Effects of preoperative surgeon warm-up in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy.

BACKGROUND: In various surgical specialties, preoperative surgical warm-up has been demonstrated to affect a surgeon's performance and the perioperative outcomes for patients. However, the influence of warm-up activities on video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy (VATSL) remains largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate the potential effects of preoperative surgical warm-up on VATSL. METHODS: A cohort of 364 patients diagnosed with lung cancer through pathology and undergoing VATSL at the Thoracic Surgery Department of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2018 to September 2022 were included. Patients were categorized into two groups: the warm-up group, comprising 172 patients undergoing their first VATSL of the day, and the warm-up effect group, consisting of 192 patients undergoing their second VATSL on the same day. Propensity score matching was employed to compare operation times and postoperative complications between the two groups, resulting in 159 matched cases in each group. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in operation time (154.5 ± 54.9 vs. 147.2 ± 54.4 min, p = 0.239) and postoperative complications (including pulmonary infection, atelectasis, long-term pulmonary air leakage requiring incision suture in the operating room, and postoperative pleural effusion) (14:22 cases, p = 0.157) between the warm-up and warm-up effect groups. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that preoperative surgical warm-up does not significantly affect the perioperative outcomes of VATSL.

Effect of Porosity Parameters and Surface Chemistry on Carbon Dioxide Adsorption in Sulfur-Doped Porous Carbons.

In this work, a series of highly porous sulfur-doped carbons are prepared through physical activation methods by using polythiophene as a precursor. The morphology, structure, and physicochemical properties are revealed by a variety of characterization methods, such as scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nitrogen sorption measurement. Their porosity parameters and chemical compositions can be well-tuned by changing the activating agents (steam and carbon dioxide) and reaction temperature. These sulfur-doped porous carbons possess specific surface area of 670-2210 m2 g-1, total pore volume of 0.31-1.26 cm3 g-1, and sulfur content of 0.6-4.9 atom %. The effect of porosity parameters and surface chemistry on carbon dioxide adsorption in sulfur-doped porous carbons is studied in detail. After a careful analysis of carbon dioxide uptake at different temperatures (273 and 293 K), pore volumes from small pore size (less than 1 nm) play an important role in carbon dioxide adsorption at 273 K, whereas surface chemistry is the key factor at a higher adsorption temperature or lower relative pressure. Furthermore, sulfur-doped porous carbons also possess good gas adsorption selectivity and excellent recyclability for regeneration.

[The effects of low-frequency electric stimulus on hippocampal of Effects of low-frequency electric stimulus on hippocampal of α5 subunit of extra synapse GABAA receptor in kainic acid-induced epilepsy rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of low-frequency electric stimulus (LFS) on hippocampal of α5 subunit of extrasynaptic GABAA receptor in kainic acid-induced epilepsy rats and explore the possible mechanism of LFS on hippocampus to treat epilepsy. METHODS: A total of 32 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into 4 groups:epileptic, pseudo-surgery, LFS treatment and control. The expression of α5 subunit of extrasynaptic GABAA receptor and the association with the curative effects of LFS were evaluated by behavioristics, real-time fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot. RESULT: After treatment, the number of seizures in LFS group were significantly lower than that in the epileptic and pseudo-surgery groups (2.88 ± 0.83 vs 8.50 ± 0.93 and 8.88 ± 0.83) (P < 0.01). The results of real-time PCR demonstrated that the expression of mRNA of α5 subunits in LFS treatment group was obviously higher than that in epileptic and pseudo-surgery groups (0.74 ± 0.20 vs 0.30 ± 0.16 and 0.31 ± 0.16) (P < 0.01), but was lower than 1.10 ± 0.23 in control group. Western blot demonstrated that the protein expression of α5 subunits in LFS (0.75 ± 0.09) and control (0.88 ± 0.09) groups were dramatically higher than that in epileptic (0.22 ± 0.08) and pseudo-surgery (0.26 ± 0.08) groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Low-frequency electric stimulus on hippocampus is effective in controlling epileptic seizures. And the mechanism may be related with the expression level of α5 subunits of extrasynaptic GABAA receptor.

[Expression of α(5) subunit of extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptor in insular-kindled rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression of α(5) subunit of extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptor in insular electrical kindled rats and analyze its significance. METHODS: A total of 96 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into kindled, sham-operated and control groups (n = 32). And each group was further divided into 2 sub-groups at different time points. Kindled group: insular electrical kindled via chronic electrical stimulation; Sham-operated group: electrode implantation without electrical stimulation; CONTROL GROUP: no operation at all. The number of hippocampal neurons was detected by Nissl staining; the mRNA of α(5) subunit of hippocampus by quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR); the expression of α(5) subunit of hippocampus by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: No significant difference existed in the number of hippocampal neurons between epileptic and normal rats (P > 0.05). The mRNA levels of α(5) subunit of hippocampus in the sham-operated and control groups were much higher than that of the kindled group at Day 1 and 7 post-sacrificing (P < 0.01). And the hippocampal expressions of α(5) subunit were much more in the sham-operated and control groups than that of the kindled group at Day 1 and 7 post-sacrificing (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The hippocampal expression of α(5) subunit decreases markedly in insular epilepsy. And α(5) subunit may play an important role in the occurrence and development of insular epilepsy.

[Expression of δ subunit of γ-aminobutyric acid A in hippocampus induced by insular-kindled rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression of δ subunit-containing γ-aminobutyric acid(A) (GABA)(A) receptors in insular electrical kindled rats and analyze the significance of the findings. METHODS: A total of 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into 3 groups: kindled, sham-operated and control. Kindled group: chronic insular electrical kindled models of rats established by electrical stimulation. Sham-operated group: the same method of the kindled group without electrical stimulation. CONTROL GROUP: without surgery. The number of hippocampal neurons of rat epilepsy, sham-operated and control groups were detected by Nissl staining. The hippocampal expressions of δ subunit of these groups were tested by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA of δ subunit of hippocampus of these groups was detected by quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR). RESULTS: The findings of Nissl staining showed that there was no significant difference of the number of hippocampal neurons between epileptic and normal rats (P > 0.05). The findings of q-PCR showed that mRNA of δ subunit of the hippocampus of sham-operated and control groups represented much more than that of kindled group at Day 7 post-kindling (P < 0.01). The findings of immunohistochemistry showed that the hippocampal expression of δ subunit of sham-operated and control groups represented much more than that of kindled group at Day 7 post-kindling (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The hippocampal expression of δ subunit-containing GABA(A) receptors decreases in insular epilepsy. It may play an important role in the occurrence and development of insular epilepsy.