To evaluate the effects of short-term postoperative continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on the outcomes of velopharyngeal surgery for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
This study included 119 OSA ...patients who underwent velopharyngeal surgery. Based on the results of postoperative pulse oximetry, the patients were divided into 3 groups: intervention, control, and observation. Patients with oxygen desaturation index (ODI) > 10 and lowest SpO2 < 90% were randomly assigned to the CPAP intervention group and non-CPAP control. Patients with ODI ≤10 or lowest SpO2 ≥ 90% were assigned to the non-CPAP observation group. Patients in the intervention group completed at least 3 months of CPAP treatment. Postoperative polysomnography data were compared to assess the difference of prognosis between the three groups.
Baseline data showed no significant differences between the three groups except the observational group showed a significantly larger tonsil size relative to the intervention and control groups. However, there was no significant difference in terms of tonsil size between the control and intervention groups. The surgical success rate of the intervention group was 80.65%, whereas it was 55.17% in the control group, with significant difference. The success rate of the observation group was 85.71% which was significantly different from that of the control group, but not the intervention group.
Short-term postoperative CPAP treatment may improve the outcomes of velopharyngeal surgery for OSA in patients who have respiratory events related hypoxia after surgery. Further studies are necessary for the underlying mechanisms.
T cell dysfunction is associated with disease relapse and progress in leukemia. Restoring anti-cancer T cell function could be carried out by immune checkpoint blockade. However, the limited ...application of such immunotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may be due to poor understanding of the global T cell dysfunction. In this study, we analyzed the distribution of 24 TCR Vβ subfamilies in CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood from 10 de novo AML patients and 18 healthy individuals (HI). We firstly established the global distribution pattern of Vβ repertoire in HI and found a different distribution pattern for Vβ repertoire in AML. The number of Vβ+T cells was predominately lower in most AML cases, while increased in some cases. Vβ2+T cells were increased in AML, particularly Vβ2+CD4+T cells, which were significantly higher. To further address the immunosuppression in different Vβ subfamilies, we characterized the distribution of program death-1 (PD-1)+T cells in Vβ + CD4+ and CD8+T cells. Significantly higher levels of PD-1+Vβ+T cells were found in the majority of the AML cases. In CD3+ T cells, higher PD-1+ Vβ+ T cells were found in 22 out of the 24 Vβ subfamilies with the exception of Vβ11 and Vβ14. Similarly, higher PD-1+ Vβ+ T cells were found in 23 out of the 24 Vβ subfamilies in CD4+ T cells and in 11 Vβ subfamily CD8+ T cells. A higher percentage of PD-1+Vβ2+T cells with a high number of Vβ2+T cells was found in all of the CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell subsets. In addition, higher PD-1+ Vβ5.2+ and PD-1+ Vβ12+CD8+T cells were associated with AML patients who had a poor response to chemotherapy. In conclusion, increased PD-1+Vβ+T cells are a common characteristic of AML, which may be associated with a low anti-leukemia effect and poor prognosis in AML. These characteristics may be worth considering as immune biomarkers for clinical outcome in AML.
Catheter ablation combined with left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) has emerged as a promising strategy for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at high risk for stroke or with contraindications for ...oral anticoagulants (OACs). But the evidence for the long-term safety and efficacy of a combined procedure using cryoballoon ablation (CBA) with LAAC is still insufficient.
From October 2015 to December 2017, a total of 76 consecutive non-valvular, drug-refractory AF patients who underwent a combined procedure of CBA and LAAC are included. Peri- and post-procedural safety and efficacy were evaluated through scheduled follow-ups and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).
A total of 74 patients (97.4%) underwent the combined procedure and achieved instant pulmonary vein isolation and satisfactory LAAC. With a mean follow-up time of 23.7 ± 11.0 months, the recurrence of atrial arrhythmia was recorded in 35 patients (48.0%). In addition, a survival analysis shows a non-significant higher recurrence in persistent AF (
= 0.48). The overall OAC withdrawal rate was 97.2%, and one patient (1.4%) had a lethal hemorrhagic stroke while on single antiplatelet therapy. For safety concerns, the overall mortality was 2.7%, which resulted from one case of myocardial infarction on OAC and one hemorrhagic stroke, as mentioned. No other major hemorrhagic events occurred. Among the 72 patients (94.7%) who underwent TEE, one patient (1.4%) had device-related thrombosis and one patient (1.4%) had prominent residual flow (over 3 mm). Both were prescribed long-term OACs without severe complications occurring.
Combining CBA with LAAC in a single procedure achieved considerable long-term safety and efficacy, providing a promising strategy for AF management.
Some groups such as carboxyl, phosphate, and hydroxyl on the surface of adsorbents were considered very vital to recovery rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater by adsorption, and the main ...adsorption groups vary with the vary of pH value. The adsorption performance and the groups of Serratia marcescens adsorption yttrium (Y(l 11)) at pH 2.0, 3.5, and 5.5 were studied in the present study. The adsorption capacity of Serratia marcescens for Y(lll) increased from 26.83 mg/g to 69.19 mg/g with the increase of pH from 2.0 to 5.5. Field emission transmission electron microscope (FETEM) confirmed that Y(lll) was adsorbed on the Serratia marcescens cell surface, and the adsorption amount increased with the increases of the pH value. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed carboxylate and hydroxy groups mainly complexation with Y(lll) at pH 2.0. Y(lll) was captured on the Serratia marcescens surface under the combined actions of carboxylate and hydroxy and amine groups at pH 3.5 and 5.5, and amine became main adsorption groups at higher pH. The results showed amine, carboxylate, and hydroxy should be the groups of Serratia marcescens adsorption for yttrium. The results provided theory foundation for the preparation of high efficiency adsorbents by enhancing the adsorption groups of adsorbents surface through directive chemical modification.
A highly stable, long wavelength polarity sensitive probe, 8-nitrophenyl-3,5-dipiperidine-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (NPBDP), was developed for living cell imaging of intracellular ...lipid droplets by fluorescence microscopy.
The controlled synthesis of high-quality multilayer (ML) MoS sub(2) flakes with gradually shrinking basal planes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is demonstrated. These CVD-grown ML MoS sub(2) ...flakes exhibit much higher mobility and current density than mechanically exfoliated ML flakes due to the reduced contact resistance which mainly resulted from direct contact between the lower MoS sub(2) layers and electrodes.
The controlled synthesis of high-quality multilayer (ML) MoS
flakes with gradually shrinking basal planes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is demonstrated. These CVD-grown ML MoS
flakes exhibit ...much higher mobility and current density than mechanically exfoliated ML flakes due to the reduced contact resistance which mainly resulted from direct contact between the lower MoS
layers and electrodes.
AKT and ERK pathways have been implicated as therapeutic targets for human rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) inhibition, and thus RA treatment. Sprouty2 (SPRY2) has been ...known as a tumor suppressor by blocking both ERK and AKT signaling cascades. Whether SPRY2 can function as a suppressor of tumor-like inflammatory FLS and RA through negatively regulating AKT and ERK activation has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to determine whether SPRY2 might have antiarthritic effects in experimental animal model of RA. We first determined that expression of SPRY2 mRNA was decreased in FLS from patients with RA compared with patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Further studies demonstrated that intraarticular gene transfer with AdSPRY2, the recombinant adenovirus containing SPRY2 complementary DNA, resulted in a significant suppression of rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) compared with the control AdGFP, the adenoviral vector encoding green fluorescent protein, as reflected in both clinical and histological observations. AdSPRY2 suppressed the production of proinflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and the activation of ERK and AKT signals in AIA ankle joints. These results suggest that using SPRY2 to block the AKT and ERK pathways effectively reduces the inflammatory responses and arthritic progression in AIA. Thus, the development of an immunoregulatory strategy based on SPRY2 may therefore have therapeutic potential in the treatment of RA.
With the aim of tackling the increasingly serious antimicrobial resistance and improving the clinical potential of AMPs, a facile de novo strategy was adopted in this study, and a series of new ...peptides comprising repeating unit (WRX) n (X represents I, L, F, W, and K; n = 2, 3, 4, or 5) and amidation at C-terminus were designed. Most of the newly designed peptides exhibited a broad range of excellent antimicrobial activities against various bacteria, especially difficult-to-kill multidrug-resistant bacteria clinical isolates. Among (WRK)4 and (WRK)5, with n = 4 and n = 5 of repeating unit WRK, the highest selectivity for anionic bacterial membranes over a zwitterionic mammalian cell membrane is presented with strong antimicrobial potential and low toxicity. Additionally, both (WRK)4 and (WRK)5 emerged with fast killing speed and low tendency of resistance in sharp contrast to the conventional antibiotics ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and imipenem, as well as having antimicrobial activity through multiple mechanisms including a membrane-disruptive mechanism and an intramolecular mechanism (nucleic acid leakage, DNA binding and ROS generation) characterized by a series of assays. Furthermore, (WRK)4 exerted impressive therapeutic effects in vivo similarly to polymyxin B but displayed much lower toxicity in vivo than polymyxin B. Taken together, the newly designed peptides (WRK)4 and (WRK)5 presented tremendous potential as novel antimicrobial candidates in response to the growing antimicrobial resistance.
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