Nadir oxygen delivery is associated with postoperative acute kidney injury in low-weight infants undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass

BackgroundAcute kidney injury (AKI) is common after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Nadir indexed oxygen delivery (DO2i) lower than the critical threshold during CPB is a risk factor for postoperative AKI. The critical DO2i for preventing AKI in children has not been well studied. The study aimed to explore the association between nadir DO2i and postoperative AKI in infant cardiac surgery with CPB.MethodsFrom August 2021 to July 2022, 413 low-weight infants (≤10 kg) undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB were consecutively enrolled in this prospective observational study. Nadir DO2i was calculated during the hypothermia and rewarming phases of CPB, respectively. The association between nadir DO2i and postoperative AKI was investigated in mild hypothermia (32–34°C) and moderate hypothermia (26–32°C).ResultsA total of 142 (38.3%) patients developed postoperative AKI. In patients undergoing mild hypothermia during CPB, nadir DO2i in hypothermia and rewarming phases was independently associated with postoperative AKI. The cutoff values of nadir DO2i during hypothermia and rewarming phases were 258 mL/min/m2 and 281 mL/min/m2, respectively. There was no significant association between nadir DO2i and postoperative AKI in patients undergoing moderate hypothermia during CPB.ConclusionIn low-weight infants undergoing mild hypothermia during CPB, the critical DO2i for preventing AKI was 258 mL/min/m2 in the hypothermia phase and 281 mL/min/m2 for rewarming. Moreover, an individualized critical DO2i threshold should be advocated during CPB

Transcription and splicing regulation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells under hypoxic stress conditions by exon array

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The balance between endothelial cell survival and apoptosis during stress is an important cellular process for vessel integrity and vascular homeostasis, and it is also pivotal in angiogenesis during the development of many vascular diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Although both transcription and alternative splicing are important in regulating gene expression in endothelial cells under stress, the regulatory mechanisms underlying this state and their interactions have not yet been studied on a genome-wide basis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with cobalt chloride (CoCl₂) both to mimic hypoxia and to induce cell apoptosis and alternative splicing responses. Cell apoptosis rate analysis indicated that HUVECs exposed to 300 μM CoCl₂for 24 hrs were initially counterbalancing apoptosis with cell survival. We therefore used the Affymetrix exon array system to determine genome-wide transcript- and exon-level differential expression. Other than 1583 differentially expressed transcripts, 342 alternatively spliced exons were detected and classified by different splicing types. Sixteen alternatively spliced exons were validated by RT-PCR. Furthermore, direct evidence for the ongoing balance between HUVEC survival and apoptosis was provided by Gene Ontology (GO) and protein function, as well as protein domain and pathway enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed transcripts. Importantly, a novel molecular module, in which the heat shock protein (HSP) families play a significant role, was found to be activated under mimicked hypoxia conditions. In addition, 46% of the transcripts containing stress-modulated exons were differentially expressed, indicating the possibility of combinatorial regulation of transcription and splicing.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The exon array system effectively profiles gene expression and splicing on the genome-wide scale. Based on this approach, our data suggest that transcription and splicing not only regulate gene expression, but also carry out combinational regulation of the balance between survival and apoptosis of HUVECs under mimicked hypoxia conditions. Since cell survival following the apoptotic challenge is pivotal in angiogenesis during the development of many vascular diseases, our results may advance the knowledge of multilevel gene regulation in endothelial cells under physiological and pathological conditions.</p

Disitamab Vedotin (RC48) for HER2-positive advanced breast cancer: a case report and literature review

Background/aimHuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer is associated with a higher risk of metastasis and poorer overall survival (OS) due to HER2 gene overexpression/amplification. Although anti-HER2 targeted therapy has shown survival benefits in HER2-positive advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients, long-term treatment often leads to drug resistance, complicating further treatment options. RC48, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), combines the benefits of antibody targeting with the cytotoxic effects of a small molecule drug.Case reportWe present a case involving a female patient with HER2-positive ABC who developed drug resistance and disease progression following multi-line anti-HER2 targeted therapy. In this instance, RC48 exhibited anti-tumor activity in an ABC patient resistant to HER2-targeted therapy. After eight treatment cycles with 120 mg of RC48, the tumor size decreased and stabilized.ConclusionThis case report underscores the potential clinical value of RC48 as a promising treatment alternative for patients resistant to HER2 targeted therapies

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Viabilidad del enfoque por tareas en la enseñanza de español de negocios en el ámbito universitario en China

El trabajo conjuga el estudio del panorama de la enseñanza del español para negocios a personas sinohablantes con el enfoque metodológico que el autor propone la docencia, el enfoque por tareas, frente a la enseñanza tradicional. Dado que es una alternativa pedagógica con mayor flexibilidad frente a otras, el enfoque por tareas va conquistando el terreno educativo en el ámbito de la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera. Sin embargo, su práctica en China aún es escasa. Al tener en cuenta las desventajas e inconvenientes que supone el enfoque tradicional en las prácticas docentes, hay que pensar como cambiar y ajustar la metodología aplicada frente a las nuevas necesidades del alumnado y la sociedad en la enseñanza de español en China. Además, puesto que las colaboraciones económicas siguen estrechándose en China y los países hispanohablantes, cada vez más alumnos quieren aprender los conocimientos comerciales en su carrera de Filología Hispánica. En este sentido, el presente trabajo tiene su objetivo en averiguar la viabilidad del enfoque por tareas en la enseñanza de español de negocios en el ámbito universitario, a través del análisis de los factores involucrados en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje: la historia del desarrollo de la enseñanza de español, el estado de la enseñanza de español de negocios, los métodos empleados, y la iniciativa de formación de "intelectuales de multicompetencias". Al final, se presentan ciertos consejos útiles para la mejora de la enseñanza de español de negocios en China y se analiza con detalle la situación de la enseñanza del español en China y para sinohablantes, exponiendo las dificultades de la misma.MadridES

Viabilidad del enfoque por tareas en la enseñanza de español de negocios en el ámbito universitario en China

Siendo una alternativa pedagógica con mayor flexibilidad frente a otros, el enfoque por tareas va conquistando el terreno educativo en el ámbito de la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera. Sin embargo, su práctica en China aún es escasa. Al tener en cuenta las desventajas e inconvenientes que supone el enfoque tradicional en las prácticas docentes, hay que pensar como cambiar y ajustar la metodología aplicada frente a las nuevas necesidades del alumnado y la sociedad en la enseñanza de español en China. Además, puesto que las colaboraciones económicas siguen estrechándose en China y los países hispanohablantes, cada vez más alumnos quieren aprender los conocimientos comerciales en su carrera de Filología Hispánica. En este sentido, el presente trabajo tiene su objetivo en averiguar la viabilidad del enfoque por tareas en la enseñanza de español de negocios en el ámbito universitario, a través del análisis de los factores involucrados en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje: la historia del desarrollo de la enseñanza de español, el estado de la enseñanza de español de negocios, los métodos empleados, y la iniciativa de formación de "intelectuales de multicompetencias". Al final, se van a presentar ciertos consejos útiles para la mejora de la enseñanza de español de negocios en China.Máster Universitario en Formación de Profesores de Español (M057). Especialidad en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera

How does cultural intelligence help to lessen the impact of stereotypes in multicultural teams? : focusing on stereotypes about students from China and the UK

The establishment of multicultural teams is an increasingly pervasive phenomenon in many companies. However, the diverse cultural identities carried by employees do not always give rise to satisfied outcomes. Stereotype, being an issue caused by cultural diversity, has negative influence on multicultural teams and multicultural team performance. Cultural intelligence, with its power in mitigating the negative effect brought about by cultural diversity, is studied in this research to see how it may help to lessen the negative influence of stereotypes to fill in the gap of current studies. For better implementation, this research selects students from Lancaster University Management School and focuses on stereotypes about students from China and the UK. The results show that stereotypes still exists in multicultural teams whose team members have developed cultural intelligence to an extent. The results also suggest that cultural intelligence do help to alleviate the negative influence of stereotypes for team members in multicultural teams in three ways. The results have both theoretical and practical significance

The chloroplast genome of aromatic plants Cinnamomum burmanni (Lauraceae)

Cinnamomum burmanni (Nees et T. Nees) Blume is a valuable aromatic timber tree of the genus Cinnamomum Tree in the family Lauraceae. To better determine its phylogenetic location with respect to the other Cinnamomum species, the complete chloroplast genome of C. burmanni was sequenced. The total chloroplast genome size is 152,775 bp, consisting of a pair of inverted repeats (IRa/b) with a length of 20,092 bp separated by a large single-copy region (LSC) and a small single-copy region (SSC) which are 93,687 and 18,903 bp, respectively. The overall GC content of the cp genome is 39.1%. Further, maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis with K3Pu + F+I model was performed using eleven complete plastomes of the Lauraceae, which revealed that C. burmanni is closely related to C. verum