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In this study, the oxidized cellulose nanofibrils from pineapple peel (PP-TOCNF) were prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation followed by ball milling. The influence of oxidation degree on the structure and properties of PP-TOCNF were investigated, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetry (TG), as well as the potential application in aerogels. The results suggested that TEMPO oxidation facilitated the dispersion of PP-TOCNF due to the strong electrostatic repulsion between –COO− groups. Regulating oxidation degree by varying NaClO concentration could effectively adjust the –COO− content (0.167 ~ 0.550 mmol/g), zeta potential (-18 ~ -34 mV) and rheological properties. The obtained PP-TOCNF showed a long fibrillar structure, whose average diameter and CrI values gradually decreased with the increase of oxidation degree. The PP-TOCNF-based aerogels exhibited a light weight, good porosity, water absorption, and mechanical properties, which also can be easily adjusted by oxidation degree of PP-TOCNF. Furthermore, TEMPO oxidation improved the stability and shape recovery ability of aerogels in water.

Present evidence suggests that the administration of antibiotics, particularly aminopenicillins, may increase the risk of rash in children with infectious mononucleosis (IM). This retrospective, multicenter cohort study of children with IM was conducted to explore the association between antibiotic exposure in IM children and the risk of rash.

Objectives The study aimed to examine long-term survival of patients with acute paraquat poisoning using computed tomography (CT) images and spirometry. Methods A total of 36 patients with long-term survival after paraquat poisoning were followed-up and divided into mild (11 patients), moderate (17 patients), and severe (8 patients) paraquat poisoning groups. Differences among the groups were compared using clinical indicators, such as peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, arterial partial pressure of oxygen and 6-min walk test (6-MWT), chest CT, spirometry, and serum immunoglobulin E (IgE). Results The 6-MWT distance was significantly shorter in the severe paraquat poisoning group than that in the mild and moderate paraquat poisoning groups. In the mild paraquat poisoning group, CT revealed no obvious lung injury, and spirometry showed normal lung function in most patients. In moderate or severe paraquat poisoning group, CT images showed fibrotic lesions as cord-like high-density shadows, reticulations, and honeycombs. In addition, other pulmonary changes, including bronchiectasis, increased lung transparency, and pulmonary bullae, were discovered. In moderate or severe paraquat poisoning group, obvious obstructive ventilation dysfunction with slight restrictive and diffuse impairment were observed in some patients, with positive bronchial relaxation test and high serum IgE level. Conclusion In the long-term follow-up, patients with severe paraquat poisoning showed the lowest exercise endurance. In moderate or severe paraquat poisoning group, CT images revealed diversified changes, not only dynamic evolution of pulmonary fibrosis process, but also signs of bronchiectasis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Some patients with moderate or severe paraquat poisoning developed obstructive ventilatory dysfunction with airway hyperresponsiveness.

Background This study investigated the effect of melatonin (MT) on cell cycle (G1/S/G2/M) of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified-warmed mouse metaphase II (MII) oocytes and elucidated the potential mechanism of MT action in the first cleavage of embryos. Results After vitrification and warming, oocytes were parthenogenetically activated (PA) and in vitro cultured (IVC). Then the spindle morphology and chromosome segregation in oocytes, the maternal mRNA levels of genes including Miss, Doc1r, Setd2 and Ythdf2 in activated oocytes, pronuclear formation, the S phase duration in zygotes, mitochondrial function at G1 phase, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level at S phase, DNA damage at G2 phase, early apoptosis in 2-cell embryos, cleavage and blastocyst formation rates were evaluated. The results indicated that the vitrification/warming procedures led to following perturbations 1) spindle abnormalities and chromosome misalignment, alteration of maternal mRNAs and delay in pronucleus formation, 2) decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and lower adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, increased ROS production and DNA damage, G1/S and S/G2 phase transition delay, and delayed first cleavage, and 3) increased early apoptosis and lower levels of cleavage and blastocyst formation. Our results further revealed that such negative impacts of oocyte cryopreservation could be alleviated by supplementation of warming, recovery, PA and IVC media with 10− 9 mol/L MT before the embryos moved into the 2-cell stage of development. Conclusions MT might promote cell cycle progression via regulation of MMP, ATP, ROS and maternal mRNA levels, potentially increasing the first cleavage of parthenogenetic zygotes developed from vitrified–warmed mouse oocytes and their subsequent development.

A patient who survived acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning for more than 5 years was followed up in the emergency room. The patient had recurrent coughing and wheezing one month after discharge. Re-examination of chest CT showed increased dual lung texture. Spirometry suggested severe ventilatory dysfunction while bronchial dilation test was positive. The serum IgE level was significantly high. It is considered that patients with acute PQ poisoning may develop asthma in the long term.

Previous studies have shown that melatonin can mitigate cryopreservation-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in oocytes; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether melatonin can improve the mitochondrial function during in vitro maturation of vitrified-warmed mouse germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes by modulating phosphorylation of dynamin related protein 1 (Drp1). Vitrification/warming procedures resulted in the following: (1) After cryopreservation of mouse GV oocytes, the phosphorylation level of Drp1 at Ser616 (p-Drp1 Ser616) in metaphase II (MII) oocytes was increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the rates of in vitro maturation, cleavage and blastocyst formation after parthenogenetic activation were decreased (P < 0.05). (2) In MII oocytes, the expression levels of translocase of the mitochondrial outer membrane 20 (TOMM20), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and mRNA levels of mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes (Sirt1, Pgc-1α, Tfam) were all decreased (P < 0.05), and (3) Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, early apoptosis level, Cytochrome C release and mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic related genes (Bax, Caspase9, Caspase3) in MII oocytes were all increased (P < 0.05). The results of this study further revealed that negative impacts of GV oocyte cryopreservation were mitigated by supplementation of warming and in vitro maturation media with 10−7mol /L melatonin or 2 x 10−5mol/L Mdivi-1 (Drp1 inhibitor). Therefore, we concluded that 10−7mol/L melatonin improved mitochondrial function, reduced oxidative stress and inhibited apoptosis by regulating phosphorylation of Drp1, thereby enhancing in vitro development of vitrified-warmed mouse GV oocytes.

Early and precise detection of tumors could lead to more effective treatments. Microfluidic technology holds great promise as an emerging tool for the early diagnosis of cancer. However, since the flow in microchannels is usually laminar, the mass transfer efficiency is low, resulting in low biosensing efficiency and sensitivity. In this paper, we employed immunofluorescence analysis in a microfluidic chip to develop a continuous, fast and efficient liquid biopsy chip. We disrupt the laminar flow and improve mass transfer efficiency by filling the chip with antibody-conjugated microbeads. Meanwhile, the microbeads increased the contact area of the immunoaffinity reaction, which greatly enhanced the binding of the antibody to the target protein, amplified the fluorescent signal, and significantly improved the sensitivity and efficiency of detection. This microfluidics-based liquid biopsy device required only a small volume of plasma sample (20-50 μL), realized a low limit of detection (LOD, 0.1 ng/mL), and can detect biomarkers within 55-75 min. We tested plasma from 15 breast cancer (BC) patients and 5 non-cancer controls to demonstrate its clinical application in breast cancer diagnosis, showing that the biomarkers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) reflect the presence of BC, and the method can accurately distinguish cancer patients from non-cancer controls. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves showed that the combined assessment of the two biomarkers provided extremely high sensitivity and specificity. This study provides a new strategy for rapid early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.

Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global health threat and leads to a huge challenge to infectious diseases (ID) treatment. To tackle AMR, regional 'Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs' (ASP) have been implemented in many countries. Due to insufficient clinical pharmacy resources, a major intervention mode of ASP in China is through clinical pharmacist-led consultation (CPC). The current study aims to prospectively evaluate this intervention and compare the effectiveness of CPC served by ID and non-ID clinical pharmacists. Methods We conducted a prospective and multicenter cohort study based on a regional registry database in 17 hospitals in Western China, including consecutive patients with ID between April 2017 and December 2019. Baseline characteristics including sex, age, liver and kidney function, comorbidity, infection severity were prospectively collected and recorded. The main exposure of interest was whether the attending physician adopted recommendations of the clinical pharmacist in the therapeutic scheme. The outcome was the infection effective response, assessed during day 3-7 after completing CPC. Multivariate analyses were performed by generalized linear mixed models. Results A total of 2,663 ID patients were included in the final analysis according to the predesigned inclusion and exclusion criteria. The number of patients whose treatment followed and did not follow the pharmacists' suggestion was 2,529 and 134, respectively. CPC intervention could improve the ID patient prognosis in the context of other confounders controlled (Adjusted Odds ratio(AOR)=1.838, 95%Confidence Interval(CI)=[1.212, 2.786]), and the effectiveness of CPC served by ID and non-ID clinical pharmacists might be equivalent (AOR=0.958, 95%CI[0.740, 1.240]). Special consultation (AOR=1.832, 95%CI[1.106, 3.035]) and surgical treatment of infectious sites (AOR=1.380, 95%CI[1.039, 1.834]) had positive influences on the patient prognosis, while hypoalbuminemia (AOR=0.694, 95%CI[0.523, 0.921]), liver dysfunction (AOR=0.705, 95%CI[0.559, 0.889]), presence of high-risk factors (AOR=0.775, 95%CI[0.613, 0.980]), and increased infection severity (AOR=0.631, 95%CI[0.529, 0.753])were associated with a decrease in effective response rate, independently. Conclusion This study suggests that CPC is a promising pharmacist-led intervention to improve ID treatment, and it can achieve standardization among clinical pharmacists with different backgrounds by some measures. Policy/decision-makers should promote this intervention mode in developing countries or regions where there is an insufficient number of clinical pharmacists.