Challenges and Innovations in Postoperative Care for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection: The Role of Structured Surveillance and Virtual Wards.

Acute Type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) represents a life-threatening medical emergency that requires emergent surgical repair. Despite improvement in surgical techniques and perioperative management, ATAAD remains associated with high early mortality and postoperative complications. A structured and individualized postoperative surveillance program is essential, not only for improving survival rates but also for identifying risk factors necessitating reintervention and enhancing the quality of life.

Removal of Synchronous Bilateral Warthin's Tumor in a Single sitting: A Case Report.

Warthin's tumor constitute a minority of salivary gland neoplasms. It is a monomorphic adenoma commonly involving the parotid gland and considered to be unique because of its histological appearance, unknown origin and pathogenesis. Large, bilateral Warthin's tumor of the parotid gland is clinically very rare.

Angiogenesis-Enabled Human Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment-Chip Evaluates Pathophysiology of Platelets in Microcirculation.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) promotes angiogenesis for its growth through the recruitment of multiple cells and signaling mechanisms. For example, TME actively recruits and activates platelets from the microcirculation to facilitate metastasis, but platelets may simultaneously also support tumor angiogenesis. Here, to model this complex pathophysiology within the TME that involves a signaling triad of cancer cells, sprouting endothelial cells, and platelets, an angiogenesis-enabled tumor microenvironment chip (aTME-Chip) is presented.

Unravelling microRNA regulation and miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks in osteogenesis driven by 3D nanotopographical cues.

Three-dimensional (3D) culturing of cells is being adopted for developing tissues for various applications such as mechanistic studies, drug testing, tissue regeneration, and animal-free meat. These approaches often involve cost-effective differentiation of stem or progenitor cells. One approach is to exploit architectural cues on a 3D substrate to drive cellular differentiation, which has been shown to be effective in various studies.

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling for Maribavir to Inform Dosing in Drug-Drug Interaction Scenarios with CYP3A4 Inducers and Inhibitors.

Maribavir, an orally available antiviral agent, has been approved in multiple countries for the treatment of patients with refractory post-transplant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and/or disease. Maribavir is primarily metabolized by CYP3A4; coadministration with CYP3A4 inducers and inhibitors may significantly alter maribavir exposure, thereby affecting its efficacy and safety. The effect of CYP3A4 inducers and inhibitors on maribavir exposure was evaluated based on a drug-drug interaction (DDI) study and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling.

Evaluation of Cassia fistula seed galactomannan as tablet-binder in formulation of diclofenac sodium-loaded monolithic matrix tablet.

The present study aimed to evaluate Cassia fistula seed galactomannan (CFSG) as a tablet-binder in the formulation of a monolithic matrix tablet using diclofenac sodium as a model drug. Initially, CFSG was extracted and purified from the seeds of the Cassia fistula tree and then screened for phytochemicals. Native CFSG was characterized with polysaccharide content determination, monosaccharide composition analysis, elemental analysis, FTIR, solid-state C NMR, molecular weight, zeta potential, DSC, TGA-DTA, XRD, viscosity, pH and surface tension, rheology, SEM and acute oral toxicity study.

The prospects of microphysiological systems in modeling platelet pathophysiology in cancer.

The contribution of platelets is well recognized in thrombosis and hemostasis. However, platelets also promote tumor progression and metastasis through their crosstalk with various cells of the tumor microenvironment (TME). For example, several cancer models continue to show that platelet functions are readily altered by cancer cells upon activation leading to the formation of platelet-tumor aggregates, triggering release of soluble factors from platelet granules and altering platelet turnover.

COVID-19 severity scale for claims data research.

Objective: To create and validate a methodology to assign a severity level to an episode of COVID-19 for retrospective analysis in claims data.

Data Source: Secondary data obtained by license agreement from Optum provided claims records nationally for 19,761,754 persons, of which, 692,094 persons had COVID-19 in 2020.

Study Design: The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Progression Scale was used as a model to identify endpoints as measures of episode severity within claims data.

Anharmonic phonon interactions and the Kondo effect in a FeSe/SbTe/FeSe heterostructure: a proximity effect between ferromagnetic chalcogenide and di-chalcogenide.

In this report, we have introduced magnetic ordering into the nontrivial system of conventional topological insulators (TIs) by creating magnetic interfaces. In this context, antimony di-chalcogenide SbTe sandwiched between two thin layers of FeSe was prepared using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The prepared heterostructure demonstrated good crystallinity along with homogeneous morphology displaying pyramid-shaped characteristic triangular islands.

Analysis of COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Among Patients With Psychiatric Disorders, 2020.

Importance: People with major psychiatric disorders are more likely to have comorbidities associated with worse outcomes of COVID-19. This fact alone could determine greater vulnerability of people with major psychiatric disorders to COVID-19.

Objective: To assess the odds of testing positive for and mortality from COVID-19 among and between patients with schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and a reference group in a large national database.

Ofloxacin Induced Hemolysis in G6PD-deficient Patient: A Rare Cause of Pigment Nephropathy.

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) commonly presents as a triad of acute kidney injury (AKI), jaundice, and hemolysis; however, tropical infections such as malaria, dengue, leptospira, and drugs like antimalarials can also have a similar presentation. They can cause AKI for many reasons including pre-renal causes but an important yet not relatively uncommon genetic cause of hemolytic anemia, that is, glucose 6-phosphate deficiency (G6PD) manifesting as jaundice, hemolysis, and AKI secondary to pigment nephropathy after receiving offending drugs needs to be worked up while evaluating such patients. Ofloxacin is not usually included in the lists of unsafe drugs in G6PD deficiency.

Development of integrated model of communication for implementing media strategy to prevent hypertension in a northern state of India.

Objective: Media plays a major role in inculcating positive changes or averting negative changes in health-related behaviors across populations. Although various mass media interventions have proven their effectiveness in changing individuals' behavior for various diseases and risk factors, current literature is limited regarding a conceptual framework/model for the prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The present study describes the process of development and implementation of a comprehensive and need-based media strategy with an aim to generate politico-administrative support for strengthening hypertension services in the state of Punjab, India.

Quality-by-design approach for development of sustained-release multiple-unit beads of lamotrigine based on ion-cross-linked composite of pectin and okra mucilage: An in vitro appraisal.

The main objective of the present study was to develop a sustained release multiple-unit beads of lamotrigine based on ionotropically cross-linked natural polysaccharides such as pectin (PTN) and okra mucilage (OM) and optimize the polymer-concentration, polymer ratio and cross-linker concentration by 2 full factorial design. Two different levels of three independent variables (total polymer concentration, polymer ratio and [CaCl]) were considered for the experimental design. Drug-polymers compatibility was examined by FTIR, DSC, TGA and powder-XRD.

Optimal Selection of EEG Electrodes Using Interval Type-2 Fuzzy-Logic-Based Semiseparating Signaling Game.

This article addresses the noise contamination in spatial filtering of brain responses using a novel signaling game-based approach to the optimal selection of EEG electrodes. The proposed method takes the standard common spatial pattern (CSP) filter as an input and produces an optimal electrode set as output for effective classification of different cognitive tasks. The standard CSP algorithms are highly prone to the inclusion of noise in the EEG data and may select noisy electrodes/signal sources that are redundant for a specific cognitive task which, in turn, may lead to a lower classification accuracy.

Designing Phase-Sensitive Common Spatial Pattern Filter to Improve Brain-Computer Interfacing.

This paper addresses an interesting problem to model common spatial pattern (CSP) using an objective function employed to segregate EEG signals for a given cognitive task into two classes. The novelty of the present research is to include phase information of the EEG signal along with the amplitude for differentiating class boundaries. Two modified CSP algorithms are proposed in this paper.

A nanopillar array on black titanium prepared by reactive ion etching augments cardiomyogenic commitment of stem cells.

A major impediment in the clinical translation of stem cell therapy has been the inability to efficiently and reproducibly direct differentiation of a large population of stem cells. Thus, we aimed to engineer a substrate for culturing stem cells to efficiently induce cardiomyogenic lineage commitment. In this work, we present a nanopillar array on the surface of titanium that was prepared by mask-less reactive ion etching.

Graft-copolymer of polyacrylamide-tamarind seed gum: Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of flocculating potential in peroral paracetamol suspension.

In the present study, polyacrylamide-grafted-tamarind seed gum (PAAm-g-TSG) was synthesised employing free radical method assisted with microwave where cerric (IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) was used as free radical initiator. Effects of monomer, CAN and microwave irradiation time (MW) on grafting were studied. Various grafting indicators such as % grafting (%G), % grafting efficiency (%GE) and % conversion (%Cn) were calculated.

Sirtuin 6 mediated stem cell cardiomyogenesis on protein coated nanofibrous scaffolds.

The cellular niche provides combination of biomolecular and biophysical cues to control stem cell fate. Three-dimensional (3D) aligned nanofibrous scaffolds can effectively augment stem cell cardiomyogenesis. This work aims to understand the role of biomolecular signals from extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and leverage them to further promote cardiomyogenesis on nanofibrous scaffolds.

Interlocked Graphene Oxide Provides Narrow Channels for Effective Water Desalination through Forward Osmosis.

Unique two-dimensional water channels formed by stacked graphene oxide (GO) sheets that are "nonleachable" and nonswellable can show great potential for water remediation. The interlayer spacing controls the solute or ion sieving and plays a crucial role in water transport in GO-based membranes. Herein, the sub-nano-channels adjacent to the sheets are altered by either ionic or covalent cross-linking using magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)) and graphene oxide quantum dots (GQDs) (named GOM and G-GQD), respectively.

Prevalence of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity in Bangladeshi university students: A cross-sectional study.

Aim: A sustained economic growth in Bangladesh leading to nutrition transition with negative impact on health followed to sedentary lifestyle, and obesity. Therefore, the study objective was to examine the prevalence of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity among Bangladeshi university students.

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study in Bangladeshi university students was conducted in December 2016 to April 2017.

Synthesis of a Block Copolymer Exhibiting Cell-Responsive Phytochemical Release for Cancer Therapy.

Phytochemicals constitute a promising class of therapeutics for the treatment of various diseases, but their delivery poses significant challenges. In this work, a nanoscale polyactive emulsion was designed for smart, cell-responsive delivery of a curcumin prodrug (curcumin dicarboxylate, CDA) that was chemically conjugated to enzymatically labile oligo-peptides with polycaprolactone (PCL) as the carrier. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-sensitive (PLGLYAL) or nonsensitive (GPYYPLG) peptides were used as spacers for conjugating CDA and PCL.

Elucidating molecular events underlying topography mediated cardiomyogenesis of stem cells on 3D nanofibrous scaffolds.

Toward engineering a cardiac patch, the objective of this work was to assess stem cell response to a three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous scaffold and probe the underlying molecular mechanisms including both cell signaling and epigenetic changes. Cardiomyogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in 3D poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers and macroporous scaffolds was compared with two-dimensional (2D) PCL films. In addition, nanofiber mats of PCL and its blend with gelatin (PCL-Gel) were prepared with fibers of random or unidirectional alignment to assess the roles of topography (fibrous architecture and its alignment) and biochemical cue (cell-adhesive sites) in directing cell functions.

Selective cleavage of the polyphosphoester in crosslinked copper based nanogels: enhanced antibacterial performance through controlled release of copper.

Polymeric architectures with controlled and well-defined structural features are required to render a sustainable antibacterial surface - a key requirement in the design of polymeric membranes for water purification. Herein, surface selective crosslinking of copper oxide-polyphosphoester (CuO-PPE) hybrid nanogels on to polyvinylidene fluoride-styrene maleic anhydride (PVDF/SMA) ultrafiltration membranes was developed. The hybrid nanogels, composed of PPE and CuO, with inherent antifouling and antibacterial properties, were crosslinked using a macroinitiator (polyethylene glycol, PEG) and subsequently grafted on to PVDF/SMA by alkyne-anhydride reaction.