Lindahldeleon8238
Noticeably, arugula showed 6-fold higher ascorbate peroxidase activity and produced over 5-fold more glutathione and non-protein thiols than lettuce plants, which suggest critical roles of antioxidants in Se tolerance. Taken together, our results show that the elevated Se tolerance of arugula compared to lettuce is most likely due to an efficient antioxidant defense system. This study provides further insights into our understanding of the difference in tolerating and metabolizing/accumulating Se between Se accumulators and non-accumulators.
COVID-19 infection is associated with D-dimer elevations, high rates of thrombus formation, and poor clinical outcomes. We sought to determine if empiric therapeutic anticoagulation (AC) affected survival in COVID-19 patients compared to standard prophylactic AC.
Retrospective analysis of 402 COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 15 and May 31, 2020 was performed. Clinical outcomes were compared between 152 patients treated with therapeutic AC to 250 patients on prophylactic AC. An elastic net logistic regression was designed to first identify the important variables affecting mortality. These variables were then included as covariates to AC in standard multivariate logistic regression models studying the effect of AC on death. Nonparametric survival analysis was conducted, and Kaplan Meier curves were constructed.
Increased mortality was associated with therapeutic AC [OR 3.42 (2.06, 5.67)]. The log-rank test was statistically significant at p=0.001 showing higher mortality for patients treated with therapeutic AC compared to prophylactic AC. Subset analysis of critically ill and intubated patients had similar survival curves regardless of AC dose. The log-rank test was not significant even with Prentice modification. For non-ICU patients, the log rank test favoring prophylactic AC disappeared when the analysis was stratified by D-dimer level less or greater than 3μg/mL. Approximately 9% of patients receiving therapeutic AC experienced clinically significant bleeding or thrombocytopenia, versus 3% in those receiving prophylactic AC.
In our cohort, therapeutic anticoagulation provided no mortality benefit over thromboprophylaxis, independent of co-morbidities or disease severity. More adverse events were observed with therapeutic AC.
In our cohort, therapeutic anticoagulation provided no mortality benefit over thromboprophylaxis, independent of co-morbidities or disease severity. More adverse events were observed with therapeutic AC.Congenital hypodysfibrinogenemia is a rare fibrinogen disorder, defined by decreased levels of a dysfunctional fibrinogen. Methotrexate cell line We present the functional and structural characterization of two new fibrinogen variants. A duplication of 32 bases in FGA exon 5, p.Ser382GlyfsTer50 was identified in a patient (P1) with history of hemoptysis and traumatic cerebral bleeding. A missense mutation in FGG exon 8, p.Ala353Ser was identified in two siblings (P2 and P3) with tendency to bruising and menorrhagia. Fibrin polymerization was studied in plasma and in purified fibrinogen by turbidimetry. Fibrin structure was studied by a permeability assay, laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In both plasma and purified fibrinogen samples, all patients had an abnormal polymerization characterized by a decreased maximal absorption compared to controls. The permeation constant (Ks) was markedly increased in all patients 31 ± 9 × 10-9 cm2 in P1, and 20 ± 0.1 × 10-9 cm2 in P2 and P3, compared to 6 ± 2 × 10-9 cm2 in the control (p less then 0.05). The presence of very large pores that accounts for the increased Ks was confirmed by LSCM and SEM patients' clots images. By SEM, the patients' fibrin fibers diameters were thicker 90 ± 25 nm in P1, 162 ± 64 nm in P2 and 132 ± 46 nm in P3 compared to 74 ± 25 nm in control (p less then 0.0001). In conclusion, both new causative fibrinogen mutations altered clot structure by forming thick fibers, diminishing fiber branching, and increasing pore filling space. These structural changes to clots explain the patients' bleeding phenotypes.Three-dimensional (3D) porous hydroxyapatite/silk fibroin (HA/SF) composite scaffolds with good mechanical and biological performance, could provide a good cellular survival microenvironment for bone repair. However, coating HA efficiently and uniformly on SF scaffolds remains a challenge. In this study, the effects of microwave-assisted technology and biomineralization methods on the nanostructure, chemical composition and deposition efficiency of HA coating have been comparatively analyzed. Furthermore, the mechanical performance of the prepared 3D scaffolds was evaluated, and rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were seeded on the 3D scaffolds to investigate their cytocompatibility and osteogenic differentiation capacities. The results indicate that microwave-assisted technology could improve the HA deposition efficiency to enhance the compressive strengths of 3D HA/SF scaffolds. Especially, when microwave-assisted technology is introduced in simulated body fluid mineralization process, the obtained 3D composite scaffold could trigger the best cellular response, including promoting cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. This study may provide a promising strategy for constructing 3D porous scaffolds with excellent mechanical and biological performance for bone tissue engineering.COVID-19, the novel coronavirus pandemic, has already spread around the globe affecting more than 18 million people. As previously observed with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 deeply dysregulate the immune system eliciting respiratory failure and a state of systemic hyperinflammation in severely ill individuals. Immunotherapy is often used to downgrade the detrimental effects of the disease sustained by high-level of cytokines. Those treatments, however, are known to undermine patients' ability to contain tuberculosis (TB) infection. This study aims to describe interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) results in severe COVID-19 patients eligible for immunosuppressive treatment. Aggregate data were gathered from five hospitals in Milan, Italy, from March 1 to May 15, 2020 and retrospectively analyses. Results were summarized using absolute frequencies and percentages and compared using a two-sided Chi-squared test. Overall, 462 COVID-19 patients were eligible for immunosuppressive therapy, among which 335 were tested using IGRA testing.