How does an undergraduate pain course influence future physicians' awareness of chronic pain concepts? A comparative study.

Objective: Pain is one of the most undertreated medical complaints, with barriers to effective pain management lying in poor education of health professionals and misconceptions regarding patients in pain. The aim of this study was to assess whether an elective undergraduate course on chronic pain offered in Greek medical schools influences knowledge and attitudes of medical undergraduates about chronic pain and helps them clarify pain-related concepts.

Methods: An electronic questionnaire with 6 demographic and 21 pain-related items was uploaded on SurveyMonkey.

Insights into the alteration of osteoblast mechanical properties upon adhesion on chitosan.

Cell adhesion on substrates is accompanied by significant changes in shape and cytoskeleton organization, which affect subsequent cellular and tissue responses, determining the long-term success of an implant. Alterations in osteoblast stiffness upon adhesion on orthopaedic implants with different surface chemical composition and topography are, thus, of central interest in the field of bone implant research. This work aimed to study the mechanical response of osteoblasts upon adhesion on chitosan-coated glass surfaces and to investigate possible correlations with the level of adhesion, spreading, and cytoskeleton reorganization.

Attachment, spreading, and adhesion strength of human bone marrow cells on chitosan.

The successful integration of an orthopedic implant into bone depends on the mechanisms at the tissue-implant interface and mostly on the osteoblast attachment phenomenon. Chitosan has emerged as an attractive biomacromolecule favoring osseointegration. In this study highly deacetylated chitosan coatings, with roughness of about 1 nm, were bonded to glass surfaces via silane-glutaraldehyde molecules.

Red blood cell deformability in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Red blood cell (RBC) deformability is a major determinant of the ability of the RBC to pass repeatedly through the microcirculation. A decrease in RBC deformability leads to tissue perfusion and organ dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to measure the rigidity of RBCs from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive individuals and investigate its relation to immune status and viral load.

Severe sepsis and diabetes mellitus have additive effects on red blood cell deformability.

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is accompanied by microvascular complications leading to organ dysfunction, while sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetics. We addressed the hypothesis that red blood cell (RBC) deformability may be additively compromised in septic diabetic patients, leading to a further impairment of microcirculation.

Methods: Forty patients suffering from severe sepsis, 12 patients suffering from diabetes and 24 diabetic patients with severe sepsis were enrolled.

Influence of contrast media on red blood cell deformability.

Iodinated contrast media (CM) are widely used in diagnostic imaging and therapeutic interventional procedures of everyday clinical practice and are associated with multiple hemodynamic and hemorheological effects. The purpose of our work was to investigate the red blood cell (RBC) rheological properties after in vivo administration of low-osmolar or iso-osmolar CM by measuring their membrane deformability (Index of Rigidity, IR) using a filtration method. Blood samples were taken from patients who underwent digital subtraction angiography of the peripheral arteries at various times before and after intravenous administration of CM.

Red blood cell deformability in patients with sepsis: a marker for prognosis and monitoring of severity.

Sepsis in different states of severity (sepsis, severe sepsis, septic shock and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)) is associated with microcirculatory blood flow abnormalities leading to decreased red blood cell's (RBC's) deformability, impaired oxygen delivery to tissues and organs failure. The main goal of the present study, was to first determine the values of RBC's deformability, in the course of patients treated in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for basically sepsis and then deteriorated states and secondly to establish the prognostic efficiency of the test. For this purpose a filtration method and the hemorheometer, was used to determine experimentally the RBC's deformability, by measuring the RBC's Index of Rigidity (IR).

Effect of hydroxyurea on the deformability of the red blood cell membrane in patients with sickle cell anemia.

Sickle cell disease is characterized by vaso-occlusive episodes, mainly in the small vessels, resulting in tissue ischemia, multi-organ failure, and, occasionally, death. Hydroxyurea (HU) is an agent with important and effective role in the treatment of patients suffering from this disease. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of HU on the deformability of the red blood cell's membrane (RBCM) in an effort to possibly improve the rheological properties of the RBCs of patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA), as well as to investigate the mechanical and rheological properties of these cells using micropipette and filtration techniques.