Preparation of D-NCCDs and its application in fluorescent/colorimetric dual-mode discrimination of glutamine enantiomers.

A new type of carbon dots (D-NCCDs) was synthesized by 3, 5-diaminobenzoic acid, N,N-dimethyl-o-phenylenediamine, and D-cysteine. The morphology and structure of D-NCCDs were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and FT-IR spectra, and the chirality was characterized by circular dichroism. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the fluorescence of D-NCCDs at 487 nm (λex = 410 nm) showed great discrimination ability towards glutamine enantiomers. The ratio of fluorescence intensity (F/F0) to the concentration of D-Gln showed good linearity in the range 0.5-10 mM, with a detection limits of 0.11 mM. Meanwhile, the color of the solution gradually changed from light yellow to yellow-brown. The UV-Vis absorption ratio (A/A0) at 410 nm showed good linearity with the concentration of D-Gln in the range 0.5 to 20 mM; the detection limit is 7.7 µM. But the fluorescence and absorbance of D-NCCDs showed no significant change after the addition of L-glutamine. Thus, fluorescence and colorimetry dual-mode discrimination of glutamine enantiomers was achieved. The fluorescence enantioselectivity of Gln (FL-Gln/FD-Gln) is 1.62, and the colorimetric enantioselectivity of Gln (AD-Gln/AL-Gln) is 2.14. The chiral discrimination mechanism of D-NCCDs to Gln enantiomers was also investigated systematically. This work not only can discriminate glutamine enantiomers with high sensitivity and convenience, but also offers a new strategy for preparing new dual mode chiral nanoprobes.

Guillain-Barr Syndrome Caused by Cytomegalovirus after Multiple Myeloma Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Both humoral and cell-mediated immunity of the patient affected by multiple myeloma (MM) are impaired; thus, infection is the main cause of the onset of symptoms and death caused by MM. Bortezomib is a first-line drug approved for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and has significantly increased their overall survival. However, bortezomib-induced peripheral neuropathy (PN) remains a significant side effect that has led to its discontinuation in some patients. Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is thought to be related to immune damage, and most patients have cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), or mycoplasma infection before onset. Cases of GBS secondary to MM are rare. METHODS: We provide a case of GBS caused by cytomegalovirus infection after MM treatment, and briefly review the existing literature. RESULTS: Secondary GBS after MM. This patient received active treatment. The clinical symptoms are gradually improving. CONCLUSIONS: The use of bortezomib has the risk of reactivating the virus. It is more about the reactivation of hep-atitis B virus. Nonetheless, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus shall have our attention. Patients with MM need to monitor CMV, regularly, especially during the treatment of bortezomib. At the same time, they also need to closely monitor the symptoms and signs of the nervous system to guard against the occurrence of GBS.

A Case of Pregnancy-Induced Hereditary Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Complicated by Cerebral Vasospasm.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to explore the treatment of a case of congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura induced by pregnancy complicated with cerebral vasospasm. METHODS: We present a case study of congenital TTP where disease onset occurred during two separate pregnancies. Interestingly, the disease course exhibited distinct differences on each occasion. Additionally, following plasma transfusion therapy, there was a transient occurrence of cerebral vasospasm. RESULTS: In this case, ADAMTS13 levels reached their lowest point three days after delivery during the first pregnancy, triggering morbidity. Remarkably, a single plasma transfusion of 400 mL sufficed for the patient's recovery. Nonetheless, a recurrence of symptoms transpired during her second pregnancy at 24 weeks of gestation. Plasma transfusions were administered during and after delivery. Sudden convulsions developed. ADAMTS13 ac-tivity returned to normal, but cranial MRA revealed constrictions in the intracranial segments of both vertebral arteries, the basilar artery, and the lumen of the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries. A subsequent cranial MRA conducted a month later showed no lumen stenosis, indicating spontaneous recovery. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of careful consideration when administering plasma transfusions in congenital TTP during pregnancy. Moreover, the development of novel therapeutic approaches such as recombinant ADAMTS13 is crucial for minimizing complications and optimizing patient care.

Clinical characteristics of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

BACKGROUND: There is no specificity in the clinical presentation of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). OBJECTIVE: To study some clinical, etiological, and prognostic features of HLH to improve the clinical understanding of the disease. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 125 patients with HLH admitted to our hospital from June 2015 to August 2021, including clinical characteristics, laboratory indicators, and survival period. Statistical analysis was performed from the overall group of study indicators, which included population, children, and adults. RESULTS: In the whole population, sex, age, blood myoglobin, and NK cell ratio of M-HLH and non-M-HLH patients (P< 0.05), serum albumin, and direct bilirubin were independent correlates of M-HLH. In the pediatric group, age and the proportion of NK cells were significantly different between M-HLH and non-M-HLH patients (P< 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that all factors were not significantly associated with M-HLH. The associated regression analysis showed that all factors were not significantly associated with M-HLH. ROC curve analysis showed that the best predictive value of NK cell percentage for M-HLH diagnosis in the overall population was 4.96% in the pediatric group and 4.96% in the adult group. The best predictive value for M-HLH diagnosis was 2.08%. The univariate analysis showed that platelet count, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, serum albumin, direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin affected prognosis; COX regression showed that none of these factors had a significant relationship. The overall median survival time was 20.7 months in the adult group, 44.3 months in non-M-HLH patients, and 7.73 months in M-HLH patients (p= 0.011); univariate analysis showed that platelet count and serum albumin level affected prognosis; COX regression results in serum albumin level was an independent risk factor for prognosis. CONCLUSION: The survival rate of non-M-HLH was significantly better than that of M-HLH; the proportion of NK cells had predictive value for the diagnosis of M-HLH; in the general population, non-M-HLH was more likely to have abnormal liver function than M-HLH: lower platelet count and serum albumin level were associated with poor prognosis, and the lower the platelet count and serum albumin level, the worse the prognosis: in addition, adults with lower serum albumin levels are also associated with poor prognosis.

Multiple system atrophy with oculomotor abnormalities as a prominent manifestation: A case series.

RATIONALE: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a group of adult-onset sporadic neurodegenerative diseases, mainly classified as MSA-C and MSA-P types. Due to the diversity of clinical symptoms, diagnosis faces a significant challenge. In the present case, we report a patient with isolated vertigo as the first presentation and abnormalities of the oculomotor system as the characteristic manifestations. CASE CONCERN: A 64-year-old male had dizziness for 1 year, aggravated for 4 months, with accompanying symptoms of unsteady walking. Physical examination revealed spontaneous nystagmus, abnormal ataxic movements, and a broad basal gait. Video nystagmography revealed saccade intrusions and macrosaccadic oscillations, and opsoclonus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was unremarkable early, and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) announced a reduction in the volume of the cerebellum and brainstem. DIAGNOSIS: The diagnosis of the possibility of MSA type-C, peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and lacunar cerebral infarction was performed. CONCLUSION: Atypical early clinical presentation may lead to delays, and identifying the critical problem through the patient simple clinical status requires long-term clinical experience and various ancillary examination tools.

Integrated efficient radiative transfer model named Dayu for simulating the imager measurements in cloudy atmospheres.

Rapid radiative transfer models are crucial to remote sensing and data assimilation. An integrated efficient radiative transfer model named Dayu, which is an updated version of the Efficient Radiative Transfer Model (ERTM) is developed to simulate the imager measurements in cloudy atmospheres. In Dayu model, the Optimized alternate Mapping Correlated K-Distribution model (OMCKD) which is predominant in dealing with the overlap of multiple gaseous lines is employed to efficiently calculate the gaseous absorption. The cloud and aerosol optical properties are pre-calculated and parameterized by the particle effective radius or length. Specifically, the ice crystal model is assumed as a solid hexagonal column, of which the parameters are determined based on massive aircraft observations. For the radiative transfer solver, the original 4-stream Discrete ordinate aDding Approximation (4-DDA) is extended to 2N-DDA (2N is the number of streams) which can calculate not only the azimuthally dependent radiance in the solar spectrum (including solar and infrared spectra overlap) but also the azimuthally averaged radiance in the thermal infrared spectrum through a unified adding method. Then the accuracy and efficiency of Dayu model are evaluated by comparing it with the benchmark model, i.e., Line-By-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM) and DIScrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (DISORT). Under the standard atmospheric profile, the maximum relative biases between Dayu model with 8-DDA / 16-DDA and the benchmark model (OMCKD with 64-stream DISORT) are 7.63% / 2.62% at solar channels but decreased to 2.66% / 1.39% at spectra-overlapping channel (3.7 µm). The computational efficiency of Dayu model with 8-DDA / 16-DDA is approximately three / two orders of magnitude higher than that of the benchmark model. At thermal infrared channels, the brightness temperature (BT) differences between Dayu model with 4-DDA and the benchmark model (LBLRTM with 64-stream DISORT) are bounded by 0.65K. Compared to the benchmark model, Dayu model with 4-DDA improves the computational efficiency by five orders of magnitude. In the application to the practical Typhoon Lekima case, the simulated reflectances and BTs by Dayu model have a high consistency with the imager measurements, demonstrating the superior performance of Dayu model in satellite simulation.

Physical activity intervention promotes working memory and motor competence in preschool children.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of 12 weeks of specifically designed physical activity intervention on working memory and motor competence in preschool children and explored the correlation between working memory changes and motor competence changes by the intervention. Methods: Four classes of preschool children were grouped into an intervention group and a control group. Children in the intervention group received a 12-week physical activity intervention, while children in the control group followed their daily routine as usual. Before and after the intervention period, children were assessed with the 1-back task and Movement Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (MABC-2) to measure their working memory and motor competence, respectively. Results: Regarding working memory, the accuracy on the 1-back task increased significantly in the intervention group relative to the control group. The intervention group demonstrated a greater decrease in response time from pre- to posttest than the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Regarding motor competence, children's manual dexterity, aiming and catching and total score increased significantly in the intervention group relative to the control group, while no significant difference in static and dynamic balance was observed between the two groups. Furthermore, the correlation results showed that changes in the efficacy and efficiency of working memory were positively related to changes in static and dynamic balance and the total score on the MABC-2. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that 12 weeks of specifically designed physical activity intervention could improve preschool children's efficacy of working memory as well as manual dexterity, aiming and catching and global motor competence. The improvement in the efficacy and efficiency of working memory was positively related to the improvement in static and dynamic balance and global motor competence.