Postpartum acute adrenal insufficiency of early-onset Sheehan syndrome: A case series study in a single center.

AIM: To identify the symptoms and relevant factors associated with acute adrenal insufficiency of early-onset Sheehan syndrome. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 125 women admitted to our intensive care unit because of postpartum hemorrhage between January 2011 and December 2021. Three women developed acute adrenal insufficiency. We investigated the total blood loss, shock status, consciousness level upon arrival, and intensive care provided to the women. We also analyzed the symptoms and laboratory data that led to the diagnosis of acute adrenal insufficiency. Continuous variables were presented by median (minimum-maximum). RESULTS: The medians and ranges of age, total blood loss, and shock index [heart rate/systolic blood pressure] on admission were 33.1 (17.2-45.3) years, 3351 (595-20 260) g, and 0.94 (0.55-2.94), respectively. Seven women were older than 40 years, 28 experienced >5000 g blood loss, 17 had shock index >1.5, 27 had impaired consciousness upon arrival, and 15 underwent hysterectomy. Women who developed acute adrenal insufficiency were <40 years old and had a bleeding volume of over 5000 g, impaired consciousness upon arrival, and had undergone hysterectomy. They had experienced lactation failure, presented with hyponatremia-related symptoms on postpartum days 8-9, experienced general malaise, headache, and impaired consciousness, and showed severe hyponatremia. CONCLUSIONS: Massive postpartum hemorrhage over 5000 g, impaired consciousness upon arrival, and hysterectomy as a hemostatic measure were relevant factors associated with acute adrenal insufficiency of early-onset Sheehan syndrome. Hyponatremia-related symptoms occurring after lactation failure are indicative of the onset of acute adrenal insufficiency.

Contact model for DEM simulation of compaction and sintering of all-solid-state battery electrodes.

In this study, a discrete element method (DEM) that can simulate particle plastic deformation, sintering, and electrode compaction of all-solid-state batteries was developed. The model can simulate elastic, plastic, and viscoelastic deformations that occur particularly in mold compaction processes. When the stress exceeds the yield strength of the material, inelastic deformation occurs, which can be described by either a plastic or viscoelastic response. We applied this model to simulate mold compaction of an All-Solid-State Battery (ASSB) electrode. This study implements the following novel features:•The model was derived from the Maxwell viscoelastic model and enabled the simulation of the elastic, plastic, and viscoelastic deformation of particles in a mold.•Particle deformation and sintering are modelled by the rate expression of the equilibrium overlap.•The area and spring factors are introduced to account for numerical issues when the porosity approaches zero.

Neodymium Chloride-Doped Perovskite Nanocrystals for Efficient Blue Light-Emitting Devices.

Metal halides doping of perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) has been shown to precisely control nonradiative pathways and to improve photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Here, we report a trivalent lanthanide halide neodymium (III) chloride (NdCl3)-doped perovskite NCs prepared with a post-synthetic room temperature treatment for efficient blue light-emitting devices (LEDs). The Nd 3d and Cl 2p core peaks were observed in the NdCl3-doped NCs, which allowed for simultaneous doping of Nd3+ and Cl- into the pristine CsPbBr3 NCs. The NdCl3-doped NCs exhibited blue emission at a peak wavelength of 478 nm with a high PLQY of 97% in solution. We found that the Nd3+ cation incorporated into the NCs more effectively suppressed nonradiative recombination compared with common halide anion exchange from temperature dependence of optical properties. Blue LEDs based on NdCl3-doped NCs had an external quantum efficiency of 2.7%, which represents a considerable performance improvement compared with LEDs based on organic chloride salt-doped NCs.

Surface Crystal Growth of Perovskite Nanocrystals via Postsynthetic Lead(II) Bromide Treatment to Increase the Colloidal Stability and Efficiency of Light-Emitting Devices.

The surface modification of metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) significantly impacts their optical properties and colloidal stability. This subsequently affects the performance of light-emitting devices (LEDs). Therefore, numerous surface passivation techniques like ligand exchange and metal halide doping have been explored to passivate the surface defects of perovskite NCs and obtain highly efficient LEDs. In this study, we demonstrated the postsynthetic metal halide doping treatment using lead(II) bromide (PbBr2) to passivate the surface defects of the CsPbBr3 NCs at a moderate reaction temperature of 80 °C. The alkyl quaternary ammonium salt, didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DC12AB), enabled the complete dissolution of PbBr2 in a nonpolar solvent, toluene. Because of surface crystal growth, the particle sizes of the PbBr2-doped CsPbBr3 NCs were higher than those of the as-synthesized CsPbBr3 NCs. The photoluminescence quantum yield of the CsPbBr3 NCs drastically increased from 26.8 to 83.9% after the PbBr2 doping treatment. Moreover, the PbBr2-doped CsPbBr3 NCs possessed long-term colloidal stability of more than 2 months that indicates the strong bonding between the NCs and ligands. We observed that the alkyl chain length of the quaternary alkyl ammonium salts affected the luminance and device stability during operations. In this study, a promising strategy was devised to achieve highly luminescent perovskite NCs with excellent colloidal stability that can enhance the performance of LEDs.

Extraction and characterization of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates from rape seed meal.

While some isothiocyanate (ITCs) are attractive targets for the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, the presence of goitrin and ITCs has hampered the widespread utilization of rapeseed meal. ITCs are the products of the myrosinase-mediated hydrolysis of glucosinolate (GSLs). As such, a study was conducted in order to gain a better understanding into the identity of the GSLs contained in rapeseed meal. Extraction of the GSLs was carried out with 20% ethanol, affording 3.0% GSL content. The resulting GSL extracts were purified via silica gel column chromatography resulting in the isolation of main three pure GLSs (GSL A, B, and C) and a final GSL content of 39.8%. The indirect-identification of the GSLs in rapeseed meal was also carried out via GC/MS analysis of ITCs. The GSLs, progoitrin and gluconapin, were present in the highest concentration in these extracts. Interestingly, only goitrin was produced when GSL A was the substrate for the defatted rapeseed meal mediated hydrolysis reaction. This indicates GSL A is a progoitrin. Conversely, 3-butenyl ITC was produced only when GSL B was used as substrate, indicating GSL B is gluconapin. These results will be helpful for opening the doors for the use of rapeseed meal in the agricultural or pharmaceutical sectors.