Search

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is more common in Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Considering that ruptured AAA is potentially fatal, timely management of AAA would result in long-term survival benefits. We assess the prevalence and characteristics of AAA in resectable NSCLC patients who would benefit from AAA surveillance. Methods: 1,019 resectable NSCLC patients in Severance and Kangbuk Samsung Hospitals were reviewed from January 2019 to November 2020. The control group comprised 2,899 cancer-free people who had a health check-up CT scan in Severance between January 2018 and December 2019. Results: Among resectable primary NSCLC patients, 39/1,019 (3.8%; odds ratio [OR], 19.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.10–46.46) had AAA compared with 6/2,899 (0.2%) in the control (P<0.001). In multivariable regression analysis, male (OR, 13.24; 95% CI, 1.50–117.48; P = 0.020), aging (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04–1.15; P<0.001), current smoker (OR, 4.20; 95% CI, 1.20–14.62; P = 0.024), and coronary artery disease (OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.48–6.62; P = 0.003) were independent risk factors for AAA in NSCLC. Conclusion: The present study found that the incidence of AAA in resectable early-stage lung cancer patients was significantly higher than in the cancer-free control group. Therefore, we suggest that early-stage NSCLC patients, especially smokers older than 60 years, undergo regular AAA surveillance as part of their lung cancer monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to detect patient deterioration early have led to the development of early warning score (EWS) models. However, these models are disease-nonspecific and have shown variable accuracy in predicting unexpected critical events. Here, we propose a simpler and more accurate method for predicting risk in respiratory ward patients. This retrospective study analyzed adult patients who were admitted to the respiratory ward and detected using the rapid response system (RRS). Study outcomes included transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) within 24 hours after RRS activation and in-hospital mortality. Prediction power of existing EWS models including Modified EWS (MEWS), National EWS (NEWS), and VitalPAC EWS (ViEWS) and SpO2/FiO2 (SF) ratio were compared to each other using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Overall, 456 patients were included; median age was 75 years (interquartile range: 65–80) and 344 (75.4%) were male. Seventy-three (16.0%) and 79 (17.3%) patients were transferred to the ICU and died. The SF ratio displayed better or comparable predictive accuracy for unexpected ICU transfer (AUROC: 0.744) compared to MEWS (0.744 vs. 0.653, P = 0.03), NEWS (0.744 vs. 0.667, P = 0.04), and ViEWS (0.744 vs. 0.675, P = 0.06). For in-hospital mortality, although there was no statistical difference, the AUROC of the SF ratio (0.660) was higher than that of each of the preexisting EWS models. In comparison with the preexisting EWS models, the SF ratio showed better or comparable predictive accuracy for unexpected ICU transfers in the respiratory wards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) level is expected to increase substantially, which may change the global climate and carbon dynamics in ecosystems. We examined the effects of an elevated atmospheric CO2 level on the growth of Quercus acutissima and Fraxinus rhynchophylla seedlings. We investigated changes in the chemical composition of leaf litter, as well as litter decomposition. Q. acutissima and F. rhynchophylla did not show differences in dry weight between ambient CO2 and enriched CO2 treatments, but they exhibited different patterns of carbon allocation, namely, lower shoot/root ratio (S/R) and decreased specific leaf area (SLA) under CO2-enriched conditions. The elevated CO2 concentration significantly reduced the nitrogen concentration in leaf litter while increasing lignin concentrations and carbon/nitrogen (C/N) and lignin/N ratios. The microbial biomass associated with decomposing Q. acutissima leaf litter was suppressed in CO2 enrichment chambers, while that of F. rhynchophylla was not. The leaf litter of Q. acutissima from the CO2-enriched chambers, in contrast with F. rhynchophylla, contained much lower nutrient concentrations than that of the litter in the ambient air chambers. Consequently, poorer litter quality suppressed decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: Patients who develop an active tuberculosis infection during tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor treatment typically discontinue TNF inhibitor and receive standard anti-tuberculosis treatment. However, there is currently insufficient information on patient outcomes following resumption of TNF inhibitor treatment during ongoing anti- tuberculosis treatment. Our study was designed to investigate the safety of resuming TNF inhibitors in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients who developed tuberculosis as a complication of the use of TNF inhibitors. Methods: Through the nationwide registry of the Korean Society of Spondyloarthritis Research, 3929 AS patients who were prescribed TNF inhibitors were recruited between June 2003 and June 2014 at fourteen referral hospitals. Clinical information was analyzed about the patients who experienced tuberculosis after exposure to TNF inhibitors. The clinical features of resumers and non-resumers of TNF inhibitors were compared and the outcomes of tuberculosis were surveyed individually. Findings: Fifty-six AS patients were treated for tuberculosis associated with TNF inhibitors. Among them, 23 patients resumed TNF inhibitors, and these patients were found to be exposed to TNF inhibitors for a longer period of time and experienced more frequent disease flare-up after discontinuation of TNF inhibitors compared with those who did not resume. Fifteen patients resumed TNF inhibitors during anti-tuberculosis treatment (early resumers) and 8 after completion of anti-tuberculosis treatment (late resumers). Median time to resuming TNF inhibitor from tuberculosis was 3.3 and 9.0 months in the early and late resumers, respectively. Tuberculosis was treated successfully in all resumers and did not relapse in any of them during follow-up (median 33.8 [IQR; 20.8–66.7] months). Conclusions: Instances of tuberculosis were treated successfully in our AS patients, even when given concomitantly with TNF inhibitors. We suggest that early resumption of TNF inhibitors in AS patients could be safe under effective coverage of tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eugenol has sedative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects, but also serves as an irritant through the regulation of a different set of ion channels. Activation of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors on sensory neurons leads to the stabilization of neuronal excitability but contributes to formalin-induced inflammatory pain. In this study, we examined the effect of eugenol on the GABA-induced current in rat trigeminal ganglia (TG) neurons and in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells expressing the GABAA receptor α1β2γ2 subtype using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis were used to confirm the expression of GABAA receptor γ2 subunit mRNA and protein in the TG and hippocampus. Eugenol decreased the amplitude ratio of the GABA-induced current to 27.5 ± 3.2% (p < 0.05) in TG neurons, which recovered after a 3-min washout. In HEK 293 cells expressing the α1β2γ2 subtype, eugenol inhibited GABA-induced currents in a dose-dependent manner. Application of eugenol also decreased the GABA response in the presence of a G-protein blocker. Eugenol pretreatment with different concentrations of GABA resulted in similar inhibition of the GABA-induced current in a non-competitive manner. In conclusion, eugenol inhibits the GABA-induced current in TG neurons and HEK 293 cells expressing the GABAA receptor in a reversible, dose-dependent, and non-competitive manner, but not via the G-protein pathway. We suggest that the GABAA receptor could be a molecular target for eugenol in the modulation of nociceptive information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of Atomic Form Factors (f) is well-known to the scientific community. Tabulated values for f are mostly used in calculating cross-sections and Monte Carlo sampling for the coherent scattering of photons. The uses of these values are subjected to different approximations and interpolation techniques because the available data points for f in the literature for specified momentum-transfer-grids are very limited. In order to make it easier to accurately use the tabulated data, a mathematical expression for f functions would be a great achievement. Therefore, the current study was designed to suggest an empirical expression for the f functions. In the results, an empirical equation for Hubbell's tabulated data for f is created in the momentum transfer range, q = 0–50 Å−1 for the elements in the range 1≤ Z ≤30. The number of applied parameters was seven. The fitting to f showed that the maximum deviation was within 3%, 4% and 5% for the element having, Z = 1–11, Z = 12–22 and Z = 23–30, respectively, while the average deviations were within 0.3–2.25% for all elements (i.e., Z = 1–30). The values generated by the analytical equation were used in the Monte Carlo code instead of Hubbell’s tabulated values. The statistical noise in the Probability Distribution Functions of coherently scattered photons was efficiently removed. Furthermore, it also reduced the dependence on different interpolation techniques and approximations, and on the use of large tabulated data for f with the specified elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]