Scientific reports
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Bronchiectasis is prevalent in patients with COPD. The objective of this study was to assess the clinical characteristics and prognostic value of bronchiectasis in patients with COPD in China. Data from patients diagnosed with COPD at the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital between January 2009 and December 2013 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. ⋯ The presence of bronchiectasis (HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.02-3.08; P = 0.043) was associated with an increase in all-cause mortality in patients with COPD. These results suggest that bronchiectasis in patients with COPD was associated with the isolation of PA from the sputum. Bronchiectasis was an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in patients with COPD.
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Single and repeated sports-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), also referred to as concussion, can result in chronic post-concussive syndrome (PCS), neuropsychological and cognitive deficits, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). However PCS is often difficult to diagnose using routine clinical, neuroimaging or laboratory evaluations, while CTE currently only can be definitively diagnosed postmortem. We sought to develop an animal model to simulate human repetitive concussive head injury for systematic study. ⋯ Dynamic changes in MRI, neurobiochemical markers (Tau hyperphosphorylation and glia activation in brain tissues) and neurobehavioral functions such as anxiety, depression, motor function and cognitive function at various acute/subacute (1-7 day post-injury) and chronic (14-60 days post-injury) time points were examined. To explore the potential biomarkers of rCHI, serum levels of total Tau (T-Tau) and phosphorylated Tau (P-Tau) were also monitored at various time points. Our results show temporal dynamics of MRI consistent with structural perturbation in the acute phase and neurobiochemical changes (P-Tau and GFAP induction) in the subacute and chronic phase as well as development of chronic neurobehavioral changes, which resemble those observed in mTBI patients.
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Pd loaded amphiphilic COF as catalyst for multi-fold Heck reactions, C-C couplings and CO oxidation.
COFs represent a class of polymers with designable crystalline structures capable of interacting with active metal nanoparticles to form excellent heterogeneous catalysts. Many valuable ligands/monomers employed in making coordination/organic polymers are prepared via Heck and C-C couplings. Here, we report an amphiphilic triazine COF and the facile single-step loading of Pd(0) nanoparticles into it. ⋯ As an oxidation catalyst, it shows 100% conversion of CO to CO2 at 150 °C with no loss of activity with time and between cycles. Both vapor sorptions and contact angle measurements confirm the amphiphilic character of the COF. DFT-TB studies showed the presence of Pd-triazine and Pd-Schiff bond interactions as being favorable.
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Gentamicin may cause acute kidney injury. The pathogenesis of gentamicin nephrotoxicity is unclear. Autophagy is a highly conserved physiological process involved in removing damaged or aged biological macromolecules and organelles from the cytoplasm. ⋯ In the kidneys of the 10-day group, the level of autophagy decreased, and oxidative damage and apoptosis were aggravated. After rapamycin intervention, autophagy activity was activated, renal damage in proximal tubules was markedly alleviated, and interstitium infiltration of inflammatory cells was decreased. These results suggest that rapamycin may ameliorate gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity by enhancing autophagy.
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Results of animal studies have raised a significant concern that commonly used general anesthetics may induce neurotoxicity in children. It may be difficult to resolve this concern with human studies because randomizing children only for testing anesthetic toxicity may not be feasible. We randomized 6-day old male Cynomolgus monkeys to receive or not to receive sevoflurane anesthesia at surgical plane for 5 h. ⋯ Sevoflurane also did not affect the learning and memory of the monkeys when they were assessed from the age of 7 months. Finally, sevoflurane did not affect the expression of multiple neuron-specific proteins in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of 10-month old monkeys after all behavioral and cognitive tests were completed. These results suggest that exposure of neonatal monkey to sevoflurane may not affect cognition, behavior and neuronal structures in childhood, indicating the safety of sevoflurane anesthesia in children.