Viruses are frequently found in the airway of patients with pneumonia requiring ICU admission and may cause severe forms of pneumonia. Patients with viral infection and bacterial infection had comparable mortality rates.

ObjectiveSeveral intervention studies have suggested that vegetarian or vegan diets have clinical benefits, particularly in terms of glycemic control, in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D); however, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted in Asians who more commonly depend on plant-based foods, as compared to Western populations. Here, we aimed to compare the effect of a vegan diet and conventional diabetic diet on glycemic control among Korean individuals.Materials and MethodsParticipants diagnosed with T2D were randomly assigned to follow either a vegan diet (excluding animal-based food including fish; n = 46) or a conventional diet recommended by the Korean Diabetes Association 2011 (n = 47) for 12 weeks. HbA1c levels were measured at weeks 0, 4, and 12, and the primary study endpoint was the change in HbA1c levels over 12 weeks.ResultsThe mean HbA1c levels at weeks 0, 4, and 12 were 7.7%, 7.2%, and 7.1% in the vegan group, and 7.4%, 7.2%, and 7.2% in the conventional group, respectively. Although both groups showed significant reductions in HbA1C levels, the reductions were larger in the vegan group than in the conventional group (-0.5% vs. -0.2%; p-for-interaction = 0.017). When only considering participants with high compliance, the difference in HbA1c level reduction between the groups was found to be larger (-0.9% vs. -0.3%). The beneficial effect of vegan diets was noted even after adjusting for changes in total energy intake or waist circumference over the 12 weeks.ConclusionBoth diets led to reductions in HbA1c levels; however, glycemic control was better with the vegan diet than with the conventional diet. Thus, the dietary guidelines for patients with T2D should include a vegan diet for the better management and treatment. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of a vegan diet, and to identify potential explanations of the underlying mechanisms.Trial RegistrationCRiS KCT0001771

The interfacial origin of performance improvement and fade of high-voltage cathodes of LiNi 0.5 Co 0.2 Mn 0.3 O 2 for high-energy lithium-ion batteries has been investigated. Performance improvement was achieved through interfacial stabilization using 5 wt % methyl (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) carbonate (FEMC) of fluorinated linear carbonate as a new electrolyte additive. Cycling with the FEMC additive at 3.0−4.6 V versus Li/Li + results in the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer and effective passivation of cathode surface, leading to improved cycling performance delivering enhanced discharge capacities to 205−182 mAhg −1 and capacity retention of 84% over 50 cycles. The SEI layer notably includes plenty of metal fluorides and −CF-containing species formed by additive decomposition. On the contrary, the origin of performance fade in electrolyte only was ineffective surface passivation and dissolution of metal elements, which leads to oxygen loss, surface structural degradation and crack formation at the LiNi 0.5 Co 0.2 Mn 0.3 O 2 particles. The data provide a basic understanding of the interfacial stabilization mechanism on high-voltage layered oxide cathodes.

No abstract

Habitual consumption of medium amounts of coffee over the whole life-span is hypothesized to reduce the risk to develop diabetes type 2 (DM2) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). To identify putative bioactive coffee-derived metabolites, first, pooled urine from coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers were screened by UPLC-HDMS. After statistical data analysis, trigonelline, dimethylxanthines and monomethylxanthines, and ferulic acid conjugates were identified as the major metabolites found after coffee consumption. For quantitative analysis of these markers in body fluids, targeted methods based on stable-isotope dilution and UPLC-MS/MS were developed and applied to plasma samples from a coffee intervention study (n = 13 volunteers) who consumed a single cup of caffeinated coffee brew after a 10-day washout period. Chlorogenic acid-derived metabolites were found to be separated into two groups showing different pharmacokinetic properties. The first group comprised, e.g., ferulic acid and feruloyl sulfate and showed early appearance in the plasma (~1 h). The second group contained particularly chlorogenic acid metabolites formed by the intestinal microflora, appearing late and persisting in the plasma (>6 h). Trigonelline appeared early but persisted with calculated half-life times ~5 h. The plasma levels of caffeine metabolites significantly and progressively increased 2-4 h after coffee consumption and did not reach c max within the time frame of the study. The pharmacokinetic profiles suggest that particularly trigonelline, caffeine, its metabolites, as well as late appearing dihydroferulic acid, feruloylglycine and dihydroferulic acid sulfate formed from chlorogenic acid by the intestinal microflora accumulate in the plasma due to their long half-life times during habitual consumption of several cups of coffee distributed over the day. Since some of these metabolites have been reported to show antioxidant effects in vivo, antioxidant-response-element activating potential, and neuroprotective properties, respectively, some of these key metabolites might account for the inflammation- and DM2/AD risk reducing effects reported for habitual life time consumption of coffee.

Antibiotic therapy of prolonged duration (≥8 weeks) should be given to patients with HVO at high risk of recurrence. For low-risk patients, a shorter duration (6-8 weeks) of pathogen-directed antibiotic therapy may be sufficient.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 is the main inhibitor of the fibrinolytic system and was recently shown to be produced by adipose cells. Obesity is associated with an increased production and release of PAI-1 protein. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of angiotensin (Ang) II and its degradation products for PAI-1 release from human adipose cells. For this purpose, we used the model of in vitro differentiated human adipocytes in primary culture. Exposure of human adipocytes to Ang II resulted in a dose- and time-dependent stimulation of PAI-1 release into the culture medium. The maximum effect of Ang II was found at a concentration of 10(-5) mol/L for 48 hours, increasing PAI-1 release by 276+/-53% compared with control cultures (P<0.05). This stimulation was preceded by an increase in specific PAI-1 mRNA copies by 65+/-12% (P<0.05), with a maximum after 6 hours. Incubation of adipocytes with 10(-5) mol/L Ang III and Ang IV, respectively, also resulted in a stimulation of PAI-1 release into the medium by 195+/-60% (P<0.05) and 142+/-24% (P<0.05), respectively, compared with control cultures. Addition of the angiotensin-receptor subtype 1 (AT(1)) blocker candesartan abolished the stimulatory action of Ang II and its metabolites, indicating that this effect is mediated by AT(1). Addition of the AT(1) blocker alone to unstimulated cultures reduced PAI-1 release by 41%+/-25% (P<0.05), suggesting that endogenous Ang II synthesis contributes to PAI-1 secretion from adipose tissue in an autocrine/paracrine manner. In conclusion, Ang II and its metabolites promote PAI-1 production and release by human fat cells and may contribute to the impairment of the fibrinolytic system typical for obesity. AT(1) receptor blockade reduces basal and abolishes Ang II-stimulated PAI-1 release from human adipocytes.

The daily consumption of 125 ml of a milk drink supplemented with whey peptides was not found to reduce blood pressure and/or inflammation markers in mildly hypertensive subjects, although preceding in vitro tests showed a potent ACE-inhibition.