University of Louisville

About: University of Louisville is a education organization based out in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 24600 authors who have published 49248 publications receiving 1573346 citations. The organization is also known as: UofL.

Controlled synthesis and transfer of large-area WS2 sheets: from single layer to few layers.

Abstract: The isolation of few-layered transition metal dichalcogenides has mainly been performed by mechanical and chemical exfoliation with very low yields. In this account, a controlled thermal reduction–sulfurization method is used to synthesize large-area (∼1 cm2) WS2 sheets with thicknesses ranging from monolayers to a few layers. During synthesis, WOx thin films are first deposited on Si/SiO2 substrates, which are then sulfurized (under vacuum) at high temperatures (750–950 °C). An efficient route to transfer the synthesized WS2 films onto different substrates such as quartz and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids has been satisfactorily developed using concentrated HF. Samples with different thicknesses have been analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and TEM, and their photoluminescence properties have been evaluated. We demonstrated the presence of single-, bi-, and few-layered WS2 on as-grown samples. It is well known that the electronic structure of these materials is very sensitive to the number of la...

Therapeutic use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids: a ten-year perspective

Abstract: The treatment of chronic pain, therapeutic opioid use and abuse, and the nonmedical use of prescription drugs have been topics of intense focus and debate. After the liberalization of laws governing opioid prescribing for the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain by state medical boards in the late 1990s, and with the introduction of new pain management standards implemented by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in 2000, opioids, in general, and the most potent forms of opioids including Schedule II drugs, in particular, have dramatically increased. Despite the escalating use and abuse of therapeutic opioids, nearly 15 to 20 years later the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain remains unclear. Concerns continue regarding efficacy; problematic physiologic effects such as hyperalgesia, hypogonadism and sexual dysfunction; and adverse side effects - especially the potential for misuse and abuse - and the increase in opioid-related deaths. Americans, constituting only 4.6% of the world's population, have been consuming 80% of the global opioid supply, and 99% of the global hydrocodone supply, as well as two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. Retail sales of commonly used opioid medications (including methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl base, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, morphine, meperidine, and codeine) have increased from a total of 50.7 million grams in 1997 to 126.5 million grams in 2007. This is an overall increase of 149% with increases ranging from 222% for morphine, 280% for hydrocodone, 319% for hydromorphone, 525% for fentanyl base, 866% for oxycodone, to 1,293% for methadone. Average sales of opioids per person have increased from 74 milligrams in 1997 to 369 milligrams in 2007, a 402% increase. Surveys of nonprescription drug abuse, emergency department visits for prescription controlled drugs, unintentional deaths due to prescription controlled substances, therapeutic use of opioids, and opioid abuse have been steadily rising. This manuscript provides an updated 10-year perspective on therapeutic use, abuse, and non-medical use of opioids and their consequences.

Systemic inflammation after trauma.

Abstract: Trauma is still one of the main reasons for death among the population worldwide. Mortality occurring early after injury is due to "first hits", including severe organ injury, hypoxia, hypovolaemia or head trauma. Massive injury leads to activation of the immune system and the early inflammatory immune response after trauma has been defined as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). "Second hits" such as infections, ischaemia/reperfusion or operations can further augment the pro-inflammatory immune response and have been correlated with the high morbidity and mortality in the latter times after trauma. SIRS can lead to tissue destruction in organs not originally affected by the initial trauma with subsequent development of multi-organ dysfunction (MOD). The initial pro-inflammatory response is followed by an anti-inflammatory response and can result in immune suppression with high risk of infection and sepsis. Trauma causes activation of nearly all components of the immune system. It activates the neuroendocrine system and local tissue destruction and accumulation of toxic byproducts of metabolic respiration leads to release of mediators. Extensive tissue injury may result in spillover of these mediators into the peripheral bloodstream to further maintain and augment the pro-inflammatory response. Hormones like ACTH, corticosteroids and catecholamines as well as cytokines, chemokines and alarmins play important roles in the initiation and persistence of the pro-inflammatory response after severe injury. The purpose of this review is therefore to describe the immunological events after trauma and to introduce important mediators and pathways of the inflammatory immune response.