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Abstract Background The effects of anesthetics on liver and kidney functions after infantile living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) or desflurane-based inhalation anesthesia on postoperative liver and kidney functions in infant recipients after LRLT and to evaluate hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury (HIRI). Methods Seventy-six infants with congenital biliary atresia scheduled for LRLT were randomly divided into two anesthesia maintenance groups: group D with continuous inhalation of desflurane and group P with an infusion of propofol. The primary focus was to assess alterations of liver transaminase and serum creatinine (Scr) levels within the first 7 days after surgery. And the peak aminotransferase level within 72 h post-surgery was used as a surrogate marker for HIRI. Results There were no differences in preoperative hepatic and renal functions between the two groups. Upon the intensive care unit (ICU) arrival, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST, P = 0.001) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, P = 0.005) in group P were significantly lower than those in group D. These changes persisted until the fourth and sixth days after surgery. The peak AST and ALT levels within 72 h after surgery were also lower in group P than in group D (856 (552, 1221) vs. 1468 (732, 1969) U/L, P = 0.001 (95% CI: 161–777) and 517 (428, 704) vs. 730 (541, 1100) U/L, P = 0.006, (95% CI: 58–366), respectively). Patients in group P had lower levels of Scr upon the ICU arrival and on the first day after surgery, compared to group D (17.8 (15.2, 22.0) vs. 23.0 (20.8, 30.8) μmol/L, P

Three N-oxide energetic compounds were selectively obtained from 6-trifluoromethyl-1,2,4,5-tetrazin-3-amine using four kinds of oxidation systems. Their structures were verified through 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and elemental analysis, and their thermal properties were studied through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Moreover, their heats of formation and detonation properties were obtained using the Gaussian 09 and EXPLO5 v6.01 programs, respectively. Among them, compound 5 had excellent mechanical sensitivities (IS ​> ​60 ​J, FS ​> ​360 ​N) and high detonation performance (vD ​= ​7351 ​m ​s−1, p ​= ​23.9 ​GPa), which were comparable to those of TNT. Compound 7 was more sensitive (IS ​= ​27 ​J, FS ​> ​360 ​N) than compound 5, which was the isomer of compound 7. The mechanism for regioselectively introducing N-oxide was deeply investigated through the natural bond orbital (NBO) charge analysis. Furthermore, the relationships between the sites of N-oxides and the sensitivities were investigated using Hirschfeld surfaces, electrostatic potential, and 2D fingerprint plots, This study can be used as a reference for the development of the next generation of N-oxide-containing explosives.

Abstract This paper demonstrates that surface acoustic wave (SAW) atomization can produce suitable aerosol concentration and size distribution for efficient inhaled lung drug delivery and is a potential atomization device for asthma treatment. Using the SAW device, we present comprehensive experimental results exploring the complexity of the acoustic atomization process and the influence of input power, device frequency, and liquid flow rate on aerosol size distribution. It is hoped that these studies will explain the mechanism of SAW atomization aerosol generation and how they can be controlled. The insights from the high-speed flow visualization studies reveal that it is possible by setting the input power above 4.17 W, thus allowing atomization to occur from a relatively thin film, forming dense, monodisperse aerosols. Moreover, we found that the aerosol droplet size can be effectively changed by adjusting the input power and liquid flow rate to change the film conditions. In this work, we proposed a method to realize drug atomization by a microfluidic channel. A SU-8 flow channel was prepared on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate by photolithography technology. Combined with the silicon dioxide coating process and PDMS process closed microfluidic channel was prepared, and continuous drug atomization was provided to improve the deposition efficiency of drug atomization by microfluidic.

Link prediction aims to predict unknown links using available network topology information.Prediction methods based on paths perform well in undirected networks.However,paths of the same length have different node connection strength due to different type of links through the path in directed network.Traditional methods is difficult to distinguish the path heterogeneity.Given this,the difference in the strength of three types of directed links is first quantified in terms of the link weight matrix,then the connection strength of different heterogeneous classpaths between nodes is calculated and the effect of different paths under the same length path is distinguished.Finally,a directed network link prediction method based on the path connection strength is proposed by integrating the contribution of multi-order paths of different lengths.Validation of 9 real networks shows that accounting for differences in path connection strength effectively improves prediction performance under the AUC and Precision metrics.

BackgroundThe incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis in pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is significantly higher than that in adults, and is closely related to the surgeon’s experience with hepatic artery anastomosis. However, there are few studies on the learning curve of hepatic artery anastomosis among surgeons.MethodsWe collected data related to 75 patients who underwent pediatric LDLT and hepatic artery anastomosis independently by the same surgeon. Cumulative sum method (CUSUM) was used to analyse the duration of hepatic artery anastomosis and determine the cut-off value. Patients were divided into two phases according to CUSUM. We analysed the intraoperative and postoperative data and survival outcomes of the included patients.ResultsTotal anastomosis duration decreased with an increased number of completed procedures, and the average duration was 42.4 ± 2.20 min. A cut-off value and two phases were identified: 1–43 cases and 44–75 cases. Intraoperative blood loss was significantly lower in phase 2 than in phase 1. The immediate functional changes of total bilirubin (TBIL) and direct bilirubin (DBIL) were significantly also lower in phase 2 than in phase 1. Other functional outcomes, postoperative complications, and the long-term survival rate were not significantly different between the two phases.ConclusionsTechnical competence in pediatric LDLT hepatic artery anastomosis may be achieved after completing 43 cases. It is a safe procedure with a surgical loupe that can be systematized and adopted by pediatric surgeons with sufficient experience via a relatively long learning curve.

Interferon epsilon (IFNε) is a unique type I interferon (IFN) that shows distinct constitutive expression in reproductive tract epithelium. Understanding how IFNε expression is regulated is critical for the mechanism of action in protecting the mucosa from infection. Combined computational and experimental investigation of the promoter of IFNε predicted transcription factor binding sites for the ETS family of transcription factors. We demonstrate here that Ifnε is regulated by Elf3, an epithelial restricted member of the ETS family. It is co-expressed with IFNε at the epithelium of uterus, lung and intestine, and we focused on regulation of IFNε expression in the uterus. Promoter reporter studies demonstrated that Elf3 was a strong driver of Ifnε expression; knockdown of Elf3 reduced expression levels of IFNε; Elf3 regulated Ifnε expression and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) confirmed the direct binding of Elf3 to the IFNε promoter. These data show that Elf3 is important in regulating protective mucosal immunity by driving constitutive expression of IFNε to protect mucosal tissues from infection in at least three organ systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new polycyclic phenol derivatives, 2-acetyl-4-hydroxy-6H-furo [2,3-g]chromen-6-one (1), 2-(1′,2′-dihydroxypropan-2′-yl)-4-hydroxy-6H-furo [2,3-g][1]benzopyran-6-one (2) and 3,8,10-trihydroxy-4,9-dimethoxy-6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-one (8), along with seven known ones (3–7, 9 and 10) were isolated for the first time from the leaves of Spermacoce latifolia. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature-reported data. These compounds were tested for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four Gram-(+) bacteria: Staphyloccocus aureus (SA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Bacillus cereus (BC), Bacillus subtilis (BS), and the Gram-(−) bacterium Escherichia coli. Compounds 1, 2, 5 and 8 showed antibacterial activity toward SA, BC and BS with MIC values ranging from 7.8 to 62.5 µg/mL, but they were inactive to MRSA. Compound 4 not only showed the best antibacterial activity against SA, BC and BS, but it further displayed significant antibacterial activity against MRSA (MIC 1.95 µg/mL) even stronger than vancomycin (MIC 3.9 µg/mL). No compounds showed inhibitory activity toward E. coli. Further bioassay indicated that compounds 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 showed in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, among which compound 9 displayed the best α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 value (0.026 mM) about 15-fold stronger than the reference compound acarbose (IC50 0.408 mM). These results suggested that compounds 4, 8 and 9 were potentially highly valuable compounds worthy of consideration to be further developed as an effective anti-MRSA agent or effective α-glucosidase inhibitors, respectively. In addition, the obtained data also supported that S. latifolia was rich in structurally diverse bioactive compounds worthy of further investigation, at least in searching for potential antibiotics and α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Helicobacter infection is a key cause of gastric B cell mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. This study examined the role of B cell-activating factor (BAFF), a major driver of B cell proliferation and many B cell disorders, in this malignancy using a model in which conditional knockout mice for NOD-like receptor family CARD domain-containing 5 (Nlrc5) are infected with Helicobacter felis. Gastric BAFF production was significantly increased in H. felis-infected Nlrc5 mø-KO mice compared to wild-type. Blocking BAFF signalling, before or after the onset of Helicobacter-induced gastritis, significantly reduced MALT development, with fewer gastric B cell follicles and reduced gland hyperplasia. BAFF blockade also reshaped the immune cell landscape in the stomach, resulting in fewer CD4 + T cells, Tregs, macrophages and dendritic cells. Using a cell culture model, we identified the protein-coding BAFF transcripts that are upregulated in NLRC5-deficient macrophages stimulated with either H. felis or the NLRC5 agonist, lipopolysaccharide. Among the upregulated variants, TNFSF13B (BAFF)-206 acts as a transcription factor and is reported to enhance BAFF production in autoimmune diseases and cancer. Altogether, these findings implicate the NLRC5-BAFF signalling axis in Helicobacter-induced B cell MALT lymphoma, highlighting BAFF inhibition as a potential therapeutic approach., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Inflammation-related markers including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) could reflect tumor immune microenvironment and predict prognosis of cancers. However, it had not been explored in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) producing gastric cancer (GC)., Aim: To determine the predictive value of inflammation-related peripheral blood markers including as NLR, PLR, MLR, SII, SIRI and PNI in the prognosis of AFP- producing GC (AFPGC). Besides, this study would also compare the differences in tumor immune microenvironment, clinical characteristics and prognosis between AFPGC and AFP- GC patients to improve the understanding of this disease., Methods: 573 patients enrolled were retrospectively studied. They were divided into AFP+ group (AFP ≥ 20 ng/mL) and AFP- group (AFP < 20 ng/mL), comparing the levels of NLR/PLR/MLR/SII/SIRI/PNI and prognosis. In AFP+ group, the impact of NLR/PLR/MLR/SII/SIRI/PNI and their dynamic changes on prognosis were further explored., Results: Compared with AFP- patients, AFP+ patients had higher NLR/PLR/MLR/SII/SIRI and lower PNI levels and poorer overall survival (OS). In the AFP+ group, mortality was significantly lower in the lower NLR/PLR/MLR/SII/SIRI group and higher PNI group. Moreover, the dynamic increase (NLR/PLR/MLR/SII/SIRI) or decrease (PNI) was associated with the rise of mortality within 1 year of follow-up., Conclusion: Compared with AFP- patients, the level of inflammation-related peripheral blood markers significantly increased in AFP+ patients, which was correlated with OS of AFP+ patients. Also, the gradual increase of SII and SIRI was associated with the risk of death within one year in AFP+ patients. AFPGC should be considered as a separate type and distinguished from AFP- GC because of the difference in tumor immune microenvironment. It requires basic experiments and large clinical samples in the future., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study examines the clinical efficacy of high-dose naloxone in comatose emergency patients, focusing on its ability to enhance brain metabolism and reduce oxidative stress. A total of 120 patients were randomly assigned to a control group, which received conventional naloxone doses and a study group, which received higher doses. Key outcomes measured included clinical efficacy, time to awakening, blood gas indices, inflammatory factors, consciousness level, neurological recovery and adverse effects. The study group showed a higher response rate (96.67% vs. 83.33%), regained consciousness more quickly and had better blood gas indices and glasgow coma scale (GCS) scores (p<0.05). Neurological function recovery was superior in the study group, with fewer adverse reactions (6.67% vs. 20.00%, p<0.05). These results suggest that high-dose naloxone significantly improves treatment outcomes, enhancing wakefulness, reducing inflammation and improving prognosis in emergency comatose patients, making it a promising option for clinical use.