Efficacy of Ultrasound-guided Radiofrequency Ablation of Parathyroid Hyperplasia: Single Session vs. Two-Session for Effect on Hypocalcemia

To evaluate safety and efficacy of one- vs. two-session radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of parathyroid hyperplasia for patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) and to compare the outcome of both methods on hypocalcemia. Patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism underwent ultrasound guided RFA of parathyroid hyperplasia. Patients were alternately assigned to either group 1 (n = 28) with RFA of all 4 glands in one session or group 2 (n = 28) with RFA of 2 glands in a first session and other 2 glands in a second session. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) values were measured at a series of time points after RFA. RFA parameters, including operation duration and ablation time and hospitalization length and cost, were compared between the two groups. Mean PTH decreased in group 1 from 1865.18 ± 828.93 pg/ml to 145.72 ± 119.27 pg/ml at 1 day after RFA and in group 2 from 2256.64 ± 1021.72 pg/ml to 1388.13 ± 890.15 pg/ml at 1 day after first RFA and to 137.26 ± 107.12 pg/ml at 1 day after second RFA. Group 1\u27s calcium level decreased to 1.79 ± 0.31 mmol/L at day 1 after RFA and group 2 decreased to 1.89 ± 0.26 mmol/L at day 1 after second session RFA (P \u3c 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that hypocalcemia was related to serum ALP. Patients with ALP ≥ 566 U/L had lower calcium compared to patients with ALP \u3c 566 U/L up to a month after RFA (P \u3c 0.05). Group 1\u27s RFA time and hospitalization were shorter and had lower cost compared with Group 2. US-guided RFA of parathyroid hyperplasia is a safe and effective method for treating secondary hyperparathyroidism. Single-session RFA was more cost-effective and resulted in a shorter hospital stay compared to two sessions. However, patients with two-session RFA had less hypocalcemia, especially those with high ALP

Investigation on the mechanism of peripheral axonal injury in glaucoma

AIM: To compare the angles of longitudinal section of sclera around optic nerve heads and the never fiber layer changes in healthy adults and patients with glaucoma, and to investigate the mechanism of peripheral retinal axonal injury, with the combined knowledge of biomechanics. METHODS: The optical nerves and their peripheral tissue specimen in the 12 eyes from health adult donators and 12 eyes from glaucoma patient donators were dyed by Glees' method to compare the angles of longitudinal section of sclera around optic nerve heads(through optic nerve center), and to observe the anatomical features of the peripheral retinal axons. RESULTS: The mean angle of longitudinal section of sclera around optic nerve in healthy adults was 73.3°, while that in patients with absolute glaucoma was 75.6°. The difference showed no significance(t=1.44, P>0.05). There was a sharp bend in the course of peripheral optical fiber in healthy adults. However, the optic nerve fiber disappeared completely in patients with glaucoma end stage. CONCLUSION: The angle between the medial edge and leading edge of sclera(around optic nerve heads)is an acute angle. The optical fiber in glaucoma end stage disappeared completely. The phenomenon may be related to high intraocular pressure, the sclera shape, the shear modulus of sclera and axons, and “axonal bending-injury” mechanism

A Comparison of Low Temperature Alkali and High Temperature Acid Pretreatments for Improving Saccharification of Spent Mushroom Substrate

AbstractLow temperature alkali (LTA) pretreatment and high temperature acid (HTA) pretreatment methods were applied to spent mushroom substrate (SMS) for providing comparative performance data on the enhancement of enzymatic saccharification and the change of composition and structure. LTA pretreatment contributed to higher lignin removal (67.6%) and enzymatic digestibility (85.6%) during enzymatic hydrolysis, while HTA pretreatment resulted in higher hemicellulose reduction (85.3%) but lower enzymatic digestibility (43.5%). The physical structure was destroyed at certain degree and changes in cellulose crystallinity occurred after both LTA and HTA pretreatments. Besides, the effect of lignin reduction in alkali pretreatment on glucose yield was studied. These results indicated that LTA pretreatment had the potential to be developed into a cost effective process for producing bioproducts from lignocellulosic materials

trans-N,N,N′,N′-Tetra­kis(carboxy­meth­yl)cyclo­hexane-1,2-diammonium tetra­chloridocadmium(II) tetra­hydrate

In the title compound, (C14H24N2O8)[CdCl4]·4H2O, the Cd atom in the tetra­hedral [CdCl4]2− anion lies on a twofold rotation axis, and the diprotonated organic mol­ecule, trans-N,N,N′,N′-tetra­kis(carb­oxy­meth­yl)cyclo­hexane-1,2-diammon­ium, has 2 symmetry with the twofold rotation axis running through the mid-point of two C—C bonds in the cyclo­hexane unit. In the crystal structure, classical intra­molecular O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O and inter­molecular O—H⋯O, N—H⋯O, O—H⋯Cl and C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds are observed

Regulation of Dendrite-Free Li Plating Via Lithiophilic Sites on Lithium-Alloy Surface

Lithium (Li) deposition behavior plays an important role in dendrite formation and the subsequent performance of lithium metal batteries. This work reveals the impact of the lithiophilic sites of lithium-alloy on the Li plating process via the first-principles calculations. We find that the Li deposition mechanisms on the Li metal and Li22Sn5 surface are different due to the lithiophilic sites. We first propose that Li plating on the Li metal surface goes through the adsorption-reduction-desorption-heterogeneous nucleation-cluster drop process, while it undergoes the adsorption-reduction-growth process on the Li22Sn5 surface. The lower adsorption energy contributes to the easy adsorption of Li on the lithiophilic sites of the Li22Sn5 surface. The lower Li reduction energy on the Li metal surface indicates that it is easy for Li to be reduced on the Li metal surface, attributed to its higher Fermi energy level. Furthermore, the faster Li diffusion on the Li22Sn5 surface results in smooth Li deposition, which is based on a two-Li synergy diffusion mechanism. However, Li diffuses more slowly on the Li metal surface than on the Li22Sn5 surface due to the single Li diffusion mechanism. This work provides a fundamental understanding on the impact of lithiophilic sites of Li alloy on the Li plating process and points out that the future design of 3D Li-alloy substrates decorated with multilithiophilic sites can prevent dendrite formation on the lithium-alloy substrate by guiding uniform Li deposition