Nasal Irrigation Improves the Nasal Related Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Transsphenoidal Resection of Pituitary Adenoma

Background: After transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma resection patients have reduced olfactory function and quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of nasal irrigation on the nasal related quality of life in patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma resection. Methods: Patients undergoing transsphenoidal resection of pituitary adenomas in a tertiary hospital in China were included. The patients were randomly divided into a control group and nasal irrigation group according to the random sequence generated by the SPSS22.0 software. The 22-item sino-nasal outcome test (SNOT-22) was used to evaluate nasal related quality of life; lower SNOT-22 scores indicate a higher quality of life. The Toyota and Takagi (T&T) olfactometer test was used to evaluate the olfactory function of patients. Results: A total of 82 patients were finally included. The SNOT-22 scores of both groups after surgery were significantly higher than those before surgery (p < .05). The total SNOT-22 score of nasal irrigation group at one month (23.45 ± 3.72 vs. 27.48 ± 4.07) and three months (15.83 ± 2.86 vs. 21.82 ± 3.36) after surgery was lower than that in the control group (p < .05). There was no significant difference in olfactory function between the two groups at one month and three months after surgery (p > .05). The nasal mucosal score in the nasal irrigation group was significantly improved compared with the control group at one month and three months after surgery (p < .05). Conclusion: Nasal irrigation is associated with improved quality of life in patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma resection compared with the control group.

Fatigue, sleep and physical activity in postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas: A survey

BACKGROUND

The condition and correlation of fatigue, sleep and physical activity in postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas remain unclear. This survey aimed to evaluate the current status and influencing factors of fatigue, sleep and physical activity in postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas.

METHODS

Patients undergoing pituitary adenoma resection in two tertiary hospitals from November 2019 to November 2021 were included. The general data questionnaire, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and international physical activity questionnaire were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

In total, 184 patients with pituitary adenomas were included. The postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas had a high level of fatigue. In total, 34 (18.5%) patients had low level of physical activity, 76(41.3%) patients had medium level of physical activity and 74 (40.2%) had high level of physical activity. Postoperative time, PSQI, physical activity level and gender were the influencing factors of fatigue in patients with pituitary adenomas (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas have a higher level of fatigue, and it is related to reduced sleep quality and activity. Relevant nursing measures should be taken according to the influencing factors of fatigue to reduce the fatigue of postoperative patients with pituitary adenomas.

A global perspective on bacterial diversity in the terrestrial deep subsurface

While recent efforts to catalogue Earth's microbial diversity have focused upon surface and marine habitats, 12-20 % of Earth's biomass is suggested to exist in the terrestrial deep subsurface, compared to ~1.8 % in the deep subseafloor. Metagenomic studies of the terrestrial deep subsurface have yielded a trove of divergent and functionally important microbiomes from a range of localities. However, a wider perspective of microbial diversity and its relationship to environmental conditions within the terrestrial deep subsurface is still required. Our meta-analysis reveals that terrestrial deep subsurface microbiota are dominated by Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Firmicutes, probably as a function of the diverse metabolic strategies of these taxa. Evidence was also found for a common small consortium of prevalent Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria operational taxonomic units across the localities. This implies a core terrestrial deep subsurface community, irrespective of aquifer lithology, depth and other variables, that may play an important role in colonizing and sustaining microbial habitats in the deep terrestrial subsurface. An in silico contamination-aware approach to analysing this dataset underscores the importance of downstream methods for assuring that robust conclusions can be reached from deep subsurface-derived sequencing data. Understanding the global panorama of microbial diversity and ecological dynamics in the deep terrestrial subsurface provides a first step towards understanding the role of microbes in global subsurface element and nutrient cycling.

Early path nursing improves neurological function recovery in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

To explore the influence of the early path nursing on life quality and the neurological function recovery in the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients.

METHODS

The experiment was implemented from January 2018 to October 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. The experiment was granted through the Research Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (2017033). In this experiment, the criteria for inclusion includes: hemorrhagic stroke diagnosed via the MRI or head CT; over 18 years of age; patients with motor dysfunction; The Glasgow Coma Scale > 12. The patients with these symptoms will be excluded: severe cognitive impairment; ischemic stroke; onset time > 3 days; and severe complications. The scale used for the evaluation the neurological function is the American Stroke Scale. This scale contains a total of eleven items, that is, the movements of upper and lower limb, the consciousness level, gaze, visual field, etc. Other outcomes include patient satisfaction and complications.

RESULTS

Evaluation the neurological function and quality of life will be shown in Table 1.

CONCLUSION

The early path nursing can promote the neurological function recovery in the ICH patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

researchregistry6327.

Preserved contractile function despite atrophic remodeling in unloaded rat hearts

The present study was designed to determine whether myocardial atrophy is necessarily associated with changes in cardiac contractility. Myocardial unloading of normal hearts was produced via heterotopic transplantation in rats. Contractions of isolated myocytes (1.2 mM Ca2+; 37 degrees C) were assessed during field stimulation (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz), and papillary muscle contractions were assessed during direct stimulation (2.0 mM Ca2+; 37 degrees C; 0.5 Hz). Hemodynamic unloading was associated with a 41% decrease in median myocyte volume and proportional decreases in myocyte length and width. Nevertheless, atrophic myocytes had normal fractional shortening, time to peak contraction, and relaxation times. Despite decreases in absolute maximal force generation (F(max)), there were no differences in F(max)/ area in papillary muscles isolated from unloaded transplanted hearts. Therefore, atrophic remodeling after unloading is associated with intact contractile function in isolated myocytes and papillary muscles when contractile indexes are normalized to account for reductions in cell length and cross-sectional area, respectively. Nevertheless, in the absence of compensatory increases in contractile function, reductions in myocardial mass will lead to impaired overall work capacity.

Expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 is a marker of activated human vascular smooth muscle cells and arterial injury

The cytokine-induced activation and proliferation of medial vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) leading to intimal hyperplasia is one of the most critical cellular events in the formation of transplant arteriopathy and balloon angioplasty-induced restenosis. Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is a calcium-binding protein that we have previously shown to be expressed in balloon angioplasty-injured rat carotid arteries. We hypothesized that AIF-1 expression may be associated with the VSMC response to injury. In this study, we examined AIF-1 expression in immunologic and mechanical models of arterial injury. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western analysis demonstrated that AIF-1 is acutely and transiently expressed in aortic medial smooth muscle cells of rat cardiac allografts, with mRNA and protein peaking at 3 to 7 days after transplant and declining by 10 days after transplant. Immunohistochemical analysis identified abundant AIF-1 in the medial VSMCs of these vessels. Immunohistochemical analysis of balloon angioplasty-injured swine coronary arteries also demonstrates an acute AIF-1 expression detectable by 24 hours and continuing up to 14 days after the procedure. AIF-1 in these vessels also localizes to the medial VSMCs and cells of the developing neointima. AIF-1 protein is not expressed in quiescent cultured human VSMCs but is induced in cells challenged with various inflammatory cytokines, primarily by interferon-gamma, interleukin-1beta, and T-cell-conditioned media. Transfection and overexpression of AIF-1 in human VSMCs result in enhanced growth of these cells. Taken together, these data indicate that AIF-1 expression is associated with vascular trauma and suggest that this protein may play a role in VSMC activation subsequent to arterial injury.

Fertility and population policy in two counties in China 1980-1991

A survey of women in two highly developed rural counties of China, Sichuan and Jiangsu Provinces, was carried out in late 1991, to gain information about demographic and economic change between 1980 and 1990. Three separate surveys were conducted: the first a questionnaire administered to married women aged 30-39, eliciting information about childbearing and contraception, as well as the social and economic background of the respondents; the second, focus group interviews emphasizing the motivation for childbearing. Official information about the selected villages, townships and counties was also collected. National level data in 1987 show that individual reproductive behaviour in China failed to conform to a universal, effectively implemented, population policy. They imply either a spatial range of policies, or great diversity in the demand for children, or perhaps a combination of both. Such diversity in reproductive behaviour is also found in the study area. The purpose of the analysis was to examine the diversity in reproductive behaviour and contraceptive practice, and to discover whether differentials are influenced by area, or else exist between individuals within areas. If the former, then the explanation may be found in differences in policy formulation and implementation between areas: and if the latter, to demand for children, or else differential application of policy restrictions. The main findings were that: (1) the explanation of the pattern of fertility and contraceptive use is to be found at the individual level (within locations) rather than in policy differences between administrative units; (2) the association between income and number of children is negative, as is that between income and the propensity for uniparous women to remain unsterilized. The theory that privilege may be exercised to gain concessions from birth planning cadres is therefore not supported; (3) ideal family size differentials are largely absent, showing that social (education) and economic (income, occupation) characteristics are not responsible for differences in reproductive motivations, and implying that the nature of the demand for children is very different from that in most rural areas of the Third World; (4) data on ideal family size by sex of the existing offspring indicate only a weak preference for sons. The low demand for children, and the weak son preference, may both be explained by the social acceptability of uxorilocal marriages, and of village endogamy, together with the prohibitive costs of children, and especially of sons. This partly results from the expense of education, but most mothers emphasize marriage costs. It is speculated that the circumstances responsible for the escalating costs of children in the two countries are likely to pertain in growing areas of the country, with the privatization of education and health services, the declining support of collective institutions, and the replacement of this function by kinship networks. These on-going changes imply that any policy of reproductive restriction for the purposes of population control is likely soon to meet with diminishing resistance; and it may later be rendered unnecessary in the eyes of government officials, as fulfilled reproductive intentions lead to a fertility level below replacement level.

[Clinical analysis of pulmonary infection in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)]

OBJECTIVE

This clinical analysis is made to achieve a better understanding of the opportunistic infection of patients with AIDS, especially pulmonary infection.

METHOD

32 cases of patients with AIDS are analyzed.

RESULT

The clinical manifestations of the 32 cases are: fever, tiredness, loss of weight, night sweat, cough, sputum, and generalized pain. Among the 32 cases, 24 suffered for tuberculosis, constituting 78% of the total. The other patients suffered for bacterial infection and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. These patients are complicated with skin infection and impairment of the heart, liver, kidney and other organs.

CONCLUSION

Pulmonary infection is a major opportunistic infection of AIDS patients at late stage. Patients with AIDS can be easily infected with tuberculosis and complicated with multi-organ impairments, which are very difficult to treat.