Sanhuang Xiexin decoction ameliorates DSS-induced colitis in mice by regulating intestinal inflammation, intestinal barrier, and intestinal flora (2023)

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) follow up programs are in place to ensure infant health and development are monitored after discharge. The COVID-19 Public Health Epidemic (PHE) negatively impacted the ability to conduct in-person NICU follow up visits.

This study examines using telemedicine in NICU follow up clinics and compares the rates of referral for further medical and/or educational developmental evaluation. A second objective of the study examines if telemedicine can be implemented in the future to ensure access to families while maintaining high levels of caregiver satisfaction.

Data were obtained retrospectively from clinical records from one state's NICU follow-up program. Patterns of referral for further developmental evaluation and caregiver satisfaction prior to the COVID-19 PHE and during the first year of the COVID-19 PHE were examined. A total of 658 NICU follow up visits (384 in-person and 274 telemedicine) were included.

Chi Square analyses revealed significantly more medically related referrals were made during telemedicine visits compared to in-person visits, χ² (1)=5.55, p .05. There were no significant differences between the clinic types in the number of educationally based referrals made, χ² (1)=0.028, p>.05.

The rates of referral for further evaluation made from in-person and telemedicine clinics were comparable, and caregivers were highly satisfied with telemedicine clinic visits. NICU follow up via a virtual platform saves time, money and is equally effective or better in identifying the need for referral for further evaluation.

This paper presents and summarizes main results of the research to define the high-temperature creep parameters and strength characteristics of the unirradiated steel 15Kh2NMFA-А tested in the temperature range of 900–1200°C. This ferritic-pearlitic steel is one of the main types of steel used for the production of the VVER RPVs of the Russian design. The results of research of the strength properties and creep parameters for 15Kh2NMFA-А steel are meant to support, first and utmost, the estimation of the integrity and predicting the behavior of the VVER pressure vessel during the SA, when it may deform due to high-temperature creep and the overpressure in the RPV. One of the main goals of the investigation was to determine such strength properties and creep parameters of the investigated steel as, for instance, steady-state creep rate, creep tensile strength under the condition of isothermal creep at different temperatures and test stress. The creep tensile tests were conducted in vacuum and in the protective argon medium. A series of creep tests was conducted in air. The analysis and comparison of the test results demonstrated significant impact of the surficial oxidation process on the nature of their damage and the time to failure of the test samples. The absence of a protective medium during testing, as observed in the case of the test in air, causes decarburization and the damage of the surficial layer of the steel samples, so that the specimen fractures prematurely. Based on the statistic estimation the (B) and (n) parameters for the secondary creep rate equations were defined for the researched steel within the temperature range of 900–1200°C. The agreement between the values of the steady-state creep rate of 15Kh2NMFA-A steel from the conducted creep tensile tests and similar calculation values from the obtained parameters (B) and (n) for the temperature range from 900 to 1200°C was satisfactory. The paper also presents the definition of the LMP parametric dependence coefficients, completed on the basis of the creep test results for 15Kh2NMFA-А steel with a time span up to 100h in the given temperature range. The comparative analysis of the defined LMP dependence demonstrated good agreement of the predicted values for the failure time with similar values defined during the experiment.

The research of the steel specimens’ microstructure following the tests demonstrated a difference in the mechanisms of damage accumulation and fracture at the temperatures over 1000°C in comparison to similar mechanisms at lower temperatures. It is important to apply more precise research methods to understand this phenomenon to a better extent; such research may take place later.

Inflammation is the body's normal protective response to injury and is stimulated by pathogens, toxic compounds, damaged cells or radiation, promoting healing and restoring homeostasis to the injured tissue. Leaves of Piper gaudichaudianum Kunth, known as “pariparoba” are widely used in folk medicine for the relief of toothache, while the fresh roots are used as anti-inflammatory and to treat liver disorders. For P. mikanianum (Kunth) Steud is known as “aguaxima”, is widely used in the treatment of inflammation, rheumatism and ulcer, with its roots being used for stomach disorders and as a diaphoretic in intermittent fevers.

Therefore, this work aims to chemically characterize the essential oil of Piper gaudichaudianum and Piper mikanianum, as well as the evaluation of neutrophil antichemotactic activity of both essential oils in order to complement the information of its traditional use, taking the leaves as plant material and, with that, corroborating its use in folk medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

The essential oil from leaves of both Piper species were obtained from crushed fresh samples, by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger type-apparatus for 4h. The yield determination was performed as vol/wt (v/w) and in triplicate. The amount of essential oil obtained was quantified in mL. The identification and quantification of the compounds was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the model of modified Boyden chamber. In this test the essential oils were tested for their ability to inhibit leukocyte chemotaxis stimulated by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide.

The chemical composition of the essential oils revealed the identification of 26 constituents for P. gaudichaudianum being the sesquiterpenes β-selinene (14.0%) and viridiflorene (10.5%) the main compounds, followed by caryophyllene oxide (9.3%) and (E)-nerolidol (9.0%). For P. mikanianum essential oil, β-myrcene (17.2%) and bicyclogermacrene (26.3%) were the major components in the monoterpenes and sesquiterpene fractions, respectively. The essential oils were also tested for their ability to inhibit neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro when stimulated by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. Both essential oils showed antichemotactic effect with reduction in migration of 0–72.2% for P. gaudichaudianum and 8.6–100% for P. mikanianum to same concentrations, suggesting a response to acute inflammatory processes.

Since up to date there is no report of this biological activities by this mechanism (antichemotactic assay) for essential oils this species. These results showed that the essential oils of P. gaudichaudianum and P. mikanianum have a great capacity to inhibit neutrophil chemotaxis in an inflammatory process, in a dose-dependent way, suggesting anti-inflammatory potential, by preventing its accumulation at the injury site with the possibility of tissue damage. Findings of these studies support the traditional use of these species in the treatment of inflammatory processes.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract, which is very harmful to human health. The JAK-STAT signaling pathway is a recognized carcinogenic pathway that plays a role in the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of a variety of cancer cells. Some studies have shown that the activation status of STAT3 affects the expression of KIRREL3. However, the expression of KIRREL3 in ESCC and its relationship with KIRREL3 or the JAK-STAT signaling pathway is still unclear.

In this study, we used immunohistochemistry and western blotting to analyze the protein expression levels of KIRREL3 in tumor tissues and ESCC cell lines. We applied proliferation assays, plate clone formation assays, Transwell assays, flow cytometry analysis, and CDX animal models to examine the role of KIRREL3 in ESCC.

The results indicate that KIRREL3 is highly expressed to varying degrees in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Knocking down KIRREL3 expression in ESCC cells could correspondingly inhibit cell proliferation, colony formation, invasion, and migration, and had some effects on cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In addition, overexpressing KIRREL3 in these cells had opposite effects. Tumor formation in nude mice experiments also confirmed that KIRREL3 is involved in the growth of ESCC cells in vivo.

These data suggest that KIRREL3 plays a key role in the development of ESCC, and KIRREL3 is a potential new target for the early diagnosis and clinical treatment of this disease.