Saline

INTRODUCTION: Radical mastoidectomy is a common procedure for chronic suppurative otitis media, typically performed under a microscope. The smooth operation is closely related to the clarity of the operative field. Our trial is designed to investigate whether the intravenous administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) can improve the clarity of the operative field, reduce the operative time, and increase surgeon satisfaction. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is a prospective, randomised, double-blinded, controlled trial that aims to investigate the effects of TXA on patients with otitis media...

The hippocampus has a central role in regulating contextual processes in memory. We have shown that pharmacological inactivation of ventral hippocampus (VH) attenuates the context-dependence of signaled active avoidance (SAA) in rats. Here, we explore whether the VH mediates intertrial responses (ITRs), which are putative unreinforced avoidance responses that occur between trials. First, we examined whether VH inactivation would affect ITRs. Male rats underwent SAA training and subsequently received intra-VH infusions of saline or muscimol before retrieval tests in the training context...

INTRODUCTION: The occurrence of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury (LIRI) after lung transplantation results in primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in more than 50% of cases, which seriously affects the prognosis of recipients. Currently, donor lung protection is the focus of research on improving graft survival in lung transplant recipients. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) is a widely used general anesthesia adjuvant in clinical practice to alleviate ischemia-reperfusion injury in the lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, and brain...

Interfacial solar evaporation shows great potential in clean water production, emulsions separation, and high-salinity brine treatment. However, it remains challenging for the evaporators to maintain a high evaporation rate in the high-salinity emulsions due to the co-pollution of salt and oil. Herein, we first proposed a hierarchic double-Janus solar evaporator (HDJE) with a hydrophobic salt-rejecting top layer and oil-rejecting bottom layer. Compared to the traditional one, HDJE could treat industrial high-salinity oil-in-water emulsions stably for over 70 h, with a stable average evaporation rate of 1...

Rodent studies demonstrated specialized sodium chloride (NaCl) sensing neurons in the circumventricular organs, which mediate changes in sympathetic nerve activity, arginine vasopressin, thirst, and blood pressure. However, the neural pathways involved in NaCl sensing in the human brain are incompletely understood. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if acute hypernatremia alters the functional connectivity of NaCl-sensing regions of the brain in healthy young adults. Resting-state fMRI scans were acquired in 13 participants at baseline and during a 30 min hypertonic saline infusion (HSI)...

Breviscapine (Bre), an extract from Erigeron breviscapus, has been widely used to treat cerebral ischemia but the mechanisms of its neuroprotective effects need to be clarified. The present study investigated whether Bre could alleviate excessive autophagy induced by cerebral ischemia in the rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) ischemia model via activating the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5)/B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) pathway. Rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, i...

INTRODUCTION: Myotoxicity is an important toxidrome that can occur with envenoming from multiple Australian snake types. Early antivenom administration is an important strategy to reduce the incidence and severity of myotoxicity. The current gold standard biomarker, serum creatine kinase activity, does not rise early enough to facilitate early antivenom administration. Several other skeletal muscle biomarkers have shown promise in other animal models and scenarios. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive values of six skeletal muscle biomarkers in a rat model of Australian snake myotoxicity...

AIM: Cognitive impairment is a common comorbidity in individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), yet the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study explored the putative association between in vivo synaptic loss and cognitive outcomes in TLE patients by PET imaging of synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A). METHODS: We enrolled 16 TLE patients and 10 cognitively normal controls. All participants underwent SV2A PET imaging using [18 F]SynVesT-1 and cognitive assessment...

Osteoporosis poses a significant global health concern, affecting both the elderly and young individuals, including athletes. Despite the development of numerous antiosteoporotic drugs, addressing the unique needs of young osteoporosis patients remains challenging. This study focuses on young rats subjected to ovariectomy (OVX) to explore the impact of high-molecular-weight hyaluronan (HA) on preventing OVX-induced osteoporosis. Twenty-four rats underwent OVX, while 12 underwent sham procedures (sham control group)...

The atmosphere may be Earth's largest microbial ecosystem. It is connected to all of Earth's surface ecosystems and plays an important role in microbial dispersal on local to global scales. Despite this grand scale, surprisingly little is understood about the atmosphere itself as a habitat. A key question remains unresolved: does the atmosphere simply transport microorganisms from one location to another, or does it harbor adapted, resident, and active microbial communities that overcome the physiological stressors and selection pressures the atmosphere poses to life? Advances in extreme microbiology and astrobiology continue to push our understanding of the limits of life towards ever greater extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, irradiance, pH, and water availability...

Hemoglobin-Vesicles (Hb-V) are artificial oxygen carriers encapsulating a purified and concentrated Hb solution in liposomes composed of 1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn -glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC), cholesterol, 1,5- O -dihexadecyl- N -succinyl-l-glutamate (DHSG), and 1,2-distearoyl- sn -glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine- N -poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG5000 ) (DSPE-PEG). The safety and efficacy of Hb-V have been studied extensively by both preclinical and clinical test methods. Deoxygenation of Hb-V prevents autoxidation of Hb and can extend its shelf life to 2 years at room temperature...

Nitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient for primary productivity in most terrestrial ecosystems, but whether N limitation is strengthening or weakening remains controversial because both N sources and sinks are increasing in magnitude globally. Temperate marshes are exposed to greater amounts of external N inputs than most terrestrial ecosystems and more than in preindustrial times owing to their position downstream of major sources of human-derived N runoff along river mouths and estuaries. Simultaneously, ecosystem N demand may also be increasing owing to other global changes such as rising atmospheric [CO2 ]...

Nanofluidic channels in a membrane represent a promising avenue for harnessing blue energy from salinity gradients, relying on permselectivity as a pivotal characteristic crucial for inducing electricity through diffusive ion transport. Surface charge emerges as a central player in the osmotic energy conversion process, emphasizing the critical significance of a judicious selection of membrane materials to achieve optimal ion permeability and selectivity within specific channel dimensions. Alternatively, here we report a field-effect approach for in situ manipulation of the ion selectivity in a nanopore...

BACKGROUND: Irrigated radiofrequency ablation with half-normal saline can potentially increase lesion size but may increase the risk of steam pops with the risk of emboli or perforation. We hypothesized that pops would be preceded by intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) findings as well as a large impedance fall. METHODS: In 100 consecutive patients undergoing endocardial ventricular arrhythmia radiofrequency ablation with half-normal saline, we attempted to observe the ablation site with ICE...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) has been found to possess anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties, but its effect on atrial fibrosis is yet to be determined. This research investigates the protective role of AS-IV in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced atrial fibrosis and atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: C57BL/6 male mice aged 8-10 weeks (n = 40) were subcutaneously administered Ang II (2.0 mg/kg/day) or saline, with AS-IV (80 mg/kg) intraperitoneally administered 2 h before Ang II infusion for 4 weeks...

The growing amount of plastic waste requires new ways of disposal or recycling. Research into the biodegradation of recalcitrant plastic polymers is gathering pace. Despite some progress, these efforts have not yet led to technologically and economically viable applications. In this study, we show that respirometric screening of environmental fungal isolates in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify new strains with the potential for the degradation of plastic polymers...

Recently, the blood plasma or serum levels of soluble programmed death protein 1 (PD-L1), but not tissue PD-L1 expression level, have been proposed as an effective predictive and prognostic biomarker in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for different types of cancers. The quantification of soluble PD-L1 in blood will provide a quick evaluation of patients' immune status; however, the available assays have limitations in their sensitivity, reproducibility, and accuracy for use in clinical settings...

While oropharyngeal cancer treatment regimens, including surgical resection, irradiation, and chemotherapy, are effective at removing tumors, they lead to muscle atrophy, denervation, and fibrosis, contributing to the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal dysphagia - difficulty swallowing. Current standard of care of rehabilitative tongue strengthening and swallowing exercises is ineffective. Here, we evaluate an alternative approach utilizing an acellular and injectable biomaterial to preserve muscle content and reduce fibrosis of the tongue after injury...

INTRODUCTION: During the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the management of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) underwent dynamic adjustments in response to an evolving understanding of the virus's impact on different patient populations. Healthcare practitioners reevaluated therapeutic approaches for conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), considering the potential implications of this condition on the severity and progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)...

Is it time to rethink the inoculum of animal models of implant-associated infections (IAI)? Traditionally, animal models of IAI are based on inoculation with metabolically active overnight cultures of planktonic bacteria or pre-grown surface-attached biofilms. However, such inoculums do not mimic the clinical initiation of IAI. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a clinically relevant inoculum of low metabolic micro-aggregated bacteria. The porcine Staphylococcus aureus strain S54F9 was cultured in Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB) for seven days to facilitate the formation of low metabolic micro-aggregates...