Incidence of urethrocutaneous fistula after distal and midshaft hypospadias repair does not differ among patients treated with or without a protective second-layer: single tertiary centre experience.

Introduction: Urethrocutaneous fistula (UCF) is the most common complication after hypospadias repair, with an variable incidence of 2-35%, depending on defect type. The interposition of tissue between the neourethra and the skin or glans is considered an important factor to reduce the risk of UCF. Literature has focused on the comparison of different types of second layers, but there is still no consensus regarding the best tissue to adopt.

TRENDING CULTURAL DRIVERS OF SMOKELESS TOBACCO: FOR RECENT REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANTS AS KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIOR DETERMINANTS: A SOUTH TEXAS ORAL HEALTH NETWORK COLLABORATIVE STUDY.

Objectives: Smokeless tobacco (SLT) use is a phenomenon that is detrimental to the health of adults worldwide and dramatically impacts the health of resettled populations. The prevalence of SLT has exponentially grown as a public health threat for the refugee and immigrant populations and is worthy of addressing. This research study examined the SLT cultural drivers of the Texas immigrant and refugee community, which led to their knowledge, perception, awareness, and cessation practices.

Understanding dental practitioners' knowledge and practices of smokeless tobacco: South Texas Oral Health Network study.

Objective: This study, conducted by the South Texas Oral Health Network, evaluated dental practitioners' knowledge, attitudes, and practice behaviors regarding cultural forms of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and effects, using the 5As (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange) framework.

Methods: Chi-squared tests examined associations between dental practitioners' characteristics, self-confidence, knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The 5As tobacco cessation intervention steps were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test to measure changes in the frequency of use between successive steps.

Investigation of on-line electrokinetic enrichment strategies for capillary electrophoresis of extracellular vesicles.

This work explores strategies for electrokinetic preconcentration of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are potential source of biomarkers for different diseases. The first approach that led to successful preconcentration of EVs is based on large volume sample stacking (LVSS), allowing an enrichment factor of 7 for CE of EVs with long-end injection (using a capillary with an effective length of 50 cm). Attempts were also made to perform multiple cycles of LVSS, field amplified sample stacking (FASS) and field amplified sample injection (FASI), to improve EVs preconcentration performance.

Droplet Microfluidics with Capillary Electrophoresis for Glycan Biomarker Analysis.

Several glycoproteins are validated biomarkers of various diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic alcohol abuse, or congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). In particular, CDG represent a group of more than 150 inherited diseases with varied symptoms affecting multiple organs. The distribution of glycans from target glycoprotein(s) can be used to extract information to help the diagnosis and possibly differentiate subtypes of CDG.

A comprehensive investigation of the interactions of human serum albumin with polymeric and hybrid nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles (NPs) engineered as drug delivery systems continue to make breakthroughs as they offer numerous advantages over free therapeutics. However, the poor understanding of the interplay between the NPs and biomolecules, especially blood proteins, obstructs NP translation to clinics. Nano-bio interactions determine the NPs' in vivo fate, efficacy and immunotoxicity, potentially altering protein function.

A review on hyphenation of droplet microfluidics to separation techniques: From instrumental conception to analytical applications for limited sample volumes.

In this study, we review various strategies to couple sample processing in microfluidic droplets with different separation techniques, including liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and capillary electrophoresis. Separation techniques interfaced with droplet microfluidics represent an emerging trend in analytical chemistry, in which micro to femtoliter droplets serve as microreactors, a bridge between analytical modules, as well as carriers of target analytes between sample treatment and separation/detection steps. This allows to overcome the hurdles encountered in separation science, notably the low degree of module integration, working volume incompatibility, and cross contamination between different operational stages.

A Structured Training for Trans Anal Irrigation in Pediatric Patients Improves Outcomes and Reduce Failures: Results of an Interventional Multicenter Prospective Study.

Background: Continence issues due to organic causes including previous colorectal surgery or neurological issues might benefit from Transanal irrigation (TAI) that proved to be highly effective but with a number of limitations including a relatively high discontinuation rates. Our study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of an advanced protocol tailored to each patient to prevent dropout and increase satisfaction, independence, and quality of life.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective, interventional, multicenter, nonrandomized study involving children aged 4-18 years with bowel dysfunction unresponsive to conventional treatments who required TAI.

Fast, simple and calibration-free size characterization and quality control of extracellular vesicles using capillary Taylor dispersion analysis.

This study reports the development of a Taylor Dispersion Analysis (TDA) method for the size characterization of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), which are highly heterogeneous nanoscale cell-derived vesicles (30-1000 nm). Here, we showed that TDA, conducted in uncoated fused silica capillaries (50 µm i.d.

On-line dual-stage enrichment via magneto-extraction and electrokinetic preconcentration: A new concept and instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis.

This study reports on the development of a new concept of on-line dual preconcentration stages for capillary electrophoresis (CE), in which two completely different preconcentration approaches can be realized in the same capillary. In the first stage, a dynamic magneto-extraction of target analytes on circulating magnetic beads is implemented within the capillary. In the second one, electrokinetic preconcentration of eluted analytes via large volume sample stacking is carried out to focus them into a nano band, prior to CE separation of enriched analytes.

Online large volume sample staking preconcentration and separation of enantiomeric GHRH analogs by capillary electrophoresis.

A capillary electrophoresis method is proposed to analyze the four most well-known growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analogs that are misused by athletes. Dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin used as a chiral selector allowed, for the first time, the separation of those basic peptide analogs, including enantiopeptides (sermorelin and CJC-1293) that differ by the chirality of only one amino acid. To increase the method sensitivity, electrokinetic preconcentration methods have been investigated.

Characterization of the physicochemical interactions between exenatide and two intestinal permeation enhancers: Sodium caprate (C) and salcaprozate sodium (SNAC).

A common approach to tackle the poor intestinal membrane permeability of peptides after oral administration is to formulate them with a permeation enhancer (PE). Increased oral bioavailability for oral peptide candidates has been reported from clinical trials when either salcaprozate sodium (SNAC) or sodium caprate (C) is incorporated in the formulation. However, little is known about how they physically interact with peptides in solution.

Lab-in-droplet: From glycan sample treatment toward diagnostic screening of congenital disorders of glycosylation.

We present in this study a new microfluidic droplet platform, named Lab-in-Droplet, for multistep glycoprotein sample treatment. Several operations are required for the sample treatment of a given glycoprotein to profile its N-glycans. In our case, all preparation steps for the analysis of N-glycans from glycoproteins could be realized in an automatic manner and without cross contamination.

In capillary labeling and online electrophoretic separation of N-glycans from glycoproteins.

In this study, we present a new approach for in-capillary fluorescent labeling of N-glycans prior to their analysis with CE coupled with laser-induced fluorescent detection. This integrated approach allows using a CE capillary as a microreactor to perform several steps required for labeling glycans with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6 trisulfonic acid and at the same time as a separation channel for CE of fluorescently labeled glycans. This could be achieved through careful optimization of all different steps, including sequential injections of fluorescent dye and glycan plugs, mixing by transverse diffusion of laminar flow profiles, incubation in a thermostatic zone, and finally separation and detection with CE.

Development of a microfluidic droplet platform with an antibody-free magnetic-bead-based strategy for high through-put and efficient EVs isolation.

In this study, we present a novel microfluidic droplet-based strategy for high performance isolation of extracellular vesicles (EVs). For EVs capture and release, a magnetic bead-based approach without having recourse to any antibody was optimized in batch and then adapted to the microfluidic droplet system. This antibody-free capture approach relies on the presence of a water-excluding polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG), to precipitate EVs on the surface of negatively charged magnetic beads.

Perception of journal club seminars by medical doctoral students: results from five years of evaluation.

A journal club is one of the well-established and popular methods of post-graduate education. In this work, we were interested to understand how the participants perceive journal club as a whole and how they evaluate their personal process of acquiring new scientific knowledge and development of soft-skills as an indispensable prerequisite of the lifelong learning. This study is a survey analysis examining perception of journal club sessions by post-graduate medical students.

High sensitivity capillary electrophoresis with fluorescent detection for glycan mapping.

We present in this study a novel strategy to drastically improve the detection sensitivity and peak capacity for capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescent detection (CE-LIF) of glucose oligomers and released glycans. This is based on a new approach exploiting a polymer-free background electrolyte (BGE) for CE-LIF of glycans. The best performance in terms of sample stacking and suppression of electroosmotic flow (EOF) was found for a BGE composed of triethanolamine/citric acid and triethanolamine/acetic acid at elevated ionic strengths (IS up to 200 mM).

β-Hairpin Peptide Mimics Decrease Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (hIAPP) Aggregation.

Amyloid diseases are degenerative pathologies, highly prevalent today because they are closely related to aging, that have in common the erroneous folding of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) which aggregate and lead to cell death. Type 2 Diabetes involves a peptide called human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), which undergoes a conformational change, triggering the aggregation process leading to amyloid aggregates and fibers rich in β-sheets mainly found in the pancreas of all diabetic patients. Inhibiting the aggregation of amyloid proteins has emerged as a relevant therapeutic approach and we have recently developed the design of acyclic flexible hairpins based on peptidic recognition sequences of the amyloid β peptide (Aβ) as a successful strategy to inhibit its aggregation involved in Alzheimer's disease.

Analytical methods of antibody surface coverage and orientation on bio-functionalized magnetic beads: application to immunocapture of TNF-α.

The use of magnetic beads bio-functionalized by antibodies (Ab) is constantly increasing with a wide range of biomedical applications. However, despite an urgent need for current methods to monitor Ab's grafting process and orientation, existing methods are still either cumbersome and/or limited. In this work, we propose a new simple and rapid analytical approach to evaluate antibody orientation and density on magnetic beads.

Hemophagocytic syndrome secondary to SARS-Cov-2 infection: a case report.

Background: Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a severe hyperinflammatory disease, whose diagnosis is based on the HLH-2004 criteria. In secondary forms of HLH (sHLH), the primary goal is treating the triggering factors such as COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019). The link between the cytokine storm related to COVID-19 and development of sHLH has already been reported since the onset of pandemic, but little is known about clinical manifestations of HLH which develop after the patient's recovery from mild symptomatic or asymptomatic Sars-CoV-2 infection.