The cause of chronic inflammatory periodontitis, which leads to the destruction of periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, is multifactorial. An increasing number of studies have shown the clinical ...significance of NLRP3-mediated low-grade inflammation in degenerative disorders, but its causal linkage to age-related periodontitis has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the involvement of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the therapeutic potential of NLRP3 inhibition in age-related alveolar bone loss by using in vivo and in vitro models. The poor quality of alveolar bones in aged mice was correlated with caspase-1 activation by macrophages and elevated levels of IL-1β, which are mainly regulated by the NLRP3 inflammasome, in periodontal ligament and serum, respectively. Aged mice lacking Nlrp3 showed better bone mass than age-matched wild-type mice via a way that affects bone resorption rather than bone formation. In line with this finding, treatment with MCC950, a potent inhibitor of the NLRP3 inflammasome, significantly suppressed alveolar bone loss with reduced caspase-1 activation in aged mice but not in young mice. In addition, our in vitro studies showed that the addition of IL-1β encourages RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis from bone marrow–derived macrophages and that treatment with MCC950 significantly suppresses osteoclastic differentiation directly, irrelevant to the inhibition of IL-1β production. Our results suggest that the NLRP3 inflammasome is a critical mediator in age-related alveolar bone loss and that targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome could be a novel option for controlling periodontal degenerative changes with age.
H2S is a common impurity in the syngas derived from municipal solid waste gasification. For power generation using advanced technologies, such as gas engines/turbines or solid oxide fuel cells, ...reducing the H2S content to acceptable levels is required. This work investigated the desulfurization performance of bimetallic particles by adding different metals (Fe, Cr, Co, Ni) into ZnO-based nanocomposites. At 400 °C, the Co-ZnO demonstrated 26.3, 5.0, 1.7 times higher sulfur uptake from a model syngas (composed of 100 ppmv H2S, 15 vol% CO, 5 vol% CO2, 15 vol% H2, 15 vol% H2O and N2 (balance)) than pure ZnO, Cr-ZnO and Fe-ZnO, respectively. This could be attributed to the formation of p-n heterojunction between the n-type ZnO and p-type Co3O4, accelerating surface reaction kinetics. Although the Ni-ZnO showed a better performance at 400 °C, at an elevated temperature of 600 °C, the Co-ZnO demonstrated 1.2 times higher sulfur capacity compared to Ni-ZnO. Furthermore, the Co-ZnO nanocomposite was subjected to 3 cycles of high-temperature desulfurization (600 °C) and regeneration. The results showed that its high desulfurization efficiency was retained after the tests. This could enable a high-temperature desulfurization of hot syngas and hence an increase in the electrical efficiency of waste-to-energy facilities.
•Effect of metal addition on the desulfurization ability of ZnO sorbents was studied.•Co-ZnO had the highest sulfur uptake among ZnO, Cr-ZnO, Fe-ZnO and Co-ZnO at 400 °C.•Co-ZnO performed better than Ni-ZnO at 600 °C albeit worse at 400 °C.•Co-ZnO was subjected to three desulfurization-regeneration cycles at 600 °C.•Co-ZnO showed good regenerability and no loss in the sulfur uptake after 3 cycles.
A quarter of all anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States are from enteric fermentation, primarily from ruminant livestock. This study was undertaken to test the effect of a methane ...inhibitor, 3-nitrooxypropanol (3NOP), on enteric methane emission in lactating Holstein cows. An experiment was conducted using 48 cows in a randomized block design with a 2-wk covariate period and a 12-wk data collection period. Feed intake, milk production, and fiber digestibility were not affected by the inhibitor. Milk protein and lactose yields were increased by 3NOP. Rumen methane emission was linearly decreased by 3NOP, averaging about 30% lower than the control. Methane emission per unit of feed dry matter intake or per unit of energy-corrected milk were also about 30% less for the 3NOP-treated cows. On average, the body weight gain of 3NOP-treated cows was 80% greater than control cows during the 12-wk experiment. The experiment demonstrated that the methane inhibitor 3NOP, applied at 40 to 80 mg/kg feed dry matter, decreased methane emissions from high-producing dairy cows by 30% and increased body weight gain without negatively affecting feed intake or milk production and composition. The inhibitory effect persisted over 12 wk of treatment, thus offering an effective methane mitigation practice for the livestock industries.
Background
Sevoflurane is widely used in paediatric anaesthesia but frequently causes emergence agitation (EA). This study evaluated whether limiting the sevoflurane concentration by combining ...remifentanil with sevoflurane reduced the incidence of EA.
Methods
Eighty‐four preschool children scheduled for adenotonsillectomy were randomly assigned to either the remifentanil or sevoflurane group. In the remifentanil group, anaesthesia was induced with thiopental, rocuronium, and 1% sevoflurane. It was maintained with 1% sevoflurane, 60% nitrous oxide in oxygen, and a continuous infusion of remifentanil. For the sevoflurane group, anaesthesia was induced with thiopental, rocuronium, and 8% sevoflurane, and was maintained with 2–3% sevoflurane. Both groups received ketorolac 1 mg/kg and dexamethasone 0.15 mg/kg. EA was measured using the paediatric anaesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) scale and a four‐point EA scale in the post‐anaesthesia care unit.
Results
The scores on the PAED scales were significantly lower in the remifentanil group than in the sevoflurane group median (interquartile range); 6 (4.25–10.25) vs. 11 (7.75–14.0), P = 0.007, and the proportion of patients with PAED scores ≥ 10 was significantly lower in the remifentanil group than in the sevoflurane group 15 (35.7%) vs. 27 (64.2%), P = 0.009. The incidence of EA evaluated using the four‐point scale was also lower in the remifentanil group 11 (26.1%) vs. 21 (50%), respectively, P = 0.025.
Conclusion
The incidence of EA was lower in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy who received a lower concentration of sevoflurane combined with remifentanil than in those given a higher concentration of sevoflurane without remifentanil.
There have been limited data on the risk of onward transmission from individuals with Omicron variant infections who return to work after a 5-day isolation.
To evaluate the risk of transmission from ...healthcare workers (HCWs) with Omicron variant who returned to work after a 5-day isolation and the viable-virus shedding kinetics.
This investigation was performed in a tertiary care hospital, Seoul, South Korea. In a secondary transmission study, we retrospectively reviewed the data of HCWs confirmed as COVID-19 from March 14th to April 3rd, 2022 in units with five or more COVID-19-infected HCWs per week. In the viral shedding kinetics study, HCWs with Omicron variant infection who agreed with daily saliva sampling were enrolled between February and March, 2022.
Of the 248 HCWs who were diagnosed with COVID-19 within 5 days of the return of an infected HCW, 18 (7%) had contact with the returned HCW within 1–5 days after their return. Of these, nine (4%) had an epidemiologic link other than with the returning HCW, and nine (4%) had contact with the returning HCW, without any other epidemiologic link. In the study of the kinetics of virus shedding (N = 32), the median time from symptom onset to negative conversion of viable virus was four days (95% confidence interval: 3–5).
Our data suggest that the residual risk of virus transmission after 5 days of isolation following diagnosis or symptom onset is low.
The development of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) is largely favoured by indiscriminate and prolonged carbapenem use, which is a significant contributing factor.
To evaluate the ...impact of two carbapenem antibiotic stewardship programme interventions on both carbapenem prescriptions and the clinical isolation rates of CR-GNBs, using interrupted time-series analysis.
A time-series analysis was performed using data for carbapenem usage from a tertiary hospital in South Korea from January 2017 to July 2022. Two carbapenem antibiotic stewardship programme interventions were implemented sequentially: (i) a prospective audit and feedback (PAF) from November 2018 to April 2020 (intervention 1), and (ii) preauthorization from May 2020 to August 2020 (intervention 2). Monthly carbapenem usage and incidence of CR-GNB before and after each intervention were compared using an autoregressive integrated moving average model.
Implementation of PAF resulted in a significant reduction in carbapenem consumption, followed by an additional decrease after the preauthorization was implemented. The incidence of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae increased after intervention 1, but there was a significant change from an increasing trend to a stationary trend after intervention 2. The incidence of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which had increased during the baseline period, became stationary after intervention 1. A significant decrease was observed in the incidence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii during the implementation of intervention 1 and 2.
This study emphasizes the importance of adopting comprehensive antibiotic management and rigorous infection control to prevent infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is multifactorial and involves immunological, environmental and genetic factors. Although there are no animal models that effectively mimic human IBD, experimental ...models allow us to analyze the mechanisms of chronic intestinal inflammation. IBD can be induced in mice by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) or by a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)‑ethanol enema, which evoke immune responses and colitis. In this study, in order to compare the mechanisms of inflammatory response in mice, 3 distinct models of IBD were established: 2% TNBS-induced acute colitis, 4% DSS-induced acute colitis and 2% DSS-induced chronic colitis. In addition, to evaluate the effects of TNBS on inflammasome activation, we used caspase-1 knockout (KO) mice. Changes in both body weight and survival became prominent after day 1 in the 2% TNBS‑induced colitis model, and after day 5 in the 4% DSS-induced colitis model. The TNBS- and DSS-treated mice, but not the caspase-1 KO mice, showed a massive bowel edema and disruption of epithelial cells. The level of CD11b(+)Gr-1(+) myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) was increased in all tested tissues of the TNBS- and DSS-treated groups, apart from the basal membrane (BM) in the DSS-induced colitis groups and the lamina propria (LP) in the DSS-induced chronic colitis group. We further analyzed different subsets of CD4(+) T cells in LP and found that the levels of interferon (IFN)γ‑secreting (IFNγ(+)), IL-17‑secreting (IL-17(+)), but not those of IL-4-secreting (IL-4(+)) T cells increased upon treatment with TNBS or DSS. In addition, discrepancies between the histopathologies of wild-type and caspase-1 KO mice indicated that the pathogenesis of IBD may be associated with the inflammasome pathway responses mediated by caspase‑1 in TNBS‑induced colitis.
Background/Objectives: To investigate the association of antioxidant nutritional status with the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in young children in a case–control, population-based study. ...Subjects/Methods: Identified from preschools by using the Korean version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Final analysis included 180 AD (mean age 5.3±0.9 years) and 242 non-AD (mean age 5.2±1.0 years) children. Diet was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Fasting blood samples were used for analyses of fat-soluble vitamins (retinol, α-tocopherol, and β-carotene) and vitamin C. Results: AD was associated negatively with intakes of antioxidant-related nutrients. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were 0.44 (0.22–0.88) for the highest (vs lowest) quintile of β-carotene. A similar association was observed for dietary vitamin E (OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.16–0.67), folic acid (OR=0.37, 95% CI=0.18–0.73), and iron (OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.19–0.79). Reduced AD risk was found with 1 s.d. increase of serum α-tocopherol OR=0.64, 95% CI=0.41–0.98) and retinol (OR=0.74, 95% CI=0.58–0.96) concentrations, and marginally with that of serum β-carotene levels (P=0.0749 for trend). There was no relationship of AD risk with dietary and plasma vitamin C as well as nutrient supplement intake regardless of nutrient type. AD was predicted better by the intake measure than the corresponding blood biomarker regarding vitamin E and β-carotene. Conclusions: These findings suggest that higher antioxidant nutritional status reduces the risk of AD and that such risk-reduction effects depend on nutrient type.
Delayed onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms after apparent recovery from acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning has been described as delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae (DNS). To date, there have been no ...studies on the utility of serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neuronal cell damage, as a predictive marker of DNS in acute CO poisoning. This retrospective observational study was performed on adult patients with acute CO poisoning consecutively treated over a 9-month period. Serum NSE was measured after emergency department arrival, and patients were divided into two groups. The DNS group comprised patients with delayed sequelae, while the non-DNS group included patients with none of these sequelae. A total of 98 patients with acute CO poisoning were enrolled in this study. DNS developed in eight patients. The median NSE value was significantly higher in the DNS group than in the non-DNS group. There was a statistical difference between the non-DNS group and the DNS group in terms of CO exposure time, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), loss of consciousness, creatinine kinase, and troponin I. GCS and NSE were the early predictors of development of DNS. The area under the curve according to the receiver operating characteristic curves of GCS, serum NSE, and GCS combined with serum NSE were 0.922, 0.836, and 0.969, respectively. In conclusion, initial GCS and NSE served as early predictors of development of DNS. Also, NSE might be a useful additional parameter that could improve the prediction accuracy of initial GCS.
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