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Two cirrhotic patients with unexplained abdominal pain deteriorated rapidly and fatally after presenting to our emergency department. Abdominal computed tomography in both patients showed “misty mesentery”, which could not be explained by other etiologies. Both blood cultures revealed Vibrio vulnificus, which suggested the possible correlation of CT-finding and bacteremia.

Background: Early metabolic bone disease (MBD) detection is important in preterm infants to decrease long‐term consequence. We aim to explore the early MBD biochemical marker in extremely low‐birth‐weight (ELBW) infants. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 95 preterm infants born in a tertiary care–level neonatal intensive care unit between January 2015 and June 2018, with birth weight <1000 g. Thirty‐five infants were "nothing by mouth" for >14 days and categorized as the high‐risk group; the remaining 60 were categorized as the control group. Mineral intake in the first 14 days and the trend of serum calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were compared in both groups. Results: The Ca and P supplementation in the first 2 weeks of life were inadequate in both groups. Compared with the control group, significantly lower serum P (mg/dL) levels were noted in the high‐risk group on weeks 2 (3.65 ± 1.2 vs 4.67 ± 1.45; P <.001), 4 (3.21 ± 0.95 vs 5.83 ± 1.18; P <.0001), and 6 (3.94 ± 1.1 vs 6.22 ± 0.78; P <.0001). There was no significant difference in the serum Ca level, and significantly higher ALP (U/L) levels were found up until 2 months of life in the high‐risk group (458.36 ± 189.02 vs 335.7 ± 111.51; P <.014). Conclusion: Hypophosphatemia developed as early as 2 weeks old in high‐risk preterm infants because of inadequate supplementation. Neither the serum Ca or ALP levels were affected. Thus, the routine monitoring of serum P level should be started 2 weeks after birth for early MBD detection in extremely ELBW infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Yin Ling Tan, Z.A. Manan This paper presents a new systematic technique for the retrofit of existing water network based on pinch analysis. This technique, which was applied on a paper mill, consists of three main steps: Network Diagnosis, Network Retrofit and Network Evolution. Network diagnosis step provides a good understanding of the existing water network through the use of a new tool called the Concentration Block Diagram (CBD). Next, modifications based on a set of pinch rules were performed on the existing water network to achieve the preliminary retrofit design. Finally, the preliminary retrofit design will go through an evolution to generate the final retrofit scheme. A paper making process case study was utilised to demonstrate the applicability of this new methodology. The results show that 55.5% of fresh water consumption and 65.7% of wastewater generation have been reduced, respectively, for the paper mill case study.

Byline: Zainuddin Abdul Manan, Yin Ling Tan, Dominic Chwan Yee Foo, Swee Yin Tea The Water Cascade Analysis (WCA) technique was used to identify opportunities for reduction in freshwater usage as well as wastewater generation and to assist in the retrofit of an existing paper mill water distribution network. This procedure involves three key steps; i.e., a global analysis of the present water distribution and consumption, setting the baseline minimum water targets using WCA technique and retrofit of water network to achieve the minimum water targets. Notwithstanding the extensive water recycling currently employed in the paper mill, this study identified a potential scope of reducing 13.3% freshwater and 13.3% wastewater. Water reduction represents a total potential annual savings of RM 595,232, taking into account the raw water and wastewater treatment costs, pumping and chemical costs.

Previous studies suggest that gut microbiota is associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and depression. However, whether the composition and diversity of gut microbiota is altered in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains largely unknown. In the present study, we collected fecal samples from 43 AD patients and 43 age- and gender-matched cognitively normal controls. 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing technique was used to analyze the microbiota composition in feces. The composition of gut microbiota was different between the two groups. Several bacteria taxa in AD patients were different from those in controls at taxonomic levels, such as Bacteroides, Actinobacteria, Ruminococcus, Lachnospiraceae, and Selenomonadales. Our findings suggest that gut microbiota is altered in AD patients and may be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the synthesis of heat integratedresource conservation networks (HIRCNs), covering both concentration-and property-based direct reuse/recycle systems. This newly proposedmethod adopts the targeting concept of the insight-based pinch approachwhere the minimum consumption of fresh resources and energy utilitiesis targeted prior to the detailed HIRCN design. Furthermore, thismethod is capable of handling HIRCN problems with varying operatingrange of process parameters (i.e., flow rates, temperatures, and properties).The proposed method is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear program(MINLP). As the temperature of stream is uncertain, the floating pinchconcept is adopted to identify hot and cold utilities. Besides,a recently developed discretization approach is also used to solvethe MINLP problem. Three literature case studies are solved to illustratethe proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been demonstrated that neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is critical for the induction and maintenance of long term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of rat hippocampus. In the present study, we investigated the changes in NCAM mRNA expression and NCAM protein level after the induction of LTP in vitro using the techniques of in situ hybridization and Western blot. The results showed that the number of NCAM mRNA positive labelled neurons significantly increased (76.6+/-11.5 neurons) 10 min after tetanus when the slope of fEPSP markedly increased. The level of NCAM protein also increased significantly (7.190+/-0.64 arbitrary unit/50 microg protein) 10 min after tetanus. The number of NCAM mRNA positive labelled neurons no longer changed (73.3+/-14.0) 1 h after tetanus, however, the NCAM protein level (9.031+/-0.71) at 1 h after tetanus was higher than that at 10 min after tetanus. Moreover, the NMDA receptor inhibitor AP-5, which blocked LTP, prevented the increase in NCAM mRNA expression and NCAM protein level. The results demonstrate that NCAM mRNA expression maintains a high level, whereas NCAM protein changes from a low level to a high level during induction and maintenance of LTP.

The present study examined the changes in 26S proteasome activity and the signal molecule mechanism regulating 26S proteasome activity in long term potentiation (LTP) in rat hippocampal slices. The results are as follows: 26S proteasome activity was 190+/-14.3 cpm/(100 microg.2 h) before tetanus, a significant increase in 26S proteasome activity (273+/-18.3 cpm/(100 microg.2 h) was found 10 min after tetanus, when the slope of fEPSP was markedly increased. Interestingly, 26S proteasome activity returned to baseline level (210+/-12.8 cpm/(100 microg.2 h) 60 min after tetanus. Moreover, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor inhibitor AP-5, which blocked LTP, prevented the increase in the 26S proteasome activity. The results suggest that NMDA receptors contribute to the transient increase in 26S proteasome activity during induction of LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region.

Objective: To explore the role of 19S regulator compound protein in the degradation of skeletal muscle protein in scalded rats., Methods: Wistar rats were scalded and they were randomly divided into normal and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 postburn day (PBD) groups with 8 rats in each group. The 19S regulator compound of skeletal muscle in scalded rats was isolated and purified with chromatography. Rabbit-anti-rat antibody IgG of 19S regulator compound was prepared conventionally. The antibody was injected to rats in injection group (I) in which 19S antibody in dose of 3 mg/kg BW was injected for two times via tail vein with 6-hour interval. The rats in I group were decapitated on 1, 2 and 3 post-injection days, respectively. The scalded rats in control group (C) were treated in the same way, except that the antibody was replaced by normal saline. The change in content of 19S regulator compound was determined by western-blot. Meanwhile, the releasing rate of tyrosine from the skeletal muscle of scalded rats was also detected by fluorescent photography., Results: 19S regulator compound with high purity was obtained. The content of 19S regulator compound in rat skeletal muscle was increased significantly after 2 PBD. But the protein degradation rate was also obviously increased on 2 PBD. The antibody of 19S compound might inhibit the enhancement of protein degradation., Conclusion: Burn injury might up-regulate the protein level of skeletal muscle 19S regulator compound, which therefore activated the protein degradation by 26S protease compound. This might be an important factor leading to postburn negative nitrogen balance.