Chlorine poisoning caused by improper mixing of household disinfectants during the COVID-19 pandemic: Case series.

BACKGROUND: Misuse of disinfectants during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to several poisoning incidents. However, there are few clinical case reports on poisoning caused by improper mixing of household disinfectants. AIM: To summarize the clinical characteristics and treatment effects of chlorine poisoning caused by improper mixing of hypochlorite bleach with acidic cleaning agents.METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed baseline and clinical data, clinical symptoms, and treatment methods of seven patients with chlorine poisoning who were admitted to the National Army Poisoning Treatment Center. RESULTS: Among the seven patients, the average poisoning time (exposure to admission) was 57 h (4-240 h). All patients were involved in cleaning bathrooms. Chest computed tomography scans revealed bilateral lung effusions or inflammatory changes in five patients. The partial pressure of oxygen decreased in six patients, and respiratory failure occurred in one. Five patients had different degrees of increase in white blood cell count. Humidified oxygen therapy, non-invasive mechanical ventilation, anti-inflammatory corticosteroids, antioxidants, and antibiotics were administered for treatment. The average length of hospital stay was 7 d (4-9 d). All seven patients recovered and were discharged. CONCLUSION: Improper mixing of household disinfectants may cause damage to the respiratory system due to chlorine poisoning. Corticosteroids may improve lung exudation in severe cases, and symptomatic supportive treatment should be performed early.

Safety and efficacy of a nerve matrix membrane as a collagen nerve wrapping: a randomized, single-blind, multicenter clinical trial.

A new nerve matrix membrane derived from decellularized porcine nerves has been shown to retain the major extracellular matrix components, and to be effective in preventing adhesion between the nerve anastomosis sites and the surrounding tissues in a rat sciatic nerve transection model, thereby enhancing regeneration of the nerve. The effectiveness of the membrane may be attributed to its various bioactive components. In this prospective, randomized, single-blind, parallel-controlled multicenter clinical trial, we compared the safety and efficacy of the new nerve matrix membrane with a previously approved bovine tendon-derived type I collagen nerve wrapping. A total of 120 patients with peripheral nerve injury were recruited from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, The First Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, and Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, China. The patients were randomly assigned to undergo end-to-end and tension-free neurorrhaphy with nerve matrix membrane (n = 60, 52 male, 8 female, mean age 41.34 years, experimental group) or tendon-derived collagen nerve wrapping (n = 60, 42 male, 18 female, mean age 40.17 years, control group). Patients were followed-up at 14 ± 5, 30 ± 7, 90 ± 10 and 180 ± 20 days after the operation. Safety evaluation included analyses of local and systemic reactions, related laboratory tests, and adverse reactions. Efficacy evaluation included a static 2-point discrimination test, a moving 2-point discrimination test, and a Semmes-Weinstein monofilament examination. Sensory nerve function was evaluated with the British Medical Research Council Scale and Semmes-Weinstein monofilament examination. The ratio (percentage) of patients with excellent to good results in sensory nerve recovery 180 ± 20 days after the treatment was used as the primary effectiveness index. The percentages of patients with excellent to good results in the experimental and control groups were 98.00% and 94.44%, respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the results of routine blood tests, liver and renal function tests, coagulation function tests, or immunoglobulin tests at 14 and 180 days postoperatively between the two groups. These findings suggest that the novel nerve matrix membrane is similar in efficacy to the commercially-available bovine-derived collagen membrane in the repair of peripheral nerve injury, and it may therefore serve as an alternative in the clinical setting. The clinical trial was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, China (approval No. 20160902) on October 8, 2016, the Institutional Ethics Committee of the First Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, China (approval No. 160518-088) on December 14, 2016, and the Institutional Ethics Committee of Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, China (approval No. 2016-10-01) on December 9, 2016. The clinical trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2000033324) on May 28, 2020.

Author Correction: Repair of bone defects with prefabricated vascularized bone grafts and double-labeled bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in a rat model.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Yarrowia lipolytica lipase 2 on immunology and growth performance of Hybrid sturgeon.

A 12-weeks feeding trial was performed to investigate the possible effects of supplementation of Hybrid sturgeon diet with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (GB-9) and Yarrowia lipolytica lipase2 (YLL2) single or combined on immune response and growth performance of Hybrid sturgeon (Acipenser schrenkii ♂and Acipenser baeri ♀). For this aim, Hybrid sturgeons were fed with four experimental diets namely: Diet 1 (0-control), Diet 2 (5.0 g/kg GB-9), Diet 3 (4.0 g/kg YLL2), and Diet 4 (5.0 g/kg GB-9 + 4.0 g/kg YLL2), respectively. After fed with varied diets, growth performance, mucosal immune response, leukocytes immune response and serum immunological response were measured. The results indicated that supplementations of GB-9 + YLL2 resulted in a significant increase in final weight, Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) concentration, compared with that of control (p < 0.05). For innate immunity, the results showed that skin mucus lysozyme activity, leukocytes phagocytosis activity and reactive oxygen species level, and serum alternative complement pathway activity, peroxidase and lysozyme activity were significantly higher in supplemented groups compared to the control (p < 0.05). The highest values were recorded in fish fed both YLL2 and GB-9 with respect to the individual application. The present results suggested that the combination of these supplementation could be considered as potential feed-additives for aquaculture farmed fish.

Repair of bone defects with prefabricated vascularized bone grafts and double-labeled bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in a rat model.

This study aims to investigate the repair of bone defects with prefabricated vascularized bone grafts and double-labeled bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a rat model. BMSCs were separated from rat bone marrow. LTR-CMVpro-RFP and LTR-CMVpro-GFP were transfected into the BMSCs for in vitro and in vivo tracking. BMSCs-RFP and BMSCs-GFP were induced into endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and osteoblasts (OBs). Rats were divided into five groups: Group A: in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP + in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group B: in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group C: in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle + secondary OBs-GFP implantation; Group D: implantation of EPCs-RFP + implantation of with arteriovenous vascular bundle + simultaneous OBs-GFP implantation; Group E: demineralized bone matrix (DBM) grafts (blank control). Among five groups, Group A had the fastest bone regeneration and repair, and the regenerated bone highly resembled normal bone tissues; Group D also had fast bone repair, but the repair was slightly slower than Group A. Therefore, in vitro prefabrication with EPCs-RFP plus in vivo prefabrication with arteriovenous vascular bundle and secondary OBs-GFP implantation could be the best treatment for bone defect.

Carbon nanotube-promoted Co-Cu catalyst for highly efficient synthesis of higher alcohols from syngas.

The development of a type of carbon-nanotube-promoted Co-Cu catalyst, which displays excellent performance for highly effective and selective formation of the C(2-4)-oxygenates, especially BuOH and DME, from syngas, is reported.