Centering

The dry reforming of methane provides an attractive route to convert greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2 ) into valuable syngas, so as to resolve the carbon cycle and environmental issues. However, the development of high-performance catalysts remains a huge challenge. Herein, we report a 0.6% Ir/CeO2-x catalyst with a metal-support interface structure which exhibits high CH4 (~72%) and CO2 (~82%) conversion and a CH4 reaction rate of ~973 μmolCH4 gcat -1 s-1 which is stable over 100 h at 700 °C...

The transverse momentum (pT ) spectra of protons (p), deuterons (d), and tritons (t) in 200 GeV gold-gold (Au + Au) collisions at RHIC are examined across a range of centrality bins using the Levy Tsallis (TS) statistical model. The model's predictions closely match the experimental results from PHENIX (p) and STAR (d and t) Collaborations. Kinetic freeze-out temperatures of hadrons are obtained from particle spectra. The results showed that the kinetic freeze-out temperature decreases as collisions move from center to the periphery...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between comorbid obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia and major adverse cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, unstable angina, congestive heart failure, and stroke, in adults with suspected sleep disorders who underwent sleep apnea testing. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic medical records data from patients with clinical encounters at sleep medicine centers to identify patients with comorbid obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea only, insomnia only, and patients without a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea or insomnia (i...

BACKGROUND: Pediatric trauma disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries, particularly the pediatric trauma systems, are frequently limited. This study assessed the patterns of pediatric traumatic injuries and treatment at the only free-standing public children's hospital in East Africa as well as the implementation and sustainability of the trauma registry. METHODS: A prospective pediatric trauma registry was established at Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital (S4A) in Eldoret, Kenya...

OBJECTIVE: Life expectancy models are useful tools to support clinical decision-making. Prior models have not been used widely in clinical practice for patients with renal masses. We sought to develop and validate a model to predict life expectancy following the detection of a localized renal mass suspicious for renal cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using retrospective data from 2 large centers, we identified patients diagnosed with clinically localized renal parenchymal masses from 1998 to 2018...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether the quantitative index of signal intensity (SI) heterogeneity on T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance images can predict the difficulty and efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation for uterine fibroids. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The standard deviation (SD) of T2W image (T2WI) SI was used to quantify SI heterogeneity. The correlation between SD and the non-perfused volume ratio (NPVR) in 575 patients undergoing HIFU treatment was retrospectively analyzed, and the efficacy of SD in predicting NPVR was discussed...

BACKGROUND: Refractory IGM causes patients to use antibiotics, steroid therapy, immunosuppressive agents for a very long time and even leads to surgical procedures resulting in the loss of breast tissue. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a frequently used method in the treatment of wounds that are difficult to heal. We thought that HBOT would be an alternative treatment method for refractory IGM patients. METHODS: It is a retrospective cohort study on refractory IGM patients conducted at three tertiary care treatment centers between January 2021 and July 2023...

BACKGROUND: Long-term medical and quality of life (QOL) outcomes in voluntary liver donors remain under investigated. The objective of the current study was to report long-term medical outcomes and re-evaluate QOL in living liver donors. METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of donors who underwent donor hepatectomy between 2012 and 2018. We investigated long-term outcomes in 7 domains. These include medical problems, surgical procedures, work-related issues, pregnancy outcomes, psychiatric interventions, willingness to donate again, and long-term mortality...

BACKGROUND: Management of benign liver lesions (BLLs) is still an object of discussion. Frequently, patients receive multiple opinions about their diagnosis and treatment from physicians specialized in different areas, which can be opposite and controversial. This study aimed to understand patients' decision-making process in electing surgery and assess their satisfaction after resection for BLLs. METHODS: A 104-question survey was administered to 98 patients who had a resection for BLLs in 4 different hepatopancreatobiliary and transplant centers in Argentina...

BACKGROUND: Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment for tumors of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ). However, contemporary analyses of the Western experience for GEJ adenocarcinoma are sparsely reported. METHODS: Patients with GEJ adenocarcinoma undergoing resection between 2012 and 2022 at a single institution were grouped based on Siewert subtype and analyzed. Pathologic and treatment related variables were assessed with relation to outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 302 patients underwent resection: 161 (53...

BACKGROUND: Differential responses to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) exist in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); however, contributing factors are poorly understood. Tobacco smoke is a common risk factor for PDAC, with nicotine-induced chemoresistance observed in other cancers. This study aimed to explore the potential association between tobacco use and NAT efficacy in PDAC. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective analysis was conducted that included all consecutive patients with PDAC who underwent surgical resection after NAT with a documented smoking history (N = 208)...

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a group of conditions thought to be caused by the compression of neurovascular structures going to the upper extremity. TOS is a difficult disease to diagnose, and surgical treatment remains challenging. Many different surgical techniques for the treatment of TOS have been described in the literature and many reasonable to good outcomes have been reported, which makes it hard for surgeons to determine which techniques should be used. Our aim was to describe the rationale, techniques, and outcomes associated with the surgical treatment of TOS...

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases from esophageal cancer (BMEC) are rare and aggressive, with limited literature on optimal treatment modalities and a standard of care yet to be established. The objective of this study was to systematically review existing literature and perform a retrospective analysis of our institution's patients to evaluate the influence of different treatment modalities on patient outcomes. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines and a retrospective review of our institutional experience with BMEC were both conducted...

Portal vein embolization (PVE) is a potential tool useful for inducing future liver remnant (FLR) hypertrophy in patients with advanced hepatic malignancies who are at high risk of hepatic insufficiency if treated by surgical resection. However, the safety and effectiveness of PVE in the context of patients who have undergone hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) is unknown. This retrospective, single-center study identified nine patients who underwent PVE after HAI between January 2015 and December 2022. There were no major adverse events, including biliary, or high-grade liver failure...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes of fluoroscopic versus portable placement of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) and central venous catheters (CVCs) in pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single-center, retrospective review of 346 upper-extremity PICCs (286 fluoroscopic, 60 portable), mean age = 9.83 ± 5.58 years, 49.1% female; and 138 tunneled femoral CVCs (56 fluoroscopic, 82 portable), mean age = .23 ± .36 years, 57.0% female...

INTRODUCTION: Type II endoleak (T2EL) is the most common type of endoleak after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and a common indication for reintervention due to late sac enlargement. Although pre-emptive embolization of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) has been proposed to prevent this, no studies have prospectively demonstrated its efficacy. This study aimed to prove the validity of IMA embolization during EVAR in selective cases by analyzing the mid-term outcomes of a randomized clinical trial (RCT)...

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of different grades of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and left ventricular (LV) mechanical function in Fabry disease is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the association between the severity of LVH, LV mechanical function, and clinical outcomes in Fabry disease. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from a single-center registry of adult patients with Fabry disease. LV mass index (LVMI) was measured by echocardiography...

OBJECTIVE: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is considered a relative, or in some cases, absolute contraindication for radiation therapy for various cancers; however, radiation is standard of care and the best option for tumor control for locally advanced head and neck (H&N) cancer. We present a case series to document the post-radiation outcomes in patients with SSc and H&N cancer. METHODS: Patients with SSc and H&N cancer treated with radiation were identified from two large Scleroderma Center research registries...

Aortic diseases require a multidisciplinary management for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up with better outcomes in referral centers using a team-based approach. The setting up of a multi-disciplinary aortic team for the discussion of complex cases has been already proposed; it is also supported by the ACC/AHA. Surgeons and radiologists, more or less other physicians such as cardiologists, geneticists, rheumatologists/internal medicine specialists and pathologists are involved into such a team. The role of the cardiovascular pathologist is to examine the aortic specimens, to diagnose and classify the aortic lesions...

BACKGROUND: After-hours clinical coverage models vary significantly by specialty and institution. Coverage decisions must balance quality clinical care with a safe provider workload. Here, we characterize urology resident on-call activities overnight at a multi-site academic medical center and model the expected volume of clinical activity using inpatient beds, emergency room visits and attendings covered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: On-call activities for 70 thirteen-hour overnight shifts spanning five nonconsecutive months between May 2022 and February 2023 were recorded...