ABCA4 Deep Intronic Variants Contributed to Nearly Half of Unsolved Stargardt Cases With a Milder Phenotype.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution and natural progression of ABCA4 deep intronic variants (DIVs) among a Chinese Stargardt disease (STGD) cohort.

Methods: For unsolved STGD probands, DIVs in ABCA4 were detected by next-generation sequencing, and splicing effects were evaluated by in silico tools and validated through minigene experiments. Comprehensive ocular examinations, especially fundus changes, were carried out and analyzed.

Dexmedetomidine improves clinical outcomes in sepsis-induced myocardial injury: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The efficacy of dexmedetomidine (DEX) in treating sepsis-induced myocardial injury (SIMI) remains unclear. In this study, we explored the relationship between DEX use and clinical outcomes of patients with SIMI, focusing on the dosage and treatment duration.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort analysis, we identified patients with SIMI from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database and categorized them into the DEX and non-DEX groups based on intensive care unit treatment.

Effects of Multiple Treatments of Formic Acid on the Chemical Properties and Structural Features of Bamboo Powder.

Under mild conditions, formic acid effectively separates the components of lignocellulose, removing the majority of the hemicellulose and lignin from the cellulose. However, it has not yet been determined if multiple treatments with fresh formic acid may totally remove hemicellulose and lignin. In this study, fresh formic acid was used to repeatedly pretreat the bamboo powder, and the effect of multiple treatments on the physicochemical structure of the bamboo powder was investigated using changes in fractions, enzymatic hydrolysis, hydrophilicity, cellulose crystallinity, and lignin structure.

Prenatal labor analgesia education program on outcomes for primiparas: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: A significant number of primiparous women lack awareness of labor epidural analgesia, resulting in lower acceptance of labor epidural analgesia. Additional prenatal education may help primiparas understand labor epidural analgesia and increase labor epidural analgesia rates. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) will evaluate the effects of an online and offline prenatal labor epidural analgesia education program for primiparas to improve their labor epidural analgesia rate and to reduce their misunderstanding of labor epidural analgesia and fear of birth.

The impact of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection on platelets in children with immune thrombocytopenia: a real-world study from China.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae), as one of the susceptible pathogens during childhood, may lead to severe mycoplasmal pneumonia and affect platelet fluctuations. We prospectively collected data on persistent/chronic ITP children who were infected with M.