Background: Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a serious condition associated with substantial mortality and morbidity. Previous studies have suggested a possible link between maternal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use and the risk of PPHN. This study aimed to provide an up-to-date review and meta-analysis of the topic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of silver to control infections was common in ancient civilizations. In recent years, this material has resurfaced as a therapeutic option due to the increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance to antimicrobials. This renewed interest has prompted researchers to investigate how the antimicrobial properties of silver might be enhanced, thus broadening the possibilities for antimicrobial applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2018
Oral administration of hydrophobic and poorly intestinal epithelium-permeable drugs is a significant challenge. Herein, we report a new strategy to overcome this problem by using novel, pH-responsive, and membrane-active nanogels as drug carriers. Prepared by simple physical cross-linking of amphiphilic pseudopeptidic polymers with pH-controlled membrane-activity, the size and hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity balance of the nanogels could be well-tuned.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Epidural blood patch (EBP) has been shown to be an effective treatment option for spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). We investigated whether response to the EBP was related to the distance of the injection site from the leakage site in patients with SIH.
Methods: We reviewed patients with SIH who underwent EBP at a single hospital.
Elephantiasis is a symptom characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues in the legs. Pretibial myxedema (PTM) is a non-frequent manifestation of autoimmune thyroiditis, particularly Graves' disease. Lesions of myxedema occur most commonly on the pretibial surfaces, also develop at sites of previous injury or scars and other areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the feasibility of detecting actionable gene mutations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS).
Materials And Methods: In total 50 plasma samples from patients newly diagnosed with advanced NSCLC or resistant to first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were subjected to deep sequencing on a seven-gene panel (BRAF, EGFR, ERBB2, KRAS, NRAS, PIK3CA, PTEN) incorporated with molecular barcodes to improve accuracy in variant detection. When possible, results were compared with those from matched tissue samples.
Objective: To evaluate if there is a difference in gait pattern when applying two different shapes of energy storing prosthetic feet for trainstibial amputation we conducted a comparative study. Energy storing prosthetic feet for transtibial amputation are increasing in use, but there are few studies that evaluate the effects of the shape of energy storing feet on gait patterns.
Methods: Ten unilateral transtibial amputees were recruited.
Reported is a three-electrode mini-cell for voltammetry in 15 μL solutions. The key device component is a rolled platinum foil of an inverted omega-shaped cross section, which functions as both the electrolyte container and the counter-electrode. The analytical assembly was completed with properly sized working and reference electrodes in the two terminals of the quasi-tubular Pt trough.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of human epididymal protein 4 (HE4), cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) and a combination of both via the Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA) in detecting ovarian malignancy. Methods This was a diagnostic study enrolling 129 patients with pelvic mass(es) suspected of originating in the ovary who had been scheduled for surgery or radiological-guided biopsy. Serum HE4 and CA 125 levels were measured.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe concentrations and fates of carbamazepine and metabolites (CBMs), nicotine and metabolites (NCTs), estrogenic compounds and metabolites (Es) in various water samples were investigated. Different concentrations were found for water from different sources. The concentrations of these pharmaceuticals and personal care products and their metabolites in human waste treatment plant (HTP) influents (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Matern Fetal Neonatal Med
February 2020
To provide center-based outcome data on obstetric and neonatal complications arising from expectantly managed pregnancies affected by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) before viability. We collected data on 130 consecutive pregnancies complicated by spontaneous rupture of membranes before 24 week's gestation, occurring over a 7-year period. These were women who delivered >24 h after membrane rupture, and had no signs of chorioamnionitis or advanced labor at admission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSilver was widely used in medicine to treat bacterial infections in the 19th and early 20th century, up until the discovery and development of the first modern antibiotics in the 1940s, which were markedly more effective. Since then, every new antibiotic introduced to the clinic has led to an associated development of drug resistance. Today, the threat of extensive bacterial resistance to antibiotics has reignited interest in alternative strategies to treat infectious diseases, with silver regaining well-deserved renewed attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter publication of the original article [1], it has been found that the author affiliations have been accidentally left out in the PDF. The full affiliations can be found in this correction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preventive efforts targeting childhood anxiety and depression symptoms have the potential to alter the developmental trajectory of depression and anxiety disorders across the lifespan. Substantial previous research suggests that modifiable parenting factors such as parental aversiveness and over-involvement are associated with childhood anxiety, depressive and internalising symptoms, indicating that parents can play a critical role in prevention. The Parenting Resilient Kids study is a new evidence-based online parenting program designed to prevent anxiety and depression problems in primary school-aged children by reducing family-based risk factors and enhancing protective factors through increased positive interactions between parent and child.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelogen effluvium is categorized in nonscarring alopecia, which shows scalp hair thinning and shedding diffusely resulting from inducing factors such as physiological stressful events and several acute or chronic diseases. It usually appears in female patients following parturition, as well as after febrile disease, major surgery, emotional stress, abrupt diet, chronic illness, or the taking of certain medication pills. Two patients who both recalled an operational history of hair transplantation visited our department with their frontal and both temporal hair loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To analyze the effect of lumbar strengthening exercise in lower-limb amputees with chronic low back pain.
Methods: We included in this prospective study 19 lower-limb amputees who had experienced low back pain for longer than 6 months. Participants were treated with 30-minute lumbar strengthening exercises, twice weekly, for 8 weeks.
BMC Bioinformatics
February 2018
Background: DNA damage causes aging, cancer, and other serious diseases. The comet assay can detect multiple types of DNA lesions with high sensitivity, and it has been widely applied. Although comet assay platforms have improved the limited throughput and reproducibility of traditional assays in recent times, analyzing large quantities of comet data often requires a tremendous human effort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFemale pattern hair loss (FPHL) presents with diffuse thinning over the mid-frontal scalp, for which various treatment modalities have been tried. Although currently, oral 5 α-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride are being used, their clinical efficacy remains controversial. We retrospectively investigated 544 premenopausal or postmenopausal patients with FPHL who were prescribed finasteride at a dose of 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSesame is an important oilseed crop, which has been used as a traditional health food to ameliorate the prevention of various diseases. We evaluated the changes in the anti-allergic activities of sesame by bioconversion. SDS-PAGE of non-fermented sesame proteins showed major allergen bands, while that of fermented sesame showed only a few protein bands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMar Pollut Bull
January 2018
This study assessed the methods for analyzing disinfection by-products (DBPs) to determine which were most suitable for ballast water in an approval test according to the Procedure for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems that make use of Active Substances (G9). The existing analysis methods are optimized for drinking water. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the characteristics of ballast water, which has high levels of total residual oxidants (TROs) and salinity, prior to applying the existing methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhat Is Known And Objective: Ketamine in a subanaesthetic dose has been shown to produce rapid antidepressant effects. Here, we describe a long-term follow-up case of a Korean patient with severe major depression who received repeated ketamine intravenous therapy (KIT).
Case Description: A 49-year-old woman with a 6-year history of treatment-resistant major depression was given KIT once every 1 or 2 weeks over 10 months, for a total of 36 treatments.
J Extracell Vesicles
December 2017
Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) such as cholera toxin B chain (CTB)- or annexin V (AV)-binding EVs were previously shown to be rich sources of biomarkers. Here we test if previously identified pre-eclampsia (PE) candidate biomarkers, TIMP-1 in CTB-EVs (CTB-TIMP) and PAI-1 in AV-EVs (AV-PAI) complement plasma PlGF in predicting PE in a low-risk obstetric population. Eight hundred and forty-three prospectively banked plasma samples collected at 28 + 0 to 32 + 0 gestation weeks in the Neonatal and Obstetrics Risk Assessment (NORA) cohort study were assayed by sandwich ELISAs for plasma PlGF, CTB-TIMP1 and AV-PAI1.
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