Clinical Application of Peritoneal Dialysis Catheterization without Capsular Puncture Technique.

Objective: To summarize the advantages of peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters without capsular puncture (only one pneumoperitoneum needle) puncture technique conducted by our center. Methods: The study examines the clinical data of PD patients (including the general situation of patients, intraoperative and postoperative characteristics, and complications) undergoing pneumoperitoneum needle catheterization from January 2019 to May 2021 in the Department of Nephrology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University (the largest peritoneal dialysis center in Zhangjiakou). Results: A total of 153 surgical cases were collected. There were 91 males and 62 females. The mean (± standard deviation) age was 56.1 ± 18.6 years, and the mean (± standard deviation) follow-up time was 16.7 ± 8.2 months. The average operation time was 30.33 minutes with a standard deviation of 14.80 minutes. The length of abdominal incision is 2.38 ± 0.42 cm, and the blood loss was about 26.3 ± 9.2 ml, including 2 cases of laparoscopic reposition of drift tube, 0 case of pipe blockage, 3 cases of fluid leakage, 1 case of peritoneal dialysis catheter tunnel infection, 4 cases of outlet infection, 12 occurrences of peritonitis, 121.3 patient months in peritonitis, and 0 times in omentum wrapping without bladder injury, incisional hernia, or intestinal injury. Conclusion: Relative to open operation, the peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters with pneumoperitoneum needle puncture technique has the following advantages: simpler operation, shorter operation time, less bleeding, less injury, less complications, and higher safety. Moreover, there are no additional costs compared with open operation. Thus, the technique is recommended for clinical applications.

Bone marrow-derived, neural-like cells have the characteristics of neurons to protect the peripheral nerve in microenvironment.

Effective repair of peripheral nerve defects is difficult because of the slow growth of new axonal growth. We propose that "neural-like cells" may be useful for the protection of peripheral nerve destructions. Such cells should prolong the time for the disintegration of spinal nerves, reduce lesions, and improve recovery. But the mechanism of neural-like cells in the peripheral nerve is still unclear. In this study, bone marrow-derived neural-like cells were used as seed cells. The cells were injected into the distal end of severed rabbit peripheral nerves that were no longer integrated with the central nervous system. Electromyography (EMG), immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to analyze the development of the cells in the peripheral nerve environment. The CMAP amplitude appeared during the 5th week following surgery, at which time morphological characteristics of myelinated nerve fiber formation were observed. Bone marrow-derived neural-like cells could protect the disintegration and destruction of the injured peripheral nerve.

Hydrothermal synthesis and upconversion properties of CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystals.

A series of rare-earth ions (Er3+ and Yb3+) Co-doped CaF2 upconversion luminescent nanomaterials have been successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal method using pluronic p123 (p123), pluronic F127 (F127) and sodium citrate as surfactants at 180 degrees C with different reaction time. The crystallographic phase, size and morphology can be controlled by simply tuning the reaction parameters such as the types of surfactants and the reaction time. It is found that reaction time and surfactant play a key role in forming the nanocrystals with different morphologies. X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy FE-SEM, and photoluminescence spectra were used to characterize the structure, morphology and upconversion luminescence properties of CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanomaterials, respectively. The experimental results indicate that three monodispersive and highly uniform CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystals with mean size of 200 nm, 3 um, and 700 nm have cubic and sphere shapes, respectively. While the possible mechanisms of upconversion luminescence are analyzed by the diagram of proposed energy transfer mechanisms, the schematic energy level diagrams showing typical upconversion processes for Er3+ also reveals that the as-synthesized CaF2:Er3+/Yb3 nanomaterials may be in the cubic structure with space group Fm-3m, in which Ln3+ cations occupy crystal lattice positions with lower point symmetry, leading to a high upconversion efficiency under the excitation of a 980 nm diode laser.