Clinical Characteristics and Potential Pathogenesis of Cardiac Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease: A Narrative Review.

Neonates with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at an increased risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an acute inflammatory intestinal injury most commonly associated with preterm infants. The rarity of this complex disease, termed cardiac NEC, has resulted in a dearth of information on its pathophysiology. However, a higher incidence in term infants, effects on more distal regions of the intestine, and potentially a differential immune response may distinguish cardiac NEC as a distinct condition from the more common preterm, classical NEC. In this review, risk factors, differentiated from those of classical NEC, are discussed according to their potential contribution to the disease process, and a general pathogenesis is postulated for cardiac NEC. Additionally, biomarkers specific to cardiac NEC, clinical outcomes, and strategies for achieving enteral feeds are discussed. Working towards an understanding of the mechanisms underlying cardiac NEC may aid in future diagnosis of the condition and provide potential therapeutic targets.

Clinical and Laboratory Predictors for the Development of Low Cardiac Output Syndrome in Infants Undergoing Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Pilot Study.

Cardiac surgery employing cardiopulmonary bypass exposes infants to a high risk of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of clinical and laboratory variables to predict the development of low cardiac output syndrome, a frequent complication following cardiac surgery in infants. We performed a prospective observational study in the pediatric cardiovascular ICU in an academic children's hospital. Thirty-one patients with congenital heart disease were included. Serum levels of nucleosomes and a panel of 20 cytokines were measured at six time points in the perioperative period. Cardiopulmonary bypass patients were characterized by increased levels of interleukin-10, -6, and -1α upon admission to the ICU compared to non-bypass cardiac patients. Patients developing low cardiac output syndrome endured longer aortic cross-clamp time and required greater inotropic support at 12 h postoperatively compared to bypass patients not developing the condition. Higher preoperative interleukin-10 levels and 24 h postoperative interleukin-8 levels were associated with low cardiac output syndrome. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated a moderate capability of aortic cross-clamp duration to predict low cardiac output syndrome but not IL-8. In conclusion, low cardiac output syndrome was best predicted in our patient population by the surgical metric of aortic cross-clamp duration.

Methanol Synthesis Using CO2 and H2 on Nano Silver-Ceria Zirconia Catalysts: Influence of Preparation Method.

Silver catalysts supported on ceria-zirconia (CZ) mechanically mixed oxide were synthesized by wet impregnation and chelating methods. Nominal loadings of 5 wt.% of Ag was deposited on the CZ support. These catalysts were tested for the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to methanol with feed gas composition of CO2-H2 = 3:1 at 250 °C, 20 bar total pressure and GHSV of 1800 h-1. The calcined and reduced catalysts were characterized using XRD, BET, TPR, SEM-EDS, XPS and FTIR-DRIFTs techniques. Finely deposited silver crystallites sized in the range of 20-50 nm were observed through SEM and HR-TEM analysis. TPR and XRD studies demonstrated the presence of Ag2O and metallic silver (Ag0) on CZ support. About 10% of CO formation was observed on chelating catalyst (5Ag/CZ CHE). However, only, 5% CO was observed on impregnated (5Ag/CZ IMP) catalyst. The greater CO formation was associated with ease reduction of Ag2O to metallic silver in 5Ag/CZ CHE catalyst. Further, 70% of methanol selectivity was observed on 5Ag/CZ IMP due to the presence of Ag2O on CZ. FTIR-DRIFTs results revealed the methanol formation via formate intermediates and CO formation via RWGS reaction on the studied catalysts.

Size structure-catalytic performance correlation of supported Ni/MCF-17 catalysts for COx-free hydrogen production.

Herein, supported Ni/MCF-17 catalysts with the size of nickel nanocrystal in the range of 1.5-8.0 nm were synthesized and employed for COx-free hydrogen production for fuel cells via the ammonia decomposition reaction. Characterized by a variety of techniques, the results show that nickel particles are in a highly dispersed state with a uniform particle size for each catalyst. Furthermore, the influence of particle size on the catalytic performance has been investigated. It was later revealed that Ni nanoparticles with different particle sizes exhibited significant differences in catalyzing the COx-free hydrogen production reaction. Moreover, the catalyst with the Ni nanoparticle size around 3.0 nm exhibited highest catalytic activity at each reaction temperature; this could be explained by the presence of high B5 active sites on the Ni-based catalyst surface.

cis,cis,cis-tetramethyl 1,2,4,5-cyclohexanetetracarboxylate

The title compound, C(14)H(20)O(8), was synthesized from the hydrogenation of tetramethyl 1,4-cyclohexadiene-1,2,4, 5-tetracarboxylate with a catalytic amount of palladium/carbon. All four carbonyl moieties of the methyl ester groups are on the same face of the chair-conformed ring. The substantial ring distortion associated with the 1,3-diaxial methoxycarbonyl substituents is reflected in the large difference between bond angles as well as torsion angles, respectively, that in undistorted cyclohexanes would be approximately the same.