Chitosan Nanoparticles for Antiviral Drug Delivery: A Novel Route for COVID-19 Treatment.

Chitosan has been investigated in several biological fields, including drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering antiviral and immunological adjuvant methods. It's a cationic copolymer of N-acetyl glucosamine and D-glucosamine with different molecular chain lengths, compositions, and sequences than N-acetyl glucosamine and D-glucosamine. It is biocompatible and cyto-compatible, as well as recyclable and bioresorbable.

Point-of-Care Glucose and Lipid Profile Measures Using a Human Point-of-Care Device in Mouse Models of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Aging, and Alzheimer Disease.

A point-of-care (POC) device to measure mouse glucose and lipid profiles is an important unmet need for cost-effective, immediate decision making in research. We compared metabolic analyte profiles obtained using a human clinical POC device with those from a veterinary laboratory chemical analyzer (LCA). Unfasted terminal blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture from C57Bl/6J mice used in a diet-induced obesity model of type 2 diabetes mellitus; age-matched C57Bl/6J controls; a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease on a C57BL/6J background (16 wk old); and aged C57BL/6J mice (24 to 60 wk old).

Decade of Patient Experience Improvement at a Tertiary Care Urban Hospital.

Background And Objective: The purpose of this quality management study was to demonstrate how one hospital made a journey from average patient experience to become a regional leader in the experience of patient care for nationally recognized quality and safety metrics.

Methods: Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center (SFHMC) located in Hartford, Connecticut, serves a diverse sociodemographic community as part of Trinity Health. "Recommend the Hospital" (RTH) has been the main marker of patient experience at SFHMC and Trinity Health across the United States as part of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS).

Association of a Multigenetic Pro-Inflammatory Profile with Ischaemic Stroke.

Objective: A multigenetic pro-inflammatory profile may increase stroke risk. We investigated whether a higher number of pro-inflammatory genetic variants are associated with ischaemic stroke risk and whether other risk factors further elevate this risk.

Methods: In a case-control study with 470 ischaemic stroke patients (cases) and 807 population controls, we investigated 23 haplotypes or alleles in 16 inflammatory genes (interleukin [IL]1A, IL1B, IL1 receptor antagonist, IL6, IL6 receptor, IL10, tumour necrosis factor-a; C-C motif chemokine ligand 2, C-C motif chemokine receptor 5, C-reactive protein (CRP), intercellular adhesion molecule 1, transforming growth factor β1, E-Selectin, selenoprotein S, cluster determinant 14, histone deacetylase 9 [HDAC9]).

Serum lipopolysaccharide neutralizing capacity in ischemic stroke.

Introduction: Periodontitis is associated with increased serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activity, which may be one mechanism linking periodontitis with the risk of cardiovascular diseases. As LPS-carrying proteins including lipoproteins modify LPS-activity, we investigated the determinants of serum LPS-neutralizing capacity (LPS-NC) in ischemic stroke. The association of LPS-NC and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, a major microbial biomarker in periodontitis, was also investigated.