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A selective and sensitive fluorescence biosensor is described for determination of microRNA-167 using fluorescent resonant energy transfer (FRET) strategy. The FRET system comprises carbon dots (CDs, donor) labeled with probe DNA (pDNA) and polydopamine (PDA)-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PDA NPs, acceptor). The CDs-pDNA can be absorbed onto the surface of Fe3O4@PDA NPs because of the strong π interaction between pDNA and PDA. With the enhanced adsorption ability of Fe3O4@PDA NPs by Ca2+, the fluorescence intensity of CDs at 445 nm (excitation at 360 nm) is quenched. In presence of microRNA-167, the hybridized complex of CDs-pDNA-microRNA-167 will be released from the surface of Fe3O4@PDA NPs due to the weak π interaction of the complex and PDA. This results in the fluorescence recovery of CDs. By application of twice-magnetic separation, the biosensor shows a wide linear range of 0.5–100 nM to microRNA-167 with a 76 pM detection limit. The method was applied to the determination of microRNA-167 in samples of total microRNA extractions from A. thaliana seedlings, and the recoveries ranged from 96.4 to 98.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, by transforming physical devices into innovative items, affects every aspect of our daily lives. It has brought a slew of evolutionary and revolutionary services that were almost impossible to imagine until recently. The numerous services and applications offered by IoT cover numerous fields, such as personal healthcare, urban life, energy management, and manufacturing. A tremendous amount of data is produced to reach valuable information and meet users' needs. In addition, since the number of services and applications is increasing rapidly, an efficient method to fulfill the growing demands in different application domains becomes challenging. To handle the mentioned problems, task scheduling mechanisms have a significant influence. Despite the importance of these methods in the IoT, an in-depth and systematic review of the current works in this area is clearly lacking. Therefore, we aim to overcome this gap by adopting an organized manner. In fact, this paper aims to specify the challenging problems in IoT task scheduling, highlight the effective works, and outline some hints for upcoming studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celecoxib, a selective cox-2 inhibitor, has been shown to prevent the heterotopic ossification following total hip arthroplasty. However, the effects of celecoxib on heterotopic ossification at other locations remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of celecoxib on heterotopic ossification in the rat model with Achilles tenotomy. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats, which were randomly divided into 2 groups ( n = 20), underwent midpoint Achilles tenotomy on left legs through a posterior approach under aseptic condition. Experimental group was treated with the saline solution of celecoxib (10 mg/kg) per day, while control group was treated by normal saline (0.9%). At 3, 5 and 10 postoperative weeks, all animals were examined by X-ray to assess new bone formation in the Achilles tendon. At 10 weeks after surgery, all animals were killed and Achilles tendons were taken for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and immunohistochemical staining. Heterotopic ossification developed in 3 rats (15%) in experimental group and 20 rats (100%) in control group by postoperative 10 weeks. The incidence of heterotopic ossification was significantly lower in experimental group than in control group ( P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that celecoxib inhibits HO development in rat model with Achilles tenotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyamide microcapsules for the electrophoretic display have been prepared via interfacial polymerization. The core material of the microcapsules is electrophoretic fluid consisted of pigment phthalocyanine green G (CAS No. 1328-53-6) modified with octadecylamine, tetrachloroethylene, and polyoxyethylene octylphenol ether (OP-10). The wall of the polyamide is synthesized from paraphthaloyl chloride and diethylenetriamine. FT-IR indicated that octadecylamine was bonded to pigment phthalocyanine green G with the hydrogen bond. The effect of the amount of octadecylamine on the dispersibility of the pigment suspended in tetrachloroethylene was investigated. Compared to the unmodified pigment, the dispersibility of the modified pigment was improved by 66.7%. The modified pigment migrated to the positive electrode under the direct voltage and the electric response time was about 85 s in 20 V/mm. The average particle size of microcapsules decreased from 834.5 to 258.2 nm as the dosage of OP-10 increased, and the microcapsule yield reached maximum of 83.5% at the OP-10 concentration of 1.5 wt%. With the reduction of the core/wall weight ratio in the range from 1:6 to 1:14, the average particle size improved from 267.4 to 554.4 nm. However, the maximum of the microcapsule yield was 87.6% at the core/wall weight ratio of 1:10. The microcapsule yield reached a peak of 87.6% as the pH value was 12. The average particle size of the microcapsules that obtained at 25 °C was 327.4 nm, which was smaller than those prepared in other temperatures. The formed polyamide microcapsules had a regular spherical shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our aim was to compare the effect of internal vs external fixation for unstable distal radius fractures regarding postoperative complications, clinical results and radiological outcomes.Methods: We selected PubMed; Cochrane Library; EMBASE; BIOSIS; Ovid and the relevant English orthopaedic journals and pooled data from ten eligible randomised controlled trials containing 738 patients to conduct a subgroup analysis according to different periods of follow-up. Our aim was to summarise the best available evidence.Results: Results showed that compared with external fixation, internal fixation led to significantly fewer total surgical complications [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.81, P = 0.002] and reduced the incidence of pin-track infections (95% CI 0.08-0.46, P = 0.0002) after a one year follow-up. For clinical results, grip strength (95% CI 1.59-8.25, P = 0.004), supination (95% CI 13.99-48.83, P = 0.0004) and pronation (95% CI 5.61-26.09, P = 0.002) were superior in the internal fixation group six weeks postoperatively, and the same results were obtained three months postoperatively for grip strength (95% CI 3.21-13.47, P = 0.001) and supination (95% CI 3.61-16.01, P = 0.002). Meanwhile, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score was superior in the internal fixation group at three months (95% CI -20.62 to -2.07, P = 0.02) and after one year (95% CI -14.37 to -2.32, P = 0.007) follow-up.Conclusions: We suggest that the final results are significant and there is some evidence supporting the use of open reduction and internal fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our aim was to compare the effect of internal vs external fixation for unstable distal radius fractures regarding postoperative complications, clinical results and radiological outcomes. Methods: We selected PubMed; Cochrane Library; EMBASE; BIOSIS; Ovid and the relevant English orthopaedic journals and pooled data from ten eligible randomised controlled trials containing 738 patients to conduct a subgroup analysis according to different periods of follow-up. Our aim was to summarise the best available evidence. Results: Results showed that compared with external fixation, internal fixation led to significantly fewer total surgical complications [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.81, P = 0.002] and reduced the incidence of pin-track infections (95% CI 0.08-0.46, P = 0.0002) after a one year follow-up. For clinical results, grip strength (95% CI 1.59-8.25, P = 0.004), supination (95% CI 13.99-48.83, P = 0.0004) and pronation (95% CI 5.61-26.09, P = 0.002) were superior in the internal fixation group six weeks postoperatively, and the same results were obtained three months postoperatively for grip strength (95% CI 3.21-13.47, P = 0.001) and supination (95% CI 3.61-16.01, P = 0.002). Meanwhile, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score was superior in the internal fixation group at three months (95% CI −20.62 to −2.07, P = 0.02) and after one year (95% CI −14.37 to −2.32, P = 0.007) follow-up. Conclusions: We suggest that the final results are significant and there is some evidence supporting the use of open reduction and internal fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]