Neuroinflammation markers and methyl alcohol induced toxic brain damage.

Methyl alcohol intoxication is a global problem with high mortality and long-term visual sequelae and severe brain damage in survivors. The role of neuroinflammation in the mechanisms of methyl alcohol-induced toxic brain damage has not been well studied. We measured the acute concentrations and dynamics of lipoxins LxA4 and LxB4 and the interleukins IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, and IL-13 in the serum of patients treated with methyl alcohol poisoning and the follow-up concentrations in survivors two years after discharge from the hospital.

Positive serum ethanol concentration on admission to hospital as the factor predictive of treatment outcome in acute methanol poisoning.

Abstract: Mass methanol poisonings present a serious problem for health systems worldwide, with poor outcome associated with delayed treatment. Positive pre-hospital serum ethanol concentration may have predictive value as the prognostic factor of the treatment outcome. We studied the effect of positive serum ethanol level on admission to hospital on survival in patients treated during the Czech methanol outbreak during 2012-2014.

Cognitive sequelae of methanol poisoning involve executive dysfunction and memory impairment in cross-sectional and long-term perspective.

Methanol poisoning leads to lesions in the basal ganglia and subcortical white matter, as well as to demyelination and atrophy of the optic nerve. However, information regarding cognitive deficits in a large methanol sample is lacking. The principal aim of the present study was to identify the cognitive sequelae of methanol poisoning and their morphological correlates.

Leukotriene-mediated neuroinflammation, toxic brain damage, and neurodegeneration in acute methanol poisoning.

Context: The role of neuroinflammation in methanol-induced toxic brain damage has not been studied.

Objective: We studied acute concentrations and the dynamics of leukotrienes (LT) in serum in hospitalized patients with acute methanol poisoning and in survivors.

Methods: Series of acute cysteinyl-LT and LTB4 concentration measurements were performed in 28/101 hospitalized patients (mean observation time: 88 ± 20 h).

Efficiency of acidemia correction on intermittent versus continuous hemodialysis in acute methanol poisoning.

Context: Acidemia is a marker of prognosis in methanol poisoning, as well as compounding formate-induced cytotoxicity. Prompt correction of acidemia is a key treatment of methanol toxicity and methods to optimize this are poorly defined.

Objective: We studied the efficiency of acidemia correction by intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in a mass outbreak of methanol poisoning.

Use of Out-of-Hospital Ethanol Administration to Improve Outcome in Mass Methanol Outbreaks.

Study Objective: Methanol poisoning outbreaks are a global public health issue, with delayed treatment causing poor outcomes. Out-of-hospital ethanol administration may improve outcome, but the difficulty of conducting research in outbreaks has meant that its effects have never been assessed. We study the effect of out-of-hospital ethanol in patients treated during a methanol outbreak in the Czech Republic between 2012 and 2014.

Markers of oxidative damage of nucleic acids and proteins among workers exposed to TiO2 (nano) particles.

Objective: The use of nanotechnology is growing enormously and occupational physicians have an increasing interest in evaluating potential hazards and finding biomarkers of effect in workers exposed to nanoparticles.

Methods: A study was carried out with 36 workers exposed to (nano)TiO2 pigment and 45 controls. Condensate (EBC) titanium and markers of oxidation of nucleic acids (including 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG), 5-hydroxymethyl uracil (5-OHMeU)) and proteins (such as o-tyrosine (o-Tyr), 3-chlorotyrosine (3-ClTyr) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NOTyr)) were analysed from samples of their exhaled breath.

Long-term visual damage after acute methanol poisonings: Longitudinal cross-sectional study in 50 patients.

Context: Visual disturbances due to the toxic effect of formic acid in acute methanol poisonings are generally transient. The subjective symptoms of visual toxicity may resolve within few weeks and fundoscopic signs of acute optic neuropathy subside within 1-2 months; therefore, the prevalence of long-term visual sequelae in the population of survivors of poisonings may be underestimated.

Objective: To study the prevalence and character of long-term visual sequelae of acute methanol poisonings based on the data from the Czech mass methanol outbreak in 2012.

Single Layer Molybdenum Disulfide under Direct Out-of-Plane Compression: Low-Stress Band-Gap Engineering.

Tuning the electronic structure of 2D materials is a very powerful asset toward tailoring their properties to suit the demands of future applications in optoelectronics. Strain engineering is one of the most promising methods in this regard. We demonstrate that even very small out-of-plane axial compression readily modifies the electronic structure of monolayer MoS2.

Carbon isotope labelling in graphene research.

The large scale production of graphene for any potential application relies on catalytic chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Despite much effort put into the graphene CVD research, there are still many challenges to be solved, not only concerning the growth itself, but also the subsequent treatment, i.e.

Intermittent hemodialysis is superior to continuous veno-venous hemodialysis/hemodiafiltration to eliminate methanol and formate during treatment for methanol poisoning.

During an outbreak of methanol poisonings in the Czech Republic in 2012, we were able to study methanol and formate elimination half-lives during intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) and continuous veno-venous hemodialysis/hemodiafiltration (CVVHD/HDF) and the relative impact of dialysate and blood flow rates on elimination. Data were obtained from 11 IHD and 13 CVVHD/HDF patients. Serum methanol and formate concentrations were measured by gas chromatography and an enzymatic method.

Phonon and structural changes in deformed Bernal stacked bilayer graphene.

We present the first Raman spectroscopic study of Bernal bilayer graphene flakes under uniaxial tension. Apart from a purely mechanical behavior in flake regions where both layers are strained evenly, certain effects stem from inhomogeneous stress distribution across the layers. These phenomena such as the removal of inversion symmetry in bilayer graphene may have important implications in the band gap engineering, providing an alternative route to induce the formation of a band gap.