34 research outputs found
A nuclear factor binds to the metal regulatory elements of the mouse gene encoding metallothionein-I.
No full textIvabradine in septic shock: a narrative review
No full textIn patients with septic shock, compensatory tachycardia initially serves to maintain adequate cardiac output and tissue oxygenation but may persist despite appropriate fluid and vasopressor resuscitation. This sustained elevation in heart rate and altered heart rate variability, indicative of autonomic dysfunction, is a well-established independent predictor of adverse outcomes in critical illness. Elevated heart rate exacerbates myocardial oxygen demand, reduces ventricular filling time, compromises coronary perfusion during diastole, and impairs the isovolumetric relaxation phase of the cardiac cycle, contributing to ventricular-arterial decoupling. This also leads to increased ventricular and atrial filling pressures, with a heightened risk of arrhythmias. Ivabradine, a highly selective inhibitor of the sinoatrial node's pacemaker current (If or "funny" current), mitigates heart rate by modulating diastolic depolarization slope without affecting contractility. By exerting a selective chronotropic effect devoid of negative inotropic properties, ivabradine shows potential for improving hemodynamics in septic shock patients with cardiac dysfunction. This review evaluates the plausible mechanisms and existing evidence regarding the utility of ivabradine in managing patients with septic shock
The Superficial Anastomosing Veins of the Human Brain Cortex: A Microneurosurgical Anatomical Study
No full textIntroduction: In this microneurosurgical and anatomical study, we characterized the superficial anastomosing veins of the human brain cortex in human specimens. Material and Methods: We used 21 brain preparations fixed in formalin (5%) that showed no pathological changes and came from the autopsy sections. The superficial veins were dissected out of the arachnoid with the aid of a surgical microscope. Results: We dissected nine female and 12 male brain specimens, with an average age of 71 ± 11 years (range 51–88 years). We classified the superficial veins in five types: (I) the vein of Trolard as the dominat vein; (II) the vein of Labbé as the dominant vein; (III) a dominant sylvian vein group, and the veins of Trolard and Labbé nonexistent or only rudimentary present without contact to the Sylvian vein group; (IV) very weak sylvian veins with the veins of Trolard and Labbé codominant; and V) direct connection of Trolard and Labbé bypassing the Sylvian vein group. The vein of Trolard was dominant (Type I) in 21.4% and the vein of Labbé (Type II) in 16.7%. A dominant sylvian vein group (Type III) was found in 42.9%. Type IV and Type V were found in 14.3 and 4.7% respectively. Conclusion: No systematic description or numerical distribution of the superior anastomotic vein (V. Trolard) and inferior anastomotic vein (V. Labbé) has been found in the existing literature. This study aimed to fill this gap in current literature and provide data to neurosurgeons for the practical planning of surgical approaches
The Role of Lengthening Temporalis Myoplasty in the Management of Facial Paralysis: Evaluating Patient-Reported Quality of Life Improvements
No full textObjective This study aims at evaluating the outcomes and patient satisfaction of the Labbé operation, a lengthening temporalis myoplasty procedure, in the treatment of longstanding complete facial paralysis. Study Design We conducted a multicenter, retrospective observational study. Setting The research analyzed 38 patients with unilateral facial paralysis treated at three Italian institutions between 2009 and 2024. Patients The study included patients with severe unilateral facial paralysis, classified as House-Brackmann grades V or VI, of various etiologies. The patients, predominantly females, had a mean age of 43 years. Intervention(s) These patients underwent surgical rehabilitation of facial nerve paralysis through the Labbé procedure, which involves transferring the temporalis muscle tendon to the labial rim while maintaining innervation through the trigeminal nerve, to restore dynamic function of the inferior part of the face. Main Outcome Measure(s) Preoperative and postoperative outcomes were assessed using the Facial Clinimetric Evaluation (FaCE) questionnaire, which measures functional and psychosocial impacts. Results The only early surgical complication recorded was bleeding (1 of 38 cases). Out of the 38 patients, 17 completed the follow-up evaluations. Postoperative results showed significant improvements in quality of life and facial function, with a mean FaCE score increase of 38.6 points. Complications and long-Term sequelae were rare and exclusively related to underlying malignant pathology (and to further treatments). Conclusions In selected cases, the Labbé procedure has proven to be an effective, single-stage surgical option for addressing the aesthetic and functional deficits associated with longstanding facial paralysis. This procedure offers rapid recovery and low morbidity, making it a valuable therapeutic option for improving patient outcomes
Uncovering the Missing Link between Molecular Electrochemistry and Electrocatalysis: Mechanism of the Reduction of Benzyl Chloride at Silver Cathodes
No full textCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, the Ecole Normale Superieure (Unite Mixte de Recherche 8640); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, the Ecole Normale Superieure (Laboratoire International Associe XiamENS); Agence Nationale de la Recherche Chaire d'Excellence "MicroNanoChem" [ANR-10-CHEX-012-01]; National Science Foundation of China [21061120456]; Universite degli Studi di Milano (PUR Funds
Synthesis of New Phosphorescent Imidoyl-Indazol and Phosphine Mixed Ligand Cu(I) Complexes – Structural Characterization and Photophysical Processes
No full textFour mononuclear Cu(I) complexes were prepared, described as [Cu(N,N)2]PF6 (1) and [Cu(N,N)(P,P)]PF6 (2-4), where N,N is N-(1-(2H-indazol-2-yl)ethylidene)-2,6-diisopropylaniline and P,P are phosphine derived ancillary ligands (bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether (POP), bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) or 2 PPh3). These new species were characterized by NMR, FT-IR, elemental analyses, cyclic voltammetry, UV-Vis – emission spectroscopy, transient absorption spectroscopy and DFT calculations. In addition, complexes 1 and 2 were characterized by X-ray diffraction. The four complexes showed an MLCT absorption band between 400-450 nm, in addition to a weak structured phosphorescence in a 4:1 ethanol:methanol glassy matrix at 77 K. Complexes 2-4 have emission profiles that resemble the phosphorescence of the protonated N,N ligand, suggesting a triplet LC character of the lowest lying excited state at 77 K. By contrast, a mixed MLCT/LC triplet emission is most likely responsible for the phosphorescence in complex 1. Weak ligand-centered emission is also detected in the solid state at room temperature but only in the case of complexes 2 and 4, suggesting thermally activated deactivation processes in the case of 1 and 3. Notably, the transient absorption spectroscopy of complexes 2-4 in CH2Cl2 solution confirms a strong contribution from a ligand-centered (LC) triplet excited state, pointing towards a mixed 3MLCT/3LC character of the transient species in solution at room temperature, undergoing a non-radiative deactivation in the s time-scale. This behavior markedly differs from that observed for complex 1, whose short-lived 3MLCT excited state is followed by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy
The importance of being earnest (and average)
No full textWhen the aim of a study is comparing and contrasting texts of the same genre and achieving a good arrangement for a text clustering, we often resort to lexical-based approaches and appropriate measures of similarity/distance (Burrows, 2002; Juola, 2008; Rudman, 1998, Stamatatos, 2009; Labbé and Labbé, 2001; Tuzzi, 2010) between texts, e.g. cosine similarity, Burrows's Delta, Labbé's intertextual distance, etc. Given the properties and the formula of a distance, we obtain a square matrix that includes n×n cells and n(n-1)/2 positive non-zero non-redundant values that can be exploited for an automatic classification of the n available texts. This distance matrix might be read from an alternative perspective, i.e. as a ranking system: for each text we can sort all the other n-1 texts from the closest to the furthest. The distribution of these ranks among texts represents an interesting object of research (Alvo and Yu, 2014) when we consider the whole corpus and also when we observe groups of texts that share some properties (e.g. they belong to the same author).
A preliminary experiment involved a large corpus of contemporary Italian novels and showed that we can indentify some novels that systematically top positions in all rankings and prove to be close to most of the available texts; on the contrary, we have novels that do not show strong similarities in any list and systematically lie in the furthest positions. This study compared results achieved through different measures and formulated some hypothesis to understand when in text clustering it is worth either to distinguish "average" and "eccentric" novels or disregard them in in-depth investigations
Paediatric long term continuous positive airway pressure and noninvasive ventilation in France: A cross-sectional study
No full textObjective: To describe the characteristics of children treated with long term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in France.
Design: Cross-sectional national survey.
Setting: Paediatric CPAP/NIV teams of 28 tertiary university hospitals in France.
Patients: Children aged <20 years treated with CPAP/NIV since at least 3 months on June 1st, 2019.
Intervention: An anonymous questionnaire was filled in for every patient.
Results: The data of 1447 patients (60% boys), mean age 9.8 ± 5.8 years were analysed. The most frequent underlying disorders were: upper airway obstruction (46%), neuromuscular disease (28%), disorder of the central nervous system (13%), cardiorespiratory disorder (7%), and congenital bone disease (4%). Forty-five percent of the patients were treated with CPAP and 55% with NIV. Treatment was initiated electively for 92% of children, while 8% started during an acute illness. A poly(somno)graphy (P(S)G) was performed prior to treatment initiation in 26%, 36% had a P(S)G with transcutaneous carbon dioxide monitoring (PtcCO2), while 23% had only a pulse oximetry (SpO2) with PtcCO2 recording. The decision of CPAP/NIV initiation during an elective setting was based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in 41% of patients, SpO2 and PtcCO2 in 25% of patients, and AHI with PtcCO2 in 25% of patients. Objective adherence was excellent with a mean use of 7.6 ± 3.2 h/night. Duration of CPAP/NIV was 2.7 ± 2.9 years at the time of the survey.
Conclusion: This survey shows the large number of children treated with long term CPAP/NIV in France with numerous children having disorders other than neuromuscular diseases
Human vaccination against Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein induces strain-transcending antibodies
No full textBACKGROUND. Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria geographically; however, no effective vaccine exists. Red blood cell invasion by the P. vivax merozoite depends on an interaction between the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) and region II of the parasite’s Duffy-binding protein (PvDBP_RII). Naturally acquired binding-inhibitory antibodies against this interaction associate with clinical immunity, but it is unknown whether these responses can be induced by human vaccination.
METHODS. Safety and immunogenicity of replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus serotype 63 (ChAd63) and modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) viral vectored vaccines targeting PvDBP_RII (Salvador I strain) were assessed in an open-label dose-escalation phase Ia study in 24 healthy UK adults. Vaccines were delivered by the intramuscular route in a ChAd63-MVA heterologous prime-boost regimen using an 8-week interval.
RESULTS. Both vaccines were well tolerated and demonstrated a favorable safety profile in malaria-naive adults. PvDBP_RII–specific ex-vivo IFN-γ T cell, antibody-secreting cell, memory B cell, and serum IgG responses were observed after the MVA boost immunization. Vaccine-induced antibodies inhibited the binding of vaccine homologous and heterologous variants of recombinant PvDBP_RII to the DARC receptor, with median 50% binding-inhibition titers greater than 1:100.
CONCLUSION. We have demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge that strain-transcending antibodies can be induced against the PvDBP_RII antigen by vaccination in humans. These vaccine candidates warrant further clinical evaluation of efficacy against the blood-stage P. vivax parasite
A census of star-forming galaxies in the z ∼ 9-10 universe based on hst+spitzer observations over 19 clash clusters: Three candidate z ∼ 9-10 galaxies and improved constraints on the star formation rate density at z
No full textWe utilize a two-color Lyman-break selection criterion to search for z ∼ 9-10 galaxies over the first 19 clusters in the CLASH program. A systematic search yields three z ∼ 9-10 candidates. While we have already reported the most robust of these candidates, MACS1149-JD, two additional z ∼ 9 candidates are also found and have H 160-band magnitudes of ∼26.2-26.9. A careful assessment of various sources of contamination suggests ≲1 contaminants for our z ∼ 9-10 selection. To determine the implications of these search results for the luminosity function (LF) and star formation rate density at z ∼ 9, we introduce a new differential approach to deriving these quantities in lensing fields. Our procedure is to derive the evolution by comparing the number of z ∼ 9-10 galaxy candidates found in CLASH with the number of galaxies in a slightly lower-redshift sample (after correcting for the differences in selection volumes), here taken to be z ∼ 8. This procedure takes advantage of the fact that the relative volumes available for the z ∼ 8 and z ∼ 9-10 selections behind lensing clusters are not greatly dependent on the details of the lensing models. We find that the normalization of the UV LF at z ∼ 9 is just that at z ∼ 8, which is ∼1.4× lower than extrapolating z 4-8 LF results. While consistent with the evolution in the UV LF seen at z ∼ 4-8, these results marginally favor a more rapid evolution at z > 8. Compared to similar evolutionary findings from the HUDF, our result is less insensitive to large-scale structure uncertainties, given our many independent sightlines on the high-redshift universe
