Pseudohyperkalemia (falsely elevated serum potassium) must be distinguished from true hyperkalemia to avoid unnecessary treatment. Some case reports suggest that pneumatic tube transportation may increase the risk of pseudohyperkalemia, but comprehensive research on the topic is lacking. Here, we aimed to assess the association between WBC levels, pneumatic tube transport, and pseudohyperkalemia prevalence. We analyzed 1188 samples collected from 240 patients between 2019 and 2022. Samples with elevated WBC counts (≥ 100 × 103/μL) and potassium levels were included in this study. The method of specimen transportation was documented. Pseudohyperkalemia was observed (7/390) in specimens transported using pneumatic tubes. No pseudohyperkalemia was identified with manually transported specimens (0/132). Every increase in WBC count by 100 × 103/μL in the specimens multiplied the odds ratio of pseudohyperkalemia by 3.75 when delivered with pneumatic tube. The prevalence of pseudohyperkalemia increased as WBC count increased, especially at WBC counts greater than 200 × 103/μL. Pneumatic tube transport poses a risk for pseudohyperkalemia in patients with extreme leukocytosis. Physicians should anticipate odd potassium levels when interpreting blood test results. Redrawing of blood samples, manual specimen transportation, or point-of-care testing are suggested to prevent further misdiagnosis.

The conjoined latissimus dorsi-groin flap is a versatile flap that not only can serve as an osteocutaneous flap to provide large soft tissue and bone for reconstruction of extensive defects but also can offer functioning muscle transfer and lymph node transfer for prevention of lymphedema after wide excision of tumors or major trauma. Over the past 24 years, the authors have classified the conjoined latissimus dorsi-groin flap into four categories. They propose precautions for application of the conjoined flaps.

Whether a strategy of postoperative non-sedation produces better outcomes compared with sedation in patients after head and neck reconstruction remains controversial. Therefore, we retrospectively investigated outcomes in 150 of these patients in our institution.Patients with head and neck cancer that received free anterolateral thigh flap were studied retrospectively, and were categorized in terms of their postoperative care into "sedation" and "non-sedation" groups. The related parameters of each patient were collected for analysis.Overall, 150 patients were included (sedation protocol (N = 56) and non-sedation strategy (N = 94)). No significant differences were observed between groups in patient demographics or postoperative outcomes. Significantly shorter durations of mean and median intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, mechanical ventilation, hospitalization, and operative time were observed in the non-sedation group than in the sedation group. Among all patients, the sedation and flap reopen were the common variables related to prolonged ICU stay, mechanical ventilator duration, and hospitalization.The current study suggested the strategy of postoperative non-sedation is associated with a significant decrease in the duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay, hospitalization. Regardless of hospital stay, there were no differences in postoperative outcome between 2 groups.

背景：蠅蛆病是一種人類或動物組織受到蒼蠅幼蟲浸染的疾病；米爾羅伊病，即遺傳性先天性淋巴水腫，是一種染色體顯性遺傳疾病，此病的患者通常會在出生後不久出現下肢淋巴水腫。目的及目標：這篇文章的目的是要報告一位患有米爾羅伊病的病患，淋巴水腫的患肢發生蠅蛆寄生。我們討論到蠅蛆病的可能原因和誘發因素，比較蠅蛆病與蛆清瘡療法當中的蠅蛆種類的不同，並討論此病例理想中的治療方式。材料及方法：在此病例報告中，一位三十九歲、患有米爾羅伊病的病患發生高燒、陰囊與雙下肢水腫，來到本科接受治療。手術當中，我們發現蠅蛆寄生。我們回顧發生蠅蛆寄生的可能原因，並依據相關文獻討論此病患理想中的治療方式。結果：我們在術中發現蠅蛆寄生。儘管我們在加護病房中積極治療，並執行多次手術，此病患最終仍死於敗血性休克以及多重器官衰竭。結論：此病例當中的蠅蛆寄生，為嚴重的淋巴水腫臨床表徵之一。因此，對於此類嚴重淋巴水腫的病人，建議及早治療，以達到最佳預後。病患的病識感、衛生、與社會支持在預防嚴重併發症當中扮演相當重要的角色。透過衛教，我們可以協助病患及早發現、及早治療。

Hemodialysis is the most common treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease. For hemodialysis, consistently functional vascular access must be surgically created with an anastomosis of artery and vein, referred to as an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). However, AVF dysfunction may occur over time. Angiography and Doppler ultrasound are usually used to detect the flow or the diameter of the AVF. But they require well-trained operators and are expensive, and even angiography is invasive. In this study, a noninvasive approach based on stethoscope auscultation for monitoring AVF stenosis was proposed. Here, a wireless blood flow sound recorder was designed to record blood flow sounds wirelessly. In order to effectively extract the varying feature of blood flow sounds for AVF stenosis, the 2-D feature pattern built from S-transform was also proposed as the feature in the AVF stenosis detecting algorithm. Different from other frequency-related coefficients, the feature pattern can contain the information of blood flow sounds in time and frequency domains simultaneously. Preliminary findings showed that the proposed approach can provide high-quality estimation of AVF stenosis (positive predictive value = 87.84% and sensitivity = 89.24%).

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) is a tumor susceptibility gene for both hepatocellular carcinoma and prostate cancer. We have previously characterized GNMT genomic structure and mapped its chromosomal localization to 6p12. For this study we identified a GNMT transcriptional start site at the 14th position upstream of the ATG codon. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay results indicate binding of the nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) transcription factor to the CCAAT box (-71/-67) of the GNMT gene. Mutation assay results suggest that the nucleotide sequence in the -56/-47 region is a binding site for a putative transcriptional factor. The TATA-less core promoter (-133/+14) contains three major elements: an Sp1 site, CCAAT box, and a novel box within the CTGTCGGCTG sequence. One functional xenobiotic response element (XRE) located at the -104/-82 region is inducable by benzo[a]pyrene treatment. We believe our results have value for the study of GNMT transcriptional regulation.