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BACKGROUND: Physiological hypercoagulability is a well-known condition in older populations, whereas thrombosis, especially in renal veins, is a rare occurrence in teenagers. This paper presents a pediatric case of renal venous infarction and thrombosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report the case of an 11-year-old Chinese boy who presented with low back discomfort and was afraid to walk. Computed tomography (CT) revealed thrombosis in his renal veins and inferior vena cava. He was being treated for severe refractory mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP). He was treated with rivaroxaban and urokinase for thrombosis, and azithromycin for MPP. On day 2 after admission, his symptoms improved. Therefore, the dosage of rivaroxaban was decreased from 10 to 5 mg twice per day. On day 3 after admission, enhanced CT revealed new thromboses in the bilateral pulmonary trunks and arteries, inferior cava, right renal veins, bilateral common iliac veins, and internal iliac vein. The ultrasonography showed a strip hypoecho at the pulmonary artery bifurcation. All the above imaging suggested that antithrombotic therapy was insufficient. His plasma antithrombin (AT) III activity remained consistently low during hospitalization. The family history was re-examined and revealed that both his father and grandfather had experienced spontaneous pulmonary thrombosis around the age of 30. He was diagnosed with acquired and inherited thrombosis and inherited AT III deficiency. Following a medication regimen of piperacillin-tazobactam for 1 week and rivaroxaban (10 mg, twice daily), he was discharged and no thrombosis and other side effects or complications occurred in the following 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: This is a rare case of a teenager with inherited and acquired hypercoagulability. For refractory MPP pediatric patients with thrombosis, clinicians should consider whether hereditary factors, such as inherited AT III deficiency, are involved in thrombosis.

Role of reactive species in the solar/chlorine process for elimination of diuron and risk of NDMA formation.

In this paper, a Gronwall inequality involving $ \psi $-fractional integral operator is obtained as a generalization of [23]. An example is listed to show the applications.

A UV-LED at a fixed wavelength is increasingly employed in the UV/chlorine process to degrade contaminants of emerging concern. However, degradation of contaminants and formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in post-chlorination would be significantly altered in the presence of nitrite because of the generation of reactive nitrogen species (RNS). As nitrite has a maximum absorption at ∼350 nm, its impact on the performance of the UV-LED365/chlorine process and subsequent formation of DBPs was investigated. The presence of nitrite in the UV365 irradiation process accelerated the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA), while slightly inhibiting the degradation of BPA in the UV365/chlorine process; nitrite in UV365 and UV365/chlorine processes resulted in the non-negligible formation of trichloronitromethane (TCNM). The concentration of generated DBPs and the corresponding cytotoxicity and genotoxicity all changed because of the presence of nitrite; the concentrations of nitrite, pH, and UV fluence were important factors for the formation of TCNM during the UV365/chlorine/nitrite process. Therefore, the impact of nitrite on the TCNM formation in the UV-LED365/chlorine process is worth noting.

Building Z-scheme heterojunction systems is a high-efficiency pathway to improve the utilization of visible light.

It is extremely important to promote angiogenesis-dependent osteogenesis and ameliorate bone loss for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis (OP) development. Vitexin, as one of the major active components in pigeonpea leave, promoted the proliferation of osteoblast and HUVECs in hypoxia. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of vitexin on alleviating osteoporosis in ovariectomized (OVX) rats and further explore its underlying mechanisms. Herein, the OVX rat model was established and treated with vitexin (10 mg kg

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), formerly called Churg-Strauss syndrome, is a rare chronic necrotizing eosinophilic granulomatous inflammatory disease characterized by eosinophil-rich granulomatous inflammation and small- to medium-size vessel vasculitis associated with bronchial asthma and eosinophilia, which is positive for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) in approximately 50-70% of cases. We report a case of a 23-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of a of small vesicles on both lower limbs and a 4-month history of small scattered skin rash with pruritus V6 on both lower limbs four-month history of scattered skin rash with pruritus. Laboratory data from peripheral blood revealed leukocytosis, eosinophilia, thrombocytosis, hyperfibrinolysis, and mild renal injury. Her ANCA was negative, and the skin pathological examination showed granuloma lesions with eosinophils, while elevated eosinophils were also found in the bone marrow. EGPA was diagnosed. On the other hand, the patient had 2-year-long rhinosinusitis, 9-month-long nephrotic syndrome, and 1-month-long dry cough, which might be a type of asthma. With steroid therapy followed by systemic immunomodulatory therapy, the patient's symptoms were relieved. Our case report and literature review highlight the importance of recognizing cough variant asthma as an initial presenting symptom of EGPA, providing an opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment to reduce the risk of further disease progression and morbidity.

Background Depression is a psychiatric disorder with global public health concerns. Although a number of risk factors have been identified for depression, there is no clear relationship between biochemistry and depression. In this study, we assessed whether depressive disorders are significantly associated with biochemical indicators. Methods Our study included 17,561 adults (age ≥ 18 years) participating in the 2009-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The relationship between depression and biochemical and obesity indicators was analyzed by logistic regression. Results As compared to the control group, men with depression showed significantly higher levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase, glucose, and triglycerides, and lower levels of albumin and total bilirubin. The depressed group had higher levels of alkaline phosphatase, bicarbonate, and sodium than the control group. Conclusion Several biochemical and anthropometric indices were associated with depression in this study. It would be interesting to further analyze their cause-effect relationship. Limitations This study is a cross-sectional study. The population is less restricted and does not exclude people with diabetes, pregnancy, etc., so it is less significant for a specific population. Dietary information was not included, as diet plays an important role in many indicators.

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) have been found to be frequently associated with secondary liver injury (SLI). In this study, we investigated the protective effect of GA on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced SLI in mice and its mechanism. The SLI was established by adding 4% DSS in the drinking water of mice, and the effects of GA (5, 20 mg/kg, p.o., once a day for 7 days) in hepatic tissues were analyzed. HepG2 cells were induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to detect the effect of GA on ferroptosis and the underlying mechanism. Pathological damage was determined by HE. Liver parameters (AST and ALT), antioxidant enzyme activities (MDA and SOD), and the level of Fe

We aimed to investigate whether phloridzin could alleviate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in mice, which was induced by feeding a high-fat diet (HFD). We initially analyzed the effect of phloridzin on alleviating HFD-induced NAFLD in C57BL/6J mice and oleic acid (OA)-stimulated human normal liver L-02 cells (L02). Then, we investigated the mechanism of phloridzin on the mTORC1/sterol-regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) signaling pathway by siRNA analysis, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis in vivo and in vitro. The results revealed that phloridzin significantly inhibited the increase in body weight, alleviated abnormal lipid metabolism, and decreased lipid biosynthesis and insulin resistance. Moreover, phloridzin augmented the number of CD8+CD122+PD-1+ Tregs and CD4+FoxP3+ Tregs in HFD-fed C57BL/6J mice and HFD-fed aP2-SREBF1c mice and downregulated the mTORC1/SREBP-1c signaling pathway-related protein expressions in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, phloridzin reduced the expression of SREBP-1c in SREBP-1c-RNAi-lentivirus-transfected L02 cells and reversed the SREBP-1c expression in HFD-fed aP2-SREBF1c transgenic mice. Phloridzin ameliorates lipid accumulation and insulin resistance via inhibiting the mTORC1/SREBP-1c pathways. These results indicated that phloridzin may actively ameliorate NAFLD.

The purpose of this paper was to explore the therapeutic effect and underlying mechanism of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides (TFP) on ulcerative colitis (UC) based on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mice UC model and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated Caco-2 cells model. The results firstly indicated that TFP can significantly alleviate the symptoms and signs of the DSS-induced mice UC model, which manifests as improvement of body weight loss, increase of colon length, decrease of colon thickness and reduction of intestinal permeability. Then, results from histopathological and electron microscope analysis further implied that TFP could dramatically reduce inflammatory cells infiltration and restore intestinal epithelial barrier integrity. In addition, the experiments of LPS-stimulated Caco-2 cells model in vitro also further confirmed that TFP could markedly inhibit the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increase related genes or proteins expressions of intestinal barrier and mucus barrier. Taken together, these data suggested that TFP has a significant therapeutic effect on DSS-induced UC model, and its mechanisms are closely linked to the inhibition of inflammation and the restoration of intestinal barrier and mucus barrier function. These beneficial effects may make TFP a promising drug to be used in alleviating UC.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune systemic disorder characterized by arterial, venous, or small vessel thrombosis, and/or recurrent early pregnancy loss, fetal loss, or pregnancy morbidity. APS is induced by persistent positive antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), the main being lupus anticoagulant (LA), and/or anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies, and/or anti-beta 2 glycoprotein 1 (β2-GP1) antibodies. Some studies have shown that the incidence of APS is about 5 new cases per 100,000 persons per year, and the prevalence is around 40-50 cases per 100,000 persons. APS can be primary or secondary. Secondary APS often coexists with another autoimmune disorder, most commonly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Behcet's disease (BD) is usually characterized by recurrent oral and genital aphthous ulcers and ocular involvement. It can occasionally affect the venous system. BD usually affects small vessels, but can sometimes affect large veins or even a variety of veins. Because most of APS is secondary to SLE, APS secondary to incomplete BD is quite rare. This report describes a case in which a 15-year-old male experienced bilateral leg swelling and pain. The patient had a long history of self-healing recurrent mouth ulcers. Laboratory tests revealed positive β2-GP1 immunoglobulin A (IgA). His symptoms improved by using steroids, prednisolone, uro-kinase, and hirudin. In this rare case of secondary APS, the patient was diagnosed with anti-β2-GP-1 IgA positive to incomplete BD. It is a rare case of secondary APS with positive anti-β2-GP1 IgA to incomplete BD. It is suggested that patients with recurrent mouth ulcers should be closely examined to prevent thrombosis, and more laboratory markers should be used to avoid a risk of misdiagnosing patients with APS.

Organic chloramines formed in chlorination of algae-containing water are typical precursors of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DPBs). The objective to simultaneously enhance the removal efficiency of organic chloramines and control DBP formation remains a challenge. In this study, we report a two-step chlorination strategy for transferring organic chloramines to monochloramine based on the decomposition mechanisms of mono- and di-organic chloramines, which could limit organic chloramines formation and inhibit N-DBPs formation. We demonstrated that two-step chlorination could decrease the organic chloramines formation by nearly 50% than conventional one-step chlorination. Furthermore, two-step chlorination not only blocked the pathway that organic chloramines decomposed to nitriles, but also led to the conversion of organic chloramines to monochloramine. During two-step chlorination of algal organic matter, the organic chloramine transfer proportion decreased by 6.5% and the monochloramine transfer proportion increased by 17.0%. The N-DBP formation, especially haloacetonitriles (HANs), decreased significantly as organic nitrogen became inorganic nitrogen (monochloramine) in two-step chlorination. This work further clarified the process from algal organic matter to N-DBPs, which could expand our understanding of algae-derived organic chloramines removal and DBPs control.

Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a serious systemic infectious disease. This study aimed to investigate the application of the clearance rate of interleukin-6, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein for the evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy in adult bacterial BSI without other inflammatory factors.Patients with positive blood culture and without other inflammatory factors in The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2017 to December 2019, who received continuous detection interleukin-6, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein, were selected. The clearance rate of these inflammatory markers was calculated, and the consistency test (kappa test) was performed to analyze the clinical outcomes (cure, improvement, delay, deterioration, or death).For adult patients with bacterial BSI without other inflammatory factors, the testing speculation based on the clearance rate of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein was consistent with the clinical outcome of the patients, with kappa values of 0.784 and 0.714, respectively (P=0.000). The testing speculation based on the procalcitonin clearance rate was generally consistent with the clinical outcome, with a kappa value of 0.685 (P=0.000). The testing speculation based on the procalcitonin clearance rate showed good consistency with the clinical outcome of patients with Gram-positive cocci infection, kappa =0.813 (P=0.000); for patients with gram-negative bacilli infection, the consistency of clinical outcomes was general, kappa =0.649 (P=0.000).In adult patients with bacterial BSI without other inflammatory factors, the clearance rate of interleukin-6, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein can predict the clinical outcome within 24 hours, among which the procalcitonin clearance rate can better predict the clinical outcome of patients with Gram-negative bacilli infection. This approach can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-infection treatment in early-stage BSI.

Formation of unknown chlorinated disinfection byproducts (Cl-DBPs) during chlorination gradually raised great concern, and pre-oxidation was considered as an efficient method to minimize Cl-DBP formation. In this study, pre-ozonation of algal organic matter was investigated, to explore its impacts on Cl-DBP formation and acute toxicity during subsequent chlorination. With fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) analysis, the conversion of algal organic matter in chlorination with/without pre-ozonation was tracked. The results show that pre-ozonation reduced the formation of trichloromethane (TCM), yet the species and intensity of unknown Cl-DBPs were significantly increased in subsequent chlorination. Meanwhile, the solution acute toxicity was higher in chlorination with pre-ozonation than in chlorination only. Besides, molecular properties of these unknown Cl-DBPs were further explored and featured. One-chlorine-containing DBPs were unsaturated high molecular-weight compounds with more CH

Linear regression-based and extended methods have been widely used in pattern classification. These methods can be roughly divided into two categories: reconstruction error-based methods and discriminative methods. The reconstruction error-based methods search the target label by learning the representation coefficients to compute the minimal reconstruction error. The goal of the discriminative methods is to learn the projection matrix to predict the target label of the image. To combine the advantages of these two kinds of regression-based methods, this paper presents a dual robust regression framework (DualRR) for pattern classification. In the training stage, a double low-rank robust regression model (DLR) is proposed to learn the projection matrix. In DLR, low-rank robust regression motivates us to model the data as the sum of a low-rank clean data and sparse noise matrix. The low-rank is further used to constrain the projection matrix to enhance the discriminative performance. In the testing stage, the proposed framework employs a robust regression representation model to learn the optimal representation coefficients and obtain the reconstruction sample to approximate the test sample. We thus apply the reconstruction sample to search the classification label by using the projection matrix learned in the training stage. Extensive experiments are conducted on six public available databases, namely, LFW, FRGC, CUHK Sketch, PolyU Palm, NUST-RF and Caltech 101, demonstrating the merits of the proposed model over state-of-the-art regression-based classification methods.

The ultraviolet (UV)/free chlorine process is a very promising treatment technology to remove persistent organic contaminants (POCs, e.g., pharmaceutical and personal care products) from water. The radical chain reactions involved in the UV/free chlorine process are very complicated, and the reaction pathways for organic contaminants degradation are largely unknown. Therefore, we developed a computerized pathway generator that uses graph theory and experimentally determined reaction rules that were reported for the UV/free chlorine process. Our pathway generator predicts all possible intermediates, byproducts, and elementary reactions that are involved in the oxidation of organic contaminants. For example, the degradation of tricholoroethylene (TCE) produces 497 species (i.e., intermediates and byproducts) and 6608 elementary reactions. The predicted species from our pathway generator not only predict the major and stable byproducts that were observed in our experiments (e.g., CHCl2COOH, CHCl(OCl)COOH, etc.) but also include many other minor and toxic byproducts that were produced but not measured because they have a short lifetime. Overall, our pathway generator significantly improves our understanding of the reaction pathways that are involved in organic contaminant degradation in the UV/free chlorine process.

Plastic products, used in almost all aspects of daily life because of their low cost, durability, and portability, can be broken down into micro- and nano-scale plastics, thereby increasing the risk of human ingestion. Common plastic additives (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, nonylphenols, phthalic acid esters, etc.) will continue to be released into the environment during the aging and decomposition process, leading to an immeasurable and lasting negative impact on the environment. Recently, photocatalytic technology has been recognized as one of the promising proposals to degrade environmental organic pollutants, including plastics and plastic-derived chemicals. However, there are no systematic reviews on the photocatalytic degradation of plastics and plastic-derived chemicals in the current literature. Herein, the photocatalytic degradation of plastic fragments and major plastic-derived chemicals, including phthalic acid ester plasticizers, nonylphenol antioxidants, bisphenol A plasticizer and brominated flame retardants, is systematically investigated. And we reviewed the process and mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of these pollutants. The outlook section, offering insights into the future directions and prospects of photocatalytic degradation of plastics and plastic-derived chemicals, will be highlighted with the aim of overcoming the present limitations by exploiting more efficient photocatalysts and exploring creative application methods.

This paper explores the relationship between the clinical value of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) in lung cancer tissue and its diagnosis and severity. Totally 100 patients who were clinically diagnosed with lung cancer from January 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled in our study. They were assigned into two groups according to the presence of lymph node metastasis. The VASP levels were measured by flow cytometry. The correlation between the expression of VASP in tumor tissue and the clinical characteristics and prognosis in patients was analyzed. The diagnostic efficacy of plasma VASP with squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA21-1), prosecretin-releasing peptide (proGRP), and lung cancer was analyzed. The results were compared with APACHE III score to evaluate the accuracy of VASP in determining the severity of patients. This paper finds that the value of VASP in the non-lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group, and the VASP level in the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the non-lymph node metastasis group and the healthy control group (all p values p value p values 0.05). Similar accuracy was observed in VASP and APACHE III score in predicting mortality of lung cancer (84.37% vs. 85.77%, p value>0.05). This paper concludes that the level of VASP correlates to the severity of the lung cancer and survival of the patients.

Organic chloramines posed significant risks to drinking water safety. However, the formation mechanism of algae-derived organic chloramines remained unclear. In this study, it was observed that pre-oxidation of algal suspensions increased organic chloramine formation during chlorination. Compared to KMnO

Purpose. To investigate the clinical value of interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in diagnosis and severity assessment of lung cancer. Methods. In this observational study, 50 physical examination healthy subjects were included in the control group and 100 lung cancer patients were included in the study group. In the study group, 53 cases with pleural effusion were subgrouped to the pleural effusion group (n = 53), while 47 patients were assigned to the nonpleural effusion group (n = 47). Plasma cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores of all eligible subjects were collected and compared. Results. The study group showed significantly higher levels of plasma cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ versus healthy subjects ( P < 0.05 ). Deterioration of lung cancer was associated with increased plasma cytokine levels and APACHE II scores. The combination assay of the above plasma cytokines showed significantly better diagnostic efficacy for lung cancer versus the single assay of the cytokines. Dead patients had higher plasma cytokine levels versus survived patients. The accuracy of plasma IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ levels in the severity assessment of lung cancer was comparable with that of the APACHE II scale. Conclusion. The plasma cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ are effective markers for the diagnosis of lung cancer. The combined assay contributes to the early diagnosis of lung cancer patients, and the persistent elevation of cytokines suggests an increased risk of death in lung cancer patients, so the detection of cytokine levels facilitates the severity assessment of lung cancer.

A recent study of patients undergoing implant surgery showed a significant increase in the prevalence of peri-implant disease, with peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis predominating. Peri-implant disease mostly appears after several years of implant use. Currently, the diagnosis of peri-implant disease relies on peri-implant soft tissue exploration and imaging, but abnormalities in these indicators only occur when tissue destruction has already occurred and cannot predict whether an implant has the potential to develop peri-implant disease. Therefore, the early diagnosis of peri-implant disease remains challenging and early diagnosis is important to achieve a good prognosis. Gingival crevicular fluid is a biological exudate present in the gingival crevicular, which is mainly derived from serum and contains metabolic components of bacteria and host cells. Gingival crevicular fluid is considered to be an important diagnostic material and its biomarkers can be used as reaction indicators to determine the development of the disease. In this paper, we describe the progress and effectiveness of research on the use of gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers for the prediction and diagnosis of peri-implant disease, intending to provide a reference for subsequent studies.

Due to the complexity and diverse causes, the pathological mechanism of diet-induced colonic injury and colitis remains unclear. In this study, we studied the effects of the combination of a high-fat diet (HFD) plus alcohol on colonic injury in mice. We found HFD plus alcohol treatment induced disturbance of the gut microbiota; increased the production of intestinal toxins lipopolysaccharide (LPS), indole, and skatole; destroyed the stability of the intestinal mucosa; and caused the colonic epithelial cells damage through the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and aromatic hydrocarbon receptors (AhR) signaling pathways. To mimic the effect of HFD plus alcohol in vivo, NCM460 cells were stimulated with alcohol and oleic acid with/without intestinal toxins (LPS, indole, and skatole) in vitro. Combinative treatment of alcohol and oleic acid caused moderate damage on NCM460 cells, while combination with intestinal toxins induced serious cell apoptosis. Western blot data indicated that the activation of NF-κB and AhR pathways further augmented after intestinal toxins treatment in alcohol- and oleic acid-treated colonic cells. This study provided new evidence for the relationship between diet pattern and colonic inflammation, which might partly reveal the pathological development of diet-induced colon disease and the involvement of intestinal toxins.

This study explored the risk of trichloronitromethane (TCNM) formation during chlorination of the nitrite-containing water after pre-chlorination and subsequent UV irradiation (i.e., the chlorine-UV process). The competitive reaction between amino acid (AA) and NO

Pre-oxidation has been reported to be an effective way to remove algal cells in water, but the released algal organic matter (AOM) could be oxidized and lead to the increment in disinfection by-product (DBP) formation. The relationship between pre-oxidation and AOM-derived DBP formation needs to be approached more precisely. This study compared the impact of four pre-oxidants, ozone (O

Eutrophication is a globally concerned issue, which brings algal cells and algal organic matter (AOM) into drinking water treatment plants. AOM is an important branch of nitrogenous disinfection byproduct (N-DBP) precursors. The variation of AOM composition in UV-LEDs/chlorine process, and its relationship with N-DBP formation still remain much uncertainty. Herein, we used fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to investigate AOM transformation in UV-LEDs/chlorine process, with UV

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photolysis is recognized as an environmental-friendly treatment process. Nitrate (NO

β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) is a cyanobacterial neurotoxin associated with human neurodegenerative diseases, and its removal in drinking water is receiving increasing attention. In this study, the degradation of BMAA in UV/peracetic acid (UV/PAA) system was investigated. BMAA degradation followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The synergistic effect of UV and PAA exhibited a great potential for BMAA degradation, which was attributed to the generation of a large number of reactive radicals, of which R-C