Correction: Stability of gum Arabic-gold nanoparticles in physiological simulated pHs and their selective effect on cell lines

Correction for ‘Stability of gum Arabic-gold nanoparticles in physiological simulated pHs and their selective effect on cell lines’ by Heloise Ribeiro de Barros et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 9411–9420.

The authors regret that the name of one of the authors (Daniel de Lima Bellan) was shown incorrectly in the original article. The corrected author list is as shown above.The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.     

Evaluation of two 13-loci STR multiplex system regarding identification and origin discrimination of Brazilian Cannabis sativa samples

International Journal of Legal Medicine - According to the Brazilian Federal Police (BFP), the Brazilian Cannabis sativa illicit market is mainly supplied by drugs originated from Paraguay and...     

Green synthesis of Au decorated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol and dimethylphenylsilane oxidation

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have been widely employed in catalysis. Here, we report on the synthesis and catalytic evaluation of a hybrid material composed of Au NPs deposited at the surface of magnetic cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄). Our reported approach enabled the synthesis of well-defined Au/CoFe₂O₄ NPs. The Au NPs were uniformly deposited at the surface of the support, displayed spherical shape, and were monodisperse in size. Their catalytic performance was investigated towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and the selective oxidation of dimethylphenylsilane to dimethylphenylsilanol. The material was active towards both transformations. In addition, the LSPR excitation in Au NPs could be employed to enhance the catalytic performance, which was demonstrated in the 4-nitrophenol reduction. Finally, the magnetic support allowed for the easy recovery and reuse of the Au/CoFe₂O₄ NPs. In this case, our data showed that no significant loss of performance took place even after 10 reaction cycles in the oxidation of dimethylphenylsilane to dimethylphenylsilanol. Overall, our results indicate that Au/CoFe₂O₄ are interesting systems for catalytic applications merging high performances, recovery and re-use, and enhancement of activities under solar light illumination.

We present a cleaner chemical synthesis process of a magnetic recoverable Au/CoFe₂O₄ hybrid nanocomposite catalyst that has remarkable activity in catalytic reduction and oxidation, improved by surface plasmon resonance.     

Growth of children with end-stage renal disease undergoing daily hemodialysis

Background

The aim of this report is to describe the effect of daily hemodialysis on the growth of children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods

We performed a prospective, observational study on 24 children with ESRD undergoing daily hemodialysis (DHD). The control group comprised 26 children on concurrent conventional hemodialysis (CHD), and the follow-up for both groups was 9.3?±?3.0 months. No patient received growth hormone (GH) therapy.

Results

At the onset of the study, the height-for-age Z-score was ?2.12?±?1.54 in the CHD group and ?2.84?±?2.27 in the DHD group (p?=?0.313). Assuming an increase of 0.5 standard deviation scores (SDS) of the height-for-age parameter as an improvement of growth, there were 33 % of patients in the DHD group and 8 % in the CHD group (p?=?0.035). The cumulative probability of gain in height for age at 12 months was 40 % in the DHD group versus 15 % in the CHD group (p?=?0.047). Also, 98 % of patients in the DHD group had an adequate total caloric intake, whereas 38 % in the CHD group reached this goal (p?<?0.001). No patient left the study due to intensification of the dialysis modality.

Conclusions

Our data show that the DHD favored a 0.5 SDS height gain in a third of patients without GH treatment. Dialysis intensification was not a cause for treatment dropouts, and DHD should be considered as a treatment for selected cases, especially small children.     

Accuracy of multidetector computed tomography with maximum intensity projection technique in the assessment of fissure integrity

BackgroundBronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) is a potential treatment for patients with severe emphysema, performed through the placement of unidirectional endobronchial valves (EBVs). Their benefits are only achieved in patients that significantly reduce lobar volume, and it is mandatory that the fissures are complete. Fissure evaluation is preferably done by computed tomography, but little is known if its evaluation corresponds to the anatomical findings. The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of thoracic radiologists in the identification of complete fissures by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) using maximum intensity projection (MIP) technique, compared with direct anatomical evaluation.MethodsProspective study, conducted in a single institution. Patients submitted to thoracic surgery had their fissures classified as complete or incomplete by thoracic surgeons and their preoperative chest scans evaluated by three radiologists, blinded for surgical evaluation. With the intraoperative categorization as a reference, the accuracy and concordance of the three thoracic radiologists’ evaluation were calculated. The most experienced radiologist evaluated the fissures at two different moments to estimate the intra-observer agreement.ResultsThere were included 67 patients, being 37 (55%) males, with a mean age of 64 years. The accuracy of radiological identification of complete fissures ranged from 76.8% for left posterior oblique fissure to 85.1% for left anterior oblique fissure, with the best performance achieved by the most experienced radiologist. The concordance of the radiological evaluation for fissure integrity compared to the surgical assessment (k) was 0.53–0.68. Intra-observer agreement ranged from 0.74 to 0.87.ConclusionsThe evaluation of the fissure integrity by MDCT analysis using MIP technique by thoracic radiologists had high accuracy among the thoracic radiologists.