, p = 0.004). A bioinformatics approach using the search tool for interactions of chemicals (STITCH) tool provided information that IAA may be involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, hematopoietic cells, and the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway. The knowledge gained here can be generalized, thereby impacting the non-traditional CV risk factors in patients with kidney disease. Further in vitro work is necessary to validate the translation of the mechanistic pathways.
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| 2. |
- Wu, Ping-Hsun, et al.
(författare)
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Associations of Bone Turnover Markers with Cognitive Function in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Disease Markers. - : HINDAWI LTD. - 0278-0240 .- 1875-8630. ; 2020
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Patients undergoing hemodialysis experience a greater risk of cognitive impairment than the general population, but limited data elucidates the biomarkers on this. We evaluated the association of bone turnover markers on cognitive function among 251 prevalent hemodialysis enrollees in a cross-sectional study.Methods: 251 hemodialysis patients (median age=57.8, 55% men) and 37 control subjects (mean age=61.2, 56% men) without a prior stroke or dementia diagnosis were enrolled. Serum concentrations of 8 bone markers were analyzed as the association of cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI)) using linear regression analysis.Results: A lower cognitive function was noted in hemodialysis patients compared to control subjects. The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) was the only bone marker found to be associated with cognitive function (MoCA and CASI tests) in hemodialysis patients without a prior stroke or dementia diagnosis. In stepwise multiple linear regression analysis, the association remained significant in MoCA (beta=1.14, 95% CI 0.17 to 2.11) and CASI (beta=3.06, 95% CI 0.24 to 5.88). Short-term memory (beta=0.52, 95% CI 0.01 to 1.02), mental manipulation (beta=0.51, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.96), and abstract thinking (beta=0.57, 95% CI 0.06 to 1.09) were the significant subdomains in the CASI score related to RANKL.Conclusions: Serum RANKL levels were potentially associated with better cognitive function in hemodialysis patients. Further large-scale and prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.
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| 3. |
- Yang, Chih-Wen, et al.
(författare)
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Epitaxial Growth and Determination of Band Alignment of Bi2Te3–WSe2 Vertical van der Waals Heterojunctions
- 2020
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Ingår i: ACS Materials Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2639-4979. ; 2:10, s. 1351-1359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Artificial heterojunctions formed by vertical stacking of dissimilar two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayer materials in a chosen sequence hold tantalizing prospects for futuristic atomically thin circuits. The emergence of 2D topological insulators (TI), including Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, and Sb2Te3, represents a new class of 2D building blocks and can complement the existing artificial heterojunctions as a result of their intriguing surface states protected by the time-reversal symmetry. However, the determination of band alignments of such 2D TI/TMD vertical heterojunctions, the key parameter for designing HJ-based electronic/photonic devices, which lies in the development of epitaxy growth, remains in its infancy. Here, we demonstrate the epitaxy growth of 2D TI/TMD vertical heterojunctions comprised of Bi2Te3/WSe2 with atomically clean interfaces that are spectroscopically accessible, and theoretically tractable. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images and the presence of interlayer-coupled characteristics from Raman spectroscopy collectively confirm the neat stacking of Bi2Te3/WSe2 with the absence of unwanted containments. Microbeam X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ΌXPS) measurement coupled with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and electrical characteristics of field effect transistors quantitatively reveals the type-II alignment of vertically stacked of quintuple layers (QL) Bi2Te3/WSe2. Meanwhile, the type-III band emerges when transitioning to multi-quintuple layer (MQL) Bi2Te3/WSe2. The finding here provides a well-defined example of the epitaxy growth paradigm, the interlayer coupling-electronic properties relationship, for these emerging 2D TI/TMDs vertical heterojunctions. © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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