Using Revolution™ CT Angiography to Assess Complex Coarctation of the Aorta in Infants and Its Association with a Prolonged Postoperative Cardiac ICU Stay

ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate the accuracy of aortic dimensions measured by Revolution™ computed tomography (CT) in infants with complex coarctation of the aorta (CoA) and to further analyze the utility of the degree of CoA in predicting the risk of prolonged postoperative cardiac intensive care unit stay. Methods: A total of 30 infants with complex CoA who underwent surgical correction from January 2020 to July 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. General demographic data, preoperative imaging, and perioperative outcomes were collected. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate predictors of prolonged postoperative cardiac intensive care unit stay, and the reliability of the CT measurements was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: All infants were divided into a mild or severe CoA group. The duration of mechanical ventilation and cardiac intensive care unit stay in the mild CoA group were significantly lower than those in the severe CoA group. After multivariate analysis, we found that the degree of CoA and age at surgery were significant predictors of prolonged postoperative cardiac intensive care unit stay. The intraclass correlation coefficient between CT measurements and intraoperative measurements was between 0.937 and 0.975, and the measurement results had good reliability. Conclusion: CT angiography can provide a comprehensive and accurate preoperative evaluation of aortic dimensions measured in infants with complex CoA. The degree of CoA is an independent risk factor for prolonged postoperative cardiac intensive care unit stay in infants with complex CoA.

Role of apolipoprotein O in autophagy via the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway in myocardial infarction

Abstract Objectives To explore the role and possible mechanisms of action of apolipoprotein O (APOO) in autophagy in Myocardial Infarction (MI) in vivo and in vitro. Methods Differential gene expression and single Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to evaluate MI-related candidate genes. Animal and cell MI models were established. Sh-APOO, si-APOO, and SB203580 were used to inhibit the expression of APOO or p38MAPK. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to analyze the expression levels of the target protein or mRNA. Apoptosis was observed using the TUNEL assay. The plasma concentrations of CK-MB and cTn-I in humans and mice were determined. Results In the GSE23294 dataset, APOO mRNA was highly expressed in the left ventricle of mice with MI; GSEA revealed that APOO was positively correlated with p38MAPK, autophagy, and apoptosis. The plasma concentration of APOO in patients with MI was significantly higher than that in healthy subjects. The expression of APOO, Beclin-1, LC3, and Bax in mouse and AC16 cell MI models increased, while the level of Bcl-2 decreased. After silencing the APOO gene, the expression of APOO was downregulated; meanwhile, changes in autophagy, apoptosis and myocardial cell injury were reversed in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, autophagy was alleviated after AC16 cells were treated with SB203580. Conclusions The increased APOO expression in mouse and cell MI models may activate autophagy and apoptosis by regulating the p38MAPK signaling pathway, thus aggravating the myocardial injury. HIGHLIGHTS APOO was highly expressed in the left ventricle of mice with myocardial infarction. Increasing of APOO may activate autophagy and apoptosis in myocardial infarction. The regulation of APOO in autophagy and apoptosis was regulated by p38MAPK signaling pathway.

Effects of pubertal timing on eating disorders among adolescents in Bengbu / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the effects of pubertal timing on eating disorders among adolescents in Bengbu.@*Methods@#Totally 831 students from grade five to eight in two nine-year schools were selected and surveyed with Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and Eating Disorder Inventory(EDI).@*Results@#The score of female on drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction was higher than male’s. The score of different grade on drive for thinness, bulimia, perfectionism,maturity fears and ineffectiveness was significant difference between them(P<0.05 ).The score of interpersonal distrust was highest in delay pubertal timing in schoolboys, and the score of drive for thinness，body dissatisfaction and diet of schoolgirl in early pubertal timing was highest，there was significant difference between them(F=2.68，4.87，6.46，3.07，5.49，P<0.05 ).@*Conclusion@#There are close relationship between the pubertal timing and eating disorders.The eating disorders will be offected in early and delay pubertal timing of adolescents.

An investigation on health risk behaviors among high school students in Jiangxi province / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To determine health risk behaviors related to accidental injury of adolescent in Jiangxi province,and to provide a peference for taking targeted measures to prevent the occurence of adolescent’s risk behaviors. @*Methods@#By using the cluster stratified sampling, students of grade one and grade two from 10 classes in 5 middle schools in Nanchang city and from 1 middle school in Wuyuan county were selected. Health risk behaviors were investigated through questionnaire survey and were compared within the two areas.@*Results@#Regarding to safety, the rates of never or rarely wearing a helmet when riding a bicycle during the past 12 months, never or rarely wearing a seat belt, text or Email while driving a vehicle and in a physical fight were very high. In Wuyuan county, 35.2% of the students have ever tried cigarette smoking, 51.5% of the students have had at least one drink of alcohol, 4.0% of the students have ever had sexual intercourse, 32.7% of the students describe their weight as slightly or very overweight, 49.1% of the students trying to lose weight. After standardized, the rate of health risk behaviors in Nanchang city was higher than that in Wuyuan county.@*Conclusion@#here are more healthrisk behaviors found among middle school students in Nanchang than in Wuyuan county.The targeted measures should be taken to develop healthy behavior habits of the students to effectively reduce its occurence.

A study on eating disorders among overweight and obese adolescents in Bengbu / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the status of eating disorders among overweight and obese adolescents as well as provide the basis for developing obesity precautionary and eating disorders.@*Methods@#910 adolescents of grade 4 to 6 in primary schools and grade 1 to 3 in junior middle schools were recruited in Bengbu by cluster random sampling to examine the association between obesity and eating disorders.@*Results@#A total of 203 children (22.3%) were overweight and obese, 547 children (60.1%) were normal weight and 160 children (17.6%) were low weight. The prevalence of overweight and obese in boys were significantly higher than those in girls (30.6% vs. 13.0%; χ2=40.55, P<0.01). Compared with normal weight group and low weight group, the scores of drive for thinness (DT), body dissatisfaction (BD), low self-esteem (LSE) and eating disorder risk composite (EDRC) were significantly higher in overweight and obese group (P<0.05). There was a positive association between the scores of DT(r=0.19), BD(r=0.30), LSE(r=0.09), interceptive deficits (ID) (r=0.08) and EDRC (rs=0.11) with body mass index (BMI)(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Eating disorders were associated with overweight and obesity of adolescents. A targeted strategies and measures should be conducted.

1-Deoxynojirimycin from Bacillus subtilis improves antioxidant and antibacterial activities of juvenile Yoshitomi tilapia

Background: Juvenile Yoshitomi tilapia is often infected by pathogens and results in low-level survival rate. Bacillus subtilis, as a probiotic, may have beneficial effects on Y. tilapia with compound 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), which has antibacterial activities. The effects of dietary probiotic supplementation on Y. tilapias were evaluated. Results: Juvenile Y. tilapia was fed with B. subtilis for 56 d. Y. tilapia was infected by Aeromonas hydrophila and survival rate was compared. Dietary B. subtilis increased weight gain rate, specific growth, food conversion ratios and food intake rate of Y. tilapia. The diet improved the cumulative survival rate (CSR) of juvenile Y. tilapia when the concentration of B. subtilis was more than 2.05 × 1010 cfu/kg and CSR reached a maximum rate when the concentration of bacillus was 4.23 × 1010 (P b 0.05). Meanwhile, B. subtilis improved total antioxidant capacity (TAC), spleen index, the activities of serum lysozyme, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) (P b 0.05). In contrast, B. subtilis reduced serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and C3 complement (P b 0.05). DNJ was isolated from secondary metabolisms and proved to increase the levels of SOD, CAT and reduce the levels of AST, ALT and MDA at cell levels. After A. hydrophila infection, DNJ prevented the reduction in survival rate of Y. tilapia (P b 0.05). Conclusions: 1-Deoxynojirimycin from Bacillus subtilis can be used to improve the growth performance of juvenile Y. tilapia by affecting its antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Effect of modified xiaoyao powder on electrogastrographic picture and pharmacokinetic characteristics of ferulic acid in patients with functional dyspepsia of gan-qi stagnation with pi-deficiency syndrome type / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the mechanism of Modified Xiaoyao Powder (MXP) on electrogastrogram (EGG) and pharmacokinetic characteristics of ferulic acid (FA) in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) of Gan-qi stagnation with Pi-deficiency syndrome type (FD-GP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The study was conducted following method of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics synchronous determination. The 20 patients with FD-GP and 21 healthy volunteers enrolled were orally administrated with MXP to observe the changes in symptom scores, EGG and pharmacokinetic characteristics of FA in patients using gastrointestinal analyzer and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, the symptom scores of patients significantly decreased (P < 0.01). EGG showed that the average amplitude of peak and dominant frequency, etc. at the monitoring points, including gastric body, lesser curvature and the near gastric antrum part of greater curvature, etc. were lower than the normal range, the changes were especially obvious and would be worsened after meals (P < 0.01). After treatment by MXP, all the above indexes were improved either before or after meals. The pharmacokinetic parameters of FA in patients of FD-GP before treatment were lower than those in the healthy control group (P < 0.05) and they were insignificant different by MXP comparing with those in the healthy control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MXP is effective not only in improving clinical symptoms and EGG, but also on pharmacokinetic parameters of FD-GP patients.</p>