Utilization of Ultrafine Gas Bubbles to Investigate the Jones-Ray Effect of Diluted Salt Solutions.

The cause of the Jones-Ray effect has been controversially debated for years. Ultrafine gas bubbles were employed to lessen the surface excess of the surface-active impurities adsorbing to the air/water interface of the salt solutions, which would lead to a direct shift in surface tension observable by the Wilhelmy plate method. It was concluded in this study that once the surface excess of the inevitable impurities in the salts is lessened by the introduction of ultrafine gas bubbles, which possess great air/water interfacial area, the Jones-Ray effect becomes nonobservable. Therefore, our finding hypothesized that the Jones-Ray effect might not originate from salts.

Comparison of Pre-eclampsia Screening Algorithms in the First Trimester of Pregnancy Being Used in Thai Nguyen Province.

Objective To compare the rates of pregnancies in high-risk groups for preeclampsia recommended for aspirin prophylactic when screened using various common algorithms. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1726 pregnant women from 11 to 13 weeks six days of gestation receiving antenatal care at two hospitals: Thai Nguyen National Hospital and a hospital in Thai Nguyen Province from October 2022 to October 2023. All participants provided consent for the study. We collected maternal characteristics, obstetric history, mean arterial pressure (MAP), mean uterine artery-PI (UtA-PI), and placental growth factor serum (PLGF). Screening performance estimates were calculated using the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. All pregnant women in the study had their preeclampsia risk assessed using all three algorithms with two cut-off points. Our data was collected, entered and analyzed using SPSS software 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Categorical data was reported as frequency and percentage. McNemar's test was used for analyzing differences in the sizes of individual groups. Results In our study, the most common high-risk factor identified was the history of preeclampsia, 132 cases (7.6%). According to the NICE guideline, BMI ≥ 35 (kg/m²) is considered a moderate risk factor for preeclampsia. Several risk factors, such as BMI ≥ 35 kg/m² and history of diabetes mellitus type 1, were not present in any participants. Only one pregnant woman had chronic kidney disease (0.06%). Out of the 1726 pregnant women surveyed, the rates of high-risk preeclampsia were as follows: 9.9% (171 cases) based on algorithm 1; 10.8% (187 cases) based on algorithm 2 with a cut-off point > 1/100, 11.8% (203 cases) with a cut-off point > 1/150; 10.3 % (178 cases) based on algorithm 3 with a cut-off point > 1/100, and 11.6% (201 cases) with a cut-off point > 1/150. Among these algorithms, pregnant women in the high-risk preeclampsia group were advised to consider taking low-dose aspirin. Conclusion Screening for pre-eclampsia based on NICE recommendations resulted in a lower number of high-risk pregnant women requiring prophylactic aspirin use compared to other algorithms. This means that some pregnant women at risk of developing preeclampsia are not recommended to use aspirin as a preventive measure. Adding PLGF to the screening strategy will help us get closer to pregnant women who are truly at risk of progressing to preterm preeclampsia.

Utilizing polymer-conjugate albumin-based ultrafine gas bubbles in combination with ultra-high frequency radiations in drug transportation and delivery.

The application of ultrafine bubbles as drug carriers in drug delivery is still in its developmental stage; it is important to obtain a thorough understanding of the factors affecting the formation and stability of drug carrier matrices. In this study, the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-conjugated human serum albumin (HSA)-based ultrafine bubble simulating the physiological electrolyte concentration in human blood (154 mM) for quercetin delivery was investigated. Optical absorbance measurements, surface tension measurements, and fluorescence laser imaging were also employed to assess the plausibility of polymer-conjugated albumin-stabilized ultrafine bubbles in drug loading and drug release. The incorporation of PEG/HSA into the system illustrated a significant enhancement in the matrix's stability as confirmed by surface tension measurements and drug-loading efficiency achieving approximately 90%. In addition, in vitro drug release was performed by the application of high-frequency ultrasound, indicating more than 40% of the loaded quercetin was astonishingly liberated within 5 minutes of exposure.

Fetal antigens on the surface of human lymphoid cells.

Human B-lymphoblastoid cells established in long-term culture from healthy adults carry surface components that are normally found in human fetal tissues at about 10 wk of age. These antigens are strongly expressed on neoplastic B lymphocytes but not on thymocytes or a cultured T-cell line. They are carried by a small subpopulation of normal adult peripheral blood lymphocytes as well.

[Variability of arterial pressure during consultation. Effect of the physician and patient characteristics]. / Variabilité de la pression artérielle de consultation. Influence du médecin et des caractéristiques du patient.

The decision to treat patients with high blood pressure depends largely on the level of pressure. However, a major difficulty is the great variability of blood pressure level in any individual patient. From May 1st 84 to July 1st 84, 259 patients were referred for the first time to the outpatient clinic and were seen by one of the four physicians. Before the consultation and during the medical interrogatory 18 + 8 measures were performed every 2 minutes by an automatic device using the oscillometric method. The physician measured the blood pressure (BP) using the auscultatory method according to the WHO recommendations, after the medical interrogatory. Measured by the physician, BP was 174 + 28/104 + 15 mmHg. Measured by the automatic device, BP was 158 + 22/94 + 14 mmHg. The correlation between the two methods was excellent (SBP: r = 0.88 and DBP: r = 0.82; p less than 0.001) but the mean of BPs automatically recorded was significantly lower (-15/11 mmHg) than the BP measured by the physician. The mean of the highest BPs recorded by the oscillometric method (179 + 26/108 + 16) was slightly higher than the BP recorded by the physicians. Blood pressure variability was defined by the standard error (SE) of BPs measured by the automatic device (SE: 11 + 4/7 + 2). SE was positively correlated with the BP level measured by the physician or by the machine and with the heart rate variability for both SBP and DBP, and with patient's age for SBP only. SE was negatively correlated with the coffee consumption and the tobacco consumption. Blood pressure variability was significantly higher in men than in women (p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Chronic constrictive pericarditis responsible for an increase of CA 125 levels. Two cases]. / Péricardite chronique constrictive responsable d'une élévation du CA 125. Deux observations.

Despite its poor specificity, CA 125 is a widely used tumoral marker. Significant rises in serum CA 125 levels are found mainly in ovarian cancer, but they also occur in other malignant or benign pathologies such as chronic liver diseases. However, in benign pathologies the CA 125 concentrations hitherto reported did not exceed 850 U/ml. The authors report two cases of chronic constrictive pericarditis with ascites and pleural effusions in which a very high increase of serum CA 125 levels (above 1,200 U/ml) was directly related to the presence of pleural effusions.

[Heart conduction disorders in long-term treatment with chloroquine. Two new cases]. / Troubles de la conduction cardiaque au cours d'un traitement prolongé par chloroquine. Deux nouvelles observations.

Cardiac complications are exceptional in long-term chloroquine therapy; congestive heart failure and restrictive cardiomyopathy may develop, but disorders of conduction are more frequent. The characteristics of these disorders emerge from 12 cases in the literature and from 2 personal cases. The usual disorder is fascicular block which may become a complete, syncopal, atrioventricular block, as in one of our 2 patients. The time elapsed between the beginning of treatment and the occurrence of these disorders (2 to 30 years) and the total dose of chloroquine received (100 to 2,500 g) are extremely variable. Retinopathy or neuromyopathy is present in 64 and 35 percent of the cases respectively. The diagnosis is confirmed by endomyocardial biopsy with electron microscopic study which shows vaculoar myopathy with numerous large secondary lysosomes containing a dense material of lamellar structure (myelinic figures, curvilinear bodies). Regression of heart conduction disorders after withdrawal of chloroquine seems to be inconstant and incomplete. The rare occurrence of this complication raises the question of genetic predisposition. We believe that chloroquine therapy should be contra-indicated in patients with a history of conduction disorders and that a 6-monthly electrocardiographic control of these patients would be justified.