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ACS Infectious Diseases Jun 2024Leishmaniasis, one of the most overlooked tropical diseases, is a life-threatening illness caused by the parasite that is prevalent in underdeveloped nations. Over 350... (Review)
Review
Leishmaniasis, one of the most overlooked tropical diseases, is a life-threatening illness caused by the parasite that is prevalent in underdeveloped nations. Over 350 million individuals in more than 90 different nations worldwide are at risk of contracting the disease, which has a current fatality rate of 50 000 mortalities each year. The administration of liposomal Amp B, pentavalent antimonials, and miltefosine are still considered integral components of the chemotherapy regimen. Antileishmanial medications fail to treat leishmaniasis because of their numerous drawbacks. These include inadequate effectiveness, toxicity, undesired side effects, drug resistance, treatment duration, and cost. Consequently, there is a need to overcome the limitations of conventional therapeutics. Nanotechnology has demonstrated promising outcomes in addressing these issues because of its small size and distinctive characteristics, such as enhanced bioavailability, lower toxicity, biodegradability, and targeted drug delivery. This review is an effort to highlight the recent progress in various nanodrug delivery systems (nDDSs) over the past five years for treating leishmaniasis. Although the preclinical outcomes of nDDSs have shown promising treatment for leishmaniasis, further research is needed for their clinical translation. Advancement in three primary priority domains─molecular diagnostics, clinical investigation, and knowledge dissemination and standardization─is imperative to propel the leishmaniasis field toward translational outcomes.
Topics: Humans; Antiprotozoal Agents; Leishmaniasis; Drug Delivery Systems; Animals; Nanoparticles; Leishmania donovani; Leishmaniasis Vaccines; Nanovaccines
PubMed: 38829047
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.4c00010 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2024Heavy metal exposure is an important cause of reduced bone mineral density (BMD). Epidemiological studies focusing on the effects of mixed heavy metal exposure on BMD in...
BACKGROUND
Heavy metal exposure is an important cause of reduced bone mineral density (BMD). Epidemiological studies focusing on the effects of mixed heavy metal exposure on BMD in middle-aged and older people are scarce. In single-metal studies, men and women have shown distinct responses of BMD to environmental metal exposure. This study therefore aimed to elucidate the association between mixed heavy metal exposure and BMD and to investigate whether it is sex-specific.
METHODS
Data from the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were selected for this cross-sectional study. The study used three statistical methods, i.e., linear regression, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) modeling, and weighted quartiles (WQS) regression, to explore the association between the urinary concentrations of 11 metals (barium, cadmium, cobalt, cesium, manganese, molybdenum, lead, antimony, tin, thallium, and Tungsten), either individually or as a mixture, and total femoral BMD.
RESULTS
A total of 1,031 participants were included in this study. Femoral BMD was found to be higher in men than women. A significant negative correlation between the urinary concentrations of the 10 metals and femoral BMD was found in the overall cohort. Further gender sub-stratified analyses showed that in men, urinary metal concentrations were negatively correlated with femoral BMD, with cobalt and barium playing a significant and non-linear role in this effect. In women, although urinary metal concentrations negatively modulated femoral BMD, none of the correlations was statistically significant. Antimony showed sex-specific differences in its effect.
CONCLUSION
The urinary concentrations of 10 mixed heavy metals were negatively correlated with femoral BMD in middle-aged and older participants, and this effect showed gender differences. These findings emphasize the differing role of mixed metal exposure in the process of BMD reduction between the sexes but require further validation by prospective studies.
Topics: Humans; Female; Male; Bone Density; Nutrition Surveys; Cross-Sectional Studies; Aged; Metals, Heavy; Middle Aged; Femur; Sex Factors; Environmental Exposure; Bayes Theorem; Aged, 80 and over
PubMed: 38827609
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1363362 -
ArXiv May 2024Antimony is a high-level, human-readable text-based language designed for defining and sharing models in the systems biology community. It enables scientists to describe...
Antimony is a high-level, human-readable text-based language designed for defining and sharing models in the systems biology community. It enables scientists to describe biochemical networks and systems using a simple and intuitive syntax. It allows users to easily create, modify, and distribute reproducible computational models. By allowing the concise representation of complex biological processes, Antimony enhances collaborative efforts, improves reproducibility, and accelerates the iterative development of models in systems biology. This paper provides an update to the Antimony language since it was introduced in 2009. In particular, we highlight new annotation features, support for flux balance analysis, a new rateOf method, support for probability distributions and uncertainty, named stochiometries, and algebraic rules. Antimony is also now distributed as a C/C++ library, together with python and Julia bindings, as well as a JavaScript version for use within a web browser. Availability: https://github.com/sys-bio/antimony.
PubMed: 38827452
DOI: No ID Found -
ACS Omega May 2024Modulation of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) has been tested in two antimony(V) porphyrins, SbT(DMP)P(OMe)·PF and SbT(DMP)P(OTFE)·PF, where the -positions are...
Modulation of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) has been tested in two antimony(V) porphyrins, SbT(DMP)P(OMe)·PF and SbT(DMP)P(OTFE)·PF, where the -positions are occupied by 3,5-dimethoxyphenyl (DMP), and the axial positions are linked with either methoxy (OMe) or trifluoroethoxy (OTFE) units, respectively. The presence of the Sb(+5) ion makes the porphyrin center electron poor. Under this situation, placing electron-rich units in the -position creates a condition for push-pull type ICT in the SbT(DMP)P(OMe)·PF. Remarkably, it is shown that the ICT character can be further enhanced in SbT(DMP)P(OTFE)·PF with the help of electron-withdrawing TFE units in the axial position, which makes the porphyrin center even more electron scarce. The steady-state and transient studies as well as solvatochromism studies establish the ICT in SbT(DMP)P(OMe)·PF and SbT(DMP)P(OTFE)·PF, and the strength of the ICT can be modulated by exploiting the structural properties of antimony(V) porphyrin. The existence of ICT is further supported by density functional theory calculations. The transient studies show that upon excitation of these porphyrin, their charge-transfer states convert to a full charger-separated states with appreciable lifetimes.
PubMed: 38826543
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c01773 -
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Oct 2024Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries with abundant resources and high safety have gained extensive attention in energy storage technology. However, the cycle...
Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries with abundant resources and high safety have gained extensive attention in energy storage technology. However, the cycle stability is largely limited by notorious Zn dendrite growth and water-induced interfacial side reactions. Here, a uniform and robust protection layer consisting of metal antimony (Sb) nanoparticles and micrometer-size sheets Zn(OH)SO·5HO (ZHS) is purposely designed to stabilize Zn anode via an in situ chemical reaction strategy. The two-phase protection layers (Sb/ZHS) induce a reinforcement effect on the Zn anode (Zn@Sb/ZHS). Specifically, Sb nanoparticles play the part of nucleation sites to facilitate uniform Zn plating and homogenize the electric field around the Zn surface. ZHS micrometer-size sheets possess sufficient electrolyte wettability, fast ion transfer kinetics, and anti-corrosion, thus guaranteeing uniform ion flux and inhibiting HO decomposition. As expected, the symmetric Zn@Sb/ZHS//Zn@Sb/ZHS cells achieve a minimal voltage hysteresis and a reversible cycle of over 2000 h at 1 mA cm. By pairing with the MnO cathode, the full cell exhibits a significantly improved stability (∼94.17 % initial capacity after 1500 cycles). This study provides a new strategy to design artificial protection layers.
PubMed: 38824747
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.153 -
Fabrication of Flower-Shaped SbS/FeO Heterostructures for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance.Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces... Jun 2024Antimony sulfide (SbS) has been recognized as a catalytic material for splitting water by solar energy because of its suitable narrow band gap, high absorption...
Antimony sulfide (SbS) has been recognized as a catalytic material for splitting water by solar energy because of its suitable narrow band gap, high absorption coefficient, and abundance of elements. However, many deep-level defects in SbS result in a significant recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, weakening its photoelectrochemical performance. Here, by using a simple hydrothermal and spin-coating method, we fabricated a step-scheme heterojunction of SbS/α-FeO to improve the photoelectrochemical performance of pure SbS. Our SbS/α-FeO photoanode has a photocurrent density of 1.18 mA/cm at 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, 1.39 times higher than that of SbS (0.84 mA/cm). In addition, our heterojunction has a lower onset potential, a higher absorbance intensity, a higher incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, a higher applied bias photon-to-current efficiency, and a lower charge transfer resistance compared to pure SbS. Based on ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, we constructed a step-scheme band structure of SbS/α-FeO to explain its photoelectrochemical enhancement. This work offers a promising strategy to optimize the performance of SbS photoelectrodes for solar-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting.
PubMed: 38814133
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00938 -
Nanoscale Jun 2024To date, metal oxide catalysts have not been explored as cathode materials for robust and high-performance single-compartment HO fuel cells due to significant...
To date, metal oxide catalysts have not been explored as cathode materials for robust and high-performance single-compartment HO fuel cells due to significant non-electrochemical disproportionation losses of HO on many metal oxide surfaces. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate an acidic peroxide fuel cell with antimony doped tin oxide as the cathode and widely used Ni foam as the anode material. Our constructed peroxide fuel cell records a superior open circuit potential of nearly 0.82 V and a maximum power density of 0.32 mW cm with high operational stability. The fuel cell performance is further improved by increasing the ionic strength of the electrolyte with the addition of 1 M NaCl, resulting in an increased maximum power density value of 1.1 mW cm.
PubMed: 38813765
DOI: 10.1039/d4nr01375a -
Inorganic Chemistry Jun 2024The lead-free halide perovskites possess nontoxicity and excellent chemical stability, whereas relatively weak luminescence intensity limits their potential in practical...
The lead-free halide perovskites possess nontoxicity and excellent chemical stability, whereas relatively weak luminescence intensity limits their potential in practical applications. Therefore, strengthening the luminescence intensity and expanding application fields are urgent tasks for the development of lead-free halide perovskites. In this paper, antimony-doped CsNaScCl crystals synthesized by a solvothermal method emit bright, deep blue photoluminescence at 447 nm. The photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), and absorption spectra demonstrate that Sb doping effectively activate the intrinsic "dark self-trapped exciton (STE)," leading to an impressive photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) value of 78.31% for 1% Sb doping. Furthermore, the luminescence intensity remains above 92% compared with the fresh sample without secondary phases detected even after 90 days under environmental conditions. To expand the emission spectra, rare-earth Sm is further incorporated into CsNaScCl:1% Sb crystals. The results show that Sb ions not only enhance intrinsic STE luminescence but also serve as sensitizers to boost the red-light emission of Sm, leading to a significant 500-fold increase in red emission intensity. Finally, the PLQY reaches a stunning 86.78%. These findings provide valuable insights in the design of Sb ion-doped lead-free double perovskites, broadening the application fields in various optoelectronic devices.
PubMed: 38812065
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c01339 -
The Veterinary Record Jun 2024This study examined the experiences of owners of dogs with leishmaniosis who treated their dogs with daily subcutaneous meglumine antimoniate injections. The owners'...
BACKGROUND
This study examined the experiences of owners of dogs with leishmaniosis who treated their dogs with daily subcutaneous meglumine antimoniate injections. The owners' perceived ease of administering the injections, the occurrence of problems and the effects on the owners and on the dog‒owner bond were evaluated.
METHODS
Dogs prescribed meglumine antimoniate as a treatment for leishmaniosis were identified using the database of the veterinary pharmacy of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University. An online questionnaire was sent to the owners of these dogs to evaluate the perceived ease of administering the injections, the occurrence of problems and the effects on the owner and the dog-owner bond.
RESULTS
Responses were received from 64 dog owners. Most respondents (78%) reported that administering the injections was not difficult. Pain or the development of nodules at the injection site was reported in 50% and 40% of the dogs, respectively. Polyuria was reported in 44% of the dogs. Some owners reported that administering the injections had a negative impact on their psychological wellbeing (20%), and some would have liked more veterinary support (11%).
LIMITATIONS
Some questions were answered by a limited number of people, and their responses may not be representative.
CONCLUSION
Dog owners remain highly motivated to persevere with meglumine antimoniate treatment and are willing to administer the injections themselves. The availability of active support when needed during the therapy cycle may further improve their acceptance of and confidence in giving the injections.
Topics: Dogs; Animals; Meglumine Antimoniate; Dog Diseases; Leishmaniasis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Humans; Male; Antiprotozoal Agents; Female; Ownership; Meglumine; Organometallic Compounds; Injections, Subcutaneous
PubMed: 38809570
DOI: 10.1002/vetr.4089 -
Small (Weinheim An Der Bergstrasse,... May 2024Antimony selenosulfide (Sb(S,Se)) has recently emerged as a promising light-absorbing material, attributed to its tunable photovoltaic properties, low toxicity, and...
Antimony selenosulfide (Sb(S,Se)) has recently emerged as a promising light-absorbing material, attributed to its tunable photovoltaic properties, low toxicity, and robust environmental stability. However, despite these advantages, the current record efficiency for Sb(S,Se) solar cells significantly lags behind their Shockley-Queisser limit, especially when compared to other well-established chalcogenide-based thin-film solar cells, such as CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se. This underperformance primarily arises from the formation of unfavorable defects, predominately located at deep energy levels, which act as recombination centers, thereby limiting the potential for performance enhancement in Sb(S,Se) solar cells. Specifically, deep-level defects, such as sulfur vacancy (V), have a lower formation energy, leading to severe non-radiative recombination and compromising device performance. To address this challenge, thioacetamide (TA), a sulfur-containing additive is introduced, into the precursor solution for the hydrothermal deposition of Sb(S,Se). This results indicate that the incorporation of TA helps in passivating deep-level defects such as sulfur vacancies and in suppressing the formation of large voids within the Sb(S,Se) absorber. Consequently, Sb(S,Se) solar cells, with reduced carrier recombination and improved film quality, achieved a power conversion efficiency of 9.04%, with notable improvements in open-circuit voltage and fill factor. This work provides deeper insights into the passivation of deep-level donor-like V defects through the incorporation of a sulfur-containing additive, highlighting pathways to enhance the photovoltaic performance of Sb(S,Se) solar cells.
PubMed: 38809078
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202402935