Redispersible and stable amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles functionalized by an organic bisphosphate

Although much effort has been focused on the preparation of stable amorphous calcium phosphate （ACP） nanoparticles in aqueous solution, the redispersibility and long-term stability of ACP nanoparticles in aqueous solution remains an unresolved problem. In this work, stable colloidal ACPs were prepared by using an organic bisphosphonate （BP） as a sterically hindered agent in aqueous solution. The harvested calcium phosphate nanoparticles were characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry （ICP-AES）, Fourier transform infrared （FTIR）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, dynamic light scattering （DLS） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. ICP-AES, FTIR and XRD results suggested the particles were ACP. DLS and TEM results indicated that the size of the ACP nanoparticles were in the range of 60 nm with a spherical morphology. The resulting calcium phosphate nanoparticles retained its amorphous nature in aqueous solution for at least 6 months at room temperature due to the stabilizing effect of the organic bisphosphonate. Moreover, the surface of the ACP nanoparticles adsorbed with the organic bisphosphate used showed good redispersibility and high colloid stability both in organic and aqueous solutions.

A Novel Approach to Functional Analysis of the Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase Small Subunit Gene by Agrobacterium-Mediated Gene Silencing

A novel approach to virus-induced post-transcriptional gene silencing for studying the function of the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit （rbcS） gene was established and optimized using potato virus X vector and Nicotiana benthamiana as experimental material. The analysis of silencing phenomena, transcriptional level, protein expression, and pigment measurement showed that the expression of the rbcS endogenous gene was inactivated by the expression of a 500-bp homologous cDNA fragment carried in the virus vector.

骨转移患者症状负荷及治疗情况调查分析(英文)

Objective:This survey was a non-intervention study,which aimed to investigate symptom burden and treatment status in cancer patient with bone metastasis,and to make out whether patients received the normative treatment.Methods:We designed a questionnaire,the main items of which include patient's symptom burden,previous and ongoing treatment.We used it to investigate 120 patients from six different medical agencies.We examined the association between symptoms using Spearman's rank correlation.SPSS software was used to analyze data.Results:The data of one hundred one questionnaires were completed and fitted for analysis.The five most prevalent symptoms were fatigue(84.2%),unhappiness(83.2%),pain(77.2%),dry mouth(77.2%) and lack of appetite(73.3%).Three symptom clusters were identified.Cluster 1 included anxiety and unhappiness and accounted for 61.4% in all patients.Cluster 2 included pain,fatigue and constipation and accounted for 39.6% in all patients.Cluster 3 included nausea,vomiting,lack of appetite and accounted for 27.7% in all patients.Cronbach's alpha coefficient demonstrated high internal reliability in the clusters,with a coefficient ranging from 0.65 to 0.84.The proportion of patients receiving analgesic therapy,bisphosphates therapy,palliative chemotherapy and radiotherapy were 70.3%,63.4%,58.4% and 36.6% respectively.Pain in various degree was obviously alleviated(P < 0.01) after analgesic therapy.Among the surveyed patients,64 patients received bisphosphates therapy,while the administration of zoledronic acid accounted for the most large proportion.The average duration of bisphosphates administration was 5.79 months(SD = 7.43).Patients who received radiotherapy adopted multiple fractions treating mode.Conclusion:Symptom burden was common and severe in patients with bone metastasis,which often appeared as symptom cluster,and significantly affected their quality of life(QOL).The normative treatment should be strengthened to manage and control patients' symptoms and improve their QOL.The analgesic therapy was normative in patients with bone metastasis.Reasons impeding patients to receive bisphosphates were in varieties.More propaganda should be done to generalized bisphosphates therapy for patients with bone metastasis.