Early onset children's Gitelman syndrome with severe hypokalaemia: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Hypokalaemia is a common condition among paediatric patients, but severe hypokalaemia is rare and can be life-threatening if not treated properly. The causes of hypokalaemia are complex. Finding the root cause is the key. CASE PRESENTATION: This article reports on a 2-year-old boy with severe hypokalaemia who was diagnosed with pneumonia. The child's lab findings were low blood potassium minimum level of 1.7 mmol/L, hypomagnesemia, and metabolic alkalosis. However, he was without the common features of hypokalaemia, such as respiratory paralysis, severe arrhythmia, weakness and decreased blood pressure. After recovering from pneumonia, his potassium levels did not return to normal. This outcome was suspected to be due to chronic renal loss of potassium. After undergoing second-generation gene sequencing tests, it was discovered he carried the SLC12A3 gene mutation with an Asp486Asn mutation site, which he had inherited from his mother. The final diagnosis was made, confirming the child suffered from Gitelman syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic predisposition is an important cause of hypokalaemia in children. Children with unexplained persistent hypokalaemia should be examined for the possibility of Gitelman syndrome, which should be distinguished from Bartter syndrome. Genetic testing is the gold standard.

Effect of Nanoparticle Concentration on Physical and Heat-Transfer Properties and Evaporation Characteristics of Graphite/n-Decane Nanofluid Fuels.

n-Decane-based nanofluid fuels could be one of the most promising alternative fuels as aviation kerosene for aerospace application. However, the physical and heat-transfer properties of n-decane-based nanofuels have been rarely studied, and the influence of the concentration of nanoparticles on the evaporation characteristics of n-decane-based fuels has been sparsely investigated. This paper investigated physical and heat-transfer properties and evaporation characteristics of graphite/n-decane nanofluid fuels and emphasized the concentration effect of adding graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) on these characteristics. It was found that there are a linear increase of density and thermal conductivity, a binomial increase of viscosity, and a binomial influence on surface tension as GNP concentration increases, while the boiling point almost remains constant, and the latent heat of vaporization largely decays. There exists a critical GNP concentration of 1.75 wt % for the evaporation performance. At 0∼1.75 wt %, the increase of GNP concentration benefits the evaporation. At 1.75∼4.0 wt %, the enhancement of GNP concentration deteriorates the evaporation performance. A detailed discussion of this evaporation behavior was made, which could be attributed to multiple factors, for example, the aggregation of nanoplatelets, the changes of physical and heat-transfer properties owing to the nanoparticle concentration effect, the surfactant concentration, and the ambient temperature. The concentration of surfactants has a binomial effect, and the ambient temperature has a linear effect on the evaporation rate. This study would promote in depth understanding of physical and heat-transfer properties and evaporation characteristics of nanofluid fuels and develop the application in turbine engines and ramjet engines.

[Clinical observation on treatment of children's mild continuous asthma by Fangchuan Mixture combined with flixotide].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and mechanism of Fangchuan Mixture (FCM) in treating children with mild continuous asthma. METHODS: One hundred and seventy-five patients in the three groups were treated with FCM (A), Flixotide (B), and the combination of FCM and Flixotide (C), respectively for 12 weeks. Their condition of asthma and TCM syndrome were observed, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were determined. RESULTS: All the indexes determined were improved significantly in the three groups after treatment (P <0.05). Paired comparison among groups showed that the improvements in non-asthma time, time required beta-receptor activator, expectoration, complexion, appetite, and increasing serum IFN-gamma after treatment were superior in Group C than in Group A and B (P <0.05); the improvements in hidrosis, faint pulse and decreasing serum IL-4 level in Group A and C were better than those in Group B (P <0.05), and the effect for alleviating symptoms of rhinitis such as nasal obstruction and nasal discharge in Group C was more significant than that in Group B (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: FCM could attenuate the allergic inflammation of bronchi to improve its hypersensitive state in children with asthma, and shows a cooperative action with Flixotide.