Clinical manifestations and outcomes in tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome: a case report and a systematic review in China.

PURPOSE: Tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis (TINU) syndrome is an uncommon disease. We present a confirmed case of TINU syndrome, and a systematic review of epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, management, and outcomes in Chinese patients. METHODS: A systematic search was carried out using defined terms and updated up to September 2022, in PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, CNKI, and VIP, to identify reported cases of TINU in China, according to PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS: An 18-year-old boy presented with elevated serum creatinine and 24-h urine protein level of > 2 g. Inspection result revealed acute tubulointerstitial nephritis, and bilateral uveitis. The patient was diagnosed with TINU syndrome and received treatment with methylprednisolone sodium succinate, which resulted in a significant decrease in creatinine and urinary protein levels. Systematic review identified 35 publications that met the inclusion criteria. A total of 71 cases were included in this article, of which 70 were from publications and 1 was from our hospital. The median age at onset was 42 years and was significantly lower in males than females (P < 0.05). The symptoms of uveitis often occurred after kidney injury (54%) and most uveitis was anterior (55%) and bilateral (75%). Among the 51 patients who were followed up for more than 6 months, 24 had recurrent ocular symptoms or progression to chronic uveitis. Twenty patients experienced chronic or progressive kidney disease. CONCLUSION: TINU syndrome is prone to misdiagnosis because kidney damage may not occur simultaneously with uveitis. The incidence of kidney sequelae in children is lower than that in adults, and glucocorticoids are the preferred treatment. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202350050.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Hydrodynamics in a Two-Stage Internal Loop Airlift Reactor with Contraction-Expansion Guide Vane.

Global circulation and liquid back mixing adversely affect the continuous production of a multistage internal airlift loop reactor. A contraction-expansion guide vane (CEGV) is proposed and combined with a two-stage internal loop airlift reactor (TSILALR) to suppress the liquid back mixing between stages. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of the CEGV in the TSILALR. The bubble size distribution and turbulent flow properties in the TSILALR are considered in the CFD simulation by using the population balance model and RNG k-ε turbulence model. The CFD model is validated against the experimental results. The deviations in the gas holdup and mean bubble diameter between the simulation and experimental results are less than 8% and 6%, respectively. The streamlines, flow pattern, bubble size distribution, and axial liquid velocity in the TSILALRs with and without the CEGV at superficial velocities of 0.04 and 0.08 m/s are obtained by CFD simulation. It has been shown that the CEGV generated local circulation flows at each stage instead of a global circulation flow in the TSILALR. The average global gas holdup in the TSILALR with a CEGV increased up to 1.98 times. The global gas holdup increased from 0.045 to 0.101 and the average axial velocity in the riser decreased from 0.314 to 0.241 m/s when the width of the CEGV increased from 50 to 75 mm at the superficial gas velocity of 0.08 m/s.

Perioperative changes in peripheral regulatory B cells of patients with esophageal cancer.

Current treatments for esophageal cancer (EC) rely on tumor eradication by surgery or chemoradiotherapy. However, such treatments do not account for the assessment and adjustment of the immune status of the patients. Regulatory B cells (Bregs) have been confirmed as a negative regulatory subtype in B­cell populations. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no direct studies on Bregs in patients with EC. The present study enrolled sixty patients with EC and sixty healthy donors to detect the presence of Bregs in peripheral blood and to determine their clinical significance. The percentage of peripheral Bregs was measured using flow cytometry with fluorescence­labeled antibodies against cluster of differentiation (CD) 5, CD19, interleukin (IL)­10, forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) and transforming growth factor­ß1 (TGF­ß1) prior to and following radical surgery. The level of circulating Bregs in patients with EC was observed to be significantly higher than that in the healthy donors. However, this level was observed to decrease following surgery. The percentage of circulating TGF­ß­producing Bregs and Foxp3­expressing Bregs in patients with EC also decreased following surgery. By contrast, the percentage of peripheral IL­10­producing Bregs (B10s) significantly increased in patients with advanced EC following surgery. These findings suggest that Bregs have a negative immunoregulatory role in the development and progression of EC. Furthermore, postoperative combination therapies against Bregs, particularly B10s, may improve the outcome of patients with EC following resection.