Regenerative Potential of Stem Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicles in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).

Spinal cord injury is a devastating condition that is critically challenging and progressive, needing immediate medical attention due to its complex pathophysiology and affecting the social status and economic burden. Stem cell therapy has been the emerging therapeutic trend to treat various diseases for decades. Mesenchymal stem cells pose more advantages over other stem cells in immune-modulation, immune evasiveness, self-renewal, multipotency, etc.

Primary signet ring cell histology does not portend worse survival for early stage lung cancer following lobectomy.

Introduction: Signet ring cell (SRC) histology is considered a poor prognostic factor in various cancers. However, primary SRC lung adenocarcinoma is rare and poorly understood.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried to identify treatment-naïve patients who received lobectomy for primary SRC or non-SRC pT1-2N0 lung adenocarcinoma <4 cm within four months of diagnosis.

Non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosis: a comparison between dermoscopic and smartphone images by unified visual and sonification deep learning algorithms.

Purpose: Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most frequent keratinocyte-origin skin tumor. It is confirmed that dermoscopy of NMSC confers a diagnostic advantage as compared to visual face-to-face assessment. COVID-19 restrictions diagnostics by telemedicine photos, which are analogous to visual inspection, displaced part of in-person visits.

Mildly Elevated Bilirubin Levels are Associated with Increased Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Intensity in the Basal Ganglia of Preterm Neonates.

Objective: This study aimed to test whether mildly elevated bilirubin levels in preterm infants are associated with increased signal intensity (SI) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the basal ganglia (BG).

Study Design: MRI was performed at term equivalent age in 55 postpreterm infants using a neonatal MRI 1-T scanner. SI of the BG was correlated with mild hyperbilirubinemia.

Single-cell analysis of regions of interest (SCARI) using a photosensitive tag.

The functional activity and differentiation potential of cells are determined by their interactions with surrounding cells. Approaches that allow unbiased characterization of cell states while at the same time providing spatial information are of major value to assess this environmental influence. However, most current techniques are hampered by a tradeoff between spatial resolution and cell profiling depth.

Impact of pharmacist-led care on glycaemic control of patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial in Nigeria.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, degenerative disease, requiring a multi-dimensional, multi-professional care by healthcare providers and substantial self-care by the patients, to achieve treatment goals.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of pharmacist-led care on glycaemic control in patients with uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes.

Methods: In a parallel group, single-blind randomised controlled study; type 2 diabetic patients, with greater than 7% glycated haemoglobin (A1C) were randomised into intervention and usual care groups and followed for six months.

Human liver stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles reduce injury in a model of normothermic machine perfusion of rat livers previously exposed to a prolonged warm ischemia.

Livers from donors after circulatory death (DCD) are a promising option to increase the donor pool, but their use is associated with higher complication rate and inferior graft survival. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) keeps the graft at 37°C, providing nutrients and oxygen supply. Human liver stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (HLSC-EVs) are able to reduce liver injury and promote regeneration.

Thyroid Nodule Characterization: How to Assess the Malignancy Risk. Update of the Literature.

Ultrasound (US) is the first imaging modality for thyroid parenchyma evaluation. In the last decades, the role of ultrasound has been improved with the introduction of new US software, such as contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and US-elastography (USE). USE is nowadays recognized as an essential part of the multiparametric ultrasound (MPUS) examination, in particular for the indeterminate thyroid nodule with possible fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) number reduction; even if further and larger studies are needed to validate it.

Herpes Zoster Following COVID-19 Vaccination.

Vaccination is an important intervention in preventing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer™ and Moderna™ are the first to market in the United States, and while cutaneous adverse events have been reported in clinical trials for both of these vaccines, they have not been well characterized. Here we report a case of a patient who developed herpes zoster after receiving the Moderna™ COVID-19 vaccine.

Influence of Graphene Nanoplatelet Lateral Size on the Electrical Conductivity and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Polyester Nanocomposites.

Polyester nanocomposites reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) with two different lateral sizes are prepared by high shear mixing, followed by compression molding. The effects of the size and concentration of GnP, as well as of the processing method, on the electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding behavior of these nanocomposites are experimentally investigated. The in-plane electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites with larger-size GnPs is approximately one order of magnitude higher than the cross-plane volume conductivity.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol Minimizes Intensive Care Unit Utilization and Improves Outcomes Following Pulmonary Resection.

Background: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have been associated with improved postoperative outcomes but require further validation in thoracic surgery. This study evaluated outcomes of patients undergoing pulmonary resection before and after implementation of an ERAS protocol.

Methods: Electronic medical records were queried for all patients undergoing pulmonary resection between April 2017 and April 2019.

The importance of peripheral vision when searching 3D real-world scenes: A gaze-contingent study in virtual reality.

Visual search in natural scenes is a complex task relying on peripheral vision to detect potential targets and central vision to verify them. The segregation of the visual fields has been particularly established by on-screen experiments. We conducted a gaze-contingent experiment in virtual reality in order to test how the perceived roles of central and peripheral visions translated to more natural settings.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database: 2021 Update on Outcomes and Research.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database (STS GTSD) remains the largest and most robust thoracic surgical database in the world. Participating sites receive risk-adjusted performance reports for benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives. The GTSD also provides several mechanisms for high-quality clinical research using data from 271 participant sites and nearly 720,000 procedures since its inception in 2002.

Ultra-Low Percolation Threshold Induced by Thermal Treatments in Co-Continuous Blend-Based PP/PS/MWCNTs Nanocomposites.

The effect of the crystallization of polypropylene (PP) forming an immiscible polymer blend with polystyrene (PS) containing conductive multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on its electrical conductivity and electrical percolation threshold (PT) was investigated in this work. PP/PS/MWCNTs composites with a co-continuous morphology and a concentration of MWCNTs ranging from 0 to 2 wt.% were obtained.

Differential outcomes of residual disease in surgically-resected non-small cell lung cancer and the importance of guideline-concordant adjuvant therapy.

Background: Positive mediastinal lymph nodes, a marker for systemic disease, and positive margins, a marker for local disease, following resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are forms of residual disease. The objective of this study is to compare survival of patients with residual disease and to study the effect of receipt of guideline vs. non-guideline concordant care.

Indigenizing Quality of Life: The Goodness of Life for Every Alaska Native Research Study.

The perspectives of Alaska Native (AN) peoples are rarely represented in quality of life (QOL) research. AN representation and voice is imperative to mitigating health disparities and in health promotion for AN peoples. To address these gaps, a sample of 15 AN people (six male, nine female) was recruited to participate in stakeholder QOL research.

Long-term outcomes and predictive ability of non-invasive scoring systems in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & Aims: Non-invasive scoring systems (NSS) are used to identify patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who are at risk of advanced fibrosis, but their reliability in predicting long-term outcomes for hepatic/extrahepatic complications or death and their concordance in cross-sectional and longitudinal risk stratification remain uncertain.

Methods: The most common NSS (NFS, FIB-4, BARD, APRI) and the Hepamet fibrosis score (HFS) were assessed in 1,173 European patients with NAFLD from tertiary centres. Performance for fibrosis risk stratification and for the prediction of long-term hepatic/extrahepatic events, hepatocarcinoma (HCC) and overall mortality were evaluated in terms of AUC and Harrell's c-index.

Evaluation of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Guidelines for Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of -, - and -Positive Blood Cultures.

Rapid determination of bacterial antibiotic susceptibility is important for proper treatment of infections. The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) has recently published guidelines for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (RAST) performed directly from positive blood culture vials. These guidelines, however, were only published for a limited number of common pathogenic bacteria.

Healing of Ocular Herpetic Disease Following Treatment With an Engineered FGF-1 Is Associated With Increased Corneal Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages.

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infects the cornea and caused blinding ocular disease. In the present study, we evaluated whether and how a novel engineered version of fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1), designated as TTHX1114, would reduce the severity of HSV-1-induced and recurrent ocular herpes in the mouse model. The efficacy of TTHX1114 against corneal keratopathy was assessed in B6 mice following corneal infection with HSV-1, strain McKrae.

XCR1 type 1 conventional dendritic cells drive liver pathology in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are prevalent liver conditions that underlie the development of life-threatening cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. Chronic necro-inflammation is a critical factor in development of NASH, yet the cellular and molecular mechanisms of immune dysregulation in this disease are poorly understood. Here, using single-cell transcriptomic analysis, we comprehensively profiled the immune composition of the mouse liver during NASH.

Traumatic cerebral dural sinus vein thrombosis/stenosis in pediatric patients-is anticoagulation necessary?

Introduction: Cerebral dural vein thrombosis/stenosis (CDVT/S) is a condition that affects the venous drainage of the brain. Risk factors and causes associated with CDVT/S include systemic risk factors that cause hypercoagulability, or local factors such as head trauma. While consensus is that non-traumatic sinus vein thrombosis should be treated with anticoagulation therapy, treatment of patients with TBI-induced CDVT is not yet established.

Regional Variation in Treatment for Highest-Risk Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer patients with multiple high-risk socioeconomic factors experience treatment and survival disparities. We aim to assess whether disparities in treatment and survival vary by region for patients with 3 or more high-risk socioeconomic factors.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients with clinical stage I-IIA non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed between 2010 and 2015.

Improving the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist sign-out.

Background: The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been shown to reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is evidence to suggest that sign-out is the most poorly performed phase of the checklist as it coincides with a period of high workload for team members. This study aimed to see whether modification of this process might result in greater compliance.