Higher D-dimer and activated partial thromboplastin time are poor prognostic factors in patients with peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis.

INTRODUCTION: Coagulation system dysfunction is associated with adverse outcomes of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and bacterial infection. We investigated the association between coagulation system and treatment failure of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis (PDRP). METHODS: We collected records of patients aged ≥18 years with PDRP. PDRP episodes were divided into: shortened activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) group and prolonged APTT group, low D-dimer (DD) group and high DD group. The baseline characteristics of the groups were collected and compared. The association between APTT, DD and treatment failure of PDRP was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Thirty episodes of treatment failure were observed in 110 episodes of PDRP in our study. After adjusting for variables, prolonged APTT (OR = 1.166 [1.049-1.296], p = 0.004) or high level of DD (OR = 1.374 [1.057-1.787], p = 0.017) was associated with treatment failure of PDRP. CONCLUSION: Prolonged baseline APTT or high level of DD increased the risk of treatment failure of PDRP.

Hypertriglyceridemia is a risk factor for treatment failure in patients with peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis.

OBJECTIVE: Disorders of triglycerides (TG) are common in patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD). Hypertriglyceridemia has been demonstrated in various infections. The association between triglycerides and the outcomes of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis (PDRP) was investigated in this study. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated patients with PDRP from January 1, 2013 to October 31, 2020. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as triglycerides ≥ 1.7 mmol/L. PDRP episodes were divided into two groups: hypertriglyceridemia and normal levels of triglycerides. The clinical and laboratory baseline data of the two groups were collected and compared. The association between triglycerides and treatment failure was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Ninety episodes in 66 patients were recorded in our center. Hypertriglyceridemia occurred in 38% (34/90) of episodes. Twenty-five episodes were not cured in 90 episodes (27.8%, 25/90). The levels of thrombocytes, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glycated hemoglobin, were higher in hypertriglyceridemia episodes of PDRP at baseline. The bacterial classification was different between elevated triglyceride group and normal triglyceride group. Adjusted for age, duration of dialysis, residual renal function, diabetes, thrombocytes, hs-CRP, serum albumin, cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), glycated hemoglobin and spectrum of bacteria, hypertriglyceridemia were associated significantly with treatment failure of PDRP in our study (OR 3.416, 95% CI 1.223-9.540 p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Hypertriglyceridemia at baseline was an independent risk factor for treatment failure of PDRP.

[Effects of silicon fertilizer on nitrogen and phosphorus contents in the rice-surface water-soil of paddy field]. / ç¡ è‚¥å¯¹æ°´ç¨»-田面水-土壤氮磷含量的影响.

Examining the effects of silicon fertilizer on the yield of double-cropping rice and the leaching loss of soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) could provide a basis for the optimization of formula fertilizer and the comprehensive control technique of agricultural surface source pollution in typical double cropping paddy field. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of silicon fertilizer of 0, 750, 1500, 2250 and 3000 kg·hm-2(T0, T1, T2, T3, T4) on yield and N and P absorption of double-cropping rice, dynamics of N and P in the field surface water, soil available silicon, organic matter, alkali nitrogen and available phosphorus under the fixed nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. The results showed that compared with control (T0), the silicon fertilizer increased the yield of early and late rice by 2.2%-30.4% and 3.9%-9.2%, respectively, enhanced rice N accumulation increased by 2.4%-47.3%, rice P accumulation by 2.2%-41.3%, straw N accumulation by 0.4%-28.3%, and straw P accumulation by 5.1%-31.0%. On the first day after fertilization, the total nitrogen (TN) content in the surface water was decreased by 3.4%-28.8% in silicon treatments compared with T0, the ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), total phosphorus (TP) and total soluble phosphorus (TDP) was decreased by 10.4%-25.6%, 25.5%-29.2%, 30.8%-38.0%, respectively. 45 days later, TP and TDP contents in the field surface water were significantly higher than T0. The silicon fertilizer treatment was beneficial to increase soil silicon level, contents of organic matter and alkali nitrogen of the double cropping rice, among which the T1 treatment performed the best. Soil available phosphorus showed a decreasing trend with the increasing silicon fertilizer.

Renal Function and All-Cause Mortality Risk Among Cancer Patients.

Renal dysfunction predicts all-cause mortality in general population. However, the prevalence of renal insufficiency and its relationship with mortality in cancer patients are unclear.We retrospectively studied 9465 patients with newly diagnosed cancer from January 2010 to December 2010. Renal insufficiency was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. The hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause mortality associated with baseline eGFR was assessed by Cox regression.Three thousand sixty-nine patients (32.4%) exhibited eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m and 3% had abnormal serum creatinine levels at the time of diagnosis. Over a median follow-up of 40.5 months, 2705 patients (28.6%) died. Compared with the reference group (eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m), an elevated all-cause mortality was observed among patients with eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m stratified by cancer stage in the entire cohort, the corresponding hazard ratios were 1.87 (95% CI, 1.41-2.47) and 1.28 (95% CI, 1.01-1.62) for stage I to III and stage IV, respectively. However, this relationship was not observed after multivariate adjustment. Subgroup analysis found that eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m independently predicted death among patients with hematologic (adjusted HR 2.93, 95% CI [1.36-6.31]) and gynecological cancer (adjusted HR 2.82, 95% CI [1.19-6.70]), but not in those with other cancer. Five hundred fifty-seven patients (6%) had proteinuria. When controlled for potential confounding factors, proteinuria was a risk factor for all-cause mortality among patients in the entire cohort, regardless of cancer stage and eGFR values. When patients were categorized by specific cancer type, the risk of all-cause death was only significant in patients with digestive system cancer (adjusted HR, 1.85 [1.48-2.32]).The prevalence of renal dysfunction was common in patients with newly diagnosed cancer. Patients with eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m or proteinuria were associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality, this relation depended on cancer site.

Preparation of electrodeposited Mo-Ni coating and its spectral properties.

Mo-Ni coatings were prepared on Ni alloy by electrodeposition method. The properties of microhardness, wear weight loss and friction coefficients, and thermal expansion of the coatings were investigated, respectively. Mo-Ni coatings were characterized with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), energy-dispersive analyses of X-ray (EDAX), scanning electron microcopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, respectively. Mo-Ni coating shows higher microhardness, lower wear weight loss and friction coefficient compared with those of Ni alloy. The microhardness of Mo-Ni coating is as high as 518 HV, which is 72.67% higher than that of the Ni alloy (300 HV). The wear weight losses of Mo-Ni coating is 1.94 times lower than that of Ni alloy. The friction coefficient of Ni alloy and Mo-Ni coating are 0.640 and 0.559 respectively. The physical thermal expansion curve of Ni alloy has two the peaks in the ranges of 100-120 and 570-640 degrees C respectively; and that of Ni alloy+Mo-Ni coating has one the peaks in the ranges of 570-640 degrees C. The peak of the physical thermal expansion curve of Ni alloy+Mo-Ni coating in the ranges of 570-640 degrees C is much smaller than that of the Ni alloy. Because the part of nickel was replaced by molybdenum in the Ni lattice, molybdenum decreases the lattices transformation of nickel (bcc --> fcc). The reason for the formation of the small peak of the physical thermal expansion curve of Ni alloy+Mo-Ni coating in the ranges of 595-625 degrees C is the changes of MoNi4 and MoNi from the semi-crystalline structure to the crystalline structure respectively.

Mechanochemical regulation of oscillatory follicle cell dynamics in the developing Drosophila egg chamber.

During tissue elongation from stage 9 to stage 10 in Drosophila oogenesis, the egg chamber increases in length by ∼1.7-fold while increasing in volume by eightfold. During these stages, spontaneous oscillations in the contraction of cell basal surfaces develop in a subset of follicle cells. This patterned activity is required for elongation of the egg chamber; however, the mechanisms generating the spatiotemporal pattern have been unclear. Here we use a combination of quantitative modeling and experimental perturbation to show that mechanochemical interactions are sufficient to generate oscillations of myosin contractile activity in the observed spatiotemporal pattern. We propose that follicle cells in the epithelial layer contract against pressure in the expanding egg chamber. As tension in the epithelial layer increases, Rho kinase signaling activates myosin assembly and contraction. The activation process is cooperative, leading to a limit cycle in the myosin dynamics. Our model produces asynchronous oscillations in follicle cell area and myosin content, consistent with experimental observations. In addition, we test the prediction that removal of the basal lamina will increase the average oscillation period. The model demonstrates that in principle, mechanochemical interactions are sufficient to drive patterning and morphogenesis, independent of patterned gene expression.

[Construction and biological characteristics of H5N1 avian influenza viruses with different patterns of the glycosylation sites in HA protein].

The distribution of glycosylation sites in HA proteins was various among H5 subtype avian influenza viruses (AIVs), however, the role of glycosylation sites to the virus is still unclear. In this study, avian influenza H5N1 viruses with deletion of the glycosylation sites in HA were constructed and rescued by site direct mutation and reverse genetic method, and their biological characteristics and virulence were determined. The result showed that the mutants were confirmed to be corrected by HA gene sequencing and Western blot analysis. The EID50 and TCID50 tested in SPF chick embryo and MDCK cells of a mutant rSdelta158 with deletion of glycosylation site at position 158 were slight lower than that of wild type rescued virus rS, and the plaque diameter of rSdelta158 was significant smaller than that of rS. The EID50 and TCID50 of mutants rSdelta169 and rSdelta290 with deletion of glycosylation sites at position 169 and 290, respectively, were slight higher than that of wild type rescued virus rS, the plaque diameters of rSdelta169 and rSdelta290 were similar as that of rS, but the plaque numbers of rSdelta169 and rSdelta290 were 10-fold higher than that to rS. On the other hand, the rSdelta158, rSdelta169 and rSdelta290 showed similar growth rate in chicken embryo fibroblast as rS. All viruses remained high pathogenicity to SPF chickens. Therefore, the growth of AIV can be affected by changes of glycosylation sites in HA protein, by which the effect is variable in different cells.

[Changes of red cell immune function and T-lymphocyte subsets in children with bronchiolitis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of red cell immune function and T-lymphocyte subsets in children with bronchiolitis and their possible roles in the pathogenesis of bronchiolitis. METHODS: Forty-five children with bronchiolitis and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Red cell immune complex rosette (RBC-ICR) and red cell C3b receptor rosette (RBC-C3bRR) were detected. The percentages of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells were assayed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: RBC-C3bRRï¼»(13.6 ± 6.2)% vs (18.0 ± 7.4)%] and the percentage of CD8+ cells [(21.6 ± 4.4)% vs (25.6 ± 5.2) %ï¼½ in the bronchiolitis group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.01). The percentage of CD3+ cells ï¼»(59.9 ± 6.7)% vs (52.1 ± 8.3)%ï¼½ and CD4+ cells [(53.5 ± 6.2)% vs (46.8 ± 4.9)%] and RBC-ICR [(8.3 ± 3.5)% vs (6.1 ± 2.5)%] in the bronchiolitis group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). The percentage of CD4+ cells was positively correlated with RBC-ICR (r=0.63,P<0.05) and negatively correlated with RBC-C3bRR (r=-0.82,P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There are dysfunctions of red cell immune and T-lymphocyte subsets in children with brochiolitis, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of brochiolitis.

Attenuation of transcriptional bursting in mRNA transport.

Because of the stochastic nature of biochemical processes, the copy number of any given type of molecule inside a living cell often exhibits large temporal fluctuations. Here, we develop analytic methods to investigate how the noise arising from a bursting input is reshaped by a transport reaction which is either linear or of the Michaelis-Menten type. A slow transport rate smoothes out fluctuations at the output end and minimizes the impact of bursting on the downstream cellular activities. In the context of gene expression in eukaryotic cells, our results indicate that transcriptional bursting can be substantially attenuated by the transport of mRNA from nucleus to cytoplasm. Saturation of the transport mediators or nuclear pores contributes further to the noise reduction. We suggest that the mRNA transport should be taken into account in the interpretation of relevant experimental data on transcriptional bursting.