A document by Mansour H. Almatarneh. Click on the document to view its contents.

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection (PAPVC) is an unusual congenital anomaly with variable sites of attachment of the atypical pulmonary veins. Anomalous right pulmonary vein return can be surgically corrected if left to right shunt physiology becomes hemodynamically significant. In such patients, as in the general population, the development of arrhythmia-associated heart failure due to atrial fibrillation prompts consideration of pulmonary vein isolation. There are limited reports of pulmonary vein isolation on surgically repaired PAPVC. This case highlights successful isolation of surgically corrected right pulmonary veins in a patient with PAPVC and atrial fibrillation associated heart failure.

Open-cell foams as the column tray are promising candidates for the purpose of process intensification in the distillation process. In this paper, the real foam porous structure is obtained based on Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT), and the bubble formation process on pore-scale foam tray is discussed based on the VOF-CSF model (volume of fluid method-continuous surface force). The results show that the wettability (CA), superficial gas velocity (Ug), porous structure, and clear liquid layer height (HCL) all affect a crucial factor of the foam tray - the liquid holdup in the porous channels (LHPC). It determines the effective porosity, which in turn affects the bubbling frequency and pressure drop. Meanwhile, the evolutionary mechanism of instantaneous pressure drop is analyzed based on the flow patterns, force analysis and interfacial phenomena. Moreover, the new model to predict pressure drop is proposed based on LHPC, which shows good consistency with experiments.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Despite the observation of synergistic interactions between the urotensinergic and angiotensinergic systems, the interplay between the urotensin II receptor (hUT) and the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (hAT1R) in regulating cellular signaling under physiological and pathophysiological conditions remains incompletely understood. Notably, the interaction between hUT and hAT1R could engender reciprocal allosteric modulations of their signaling signatures, defining a unique role for these complexes in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH The physical interaction between hUT and hAT1R receptors was evaluated by co-immunoprecipitation, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) and FlAsH BRET-based conformational biosensors. To analyze how this functional interaction regulated proximal and distal hUT-associated signaling pathways, we used BRET-based signaling biosensors and western blots to profile pathway-specific signaling in HEK 293 cells expressing hUT, hAT1R or both. KEY RESULTS We observed that hUT-hAT1R heterodimers triggered distinct signalling outcomes, in particular Gq/ G13/Gi/DAG/-arrestin-1/ERK1/2, compared to their respective parent receptors alone. Notably, co-transfection of hUT and hAT1R slightly potentiated hUII-induced Gq activation but significantly reduced the potency and efficacy of Ang II to mediate Gq activation. Using a FlAsH-walk approach, we observed that the presence of unliganded hUT altered conformational dynamics of hAT1R but that addition of hUII or URP did not produce further modulations. CONCLUSION Assembly of hUT with hAT1R might be important for allosteric modulation of outcomes associated with specific hardwired signaling complexes in healthy and disease states. Our work validates such complexes as potential targets to promote the design of compounds that modulate heterodimer function selectively.

Background and Purpose: Cooperative defect is one of the earliest manifestations of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to address this issue. Experimental Approach: The cooperative function of APP/PS1 transgenic AD model mice at ages 2, 5 and 8 months was evaluated by a cooperative drinking task. Neuropathological changes were examined in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a key brain area regulating social behavior. Another experiment was designed to observe whether miconazole, a drug has a protective effect on myelin sheath, could promote cooperative ability of APP/PS1 mice in the early AD-like stage. The protective effects of miconazole on cultured mouse cortical oligodendrocytes exposed to human amyloid β peptide (Aβ1-42) peptide were also investigated. Key Results: There was an age-dependent impairment of cooperative drinking water behavior in APP/PS1 mice. AD mice with cooperative dysfunction showed decreases in myelin sheath thickness, oligodendrocyte nuclear heterochromatin percentage and myelin basic protein expression levels in the mPFC. The cooperative ability was significantly improved in APP/PS1 mice treated with miconazole. Consistently, miconazole increased oligodendrocyte maturation and myelin sheath thickness, without reducing Aβ plaque deposition in the mPFC. Miconazole protected cultured oligodendrocytes from the toxicity of Aβ1-42. Conclusions and Implications: These results demonstrate that mPFC myelin hypomyelination is involved in cooperative deficits of APP/PS1 mice. Improving myelination via miconazole therapy may offer a potential therapeutic approach for early intervention of AD.

BACKGROUND Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an autoimmune disease that often leads to irreversible valve damage and heart failure. Surgery is currently an effective treatment, but it may have risks when performing the surgery and some people may not accept it since it is invasive. Therefore, we should find a new effective method to treatment it. CASE SUMMARY A 57 year old woman came to Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University for cardiac color Doppler ultrasound, left heart function test and DTI evaluation, which showed mild mitral stenosis with mild moderate regurgitation and mild moderate aortic regurgitation, confirming the diagnosis of rheumatic valvular disease. The symptoms becames severe and ventricular tachycardia occurred frequently with the heart rate more than 200 and surgical treatment was recommended in 10 days. Patient wanted to treat with traditional Chinese medicine treatment during this period. The symptoms improved significantly especially the ventricular tachycardia is disappear after 1 week of treatment. Follow up visit 3 months after medication, ultrasound showed mild mitral stenosis with mild regurgitation and mild aortic regurgitation, and the operator notified no need for surgical treatment. CONCLUSION Traditional Chinese medicine treatments represent a potential treatment for RHD, mainly valvular stenosis and regurgitation.

Background: Reports of SARS-CoV-2 in animals have implicated human sources. Similarities in SARS-CoV-2 cell receptors between humans and animals suggest possible cross-transmission of COVID-19. Using a One-Health approach, we assessed exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in humans with no history of confirmed infection, selected domestic animals in their homesteads, and in wild animals in Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in two districts where community COVID cases were first reported: and at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC). Thirty-six humans and 48 domestic animals per district; and 14 animals at UWEC were sampled. Blood and nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal samples were analysed for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, viral antigens, and genome. Interviewer-administered questionnaire on socio-demographics, travel history, disease symptoms and knowledge on COVID-19 was conducted, data was analysed with STATA 16.0. Results: One hundred forty participants were interviewed, 77% were below 49 years old, 56% had only primary education, 50% were catholics; and 70% subsistence farmers. COVID-19-related information was majorly from radios (89%), families and or friends (55%). Over 60% were aware of at least two COVID-19 symptoms. In humans, sero-prevalence was 31.9%, 4.2% and 13.9% for IgG, IgM, and COVID-19 antigen, respectively. IgG sero-prevalence was significantly higher in females (47.2%) than males (16.7%) with p=0.005, and similar trends were noted for IgM and antigens. In domestic animals, caprine had the highest IgG seropositivity, followed by bovine, avian and lastly canine at 70.6%, 50.0%, 42.9% and 38.5%, respectively. IgM was detected in one dog. At UWEC, five animals had both IgG and IgM whereas two had only IgG. All human and animal samples were RT-PCR negative. Conclusion: A high sero-prevalence of IgG, indicates previous exposure. Ascertaining cross-species transmission at human-animal interface was unproven due to negative RT-PCR results, hence isolation and characterisation of virus were not done.

A document by GianPietro Sechi. Click on the document to view its contents.

Skip metastasis an uncommon finding in plain radiography of osteosarcoma cases. We reported a case of skip metastasis in juvenile osteosarcoma using simple X-ray. Further imaging and pathology assessment confirmed skip lesions in the background of high-grade chondroblastic osteosarcoma.

Phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. Some advanced PPGLs are inoperable. Treatment strategies for inoperable PPGLs should be discussed case by case under the coordination of multidisciplinary team. Target organ management is crucial in improving life quality and prognosis.

Complex diseases generally result from dysfunction of relevant module molecules, which dynamically change with time and conditions, rather than that of an individual molecule. In this study, a novel network construction algorithm for identifying early warning network signals (namely, IEWNS) is proposed for improving the performance of early diagnosis. To this end, we theoretically derived a network-based dynamic criterion, namely, the relationship of variation (RV), to construct dynamic networks. RV infers correlation t statistics to measure dynamic changes in molecular relationships during the process of disease development. Based on the dynamic networks constructed by IEWNS, early warning network signals used to represent the occurrence of complex disease deterioration can be defined without human intervention. IEWNS was employed to perform a comprehensive analysis of gene expression profiles of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The experimental results suggest that the network biomarker selected by IEWNS can facilitate a better understanding of pathogenetic mechanisms and help to achieve effective early diagnosis of LUAD. In conclusion, IEWNS provides novel insight into the pathogenic mechanisms of complex diseases and helps to define prospective biomarkers for assessing disease deterioration.

Objective To assess whether the implementation of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with piritramide using an automatic pump system under routine conditions is effective to reduce pain in late abortion inductions Design Prospective observational cohort study Setting Patients requiring medically indicated abortion induction from 14 weeks of pregnancy onwards between July 2019 and July 2020 at the department of Obstetrics and Prenatal Medicine of the Bonn University Hospital in Germany. Methods Evaluation of pain management after implementation of a PCA system compared with previous nurse-controlled tramadol-based standard under routine conditions. Patients answered a validated pain questionnaire and requirement of rescue analgesics was assessed. Pain intensity and satisfaction were measured on a ten-point numeric rating scale. Main Outcome Measure Maximal pain intensity Results Forty patients were included. Patients using Piritramide-PCA complained of higher pain sores than those in the standard group (6.90 (± 2.34) vs. 4.83 (± 2.87), (p < 0.05)). In both groups the level of satisfaction with the analgesia received was comparable (8.00 (± 2.45) vs 7.67 (± 2.62), (p = 0.7)). Patients in the PCA group suffered more nausea (63.2% vs 30% respectively, OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.05-15.20, p<0.05) and expressed more the desire for more analgesic support compared to the control group (OR 5.7 (1-33.25), p = 0.05). Conclusion Women with abortion induction after 14 weeks of gestation suffer from relevant severe pain, which requires adequate therapy. However, addition of PCA does not seem to bring any advantage in patients undergoing this procedure.

Objectives To establish anatomical structures responsible for a resistance force on a fetal head during vaginal delivery; assess the postpartum perception of perineal pain and superficial dyspareunia; develop a new episiotomy. Design A prospective observational case series study. Setting International sites. Population Eighteen pregnant women in labor Methods Small V-shape excision was made on the posterior-lateral vaginal outlet without incising the posterior perineum or vaginal wall. Simple interrupted sutures were used to repair the surgical defect (outlectorrhaphy). Histological examinations were performed on excised specimens. Main Outcome Measures The primary maternal outcome measured postpartum perineal pain; the secondary outcome measured occurrences of superficial dyspareunia, results of Ostrzenski’s vaginal outlectomy, and APGAR scores measured the neonatal outcome. Results The small V-shape excision widened the vaginal outlet sufficiently for a vaginal delivery. Outlectorrhaphy required two-three simple interrupted sutures. All subjects were delivered vaginally with median newborns’ weight of 3,550 gm ±250gm and median APGAR scores of 9 ±1 at 5 minutes. One patient experienced a grate II extension tear with bleeding heavier than an uncomplicated vaginal outlectomy. Postpartum patients reported no moderate or severe perineal pain and no superficial dyspareunia. Histology showed that the vaginal outlet was deferred from the vaginal walls. Conclusions The vaginal outlet is responsible for resistance force on a fetal head. No moderate or severe perineal pain or dyspareunia occurred in this study group. Ostrzenski’s vaginal outlectomy widens the vaginal outlet sufficiently for a fetal vaginal birth, and it is easy to repair.

Acute myocardial infarction can be treated aggressively with intravenous thrombolysis, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass grafting; however, recanalization can cause myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI), This is an important reason that restricts the treatment effect of patients. After the ischemic myocardium is restored to perfusion, an inflammatory response can occur within minutes and peak within a few days. A large number of pro-inflammatory cytokines can seriously damage cardiac function. Inflammation can regulate cardiomyocyte apoptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, and necrosis, and is the main initiating factor leading to MIRI in cardiomyocytes. This article reviews the mechanism of inflammatory response in ischemia-reperfusion period after acute myocardial infarction and the clinical value and application prospect of inhibiting inflammatory response in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

Detailed case reports of autologous recovery of hematopoiesis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with myeloablative conditioning (MAC) are scarce. We present a rare case of a 3-year-old male with relapsed KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who experienced autologous recovery following secondary engraftment failure after cord blood transplantation (CBT) with MAC. Similar to previous reports, we detected unusual chromosomal abnormalities, which differed at each bone marrow examination. He remains alive without relapse of ALL 12 months after CBT. As the rate of recurrence or late occurrence of secondary malignant neoplasm remains unclear, careful follow-up is required, especially in pediatric patients.

Kinship in natural marine fish systems has been little explored in part due to limitations of available genomic approaches. This is especially true for very abundant and commercially exploited marine pelagic fish with broadcast spawning. Recent advances in genomics have however, facilitated an improved understanding of population structure in marine systems at fine geographic scales. Here, we identify kinship structure in an aggregation of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) juveniles. We identified 11 half-sib pairs using a suite of 92 sequenced microsatellite DNA markers in a sample of N=1391 herring individuals comprising two cohorts (ages 0+ and 1+) collected from the 2018 Fall research survey of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. In addition, we were also able to detect a full-sib pair using the combination of half-sib pairs and whole mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. This study suggests the presence of kinship structure in a juvenile herring aggregation three months or more post hatching with implication for our understanding of herring early life history.

Introduction. When using Lesion Size index (LSI) to guide catheter ablation, it is unclear what combination of power, contact force and time would be preferable to use and what LSI target value to aim for. This study aimed at identifying desirable ablation settings and LSI targets by using tissue impedance drop as indicator of lesion formation. Methods. Consecutive patients, undergoing their first left atrial (LA) catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation, with RF powers of 20, 30 and 40 W were enrolled. Tissue impedance, contact force (CF), Force Time Integral (FTI) and LSI values were continuously recorded during ablation and sampled at 100 Hz. Mean CF and Contact Force Variability (CFV) were calculated for every lesion. The effect of RF power, ablation time, CF and CFV on impedance drop and LSI were assessed. Results. A total of 3258 lesions were included in the analysis. For any target LSI value, use of higher RF powers translated into progressively higher impedance drops. The impact of lower CF and higher CFV on impedance drop was more relevant when using lower powers. Target LSI values corresponding to maximum impedance drop were identified depending on RF power, mean CF and CFV used. Conclusions. Even in the context of an LSI-guided ablation strategy, use of lower or higher powers might lead to different lesion sizes. Different LSI targets might be needed depending on the combination of RF power, CF and CFV used for ablation. Incorporating indicators of catheter stability, like CFV, in the LSI formula could improve the predictive value of LSI for lesion size. Studies with clinical outcomes are required to confirm the clinical relevance of these findings.

An initial-boundary value problem for a quasilinear equation of pseudoparabolic type with a nonlinear boundary condition of the Neumann-Dirichlet type is investigated in this work. From a physical point of view, the initial-boundary value problem considered here is a mathematical model of quasi-stationary processes in semiconductors and magnets, which takes into account a wide variety of physical factors. Many approximate methods are suitable for finding eigenvalues and eigenfunctions in problems where the boundary conditions are linear with respect to the desired function and its derivatives. Among these methods, the Galerkin method leads to the simplest calculations. In this article, by the Galerkin method to prove the existence of a weak solution to the initial-boundary value problem for a pseudoparabolic equation in a bounded domain. On the basis of a priori estimates, we prove a local existence theoremand uniqueness for a weak generalized solution of the initial-boundary value problem for the quasilinear pseudoparabolic equation. A special place in the theory of nonlinear equations is occupied by the study of unbounded solutions, or, as they are called in another way, blow-up regimes. Nonlinear evolutionary problems admitting unbounded solutions are globally unsolvable. In the article, sufficient conditions for the blow-up of a solution in a finite time in a limited area with a nonlinear Neumann-Dirichlet boundary condition are obtained.

An economical and highly uranium extraction from seawater remains a crucial task for energy sources and environmental safety. Aiming for improving mass transfer rate of uranium adsorption from seawater, a new synthetic strategy was adopted for the fabrication of 2D-open channel microporous bio-adsorbent for uranium extraction from seawater. Herein, the in-situ ATRP grafting approach was adopted to graft divinylbenzene, polyacrylonitrile onto the surfaces of microporous frameworks via the vapour phase method. The post-synthetic functionalization was carried out by hydrothermal method, where amidoxime groups are structure-directing agents to trap uranium. Further, amidoxime groups not only enhanced hydrophilicity but also adjusts adsorbents pKa. AO-Fc faces minimum interference of competing ions and achieves a high uranium adsorption capacity of 8.57±0.02 and 409±1 mg/g in seawater and simulated solution. Despite its stable structure, AO-Fc exhibits a long life span and negligible weight loss revealed AO-Fc could be applied as a potential adsorbent for radionuclide.

Oil palm is the most productive oil producing plant. Salt stress leads to growth damage and decrease in yield of oil palm. However, the physiological responses of oil palm to salt stress and their underlying mechanisms are not clear. RNA-Seq for leaf samples from young palms challenged under three levels of salts (100, 250 and 500 mM NaCl) for 14 days and control was conducted. All the three levels of salt stress activated EgSPCH expression and increased stomatal density of oil palm. ~ 41% of DEGs were putative EgSPCH binding target and were involved in multiple bioprocesses related to salt response. Overexpression of EgSPCH in Arabidopsis increased the stomatal production and lowered the salt tolerance. These data indicate that in oil palm, salt activates EgSPCH to generate more stomata in response to salt stress, which is different with that in herbaceous plants. Our results might mirror the difference of salt-induced stomatal development between ligneous and herbaceous crops.

In freshwater environments, one of the challenges aquatic grazers face are periods of suboptimal food quantity and quality. In a life table experiment, the effect of food quantity (a gradient of algae concentration) and quality (a diet of cyanobacteria) on the life history and resource allocation strategy in Daphnia magna was tested. Growth-related traits were similarly affected by both low food quantity and quality, and the reproductive strategies differed. The per-clutch investment (clutch volume) did not differ between Daphnia fed with cyanobacteria and underfed mothers, but resources were differently allocated; underfed mothers increased their per-offspring investment by producing fewer, but larger eggs, whereas cyanobacteria-fed mothers invested in a greater number of eggs of smaller size. I argue that both strategies of resource allocation (number vs. size of eggs) may be adaptive under the given food regime. The cyanobacteria diet-driven fitness losses are comparable to losses caused by low food quantity.

Present calculations provide a theoretical understanding of the correlation of the conformations of tetramethyltetraphenylcyclotetrasiloxane with the properties of the ground states (S0-state) and excited states (S1-/T1state), as well as with the formation of the excimers. The difference between the energy-lowest conformation and the energy-highest conformation is only 0.51 kcal/mol. The isoenergetic conformers have similar electronic structures and absorption spectra. The difference between the vertical transition and the adiabatic transition in energy is relatively large for S1-states, but negligible for T1-states. The singlet-triplet gap for the adiabatic transition is very small (0.52 eV). The excited transition of the singlet electron may cause the geometrical deformation of S0-states, and the distorted phenyl ring is the excimer-forming site. The type of the excitation transition is associated with the conformation. The cooperation of the S0-states to the S1-states through the π-π or π-H interaction is a nonspontaneous-endothermic process. The formation and stability of the excimers are dependent upon the conformation.

Single coronary artery (SCA) is defined as an isolated coronary artery that arises from a single coronary ostium and provides blood supply to the entire myocardium. At present, the absence of the right coronary artery is more common in SCA and the absence of the left coronary artery is rare. We report a case of a middle-aged man with congenital left coronary artery absence. The patient underwent coronary angiography after completing relevant examinations on admission, the results showed that the coronary artery blood supply was dominant in the right coronary artery; the right coronary artery was compensatively thickened and long, the part of the left coronary artery that functions as the anterior descending branch opens at the beginning of the right coronary artery and the blood vessels were small. The patient was given symptomatic supportive treatment during the hospitalization period and was discharged from the hospital. The patient’s condition was stable during the follow-up. This case demonstrates that although congenital left coronary artery absence is a rare disease, correct diagnosis, appropriate treatment and patient education play a vital role in the treatment of these patients.

The Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems (BVPs) for the linear second-order scalar elliptic differential equation with variable coefficients in a bounded two-dimensional domain are considered. The PDE right-hand side belongs to $H^{-1}(\Omega)$ or $\widetilde{H}^{-1}(\Omega),$ when neither classical nor canonical conormal derivatives of solutions are well defined. Using the two-operator approach and appropriate parametrix (Levi function) each problem is reduced to two different systems of two-operator boundary-domain integral equations (BDIEs). Although the theory of BDIEs in 3D is well developed, the BDIEs in 2D need a special consideration due to their different equivalence properties. As a result, we need to set conditions on the domain or on the associated Sobolev spaces to ensure the invertibility of corresponding parametrix-based integral layer potentials and hence the unique solvability of BDIEs. The equivalence of the two-operator BDIE systems to the original problems, BDIE system solubility, solution uniquness/nonuniquness and invertibility BDIE system are analyzed in the appropriate Sobolev (Bessel potential) spaces. It is shown that the BDIE operators for the Neumann BVP are not invertible, and appropriate finite-dimensional perturbations are constructed leading to invertibility of the perturbed operators.