Alleviating symptoms of paediatric acute rhinosinusitis and acute otitis media with otorrhea using nasal-spraying Bacillus probiotics: a randomized controlled trial.

Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) in children may be accompanied by acute otitis media (AOM) which is often associated with bacterial co-infections. These conditions are among the primary reasons that children visit hospitals and require antibiotic treatment. This study evaluated the efficacy of the nasal-spraying probiotics (LiveSpo Navax containing 5 billion Bacillus subtilis and B.

Piezoelectric biosensor with dissipation monitoring enables the analysis of bacterial lytic agent activity.

Antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus pose a significant threat in healthcare, demanding urgent therapeutic solutions. Combining bacteriophages with conventional antibiotics, an innovative approach termed phage-antibiotic synergy, presents a promising treatment avenue. However, to enable new treatment strategies, there is a pressing need for methods to assess their efficacy reliably and rapidly.

Effect of individual spinal muscle activities on upright posture using a human body finite element model.

The occurrence of diseases characterized by irregular spinal alignment, such as kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis, and dropped head syndrome (DHS) is increasing, particularly among older adults. DHS is characterized by an excessive forward tilt of the head and neck, causing the head to droop. Although it is believed that muscle activity plays a role in both the onset and treatment of DHS, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Utility and clinical significance of endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue acquisition for diagnosing lymphadenopathies in biliary tract cancer.

Lymph node sampling with endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) may affect treatment options for biliary tract cancers. Our aim is to clarify its utility and clinical significance and the factors associated with FNA cytology positivity. Seventy-one consecutive patients with biliary tract cancer who underwent EUS-FNA to diagnose lymphadenopathies from April 2012 to July 2021 were enrolled retrospectively.

Tinea manuum: a 5 year retrospective study of demographic data, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes.

Tinea manuum is a superficial fungal infection affecting the hands, particularly the palms and interdigital areas. This retrospective study investigated clinical features, laboratory findings, treatment, and outcomes in patients with fungal hand infections at Siriraj Hospital between 2016 and 2020. Among 107 patients, representing 1.

Capacitance enhancement by ion-laminated borophene-like layered materials.

Atomically flat two-dimensional networks of boron are attracting attention as post-graphene materials. An introduction of cations between the boron atomic layers can exhibit unique electronic functions that are not achieved by neutral graphene or its derivatives. In the present study, we propose a synthesis strategy for ion-laminated boron layered materials in a solution phase, which enables the preparation of analogs by changing the alkali-metal species.

Biosynthetic characterization of bacillibactin in thermophilic Bacillaceae and its potential for in vitro mutational synthesis.

Bacillibactin (BB) is a microbial siderophore produced by Bacillus species. BB is biosynthesized from 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHB), Gly, and L-Thr by nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) enzymes DhbE, DhbB, and DhbF. The biosynthetic gene cluster (dhb) is also conserved in some strains of thermophilic genera, Geobacillus, Anoxybacillus and Parageobacillus.

Growth inhibition by ppc deletion is rescued by isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations in Escherichia coli.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase encoded by ppc catalyzes the anaplerotic reaction of oxaloacetate in the TCA cycle in Escherichia coli. Deletion of ppc does not prevent the cells from replenishing oxaloacetate via the glyoxylate shunt, but the ppc-deletion strain almost did not grow on glucose. In the present study, we obtained evolved strains by deleting both ppc and mutS to increase the mutation rate and investigated the mechanisms for improving growth by analyzing the mutated genes.

Modeling ocular surface ion and water transport by generation of lipid- and mucin-producing human Meibomian gland and conjunctival epithelial cells.

Despite the importance of ocular surface in human physiology and diseases, little is known about ion channel expression, properties and regulation in ocular epithelial cells. Furthermore, human primary epithelial cells have rarely been studied in favor of rat, mouse and especially rabbit animal models. Here, we developed primary human Meibomian gland (hMGEC) and conjunctival (hConEC) epithelial cells.

Original article: Efficacy and safety of single-dose suraxavir marboxil tablet in the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza in adults: a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 clinical trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of suraxavir marboxil (GP681, abbreviated as suraxavir) in adults with uncomplicated influenza.

Methods: We conducted a multi-center randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in 18 Chinese centers. Participants had to be aged 18-65 years with positive influenza test, presenting with at least one influenza systemic and respiratory symptoms in at least moderate severity within 48 hours of onset.

Applications of modified lignocellulose and its composites prepared by different pretreatments in biomedicine: A review.

Lignocellulosic biomass represents one of the most abundant renewable biological resources on earth. Despite its current underutilization as a source of high-value chemicals, it has promising applications in biomedical and other fields. Presently, lignocellulose is predominantly transformed into high-value-added products, e.

The nucleolin antagonist N6L and paclitaxel combination treatment could be a new promising therapeutic strategy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma therapy.

Pancreatic cancer (PCa) is one of the most devastating cancers with few clinical signs and no truly effective therapy. In recent years, our team has demonstrated that nucleolin antagonists such as N6L could be a therapeutic alternative for this disease. In order to study a possible clinic development of N6L (multivalent pseudopeptide), we undertook to study the effect of combination of N6L with chemotherapies classically used for PCa on the survival of pancreatic cancer cells.

Combination of clinical frailty score and myostatin concentrations as mortality predictor in hemodialysis patients.

Background And Aims: Frailty is common among hemodialysis (HD) patients. Its assessment is usually based on clinical criteria. In the present work, we evaluated the interest of combining clinical frailty score and biomarkers to predict mortality of chronic HD patients.

Involvement of nuclear atrophy of binucleated hepatocytes in the large micronucleus formation induced by rat hepatocarcinogen acetamide.

Acetamide is a hepatocarcinogen in rats. We previously revealed that acetamide induces characteristic large micronuclei in rat liver, suggesting the possible involvement of chromosome aberrations in acetamide-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. To elucidate the mechanism of large micronuclei formation, in this study we examined time-dependent changes in rat hepatocytes after administration of acetamide.

Association of glycemic variability with short and long-term mortality among critically ill patients with heart failure: Analysis of the MIMIC-IV database.

Objective: High glycemic variability (GV) often indicates a poor prognosis. Our aim is to investigate the relationship between GV and short and long-term mortality in critically ill heart failure (HF) patients.

Methods: We extracted data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV database.

Selective pressure of various levels of erythromycin on the development of antibiotic resistance.

This study evaluated microbial fitness under selective pressure of various erythromycin concentrations and the development of resistance genes in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis).

Technical Stroke Regulations Discriminate Pacing Effectiveness During a 5-km Indoor Pool Race.

Purpose: To investigate technical regulation mechanisms of long-distance swimmers that differentiate optimal pacing strategies and the underlying kinematic parameters.

Methods: Twenty-one national and international swimmers were equipped with a sacrum-worn inertial measurement unit performed during 5000-m indoor French championships. Percentage of critical swimming speed (CSS), stroke rate, stroke length, jerk cost, stroke index, and mechanical proficiency score were computed by lap.

Influences of upper limb orthosis on trunk muscle activity during static and dynamic sitting tasks for hemiparetic stroke.

Background: We aimed to clarify the immediate effect of wearing the Omo Neurexa upper limb suspended orthosis (Ottobock Japan, Tokyo, Japan) on trunk muscle activity during seated tasks.

Methods: Fifteen participants with upper limb hemiparesis were included. Surface electromyography of the thoracic and lumbar erector spinae and the external oblique muscles was performed.

How short-term change in temperature or salinity affect cellular immune parameters of three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus?

Reference values for the non-specific immune response of stickleback have been developed to better understand the natural variability of the immunomarkers and to increase their relevance for the detection of environmental perturbations. However, under field conditions, temperature and salinity can vary from station to station and their influence on the reference ranges of the immunomarkers should therefore be quantified. To this end, adult sticklebacks were exposed either to different temperatures (from 12 to 18 °C) or to different salinities (from 0 to 30 g/L) for 21 days after 10 days of acclimatization.

ManiNeg: Manifestation-guided multimodal pretraining for mammography screening.

Breast cancer poses a significant health threat worldwide. Contrastive learning has emerged as an effective method to extract critical lesion features from mammograms, thereby offering a potent tool for breast cancer screening and analysis. A crucial aspect of contrastive learning is negative sampling, where the selection of hard negative samples is essential for driving representations to retain detailed lesion information.

New cinnamic acid sugar esters as potential UVB filters: Synthesis, cytotoxicity, and physicochemical properties.

Cinnamic Acid Sugar Ester Derivatives (CASEDs) are a class of natural compounds that exhibit several interesting biological activities. However, to date, no examples of their use in sunscreen formulations have been reported. Here, we describe the synthesis of a series of novel cinnamic acid esters of glucose (4a-g), ribose (4h) and lactose (4i) starting from the respective acetals 3.

Magnetic vector field mapping of the stimulated abductor digiti minimi muscle with optically pumped magnetometers.

Mapping the myomagnetic field of a straight and easily accessible muscle after electrical stimulation using triaxial optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) to assess potential benefits for magnetomyography (MMG). Approach: Six triaxial OPMs were arranged in two rows with three sensors each along the abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscle. The upper row of sensors was inclined by 45° with respect to the lower row and all sensors were aligned closely to the skin surface without direct contact.

Simulation of fluid flow with Cuprophan and AN69ST membranes in the dialyzer during hemodialysis.

Hemodialysis is a crucial procedure for removing toxins and waste from the body when kidneys fail to perform this function effectively. This study addresses the need to improve the efficiency and biocompatibility of membranes used in dialyzers. We simulate fluid flow through two types of membranes, Cuprophan (cellulosic) and AN69ST (synthetic), to understand the complex mechanisms involved and quantify key variables such as pressure, concentration, and flow.

A national survey on gastroenterology and hepatology training reveals dissimilar perceptions between trainees and trainers and an important need for improvement in training programs.

Objective: We aimed to collect data on gastroenterology and hepatology training from the viewpoint of trainees and trainers.

Methods: A national online survey was distributed among trainees and specialists at certified training institutions between February and May 2024.

Results: Overall, 226 respondents - 98 trainees, 78 trainers, 50 program directors, and department heads responded, with a national coverage of 70% of trainees and 85% of specialty-department heads.