Effectiveness and safety of immune response to SARS­CoV­2 vaccine in patients with chronic kidney disease and dialysis: A systematic review and meta­analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is the most effective way to prevent COVID-19. However, for chronic kidney disease patients on long-term dialysis, there is a lack of evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of the immune response to the vaccine. The present meta-analysis explores the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccine in the immune response of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing dialysis. PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022. Data analysis was performed using REVMAN 5.1s and Stata14 software. Baseline data and endpoint events were extracted, mainly including age, sex, dialysis vintage, body mass index (BMI), vaccine type and dose, history of COVID-19 infection, seropositivity rate, antibody titer, pain at injection site, headache and other safety events. The meta-analysis included 33 trials involving 81,348 patients. The immune efficacy of patients with CKD and dialysis was 80% (95 CI, 73-87%). The seropositivity rate of individuals without COVID-19 infection was 76.48% (3,824/5,000), while the seropositivity rate of individuals with COVID-19 infection was 80.82% (1,858/2,299). The standard mean difference of antibody titers in CKD and dialysis patients with or without COVID-19 infection was 27.73 (95% CI, -19.58-75.04). A total of nine studies reported the most common adverse events: Pain at the injection site, accounting for 18% (95 CI, 6-29%), followed by fatigue and headache, accounting for 8 (95 CI, 4-13%) and 6% (95 CI, 2-9%), respectively. COVID-19 vaccine benefitted patients with CKD undergoing dialysis with seropositivity rate ≥80%. Adverse events such as fatigue, headache, and pain at the injection site may occur after COVID-19 vaccination but the incidence is low.

Efficacy of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy on Lupus Nephritis and Renal Function in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Meta-Analysis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to determine the efficacy of mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (MSC) transplantation therapy on lupus nephritis (LN) and renal function of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Articles that reported the data of MSC therapy on the renal function as well as disease activity of LN in patients with SLE were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Mean difference for disease activity and laboratory parameters were pooled to evaluate the efficacy of MSC, and incidence was pooled for clinical remission, death and severe adverse event. RESULTS: A total of 12 studies with 586 patients were included. The disease activity indices, including SLEDAI and BILAG, were significantly decreased within 12 months after MSC therapy (P< 0.05). Laboratory parameters for renal function and disease control including estimated glomerular filtration rate, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, complement C3, albumin and urine protein, were also significantly improved after therapy. The pooled rate of clinical remission at 12 months was 28.1% and the total rate during follow-up was 33.7%. The pooled rate of death at 12 months was 5.2% and the total rate during follow-up was 5.5%. Severe adverse events were rare and not associated with the treatment of MSC. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first meta-analysis that focuses on the effect of MSC on LN and renal function of patients with SLE, and the results shows a favorable safety profile and encouraging results of MSC for improving the disease activity of LN as well as the renal function of SLE patients.

Understanding of Dynamic Contacting Behaviors of Underwater Gas Bubbles on Solid Surfaces.

Understanding of dynamic behaviors of gas bubbles on solid surfaces has significant impacts on gas-involving electrochemical reactions, mineral flotation, and so on in industry. Contact angle (θ) is widely employed to characterize the wetting behaviors of bubbles on solid surfaces; however, it usually fluctuates within the bubble's advancing (θa) and receding (θr) range. Although the term of most-stable contact angle (θms) was defined previously as the closest valuable approximation for thermodynamically meaningful contact angle for a droplet on a solid surface, it has not been widely studied; and the precise θms measurement methods are inadequate to describe bubbles' wetting behaviors on solid surfaces. Herein, we proposed to take θms as the mean value of θa and θr, as a more accurate descriptor of gas bubbles' dynamic behaviors on nonideal solid surfaces, similar to the definition of droplets' θms on solid surfaces. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed θms have been evidenced by recording the bubbles' contacting behaviors on solid surfaces with varied wettabilities. In addition, it was found that the contact angle hysteresis (δ), as the difference between θa and θr, reached its maximum value when θms approached 90°, regardless of the roughness (r) of the substrates. Finally, built on the above concept, the lateral adhesion force (f) of the gas bubble on the solid interface, which worked on the three-phase contact line (TPCL) of an individual bubble on a solid surface against its lateral motion during the bubble advancing or receding process, was described quantitatively by combining θa, θr, and the liquid-gas interfacial tension (γlg). Experimental and theoretical data jointly confirmed that f reached its maximum value at θms ∼ 90°, namely, a "super-sticky" state, which described the dynamically most sluggish movement of the bubble along the solid surface.

Antibuoyancy and Unidirectional Gas Evolution by Janus Electrodes with Asymmetric Wettability.

The bubbles electrochemically generated by gas evolution reactions are commonly driven off the electrode by buoyancy, a weak force used to overcome bubble adhesion barriers, leading to low gas-transporting efficiency. Herein, a Janus electrode with asymmetric wettability has been prepared by modifying two sides of a porous stainless-steel mesh electrode, with superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Pt/C (or Ir/C) catalyst with well-balanced hydrophobicity, respectively, affording unidirectional transportation of as-formed gaseous hydrogen and oxygen from the catalyst side to the gas-collecting side during water splitting. "Bubble-free" electrolysis was realized while "floating" the Janus electrode on the electrolyte. Antibuoyancy through-mesh bubble transportation was observed while immersing the electrode with the PTFE side downward. The wettability gradient within the electrode endowed sticky states of bubbles on the catalyst side, resulting in efficient bubble-free gas transportation with 15-fold higher current density than submerged states.

Tribology Performance of Surface Texturing Plunger.

Plunger pumps are widely used in oil pumping units around the world. The water content of the wellbore is increasing along with the development progress, so the lubricating capacity of the well fluids between the plunger and barrel is decreasing correspondingly. Commonly, the substrate material of the plunger and barrel are stainless steel, and the plunger surface is usually covered with nickel-based coating. Therefore, the performance of the plunger and barrel has been affected due to poor lubrication and eccentric wear. Non-smooth surfaces have been proven to improve the tribology performance in many cases. A surface texturing plunger covered with specific dimples has been prepared by using laser surface texturing technology. The morphology of the surface texturing plunger was characterized and analyzed. The tribology performance of surface texturing plunger samples was tested using standard friction and wear test machines with oil and water lubrication, respectively. The results indicated that surface texturing could effectively reduce the coefficient of friction, and the wear resistance of the surface textured samples has been improved to some extent.

Protective effects of mild hypothermia against hepatic injury in rats with acute liver failure.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a severe disease which is associated with a high mortality rate. As mild hypothermia has been shown to have protective effects on the brain, this study aimed to determine whether it also provides protection to the liver in rats with ALF and to explore its underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 72 rats were divided into 3 groups: control group (CG, treated with normal saline), normothermia group (NG, treated with d-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide; d-GalN/LPS), and mild hypothermia group (MHG, treated with d-GalN/LPS and kept in a state of mild hypothermia, defined as an anal temperature of 32-35°C). The rats were examined at 4, 8, and 12h after treatment. RESULTS: Mild hypothermia treatment significantly reduced serum alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase levels and improved the liver condition of rats with d-GalN/LPS-induced ALF at 12h. Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels were significantly lower in the MHG than in the NG at 4h, but no significant differences were observed in the interleukin-10 levels between the NG and MHG at any time. The serum and hepatic levels of high mobility group box 1 were significantly lower in the MHG than in the NG at 8 and 12h. The protein expression levels of cytochrome C and cleaved-caspase 3 in hepatic tissues were significantly lower in the MHG than in the NG at 8h. CONCLUSION: Mild hypothermia improved the liver conditions of rats with ALF via its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.