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A novel technique is proposed for finding an approximate solution of the strongly nonlinear ordinary differential equation for the charged damped pendulum with one degree of freedom. The method relies on a transformation of the governing nonlinear differential equation that keeps unchanged the order of the highest derivative, in conjunction with a modified homotopy perturbation technique (MHPM). Only quadratic damping is considered for the numerical computations. To validate the used technique, the obtained results are compared to those arising from a numerical solution by Runge-Kutta of the fourth order (RK4) and by finite differences (FD). Good agreement between the two solutions is reached when quadratic damping is suppressed. In the presence of damping, agreement takes place only for a rather limited range of times. Plots of the analytical solutions are provided for both cases. The proposed method may be used to analyze a wide class of nonlinear differential equations.

This research studies Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) adsorption on Staphylococcus aureus surface protein G (SasG) using the molecular dynamics simulation method that in addition to investigating various aspects of adsorption, including edge and surface effects of GQDs, and effects of orientation and size of GQDs, proposes a new study method in edge effects studies. Through our simulations to find edge effects, we found that even if GQD approaches the protein with its edges, GQDs’ edges are not freely adsorbed on the protein because when the particles interact with each other, GQD rotates and then adsorbs the protein with its surface; therefore, GQD having initial velocity was applied to the protein to force the protein to interact with GQDs’ edges to find both surface and edge effects. This is a new way of investigating that we propose to study edge effects in the molecular dynamics simulation method.

Background: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients experience complex physical and psychosocial development and diverse lifestyle changes. Therefore, each may have generation-specific needs. This study aimed to develop the Japanese version of the Cancer Needs Questionnaire – Young People (CNQ-YP-J) and verify its reliability and validity among AYA cancer patients in Japan. Methods: The CNQ-YP-J was developed using a standardized translation methodology. Content validity was assessed by a group of experts, and a pilot test was conducted on six AYA cancer patients. About 87 Japanese patients with AYA cancer participated in this study. After exploratory factor analysis was conducted, the scale’s reliability was examined using Cronbach’s α, item-total correlations, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the retest. Criterion-related validity was analyzed using correlations between total needs and concerns about physical effects and quality of life (QOL). Results: Factor analysis showed an eight-factor structure, different from the original scale, with one item excluded, resulting in a 69-item scale. Cronbach’s α coefficient and ICC were above the minimum acceptable criterion of 0.70, demonstrating high reliability. Concerning criterion-related validity, high needs were positively correlated with high concerns about physical effects and tended to be negatively correlated with QOL. Conclusion: The CNQ-YP-J is a reliable and valid scale to comprehensively assess the needs of AYA cancer patients in Japan.

We shall investigate the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the Cauchy problem for the one-dimensional bipolar quantum Euler-Poisson system with time-dependent damping effects $\frac{J_i}{(1+t)^{\lambda}}(i=1,2)$ for $-1<\lambda<1$. Applying the technical time-weighted energy method, we prove that the classical solutions to the Cauchy problem exist uniquely and globally, and time-algebraically converge to the nonlinear diffusion waves. This study generalizes the results in [Y.-P. Li, Nonlinear Anal., 74(2011), 1501-1512] which considered the bipolar quantum Euler-Poisson system with constant coefficient damping.

We report seven patients who underwent bail out cryoballoon ablation of ventricular arrhythmias refractory to conventional endocardial radiofrequency ablation. Ablated arrhythmia substrates included right ventricular moderator band (n=2), left ventricular (LV) papillary muscle (n=2), left fascicular (n=1) and deep LV myocardial (n=2). Cryoballoon ablation was successful in 5/7 patients. Advantages of cryoballon ablation include adhesive stability on endocavitary structures and creation deep homogeneous myocardial lesionds. Newer balloon technologies designed to improve myocardial contact that incorporate high density mapping on the balloon surface may expand utility of this technology for ablation of ventricular arrhythmias.

Arterial bleeding can take a dramatic course with severe bleeding, therefore it requires an immediate diagnosis and treatment. In this case series, we present 2 cases of arterial injury during pacemaker implantation.

Recent developments in arrhythmology have enabled the use of new devices, such as subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (s-ICD), and the comeback of older strategies, such as His-Bundle pacing (HBP) in clinical practice, alongside the use of thoroughly proven therapies such as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), e.g. with His-Optimized CRT (HOT-CRT). However, interplay between these new and older techniques is not always clear. We report the first-in-human case of biventricular pacemaker (CRT-P) implantation with HOT-CRT in an s-ICD patient. Paced QRS morphology was similar to the spontaneous morphology, albeit shorter. Correct QRS identification by the s-ICD was confirmed both intra-procedurally and post-procedurally.

Two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D-MOFs) have been extensively studied as promising materials in the fields of eletrocatalysis, drug delivery, electronic devicese, etc. However, few studies have explored the application potential of 2D-MOFs in novel neuromorphic computing devices. In this work, we report an optoelectronic neuromorphic transistor based on a 2D-MOFs/polymer charge-trapping layer. We found that, the large specific surface area, stable crystal structure, and highly accessible active sites in 2D-MOFs make them excellent charge-trapping materials for our devices, which are beneficial for mimicking the memory and learning functions observed in the organism's nervous systems. Different types of synaptic behaviors have been realized in our 2D-MOFs-based neuromorphic devices under stimuli signal, e.g., paired-pulse facilitation, excitatory post-synaptic current, short-term memory, and long-term memory. More interestingly, emotion-adjustable learning behavior was realized by changing the value of the source-drain voltage. This work can shed light on the application of 2D-MOFs in neuromorphic computing and will contribute to the further development of neuromorphic computing devices. Corresponding authors Email:  huangjia@tongji.edu.cn (Jia Huang)                                                                1610419@tongji.edu.cn (Shilei Dai)

Spontaneous massive haemothorax is a rare but severe complication seen in children with haemophilia A. It is largely preventable with Factor VIII. prophylactic replacement therapy, and therefore is unusual to be seen as in the described case.

Intracerebral hemorrhage should be considered as a possible adverse event in patients with anaphylactic shock who are treated with adrenaline administration, especially those on dialysis.

Conventional cancer diagnosis needs to excise diseased tissue from the patient's body for biopsy, causing severe injury to patients. Liquid biopsy with the superior advantage of minimal invasiveness has shown its ability to cancer diagnosis in real-time, and has been developing promising diagnostic instruments. However, until today, the developed instrument still cannot be an alternative to tissue biopsy in the majority of research and clinical settings. In this paper, we firstly summarize the challenges and limitations suffered by the existing liquid biopsy instrument. Then, the opportunities and future progression of the next-generation instrument are discussed in detail. In all, we hope that the future liquid biopsy instrument can be eventually integrated into the clinical workflow, and serve as a validated and reliable tool for cancer diagnosis.

This article reported two cases of adult patients diagnosed as severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the Therapy Center of Sleep-disordered Breathing of the Eye, Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) Hospital of Fudan University. Both patients were found with invisible cervical spine structural abnormality. The unknown correlation between the development.

Thyrotoxicosis is a relatively common endocrine disorder. The diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis is upon clinical examination, laboratory, and further investigation. To prevent the thyroid storm is the goal of treatment of patients with thyrotoxicosis especially patients undergoing surgery.

Four adult males died within 18.5 hours due to effect of local liquor consumption in a hilly district of Gandaki province of Nepal. Methanol toxicity due to illicitly produced alcohol consumption should be managed with adequate supportive care and administration of specific antidotes such as ethanol or fomepizole.

This study reports a patient developing TEN after the first dose of (BBIBP-CorV). He developed numerous purpuric and dusky patches with flaccid bullae and areas of epidermal detachment covered more than 30% of the body area within 6 days. After treatment with dexamethasone and cyclosporin, he recovered within 14 days.

Background and Purpose: Myocardial infarction (MI) is an irreversible damage caused by ischemia and hypoxia in coronary arteries accompanied with elevated levels of catecholamine, leading to the accumulation of free radicals. Our previous study discovered coumarin-derived imino sulfonates as a novel class of potential cardioprotective agents possessing strong anti-oxidative effect in cardimyocytes. Therefore, the identification of the compound with the highest cardioprotective activity, 5h, and the mechanism involved was necessary. Experimental Approach: As a kind of catecholamine, isoproterenol induces MI injury mimicking symptoms of MI patients in clinic. Cardiac function, nfarct area, histopathological changes were evaluated. The potential mechanism underlying such action of compound 5h was explored via transfection with adenovirus to downregulate Sirt1 in vitro, and by administration of Ex527, the specific inhibitor for Sirt1, in vivo. Key Results: Compound 5h exhibited strong cardioprotective actions in vivo and in vitro via improving cell survival, cardiac function and decreasing the cellular oxidative stress and cardiac infarct size against MI. Furthermore, compound 5h significantly enhanced cardiac expression of Sirt1, subsequently activating the Nrf2/NQO1 signaling pathway. However, adenovirus induced Sirt1 downregulation or Sirt1 specific inhibitor largely blocked such beneficial effects of 5h in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Conclusions and Implications: Our results demonstrated, for the first time, that the cardioprotective action of 5h against MI was mediated by reducing oxidative stress and apoptosis through the Sirt1/Nrf2 signaling pathway. Our findings proposed novel insights in the development and evaluation of coumarin-derived imino sulfonate compounds as epigenetics-targeted drug therapy for MI.

Background: Topical tacrolimus has been widely used in the treatment of inflammatory and immune dermatoses for its immunosuppression effect. However, a transient irritation like itching, burning induced by tacrolimus is common when initial application, which is similar to pseudo-allergic reaction. MAS-related G protein-coupled receptor-X2 (MRGPRX2) in mast cells (MCs) mediates drug-induced pseudo-allergic reaction and IgE-independent pruritis in chronic skin diseases. Whether MRGPRX2 participates in above tacrolimus adverse reaction should be addressed. Further, immunosuppression mechanism of tacrolimus on MCs is greatly ignored. Methods: Wild-type (WT) mice, kit w-sh/w-sh mice and MrgprB2 deficient (MUT) mice were applied to explore the mechanism of initial irritant reaction and immunosuppression of tacrolimus on the skin MrgprB2 in MCs in vivo. LAD2 cells and MRGPRX2-knockdown LAD2 cells were used to confirm the regulation of MRGPRX2 by tacrolimus in vitro. Results: Tacrolimus could trigger IgE-independent dermatitis when initial application through MrgprB2-related MCs degranulation. Using FK-DNS, a fluorescently labeled tacrolimus, we found tacrolimus could bind to MRGPRX2 directly. Interestingly, after long-term tacrolimus treatment, the initial itching and inflammatory reaction faded away without IgE change. Hence, longstanding treatment with tacrolimus suppressed MRGPRX2/B2 expression and decreased inflammatory cytokines release. Conclusion: Our study provides for the first time a novel target for tacrolimus, demonstrating that short-term tacrolimus treatment induces pseudo-allergic reaction via MRGPRX2/B2 in MCs, while long-term treatment dampens MRGPRX2/B2 expression, leading to decreased inflammatory cytokines release and immune cells recruitment, which may contribute to its potent immunosuppression effect in the treatment of inflammatory and immune skin diseases.

Flower-visiting insects in agroecosystems forage on field-edge weeds often exposed to agrochemicals that may compromise the quality of their floral resources. We conducted complementary field and greenhouse experiments to evaluate the: 1) effect of low concentrations of agrochemical exposure on nectar and pollen quality and 2) relationship between floral resource quality and insect visitation. We found pollen amino acid concentrations were negatively affected by herbicide exposure, and pollen fatty acid concentrations were negatively affected by fertilizer exposure, while nectar sugar concentrations were positively affected by both fertilizer and herbicide exposure. These variations found in the greenhouse helped explain insect visitation in the field study. The insect visitation rate correlated with floral resource quality. An interaction between pollen protein and floral display suggested pollen protein drove insect abundance for larger display sizes. We show that flower-visiting insects can detect and respond to changes in floral resource quality mediated by agrochemicals.

This study aimed to investigate epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features of children with COVID-19 to identify predictors for pulmonary involvement. We conducted a retrospective, single-center study of pediatric COVID-19 at a tertiary care hospital in Turkey between December 2020 and June 2021. A total of 126 children (70 males, 55.6%) were examined during the study period. Their mean age was 74.73 ± 81.11 months (range, 1–216 months). The most frequent COVID-19 symptoms were fever (65.9%), cough (52.4%), and shortness of breath (18.3%). Ten patients required noninvasive mechanical ventilation. Sixty-nine patients (54.8%) had pneumonia. Longer duration of fever and the presence of cough were significantly associated with pulmonary involvement. In children with pneumonia, the C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and viral load were significantly higher and lymphocyte and thrombocyte counts were significantly lower than in children without pneumonia. The cutoff viral load, CRP, and procalcitonin values for predicting pulmonary involvement were 26.5 cycle threshold (Ct; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54–0.74; sensitivity, 0.65; specificity, 0.56; area under curve [AUC]: 0.647, p = 0.005), 7.85 mg/L (95% CI, 0.56–0.75; sensitivity, 0.66; specificity, 0.64; AUC = 0.656; p = 0.003) and 0.105 ng/mL (95% CI, 0.52–0.72; sensitivity, 0.55; specificity, 0.58; AUC = 0.626; p = 0.02), respectively. High CRP, procalcitonin levels, ESR, and viral load and low lymphocyte and thrombocyte counts can predict pulmonary involvement in children with COVID-19, so better management may be provided for good prognosis.

The rustrela virus (RusV) was recently described as a novel pathogen in a circumscribed area of northern Germany close to the Baltic Sea. Up to now, the virus has been detected in cases of fatal non-suppurative meningoencephalitis in zoo animals of different species and a single wild carnivore as well as in apparently healthy yellow-necked field mice ( Apodemus flavicollis). Data regarding the background of this previously undiscovered pathogen, including clinical presentation of the disease, host range, and distribution of the virus, are still limited. Here, three euthanized red-necked wallabies ( Macropus rufogriseus) from zoos of different areas in northeastern Germany were submitted for necropsy after presenting with apathy and therapeutically unresponsive neurological symptoms. A moderate to severe, non-suppurative meningoencephalitis was diagnosed in all three cases. RusV was consistently detected via RT-qPCR and RNA in situ hybridization in the brains of all wallabies. Other, commonly known neuropathogens could not be detected. Overall, red-necked wallabies appear to be highly susceptible to RusV as novel neuropathogen, which is broader distributed in northeastern Germany.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the prevalence of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) in sinonasal tissues or in peripheral blood is associated with the postoperative outcome in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients. Design: A cross-sectional study of CRS patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Setting: The Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital. Participants: Eleven patients with eosinophilic CRS (eCRS) and ten patients with non-eCRS were recruited. Main outcome measures: We examined the ILC2 prevalence in sinonasal tissues and in peripheral blood before and after ESS. Lund-Mackay computed tomography (LMK-CT) scores were used to evaluate the postoperative outcomes; cases with more than 50% improvement were categorized into the good outcome group, and cases with less than 50% improvement were categorized into the poor outcome group. Results: The ILC2 prevalence in sinonasal tissues was correlated with that in preoperative blood in the eCRS and non-eCRS patients. The ILC2 prevalence in sinonasal tissues and in preoperative blood was not correlated with the pre- or postoperative LMK-CT scores. Postoperatively, the ILC2 prevalence in blood was decreased in the eCRS and non-eCRS patients, and the decrease was associated with the good outcome group, but not the poor outcome group. Conclusion: The decreased ILC2 prevalence in blood may be related to good postoperative outcomes after ESS in eCRS and non-eCRS patients.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic vasculitis of large- and medium-sized vessels that can lead to acute aortic adverse events. We describe a 74-year-old female patient who presented with acute-on-chronic aortic dissection. Her pathology was significant for aortitis in the setting of giant cell arteritis. The patient ultimately underwent successful repair of her dissection and was discharged home.

The measurement of biodiversity is an integral aspect of life science research. With the establishment of second- and third-generation sequencing technologies, an increasing amount of metabarcoding data is being generated as we seek to describe the extent and patterns of biodiversity in multiple contexts. The reliability and accuracy of taxonomically assigning metabarcoding sequencing data has been shown to be critically influenced by the quality and completeness of reference databases. Custom, curated, eukaryotic reference databases, however, are scarce, as are the software programs for generating them. Here, we present CRABS (Creating Reference databases for Amplicon-Based Sequencing), a software package to create custom reference databases for metabarcoding studies. CRABS includes tools to download sequences from multiple online repositories (i.e., NCBI, BOLD, EMBL, MitoFish), retrieve amplicon regions through in silico PCR analysis and pairwise global alignments, curate the database through multiple filtering parameters (e.g., dereplication, sequence length, sequence quality, unresolved taxonomy), export the reference database in multiple formats for the immediate use in taxonomy assignment software, and investigate the reference database through implemented visualizations for diversity, primer efficiency, reference sequence length, and taxonomic resolution. CRABS is a versatile tool for generating curated reference databases of user-specified genetic markers to aid taxonomy assignment from metabarcoding sequencing data. CRABS is available for download as a conda package and via GitHub (https://github.com/gjeunen/reference_database_creator).