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Purpose: We aimed to identify a safe and effective method to assist older adults with pneumonia in tolerating the prone position for a longer duration. Methods: This was a randomized, controlled, double-blinded study performed at the Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital. Eighty patients with pneumonia aged ≥ 65 years were included. The patients were able to spontaneous breath in the prone position and were administered intravenous dexmedetomidine or an isotonic sodium chloride solution. The cumulative daily durations of prone positioning for all patients in the two groups were recorded. The primary outcome was the percentage of patients who completed ≥ 9 h/day in the prone position. The secondary outcomes included the incidence of complications in the prone position and patient outcomes. Results: Eighty patients were included (average age: 79.6 ± 8.9 years). The percentage of patients who completed ≥ 9 h/day in the prone position was significantly higher in the dexmedetomidine group than in the placebo group (P = 0.011). The percentage of patients who completed ≥ 12 h/day in the prone position was also significantly greater in the dexmedetomidine group than in the placebo group (P = 0.008). There were no significant differences in other variables between the two groups. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that intravenous dexmedetomidine injection can significantly prolong the duration of spontaneous breathing in the prone position in elderly pneumonia patients without obvious adverse events. We provide a safe and effective method to help patients with pneumonia, especially those with delirium or cognitive impairment, who cannot tolerate the length of time needed for spontaneous breathing in the prone position to be effective. Trial registration: The study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Center (registration number: ChiCRT2300067383) on 2023-01-05. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IL-33 belongs to the inflammatory factor family and is closely associated with the inflammatory response. However, its role in the development of intrauterine adhesions (IUAs) remains unclear. In this study, the role of IL-33 in the formation of IUAs after endometrial injury was identified via RNA sequencing after mouse endometrial organoids were transplanted into an IUA mouse model. Major pathological changes in the mouse uterus, consistent with the expression of fibrotic markers, such as TGF-β, were observed in response to treatment with IL-33. This finding may be attributed to activation of the phosphorylation of downstream MAPK signaling pathway components, which are activated by the release of IL-33 in macrophages. Our study provides a novel mechanism for elucidating IUA formation, suggesting a new therapeutic strategy for the prevention and clinical treatment of IUAs. Mechanistic modeling of endometrial organoids reveals the role of IL-33 in the pathological formation of intrauterine adhesions through mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two boundary value problems of the fractional p-Laplacian equation at resonance are considered in this paper. By using the continuation theorem due to Ge, we obtain some existence results for such boundary value problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a p-Laplacian system with critical nonlinearity in ℝ. Under the proper assumptions, we obtain the existence of nontrivial solutions to perturbed p-Laplacian system by using the variational approach. MR Subject Classification: 35B33; 35J60; 35J65. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the existence of solutions to three-point boundary value problem for one-dimensional p-Laplacian at resonance and non-resonance. Some known results are improved under some sign and growth conditions. The proof is based on the Brouwer degree theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been modified by Ag, Ti, Cu and Si ion implantation with a dose ranging from 1×1016 to 2×1017 ions/cm2 using a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) source. The electrical properties of PET have been improved by metal ion implantation. The resistivity of implanted PET decreased obviously with an increase in ion dose. The results show that the conductive behavior of a metal ion implanted sample is different from Si-implantation samples. In order to understant the mechanism of electrical conduction, the structures of implanted layer were observed in detail by XRD and TEM. The nano carbon particles were dispersed in implanted PET. The nano metallic particles were built up in metallic ion implanted layers with dose range from 1 × 1016 to 1 × 1017 ions/cm2. The nanometer metal net structure was formed in implanted layer when a dose of 2 × 1017ions/cm2 is reached. Anomalous fractal growths were observed. These surface structure changes revealed conducting mechanism evolution. It is believed that the change would result in an improvement of the conductive properties. The conducting mechanism will be changed with increasing metal ion dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the MEVVA ion source, carbon ions have been implanted in TiN coatings deposited by multiarc ion plating. The Vickers microhardness of the C+-implanted TiN films increased with the increase in the ion flux and dose. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the TiC phases had been formed in the films. In addition, the films had the preferred growth orientations of TiN and TiC, both of which were (111) orientation after annealing at 500°C for 30 min. Auger electron spectra analysis indicated that C+-implanted profile was in typical Gaussian-like distribution in single films. The distribution with multipeaks of C atoms was obtained in multi-layer TiN/Ti. The possibility of the multilayer films (Ti(C,N)/TiN/Ti(C,N)/TiN and Ti(C,N)/TiC/Ti(C,N)/TiC) forming using the C-implanted TiN/Ti films is presented for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]