Highly Active W2C-Based Composites for the HER in Alkaline Solution: the Role of Surface Oxide Species.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a crucial electrochemical process for the proposed hydrogen economy since it has the potential to provide pure hydrogen for fuel cells. Nowadays, hydrogen electroproduction is considerably expensive, so promoting the development of new non-noble catalysts for the cathode of alkaline electrolyzers appears as a suitable way to reduce the costs of this technology. In this sense, a series of tungsten-based carbide materials have been synthesized by the urea-glass route as candidates to improve the HER in alkaline media. Moreover, two different pyridinium-based ionic liquids were employed to modify the surface of the carbide grains and control the amount and nature of their surface species. The main results indicate that the catalyst surface composition is modified in the hybrid materials, which are then distinguished by the appearance of tungsten suboxide structures. This implies the action of ionic liquids as reducing agents. Consequently, differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) is used to precisely determine the onset potentials and rate-determining steps (RDS) for the HER in alkaline media. Remarkably, the modified surfaces show high catalytic performance (overpotentials between 45 and 60 mV) and RDS changes from Heyrovsky-Volmer to Heyrovsky as the surface oxide structures get reduced. H2O molecule reduction is then faster at tungsten suboxide, which allows the formation of the adsorbed hydrogen at the surface, boosting the catalytic activity and the kinetics of the alkaline HER.

ILEOSTIM trial: a study protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of efferent loop stimulation before ileostomy reversal.

PURPOSE: A protective loop ileostomy is the most useful method to reduce sequelae in the event of an anastomotic leakage (AL) after rectal cancer surgery. However, it requires an additional stoma reversal surgery with its own potential complications. Postoperative ileus (POI) remains the most common complication after ileostomy reversal, which leads to an increase in morbidity, length of hospital stay (LOS) and overall healthcare costs. Several retrospective studies carried out in this field have concluded that there are insufficient evidence-based recommendations about the routine application of preoperative bowel stimulation in clinical practice. Here we discuss whether stimulation of the efferent limb before ileostomy reversal might reduce POI and improve postoperative outcomes. METHODS: This is a multicentre randomised controlled trial to determine whether mechanical stimulation of the efferent limb during the 2 weeks before the ileostomy reversal would help to reduce the development of POI after surgery. This study was registered on Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05302557). Stimulation will consist of infusing a solution of 500 ml of saline chloride solution mixed with a thickening agent (Resource©, Nestlé Health Science; 6.4 g sachet) into the distal limb of the ileostomy loop. This will be performed within the 2 weeks before ileostomy reversal, in an outpatient clinic under the supervision of a trained stoma nurse. CONCLUSION: The results of this study could provide some insights into the preoperative management of these patients.

Effects of tetracycline, sulfonamide, fluoroquinolone, and lincosamide load in pig slurry on lettuce: Agricultural and human health implications.

The application of pig slurry as fertilizer in agriculture provides nutrients, but it can also contain veterinary medicines, including antibiotic residues (ABs), which can have an ecotoxicological impact on agroecosystems. Furthermore, uptake, translocation, and accumulation of ABs in crops can mobilize them throughout the food chain. This greenhouse study aims to assess AB uptake from soil fertilized with pig slurry and its phenotypical effects on Lactuca sativa L. The plants were cropped in loamy clay soil dosed at 140 kg total N/ha and containing antibiotics (lincomycin, sulfadiazine, oxytetracycline, and enrofloxacin) at different concentration levels (0, 0.05, 0.5, 5, 50, and 500 mg/kg fresh weight, fw). Whereas sulfadiazine (11.8 ng/g fw) was detected in lettuce leaves at the intermediate doses (0.5 mg/kg), lincomycin and its transformation products (hydroxy/sulfate) were only detected at the 50 mg/kg fw dose. In addition, increased AB doses in the pig slurry resulted in decreased lettuce fresh weight and lipid and carbohydrate content and became lethal to lettuce at the highest AB concentrations (500 mg/kg fw). Nevertheless, even at higher doses, the AB content in lettuce following pig-slurry fertilization did not pose any direct significant human health risk (total hazard quotient<0.01). However, the promotion of antimicrobial resistance in humans due to the intake of these vegetables cannot be ruled out.

Data supporting the in situ synthesis by organometallic method of Vulcan supported PdNi nanostructures for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline solution.

This document presents the supporting information for the evaluation of the role of Ni amount during the in situ synthesis of vulcan supported PdNi nanostructures using an organometallic approach for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium [1]. The data here presented included analysis of deconvolution during structural characterization, chemical composition and transmission electron microscopy. The information also contains complement data of cyclic voltammograms during activation in alkaline media. Supplement data of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements at two different overpotentials (-100 and -300 mV) and temperatures on the onset potential for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are also showed in this paper. The files can be used as a reference to determinate the effect of adding different in situ amount of Ni to Pd/C catalysts in presence of 2 equivalents of hexadecylamine (HDA) in order to improve the electrochemical performance on HER using an adjusted organometallic method. The data provided in this article have not been previously published and are available to enable critical or extended analyses.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure in very elderly with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea pooled results from two multicenter randomized controlled trials.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: There is very limited information about the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in the very elderly. Here we aimed to analysed the effect of CPAP on a clinical cohort of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) ≥80 years old. METHODS: Post-hoc pooled analysis of two open-label, multicenter clinical trials aimed to determine the effect of CPAP in a consecutive clinical cohort of elderly (≥70 years old) with moderate-to-severe OSA (apnea-hipopnea index ≥15 events/hour) randomized to receive CPAP or no CPAP for three months. Those consecutive patients ≥80 years old were included in the study. The primary endpoint was the change in Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS). Secondary outcomes included sleep-related symptoms, quality of life, neurocognitive and mood status as well as office blood pressure measurements. RESULTS: From the initial 369 randomized individuals with ≥70 years, 97 (26.3%) with ≥80 years old were included (47 in the CPAP group and 50 in the no-CPAP group). The mean (SD) age was 81.5 (2.4) years. Average use of CPAP was 4.3 (2.6) hours/night (53% with good adherence) Patients in the CPAP group significantly improved snoring and witnessed apneas as well as AHI (from 41.9 to 4.9 events/hour). However no clinical improvements were seen in ESS (-1.2 points, 95%CI, 0.2 to -2.6), any domain of QSQ, any neurocognitive test, OSA-related symptoms, depression/anxiety or blood pressure levels. CONCLUSIONS: The present study does not support the use of CPAP in very elderly patients with moderate-to-severe OSA.

Ultrafast Loss of Lattice Coherence in the Light-Induced Structural Phase Transition of V_{2}O_{3}.

In solids, the response of the lattice to photoexcitation is often described by the inertial evolution on an impulsively modified potential energy surface which leads to coherent motion. However, it remains unknown if vibrational coherence is sustained through a phase transition, during which coupling between modes can be strong and may lead to rapid loss of coherence. Here we use coherent phonon spectroscopy to track lattice coherence in the structural phase transition of V_{2}O_{3}. In both the low and high symmetry phases unique coherent phonon modes are generated at low fluence. However, coherence is lost when driving between the low and high symmetry phases. Our results suggest strongly damped noninertial dynamics dominate during the phase transition due to disorder and multimode coupling.

Stargardt disease: A clinical case report of two sisters with different clinical development.

The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical manifestations and complementary diagnostic tests of two sisters aged 26 and 31 with a diagnosis of Stargardt's disease. One of them presented with an initial visual acuity of 0.7 and showed a progressive central visual loss due to the atrophy of the external layers of the retina in the subfoveal region. She was recruited to participate in a clinical trial of Avancincaptad Pegol (Zimura®), an inhibitor of C5 of the complement's system. The other sister remained asymptomatic with a visual acuity of 1 in both eyes. In both cases white-yellow pisciform lesions were observed on the posterior pole. Although there is no curative treatment for this disease, there are many lines of investigation on this topic. The clinical and diagnostic tests can confirm the disease, and provide patients with an accurate prognosis.

Stargardt Disease: a clinical case report of two sisters with different clinical development. / Enfermedad de Stargardt: a propósito de dos hermanas con distintas evoluciones clínicas.

The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical manifestations and complementary diagnostic tests of two sisters aged 26 and 31 with a diagnosis of Stargardt's disease. One of them presented with an initial visual acuity of 0.7 and showed a progressive central visual loss due to the atrophy of the external layers of the retina in the subfoveal region. She was recruited to participate in a clinical trial of Avancincaptad Pegol (Zimura®), an inhibitor of C5 of the complement's system. The other sister remained asymptomatic with a visual acuity of 1 in both eyes. In both cases white-yellow pisciform lesions were observed on the posterior pole. Although there is no curative treatment for this disease, there are many lines of investigation on this topic. The clinical and diagnostic tests can confirm the disease, and provide patients with an accurate prognosis.

A class of fast-slow models for adaptive resistance evolution.

Resistance to insecticide is considered nowadays one of the major threats to insect control, as its occurrence reduces drastically the efficiency of chemical control campaigns, and may also perturb the application of other control methods, like biological and genetic control. In order to account for the emergence and spread of such phenomenon as an effect of exposition to larvicide and/or adulticide, we develop in this paper a general time-continuous population model with two life phases, subsequently simplified through slow manifold theory. The derived models present density-dependent recruitment and mortality rates in a non-conventional way. We show that in absence of selection, they evolve in compliance with Hardy-Weinberg law; while in presence of selection and in the dominant or codominant cases, convergence to the fittest genotype occurs. The proposed mathematical models should allow for the study of several issues of importance related to the use of insecticides and other adaptive phenomena.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced colon cancer: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has emerged as a novel alternative to treat locally advanced colon cancer (LACC), as in other gastrointestinal malignancies. However, evidence of its efficacy and safety has not yet been gathered in the literature. The aim of the present study was to perform an extensive review of the scientific evidence for NAC in patients with LACC. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library were searched for a systematic review of the literature from 2010 to 2019. Six eligible studies were included, with a total of 27,937 patients, 1232 of them (4.4%) treated with NAC. There were only one randomized controlled trial, three phase II non-randomized single arm studies and two retrospective studies. RESULTS: The baseline computed tomography scan showed that most of patients had a T3 tumor. The completion rate of the planned neoadjuvant treatment ranged from 52.5 to 93.8%. Between 97.2 and 100% of patients had the scheduled surgery. The median tumor volume reduction after NAC ranged from 62.5 to 63.7%. The anastomotic leak rate in the NAC group ranged from 0 to 7%, with no cases of postoperative mortality. There was major pathological tumor regression in 4-34.7% of cases. Between 84 and 100% of NAC patients had R0-surgery. Survival after NAC seems to be encouraging although significant improvement has only been proven in T4b tumours. CONCLUSIONS: According to our systematic review, the NAC may be a safe and effective emerging therapeutic alternative for treating LACC. This approach, which is still being tested, increases the reliance on accurate radiological staging.

Individualized lung recruitment maneuver guided by pulse-oximetry in anesthetized patients undergoing laparoscopy: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: We conducted this study to test whether pulse-oximetry hemoglobin saturation (SpO2 ) can personalize the implementation of an open-lung approach during laparoscopy. Thirty patients with SpO2  ≥ 97% on room-air before anesthesia were studied. After anesthesia and capnoperitoneum the FIO2 was reduced to 0.21. Those patients whose SpO2 decreased below 97% - an indication of shunt related to atelectasis - completed the following phases: (1) First recruitment maneuver (RM), until reaching lung's opening pressure, defined as the inspiratory pressure level yielding a SpO2 ≥ 97%; (2) decremental positive end-expiratory (PEEP) titration trial until reaching lung's closing pressure defined as the PEEP level yielding a SpO2  < 97%; (3) second RM and, (4) ongoing ventilation with PEEP adjusted above the detected closing pressure. RESULTS: When breathing air, in 24 of 30 patients SpO2 was < 97%, PaO2 /FIO2  Ë‚ 53.3 kPa and negative end-expiratory transpulmonary pressure (PTP-EE ). The mean (SD) opening pressures were found at 40 (5) and 33 (4) cmH2 O during the first and second RM, respectively (P < 0.001; 95% CI: 3.2-7.7). The closing pressure was found at 11 (5) cmH2 O. This SpO2 -guided approach increased PTP-EE (from -6.4 to 1.2 cmH2 O, P < 0.001) and PaO2 /FIO2 (from 30.3 to 58.1 kPa, P < 0.001) while decreased driving pressure (from 18 to 10 cmH2 O, P < 0.001). SpO2 discriminated the lung's opening and closing pressures with accuracy taking the reference parameter PTP-EE (area under the receiver-operating-curve of 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.99). CONCLUSION: The non-invasive SpO2 monitoring can help to individualize an open-lung approach, including all involved steps, from the identification of those patients who can benefit from recruitment, the identification of opening and closing pressures to the subsequent monitoring of an open-lung condition.

MACVIA-LR (Fighting Chronic Diseases for Active and Healthy Ageing in Languedoc-Roussillon): A Success Story of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

The Région Languedoc Roussillon is the umbrella organisation for an interconnected and integrated project on active and healthy ageing (AHA). It covers the 3 pillars of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA): (A) Prevention and health promotion, (B) Care and cure, (C) and (D) Active and independent living of elderly people. All sub-activities (poly-pharmacy, falls prevention initiative, prevention of frailty, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic diseases with multimorbidities, chronic infectious diseases, active and independent living and disability) have been included in MACVIA-LR which has a strong political commitment and involves all stakeholders (public, private, patients, policy makers) including CARSAT-LR and the Eurobiomed cluster. It is a Reference Site of the EIP on AHA. The framework of MACVIA-LR has the vision that the prevention and management of chronic diseases is essential for the promotion of AHA and for the reduction of handicap. The main objectives of MACVIA-LR are: (i) to develop innovative solutions for a network of Living labs in order to reduce avoidable hospitalisations and loss of autonomy while improving quality of life, (ii) to disseminate the innovation. The three years of MACVIA-LR activities are reported in this paper.

Diplopia due to barotrauma.

CASE REPORT: A 38-year-old woman who, during a scuba dive at 7 metres, suffered from eye pain, hyperaemia, and exophthalmos. She was diagnosed with ocular barotrauma with transient diplopia. She was seen in the emergency room 10 days later, with no diplopia, but mild left proptosis. In the computed tomography an image of extraconal occupation is observed in the left orbital roof. The magnetic resonance confirmed an intraorbital haematoma. DISCUSSION: Ocular barotrauma is usually a benign condition mostly occurring in an inexperienced diver. However, a detailed examination is important to rule out potential vision and life threatening conditions.

Sea buckthorn bud extract displays activity against cell-cultured Influenza virus.

INTRODUCTION: Vaccines and antiviral drugs are the most widely used methods of preventing or treating Influenza virus infection. The role of sea buckthorn (SBT) bud dry extract as a natural antiviral drug against Influenza was investigated. METHODS: Influenza virus was cultured in the MDCK cell line, with or without SBT bud extract, and virus growth was assessed by HA and TCID50 virus titration in terms of cytopathic effect on cells. Several concentrations of extract were tested, the virus titer being measured on day 4 after infection. RESULTS: After infection, the virus titer in the control sample was calculated to be 2.5 TCID50/ml; treatment with SBT bud extract reduced the virus titer to 2.0 TCID50/ml at 50 µg/ml, while the HA titer was reduced from 1431 (control) to 178. Concentrations lower than 50µg/ml displayed an inhibitory effect in the HA assay, but not in the TCID50 virus titration; however, observation of the viral cultures confirmed a slowdown of viral growth at all concentrations. DISCUSSION: Natural dietary supplements and phytotherapy are a growing market and offer new opportunities for the treatment of several diseases and disorders. These preliminary experiments are the first to show that SBT bud extract is able to reduce the growth of the Influenza A H1N1 virus in vitro at a concentration of 50 µg/ml. This discovery opens up the possibility of using SBT bud extract as a valid weapon against Influenza and, in addition, as the starting-point for the discovery of new drugs.

Cannabinoid receptor type 1 activation by arachidonylcyclopropylamide in rat aortic rings causes vasorelaxation involving calcium-activated potassium channel subunit alpha-1 and calcium channel, voltage-dependent, L type, alpha 1C subunit.

Cannabinoids are key regulators of vascular tone, some of the mechanisms involved include the activation of cannabinoid receptor types 1 and 2 (CB); the transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 1 (TRPV1); and non-(CB(1))/non-CB2 receptors. Here, we used the potent, selective CB(1) agonist arachidonylcyclopropylamide (ACPA) to elucidate the mechanism underlying vascular tone regulation. Immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy revealed that CB(1) was expressed in smooth muscle and endothelial cells in rat aorta. We performed isometric tension recordings in aortic rings that had been pre-contracted with phenylephrine. In these conditions, ACPA caused vasorelaxation in an endothelium-independent manner. To confirm that the effect of ACPA was mediated by CB(1) receptor, we repeated the experiment after blocking these receptors with a selective antagonist, AM281. In these conditions, ACPA did not cause vasorelaxation. We explored the role of K(+) channels in the effect of ACPA by applying high-K(+) solution to induce contraction in aortic rings. In these conditions, the ACPA-induced vasorelaxation was about half that observed with phenylephrine-induced contraction. Thus, K(+) channels were involved in the ACPA effect. Furthermore, the vasorelaxation effect was similarly reduced when we specifically blocked calcium-activated potassium channel subunit alpha-1 (KCa1.1) (MaxiK; BKCa) prior to adding ACPA. Finally, ACPA-induced vasorelaxation was also diminished when we specifically blocked the calcium channel, voltage-dependent, L type, alpha 1C subunit (Ca(v)1.2). These results showed that ACPA activation of CB(1) in smooth muscle caused vasorelaxation of aortic rings through a mechanism involving the activation of K(Ca)1.1 and the inhibition of Ca(v)1.2.