Category: Nevin Manimala

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Sep 13;607(Pt 2):1142-1152. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.057. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

HYPOTHESIS: Delivery of multiple payloads using the same micelle is of significance to achieve multifunctional or synergistic effects. The interacting distribution of different payloads in micelles is expected to influence the loading stability and capacity. It is highly desirable to explore how intermolecular interactions affect the joint distribution of multi-payloads.

EXPERIMENTS: Dissipative Particle Dynamics simulations were performed to probe the loading of three payloads: decane with a linear carbon chain, butylbenzene with an aromatic ring connected to carbon chain, and naphthalene with double aromatic rings, within poly(β-amino ester)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) micelles. Properties of core-shell micelles, e.g., morphological evolution, radial density distribution, mean square displacement, and contact statistics, were analyzed to reveal payloads loading stability and capacity. Explorations were extended to vesicular, multi-compartment, double helix, and layer-by-layer micelles with more complex inner structures.

FINDINGS: Different payloads have their own preferred locations. Decane locates at the hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface, butylbenzene occupies both the hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface and the hydrophobic core, while naphthalene enters the hydrophobic core. More efficient delivery of multi-payloads is achieved since the competition of payloads occupying preferred locations is minimized. The fusion of micelles encapsulating different payloads suggests that specific payloads will move to their preferred positions without interfering other payloads.

PMID:34571301 | DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.057

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2021 Aug 24;101(4):115519. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115519. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

To improve laboratory safety we thermally treated naso-oropharyngeal samples before testing with the cobas SARS-CoV-2 assay. This study aimed to determine if thermal treatment significantly affects the qualitative detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the quantitative measurement of cobas SARS-CoV-2 ORF1a and E-gene target copy number using an in-house quantitative method. A collection of positive (n = 238) and negative samples (n = 196) was tested in parallel comparing thermal treatment (75 °C for 15 minutes) to room-temperature. There were no significant differences in the final qualitative outcomes for thermal treatment versus room-temperature (99.8% agreement) despite a statistically significant reduction (P < 0.05) in target copy number following thermal treatment. The median ORF1a and E-gene reduction in target copy number was -0.07 (1.6%) and -0.22 (4.2%) log₁₀ copies/mL respectively. The standard curves for both ORF1a and E-gene targets were highly linear (r² = 0.99). Good correlation was observed for ORF1a (r² = 0.96) and E-gene (r² = 0.98) comparing thermal treatment to room-temperature control.

PMID:34571354 | DOI:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115519

Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2021 Sep 23;15(6):102297. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2021.102297. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: India officially launched the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, operating 3006 vaccination sites at the beginning. At present 21872 sites conducting vaccination as on August 24, 2021. The process of vaccination is not yet mandatory in India. Vaccination is conducted free of cost at 20242 Government sites and paid at 1630 private sites. This study involves Hypothesis Testing for analyzing the gender disparities towards COVID-19 vaccination.

METHODS: For this study, we have used Maharashtra States district wise COVID-19 vaccination data. Using Hypothesis Testing method Pearson’s Chi-square test for independence compares two variables gender disparities and vaccination in a contingency table to see if they are related. To test the Effect size of gender disparities is small, medium or large Cohen Cramer’s rule is used.

RESULTS: Our result shows that, just 84 women were vaccinated for every 100 men in Maharashtra State, India. This ratio is even lower than India’s gender ratio i.e. 90:100. Men were more aware and ahead of women in COVID-19 Vaccination Drive. Effect size shows that size of gender disparities is small.

CONCLUSION: As per the result it is seen that COVID-19 Vaccination awareness is slightly less amongst the women in Maharashtra, India. To improve this statistics of COVID-19 Vaccination, Authorities should start the awareness campaign amongst the citizen towards the importance of vaccination.

PMID:34571358 | DOI:10.1016/j.dsx.2021.102297

J Surg Res. 2021 Sep 24;269:171-177. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2021.08.017. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There is a wide range of social media adoption within medical specialties. The use of social media by endocrine surgeons has not been investigated. We undertook this study to describe the use of social media and other platforms by endocrine surgeons.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The American Association of Endocrine Surgeons’ publicly available website was used to identify practicing endocrine surgeons in the United States. Surgeon demographics and practice characteristics were collected via internet query. Five social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube) were investigated for professional accounts. The presence of a non-institutional professional website, an active Healthgrades account, and presence in non-institutional YouTube videos were also queried. One point was assigned for presence on each of the eight platforms. A professional internet presence (PIP) score was calculated. Descriptive statistics were performed on PIP scores to evaluate the relationship between surgeon and practice characteristics and PIP score.

RESULTS: A total of 417 endocrine surgeons were studied. LinkedIn (222, 53.2%) and Twitter (110, 26.4%) were the most commonly used platforms. PIP scores were categorized into zero, one, two, and three or more accounts; 26.9% of surgeons had no professional internet presence. Academic surgeons had a significantly different PIP score than community-based surgeons (P < 0.01). There was no significant association between PIP score and surgeon sex, geographic regions, rural versus urban settings, and years of experience.

CONCLUSIONS: Self-identified US endocrine surgeons have low professional internet presence. Endocrine surgeons may consider bolstering their professional internet presence to disseminate medical information.

PMID:34571260 | DOI:10.1016/j.jss.2021.08.017

Ann Hepatol. 2021 Sep 24:100543. doi: 10.1016/j.aohep.2021.100543. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The EncephalApp Stroop Test was developed to more easily diagnose minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). A cut-off of >274.9sec (ONtime+OFFtime) reached a 78% sensitivity and 90% specificity in the validation study, but it has been poorly studied in Brazil. We aim to analyze the usefulness of this diagnostic method and to describe a cut-off value to screen MHE in Brazil.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional and single-center study, three positive psychometric tests defined the diagnosis of MHE as the gold standard. We evaluated gender, age, education, familiarity with smartphones, etiology of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh/MELD scores, and previous hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Healthy controls and patients without HE were compared for the task validation. The Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests, logistic regression analysis, and ROC curves were used for statistical evaluation.

RESULTS: We included 132 patients with cirrhosis (61% male) and 42 controls (62% male) around 51y. Sixty-three were diagnosed with MHE on psychometric tests and 23 had clinical HE. Viral hepatitis (38%) was the major etiology of cirrhosis. The median MELD was 10 and Child-Pugh A was more frequent (70%). There was no significant difference in test results between controls and patients without HE. There was also no influence of gender, age, education, and familiarity with smartphones in the test results. Child-Pugh A was associated with MHE (p=0.0106). A cut-off of >269.8sec (ONtime+OFFtime) had an 87% sensitivity and 77% specificity to detect MHE (p=0.002).

CONCLUSION: This is a valid and reliable tool for screening MHE. However, optimal cut-off values need to be validated locally.

PMID:34571266 | DOI:10.1016/j.aohep.2021.100543

Genomics Proteomics Bioinformatics. 2021 Sep 24:S1672-0229(21)00207-2. doi: 10.1016/j.gpb.2021.07.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Type 2 diabetes (T2D), characterized by the malfunction of pancreatic β cells, is affected by multiple factors, including sex differences. However, the mechanisms of sex differences in T2D susceptibility and pathogenesis remain unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we show sexually dimorphic transcriptomes exist in mouse β cells. Using a high-fat diet induced T2D mouse model, our work reveals the existence of sex-dependent T2D altered genes, suggesting sex-based differences in the pathological mechanisms of T2D. Our results, including sex-matched and sex-mismatched islet transplantation experiments in mice, suggest sex should be considered when treating T2D. As compared to sex-matched transplants, sex-mismatched transplants showed downregulation of genes involved in the longevity regulating pathway of β cells and led to impaired glucose tolerance in diabetic mice. Taken together, our findings further implicate sexual dimorphism in T2D pathogenicity and provides novel insights towards the development of precision medicine in T2D.

PMID:34571259 | DOI:10.1016/j.gpb.2021.07.004

Int J Paediatr Dent. 2021 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/ipd.12930. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The association of breastmilk feeding and dental caries risk in children remains controversial. Moreover, it is unclear whether caries risk factors differ between breastmilk-fed and formula-milk-fed infants.

AIM: To investigate dental caries in 13-18-month-old infants receiving breastmilk or formula milk feeding and associated risk factors.

DESIGN: One hundred and sixty-six 13-18-month-old infants were recruited from a tertiary hospital in xxx, xxx. Information on feeding practices, demography and potential risk factors was collected using a caregiver questionnaire. Carious lesions were identified by visual and tactile examination. Chi-square, Mann-Whitney-U tests and Logistic regression were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS: Caries prevalence in breastmilk- and formula-milk-fed infants was 31.8% and 36.0%, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (p=0.579). Among all children, having dental plaque deposition on more than 1/3 of the crown (adjusted OR(aOR)15.11, 95%CI 6.11-37.35) and sleeping while milk feeding (aOR2.20, 95%CI 1.01-4.77) were associated with dental caries. However, in subgroup analysis, sleeping while milk feeding increased caries risk in formula-milk-fed group only (aOR2.95, 95%CI 1.07-8.12).

CONCLUSIONS: Type of milk feeding was not associated with dental caries, while dental plaque and sleeping while milk feeding increased the odds of having dental caries in this population.

PMID:34570950 | DOI:10.1111/ipd.12930

Clin Otolaryngol. 2021 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/coa.13867. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: In most cases, suspension laryngoscopy (SL) is efficient, bloodless and with minimal post-procedure discomfort. We aimed to identify predictive patient factors for acceptable surgical views at SL as well as quantify our tertiary airway unit’s complication rates.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of 150 consecutive microlaryngoscopy procedures involving SL over an 8-month period between November 2019 and July 2020. Patients were assessed pre-operatively for pre-existing oral, temporomandibular, dental, pharyngeal or laryngeal pathology, interincisor distance and qualitative gross limitations to neck extension and forward head posture. Intraoperatively, the laryngoscopic view was graded by anaesthetic and surgical teams, and complications were recorded on patient interview in recovery.

SETTING: Tertiary adult airway service for predominantly benign pathology.

RESULTS: Adequate surgical views were obtained in 149/150 procedures. BMI had a weak positive correlation with a more difficult view (r=0.22, p=0.008;) but did not correlate with a statistically significant increase in any complication. There was a weak negative correlation between age and interincisor gap (r=-0.20, p=0.014), and wider mouth opening correlated very weakly with a lower incidence of sore throat (r=-0.19, p=0.023). Gross macroglossia showed a significant moderate positive correlation with tongue symptoms (r=0.45, p=1.611×10^-8 ).

CONCLUSION: In the context of an experienced airway unit with a high caseload of predominantly benign pathology, SL is very effective and safe with low associated morbidity and no mortality. The most common complication of SL is temporary sore throat and there remain recognised risks of temporary tongue and dental symptoms.

PMID:34570956 | DOI:10.1111/coa.13867

Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2021 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/aas.13983. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We sought to provide a description of surge response strategies and characteristics, clinical management and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the first wave of the pandemic in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

METHODS: Representatives from the national ICU registries for each of the five countries provided clinical data and a description of the strategies to allocate ICU resources and increase the ICU capacity during the pandemic. All adult patients admitted to the ICU for COVID-19 disease during the first wave of COVID-19 were included. The clinical characteristics, ICU management and outcomes of individual countries were described with descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: Most countries more than doubled their ICU capacity during the pandemic. For patients positive for SARS-CoV-2, the ratio of requiring ICU admission for COVID-19 varied substantially (1.6-6.7%). Apart from age (proportion of patients aged 65 years or over between 29-62%), baseline characteristics, chronic comorbidity burden and acute presentations of COVID-19 disease were similar among the five countries. While utilization of invasive mechanical ventilation was high (59-85%) in all countries, the proportion of patients receiving renal replacement therapy (7-26%) and various experimental therapies for COVID-19 disease varied substantially (e.g. use of hydroxychloroquine 0-85%). Crude ICU mortality ranged from 11% to 33%.

CONCLUSION: There was substantial variability in the critical care response in Nordic ICUs to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, including usage of experimental medications. While ICU mortality was low in all countries, the observed variability warrants further attention.

PMID:34570897 | DOI:10.1111/aas.13983

Int Endod J. 2021 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/iej.13636. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To explore the presence of the cGAS-STING inflammatory pathway in human pulp tissue and human dental pulp cells (HDPCs).

METHODOLOGY: Pulp tissue was collected from freshly extracted human healthy third molars or third molars with irreversible pulpitis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was performed to assess IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6. HDPCs prepared from healthy human pulp tissues were transfected with interferon stimulatory DNA (ISD), bacterial genomic DNA, bacterial cyclic dinucleotides c-di-AMP, c-di-GMP, or host cyclic dinucleotide cGAMP. SiRNA was used to knockdown the endogenous cGAS or STING. G140 and H-151 were used to inhibit cGAS and STING, respectively. Amlexanox and BAY 11-7082 were used to inhibit TBK1 and NF-κB, respectively. qRT-PCR and ELISA was performed to detect the level of IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6. Western blot was performed to evaluate the TBK1, IRF3, and p65 phosphorylation. The Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis RESULTS: IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 were upregulated in the inflamed human dental pulp tissue. CGAS and STING mRNA were increased in the inflamed human dental pulp tissue and detected in HDPCs prepared from healthy human pulp tissues. ISD transfection induced TBK1, IRF3, and p65 phosphorylation as well as IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 production. IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 production were also induced by transfection of bacterial and host cyclic dinucleotides or bacteria DNA. ISD or bacteria DNA transfection elevated the intracellular levels of cGAMP. Knockdown of cGAS or STING, as well as using cGAS inhibitor G140 or STING inhibitor H-151 abolished the IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 production induced by ISD transfection. Knockdown of STING or using STING inhibitor H-151 abolished the IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 induction by transfection of bacterial and host cyclic dinucleotides. Both Amlexanox and BAY 11-7082 inhibited IFN-β, TNF, and IL-6 production triggered by ISD and cyclic dinucleotides transfection.

CONCLUSIONS: HDPCs expressed an intact cGAS-STING signaling axis. The cGAS-STING signaling axis may play an important role in pulp inflammation and immune defense.

PMID:34570917 | DOI:10.1111/iej.13636