Study on the Mechanism of Rapid Oil-Water Separation by a Fe3 O4 @PMMA@PDMS Intelligent Superhydrophobic Micro/Nanorobot.

We prepared an environmentally friendly intelligent Fe3 O4 @PMMA@PDMS superhydrophobic oil-absorbing material with simple process and excellent performance, and investigated the effects of different particle sizes of Fe3 O4 , different concentrations of PDMS, and different heating times on the superhydrophobicity of the coating. The best performance of the coating was achieved at a particle size combination of 20/500 nm for Fe3 O4 , a PDMS to Fe3 O4 @PMMA mass ratio of 6 : 1, and a heating time of 2 min at 400 °C. H2-SPSS coating not only has excellent superhydrophobicity, abrasion resistance, self-cleaning property, and chemical corrosion, but also has good flux and efficiency for separating oil-water mixture, with fluxes of 40,540, 32,432, and 37,027 Lm-2 h-1 for trichloromethane, dichloromethane and bromoethane, respectively, and separation efficiencies of 99.78 %, 99.74 % and 99.73 %, respectively. In addition, we also prepared a superhydrophobic magnetic polyurethane (SPPU) sponge using Fe3 O4 @PMMA@PDMS, which not only has a good oil absorption capacity of 18-44 g/g for different oil substances, it can also move directionally by magnet attraction and absorb oil along a fixed path. Under the control of the magnet, SPPU completes the whole oil absorption process in only 4 s, showing excellent oil absorption and intelligence.

Postoperative Interleukin-6 Predicts Intra-abdominal Septic Complications at an Early Stage After Elective Intestinal Operation for Crohn's Disease Patients.

BACKGROUND: The role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the prediction of intra-abdominal septic complications (IASCs) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) remains unclear. We assessed the serum IL-6 time course and its association with postoperative IASCs in patients undergoing elective intestinal operations for CD. METHODS: In total, 118 patients who underwent intestinal operations for CD were prospectively evaluated. They were divided into an IASC group and non-IASC group. Multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed that a high IL-6 concentration of >137.25 pg/mL on postoperative day (POD) 1 was independently associated with IASCs (odds ratio, 5.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-22.67; P = 0.012) and a longer postoperative length of hospitalization (6 vs 9 days, P < 0.001). The median interval between surgery and IASCs (interquartile range) was 6 (4-22) days, and the IL-6 concentration was significantly different between patients with and without IASCs on PODs 1, 3, and 5. The ideal IL-6 cutoff value on POD 1 for the prediction of postoperative IASCs was 137.25 pg/mL, yielding a sensitivity of 81%, specificity of 58%, and area under the curve of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.59-0.83), with a negative predictive value of 0.93. CONCLUSIONS: A high IL-6 concentration on POD 1 is independently associated with the occurrence of postoperative IASCs in patients undergoing elective surgery for CD and could allow for earlier diagnosis and earlier intervention for IASCs compared with C-reactive protein.

Lipid-rich enteral nutrition controls intestinal inflammation, improves intestinal motility and mucosal barrier damage in a rat model of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that lipid-rich enteral nutrition (EN) could ameliorate inflammation in various diseases. In this study, we investigated whether lipid-rich EN could control intestinal inflammation, improve intestinal motility and mucosal barrier injury after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. METHODS: Male adult rats received saline, conventional EN, or lipid-rich EN via gavage before and after intestinal I/R injury. The superior mesenteric artery was occluded for 60 min. The sham group underwent laparotomy without superior mesenteric artery occlusion and was administrated saline. Intestinal motility was measured 4 h after intestinal I/R injury by fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran transit assay; the intestinal and systemic inflammation were assessed by analyzing intestinal and serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin (IL)- 6, and IL-10, separately. The intestinal mucosal barrier injury was assessed by analyzing the serum levels of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) and intestinal mucosal tight junction (TJ) proteins. RESULTS: The intestinal I/R injury decreased intestinal motility and intestinal mucosal TJs expression significantly when compared with the sham group (P < 0.05). The intestinal and systemic inflammatory parameters and the serum I-FABP were also significantly higher in the I/R groups than those in the sham group (P < 0.05). Both conventional and lipid-rich EN increased the intestinal motility and the intestinal mucosal TJs expression and decreased the intestinal and systemic inflammatory parameter and serum I-FABP levels to different degrees when compared with the I/R group (P < 0.05). However, lipid-rich EN significantly improved the negative alterations in these biochemical parameters when compared with the conventional EN (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that lipid-rich EN might be able to control intestinal inflammation, improve intestinal motility and mucosal barrier injury after intestinal I/R injury. Thus, the administration of lipid-rich EN may be an effective treatment for promoting gastrointestinal function recovery after intestinal I/R injury.

Dexmedetomidine ameliorates muscle wasting and attenuates the alteration of hypothalamic neuropeptides and inflammation in endotoxemic rats.

Dexmedetomidine is generally used for sedaton in critically ill, it could shorten duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay and lower basic metabolism. However, the exact mechanism of these positive effects remains unkown. Here we investigated the hypothesis that dexmedetomidine could ameliorate muscle wasting in endotoxemic rats and whether it was related to hypothalamic neuropeptides alteration and inflammation. Fourty-eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg) or saline, followed by 50 µg/kg dexmedetomidine or saline administration via the femoral vein catheter (infusion at 5 µg·kg-1·hr-1). Twenty-four hours after injection, hypothalamus tissues and skeletal muscle were obtained. Muscle wasting was measured by the mRNA expression of two E3 ubiquitin ligases, muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx) and muscle ring finger 1 (MuRF-1) as well as 3-methylhistidine (3-MH) and tyrosine release. Hypothalamic inflammatory markers and neuropeptides expression were also detected in all four groups. Results showed that LPS administration led to significant increase in hypothalamic inflammation together with muscle wasting. Increased hypothalamic neuropeptides, proopiomelanocortin (POMC), cocaine and amphetamine-related transcript (CART) and neuropeptides Y (NPY) and decreased agouti-related protein (AgRP) were also observed. Meanwhile dexmedetomidine administration ameliorated muscle wasting, hypothalamic inflammation and modulated the alteration of neuropeptides, POMC, CART and AgRP, in endotoxemic rats. In conclusion, dexmedetomidine could alleviate muscle wasting in endotoxemic rats, and it could also attenuate the alteration of hypothalamic neuropeptides and reduce hypothalamic inflammation.

Estrogen Maintains Skeletal Muscle in Septic Rats Associated with Altering Hypothalamic Inflammation and Neuropeptides.

Muscle wasting is one of the main contributors to the worse outcomes in sepsis. Whether estrogen could alleviate muscle wasting induced by sepsis remains unclear. This study was designed to test the effect of estrogen on muscle wasting and its relationship with central alteration in sepsis. Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: control group, sepsis group, and estrogen treated sepsis group. Animals were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (10 mg/kg) or saline, followed by subcutaneous injection of 17ß-estradiol (1 mg/kg) or saline. Twenty-four hours later, all animals were killed and their hypothalamus and skeletal muscles were harvested for analysis. Muscle wasting markers, hypothalamic neuropeptides, and hypothalamic inflammatory markers were measured. As a result, lipopolysaccharide administration caused a significant increase in muscle wasting, hypothalamic inflammation, and anorexigenic neuropeptides (POMC and CART) gene expression, and a significant decrease in orexigenic neuropeptides (AgRP and NPY) gene expression. Administration of estrogen signifcantl attenuated lipopolysaccharide-induced muscle wasting (body weight and extensor digitorum longus loss [52 and 62 %], tyrosine and 3-methylhistidine release [17 and 22 %], muscle ring fnger 1 [MuRF-1; 65 %], and muscle atrophy F-box [MAFbx] gene expression), hypothalamic inflammation (Tumor necrosis factor-α and interlukin-1ß [69 and 70%]) as well as alteration of POMC, CART and AgRP (61, 37, and 1008 %) expression.In conclusion, estrogen could alleviate sepsis-induced muscle wasting and it was associated with reducing hypothalamic inflammation and alteration of hypothalamic neuropeptides.

The Addition of Dexmedetomidine to Analgesia for Patients After Abdominal Operations: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain and anxiety are two common factors influencing patient's recovery. Benefits and safety in the use of sedative agents after abdominal operations to improve recovery are not well known. The present study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dexmedetomidine use in this population. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial of 145 patients undergoing abdominal operations was conducted in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of Jinling Hospital between October and December 2015. Thirty-two patients were excluded, and 113 were included and divided into the experimental group (59 patients) receiving dexmedetomidine and analgesics for 72 h after abdominal operations, and the control group (54 patients) receiving only analgesics. Postoperative pain, inflammatory response, recovery of gastrointestinal function, adverse events, and sedation level were analyzed. RESULTS: Pain scores, assessed by Prince Henry Pain Scale (PHPS), in the experimental group were significantly lower than in the control group on the first (1.53 vs. 2.07, p ≤ 0.01), second (1.07 vs. 1.63, p ≤ 0.01), and third day (1.08 vs. 1.82, p = 0.01). Time to defecation was 0.60 days shorter in the experimental group than the control group (2.51 vs. 3.11, p = 0.01). There was no significant difference between inflammatory responses in the two groups (p > 0.05). Both groups had similar blood pressure, heart rate, prevalence of bradycardia, and hypotension requiring interventions (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of dexmedetomidine to analgesia after abdominal operations is safe and could enhance gastrointestinal function recovery and pain control when monitored carefully. The capacity of dexmedetomidine to attenuate inflammatory responses requires further investigation.