A quantitative study of airway ultrasound in predicting difficult laryngoscopy: A prospective study.

PURPOSE: As common clinical screening tests cannot effectively predict a difficult airway, and unanticipated difficult laryngoscopy remains a challenge for physicians. We herein used ultrasound to develop some point-of-care predictors for difficult laryngoscopy. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 502 patients who underwent laryngoscopy and a detailed sonographic assessment. Patients under 18 years old, or with maxillofacial deformities or fractures, limited mouth opening, limited neck movement or history of neck surgery were excluded from the study. Laryngoscopic views of all patients were scored and grouping using the modified Cormack-Lehane (CL) scoring system. The measurements acquired comprised tongue width, the longitudinal cross-sectional area of the tongue, tongue volume, the mandible-hyoid bone distance, the hyoid bone-glottis distance, the mandible-hyoid bone-glottis angle, the skin-thyrohyoid membrane distance, the glottis-superior edge of the thyroid cartilage distance (DGTC), the skin-hyoid bone distance, and the epiglottis midway-skin distance. ANOVA and Chi-square were used to compare differences between groups. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for difficult laryngoscopy and it was visualized by receiver operating characteristic curves and nomogram. R version 3.6.3 and SPSS version 26.0 were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: Difficult laryngoscopy was indicated in 49 patients (CL grade Ⅲ - Ⅳ) and easy laryngoscopy in 453 patients (CL grade Ⅰ - Ⅱ). The ultrasound-measured mandible-hyoid bone-glottis angle and DGTC significantly differed between the 2 groups (p < 0.001). Difficult laryngoscopy was predicted by an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.930 with a threshold mandible-hyoid bone-glottis angle of 125.5° and by an AUC of 0.722 with a threshold DGTC of 1.22 cm. The longitudinal cross-sectional area of the tongue, tongue width, tongue volume, the mandible-hyoid distance, and the hyoid-glottis distance did not significantly differ between the groups. CONCLUSION: Difficult laryngoscopy may be anticipated in patients in whom the mandible-hyoid bone-glottis angle is smaller than 125.5° or DGTC is larger than 1.22 cm.

Photothermal Soft Nanoballs Developed by Loading Plasmonic Cu2- xSe Nanocrystals into Liposomes for Photothermal Immunoassay of Aflatoxin B1.

Photothermal effects (PTEs) have been greatly concerned with the fast development of new photothermal nanomaterials. Herein we propose a photothermal immunoassay (PTIA) by taking mycotoxins (AFB1) as an example based on the PTEs of plasmonic Cu2- xSe nanocrystals (NCs). By loading plasmonic Cu2- xSe NCs into liposomes to form photothermal soft nanoballs (ptSNBs), on which aptamer of AFB1 previously assembled, a sandwich structure of AFB1 could be formed with the aptamer on ptSNBs and capture antibody. The heat released from the ptSNBs under NIR irradiation, owing to the plasmonic photothermal light-to-heat conversion through photon-electron-phonon coupling, makes the temperature of substrate solution increased, and the increased temperature has a linear relationship with the AFB1 content. Owing to the large amounts of plasmonic Cu2- xSe NCs in the ptSNBs, the PTEs get amplified, making AFB1 higher than 1 ng/mL detectable in food even if with a rough homemade immunothermometer. The proposal of PTIA opens a new field of immunoassay including developing photothermal nanostructures, new thermometers, PTIA theory, and so on.

Polydopamine-embedded Cu(2-x)Se nanoparticles as a sensitive biosensing platform through the coupling of nanometal surface energy transfer and photo-induced electron transfer.

Full understanding and easy construction of specific biosensing principles is necessary for disease diagnostics and therapeutics in the hope of creating new types of biosensors. Herein, we developed a new conceptual nanobiosensing platform by coupling nanometal surface energy transfer (NSET) and photo-induced electron transfer (PET) with polydopamine-embedded Cu(2-x)Se nanoparticles (Cu(2-x)SeNPs@pDA) and DNA-conjugated fluorescent organic dyes. The new prepared Cu(2-x)SeNPs@pDA has intense and broad localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption over UV to near infrared (NIR) wavelengths, with different affinities toward ssDNA versus dsDNA. It also exhibits a high multiplexed fluorescence quenching ability, and thus can act as an acceptor in the energy transfer and electron transfer interactions between Cu(2-x)SeNPs@pDA and fluorescent organic dyes. As a proof of concept, a new biosensing platform has been successfully developed to target biomacromolecules such as DNA and proteins, in which the NSET and PET interactions between Cu(2-x)SeNPs@pDA and three different DNA-conjugated fluorescent dyes have been identified using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence. A simple mathematical model was further applied to simulate the respective contributions of the coexisting NSET and PET to the total quenching observed for each DNA-conjugated dye in this sensing system. This study highlights the importance of understanding the mechanistic details of NSET and PET coupling processes, and the disclosed coupling mechanism of NSET and PET (NSET©PET) in the systems of Cu(2-x)SeNPs@pDA with wide wavelength range dyes provides new opportunities for sensitive biosensing applications.

Differential behavior patterns in cynomolgus monkey Macaca fascicularis in home cage in response to human gaze.

BACKGROUND: Non-human primates, when encountering human beings, show wariness and alertness. These behaviors differ when there is direct human gaze vs. when human averts his gaze. METHODS: We observed cynomolgus monkey in their home cage and studied their behaviors in response to human gaze. Four behaviors were analyzed: opening mouth, staring at observer, agitated activity, and approaching observer. RESULTS: Three behaviors appeared to be sensitive to human gaze between when the human observer gazed at the monkey and when the human observer looked away. Individual animals also displayed subpatterns of responses to human gaze. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that, even in their home cage, monkeys display a heightened level of awareness when gazed upon by a human observer, suggesting that human gaze may elicit emotional reactions. Further, under the human gaze, distinct behavioral subpatterns were apparent within the monkey cohort in our study, indicative of subgroups within the cohort.

Maxillary nerve compression in cynomolgus monkey Macaca fascicularis: altered somatic sensation and peripheral nerve firing.

BACKGROUND: Trigeminal nerve is a major source of the sensory input of the face, and trigeminal neuropathology models have been reported in rodents with injury to branches of the maxillary or mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve. Non-human primates are neuroanatomically more closely related to human than rodents; however, nerve injury studies in non-human primates are limited. RESULTS: We describe here a nerve injury model of maxillary nerve compression (MNC) in the cynomolgus macaque monkey, Macaca fascicularis, and the initial characterization of the consequences of damage to this trigeminal nerve branch. The nerve injury from the compression appeared to be mild, as we did not observe overt changes in home-cage behavior in the monkeys. When mechanical stimulation was applied to the facial area, monkeys with MNC displayed increased mechanical sensitivity, as the avoidance response scores were lower than those from the control animals. Such a change in mechanical sensitivity appeared to be somewhat bilateral, as the contralateral side also showed increased mechanical sensitivity, although the change on the ipsilateral side was more robust. Multiple-unit recording of the maxillary nerve showed a general pattern of increasing responsiveness to escalating force in mechanical stimulation on the contralateral side. Ipsilateral side of the maxillary nerve showed a lack of responsiveness to escalating force in mechanical stimulation, possibly reflecting a maximum stimulation threshold effect from sensitized nerve due to MNC injury. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MNC may produce increased sensitivity of the ipsilateral maxillary nerve, and that this model may serve as a non-human primate model to evaluate the effect of injury to trigeminal nerve branches.

Sindiplozoon coreius n. sp. (Monogenea: Diplozoidae) from the gills of Coreius guichenoti (Cyprinidae) in China.

Sindiplozoon coreius n. sp. is described from the gills of Coreius guichenoti in Sichuan province, China. There is a smooth tegument and a cup-like widened area in the posterior part of the worm body, which are particular features of the genus Sindiplozoon. There are no branched intestinal caeca before the widened area, but some branches reach the fourth clamp in the hind body; there was no cross striation on the anterior arch of the anterior clamp jaw and medial part of the posterior jaw, which are distinguished from the other species in Sindiplozoon. In addition, S. coreius n. sp. shared the highest ITS2 sequence identity (96.0%) with S. ctenopharyngodoni. The established phylogenetic tree showed that the two species of Sindiplozoon formed a sister group. The k2p genetic distance between the new species and other diplozoids was higher than 3.4%, which suggested interspecific differentiation.

Electrically Activated Soft Robots: Speed Up by Rolling.

Soft robots show excellent body compliance, adaptability, and mobility when coping with unstructured environments and human-robot interactions. However, the moving speed for soft locomotion robots is far from that of their rigid partners. Rolling locomotion can provide a promising solution for developing high-speed robots. Based on different rolling mechanisms, three rolling soft robot (RSR) prototypes with advantages of simplicity, lightweight, fast rolling speed, good compliance, and shock resistance are fabricated by using dielectric elastomer actuators. The experimental results demonstrate that the impulse-based and gravity-based RSRs can move both stably and continuously on the ground with a maximum speed higher than 1 blps (body length per second). The ballistic RSR exhibits a high rolling speed of ∼4.59 blps. And during its accelerating rolling process, the instantaneous rolling speed of the robot prototype reaches about 0.65 m/s (13.21 blps), which is much faster than most of the previously reported locomotion robots driven by soft responsive materials. The structure design and implementation methods based on different rolling mechanisms presented can provide guidance and inspiration for creating new, fast-moving, and hybrid mobility soft robots.

A new species of Trichodina lishuiensis n. sp. (Ciliophora: Trichodinidae) in urinary bladder of Odorrana schmackeri (Amphibia: Ranidae) from Zhejiang, China.

Endoparasitic trichodinids are rather rare ciliates. In this study we describe a new species named Trichodina lishuiensis from the bladder of Odorrana schmackeri collected in Zhejiang, China, with the prevalence of 20% (9/45). We identified T. lishuiensis as a new species by morphological comparison and molecular analysis. The ciliates were observed using the dry-silver and protargol staining methods, as well as SEM (scanning electron microscopy). Trichodina lishuiensis is a small species (cell diameter 31.8-43.9 µm), with incompact denticles connection, medium-wide blades and thick rays. We also sequenced a 1712 bp-long fragment of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA). Phylogenetic analyses showed that the new species clustered with Trichodina unionis. The route of transmission of Trichodina species in the urinary bladder remains a mystery. We hypothesize that the transmisison takes place during the amplexus, with eggs and sperm discharged from the cloaca, and that trichodinids 'accompany' the amphibian through its whole life cycle, but further studies are needed to test this hypothesis.

Calcium-bisphosphonate Nanoparticle Platform as a Prolonged Nanodrug and Bone-Targeted Delivery System for Bone Diseases and Cancers.

Bone and bone-related diseases are the major cause of mobility hindrance and mortality in humans and there is no effective and safe treatment for most of them, especially, for bone and bone metastatic cancers. Bisphosphonates (BPs) are a group of small-molecule drugs for treating osteoporosis and bone cancers but have a very short half-life in circulation, requiring high doses and long-term repeat use that can cause severe side effects. Previous attempts of using nanoparticles to deliver BPs have issues of drug loading capacity and endosome escape/drug release. The present study reports the direct synthesis of BP nanoparticles by precipitating bone-favorable calcium ions and a third-generation BP, risedronate (Ca-RISNPs), to achieve high drug loading, endosomal release, and strong bone-targeting properties. The Ca-RISNPs are monodispersed with high stability at physiological pH but readily dissociate at endosomal pH conditions. They demonstrate strong penetration ability and uniform distribution in human bone and cartilage tissues and the superior drug and DNA (plasmid and oligo double strand DNA) delivery capacity in bone cells. These NPs also exhibit high specificity in killing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and inhibit TAM-induced tumor cell migration. Collectively, our data indicate that this BP nanodrug platform has a great potential in managing bone-related diseases and cancers as a prolonged BP nanodrug and simultaneously as the bone-targeted drug delivery system.

Size-Dependent Plasmonic Resonance Scattering Characteristics of Gold Nanorods for Highly Sensitive Detection of microRNA-27a.

MicroRNAs, as one kind of significant biomarkers, play indispensable roles in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers. Yet, owing to low expression and high sequence homology, high sensitivity and specificity for microRNA detection are greatly challenging. Herein, a sensitive sensing platform with high specificity was developed for microRNA-27a (miRNA-27a) based on the miRNA-27a-triggered chemical etching of gold nanorods to a smaller size, which was accompanied by a significant blue shift and a large decrease of intensity in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) scattering and remarkable color variability from red to green. When combined with strand displacement reactions as well as liposome signal amplification and transduction, the proposed bioassay presented high selectivity toward miRNA-27a in a dynamic range from 100 fM to 3 pM and a low limit of detection of 16.5 fM (3σ/k) by dark-field microscopy. Additionally, the remarkable discrimination of single nucleotide difference suggested superior selectivity and was able to detect miRNA-27a extracted from breast cancer cells. The strategy put forward is universal, presenting amusing application prospects in the early diagnosis of various cancers by adapting the corresponding nucleotide sequences.

[Effects of different low limits of irrigation on nutrients, enzyme activity and glomalin-rela-ted soil protein in soil aggregates of drip irrigation under plastic film.] / è†œä¸‹æ»´çŒä¸åŒçŒæ°´æŽ§åˆ¶ä¸‹é™å¯¹è®¾æ–½åœŸå£¤å›¢èšä½“å »åˆ†ã€é ¶æ´»æ€§å’Œçƒå›Šéœ‰ç´ å«é‡çš„å½±å“.

Irrigation is the main source of soil water in greenhouse. There is a lack of understanding on the effects of drip irrigation under the plastic film on the distribution characteristics of soil nutrients, enzyme activity and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) in soil aggregates. The effects of different irrigation low limits (20 kPa, D20; 30 kPa, D30; 40 kPa, D40) on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), urease activity, invertase activity and GRSP in soil aggregates were investigated under the greenhouse with the continuously six years' irrigation. The results showed that compared with D20 and D40 treatments, D30 treatment significantly decreased the proportion of micro-aggregate (<0.25 mm), increased the proportion of macro-aggregate (>0.25 mm), and improved the mean mass diameter (MWD) by 26.4% and 13.4%, respectively. The concentrations of SOC, TN, TP and GRSP were relatively higher in 2-1 mm, 1-0.25 mm, and <0.053 mm aggregates. About 46.5% of SOC, 53.3% of TN and 37.7% of TP were distributed in the 1-0.25 mm aggregates. The urease and invertase activities were increased with the decreases in the size of aggregates, which were significantly increased in D30 and D40 treatments. The 1-0.25 mm aggregates had highest contributions to enzyme activities, with 38.7% of urease and 41.2% of invertase in bulk soil. Results from the correlation analysis showed that MWD was highly positively correlated with GRSP, SOC and urease activity, and the concentration of GRSP was highly positively correlated with SOC and urease activity. Therefore, the irrigation low limits of 30 kPa promoted soil aggregate stability and protection of soil aggregates to nutrients, enzyme activities and GRSP in greenhouse.

Metatranscriptomic discovery of plant biomass-degrading capacity from grass carp intestinal microbiomes.

Despite the economic importance of fish, the ecology and metabolic capacity of fish microbiomes are largely unknown. Here, we sequenced the metatranscriptome of the intestinal microbiota of grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, a freshwater herbivorous fish species. Our results confirmed previous work describing the bacterial composition of the microbiota at the phylum level as being dominated by Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteriodetes. Comparative transcriptomes of the microbiomes of fish fed with different experimental diets indicated that the bacterial transcriptomes are influenced by host diet. Although hydrolases and cellulosome-based systems predicted to be involved in degradation of the main chain of cellulose, xylan, mannan and pectin were identified, transcripts with glycoside hydrolase modules targeting the side chains of noncellulosic polysaccharides were more abundant. Predominant 'COG' (Clusters of Orthologous Group) categories in the intestinal microbiome included those for energy production and conversion, as well as carbohydrate and amino acid transport and metabolism. These results suggest that the grass carp intestinal microbiome functions in carbohydrate turnover and fermentation, which likely provides energy for both host and microbiota. Grass carp intestinal microbiome thus reflects its evolutionary adaption for harvesting nutrients for an herbivore with a high-throughput nutritional strategy that is not dominated by cellulose digestion but rather the degradation of intracellular polysaccharides.

Short-term effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on pediatric hand, foot and mouth disease in Shenzhen, China.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) was an emerging viral infectious disease in recent years in Shenzhen. The underlying risk factors have not yet been systematically examined. This study analyzed the short-term effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on pediatric HFMD in Shenzhen, China. Daily count of HFMD among children aged below 15 years old, Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and weather variables were collected to construct the time series. A distributed lag non-linear model was applied to investigate the effect of daily SOI on pediatric HFMD occurrence during 2008-2010. We observed an acute effect of SOI variation on HFMD occurrence. The extremely high SOI (SOI = 45, with 0 as reference) was associated with increased HFMD, with the relative risk (RR) being 1.66 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.34-2.04). Further analyses of the association between HFMD and daily mean temperature and relative humidity supported the correlation between pediatric HFMD and SOI. Meteorological factors might be important predictors of pediatric HFMD occurrence in Shenzhen.

Molecular phylogeny and host specificity of the larval Eustrongylides (Nematoda: Dioctophmidae) from freshwater fish in China.

The nematodes Eustrongylides spp. collected from different fish species in China were examined for their intra- and interspecific evolutionary variations using the molecular markers mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (COI) gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA regions. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that Eustrongylides species are divided into 3 well-supported clades. The ITS divergence between the clades suggested that clades 2 and 3 might represent the same species, whereas clade 1 represent another cryptic species. The host specificity of these nematodes was analyzed according to prevalence data, host range, and phylogenetic information. Clade 1 was found in 4 fish species, i.e., Odontobutis obscurus, Silurus asotus, Culter mongolicus, and Acanthogobius flavimanus, but was predominant in the 2 perciform species, O. obscurus and A. flavimanus. Clade 2 was found in 3 fish species, Monopterus albus, Channa argus, and Channa asiatica, but was predominant in M. albus, reported to feed primarily on oligochaetes, the first intermediate host of Eustrongylides sp. Clade 3 was found in 9 species, but its low prevalence suggests accidental infection in all species. Although the larval nematode presented low host specificity, it exhibited some host preference.

Hepatitis C virus-related heat-insoluble cryoglobulinemia and thrombotic microangiopathy.

Heat-insoluble cryoglobulinemia is rare, and its pathogenesis and comorbidities remain poorly understood. Here, the authors report a case of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related heat-insoluble cryoglobulinemia associated with thrombotic microangiopathy and cryoglobulin-occlusive membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. The patient, a 57-year-old woman, presented with acute kidney injury, thrombocytopenia, anemia with schistocytes, high levels of serum HCV RNA of HCV genotype 2a, rheumatoid factor positivity and high levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig) M and Igκ. The patient's serum was positive for cryoglobulin at 4°C, and the precipitate required heating to 47°C for dissolution. Cryoglobulin immunofixation was positive for monoclonal IgM and Igκ and polyclonal IgG. However, immunofixation of the cryoglobulin supernatant was negative. Histological examination of renal biopsy revealed a membranoproliferative type I glomerulonephritis. The patient was treated with plasmapheresis, corticosteroids and antiviral therapy of peginterferon plus ribavirin, but symptoms only partially resolved.

Composition, diversity, and origin of the bacterial community in grass carp intestine.

Gut microbiota has become an integral component of the host, and received increasing attention. However, for many domestic animals, information on the microbiota is insufficient and more effort should be exerted to manage the gastrointestinal bacterial community. Understanding the factors that influence the composition of microbial community in the host alimentary canal is essential to manage or improve the microbial community composition. In the present study, 16S rRNA gene sequence-based comparisons of the bacterial communities in the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) intestinal contents and fish culture-associated environments are performed. The results show that the fish intestinal microbiota harbors many cellulose-decomposing bacteria, including sequences related to Anoxybacillus, Leuconostoc, Clostridium, Actinomyces, and Citrobacter. The most abundant bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the grass carp intestinal content are those related to feed digestion. In addition, the potential pathogens and probiotics are important members of the intestinal microbiota. Further analyses show that grass carp intestine holds a core microbiota composed of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. The comparison analyses reveal that the bacterial community in the intestinal contents is most similar to those from the culture water and sediment. However, feed also plays significant influence on the composition of gut microbiota.