Sykesduelund9699
Hypochloremia associated with congestive heart failure (CHF) in dogs is likely multifactorial. Loop diuretics cause 12 sodium [Na
]chloride [Cl
] loss, whereas water retention causes a 11 [Na
][Cl
] dilution. Mathematical [Cl
] correction separates these effects on [Cl
].
We hypothesized that corrected [Cl
] (c[Cl
]) would not differ from measured [Cl
] (m[Cl
]) in dogs with controlled CHF because of loop diuretics, and dogs with refractory CHF would have higher c[Cl
] than m[Cl
], indicating relative water excess.
Seventy-one client-owned dogs with acquired heart disease, without CHF (NO-CHF), 76 with Stage C CHF and 24 with Stage D CHF.
Clinicopathological data from a previous study were retrospectively analyzed. Corrected [Cl
], m[Cl
], and differences were compared among NO-CHF, Stage C CHF, and Stage D CHF, using the formula c[Cl
] = (mid-reference range [Na
]/measured [Na
]) × m[Cl
].
Corrected [Cl
] and m[Cl
] were lower in Stage D vs Stage C and NO-CHFl- ] to antidiuretic hormone concentrations is warranted.
The aim of the present study was to develop a cross-cultural adaptation and to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Chinese version of the LiSat-11 test.
LiSat-11 was translated into Chinese according to standardized procedures. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to examine its reliability and validity, in accordance to COnsensus-based Standards for the election of health Measurements Instruments guidelines, among persons with stroke approximately 3 years after their discharge from rehabilitation. Participants completed the LiSat-11, 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Barthel Index (BI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). To examine the test-retest reliability, thirty of these participants completed LiSat-11 again after 2 weeks.
In total, 60 persons with stroke were recruited. The Chinese version of LiSat-11 demonstrated good internal consistency with Cronbach's alphas at 0.82. Ceiling effects were found in five of the eleven items of LiSat-11, and there was a floor effect in one item. LiSat-11 had moderate to high correlations with SF-36 with Spearman's correlation coefficient (rho) ranging from 0.44 to 0.73 (p<0.01) in a concurrent validity test, and high correlations were also found between LiSat-11 and HADS-A/D in a convergent validity test with rho=-0.63/-0.67 (p<0.01). Low correlations with NIHSS, BI and mRS were found in a divergent validity test, rho=-0.25, 0.17 and -0.26, respectively.
The current study verified that the translated Chinese version of the Life Satisfaction Checklist-11 is a reliable and valid tool for measuring the life satisfaction of persons with chronic stroke.
The current study verified that the translated Chinese version of the Life Satisfaction Checklist-11 is a reliable and valid tool for measuring the life satisfaction of persons with chronic stroke.Cognitive performance slows down with increasing age. This includes cognitive processes that are essential for the performance of a motor act, such as the slowing down in response to an external stimulus. The objective of this study was to identify aging-associated functional changes in the brain networks that are involved in the transformation of external stimuli into motor action. To investigate this topic, we employed dynamic graphs based on phase-locking of Electroencephalography signals recorded from healthy younger and older subjects while performing a simple visually-cued finger-tapping task. The network analysis yielded specific age-related network structures varying in time in the low frequencies (2-7 Hz), which are closely connected to stimulus processing, movement initiation and execution in both age groups. The networks in older subjects, however, contained several additional, particularly interhemispheric, connections and showed an overall increased coupling density. Cluster analyses revealed reduced variability of the subnetworks in older subjects, particularly during movement preparation. In younger subjects, occipital, parietal, sensorimotor and central regions were-temporally arranged in this order-heavily involved in hub nodes. Whereas in older subjects, a hub in frontal regions preceded the noticeably delayed occurrence of sensorimotor hubs, indicating different neural information processing in older subjects. All observed changes in brain network organization, which are based on neural synchronization in the low frequencies, provide a possible neural mechanism underlying previous fMRI data, which report an overactivation, especially in the prefrontal and pre-motor areas, associated with a loss of hemispheric lateralization in older subjects.Alterations in the genome, including mutations and copy number variation (CNV), can drive cancer progression. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project studying papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) identified a number of recurrent arm-level copy number amplifications, some spanning genes that are also commonly mutated in thyroid cancer. Herein, we focus on the role of TERT and BRAF CNV in PTC, including its relation to mutation status, gene expression, and clinicopathological characteristics. Utilizing TCGA CNV data, we identified focal amplifications and deletions involving the TERT and BRAF loci. TERT amplifications are more frequent in later stage thyroid tumors; in contrast, BRAF amplifications are not associated with stage. Furthermore, TERT amplifications are more frequently found in tumors also harboring TERT mutations, the combination further increasing TERT expression. Conversely, BRAF amplifications are more frequently found in BRAF wildtype tumors, and are more common in the follicular subtype of PTC as well as classic PTCs associated with a high follicular component and a RAS-like expression profile (assessed by the BRAF/RAS score). This is the first study to examine the TCGA thyroid dataset for gene-level CNV of TERT and BRAF, and their relationship with mutation status, tumor type and tumor stage. Assessing the differences in patterns of TERT and BRAF amplifications in the context of the mutation status of these genes may provide insight into the differing roles CNV can play depending on tumor type, and may lead to a better understanding of cancer drivers in thyroid cancer.
This study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), including SonoVue (SV; sulfur hexafluoride; Bracco SpA, Milan, Italy) and Sonazoid (SZ; perflubutane; GE Healthcare, Oslo, Norway), and explore the differences between them in the characterization of CEUS features in focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) smaller than 3 cm.
This retrospective study included 31 lesions smaller than 3 cm diagnosed as FNH by CEUS between April 2019 and November 2019. Nine patients underwent SZ CEUS examinations, and 22 patients underwent SV CEUS examinations; all of them were confirmed by pathologic examinations or 2 other kinds of CEUS methods. We compared the CEUS features between SZ and SV in different phases, including arterial, portal venous, delayed, and Kupffer (SZ) phases.
Twenty-eight lesions were eventually diagnosed as FNH; 3 were misdiagnosed as FNH by SV CEUS. The overall diagnostic accuracy of CEUS including SZ and SV was 90.3% (28 of 31). No significant difference was found ess of FNH smaller than 3 cm. Sonazoid CEUS might be better than SV CEUS at depicting a central scar.Artificial materials that can simultaneously mimic the relative permittivity and conductivity of various human tissues are usually used in medical applications. However, the method of precisely designing these materials with designated values of both relative permittivity and conductivity at 3 T MRI resonance frequency is lacking. In this study, a reliable method is established to determine the compositions of artificial dielectric materials with designated relative permittivity and conductivity at 128 MHz. Sixty dielectric materials were produced using oil, sodium chloride, gelatin, and deionized water as the main raw materials. The dielectric properties of these dielectric materials were measured using the open-ended coaxial line method at 128 MHz. Nonlinear least-squares Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm was used to obtain the formula, establishing the relationship between the compositions of the dielectric materials and their dielectric properties at 128 MHz. The dielectric properties of the blood, gall bladder, muscle, skin, lung, and bone at 128 MHz were selected to verify the reliability of the obtained formula. For the obtained formula, the coefficient of determination and the expanded uncertainties with a coverage factor of k = 2 were 0.991% and 4.9% for relative permittivity and 0.992% and 6.4% for conductivity. For the obtained artificial materials measured using the open-ended coaxial line method, the maximal difference of relative permittivity and conductivity were 1.0 and 0.02 S/m, respectively, with respect to the designated values. In conclusion, the compositions of tissue-mimicking material can be quickly determined after the establishment of the formulas with the expanded uncertainties of less than 10%. Bioelectromagnetics. 2021;4286-94. © 2020 Bioelectromagnetics Society.Hofbauer cells are macrophages residing in the stroma of placental villi and play a number of roles during normal pregnancy, as well as pathological conditions. GC376 manufacturer A morphometric analysis of Hofbauer cells, in particular to investigate the number of cells, their size and shape in samples of normal human placenta from 1st trimester, term and with chorioamnionitis was performed. Tissue samples were immunostained for CD206 antigen and evaluated using ImageJ software. We detected significant changes in number and morphology of HBCs between normal placenta and placenta with chorioamnionitis samples. In chorioamnionitis, the cells were unevenly distributed within the villi, generally present in higher numbers, larger and more elongated than those in normal 1st trimester and term placenta.
This study aimed to determine the relationship between nursing students' levels of technology addiction and their attitudes toward e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study had a cross-sectional design and was conducted at a Department of Nursing in a Faculty of Health Sciences in Turkey. The study sample consisted of 434 nurses chosen by stratified sampling method.
The nursing students had a low level of technology addiction and mildly positive attitudes toward e-learning. A statistically positive correlation was found between students' technology addiction and their attitudes toward e-learning (p < 0.01).
Determining the levels of technology addiction and attitudes toward e-learning in nursing students will help nurse educators in designing curricula and developing e-learning in this area.
Determining the levels of technology addiction and attitudes toward e-learning in nursing students will help nurse educators in designing curricula and developing e-learning in this area.
Little is known about the ablation outcomes of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) that originate from the periprosthetic aortic valve (PPAV) regions of patients with aortic valve replacement (AVR).
Our study had 11 patients who underwent catheter ablation for PVCs arising from the PPAV regions (bioprosthetic aortic valve, n = 5; mechanical aortic valve, n = 6). The PVC characteristics, procedure characteristics, and efficacy of ablation were compared with the control group (n = 33). At baseline, the PPAV group had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (mean [SD], 41% [12%] vs. 51% [8%]; p = .002). The rate of acute ablation success was 90.9% in the PPAV group. Ablation sites were identified above the left coronary cusp (LCC) and right coronary cusp commissure (LRCC) in one PVC, below the prosthetic valve in eight PVCs (four below LCC and four below LRCC), and within the distal coronary sinus in two PVCs. The mean procedure time, fluoroscopy time, and radiation in the PPAV group were all significantly greater than those in the control group (all p < .
