A case of POEMS syndrome comprising of a complicated diagnostic procedure: Case report.

RATIONALE: This article presents the case of a patient with recurrent chronic diarrhea and cachexia who was misdiagnosed, followed by a literature review to summarize the reasons for misdiagnosis of POEMS syndrome and the treatment strategies. PATIENT CONCERNS: The diagnosis and treatment of this patient suggest that with the improvement of M-protein detection levels, the diagnosis of patients with low M-protein levels, such as those with POEMS syndrome, has been greatly aided. DIAGNOSES: POEMS syndrome requires polyneuropathy and monoclonal plasma cell proliferation as mandatory diagnostic criteria. Therefore, patients presenting with polyneuropathy should routinely undergo M-protein testing and consider the possibility of POEMS syndrome. INTERVENTIONS: The patient, in this case, was treated primarily with relatively conservative immunomodulatory agents. OUTCOMES: During follow-up after treatment, the patient's diarrhea and malnutrition showed significant improvement. LESSONS SUBSECTIONS: POEMS syndrome has low clinical specificity and a high rate of misdiagnosis. However, once a definitive diagnosis is made, the treatment outcome is favorable.

Early continuous blood purification affects TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6 in patients with severe acute pancreatitis via inhibiting TLR4 signaling pathway.

To exploit whether early continuous blood purification (CBP) inhibits the Toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway in the peripheral blood of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and whether it affects the abundance of inflammatory factors; 130 SAP patients were randomly selected and divided into Groups B and C. Both groups received conventional treatment. Among them, Group C was given early CBP treatment. Another 60 healthy cases in physical examination at the same time were selected as Group A. The abundances of TLR4 and inflammatory factors were detected before and after treatment. Compared with Group B, (1) the symptoms in Group C improved more markedly; (2) protein contents of TLR4 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in Group C diminished more signally; (3) the abundances of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), cytokine interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) in Group C decreased (p < 0.05); and (4) the abundance of TLR4 in Group C was positively correlated with those of TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6 after treatment (all p < 0.001). Early CBP inhibits TLR4 signaling pathway in SAP patients and attenuates the abundance of inflammatory factors to a certain extent, which may provide a new clinical treatment strategy for SAP.

A Trajectory Privacy Preserving Scheme in the CANNQ Service for IoT.

Nowadays, anyone carrying a mobile device can enjoy the various location-based services provided by the Internet of Things (IoT). 'Aggregate nearest neighbor query' is a new type of location-based query which asks the question, 'what is the best location for a given group of people to gather?' There are numerous, promising applications for this type of query, but it needs to be done in a secure and private way. Therefore, a trajectory privacy-preserving scheme, based on a trusted anonymous server (TAS) is proposed. Specifically, in the snapshot queries, the TAS generates a group request that satisfies the spatial K-anonymity for the group of users-to prevent the location-based service provider (LSP) from an inference attack-and in continuous queries, the TAS determines whether the group request needs to be resent by detecting whether the users will leave their secure areas, so as to reduce the probability that the LSP reconstructs the users' real trajectories. Furthermore, an aggregate nearest neighbor query algorithm based on strategy optimization, is adopted, to minimize the overhead of the LSP. The response speed of the results is improved by narrowing the search scope of the points of interest (POIs) and speeding up the prune of the non-nearest neighbors. The security analysis and simulation results demonstrated that our proposed scheme could protect the users' location and trajectory privacy, and the response speed and communication overhead of the service, were superior to other peer algorithms, both in the snapshot and continuous queries.

Node Scheduling Strategies for Achieving Full-View Area Coverage in Camera Sensor Networks.

Unlike conventional scalar sensors, camera sensors at different positions can capture a variety of views of an object. Based on this intrinsic property, a novel model called full-view coverage was proposed. We study the problem that how to select the minimum number of sensors to guarantee the full-view coverage for the given region of interest (ROI). To tackle this issue, we derive the constraint condition of the sensor positions for full-view neighborhood coverage with the minimum number of nodes around the point. Next, we prove that the full-view area coverage can be approximately guaranteed, as long as the regular hexagons decided by the virtual grid are seamlessly stitched. Then we present two solutions for camera sensor networks in two different deployment strategies. By computing the theoretically optimal length of the virtual grids, we put forward the deployment pattern algorithm (DPA) in the deterministic implementation. To reduce the redundancy in random deployment, we come up with a local neighboring-optimal selection algorithm (LNSA) for achieving the full-view coverage. Finally, extensive simulation results show the feasibility of our proposed solutions.

Stock assessment and management implications of an endemic fish, Oxygymnocypris stewartii, in the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, China.

BACKGROUND: Oxygymnocypris stewartii is an endemic species only inhabiting the middle and upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and its tributaries at altitudes above 3600 m in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and has suffered a continuous decline of population size owing to anthropogenic disturbance. However, little is known about the stock status of this species and how to protect it. In this study, we evaluated the population status of O. stewartii and investigated two management policies including the minimum age limits and seasonal closure in the Yarlung Zangbo River. RESULTS: Estimates of the total mortality rate were 0.35 year-1 for females and 0.65 year-1 for males. The natural mortality rates were estimated as 0.10 and 0.22 year-1 for females and 0.12 and 0.29 year-1 for males using two empirical methods. The O. stewartii population may be in near full exploitation under the current harvesting strategy in the Yarlung Zangbo River, with a high chance of recruitment failure in the future. Although both minimum age limits and seasonal closure could be effective measures to conserve the O. stewartii stock, it was proposed that aseasonal closure was implemented each year from September to December according to the complexity of the application and the effects on the income of local fishermen and on the biological invasion. CONCLUSIONS: The stock of O. stewartii may bein near full exploitation under the current harvesting strategy, with a high chance of recruitment failure in the future. Our results indicated that the imposition of the seasonal closure from September to December might be the effective measure to conserve the O. stewartii population.

Fabrication of GO/PANi/CdSe nanocomposites for sensitive electrochemiluminescence biosensor.

A novel graphene oxide sheets/polyaniline/CdSe quantum dots (GO/PANi/CdSe) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized and used for the sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensing. The GO/PANi/CdSe nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Finally, the nanocomposites were employed to construct the biosensor via layer-by-layer assembly for the ECL detection of Cytochrome C (Cyt C). The whole process was characterized by cyclic voltammogram (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Experimental parameters such as the ratio of GO/PANi, the K(2)S(4)O(8) concentration and the pH value of electrolyte solution were studied to investigate the effect on the ECL intensity. Under the optimized conditions, the ECL intensity decreased linearly with the Cyt C concentrations in the range from 5.0×10(-8) to 1.0×10(-4) M with detection limit of 2.0×10(-8) M. Besides, the as-proposed biosensor exhibits high specificity, good reproducibility, and stability, and may be applied in more bioanalytical systems.

Coordination molecular hats binding acetonitrile via C-H...pi interactions.

The [M(3)L(3)](3+) metallo-macrocycles with syn, syn, syn conformation, self-assembled from crown ether functionalized 1,10-phenanthroline Pd(II) nitrates with naphthanoimidazole, bind a solvent CH(3)CN within the naphthanoimidazolate-built cavity through C-H...pi interactions in the crystalline state.

Self-assembly, structures, and photophysical properties of 4,4'-bipyrazolate-linked metallo-macrocycles with dimetal clips.

By employing functional diimine ligands coordinated dipalladium(II,II) or diplatinum(II,II) clips as corners and the coplanar 4,4'-bipyrazolate dianion (L(2-)) ligand as linker, a series of bipyrazolate-bridged metallo-macrocycles, namely, [M8L4](NO3)8 (M = Pd(dmbpy), 1; Pd(bpy), 2; Pt(bpy), 3a; Pd(phen), 4; Pt(phen), 5; Pd(15-crown-5-phen), 6; Pd(18-crown-6-phen), 8; Pd(benzo-24-crown-8-phen), 10a; Pt(15-crown-5-phen), 7a, Pt(18-crown-6-phen), 9a; Pt(benzo-24-crown-8-phen), 11a) and [M6L3](NO3)6 (M = Pt(bpy), 3b; Pt(15-crown-5-phen), 7b; Pt(18-crown-6-phen), 9b; Pd(benzo-24-crown-8-phen), 10b; Pt(benzo-24-crown-8-phen), 11b), have been synthesized through a directed self-assembly approach that involves spontaneous deprotonation of the 1H-bipyrazolyl ligands in aqueous solution. All these compounds have a crown-shaped cavity that can serve as host to solvent molecules and anions. The structures are characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H and (13)C NMR, ESI-MS, and in the cases of 1a (the BF4(-) salt of 1), 2a (the BF4(-) salt of 2), and 3b by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Photophysical properties for complexes 1 and 2 are discussed.

Self-assembly of tripyrazolate-linked macrotricyclic M(12)L(4) cages with dimetallic clips.

[structure: see text]. The self-assembly in aqueous solution of tripyrazolate trianion linkers (H3L = 1 and 2) with coordinated dimetallic clips leads to the formation of Pd12L4 cages with interior cavities of 1800 Angstroms3 and 1500 Angstroms3, respectively, confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, cold spray ionization mass spectrometry (CSI-MS), and single-crystal X-ray analysis.

Solution self-assembly, spontaneous deprotonation, and crystal structures of bipyrazolate-bridged metallomacrocycles with dimetal centers.

A series of nanosized cavity-containing bipyrazolate-bridged metallomacrocycles with dimetal centers, namely, {[(bpy)M]8L4}(NO3)8 [L=3,3',5,5'-tetramethyl-4,4'-bipyrazolyl, Pd, Pt; 1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene), Pd; and 1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbiphenyl, Pd], {[(phen)M]8L4}(NO3)8 [L=3,3',5,5'-tetramethyl-4,4'-bipyrazolyl, Pd, Pt; 1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene, Pd; and 1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbiphenyl, Pd], {[(bpy)Pd]6L3}(NO3)6 [L=1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene,], {[(phen)Pd]6L3}(NO3)6 [L=1,4-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene,], {[(bpy)Pd]4L2}(NO3)4 [L=1,3-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene, and 1,2-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene,], and {[(phen)Pd]4L2}(NO3)4 [L=1,3-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene, and 1,2-bis-4'-(3',5'-dimethyl)-pyrazolylbenzene,] (where bpy=2,2'-bipyridine and phen=1,10-phenanthroline) have been synthesized through a directed self-assembly approach that involves spontaneous deprotonation of the 1H-bipyrazolyl ligands in aqueous solution. These complexes, with weak Pd(II)...Pd(II) or Pt(II)...Pt(II) interactions, have been characterized by elemental analysis, 1H and 13C NMR, cold-spray ionization or electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, UV-visible spectroscopy, and luminescence spectroscopy. Complexes and have also been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.

A chiral luminescent Au16 ring self-assembled from achiral components.

A luminescent supramolecular chiral Au16 ring with 4.822 nm perimeter that self-assembled from a tetrameric array of achiral Au2 units is described. Intra- and intermolecular Au...Au interactions play an important role in directing its chiral self-assembly.

Self-assembly of coordination molecular baskets as inorganic analogues of cyclotriveratrylenes (CTV).

A [3 + 3] modular self-assembly gives rise to the formation of basket-shaped, crown ether-functionalized, nano-sized trimetallo-macrocycles, which function as structural analogues of cyclotriveratrylenes (CTV).