The clinical efficacy and safety of different biliary drainages in malignant obstructive jaundice treatment.

To study the clinical efficacy and safety of different biliary drainages in malignant obstructive jaundice (MOJ) treatment. METHODS: 69 patients with MOJ admitted to our hospital from October 2016 to March 2019 were recruited as the study cohort and divided into an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography group (the ERCP group, n=38) and a percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage group (the PTCD group, n=31) according to the different drainage approaches each patient underwent. We compared the two groups' hepatic function indexes (total serum bilirubin (TB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)), their immune cells (CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells), surgical success rates, jaundice reduction response rates, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: The surgical success rates and the jaundice reduction response rates were similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed in the hepatic function indexes or in the immune cells before and after treatment in the two groups (all P > 0.05). Moreover, all the indexes we measured were lower post-treatment than they were pre-treatment (TB, ALT, AST, and CD8+) except for the CD3+ and CD4+ levels (all P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the ERCP group was significantly lower than the incidence in the PTCD group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both ERCP and PTCD can contribute to better clinical results in the treatment of MOJ, relieve obstructions effectively, improve hepatic function, and enhance immune function, but there are fewer complications after ERCP.

Pyrolysis behaviors and thermodynamics properties of hydrochar from bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens) shoot shell.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) was employed to produce hydrochar from bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens) shoot shell (BS) at severity (combined temperature and time) of 4.83-7.69. The pyrolysis and thermodynamics properties of the hydrochars were fully investigated. The results showed that the hydrochar properties (solid yield, C content, H/C and O/C atomic ratios, pyrolysis yield, pyrolysis index, formation of enthalpy, exergy, LHV, and HHV) of BS were highly dependent on severity and could be expressed by dose-response functions. The rapid variations of the hydrochar properties appeared at severity of 5.93-6.59. The pyrolysis temperature interval for the maximum weight loss shifted from 300 to 400°C at hydrothermal severity less than 6.59 to 400-500°C at hydrothermal severity greater than 6.59. The hydrochar thermal stability increased greatly with the severity increasing. And the thermodynamic properties of hydrochar approached those of lignin model compounds as the hydrothermal severity was greater than 6.59.