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Background: The effect of Ommaya reservoirs on the clinical outcomes of patients with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) remains unclear. Objective: To determine the effect of combining the Ommaya reservoir and external ventricular drainage (EVD) therapy on IVH and to explore better clinical indicators for Ommaya implantation. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed with IVH who received EVD-Ommaya drainage between January 2013 and March 2021. The patient population was divided into two groups: the Ommaya-used group, comprising of patients in whom the Ommaya drainage system was activated post-surgery, and the Ommaya-unused group, comprising of patients in whom the system was not activated. The study analyzed clinical, imaging, and outcome data of the patient population. Results: A total of 123 patients with IVH were included: 75 patients in the Ommaya-used group and 48 patients in the Ommaya-unused group. The patients in the Ommaya-used group showed a lower 3-month GOS than those in the Ommaya-unused group (p0.05). The GCS in the Ommaya-unused group was significantly lower than the other group, and there was a close correlation between the GCS and 3-month GOS (pConclusions: The study demonstrated that combining EVD and Ommaya drainage was an effective treatment for IVH. Additionally, preoperative GCS was found to predict the use of Ommaya drainage in subsequent treatment, providing valuable information for pre-surgery decision-making.

To compare ischemic core volume (ICV) and penumbra volume (PV) measured by MIStar, F-STROKE, and Syngo.via with that measured by RAPID in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), and their concordance in selecting patients for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT).Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) data were processed with four software packages. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were performed to evaluate their agreement in quantifying ICV and PV. Kappa test was conducted to assess consistency in the selection of EVT candidates. The correlation between predicted ICV and segmented final infarct volume (FIV) on follow-up images was investigated.A total of 91 patients were retrospectively included. F-STROKE had the best consistency with RAPID (ICV: ICC = 0.97; PV: ICC = 0.84) and Syngo.via had the worst consistency (ICV: ICC = 0.77; PV: ICC = 0.66). F-STROKE had the narrowest limits of agreements both in ICV (-27.02, 24.40 mL) and PV (-85.59, 101.80 mL). When selecting EVT candidates, MIStar (kappa = 0.71-0.88) and F-STROKE (kappa = 0.84-0.90) had good to excellent consistency with RAPID, while Syngo.via had poor consistency (kappa = 0.20-0.41). ICV predicted by MIStar was correlated strongest with FIV (r = 0.77).F-STROKE is most consistent with RAPID in quantitative ICV and PV. F-STROKE and MIStar exhibit similar EVT candidate selection to RAPID. Syngo.via, for its part, seems to have overestimated ICV and underestimated PV, leading to an overly restrictive selection of EVT candidates.

To develop a functionalized PEG-PLA nanoparticle system containing ketoconazole (KCZ) to overcome the overactivity of pregnane X receptor (PXR) for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE).KCZ was developed as a therapy strategy for DRE limited by its lethal hepatotoxicity and minute brain concentration. KCZ-incorporated nanoparticles modified with angiopep-2 (NPs/KCZ) could reduce adverse effects of KCZ and achieve epileptic foci-targeted drug delivery.NPs/KCZ was prepared by thin-film hydration method and characterized in vitro and in vivo. The efficacy evaluation of NPs/KCZ was evaluated in a kainic acid (KA)-induced mice model of epilepsy with carbamazepine (CBZ) treatment.The mean particle size and Zeta potential of NPs/KCZ were 17.84 ± 0.33 nm and - 2.28 ± 0.12 mV, respectively. The drug-loading (DL%) of KCZ in nanoparticles was 8.96 ± 0.12 % and the entrapment efficiency (EE%) was 98.56 ± 0.02 %. The critical value of critical micelle concentration was 10Our results showed that NPs/KCZ achieved the epileptic foci-targeted delivery of KCZ and ameliorated the efficacy of CBZ on DRE by attenuating the overactivity of PXR.

A crab shell waste-derived carbon/CaO composite was synthesized by a facile one-step pyrolysis strategy. The composite was used as a solid base catalyst for isomerization of biomass-derived glucose to fructose, which is a key intermediate in transformation of cellulosic biomass into chemicals and biofuels. Physicochemical structure of the composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and CO2 temperature programmed desorption. The composite showed a lotus rootlike porous structure with a surface area of 85 m2/g and contained as high as 22.4 wt % of CaO. The isomerization of glucose to produce fructose with the prepared solid base catalyst was investigated, and a maximum fructose yield of 29.2% was obtained from 5% glucose aqueous solution at mild conditions (80 °C and 40 min). A 25.0% yield of fructose still could be produced even when the initial glucose concentration was as high as 20 wt %. Finally, the m...

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first reported in China in December 2019. As of 10 AM on March 28, 2020, there have been 571,678 confirmed patients and 26,494 deaths around the world, and the affected area is still expanding (1). The gold standard for the diagnosis of COVID-19 is the real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of the pharyngeal swab specimen. However, due to its inadequate test kit in some areas, computed tomography (CT) examination has been used as a screening and follow-up tool in China (2,3). Symptomatic patients with negative initial RT-PCR detection might show lesions on CT (4). There are mainly four types of intrapulmonary lesions of COVID-19 including pure ground-glass opacity (GGO), GGO lesions with reticular and/or interlobular septal thickening, GGO with consolidation, GGO with reticular and/or interlobular septal thickening. Pulmonary lesions are frequently confined to the peripheral area of the lungs and involved bilateral lungs with the right lower lobe most affected (5,6). Mediastinal lymphadenopathy, pleural effusion, pulmonary emphysema and other signs are rare. However, CT examination has the disadvantage of radiation dose and COVID-19 can be self-limiting. Bernheim et al. (7) reported that CT was normal in 56% of patients within 0–2 days after symptoms appeared, indicating that CT was thereby unlikely a reliable stand-alone tool to rule out COVID-19 infection. Xu et al. (8) reported two asymptomatic children and adolescent RT-PCR confirmed patients (50% of their family cluster cases) had no lesion both on initial and follow-up CT. Wang (9) pointed out that in the general population, the proportion of patients with no or few symptoms would be larger, and the positive rate of CT would be lower, but such rate in asymptomatic patients is still unknown. Therefore, the application of CT in screening and the follow-up of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients is controversial.

Structured MgO-Co adsorbents synthesized with a template-free method were developed for removing phosphorus from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents had petal-like folds, specific surface areas of more than 200 m2/g, and phosphorus adsorption capacities of ca. 240 mg/g with removal efficiencies of 99% after 5 cycles of reuse. Adsorption of phosphorus onto the material occurs by ligand exchange, Lewis acid-base interaction and electrostatic attraction with mechanistic features varying according to solution pH. In the adsorption mechanism, electrostatic attraction is important for pH values from 1 up to the zero point charge (pH = 12.8), while ligand exchange is dominant for solution pH values from 1 to 11, while Lewis acid-base interactions become dominant at solution pH values greater than pHzpc. Mg(H2PO4)2 and MgHPO4 are the main adsorption products. Structured MgO-Co materials have high efficiency for phosphorus adsorption, require few chemical steps for synthesis, are readily immobilized or recovered with magnetic force and are applicable to recovery of phosphorus from actual wastewater streams.

MgO-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC-MgO) was synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) in one-pot with biomass-derived gallic acid instead of phenolics as carbon precursor, metal ion Mg2+ instead of formaldehyde as cross-linking agent and F127 as template. Mg had dual roles as cross-linking agent to coordinate gallic acid-F127 micelle composites, and as promoter of active sites. With the developed protocol, MgO could be uniformly dispersed throughout the carbon skeleton during calcination at 800 °C without agglomeration. As-prepared OMC-MgO-T800 had a specific surface area of 808 m2/g, a perfectly-ordered mesoporous structure centered at (6–8) nm, and exhibited good performance for phosphorus removal from aqueous solutions with a maximum sorption capacity of 107 mg/g. Electrostatic attraction, ligand exchange, and Lewis acid-base interactions are the main phosphate adsorption mechanisms of the developed MgO-doped OMC adsorbents. The as-prepared mesoporous carbon materials are highly selective for phosphorus adsorption from aqueous streams and are reusable and recyclable. This work proposes a green protocol to synthesize OMC-metal oxide composites that is widely applicable to wastewater treatment and technological areas in catalysis and energy storage.

Biomass resources have been considered as one of the most promising renewable feedstocks to replace fossil resources. However, valorization of biomass is still challenging due to concerns about environmental sustainability and low efficiency of conversion processes. Mechanical ball milling technology, which has emerged as an efficient and environmentally sound alternative to traditional method, can overcome this obstacle to facilitate biomass valorization. Mechanical energy in the ball milling process can induce chemical reactions of biomass in solvent-less/-free conditions. This work reviews the latest advances in the mechanochemical conversion of biomass into chemicals and carbon materials. The initial pretreatment of biomass, catalytic transformation process of biomass, and synthesis of biomass-derived carbon materials (ordered mesoporous carbons, hierarchically porous carbons, carbon/metal composites, etc.) are discussed in detail. Mechanisms, development history, key influencing factors, and technology readiness level of ball milling on biomass valorization are also elucidated. Limitations and opportunities associated with this green technology are highlighted for future research directions.