SP1-stimulated miR-208a-5p aggravates sepsis-induced myocardial injury via targeting XIAP.

The development of sepsis can lead to many organ dysfunction and even death. Myocardial injury is one of the serious complications of sepsis leading to death. New evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in infection myocardial injury.

Plasma MASP-1 concentration and its relationship to recovery from coronary artery lesion in children with Kawasaki disease.

Background: This study investigated prognostic factors for early recovery of coronary artery lesion (CAL) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD).

Methods: Patients hospitalized for KD were enrolled less than 2 wk from the onset of illness and divided into two groups: KD with CAL and KD without CAL. The CAL group was further divided into two subgroups according to the degree of CAL: mild (n = 31) and moderate/severe (n = 6) and further divided into two subgroups according to the age: younger than 1 y (n = 9) and older than 1 y (n = 28).

Early decreased plasma levels of factor B and C5a are important biomarkers in children with Kawasaki disease.

Background: The mechanisms underpinning Kawasaki disease (KD) are incompletely understood. There is an unmet need for specific biomarkers for the early diagnosis of KD.

Methods: Eighty-five KD patients suffering from acute-phase and subacute-phase KD, 40 healthy children, and 40 febrile children comprised the study cohort.

High-flux ceramic membranes with a nanomesh of metal oxide nanofibers.

Traditional ceramic separation membranes, which are fabricated by applying colloidal suspensions of metal hydroxides to porous supports, tend to suffer from pinholes and cracks that seriously affect their quality. Other intrinsic problems for these membranes include dramatic losses of flux when the pore sizes are reduced to enhance selectivity and dead-end pores that make no contribution to filtration. In this work, we propose a new strategy for addressing these problems by constructing a hierarchically structured separation layer on a porous substrate using large titanate nanofibers and smaller boehmite nanofibers.