Additives in bioplastics: Chemical characterization, migration in water and effects on photosynthetic organisms.

The potential release in the environment and biological effects of chemicals like additives and non-intentionally added substances present in conventional plastics and bioplastics is an issue that could occur if these materials are not properly disposed of. Herein, seven leachates of biobased and biodegradable plastics made of polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS)/PLA blends, and starch-based blends (SB) were characterized and compared for the inorganic and organic additives present in the source materials. The main inorganic elements found in the leachates were Na, Mg, K, and Ca (0.

Novel foam dressing with through holes and negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and dwell time: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: NPWTi-d of a topical wound solution has been shown to benefit healing in a variety of wound types. This therapy has traditionally been applied via a standard ROCF-V. In 2017, a new ROCF-CC was introduced at the practice of the authors of the current manuscript for adjunctive management of patients with wounds with thick exudate and/or nonviable tissue and in cases in which surgical debridement is not available or not appropriate.

Sensory-Motor Neurostimulation to Enhance Exosuit Performance.

Exosuits typically provide limited mechanical support and rely on a user's residual functional ability. However, people with neurological impairments often suffer from both motor and sensory deficits that limit the assistance an exosuit can provide. To overcome these limitations, we developed the REINFORCE system, that complements the mechanical assistance provided by an exosuit, the Myosuit, with (1) functional electrical stimulation to enhance the activities of leg muscles, and (2) transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to restore somatosensory information.

Parental oral health literacy influences preschool children's utilization of dental services.

Parental behavior towards their children's oral health is strongly influenced by parent's Oral Health Literacy (OHL) level. This study evaluated the impact of parental OHL on preschool children's utilization of dental services. A cross-sectional study was conducted with parents of 419 children aged 3 to 5 years who answered a self-administered questionnaire about their perception of their children's oral health and whether their children had already been to a dental visit.

Novel personalized treatment strategy for patients with chronic stroke with severe upper-extremity impairment: The first patient of the AVANCER trial.

Background: Around 25% of patients who have had a stroke suffer from severe upper-limb impairment and lack effective rehabilitation strategies. The AVANCER proof-of-concept clinical trial (NCT04448483) tackles this issue through an intensive and personalized-dosage cumulative intervention that combines multiple non-invasive neurotechnologies.

Methods: The therapy consists of two sequential interventions, lasting until the patient shows no further motor improvement, for a minimum of 11 sessions each.

Ferroelectric Orthorhombic ZrO Thin Films Achieved Through Nanosecond Laser Annealing.

A new approach for the stabilization of the ferroelectric orthorhombic ZrO films is demonstrated through nanosecond laser annealing (NLA) of as-deposited Si/SiO /W(14 nm)/ZrO (8 nm)/W(22 nm), grown by ion beam sputtering at low temperatures. The NLA process optimization is guided by COMSOL multiphysics simulations. The films annealed under the optimized conditions reveal the presence of the orthorhombic phase, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction, electron backscatter diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy.

Body and peripersonal space representations in chronic stroke patients with upper limb motor deficits.

The continuous stream of multisensory information between the brain and the body during body-environment interactions is crucial to maintain the updated representation of the perceived dimensions of body parts (metric body representation) and the space around the body (the peripersonal space). Such flow of multisensory signals is often limited by upper limb sensorimotor deficits after stroke. This would suggest the presence of systematic distortions of metric body representation and peripersonal space in chronic patients with persistent sensorimotor deficits.

A Novel Patient-Tailored, Cumulative Neurotechnology-Based Therapy for Upper-Limb Rehabilitation in Severely Impaired Chronic Stroke Patients: The Study Protocol.

Effective, patient-tailored rehabilitation to restore upper-limb motor function in severely impaired stroke patients is still missing. If suitably combined and administered in a personalized fashion, neurotechnologies offer a large potential to assist rehabilitative therapies to enhance individual treatment effects. AVANCER (clinicaltrials.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation restores upper limb sensory-motor functions and body representations in chronic stroke survivors.

Background: A conventional treatment outcome is suboptimal for sensory impairments in stroke patients. Novel approaches based on electrical stimulation or robotics are proposed as an adjuvant for rehabilitation, though their efficacy for motor, sensory, and body representation recovery have not been tested.

Methods: Sixty chronic stroke patients with unilateral motor deficits were included in a pseudo-randomized open-label multi-arm control trial (ClinicalTrials.

Current State and Perspectives of Simulation and Modeling of Aliphatic Isocyanates and Polyisocyanates.

Aliphatic isocyanates and polyisocyanates are central molecules in the fabrication of polyurethanes, coatings, and adhesives and, due to their excellent mechanical and stability properties, are continuously investigated in advanced applications; however, despite the growing interest in isocyanate-based systems, atomistic simulations on them have been limited by the lack of accurate parametrizations for these molecular species. In this review, we will first provide an overview of current research on isocyanate systems to highlight their most promising applications, especially in fields far from their typical usage, and to justify the need for further modeling works. Next, we will discuss the state of their modeling, from first-principle studies to atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and coarse-grained approaches, highlighting the recent advances in atomistic modeling.

Complete Implant Wrapping with Porcine-Derived Acellular Dermal Matrix for the Treatment of Capsular Contracture in Breast Reconstruction: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Capsular contracture (CC) represents one of the most common complications in breast reconstruction surgery, impairing final result and patients' well-being. The role of acellular dermal matrixes (ADM) has been widely described for the treatment and prevention of contracture. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of complete implant coverage with porcine-derived ADM in preventing CC limiting complications.

Untreated early childhood caries: the role of parental eating behavior.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between parental eating behavior and untreated early childhood caries (ECC). A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of 432 parent-child dyads with children aged 18 to 36 months, at Municipal Child Education Centers in São José dos Pinhais, Brazil. The parents answered a questionnaire addressing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and the children were examined for dental caries (modified dmft index) by a single examiner (kappa = 0.

Reactive Exercises with Interactive Objects: Interim Analysis of a Randomized Trial on Task-Driven NMES Grasp Rehabilitation for Subacute and Early Chronic Stroke Patients.

Unlabelled: Enriched environments and tools are believed to promote grasp rehabilitation after stroke. We designed S2, an interactive grasp rehabilitation system consisting of smart objects, custom orthoses for selective grasp constraining, and an electrode array system for forearm NMES. Motor improvements and perceived usability of a new enriched upper limb training system for sub-acute stroke patients was assessed in this interim analysis.

Fluorescent Light Energy and Chronic Lesions: A Winning Association.

Background: Chronic ulcers represent a challenge for healthcare professionals and a large expense for national health care systems for their difficulty in achieving complete healing and for their high incidence of recurrence. With the progressive aging of the general population, the incidence of these injuries will only increase, further affecting the public health budget, hence the need to find new strategies for their management. The purpose of this study was to share the experience of the Complex Operational Unit of Plastic Surgery of the University Hospital of Padua with fluorescent light energy therapy, outlining its role in the treatment of chronic ulcers in the daily use outside the previous EUREKA study.

Morphologic and molecular study on the lens anterior capsule in systemic sclerosis.

This study aimed to analyze the anterior lens capsule specimens from both eyes of a patient with systemic sclerosis and compare them to the eyes of a control patient. No significant differences between systemic sclerosis and control eyes were observed in the results from the hematoxylin-eosin and picrosirius staining. In the samples obtained from both systemic sclerosis and control eyes, there were expressions of caspase, a molecule expressed in cell death by apoptosis.

Achilles Tendon Region Defects: Delayed Composite Anterolateral Thigh Flap With Stripping of Fascia Lata: A Case Series.

Unlabelled: Defects of the Achilles tendon that include the surrounding soft tissue represent a challenge due to complex functionality and biomechanics.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional and physical functioning score out-comes of patients following microsurgical reconstruction of the yarrow region, using a combination of objective, subjective, and semi-subjective measurements.

Methods: Between 2007 and 2018, 15 patients underwent delayed Achilles tendon region reconstruction with different anterolateral thigh flap types.

Degradation of indigo carmine in water induced by non-thermal plasma, ozone and hydrogen peroxide: A comparative study and by-product identification.

The non-thermal plasma (NTP) technique is an advanced oxidation technology (AOT) applied to the degradation of organic compounds in water. In this study, the degradation kinetics of indigo carmine was investigated systematically, applying N-NTP, O-NTP, ozonolysis and hydrogen peroxide and the results were compared. The transient species (OH, O and NO radicals) formed with the NTP discharge at the gas-liquid interface and their products (NO, NO, HO) stabilized by the water, were identified and quantified.

Combination of cord blood-derived human hepatic progenitors and hepatogenic factors strongly improves recovery after acute liver injury in mice through modulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Cell therapy represents a promising alternative strategy for end-stage liver disease, and hepatic progenitors are the best candidates. The possibility to maximize the paracrine effects of transplanted cells represents a great potential benefit for cell therapy success. We studied how cell type and microenvironment modulate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling in vitro and in vivo.

The effect of job loss on pharmaceutical prescriptions.

We estimate the effect of job loss on the probability that long-tenured workers are prescribed anti-hypertensive and psychotropic drugs. We exploit two administrative data sources from the Veneto region in Italy and estimate an event-study model. Our results indicate that the probability of drug prescription increases among under-40 males but not among older males or female workers.

Second-wave hydrodissection for aspiration of cortical remains after femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.

We describe the technique of second-wave hydrodissection (the first wave being the initial cortical cleaving hydrodissection) performed after the removal of the cataract nucleus in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery. After femtosecond laser application, the cortex is typically found adhered to the anterior capsule. Under high magnification, a steady stream of a balanced salt solution is directed toward the anterior capsule using a hydrodissection cannula.

A Wearable Multi-Site System for NMES-Based Hand Function Restoration.

Reaching and grasping impairments significantly affect the quality of life for people who have experienced a stroke or spinal cord injury. The long-term well-being of patients varies greatly according to the restorable residual capabilities. Electrical stimulation could be a promising solution to restore motor functions in these conditions, but its use is not clinically widespread.

An affordable, adaptable, and hybrid assistive device for upper-limb neurorehabilitation.

The paper presents a multisensory and multimodal device for neuromuscular rehabilitation of the upper limb, designed to enable enriched rehabilitation treatment in both clinical and home environments. Originating from an existing low-cost, variable-stiffness rehabilitation device, it expands its functionalities by integrating additional modules in order to augment application scenarios and applicable clinical techniques. The newly developed system focuses on the integration of a wearable neuromuscular electrical stimulation system, a virtual rehabilitation scenario, a low-cost unobtrusive sensory system and a patient model for adapting training task parameters.

Femtosecond Laser-assisted Cataract Surgery in Patients With Marfan Syndrome and Subluxated Lens.

Purpose: To report femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgeries in patients with Marfan syndrome with mild, moderate, and severe lens subluxation.

Methods: Case reports.

Results: Two patients with Marfan syndrome underwent femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (Alcon LenSx Lasers Inc.

Steps and Routes of HCV Infection: The Great Promise of New Anti-Viral Targets.

A major breakthrough in understanding the steps and signalling that drives the HCV to reach a full life-cycle has been achieved by in vitro models that have facilitated elevated virus production, resulting in the discovery of pathways and factors involved in virus entry, translation and replication. The HCV enters host cells through binding of its envelope glycoproteins to cell receptors, followed by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and fusion with cell membranes, leading to virus uncoating and cell entry. This chain of events is mediated by sequential involvement of different co-receptors, for example, SR-B1, CD81 and the tight-junction proteins- claudin and occludin.