Urine colour as an index of hydration in critically ill patients

In order to test the hypothesis that urine colour can be used as an index of hydration in critically ill patients, we selected 40 intensive care and high-dependency patients and correlated urine colour (scored on an eight-point scale) with various indices of hydration: urine:plasma sodium, osmolality and urea ratios, urine output and central venous pressure. In addition, we compared the colour-chart score with scores made by intensive care nurses (without the benefit of a colour chart) in order to test subjective assessment of urine colour. There were weak but statistically significant correlations between urine colour and urine output (Spearman's r = - 0.555) and between urine colour and urine:plasma sodium ratio (Spearman's r = - 0.459). Subjective assessment of urine colour appeared to be reliable. Thus, although urine colour does vary with hydration in the critically ill, assessment of urine colour adds little to the overall assessment of hydration in this group of patients.     

Organization of visual cortex in the northern quoll, Dasyurus hallucatus: evidence for a homologue of the second visual area in marsupials

Two visual areas, V1 and V2 (first and second visual areas), appear to be present in the posterior neocortex of all eutherian mammals investigated so far. However, previous studies have not established whether an area homologous to V2 also exists in metatherian mammals (marsupials). Using electrophysiological techniques, we mapped the visual receptive fields of neurons in the striate and peristriate cortices of the northern quoll, an Australian marsupial. We found that neurons in a 2-mm-wide strip of cortex rostrolateral to V1 form a single, relatively simple representation of the complete contralateral hemifield. This area resembles V2 of eutherians in several respects: (i) neurons in the medial half of the peristriate area represent the lower visual quadrant, whereas those in the lateral half represent the upper visual quadrant; (ii) the vertical meridian of the visual field is represented adjacent to V1, while the visual field periphery is represented along the lateral and rostrolateral borders of the peristriate area; (iii) there is a marked anisotropy in the representation, with a larger magnification factor parallel to the V1 border than perpendicular to this border; and (iv) receptive fields of multiunit clusters in the peristriate cortex are much larger than those of cells in V1 at comparable eccentricities. The cortex immediately rostral and lateral to V2 did not respond to visual stimulation under our recording conditions. These results suggest that V1 and V2 together form a 'core' of homologous visual areas, likely to exist in all therian mammals.     

银康颗粒剂治疗银屑病252例疗效观察

目的:观察纯中药制剂银康颗粒剂治疗银屑病的,临床疗效及治疗前后患者血粘度的变化。方法:将382例患者随机分为2组,治疗组252例应用银康颗粒剂治疗,对照组130例应用复方青黛胶囊治疗;对治疗组部分病例(212例)治疗前后血粘度指标进行观察。结果:治疗组治愈148例,好转82例,未愈22例,总有效率为91.12％;对照组治愈51例,好转46例,未愈33例,总有效率为74.62％,2组总有效率比较,差异有非常显著性意义(P<0.01)。治疗组患者治疗前后全血粘度差异无显著性意义(P>0.05),血浆粘度差异有显著性意义(P<0.05)。结论:风邪外袭、血虚生风、气滞血瘀是致病的主要原因。治疗应以清热祛风与养血活血并举。     

常导型MR磁体温度控制部分原理及故障处理

本文主要介绍常导型MR磁体温度控制部分的组成、原理及常见故障的分析和维修。     

Influence of Silica Fume on High-Calcium Fly Ash Expansion during Hydration

The purpose of this work was to study the possibility of neutralizing high-calcium fly ash expansion during hydration. The object of the study was the fly ash of Berezovskaya GRES, which is capable of independent setting and hardening. The test in the Le Chatelier molds showed that the divergence of indicator arms was 90–100 mm 1 day after mixing with water. The expansion and cracking of the fly ash could be completely prevented by silica fume addition in an amount of 42.9% by weight of the fly ash. At the same time, the compressive strength of specimens from the fly ash–sand paste in a ratio of 1:5 at the age of 28 days was 1.47 MPa. The isothermal heat release at a temperature of 20 °C for 10 days reached 500 kJ/kg. XRF and DTA results showed that free lime in the fly ash was completely hydrated in 11 days and gave the greatest expansion in the absence of silica fume. The presence of silica fume made the lime hydration incomplete and decreased the expansion. Unslaked free lime remained in the system. Exothermic data showed that silica fume inhibited CaO hydration from the reaction start.     

Identification of Inhibitors and Drug Targets for Human Adenovirus Infections

Adenoviruses can cause infections in people of all ages at all seasons of the year. Adenovirus infections cause mild to severe illnesses. Children, immunocompromised patients, or those with existing respiratory or cardiac disease are at higher risk. Unfortunately, there are no commercial drugs or vaccines available on the market for adenovirus infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover new antiviral drugs or drug targets for adenovirus infections. To identify potential antiviral agents for adenovirus infections, we screened a drug library containing 2138 compounds, most of which are drugs with known targets and past phase I clinical trials. On a cell-based assay, we identified 131 hits that inhibit adenoviruses type 3 and 5. A secondary screen confirmed the antiviral effects of 59 inhibitors that inhibit the replication of adenoviruses type 3 or 5. Most of the inhibitors target heat shock protein, protein tyrosine kinase, the mTOR signaling pathway, and other host factors, suggesting that these host factors may be essential for replicating adenoviruses. Through this study, the newly identified adenovirus inhibitors may provide a start point for developing new antiviral drugs to treat adenovirus infections. Further validation of the identified drug targets can help the development of new therapeutics against adenovirus infections.     

A First-Principles Study on the Hydration Behavior of (MgO)n Clusters and the Effect Mechanism of Anti-Hydration Agents

Magnesia-based refractory is widely used in high-temperature industries; its easy hydration is, however, a key concern in refractory processing. Understanding the hydration mechanism of MgO will help in solving its hydration problem. Herein, the hydration behavior of (MgO)_n (n = 1–6) at the molecular level and the effect mechanisms of several anti-hydration agents on the hydration of (MgO)₄ were investigated with first-principles calculations. The results indicated that the following: (1) The smaller the (MgO)_n cluster size, the more favorable the hydration of MgO and the tendency to convert into Mg(OH)₂ crystal; (2) Anti-hydration agents can coordinate with the unsaturated Mg atom of (MgO)₄ to form a bond, increasing the coordination number of Mg, thus reducing its activity when reacting with H₂O; (3) The greater the number of −COOH groups and the longer the chain length in the anti-hydration agents, the better its effect of inhibiting the hydration of MgO. These findings could enhance the understanding of the mechanism of hydration of MgO and provide theoretical guidance for the design of novel anti-hydration agents.     

Advances in Bovine Coronavirus Epidemiology

Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is a causative agent of enteric and respiratory disease in cattle. BCoV has also been reported to cause a variety of animal diseases and is closely related to human coronaviruses, which has attracted extensive attention from both cattle farmers and researchers. However, there are few comprehensive epidemiological reviews, and key information regarding the effect of S-gene differences on tissue tendency and potential cross-species transmission remain unclear. In this review, we summarize BCoV epidemiology, including the transmission, infection-associated factors, co-infection, pathogenicity, genetic evolution, and potential cross-species transmission. Furthermore, the potential two-receptor binding motif system for BCoV entry and the association between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2 are also discussed in this review. Our aim is to provide valuable information for the prevention and treatment of BCoV infection throughout the world.     

Microstructure Evolution of Al6061 Alloy Made by Additive Friction Stir Deposition

In this paper, the phase structure, composition distribution, grain morphology, and hardness of Al6061 alloy samples made with additive friction stir deposition (AFS-D) were examined. A nearly symmetrical layer-by-layer structure was observed in the cross section (vertical with respect to the fabrication-tool traversing direction) of the as-deposited Al6061 alloy samples made with a back-and-forth AFS-D strategy. Equiaxed grains were observed in the region underneath the fabrication tool, while elongated grains were seen in the “flash region” along the mass flow direction. No clear grain size variance was discovered along the AFS-D build direction except for the last deposited layer. Grains were significantly refined from the feedstock (~163.5 µm) to as-deposited Al6061 alloy parts (~8.5 µm). The hardness of the as-fabricated Al6061 alloy was lower than those of the feedstock and their heat-treated counterparts, which was ascribed to the decreased precipitate content and enlarged precipitate size.     

Molecular Analysis of Caprine Enterovirus Circulating in China during 2016–2021: Evolutionary Significance

Here, we report the characterization of 13 novel caprine/ovine enterovirus strains isolated from different regions in China during 2016–2021. Immunoperoxidase monolayer assay showed that these viral strains shared strong cross-reaction with the previously reported caprine enterovirus CEV-JL14. Alignment analysis of the complete nucleotide sequences revealed 79.2%–87.8% and 75.0%–76.7% sequence identity of these novel caprine enterovirus strains to CEV-JL14 and TB4-OEV, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses clustered these novel strains to EV-G based on the amino acid sequences of P1 and 2C+3CD. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of these caprine enterovirus strains identified three new EV-G types using VP1 sequences. These results demonstrate the genetic variations and the evolution of caprine enterovirus.