Search

Objective: This study aimed to identify the predictors and threshold of failure in neonatal acute respiratory distress syndrome. Methods: Newborns with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome aged 0–28 days and gestational age ≥36 weeks were included in the study if their cases were managed with non-extra corporal membrane oxygenation treatments. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they died before discharge. Predictors of non-extra corporal membrane oxygenation treatment failure were sought, and the threshold of predictors was calculated. Results: A total of 103 patients were included in the study. A total of 77 (74.8%) survived hospitalization and were discharged, whereas 26 (25.2%) died. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of oxygen index, pH, base excess, and combinations of these indicators demonstrated the advantage of the combination of oxygen index and base excess over the others variables regarding their predictive ability. The area under the curve for the combination of oxygen index and base excess was 0.865. When the cut-off values of oxygen index and base excess were 30.0 and −7.4, respectively, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting death were 77.0% and 84.0%, respectively. The model with base excess added a net reclassification improvement of 0.090 to the model without base excess. Conclusion: The combination of oxygen index and base excess can be used as a predictor of outcomes in neonates receiving non-extra corporal membrane oxygenation treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome. In neonates with acute respiratory distress syndrome, if oxygen index >30 and base excess

Ginsenosides Rg1 and Re are two major protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides in Panax ginseng. Dammarendiol synthase (DDS) and protopanaxatriol synthase (PPTS) are the two key enzymes in the biosynthesis of PPT-type ginsenosides. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important endogenous phytohormone, which is involved in abiotic stress. P. ginseng adventitious roots (PGARs) are attractive resources to be used in stress studies. However, little is known about the role of ABA on ginsenoside biosynthesis in PGARs under cold stress. In the present study, compared to control conditions (25 °C), cold stress (5 °C) induced the accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re, which was confirmed by increased expression levels of DDS and PPTS genes. Furthermore, cold stress triggered the accumulation of ABA prior to accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re. The inhibition of ABA biosynthesis with nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) in cold-exposed PGARs down-regulated expression levels of DDS and PPTS genes, and suppressed the accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re; whereas exogenous addition of ABA to NDGA-treated PGARs restored expression levels of DDS and PPTS genes, and accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re, respectively. These results indicated that ABA participation in the synthesis of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re under cold stress in PGARs. In addition, ABA treatment efficiently triggered accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re in PGARs in concentration-dependent manner at 25 °C, reaching a maximum value at 100 uM ABA, which was 2.0-fold higher than that of the control. Therefore, ABA can be used as an elicitor for the production of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re in PGARs. Key message: Abscisic acid (ABA) was involved in cold-induced accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re in P. ginseng adventitious roots (PGARs), and exogenous application of ABA efficiently promoted accumulation of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re in PGARs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metalens has emerged as an important optical block in free-space optical systems, which shows excellent performance. Even the metalens based on gradient index (GRIN) profiles can be implemented for on-chip beam focusing behavior. However, for most previous schemes, the GRIN metalenses can only achieve on-chip beam focusing behavior in one dimension, which limits their applications in low-loss waveguide interconnecting or fiber-to-chip coupling. In this paper, an on-chip half Maxwell’s fisheye lens based on GRIN profiles with subwavelength features, integrated with silicon waveguides, is experimentally demonstrated. Benefitting from the index distribution and beam focusing characteristics of the half Maxwell’s fisheye lens, an on-chip beam transforming can be achieved for transverse electric (TE) fundamental mode in two waveguides with different heights and widths. The simulated 1 dB bandwidth can reach 1100 nm, which exhibits great prospects in integrated photonic circuits. The measured insertion loss of an on-chip 5.4 μm-length lens is less than 1 dB to connect a 220 nm-height, 8 μm-wide waveguide, and a 60 nm-height, 0.5 μm-wide waveguide in the wavelength range of 1280–1620 nm.