Assessment of the Severity of COVID-19 on the Basis of Examination and Laboratory Diagnostics in Relation to Computed Tomography Imagery of Patients Hospitalised Due to COVID-19-Single-Centre Study.

From the moment the SARS-CoV-2 virus was identified in December 2019, the COVID-19 disease spread around the world, causing an increase in hospitalisations and deaths. From the beginning of the pandemic, scientists tried to determine the major cause that led to patient deaths. In this paper, the background to creating a research model was diagnostic problems related to early assessment of the degree of damage to the lungs in patients with COVID-19.

Applications of radiolabeled antibodies in neuroscience and neuro-oncology.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful tool in medicine and drug development, allowing for non-invasive imaging and quantitation of biological processes in live organisms. Targets are often probed with small molecules, but antibody-based PET is expanding because of many benefits, including ease of design of new antibodies toward targets, as well as the very strong affinities that can be expected. Application of antibodies to PET imaging of targets in the central nervous system (CNS) is a particularly nascent field, but one with tremendous potential.

Diffusion/Reaction Limited Aggregation Approach for Microstructure Evolution and Condensation Kinetics during Synthesis of Silica-Based Alcogels.

A base-catalysed methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) colloidal gel formation was implemented as a cellular automaton (CA) system, specifically diffusion and/or reaction-limited aggregation. The initial characteristic model parameters were determined based on experimental synthesis of MTMS-based, ambient-pressure-dried aerogels. The applicability of the numerical approach to the prediction of gels' condensation kinetics and their structure was evaluated.

Automated production of [C]butyrate for keto body PET imaging.

The report describes an updated, fully automated method for the production of [C]butyrate, validated for use in clinical studies. A commercially available GE Tracerlab FX synthesis module was reconfigured to allow for air-free introduction of n-propyl magnesium chloride and to incorporate Sep-Pak cartridges to simplify and shorten the purification process, as compared to purifying the product using traditional HPLC. The method takes 20 min from end-of-bombardment and reliably produces injectable doses of [C]butyrate (8029 ± 1628 MBq (217 ± 44 mCi), 14 % radiochemical yield based on [C]CO non-decay corrected) in high radiochemical purity (>97 %), n = 3.

A Successful Heart Transplantation Coupled with Temporary Right Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in a Patient with (ir)Reversible Pulmonary Hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) constitutes one of the main contraindications to heart transplantation (OHT), and elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is associated with high risk of posttransplant right heart failure (RVF). In the present case report, a patient with PH is introduced who qualified for heart lung transplantation (HLT) and underwent successful OHT with temporary right ventricle assist device (tRVAD) due to the lack of a suitable heart-lung donor. Temporary RVAD support coupled with optimal medical management may help reverse pulmonary vascular resistance, which was previously deemed as permanent in patients requiring heart transplantation.

Cellular Automata Modeling of Silica Aerogel Condensation Kinetics.

The formation of silica aerogels and the kinetics of condensation were investigated numerically. The influence of the reaction-limited to the diffusion-limited aggregation (RLA to DLA) transition on the reaction kinetics curves and the evolution of the aggregate size distribution during condensation were examined. The 2D cellular automaton was developed and applied to reflect the process of secondary particle aggregation.

Cobalt complexes of the chelating dicarboxylate ligand "esp": a paddlewheel-type dimer and a heptanuclear coordination cluster.

The coordination chemistry of Co(ii) with the chelating dicarboxylate ligand esp (esp = α,α,α',α'-tetramethyl-1,3-benzenedipropionate) is explored. We report here the bimetallic paddlewheel-type dimer, Co2(esp)2(EtOH)2 (1), and a bowl-shaped, heptanuclear coordination cluster, Co7(OH)4(Hesp)2(esp)4(MeCN)2·4MeCN (2). Crystal structures of both complexes are reported as well as their magnetic properties, which indicate antiferromagnetic interactions among the Co(ii) ions.

Palladium Acetate Revisited: Unusual Ring-Current Effects, One-Electron Reduction, and Metal-Metal Bonding.

Palladium(II) acetate (1) and two new complexes of the ligand α,α,α',α'-tetramethyl-1,3-benzenedipropionate (esp), C -Pd(esp) ( C-2) and C-Pd(esp) ( C-2), are studied in the solid state and in solution. Variable-temperature NMR and DFT studies of C -2 reveal an unusual shielding region above the Pd atoms. The compounds show a surprising quasi-reversible reduction between -880 and -1200 mV versus Fc/Fc, and the Pd(esp) complexes may be cleanly reduced electrochemically.

Syndecan-1/CD147 association is essential for cyclophilin B-induced activation of p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinases and promotion of cell adhesion and chemotaxis.

Many of the biological functions attributed to cell surface proteoglycans are dependent on the interaction with extracellular mediators through their heparan sulphate (HS) moieties and the participation of their core proteins in signaling events. A class of recently identified inflammatory mediators is secreted cyclophilins, which are mostly known as cyclosporin A-binding proteins. We previously demonstrated that cyclophilin B (CyPB) triggers chemotaxis and integrin-mediated adhesion of T lymphocytes mainly of the CD4+/CD45RO+ phenotype.

Prooxidant-antioxidant equilibrium in rowers: effect of a single dose of vitamin E.

Aim: The purpose of this research was to explain whether a single dose of vitamin E influences on disturbances of pro-oxidant-antioxidant equilibrium induced a laboratory 2,000 m rowing test.

Methods: The athletes were divided into two groups: vitamin E (1.000 mg alfa-tocopherol acetate) and P (placebo: cod-liver oil) supplemented 3 h before exercise.

Octasaccharide is the minimal length unit required for efficient binding of cyclophilin B to heparin and cell surface heparan sulphate.

Cyclophilin B (CyPB) is a heparin-binding protein first identified as a receptor for cyclosporin A. In previous studies, we reported that CyPB triggers chemotaxis and integrin-mediated adhesion of T-lymphocytes by way of interaction with two types of binding sites. The first site corresponds to a signalling receptor; the second site has been identified as heparan sulphate (HS) and appears crucial to induce cell adhesion.

Microstructural analysis of bile: relevance to cholesterol gallstone pathogenesis.

The study of physical-chemical factors and pathways leading to cholesterol crystallization in bile has important clinical relevance. The major processes in cholesterol gallstone formation can be subdivided into nucleation, formation and precipitation of solid crystals (crystallization), crystal growth, crystal agglomeration and stone growth. A clear understanding of the microstructural events occurring during the earliest stages of these processes in bile is crucial for the identification of factors possibly delaying or preventing precipitation of cholesterol crystals and, therefore, gallstone formation in bile.

The effects of short term lipid infusion on plasma and hepatic bile lipids in humans.

Background: Patients on parenteral nutrition have an increased incidence of gall bladder sludge and gallstone disease, thought to be related to bile stasis. Intravenous lipid emulsions, especially those containing medium chain triglycerides, have also been shown to have a lithogenic effect on the composition of bile in the gall bladder.

Aims: To determine whether lipid infusion influences hepatic bile composition in patients with an indwelling T tube following cholecystectomy and choledochotomy.

The incorporation of fatty acids of different chain length into liver and biliary lipids in the perfused rat liver.

In an attempt to correlate the incorporation of fatty acids (FA) of different chain length into liver and biliary lipids, isolated rat livers were perfused for 2 h with Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate containing 1% albumin and 10 mumol of [1-14C]-labeled FA: C2, C8, C10, C12, C16, and C18:1. One to 1.36 mumol of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, C8, C10, and C12) and 6.

Biosynthesis of medium-chain triacylglycerols and phospholipids by HepG-2 cells.

In an attempt to understand the metabolism by the liver of fatty acids (FA) of different chain length, we have studied the incorporation of [1(-14)C]-labeled C2, C8, C10, C12, and C16 into cellular lipids by HepG-2 cells. Over 90% of the radiolabeled FA were detected in phospholipids (PL) and triacylglycerols (TAG). The incorporation of C12 and C16 was three to four times higher than that of C8 and C10 (and reached 35 nmoles per mg protein after 1.

Does lipid infusion affect bile composition in humans?

A prospective study was performed to investigate the effect of short-term lipid infusion on bile composition and its lithogenicity in humans. The study group comprised 44 patients scheduled for laparotomy. The patients were hospitalized 48 h prior to elective surgery and randomized to be infused with a lipid emulsion of either long chain triglycerides (LCT) or a mixture of medium and long chain triglycerides (MCT/LCT) for 6 h of each 24 h, or with glucose-saline.

The effects of dietary phospholipids enriched with phosphatidylethanolamine on bile and red cell membrane lipids in humans.

The role of phospholipids in biliary cholesterol solubilization and crystallization has only recently begun to be appreciated. Phospholipid vesicles are believed to be the metastable carrier from which cholesterol nucleates. Cholesterol crystallization is influenced by the phospholipid species in bile.

A new continuous biofilm bioreactor for immobilized oil-degrading filamentous fungi.

A new type of horizontal biofilm bioreactor for continuous bioconversion of emulsified oily substrate by immobilized growing biofilm of filamentous fungi was designed, constructed, and feasibility tested. The new reactor design provides "self"-immobilization of homogenized mycelium leading to even biofilm development. This was accomplished by using stainless steel screens of optimal mesh, mounted in parallel and stretching outward from a main rotating axis of a biological rotating contractor.

Are bilirubin and plasma lipid profiles of premature infants dependent on the lipid emulsion infused?

The effect of a lipid emulsion containing long-chain triglycerides (LCT) and supplemented with L-carnitine on plasma lipids and bilirubin in premature neonates on total parenteral nutrition was compared to that of lipid emulsions containing either LCT or a mixture of LCT and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). In a double-blind randomized study 49 premature neonates received one of the three fat emulsions, given intravenously, over 16-20 h daily for 6 days. Plasma carnitine levels increased significantly in the supplemented group only; the addition of carnitine did not seem to affect any of the parameters studied.

Effect of three intravenously administered fat emulsions containing different concentrations of fatty acids on the plasma fatty acid composition of premature infants.

The effects of an intravenously administered lipid emulsion supplemented with gamma-linolenic acid on the fatty acid profile of premature infants were compared with those of two conventional lipid emulsions. Fifty-nine premature neonates receiving total parenteral nutrition were randomly assigned to receive either fat emulsion containing gamma-linolenic acid and long-chain triglycerides (LCT), an LCT emulsion, or a 50% (wt/wt) mixture of medium-chain triglycerides and LCT emulsion. Forty-nine infants completed the study.

Management of gallstone ileus--a controversial issue.

Four cases of gallstone ileus were treated during a 3-year period. Three patients aged 74-81 years underwent a one-stage operation consisting of enterotomy, stone extraction, cholecystectomy, and suturing of the entero-biliary fistula. One 83-year-old patient was considered a poor risk and underwent only enterotomy with stone extraction, without cholecystectomy.