Impact of Remote Patient Monitoring Platform on Patients With Moderate to Severe Persistent Asthma: Observational Study.

Background: Asthma is one of the most common respiratory diseases, with an ever-growing health care burden. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has gained increasing importance in the respiratory care area with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this pilot study, we introduced a novel platform that remotely monitors patients with chronic respiratory illnesses using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

Association of Recipient APOL1 Kidney Risk Alleles With Kidney Transplant Outcomes.

Background: Kidney transplant survival in African American recipients is lower compared with non-African American transplant recipients. APOL1 risk alleles (RA) have been postulated as likely contributors. We examined the graft outcomes in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) stratified by APOL1 RA status in a multicenter observational prospective study.

Routine cavity shaves following breast conserving surgery; friend or foe?

Background: Radial margin status is considered one of the most important prognostic predictor for patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCT), not only related to regional recurrence but also to 5y survival, especially in patients with invasive disease.

Aim: While our primary aim was to evaluate whether doing routine radial cavity shaves following at the time of primary conservative breast surgery will decrease the need for a second operation or not, our secondary aim was to assess time added to the operation to resect and mark the radial shaves, as well as patients' satisfaction with the results.

Material And Methods: We have conducted a case series prospective analysis, including158 patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery looking into the histological status of resection margins and radial shaves, added time taken to take and mark the shaves as well as patients' satisfaction.

Vitamin D Analogues and Coronary Calcification in CKD Stages 3 and 4: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Calcitriol Versus Paricalcitol.

Rationale & Objective: Mineral and bone disorder in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC). Mineral and bone disorder often is treated with calcitriol and other vitamin D receptor activators, including paricalcitol, agents that may have differential effects on calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone levels. Accordingly, we investigated whether these agents have differential effects on CAC progression in patients with CKD.

Effects of Smoking on Solid Organ Transplantation Outcomes.

Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Both donor and recipient smoking have been shown to increase graft loss and mortality in solid organ transplant recipients in many studies. Only in lung transplants is smoking a universal contraindication to transplantation.

Diabetes and the solid organ transplant recipient.

Solid organ transplant candidates undergo very strict screening for cardiovascular risk. Such screening has permitted significant decreases in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality over the ensuing decades of follow up. Long term follow-up has enabled us to identify an increasing incidence of pulmonary and urinary tract infections with or without sepsis as competing factors of morbidity and mortality.

A Recent Perspective on Noncovalently Formed Polymeric Hydrogels.

Chemically crosslinked covalent hydrogels form a permanent and often strong network, and have been extensively used so far in drug delivery and tissue engineering. However, it is more difficult to induce dynamic and highly tunable changes in these hydrogels. Noncovalently formed hydrogels show promise as inherently reversible systems with an ability to change in response to dynamic environments, and have garnered strong interest recently.

Micellized α-Cyclodextrin-Based Supramolecular Hydrogel Exhibiting pH-Responsive Sustained Release and Corresponding Oscillatory Shear Behavior Analysis.

The fabrication of supramolecular hydrogels from micellized PLLA/DMAEMA/PEGMA polymers with α-CD has been explored to design injectable gel formulations for sustained drug release. The tricomponent hydrogels (5% w/v)/α-CD (10% w/v) were able to sustain protein (BSA and lysozyme) release for 60-120 h at different pH conditions (pH 3, 7 and 10). In-depth rheological analysis highlighted the role of pH in tuning hydrogel behavior upon shear at microscopic level affecting protein release profiles.

Modification of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of PEG-PPG-PEG Copolymer (F127) with MA-POSS.

Pluronic F127 exhibits thermogelling behaviour at 20⁻30 °C via a micelle packing mechanism. Disruption of the micelle packing increases the sol-gel temperature, but results in the decrease of modulus. Herein, we reported a method to modify F127 with polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS) to impart a higher gelling temperature without yielding the property and strength of the thermogel.

Thermogels: In Situ Gelling Biomaterial.

In situ gel delivery systems are preferred over conventional systems due to sustained and prolonged release action of therapeutic payload onto the targeted site. Thermogel, a form of in situ gel-forming polymeric formulation, undergoes sol-gel transition after administration into the body. At room temperature, the system is an aqueous polymer solution that easily entraps therapeutic payload by mixing.

Emerging Supramolecular Therapeutic Carriers Based on Host-Guest Interactions.

Recent advances in host-guest chemistry have significantly influenced the construction of supramolecular soft biomaterials. The highly selective and non-covalent interactions provide vast possibilities of manipulating supramolecular self-assemblies at the molecular level, allowing a rational design to control the sizes and morphologies of the resultant objects as carrier vehicles in a delivery system. In this Focus Review, the most recent developments of supramolecular self-assemblies through host-guest inclusion, including nanoparticles, micelles, vesicles, hydrogels, and various stimuli-responsive morphology transition materials are presented.

Poly(glycerol sebacate) biomaterial: synthesis and biomedical applications.

The recently developed poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) has been gaining attraction as a biomaterial for tissue engineering applications. Reported in 2002, a simple polycondensation method was developed to synthesize PGS for soft tissue engineering applications. It has since become a highly sought after biomaterial due to its soft, robust and flexible characteristics and it is relatively low cost compared to other biodegradable elastomers currently available in the market.

Design of a micellized α-cyclodextrin based supramolecular hydrogel system.

In recent years supramolecular structures built from macrocyclic compounds have attracted tremendous interest due to the unique properties derived from dynamic self-assembly. Our study proposes a two-step mechanism to form a supramolecular hydrogel system: (1) the formation of micelles, and (2) micelle association with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) due to threading of PEGMA in the α-CD cavity, forming inclusion complexes. Using this mechanism, a supramolecular hydrogel made from a tri-component copolymer PLLA/DMAEMA/PEGMA and α-CD was fabricated for the first time and characterized in terms of its structural, morphological, and rheological properties.

Nanoparticle-Hydrogel Composites: Concept, Design, and Applications of These Promising, Multi-Functional Materials.

New technologies rely on the development of new materials, and these may simply be the innovative combination of known components. The structural combination of a polymer hydrogel network with a nanoparticle (metals, non-metals, metal oxides, and polymeric moieties) holds the promise of providing superior functionality to the composite material with applications in diverse fields, including catalysis, electronics, bio-sensing, drug delivery, nano-medicine, and environmental remediation. This mixing may result in a synergistic property enhancement of each component: for example, the mechanical strength of the hydrogel and concomitantly decrease aggregation of the nanoparticles.

Current treatment options and drug delivery systems as potential therapeutic agents for ovarian cancer: a review.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common and deadliest gynecologic cancer with about 75% of the patients presenting in advanced stages. The introduction of intraperitoneal chemotherapy in 2006 had led to a 16 month improvement in the overall survival. However, catheter-related complication and the complexity of the procedure had deterred intraperitoneal route as the preferred route of treatment.

Traumatic complex splenic arteriovenous fistula causing prehepatic portal hypertension and variceal bleeding: the importance of the diagnosis for the endovascular treatment approach.

We report a case of a 68-year-old female patient presenting with portal hypertension and variceal bleeding in the absence of any liver disease. After performing a computed tomography angiogram, the cause of her condition was identified to be a splenic arteriovenous fistula (SAVF). After confirming the findings with angiography, we opted to treat the condition with coil embolization as an alternative to a more invasive surgical treatment.