Prevalence and risk factors of exit-site infection in incident peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Exit-site infection (ESI) is a common complication in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Clearly understanding the risk factors may be useful for the prevention of ESI. This study was to explore the prevalence and risk factors of ESI in incident PD patients. METHODS: We evaluated ESI in incident PD patients who had catheter insertion in our center between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013, with follow-up for 1 year. We collected data on demographics, clinical features, and nursing care methods of the exit site (ES). RESULTS: We recruited 1133 incident PD patients (687 male (60.6%); mean age 47.0 ± 15.1 years), and 245 (21.6%) had diabetes. Median follow-up was 12.0 months. One hundred and thirty-one patients had 139 episodes of ESI with a rate of 92.8 patient-months per episode (0.13 episodes per year). Coagulase-negative staphylococcus was the main pathogen, accounting for 33.8% of the ESIs. Gram-positive rods, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, fungi, and other organisms accounted for 23.0%, 15.8%, 1.4%, 1.4%, and 2.9%, respectively. No bacterial growth was found in 15.1%. There were no differences in demographic and laboratory data (age, gender, primary kidney disease, hemoglobin, white blood cell, serum albumin, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and C-reactive protein) between the ESI and non-ESI groups. Poor competency of ES care, poor catheter immobilization, history of catheter-pulling injury, and mechanical stress on the ES were significantly associated with increased risk of ESI. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of ESI was 0.13 episodes per year. Poor competency of ES care, catheter mobilization, history of catheter-pulling injury, and mechanical stress by waist belt or the protective bag of PD on ES were risk factors for ESI.

Prevalence and Prognosis of Coexisting Frailty and Cognitive Impairment in Patients on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of coexisting frailty and cognitive impairment and its association with clinical outcomes in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Patients on CAPD started to enroll from 2014 to 2016 and ended follow-up by 2017. Frailty was assessed by clinical frailty scale (CFS), and cognitive function was assessed by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Totally 784 CAPD patients were recruited, with median duration of PD 30.7 (8.9~54.3) months. The mean age was 48.8 ± 14.6 years, 320 (40.8%) patients were female and 130 (16.6%) had diabetic nephropathy. Patients with cognitive impairment were more than those with frailty (55.5% vs. 27.6%). Coexisting frailty and cognitive impairment was present in 23.9% patients. Pathway analysis showed that CFS score was negatively associated with MoCA score (ß = -0.69, P < 0.001). Coexisting frailty and cognitive impairment was associated with decreased patient survival rate (Log-rank = 84.33, P < 0.001) and increased peritonitis rate (0.22 vs. 0.11, 0.15 and 0.12 episodes per patient year, respectively; all P < 0.001). It was concluded that there was a relatively high prevalence of coexisting frailty and cognitive impairment among patients on CAPD. Frailty was positively associated with cognitive impairment. Coexisting frailty and cognitive impairment increased the risk of adverse outcomes.

Two-dimensional non-reciprocal transmission in dynamically modulated photonic lattices.

We propose a method for realizing two-dimensional (2D) non-reciprocal (one-way) transmission of discretized light in a dynamically modulated optical waveguide array. By adjusting the phase of the modulation between the defect site and the most adjacent waveguides, asymmetric transmission in the same layer or between the first and third waveguide layers can be obtained. In particular, when the defect waveguide is lossless, 2D non-reciprocal transmission is realized perfectly.

[Effect of twirling-reinforcing-reducing needling manipulations on contents of serum acetylcholine and arterial NOS and cGMP in stress-induced hypertension rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of twirling-reinforcing or reducing needling manipulations on plasma acetylcholine (Ach) content and expression of nitric oxide synthetase (NOS) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in thoracic artery tissue in stress-induced hypertension rats. METHODS: A total of 60 male rats were randomly divided into blank control, model, acupuncture (no-needle-manipulation) , twirling-reinforcing needling and twirling-reducing needling groups (n = 12 in each group). The stress hypertension model was established by giving the animals with noise and electric shock stimulation (paw), twice a day for 15 days. Acupuncture stimulation was applied to bilateral "Taichong" (LR 3) for 1 min, followed by retaining the needles for 20 min. The treatment was conducted once daily for 7 days. Systolic blood pressure of the rat's tail was detected with non-invasive method and plasma Ach, and NOS and cGMP contents in the thoracic artery tissue were measured using ELISA method. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the model group after 15 days' stress stimulation (P < 0.01), while the contents of plasma Ach, arterial NOS and cGMP were markedly down-regulated (P < 0.01). Following 7 days' acupuncture interventions, the increased blood pressure was down-regulated in the no-needle-manipulation, twirling-reinforcing needling and twirling-reducing needling groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); and the decreased Ach and NOS in the 3 treatment groups, and cGMP levels in the twirling-reinforcing and twirling-reducing needling groups were remarkably up-regulated (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). No significant change of arterial cGMP content was found in the no-needle-manipulation group (P > 0.05). The effect of the twirling-reducing needling was superior to that of no-needle-manipulation and twirling-reinforcing needling in lowering blood pressure and raising plasma Ach content (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The twirling-reducing needling of acupuncture has a significant anti-hypertensive effect in stress hypertension rats, which may be associated with its effects in raising blood Ach, and arterial NOS and cGMP levels.