Vaginal Packing After Pelvic Floor Reconstructive Surgery: Does the Soaking Agent Used for Packing (Bupivacaine, Estrogen or Saline) Impact Postoperative Pain Scores?

Study Objective: Vaginal packing is traditionally placed after pelvic floor reconstructive surgery (PFRS) to prevent hematoma formation. We seek to determine if there is a difference in postoperative pain scores after PFRS if vaginal packing is soaked with estrogen cream, bupivacaine, or saline. The primary outcome was pain as measured by a visual analog scale at 2 hours, 6 hours, and 1 day postoperatively.

Evaluation of Real and Perceived Risk to Health Care Workers Caring for Patients With the Omicron Variant of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus in Surgery and Obstetrics.

Objectives: The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is described as more contagious than previous variants. We sought to assess risk to health care workers (HCWs) caring for patients with COVID-19 in surgical/obstetrical settings, and the perception of risk among this group.

Methods: From January to April 2022, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral ribonucleic acid in patient, environmental (floor, equipment, passive air) samples, and HCWs' masks (inside surface) during urgent surgery or obstetrical delivery for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Effect of Guanine Adduct Size, Shape, and Linker Type on the Conformation of Adducted DNA: A DFT and Molecular Dynamics Study.

DNA is damaged through various exogenous sources (e.g., automobile exhaust, tobacco smoke, and processed foods), which can yield diverse C8-dG bulky aryl adducts.

Mechanistic Insights into Bioengineered Antibiofilm Enamel Pellicles.

Dental caries remains the most widespread chronic disease worldwide. Basically, caries originates within biofilms accumulated on dental enamel. Despite the nonrenewable nature of the enamel tissue, targeted preventive strategies are still very limited.

Repair of Anterior Tracheal Defect by Trans-Tracheostomy Placement of Acellular Dermal Matrix.

Severe infections of the neck can lead to life-threatening consequences when not treated promptly and correctly. This case report is the first to illustrate the successful use of an acellular dermal matrix to repair a tracheal defect in the setting of a severe neck infection. Laryngoscope, 133:1961-1963, 2023.

Mechanoresponsive Metal-Organic Cage-Crosslinked Polymer Hydrogels.

We report the formation of metal-organic cage-crosslinked polymer hydrogels. To enable crosslinking of the cages and subsequent network formation, we used homodifunctionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains terminally substituted with bipyridines as ligands for the Pd L corners. The encapsulation of guest molecules into supramolecular self-assembled metal-organic cage-crosslinked hydrogels, as well as ultrasound-induced disassembly of the cages with release of their cargo, is presented in addition to their characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, rheology, and comprehensive small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 contamination in the operating room and birthing room setting: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The exposure risks to front-line health care workers caring for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection undergoing surgery or obstetric delivery are unclear, and an understanding of sample types that may harbour virus is important for evaluating risk. We sought to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA from patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection undergoing surgery or obstetric delivery was present in the peritoneal cavity of male and female patients, in the female reproductive tract, in the environment of the surgery or delivery suite (surgical instruments or equipment used, air or floors), and inside the masks of the attending health care workers.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from November 2020 to May 2021 at 2 tertiary academic Toronto hospitals, during urgent surgeries or obstetric deliveries for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Effects of a Second Local DNA Damage Event on the Toxicity of the Human Carcinogen 4-Aminobiphenyl: A Molecular Dynamics Study of a Damaged DNA Structure.

Exposure of humans to carcinogenic aromatic amines (AAs) occurs daily. AAs are bioactivated in cells into products that attack DNA, primarily leading to N-linked C8-dG adducts. Previous work on DNA containing a single AA-derived adduct (monoadducted DNA) has shown a structure-function relationship between the damaged DNA conformation and cellular outcomes.

Release of Molecular Cargo from Polymer Systems by Mechanochemistry.

The design and manipulation of (multi)functional materials at the nanoscale holds the promise of fuelling tomorrow's major technological advances. In the realm of macromolecular nanosystems, the incorporation of force-responsive groups, so called mechanophores, has resulted in unprecedented access to responsive behaviours and enabled sophisticated functions of the resulting structures and advanced materials. Among the diverse force-activated motifs, the on-demand release or activation of compounds, such as catalysts, drugs, or monomers for self-healing, are sought-after since they enable triggering pristine small molecule function from macromolecular frameworks.

Outcome of Haploidentical Peripheral Blood Allografts Using Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide Compared to Matched Sibling and Unrelated Donor Bone Marrow Allografts in Pediatric Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: A Single-Center Analysis.

The introduction of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis has made haploidentical (haplo) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) a common approach in adults, but pediatric experience is limited. Based on the encouraging adult data and with the aim of decreasing the risk of graft failure, our center is increasingly using peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) from haplo donors with PTCy. Here we compare outcomes of bone marrow (BM) transplantation with traditional donor choices, including matched sibling donors (MSDs) and 10/10 HLA matched unrelated donors (MUDs), with those of haplo PBSC grafts in pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies.

Impact of DNA Adduct Size, Number, and Relative Position on the Toxicity of Aromatic Amines: A Molecular Dynamics Case Study of dG- and dG-Containing DNA Duplexes.

Human exposure to aromatic amines (AAs) can result in carcinogenic DNA adducts. To complement previous work geared toward understanding the mutagenicity of AA-derived adducts, which has almost exclusively studied (monoadducted) DNA containing a single lesion, the present work provides the first in-depth comparison of the structure of monoadducted and diadducted DNA duplexes. Specifically, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were initially performed on DNA containing the nonmutagenic single-ringed -(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-aniline (dG) or the mutagenic four-ringed -(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-1-aminopyrene (dG) lesion at G, G, or G in the AA deletion hotspot (5'-GGCGCC) in the or glycosidic orientation (B/S duplex conformation).

Mechanochemical Release of Non-Covalently Bound Guests from a Polymer-Decorated Supramolecular Cage.

Supramolecular coordination cages show a wide range of useful properties including, but not limited to, complex molecular machine-like operations, confined space catalysis, and rich host-guest chemistries. Here we report the uptake and release of non-covalently encapsulated, pharmaceutically-active cargo from an octahedral Pd cage bearing polymer chains on each vertex. Six poly(ethylene glycol)-decorated bipyridine ligands are used to assemble an octahedral Pd (TPT) cage.

Anatomy of noncovalent interactions between the nucleobases or ribose and π-containing amino acids in RNA-protein complexes.

A set of >300 nonredundant high-resolution RNA-protein complexes were rigorously searched for π-contacts between an amino acid side chain (W, H, F, Y, R, E and D) and an RNA nucleobase (denoted π-π interaction) or ribose moiety (denoted sugar-π). The resulting dataset of >1500 RNA-protein π-contacts were visually inspected and classified based on the interaction type, and amino acids and RNA components involved. More than 80% of structures searched contained at least one RNA-protein π-interaction, with π-π contacts making up 59% of the identified interactions.

Personal hygiene risk factors for contact lens-related microbial keratitis.

Objective: Microbial keratitis is a sight-threatening complication of contact lens wear, which affects thousands of patients and causes a significant burden on healthcare services. This study aims to identify compliance with contact lens care recommendations and identify personal hygiene risk factors in patients who develop contact lens-related microbial keratitis.

Methods And Analysis: A case-control study was conducted at the University Hospital Southampton Eye Casualty from October to December 2015.

Quality and Reliability of Publicly Accessible Information on Laser Treatments for Urinary Incontinence: What Is Available to Our Patients?

Study Objective: To determine the quality and reliability of the top 20 internet search results for laser treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Design: Review of 20 websites.

Setting: N/A.

Predictors of ICU admission and long-term outcomes in overdose presentations to Emergency Department.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) following overdoses; to identify risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) admission among these patients; and to identify the rate of mortality and repeat overdose presentations over four years.

Methods: Adult patients presenting to ED following drug overdose during 2014 were included. Data were collected from medical notes and hospital databases.

Structure of an Unusual Tetracyclic Deoxyguanosine Adduct: Implications for Frameshift Mutagenicity of -Cyano Nitroanilines.

Nitroaromatic compounds represent a major class of industrial chemicals that are also found in nature. Polycyclic derivatives are regarded as potent mutagens and carcinogens following bioactivation to produce nitrenium electrophiles that covalently modify DNA to afford N-linked C8-2'-deoxyguanosine (C8-dG) lesions that can induce frameshift mutations, especially in CpG repeat sequences. In contrast, their monocyclic counterparts typically exhibit weak mutagenicity or a lack thereof, despite also undergoing bioactivation to afford N-linked C8-dG adducts.

Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis in association with dapagliflozin use after gastric sleeve surgery in a patient with type II diabetes mellitus.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2Is) can be associated with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (eDKA). Severe metabolic acidosis with extreme electrolyte abnormalities can occur with nonsignificant blood glucose elevations in SGLT2I-treated patients. Additional risk factors for eDKA include prolonged fasting, major illness, large weight loss, and reductions in insulin doses.

Incidentally found hyperreactio luteinalis in pregnancy.

Hyperreactio luteinalis (HL) is a rare pregnancy-related condition in which the ovaries become massively enlarged bilaterally, occupied by multiple benign theca lutein cysts, secondary to increased ovarian stimulation by beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (B-hCG). HL should resolve spontaneously postpartum, however, their occurrence has led some physicians unfamiliar with the natural history of the condition to perform unnecessary ovarian cystectomies or oophorectomies. A healthy 32-year-old woman was incidentally found to have new onset multicystic ovaries on ultrasound at 31 + 3 weeks gestational age, which continued to enlarge, with a maximum volume of ∼448.

Dissecting Distinct Roles of NEDDylation E1 Ligase Heterodimer APPBP1 and UBA3 Reveals Potential Evolution Process for Activation of Ubiquitin-related Pathways.

Despite the similar enzyme cascade in the Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like peptide(Ubl) conjugation, the involvement of single or heterodimer E1 activating enzyme has been a mystery. Here, by using a quantitative Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) technology, aided with Analysis of Electrostatic Similarities Of Proteins (AESOP) computational framework, we elucidate in detail the functional properties of each subunit of the E1 heterodimer activating-enzyme for NEDD8, UBA3 and APPBP1. In contrast to SUMO activation, which requires both subunits of its E1 heterodimer AOS1-Uba2 for its activation, NEDD8 activation requires only one of two E1 subunits, UBA3.

Effect of Size and Shape of Nitrogen-Containing Aromatics on Conformational Preferences of DNA Containing Damaged Guanine.

The present work investigates the effects of the size and shape of the nitrogen-containing aromatic (NCA) skeleton on the structure of DNA damaged through adduct formation at C of 2'-deoxyguanosine (dG), a common DNA lesion associated with chemical carcinogenesis. Specifically, density functional theory (DFT) calculations (B3LYP-D3) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (AMBER) are performed on seven model adducts with systematic expansion of the NCA moiety. DFT calculations reveal that the NCA moiety shape affects the structure at the nucleobase-carcinogen linkage.

How Well Does Intraoperative Audiologic Monitoring Predict Hearing Outcome During Middle Fossa Vestibular Schwannoma Resection?

Objective: To evaluate the association between signal changes during intraoperative audiologic monitoring and postoperative audiometric outcome in patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection via middle cranial fossa (MCF) approach.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Academic tertiary referral center.

Does a "Fundal Fluid Cap" Predict Successful Hearing Preservation in Vestibular Schwannoma Resections Via the Middle Cranial Fossa Approach?

Objective: To determine the association between radiographic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cap in the lateral internal auditory canal (IAC) and likelihood of successful hearing preservation in middle cranial fossa (MCF) vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Academic tertiary referral center.