The effect of ICU diary on psychiatric symptoms after ICU discharge among adult critically ill patients: A prospective comparative study.

Aim: Psychiatric problems are common in critically ill patients after discharge from an intensive care unit (ICU). The effect of intensive care unit (ICU) diaries on psychiatric symptoms after ICU discharge was investigated in this prospective study.

Methods: Enrolled were critically ill adult patients who were emergently admitted to an ICU and expected to stay for at least 2 days.

Decreasing Stigma Toward People Who Inject Drugs: Harm Reduction Training for First-Year Medical Students.

Problem: Stigma in health care toward people who inject drugs (PWID) is a well-described, significant barrier to quality care, resulting in poor health outcomes. Harm reduction offers a person-centered counter-framework for minimizing harm for people who use drugs. Despite the evidence in support of harm reduction, medical students typically receive minimal training on harm reduction and the care of PWID.

Survival of Heart Transplant Patients with Chagas' Disease Under Different Antiproliferative Immunosuppressive Regimens.

Chagas' disease (CD) is an important cause of heart transplantation (HT). The main obstacle is Chagas' disease reactivation (CDR), usually associated to high doses of immunosuppressants. Previous studies have suggested an association of mycophenolate mofetil with increased CDR.

Videofluorographic Analysis of Swallowing Function after Total Glossolaryngectomy.

Summary: Surgeons have traditionally believed that swallowing is mainly dependent on gravity after total glossolaryngectomy. However, swallowing function after total glossolaryngectomy varies widely among patients, and a thorough analysis is lacking. The authors aimed to clarify the swallowing function after total glossolaryngectomy and determine whether it is primarily dependent on gravity.

Offline Assessment of the Quantitative Flow Ratio: Is it Useful in Clinical Practice?

Introduction: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been established as the gold standard in the physiological assessment of coronary obstructions severity. However, the need to insert an intracoronary pressure guidewire is a factor that limits its use. Quantitative flow ratio (QFR) is a method that infers the value of FFR from 3-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography (3D-QCA), eliminating the use of a pressure wire and coronary hyperemia.

Exploring compounds to be used as cosmetic agents that activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha.

Objective: The human epidermis is formed by the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes adjacent to the basement membrane. The outermost layer, the stratum corneum, is equipped with a barrier function that prevents water evaporation, and intercellular lipids play an important role in this barrier function. When the barrier is functioning normally, evaporation is prevented; however, when barrier function is impaired, moisture evaporates, resulting in dry and rough skin.

Incidence and risk factors of postoperative visual function impairment in elderly patients undergoing nonocular surgery: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Elderly patients may present with visual function impairment after surgery, which may increase the incidence of postoperative delirium and falls and decrease their quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess visual function in elderly patients after long-duration nonocular surgery to determine the incidence and risk factors for visual function impairment after surgery.

Methods: This prospective and observational study included patients aged between 60 and 80 years who had been scheduled for elective nonocular surgery expected to last longer than 120 minutes under general anesthesia.

Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis using bacterial membrane vesicles.

Purpose: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infection is one of the major causes of keratitis. However, effective prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines against P.

Decrease in the Crystallite Diameter of Solid Crystalline Magnetite around the Curie Temperature by Microwave Magnetic Fields Irradiation.

A decrease in the crystallite diameter of ferrites irradiated with microwaves has been considered as a non-thermal effect of so-called de-crystallization; however, its mechanism has not been elucidated. We hypothesized that a decrease in the crystallite diameter is caused by interaction between the ordered spins of ferrite and the magnetic field of microwaves. To verify this, we focused on magnetite with a Curie temperature of 585 °C.

Effect of transdermal estrogen dose regimen for endometrial preparation of frozen-thawed embryo transfer on reproductive and obstetric outcomes.

Purpose: Previous studies have reported different methods of estrogen administration during endometrial preparation for frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET). This study aimed to investigate a beneficial regimen of transdermal estrogen administration for FET.

Methods: We investigated the reproductive and obstetric outcomes of FET by comparing the increasing dose (ID) group that mimics changes in serum estradiol during the menstrual cycle and the constant dose (CD) group.

Sonochemical effect and pore structure tuning of silica xerogel by ultrasonic irradiation of semi-solid hydrogel.

Silica xerogels were prepared by the sol-gel method under ultrasonic irradiation, using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the starting material. Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) was used as the hydrophobizing agent. When preparing silica xerogel, it is necessary to perform aging and hydrophobization to suppress shrinkage during ambient pressure drying, however, such treatments are time-consuming.

Dobutamine-sparing versus dobutamine-to-all strategy in cardiac surgery: a randomized noninferiority trial.

Background: The detrimental effects of inotropes are well-known, and in many fields they are only used within a goal-directed therapy approach. Nevertheless, standard management in many centers includes administering inotropes to all patients undergoing cardiac surgery to prevent low cardiac output syndrome and its implications. Randomized evidence in favor of a patient-tailored, inotrope-sparing approach is still lacking.

Usefulness of speckle tracking echocardiography and biomarkers for detecting acute cellular rejection after heart transplantation.

Background: Acute cellular rejection (ACR) is a major complication after heart transplantation. Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) remains the gold standard for its diagnosis, but it has concerning complications. We evaluated the usefulness of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and biomarkers for detecting ACR after heart transplantation.

[A case of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor-producing gallbladder adenosquamous carcinoma with rapidly-growing recurrence of liver metastasis in early postoperative period].

An 82-year-old male with a gallbladder mass was diagnosed with gallbladder carcinoma through various examinations. Cholecystectomy, gallbladder bed resection, and lymph node dissection were performed. The histological examination revealed a gallbladder adenosquamous carcinoma, and this tumor showed positive staining for granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF).

A patient with cystic duct remnant calculus treated by laparoscopic surgery combined with near-infrared fluorescence cholangiography.

Background: The recurrence of symptoms present before cholecystectomy may be caused by a cystic duct remnant. The resolution of cystic duct remnant syndrome may require surgical resection, but identification of the duct remnant during laparoscopic surgery may be difficult because of adhesions following the previous procedure. Open surgery, which is more invasive than laparoscopic surgery, is frequently chosen to avoid bile duct injury.

Continuous Magnesium Infusion to Prevent Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery: A Sequential Matched Case-Controlled Pilot Study.

Objective: The authors aimed to test whether a bolus of magnesium followed by continuous intravenous infusion might prevent the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery.

Design: Sequential, matched, case-controlled pilot study.

Setting: Tertiary university hospital.

Brazilian cardio-oncology: the 10-year experience of the Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo.

Background: In recent years, the field of cardio-oncology has grown worldwide, bringing benefits to cancer patients in terms of survival and quality of life. This study reports the experience of a pioneer cardio-oncology programme at University Cancer Hospital in Brazil over a period of 10 years, describing the clinical profile of patients and the clinical outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on a cohort of patients treated at the cardio-oncology programme from April 2009 to February 2019.

Complete Genome Sequence of Temperature-Dependent Pigment-Producing Serratia marcescens ATCC 274.

ATCC 274 produces the red pigment prodigiosin and the biosurfactant serrawettin W1 at 30°C but not at 37°C. A complete, high-quality genome sequence of ATCC 274 was obtained and found to comprise a single 5,148,533-bp circular genome with 4,799 genes.

Membrane Chaperoning of a Thylakoid Protease Whose Structural Stability Is Modified by the Protonmotive Force.

Protein folding is a complex cellular process often assisted by chaperones, but it can also be facilitated by interactions with lipids. Disulfide bond formation is a common mechanism to stabilize a protein. This can help maintain functionality amid changes in the biochemical milieu, including those relating to energy-transducing membranes.

Microwave Irradiation Process for Al-Sc Alloy Production.

Scandium is being explored as an alloying element for aluminium alloys, which are gaining importance as high-performance lightweight structural alloys in the transportation industry. Sc-rich ScAlN thin films show strong piezoelectricity and can be fabricated on a hard substrate for use as wideband surface acoustic wave filters in next-generation wireless mobile communication systems. However, the use of ScAlN thin films in microelectromechanical system devices is limited by the high cost of metallic Sc, which is due to the difficulty in smelting of this material.

Larynx-preserving reconstruction after extended base of the tongue resection.

Background: As the base of the tongue (BOT) plays essential roles in speech and swallowing, surgical resection of BOT cancer is typically avoided. Moreover, standard reconstructive procedures for larynx-preserving BOT defects have not yet been established. We performed immediate flap reconstruction after wide resection of BOT cancer with laryngeal preservation.