Impact of length of donor ICU stay on outcome of patients after pediatric liver transplantation

BACKGROUND Organs of patients who have spent more than five days in intensive care are generally not considered for organ donation. The shortage of possible donors has encouraged us to re-evaluate, in the context of pediatric liver transplantation, this generally applied but scientifically not clearly proven rule. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of a prolonged stay of the donor in the intensive care unit on the outcome of liver transplantation in children. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 89 liver transplantations performed in children aged from 0 to 18 years at the Geneva University Hospitals between 2003 and 2018. Patients were divided into two groups according to their donor’s length of stay in the intensive care unit. A prolonged stay was defined as more than five days and 14 patients were included in that group and 75 in the group with a donor length of stay of five days or less. Recipient, graft and donor characteristics were compared, as well as 12 different outcome parameters, including patient and graft survival rates and postoperative complications. RESULTS Out of the 12 outcomes we analyzed, only one showed a significant difference between the two groups. Biliary complications during the first year post-transplantation were experienced by 64% of the patients who received a graft from a donor with a stay in intensive care of more than five days, compared to 32% in the group with a shorter stay (P = 0.029). Patient and graft survival rates showed a trend to be lower for patients with a prolonged donor stay, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.093 and P = 0.406, respectively). There were a few significant differences in recipient, graft and donor characteristics that could possibly have an impact on our outcomes. This should be taken into consideration for multivariate analyses in a next step. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the duration a donor spends in the intensive care unit does not have a significant impact on the overall outcome of pediatric liver transplantation, except for the incidence of biliary complications. Further research will be necessary to confirm our results

Application of the DMD Approach to High-Reynolds-Number Flow over an Idealized Ground Vehicle

This paper attempts to develop a Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD)-based Reduced Order Model (ROMs) that can quickly but accurately predict the forces and moments experienced by a road vehicle such that they be used by an on-board controller to determine the vehicle’s trajectory. DMD can linearize a large dataset of high-dimensional measurements by decomposing them into low-dimensional coherent structures and associated time dynamics. This ROM can then also be applied to predict the future state of the fluid flow. Existing literature on DMD is limited to low Reynolds number applications. This paper presents DMD analyses of the flow around an idealized road vehicle, called the Ahmed body, at a Reynolds number of 2.7×106. The high-dimensional dataset used in this paper was collected from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation performed using the Menter’s Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model within the context of Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulations (IDDES). The DMD algorithm, as available in the literature, was found to suffer nonphysical dampening of the medium-to-high frequency modes. Enhancements to the existing algorithm were explored, and a modified DMD approach is presented in this paper, which includes: (a) a requirement of higher sampling rate to obtain a higher resolution of data, and (b) a custom filtration process to remove spurious modes. The modified DMD algorithm thus developed was applied to the high-Reynolds-number, separation-dominated flow past the idealized ground vehicle. The effectiveness of the modified algorithm was tested by comparing future predictions of force and moment coefficients as predicted by the DMD-based ROM to the reference CFD simulation data, and they were found to offer significant improvement

Taraxer-14-en-3β-ol, an anti-inflammatory compound from Sterculia foetida L.

Taraxer-14-en-3β-ol (1) was shown to be the active ingredient in the leaves of Sterculia foetida L. The alcohol 1, its acetate and ketone showed anti-inflammatory activity against TPA induced mouse ear oedema with inhibition ratios of 60.0, 58.57 and 40.57 at 0.5 mg/ear, respectively. The percentage inhibition of inflammation increased with dose for each compound

Anti-inflammatory activity of <i>Jatropha gossypifolia </i>L. leaves in albino mice and Wistar rat

289-292Methanolic extract of Jatropha gossypifolia L. leaves showed systemic and significant anti-inflammatory activity in acute carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and chronic cotton pellet induced granuloma formation after oral treatment for 7 days in Wistar rats. Anti-inflammatory activity might be due to effects on several mediators and arachidonic granular tissue formation and leukocyte migration from vessels

Studies on aerial parts of Artemisia pallens wall for phenol, flavonoid and evaluation of antioxidant activity

Herbs have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. According to recent investigations, they may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer due to antioxidant properties, which in turn can be attributed to the various phytoconstituents. With this intention, evaluation of antioxidant activity was performed. Methanol extract of aerial parts of Artemisia pallens Wall was screened for its antioxidant activity due to phenolic and flavonoid contents, by employing radical scavenging assays; 2,2 –diphenyl, 1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide. Ascorbic acid was used as a standard. Quantitative determination of phenols and flavonoids were carried out using spectrophotometric method. Total flavonoid content was determined as quercetin equivalent and total phenolic content was determined as pyrocatechol equivalent using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Plant produces more phenolic compounds than flavonoids. IC50 value of methanol extract for DPPH free radical scavenging activity was found to be 292.7 μg, whereas for nitric oxide it was 204.61 μg. The result obtained in the present study indicates that the aerial parts of this plant are a rich source of natural antioxidant

CNS Depressant Activity of Ethanol Extract of Sterculia guttata seeds in mice

Shade dried, powdered seeds of Sterculia guttata were extracted using a Soxhlet extractor with ethanol. Ethanol was removed under reduced pressure and dried to obtained crude extract. This extract was evaluated for its effect on behavioral changes, exploratory activity and barbiturate-sleeping time, using appropriate standard methods in mice. The extract exhibited dose-dependent CNS depressant activity

Establishment and Persistence of Yellow-Flowered Alfalfa No-Till Interseeded into Crested Wheatgrass Stands

Crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn., A. desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult., and related taxa] often exists in near monoculture stands in the northern Great Plains. Introducing locally adapted yellow-flowered alfalfa [Medicago sativa L. subsp. falcata (L.) Arcang.] would complement crested wheatgrass. Our objective was to evaluate effects of seeding date, clethodim {(E) -2-[1-[[(3-chloro-2-propenyl)oxy]imino]propyl]-5-[2-(ethylthio)propyl]-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-one} sod suppression, and seeding rate on initial establishment and stand persistence of Falcata, a predominantly yellow-flowered alfalfa, no-till interseeded into crested wheatgrass. Research was initiated in August 2008 at Newcastle, WY; Hettinger, ND; Fruitdale, SD; and Buffalo, SD. Effects of treatment factors on plant frequency during initial establishment were influenced by site environments. Late summer and spring were suitable seeding dates. Clethodim sod suppression increased seedling frequency in most cases. Seedling frequency increased as seeding rate increased from 0.56 to 7.84 kg pure live seed (PLS) ha–1. Specific seeding dates, clethodim sod suppression, and high seeding rates did not greatly improve initial establishment when site environments were poor. Residual effects of seeding date and sod suppression post establishment were not significant at most locations, but seeding rate effects were evident. Initial establishment and persistence of Falcata alfalfa was successful at Newcastle, indicating that interseeding in late summer or spring using low seeding rates (≤3.36 kg PLS ha–1) without clethodim can be effective. Assessing grass canopy cover, soil texture, and management (e.g., haying) is necessary to determine the suitability of crested wheatgrass sites for interseeding