Analyzing clinical characteristics of patients with different cumulative hemodialysis durations: a cross-sectional study

Background The objective of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics of patients with different cumulative hemodialysis (HD) durations, so as to improve their survival rate. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we extracted background information and relevant clinical data from 145 patients who were undergoing maintenance HD three times a week at the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University between January 1998 and January 2019. The study subjects were divided into four groups according to the duration of their HD: 15 years of HD. We collected the medical history and relevant clinical parameters for each subject, and measured the urea reduction ratio (URR), hemoglobin (Hb), serum calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and serum albumin (ALB) levels for each group. Results The average patient age was 52.06 ±  11.93 years old. The average patient age in the 10–15 years and >15 years groups was significantly lower than in the <5 years and 5–10 years groups (P = 0.002, P < 0.001, P = 0.012, and P = 0.0025, respectively). The most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was chronic glomerulonephritis. We found no significant differences in URR, Hb, serum calcium, serum phosphorus, iPTH, and ALB levels. Conclusion A prolonged HD duration was related to a younger mean age at the start of HD treatment. The leading cause of ESRD was chronic glomerulonephritis. We predominantly found diabetic nephropathy in the group with a duration of <5 years cumulative HD. Most of the indexes related to hemodialysis almost satisfied the recommended values in these patients

Comparison of Artificial Feed and Natural Food by the Growth and Blood Biochemistry in Chinese Sturgeon <i>Acipenser sinensis</i>

As an endangered animal species, the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) has been artificially cultured during recent years. In the present experiment, the performance of a common formulated feed and a mixed natural feed on the growth and blood physiology of Chinese sturgeon were compared during one year of indoor culture. In terms of specific growth rate, the formulated diet group showed a higher value (4.2%) compared with the natural food group (−1.8%) during one year of indoor culture. Alanine aminotransferase activities of the sturgeons in formulated diet group was significantly higher than that in the natural food group throughout whole experiment period (p p p p p < 0.05). Almost half of the biochemical indicators examined show significant seasonal fluctuations, indicating that seasons have a substantial impact on the Chinese sturgeon. Overall, these results indicate that natural food exerted a positive impact on physiological indicators compared to the formulated diet

Skin Mucus Flora and Habitat Microbial Composition of Chinese Sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) Under Different Physiological States

To reveal the differences in the microbial composition of skin mucus and the habitat of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) in different physiological states, we compared the community structure of the skin mucus flora of healthy and sub-healthy Chinese sturgeons and explored the correlation between the structure of the bacterial community and physiological state of Chinese sturgeons. Skin mucus and aquaculture water of healthy and sub-healthy Chinese sturgeons were collected, and the bacterial flora composition was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that microbial diversity and richness were significantly higher in the sub-healthy group than in the healthy group (P < 0.05). Statistical analysis of the sequences showed that many unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were present in the mucus samples compared with the aquaculture water, and the number of shared OTUs with the aquaculture water changed according to the health status. The principal component and principal coordinate analyses between different groups showed a strong separation tendency, and the relative distance between samples within groups was small. There were significant differences in the composition and dominant species of skin mucus and aquaculture water communities of Chinese sturgeons at the phylum and genus levels. The dominant phyla in the water were Proteobacteria (31.84%) and Firmicutes (24.37%); the dominant phyla in the healthy group were Proteobacteria (55.23%) and Bacteroidetes (21.00%); and the percentage of Proteobacteria (40.23%) in the sub-healthy group, but the proportion of Acidobacteria (18.29%), Gemmatimonadetes (10.08%), Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia increased. The dominant flora in water samples were Sphaerochaeta (10.56%) and Cloacibacillus (7.95%). The dominant flora in the healthy group were Ralstonia (19.83%) and Mucilaginibacter (8.11%). The dominant flora in the sub-healthy group, compared to the healthy group, consisted mainly of Sphingomonas (16.71%) and WPS-1_genera_incertae_sedis (5.05%). Functional prediction revealed that the functional abundance of flora in the sub-healthy group showed a decreasing trend compared with that in the healthy group, including environmental adaptation, biological metabolism, and signal transduction. Similarity and difference analysis of the mucus microbiome of Chinese sturgeons in different physiological states and aquaculture water showed that it changed with the physiological state, and the genus Sphingomonas was the dominant genus of mucus flora in the sub-healthy group, which can be used as a health marker. By comparing the microbial communities in the skin mucus of healthy and sub-healthy Chinese sturgeons, different microbial community structures were observed in different health states, which provides a new perspective for their healthy culture and monitoring

High Aspect Ratio Carboxylated Cellulose Nanofibers Cross-linked to Robust Aerogels for Superabsorption–Flocculants: Paving Way from Nanoscale to Macroscale

Charged nanocellulose (NC) with a high aspect ratio (larger than 100) extracted from animal or bacterial cellulose and chemical cross-linked NC aerogels have great promising applicability in material science, but facile fabrication of such NC aerogels from plant cellulose by physical cross-linking still remains a major challenge. In this work, carboxylated cellulose nanofiber (CNF) with the highest aspect ratio of 144 was extracted from wasted ginger fibers by a simple one-step acid hydrolysis. Our approach could easily make the carboxylated CNF assemble into robust bulk aerogels with tunable densities and desirable shapes on a large scale (3D macropores to mesopores) by hydrogen bonds. Excitingly, these CNF aerogels had better compression mechanical properties (99.5 kPa at 80% strain) and high shape recovery. Moreover, the CNF aerogels had strong coagulation–flocculation ability (87.1%), removal efficiency of MB dye uptake (127.73 mg/g), and moderate Cu²⁺ absorption capacity (45.053 mg/g), which were due to assistance mechanisms of charge neutralization, network capture effect, and chain bridging of high aspect ratio carboxylated CNF. This provided a novel physical cross-linking method to design robust aerogels with modulated networked structures to be a general substrate material for industrial applications such as superabsorbent, flocculation, oil–water separation, and potential electrical energy storage materials