Four-month-old with severe PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum disorder successfully treated with alpelisb.

PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) encompasses different clinical entities caused by somatic activating mutations in PIK3CA. Among PROS, CLOVES syndrome represents a severe phenotype with poor survival rate. We present the case of a 4-month-old girl with CLOVES syndrome successfully treated with alpelisib, a PIKC3A inhibitor.

Impact of probe sonication and sulfuric acid pretreatment on graphene exfoliation in water.

Graphene is a 2D material with promising commercial applications due to its physicochemical properties. Producing high-quality graphene economically and at large scales is currently of great interest and demand. Here, the potential of producing high-quality graphene at a large scale via water-phase exfoliation methods is investigated. By altering exfoliation parameters, the production yield of graphene and flake size are evaluated. Pretreatment of the precursor graphite powder using acidic solutions of H2SO4 at different concentrations is found to increase further the yield and structural quality of the exfoliated graphene flakes. These findings are confirmed through various spectroscopy and surface characterization techniques. Controlling flake size, thickness, and yield are demonstrated via optimization of the sonication process, centrifuge time, and H2SO4 pretreatment.

Why Do Not All Living Kidney Donor Candidates Are Accepted for Donation? A Pediatric Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Living donor kidney transplantation is the best type of renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease. Living kidney donors (LKDs) undergo an extensive evaluation before donating, and many potential LKDs are declined. This study aimed to define the reasons for the decline in LKD candidates referred to our center. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of all potential LKDs evaluated between January 2001 and December 2021 at our institution,Western National Medical Center, Pediatric Hospital. Data were obtained by review of an electronic database. RESULTS: A total of 1332 potential LKDs were evaluated, 796 (59.7%) successfully donated; 20 (1.5%) had a complete evaluation, were accepted for donation, and were on the waiting list for intervention; 56 (4.2%) continued in the evaluation process; 200 (15%) were discharged from the program due to administrative aspects, death (donor or receptor), or cadaveric renal transplantation in order of frequency; 56 (4.2%) withdraw by personal choice; and 204 (15.3%) were rejected for donation. Donor-related reasons included medical contraindications (n = 134, 65.7%), anatomic contraindications (n = 38, 18.6%), immunologic barriers (n = 18, 8.8%), and psychological reasons (n = 11, 5.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the large number of potential LKDs, a significant proportion did not proceed for donation for different reasons; in our description, it represents 40.3%. The largest proportion is because of donor-related causes, and most of the reasons result from the candidate's unnoticed chronic diseases.

Short-term complications and post-acute sequelae in hospitalized paediatric patients with COVID-19 and obesity: A multicenter cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity increases the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 illness in adults. The role of obesity in short-term complications and post-acute sequelae in children is not well defined. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between obesity and short-term complications and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized paediatric patients. METHODS: An observational study was conducted in three tertiary hospitals, including paediatric hospitalized patients with a confirmatory SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR from March 2020 to December 2021. Obesity was defined according to WHO 2006 (0-2 years) and CDC 2000 (2-20 years) growth references. Short-term outcomes were intensive care unit admission, ventilatory support, superinfections, acute kidney injury, and mortality. Neurological, respiratory, and cardiological symptoms and/or delayed or long-term complications beyond 4 weeks from the onset of symptoms were considered as post-acute sequalae. Adjusted linear, logistic regression and generalized estimating equations models were performed. RESULTS: A total of 216 individuals were included, and 67 (31.02%) of them had obesity. Obesity was associated with intensive care unit admission (aOR = 5.63, CI95% 2.90-10.94), oxygen requirement (aOR = 2.77, CI95% 1.36-5.63), non-invasive ventilatory support (aOR = 6.81, CI95% 2.11-22.04), overall superinfections (aOR = 3.02 CI95% 1.45-6.31), and suspected bacterial pneumonia (aOR = 3.00 CI95% 1.44-6.23). For post-acute sequalae, obesity was associated with dyspnea (aOR = 9.91 CI95% 1.92-51.10) and muscle weakness (aOR = 20.04 CI95% 2.50-160.65). CONCLUSIONS: In paediatric hospitalized patients with COVID-19, severe short-term outcomes and post-acute sequelae are associated with obesity. Recognizing obesity as a key comorbidity is essential to develop targeted strategies for prevention of COVID-19 complications in children.

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Analysis of Ultrafine Au Nanoparticles Supported over Reactively Sputtered TiO2 Films.

The impact of a titania (TiO2) support film surface on the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles (Au NP) was investigated. Using the reactive dc-magnetron sputtering technique, TiO2 films with an amorphous, anatase, and nitrogen-doped anatase crystal structure were produced for a subsequent role as a support material for Au NP. Raman spectra of these TiO2 films revealed that both vacuum and NH3 annealing treatments promoted amorphous to anatase phase transformation through the presence of a peak in the 513-519 cm-1 spectral regime. Furthermore, annealing under NH3 flux had an associated blue shift and broadening of the Raman active mode at 1430 cm-1, characteristic of an increase in the oxygen vacancies (VO). For a 3 to 15 s sputter deposition time, the Au NP over TiO2 support films were in the 6.7-17.1 nm size range. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analysis, the absence of any shift in the Au 4f core level peak implied that there was no change in the electronic properties of Au NP. On the other hand, spontaneous hydroxyl (-OH) group adsorption to anatase TiO2 support was instantly detected, the magnitude of which was found to be enhanced upon increasing the Au NP loading. Nitrogen-doped anatase TiO2 supporting Au NP with ~21.8 nm exhibited a greater extent of molecular oxygen adsorption. The adsorption of both -OH and O2 species is believed to take place at the perimeter sites of the Au NP interfacing with the TiO2 film. XPS analyses and discussions about the tentative roles of O2 and -OH adsorbent species toward Au/TiO2 systems corroborate very well with interpretations of density functional theory simulations.

Numerical Study of a Capacitive Graphene Oxide Humidity Sensor with Etched Configuration.

The geometrical dependence of humidity sensors on sensing performance has not been quantitatively outlined. Furthermore, the etching effect on humidity sensors is still elusive due to the difficulty in separating the effects of the geometrical change and etching-induced porosity on the overall performance. Here, we use COMSOL Multiphysics to perform a numerical study of a capacitive graphene oxide (GO) humidity sensor, with emphasis on the dimensions and etching effect on their sensing performance. GO is a useful and promising material in detecting humidity because of its selective superpermeability to water molecules. The mechanism of improved sensing performance of the etched humidity sensors is discussed in terms of the morphological profile and the effective permittivity including the etching-induced porosity effect. Our study shows that as compared to the unetched sensors, isotropic etching achieves the lowest response time of 1.011 s at 15.75% porosity, while vertical etching achieves the highest capacitance sensitivity of 0.106 fF/RH %.

Synthesis of holey graphene for advanced nanotechnological applications.

Holey or porous graphene, a structural derivative of graphene, has attracted immense attention due to its unique properties and potential applications in different branches of science and technology. In this review, the synthesis methods of holey or porous graphene/graphene oxide are systematically summarized and their potential applications in different areas are discussed. The process-structure-applications are explained, which helps relate the synthesis approaches to their corresponding key applications. The review paper is anticipated to benefit the readers in understanding the different synthesis methods of holey graphene, their key parameters to control the pore size distribution, advantages and limitations, and their potential applications in various fields.

Hyperthyrotropinemia is common in preterm infants who are born small for gestational age.

Background To determine the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) with a delayed increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in preterm infants and to describe the associated factors. Methods A prospective newborn screening (NBS) was conducted in 122 very low birth weight (VLBW) premature neonates born between June 2016 and September 2017. A dried blood spot thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level ≥15 mIU/L at 7 and 15 days of life, ≥10 in serum at the second screen or ≥5 at the third screen was defined as positive for CH. A concomitant increase in the TSH level and normal free thyroxine (T4) level was classified as hyperthyrotropinemia (HT). Results Before the first month of life, no cases of CH were identified. However, the second and third NBS identified 10 and six subjects with HT, respectively, but no cases of CH. The overall cumulative incidence of HT was 1:8. Small for gestational age (SGA) was a variable that was significantly associated with HT, even after the exclusion of patients with Down syndrome. Conclusions A high incidence of HT, but not CH, was found after the first month of life in preterm infants. Being SGA was strongly associated with having higher TSH. The need for repeating TSH screening after the first month of life in this population remains to be established.