'Preconditioning' with Low Dose Lipopolysaccharide Aggravates the Organ Injury/Dysfunction Caused by Hemorrhagic Shock in Rats

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedRS is supported by the Program Science without Borders, CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasilia/DF, Brazil; NSAP is, in part, supported by the Bart’s and The London Charity (753/1722). The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no 608765, from the William Harvey Research Foundation and University of Turin (Ricerca Locale ex-60%). This work contributes to the Organ Protection research theme of the Barts Centre for Trauma Sciences, supported by the Barts and The London Charity (Award 753/1722

Relationship between method of anastomosis and anastomotic failure after right hemicolectomy and ileo-caecal resection: an international snapshot audit

Aim The anastomosis technique used following right-sided colonic resection is widely variable and may affect patient outcome. This study aimed to assess the association between leak and anastomosis technique (stapled vs handsewn). Method This was a prospective, multicentre, international audit including patients undergoing elective or emergency right hemicolectomy or ileo-caecal resection operations over a 2-month period in early 2015. The primary outcome measure was the presence of anastomotic leak within 30 days of surgery, determined using a prespecified definition. Mixed effects logistic regression models were used to assess the association between leak and anastomosis method, adjusting for patient, disease and operative cofactors, with centre included as a random-effect variable. Results This study included 3208 patients, of whom 78.4% (n = 2515) underwent surgery for malignancy and 11.7% (n = 375) underwent surgery for Crohns disease. An anastomosis was performed in 94.8% (n = 3041) of patients, which was handsewn in 38.9% (n = 1183) and stapled in 61.1% (n = 1858). Patients undergoing hand-sewn anastomosis were more likely to be emergency admissions (20.5% handsewn vs 12.9% stapled) and to undergo open surgery (54.7% handsewn vs 36.6% stapled). The overall anastomotic leak rate was 8.1% (245/3041), which was similar following handsewn (7.4%) and stapled (8.5%) techniques (P = 0.3). After adjustment for cofactors, the odds of a leak were higher for stapled anastomosis (adjusted OR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.04-1.95; P = 0.03). Conclusion Despite being used in lower-risk patients, stapled anastomosis was associated with an increased anastomotic leak rate in this observational study. Further research is needed to define patient groups in whom a stapled anastomosis is safe

Improved HER activity of Ni and stainless steel electrodes activated by NiCoMo ionic activator - A combined DFT and experimental study

In this paper we discussed various factors contributing to the improvement of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of Ni and stainless steel electrodes activated by in situ addition of NiCoMo activators, using a combination of experimental techniques and DFT calculations. By comparing energy consumption of stainless steel (SS) electrodes in a lab scale alkaline electrolyzer with and without ionic activation, we obtained reduction of energy consumption by 21% at industrial conditions (high current density and temperature). We recorded U-I curves for activated and non-activated stainless steel electrodes in the current density range from 40 to 500 mA cm(2) and in the temperature range 298-343 K, and the obtained results were used in an electrochemical model of the laboratory alkaline electrolyzer. Increase of the electrode surface upon addition of ionic activators was confirmed by profilometric measurements and SEM analysis. Finally, we applied density functional theory (DFT) to discuss partial roles of applied ionic activators (Ni, Co and Mo) in the modification and improvement of the intrinsic properties of the cathode towards the HER in alkaline medium. From the combination of profilometric, SEM and DFT results, we conclude that the main factor contributing to the improvement of HER activity of Ni electrodes upon NiCoMo activation is the increase of electrode surface area