Pediatric acute heart failure caused by endocardial fibroelastosis mimicking dilated cardiomyopathy: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE) is a diffuse endocardial collagen and elastin hyperplasia disease of unknown etiology, which may be accompanied by myocardial degenerative changes leading to acute or chronic heart failure. However, acute heart failure (AHF) without obvious associated triggers is rare. Prior to the report of endomyocardial biopsy, the diagnosis and treatment of EFE are highly susceptible to being confounded with other primary cardiomyopathies. Here, we report a case of pediatric AHF caused by EFE mimicking dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), with the aim of providing a valuable reference for clinicians to early identify and diagnose EFE-induced AHF. CASE SUMMARY: A 13-mo-old female child was admitted to hospital with retching. Chest X-ray demonstrated enhanced texture in both lungs and an enlarged heart shadow. Color doppler echocardiography showed an enlarged left heart with ventricular wall hypokinesis and decreased left heart function. Abdominal color ultrasonography revealed a markedly enlarged liver. Pending the result of the endomyocardial biopsy report, the child was treated with a variety of resuscitative measures including nasal cannula for oxygen, intramuscular sedation with chlorpromazine and promethazine, cedilanid for cardiac contractility enhancement, and diuretic treatment with furosemide. Subsequently, the child's endomyocardial biopsy report result was confirmed as EFE. After the above early interventions, the child's condition gradually stabilized and improved. One week later, the child was discharged. During a 9-mo follow-up period, the child took intermittent low-dose oral digoxin with no signs of recurrence or exacerbation of the heart failure. CONCLUSION: Our report suggests that EFE-induced pediatric AHF may present in children over 1 year of age without any apparent precipitants, and that the associated clinical presentations are grossly similar to that of pediatric DCM. Nonetheless, it is still possible to be diagnosed effectively on the basis of the comprehensive analysis of auxiliary inspection findings before the result of the endomyocardial biopsy is reported.

[Effects of long-term rainfall addition on the morphological characteristics and point pattern of desert plants]. / é•¿æœŸæ¨¡æ‹Ÿå¢žé›¨å¯¹è’æ¼ æ¤ç‰©å½¢æ€ç‰¹å¾åŠç©ºé—´åˆ†å¸ƒæ ¼å±€çš„å½±å“.

Studying the effects of rainfall change on morphological characteristics, spatial pattern and spatial correlation of desert dominant plants could help to predict the response of desert ecosystem to global climate change. We conducted a 10-year simulated rainfall addition experiment and examined the morphological characteristics, spatial pattern and spatial correlation of typical desert plant species, Nitraria tangutorum and Artemisia ordosica, under long-term simulated rainfall enhancement conditions in Ulanbuh desert, using Programita software, Ripley's K function, and Monte Carlo method. The results showed that there were significant differences in the number, height, average crown and base diameter of the desert plants under different treatments. The number, height, average crown and base diameter of N. tangutorum and A. ordosica were significantly larger than CK, all of which increased with the amount of rainfall. When the amount of rainfall addition was less than 72 mm, the branch of N. tangutorum showed cluster distribution. When it was larger than 72 mm, it showed a tendency to decrease the aggregation intensity with rainfall increasing. The spatial distribution of A. ordosica population was characterized by random distribution-cluster distribution-random distribution pattern with rainfall increasing. In terms of spatial association, branch of N. tangutorum and A. ordosica showed negative correlation under control, but no correlation or positive correlation with rainfall increasing. When the amount of rainfall increased to 144 mm, the spatial association between two species changed from negative to positive. Under the scenario of increasing rainfall, soil moisture was improved, which would lead to a positive correlation between species and be more conducive to the coexistence and growth of N. tangutorum and A. ordosica.

An unprecedented 2D covalent organic framework with an htb net topology.

A 2D imine-linked COF with a hitherto unreported htb type topology was synthesized from a linear diamine linker and a judiciously designed tetra-aldehyde building block. This work opens the door to the development of COFs with unprecedented topologies and may broaden the scope of COF functional materials by pore size and pore surface engineering.

Stable Hydrazone-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks Containing O,N,O'-Chelating Sites for Fe(III) Detection in Water.

Two stable crystalline hydrazone-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) (Bth-Dha and Bth-Dma) containing functional O,N,O'-chelating sites have been designed and successfully synthesized by the Schiff-base condensation reactions between benzene-1,3,5-tricarbohydrazide (Bth) and 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalaldehyde (Dha) or 2,5-dimethoxyterephthal-aldehyde (Dma), respectively. Bth-Dma exhibits strong fluorescence in the solid state and in an aqueous dispersion, while no fluorescence can be observed for Bth-Dha. Interestingly, the as-synthesized Bth-Dma can be used as a turn-off fluorescence sensor for the Fe(III) ion in aqueous solution with outstanding selectivity and sensitivity. The recognition process can be attributed to the coordination interaction between Fe(III) ion and the O,N,O'-chelating sites in the pore wall of Bth-Dma COF, as verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and 1H NMR spectroscopy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the rational design of luminescent COF with predesigned O,N,O'-chelating sites as a fluorescence sensor for highly selective and sensitive metal ion detection. This work may pave the way for designing luminescent COF sensors with functional binding sites for detecting specific metal ions.

Nickel-catalyzed triarylamine synthesis: synthetic and mechanistic aspects.

An improved protocol was described for the amination of chloroarenes with diarylamines under NiCl2(PCy3)2 catalysis in the presence of a Grignard reagent as base. This method fully suits bromo-/iodoarene substrates as well, and even is expanded to certain aryl tosylates. A preliminary investigation into the mechanism suggests that this amination reaction might proceed through Ni(I) and Ni(III) intermediates rather than via the usually expected Ni(0)-Ni(II) cycle.

SiO2 nanoparticles change colour preference and cause Parkinson's-like behaviour in zebrafish.

With advances in the development of various disciplines, there is a need to decipher bio-behavioural mechanisms via interdisciplinary means. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study of the role of silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) in disturbing the neural behaviours of zebrafish and a possible physiological mechanism for this phenomenon. We used adult zebrafish as an animal model to evaluate the roles of size (15-nm and 50-nm) and concentration (300 µg/mL and 1000 µg/mL) in SiO2-NP neurotoxicity via behavioural and physiological analyses. With the aid of video tracking and data mining, we detected changes in behavioural phenotypes. We found that compared with 50-nm nanosilica, 15-nm SiO2-NPs produced greater significant changes in advanced cognitive neurobehavioural patterns (colour preference) and caused potentially Parkinson's disease-like behaviour. Analyses at the tissue, cell and molecular levels corroborated the behavioural results, demonstrating that nanosilica acted on the retina and dopaminergic (DA) neurons to change colour preference and to cause potentially Parkinson's disease-like behaviour.

[The genetic screening of a dominant zebrafish mutant in long-term memory].

OBJECTIVE: To screen the learning and memory mutant from N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenic zebrafish F1, and to get the new model animal to study the mechanism of learning and memory. METHODS: Zebrafish mutant was screened by inhibitory avoidance behavioral test and identified by the expression of gene c-fos with qRT-PCR. RESULTS: We isolated a zebrafish mutant related to learning and memory, fgt. In this fgt zebrafish mutant long-term memory was much lower than that in wild-type when tested at 24 h after training. The 24 h long-term memory in about half of fgt mutant F2 (13/30) were significantly lower than those in wild-type, and the others relatively normal. Compared with the expression in wild-type fishes, the expression of immediate-early genes (IEGs) c-fos in half of fgt mutant F2 (13/30) after exploring in a novel environment increased distinctly from the basal control levels statistically, and the others relatively normal, which were in accordance with the behavioral results. CONCLUSION: The zebrafish mutant fgt is a dominant mutant with defect in long-term memory.

Iron(III)-promoted oxidative coupling of naphthylamines: synthetic and mechanistic investigations.

A facile route to the synthesis of 1,1'-binaphthyl-4,4'-diamines (naphthidines) and 1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diamines (BINAMs) was developed by the oxidative homocoupling of 1- and 2-naphthylamines, respectively, using FeCl(3) as oxidant and K(2)CO(3) as base in 1,2-dichloroethane under ambient conditions. A preliminary mechanistic investigation was performed by the ESR spectroscopy and intermediate-trapping technique.