Contrerasgiles4983

The A2 signal length may represent a novel metric to distinguish PPM from prosthetic stenosis.

Among patients with bioprosthetic aortic valves, the length of the A2 signal on Doppler echocardiography is shorter in PPM than in prosthetic stenosis and normally functioning valves. The A2 signal length may represent a novel metric to distinguish PPM from prosthetic stenosis.We read with interest the paper by Hundt et al. describing the behaviour of common liver tests in COVID-19 and their association with poor outcomes (1). Among presented data, we were surprised to see that serum albumin (ALB) concentrations during hospitalization did not significantly predict patient death at the multivariate analysis (MA), even if 86.6% of patients showed ALB values less then 35 g/L, i.e. the lower reference limit. In a similar COVID-19 population enrolled in our national reference center for infectious diseases, we recently analysed a group of common biochemistry tests, including ALB, as major predictor of COVID-19 severity (2). Although the patient rate showing an ALB less then 35 g/L was quite similar (89%) to that of Hundt's study, at MA low ALB concentrations remained significantly associated (P=0.003) with higher odds of death, ALB values ≤18 g/L giving a positive likelihood ratio of 12.2 for predicting in-hospital death. In terms of absolute ALB levels in the respective populations, as due to spuriously higher ALB values measured with non-specific methods in the evaluated COVID-19 patients. The accuracy of ALB methods may become critical in COVID-19 cases, where ALB is decreased but acute-phase proteins are increased, and thus use of immunological assays should be preferred in this condition (4).

The frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure became a popular entity for utilization in aortic arch aneurysm disease. However, its proper mortality and morbidities as well as the predictors of outcomes are poorly identified. This systematic review and meta-analysis explore FET outcomes and its predictors with a focus on zone aortic proximalization.

We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scopus databases from their beginning to June 2020 to find studies reporting the outcomes of the FET procedure for the total arch replacement (TAR).

A total of 64 studies including 7967 patients were evaluated. The pooled estimates of cerebrovascular accidents, paraplegia, renal failure, and in-hospital mortality were 7.104 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.691-8.661; I

 = 78.53%), 3.465 (95% CI, 2.852-4.136; I

 = 15.96), 14.969 (95% CI, 11.361-18.977; I

 = 91.26%), and 8.933 (95% CI, 7.128-10.919; I

 = 78.51%), respectively. Stratification by the geographical locations and by the aortic pathologies led to lower heterogeneity, but not for renal failure. The distal anastomosis in Zone 2 was associated with a lower rate of renal failure compared with Zone 3 (odds ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.36-0.81; p = .003; I

 = 0%).

The FET procedure for TAR can be performed with acceptable mortality and morbidities among patients with complex aortic pathologies. Moreover, the distal anastomosis in Zone 2 was associated with lower renal failure compared to Zone 3.

The FET procedure for TAR can be performed with acceptable mortality and morbidities among patients with complex aortic pathologies. Moreover, the distal anastomosis in Zone 2 was associated with lower renal failure compared to Zone 3.The inflammatory process in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects many organs including the lungs. Chemokines are suggested to play important roles in the pathogenesis of SLE with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). In the present study, our objective is to evaluate the correlation between chemokines and PF in SLE patients. Transcriptome sequencing analysis was used to find the different expressed genes between SLE patients with PF and without PF. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum levels of chemokines in SLE patients and healthy controls. Expression of CX3CR1 was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and flow cytometer. Sixteen differentially chemokine genes were found to be associated to SLE with PF. Meanwhile, the upregulation of C-X3-C motif chemokine receptor 1 (CX3CR1) and its ligand, CX3C chemokine ligand 1 (CX3CL1) were observed in SLE patients with PF than that of SLE patients without PF and healthy control. Phenotypic analysis also showed that the surface expression of CX3CR1 increased in PBMCs from SLE patients with PF. Our observations indicated that CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis is associated with PF in SLE. CX3CR1 might be a promising predictor of SLE with PF and the interactions between CX3CL1 and CX3CR1 might provide potential candidate target for the treatment of SLE with PF.

This descriptive study was performed to determine the relationship between the paternal participation and psychological resilience of mothers in children with particular mental needs.

The study was conducted with the parents of 120 children who had particular mental needs. Data were collected using psychological resilience scale for adults, and paternal participation scale.

Mothers' psychological resilience level was high while paternal participation level was moderate, there was a weakly significant relationship between mothers' psychological resilience and paternal participation (r = 0.021; p < 0.01).

Nurses' knowledge and sensitivity about mentally special needs children and their families should be increased. It should be ensured that families can easily ask questions to the healthcare personnel, receive counseling, and information from nurses with a positive approach.

Nurses' knowledge and sensitivity about mentally special needs children and their families should be increased. It should be ensured that families can easily ask questions to the healthcare personnel, receive counseling, and information from nurses with a positive approach.

To evaluate the efficacy of intraprostatic injection of prophylactic antibiotics for the prevention of infections following transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy.

In this prospective interventional study, patients aged between 40 and 70years with clinical indications for transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy were enrolled. Consecutive patients who received intraprostatic injection of amikacin coupled with oral ciprofloxacin were compared with historical controls receiving only prophylactic oral fluoroquinolones prior to biopsy. Patients were followed for 7days after biopsy for signs and symptoms of infection.

A total of 210 patients were included in this study (mean age 65.7±7.8years). Among patients without intraprostatic injection, nine (8.6%) developed infectious complications (lower urinary tract infection in seven patients, and prostatitis in two), which led to hospitalization in six patients (5.7%). None of the patients who received intraprostatic antibiotic injection developed infectious complications. The difference in the incidence of post-transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy infections between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.003).

Local intraprostatic antibiotic injection during transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy adjuvant to oral fluoroquinolones can significantly reduce the rate of post-biopsy infectious complications.

Local intraprostatic antibiotic injection during transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy adjuvant to oral fluoroquinolones can significantly reduce the rate of post-biopsy infectious complications.The reproductive processes of several deciduous trees are highly sensitive to Zn deficiency. An understanding of the patterns of Zn storage and remobilization during bud development and bud break is critical for the development of fertilization strategies to prevent deficiencies and may be valuable in selection and breeding programs to develop more Zn-resilient cultivars. In this study, we provide insights into the in situ distribution of Zn in almond reproductive organs at tissue, cellular, and subcellular scales using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence. The concentrations of Zn in different parts of the vegetative and reproductive tissues were also analysed. Our results show that the small branches subtending the flower and fruit, pollen grain, transmitting tissues of styles, and seed embryo are all important storage sites for Zn. An increase in Zn concentrations in almond reproductive organs mostly occur during the expanding growth phase, such as bud-flush and the mid-fruit enlargement stage; however, Zn transport to floral parts and fruit tissues was restricted at the pedicel and seed coat, suggesting a bottleneck in the export of Zn from the mother plant to filial tissues. Our results provide direct visual evidence for in-situ Zn distribution within the reproductive tissues of a deciduous tree species.D. candidum Wall. ex Lindl. (D. candidum) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine with multiple therapeutic properties. D. candidum was administered to mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its mechanism of action was elucidated. D. candidum was intragastrically administered to HFD mice for 6 weeks at a dosage of 200 or 400 mg/kg. D. candidum reduced body weight gain and blood glucose levels in HFD mice in a dose-dependent manner, while significantly reducing lipid accumulation in the liver. D. candidum significantly regulated the expression of lipid metabolism- and gluconeogenesis-related genes and inhibited activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. In summary, D. candidum significantly inhibits fat accumulation, maintains lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis, and inhibits the inflammatory response in the liver of HFD mice. Our findings suggest that D. candidum may be an effective therapeutic strategy against NAFLD injury. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The occurrence and development of fatty liver is closely related to abnormalities in lipid and glucose metabolism. An HFD-induced NAFLD mouse model was used to study the effects of D. candidum. After treatment with D. candidum, lipid and glucose metabolism in the mice was effectively regulated, which reduced liver damage and fat storage with obvious protective effects on the liver. Our results suggest that D. candidum has potential for further clinical application in the treatment of NAFLD.The assessment of the radiolytic stability of media is an important task in the fields of nuclear power engineering and radiochemistry. Such studies must be carried out in special laboratory conditions with the use of sources of ionizing radiation, which may increase personal doses of the staff. In addition, difficulties arise in studying the products of irradiated media. While it is impossible to abandon experiments to obtain reliable results in this area, computational methods of quantum chemistry can reduce the number of experiments and help understand the mechanisms of the reactions that occur during radiolysis. Here we would like to present a software shell of the Qb@ll program performing time-dependent density functional theory simulations of the radiolysis process.

Primates represent a unique object for biomedical research, in particular in the field of physiology and pathology of the cardiovascular system. Echocardiography is the most important non-invasive method for the intravital study of the heart structure and function, intracardiac and systemic haemodynamics. The available data on reference values of echocardiographic parameters in primates are limited.

We determined and described 29 structural and functional parameters in echocardiographic examination using B-mode (two-dimensional scanning), M-mode (one-dimensional scanning) and in various Doppler modes together with blood pressure in 17 male cynomolgus macaques with an average age of 5.7±0.6years. We compared available literature data on reference values of echocardiography in this species.

Echocardiographic values in cynomolgus macaques depend on age, sex composition and the anaesthesia method. There is lack of presentation in the published studies of complete list of parameters that can be obtained by echocardiographic examination.