Search

Organophosphorus poisoning is a critical condition that can cause central nervous system depression, respiratory failure, and death early on. As its clinical manifestations closely resemble those of carbamate pesticide poisoning, the aim of this case study is to present a case of misdiagnosis, initially identifying carbofuran poisoning as organophosphate in a patient suspect of a heatstroke. We also present a case of intentional self-poisoning with organophosphate dichlorvos to underline the likelihood of pesticide poisoning in patients exhibiting acute cholinergic symptoms when the ingested substance is not known. In such cases, empirical treatment with atropine and oxime can be started pending timely differential diagnosis to adjust treatment as necessary.

In order to analyze the aroma characteristics and composition of tolu balsam, tolu balsam extracts prepared with five different concentrations of ethanol were separated by pervaporation. The retentate and permeate were evaluated by sensory evaluation and their volatile and semi volatile components were analyzed by solid-phase supported liquid-liquid extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SLE-GC-MS). Chemometrics was adopted to explore the difference in target components and the correlation between sensory properties and components. The results showed that the major aroma characteristics of both retentate and permeate were ointment-like and sweet, followed by resin-like, fruity, fresh, and spicy aromas as well as weak creamy, floral, bean-like, and woody aroma notes. A total of 92 components were identified by GC-MS, with esters and alcohols being the predominant ones, accounting for more than 55% of the total, followed by acids, aldehydes, phenols, others and olefins, together with relatively low levels of ketones. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster heatmap analysis indicated that tolu balsam extracts obtained with low and medium ethanol concentrations were distinguished from that obtained with high ethanol concentration, and the contents of the identified compounds were overall higher in the former than in the latter. By orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), 43 differential compounds were selected. Partial least square regression (PLSR) showed that the characteristic aroma substances of tolu balsam extracts had significant positive correlation with ointment-like, resin-like, fresh and spicy aromas, but had no significant correlation with sweet, fruity, creamy, floral, bean-like or woody aroma. The results of this study may provide a theoretical basis for research on the sensory quality and fine processing of tolu balsam.

Abstract  Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and transcript levels of genes encoding superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) antioxidant enzymes were investigated during different stages of somatic embryogenesis in Larix leptolepis. H2O2 content was lowest on day 0 when embryogenic callus was incubated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with polyethylene glycol (PEG). This content began to increase when callus was transferred to the same medium but containing abscisic acid (ABA), and reached a peak at day 3 following incubation. The level of H2O2 dropped from day 7 to day 10, peaked at day 21, then dropped again at day 24 and day 35, but increased when somatic embryos reached maturity at day 45. Transcript levels of SOD, CAT, and APX were lowest when somatic embryos were cultured on callus induction medium without ABA. When calli were transferred onto somatic embryo maturation medium, expression patterns of SOD, CAT, and APX varied, and transcript levels at all stages were higher than those at d 0. SOD expression was highest at day 3. Whereas, CAT expression levels were low during early stages of somatic embryogenesis, but increased at day 21, declined at days 24 and 35, and then began to increase again at day 45. APX gene expression patterns were highest at days 3, 21, and 45. These results suggested that ABA was essential for promoting somatic embryogenesis of L. leptolepis. Moreover, ABA induced production of H2O2 and other active oxygen species (AOS), and mediated CAT, SOD, and APX gene expression in somatic embryogenesis of L. leptolepis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to investigate continuous hydrogen production with lower cost and sulphate-rich wastewater treatment. In this paper, both anaerobic bio-treatment of sulphate-rich wastewater and hydrogen production were applied to construct a laboratory-scale combined sulphur cycle based system. The system consisted of two reactors, which were a photocatalytic reactor and an anaerobic bioreactor, respectively. In the anaerobic bioreactor, sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) converted SO4(2-) to S(2-). The produced S(2-) yielded by SRB was further used as a sacrificial reagent to produce H2 in the photocatalytic reactor. Then, S(2-) was changed into SO4(2-), which returned to the anaerobic bioreactor for treatment again. The present study highlighted an advantage compared with the conventional method, in that no extra S(2-) was added to the photocatalytic reactor, which reduced the total cost and realized continuous hydrogen production. The average COD removal efficiency was 79.6%.

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics, therapeutical approaches and outcome of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in patients with AIDS., Methods: The clinical data of 22 PCP patients with AIDS who were treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1992 to October 2004 were analyzed, including the routes of HIV infection, clinical profiles, immunological status, chest radiological characteristics, therapeutic managements and outcome., Results: (1) Of the 22 PCP patients, 16 were male and 6 female. The average age was (35.0 +/- 9.4) years old. The majority of patients got HIV infection through blood transfusion (54.5%) and sexual transmission (27.3%). (2) The common clinical presentations were fever (21/22), progressive exertional dyspnea (20/22), cough (16/22), sputum (12/22) and weight loss (18/22). 68.2% (15/22) of the patients had normal or mild coarse breath sounds on auscultation. 14 patients had an PaO(2) less than 60 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa). (3) All the 22 PCP cases were in their late stage of AIDS. For the 20 patients who had an immunological test, the peripheral CD(4)(+) T lymphocyte count was ranging from 3 x 10(6)/L to 148 x 10(6)/L and 90% of the cases had a CD(4)(+) T cell count less than 100 x 10(6)/L, 95% of the cases had a CD(4)(+)/CD(8)(+) ratio less than 0.20; (4) The most common abnormal chest radiological findings were bilateral diffuse interstitial infiltrations (19/22) and patchy shadows (14/22); (5) All patients were given trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SMZco) and 86.4% of the patients were treated with corticosteroids concomitantly. Of the 22 PCP patients, 13 recovered, 5 gave up after knowing their definite diagnosis, 4 died. Comparing with the recovery patients, the 4 patients who died of PCP had much lesser CD(4)(+) T cell count (P = 0.07)., Conclusions: Most PCP occurred in patients who were in their late stage of AIDS and with a CD(4)(+) T cell count below 100 x 10(6)/L. For these reasons, we suggest that whenever encountering a young patient presenting with fever, dyspnea, hypoxia, loss of weight, the possibility of PCP complicating AIDS should be considered, especially when chest radiological study revealed interstitial infiltration or patchy shadows. If HIV was confirmed to be positive, the combined therapy of SMZco and corticosteroids should be started immediately.