Background
Fournier's gangrene is a form of necrotising fasciitis involving perineo‐scrotal skin. It is treated with radical debridement, infection control and often leaves a large anatomical defect ...that is challenging to reconstruct. The anatomical location of the defect leads to faecal contamination, difficulties when mobilizing, and negative psychological impact. Traditional approaches for managing such defects have relied on either healing by secondary intention or skin grafting. There are few reported cases in the literature to cover such defects with a flap.
Methods
Pedicled Superficial Circumflex Iliac Artery Perforator (SCIP) flap reconstruction was performed in three patients who had perineo‐scrotal defects following debridement for Fournier's gangrene.
Results
All flaps survived with no significant postoperative complications and good functional and aesthetic outcomes were achieved. The mean age of patient was 52 years and the largest defect measured 22 × 10 cm.
Conclusion
The reconstruction of perineo‐scrotal defects is difficult despite a range of reconstructive options. The pedicled SCIP flap offers many advantages over standard techniques. This flap is thin, pliable, and has a consistent anatomy. With continued experience, we feel that this flap could be considered the gold standard of treatment for such defects.
Perineoscrotal defects are difficult to reconstruct. SCIP flap is an easy and a reliable option for reconstructing scrotal defects following Fournier's gangrene. The flap is naturally thin flap and provides good aesthetic and functional coverage. With continued experience SCIP could be considered the gold standard treatment of perineoscrotal defects.
Background
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a common procedure performed commonly using left internal mammary artery (LIMA). We report a case of sternal wound dehiscence and breast necrosis ...following LIMA harvest in a 55‐year‐old obese lady with macromastia, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and end stage renal disease requiring dialysis. We also review the existing literature.
Methods
Publications were identified from Medline All, Web of Science Core Collection, Google Scholar and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trial between 1974 and 2 January 2020. We assessed patient co‐morbidities, presentation time frame, quadrant of breast necrosis and reconstruction option utilized.
Results
There were 18 cases of breast necrosis reported post‐CABG. The patients were aged 50 or over, morbidly obese and had large tubular breasts. Other risk factors included chronic renal insufficiency, diabetes and hypertension. The presentation was delayed with necrosis only evident 7 days or more after CABG. All the reported cases had necrosis at lower inner quadrant of the left breast with nipple‐areola complex.
Conclusion
Blood supply to the breast is segmental with considerable overlap, however, this overlap is reduced in large breasts. Patients with macromastia and multiple co‐morbidities need preoperative imaging (computed tomography angiogram) to evaluate breast vascularity prior to CABG. Risk of breast necrosis needs to be explained during the informed consent. Surgical management of the hypermastia (breast reduction or amputation) may be a factor in facilitating the CABG procedure if indeed the LIMA is absolutely indicated considering the risks and benefits.
Female patients with macromastia and multiple co‐morbidities, being considered for coronary artery bypass grafting surgery need to have preoperative imaging and risk of breast necrosis needs to be explained.
Allophylus serratus mediated silver nanoparticles biosynthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial activity were described. The synthesis of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by visual observation: ...UV-Vis spectrum, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). UV-Vis spectroscopy studies showed that the absorption spectra of synthesized silver nanoparticles from leaf and callus extracts had absorbance peak range of 440 nm and 445 nm, respectively. The X-RD pattern revealed the presence of crystalline, dominantly spherical silver nanoparticles in the sample having size ranging from 42 to 50 nm. The XRD peaks 38.2°, 44.1°, 64.1°, and 77.0° for leaf extract and 38.1°, 44.3°, 64.5°, 77.5°, and 81.33° for callus extract can be assigned the plane of silver crystals (111), (200), (220), and (311), respectively, and indicate that the silver nanoparticles are face-centered, cubic, and crystalline in nature. SEM and EDS analysis also confirmed the presence of silver nanoparticles. The FTIR results showed the presence of some biomolecules in extracts that act as reducing and capping agent for silver nanoparticles biosynthesis. The synthesized silver nanoparticles showed significant antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis, with no specific antiviral to treat the infection and the absence of a suitable vaccine to prevent it. While some individuals contracting the ...SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibit a well coordinated immune response and recover, others display a dysfunctional immune response leading to serious complications including ARDS, sepsis, MOF; associated with morbidity and mortality. Studies revealed that in patients with a dysfunctional immune response, there is a massive cytokine and chemokine release, referred to as the 'cytokine storm'. As a result, such patients exhibit higher levels of pro-inflammatory/modulatory cytokines and chemokines like TNFα, INFγ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17, G-CSF, GM-CSF, MCSF, HGF and chemokines CXCL8, MCP1, IP10, MIP1α and MIP1β. Targeting this cytokine storm is a novel, promising treatment strategy to alleviate this excess influx of cytokines observed at the site of infection and their subsequent disastrous consequences. Natural immunosuppressant compounds, derived from plant sources like curcumin, luteolin, piperine, resveratrol are known to inhibit the production and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This inhibitory effect is mediated by altering signal pathways like NF-κB, JAK/STAT, MAPK/ERK that are involved in the production and release of cytokines and chemokines. The use of these natural immunosuppressants as adjuvants to ameliorate the cytokine storm; in combination with antiviral agents and other treatment drugs currently in use presents a novel, synergistic approach for the treatment and effective cure of COVID-19. This review briefly describes the immunopathogenesis of the cytokine storm observed in SARS-CoV-2 infection and details some natural immunosuppressants that can be used as adjuvants in treating COVID-19 disease.
We report the use of a water-soluble anionic cobalt(ii) tetrakis(p-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (CoTPPS) as a stable, active, and efficient catalyst for electrocatalytic H2 generation from neutral H2O ...without any organic additives. The molecule features nearly quantitative Faradaic efficiency with a turnover frequency of ∼1.83 s(-1) measured over 1 h and a turnover number of 1.9 × 10(4) moles of H2 per mole of catalyst with no loss of activity over 73 h at an applied potential of -1.29 V (vs. SHE) in neutral phosphate buffer solution.
•Wheat seedlings grown under elevated CO2 displayed significant changes in nitrate uptake kinetic components.•Elevated CO2 enhanced the production of nitric oxide in wheat seedlings receiving high ...nitrate supply.•Induction in rate of uptake by exogenous nitric oxide treatment was significantly lower in elevated CO2.•Elevated CO2 also hindered nitrogen assimilation, however wheat genotype with high leaf nitrate assimilation capacity was able to maintain nitrate uptake rate under elevated CO2 albeit at lower level in comparison to control.
The nitrogen (N) and protein concentration of wheat crop and grain often decline as a result of exposure of the crop to elevated CO2 (EC). In our earlier studies, it was found that the exacerbated production of nitric oxide (NO) represses the transcription of nitrate reductase (NR) and high affinity nitrate transporters (HATS) in EC grown wheat seedlings receiving high N. High N supply under EC also resulted in accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species (RNS; NO and S- nitrosothiols) ensuing faster senescence and reduced N metabolite concentration in wheat. In this study, the effect of short-term exposure to EC on nitrate uptake kinetics was studied. The impact of EC on constitutive and inducible components of high affinity and low affinity nitrate uptake systems (HATS and LATS) were delineated in two wheat genotypes diverse in terms of nitrate uptake and assimilation capacities. Nitrate dose-response of NR was suppressed by EC in both leaf and root tissues. Plants grown under EC displayed a marked reduction in nitrate uptake kinetic components of LATS. Wheat genotype with high leaf nitrate assimilation capacity was able to maintain considerably higher nitrate uptake rate under EC albeit at a lower rate in comparison to ambient CO2. Wheat leaves exposed to EC displayed a comparatively higher abundance of NO and showed incremental abundance depending on increase in nitrate supply. Exogenous NO supply significantly suppressed the nitrate uptake rate of EC grown plants. Hence, EC-induced production of NO downregulates LATS kinetics in a genotype and nitrate dose-dependent manner.
Oleic acid-coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized using the chemical co-precipitation route and characterized by standard techniques for structure, morphology, and magnetic properties ...analysis. The Rietveld refined X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles indicated the formation of a cubic-spinel single-phase structure with the Fd3̅m space group. The average crystallite size (∼12 nm) confirmed the nanocrystalline appearance of the prepared CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed the spherical nature of both (CoFe2O4) and (OA-CoFe2O4) samples. The absorption bands in the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum at ∼3418, 3026, 1628, 1404, 1068, 845, 544, and 363 cm–1 affirmed the spinel ferrite formation and OA attachment. The M–H curve recorded at room temperature showed the superparamagnetic nature of the CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with moderate saturation magnetization (∼78 emu/gm). The blocking temperature of the prepared CoFe2O4 nanoparticles obtained from the field-cooled and zero-field-cooled (FC–ZFC) curve was estimated to be 144 K. Further, the characterized surface-modified CoFe2O4 was then added in ethylene glycol/water with various concentrations and characterized by the induction heating technique for the evaluation of their self-heating characteristics. A series of temperature versus time measurements were made by varying the ethylene glycol/water proportion for better understanding of the self-heating characteristics of the prepared CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. All of the findings display the applicability of the surface-modified CoFe2O4 nanoparticles in magnetic fluid hyperthermia toward noninvasive cancer treatment and other bio-applications.
Magnetic nanofluids (commonly known as ferrofluids) have captured the great attention of the researchers due to their various kinds of applications such as heat transfer, hyperthermia treatments, ...targeted drug delivery etc. The present experimental investigations deal with the thermoacoustic behaviour of the water based nanofluids of nickel ferrites. The magnetic nickel ferrite nanoparticles were produced by the simple and inexpensive chemical co-precipitation route. The prepared nanoparticles were exposed to different characterization tools for structural, morphological, compositional and magnetic properties analysis. X-ray diffraction analysis with Rietveld refinement confirmed the single phasic nature with nanometric crystallite size of the prepared nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscope images revealed the spherical and nanocrystalline morphology of the prepared nanoparticles. The M-H plot recorded at room temperature revealed the superparamagnetic nature of the nanoparticles. Further, the co-precipitated nickel ferrite nanoparticles with different concentrations were utilized for the preparation of the water based magnetic nanofluids. Colloidal stability of the prepared nanofluids was analyzed by UV–Vis spectroscopy technique and it revealed the stability over 11 days without separation in phase. The temperature dependent thermoacoustic properties of the prepared nanofluids were analyzed through Ultrasonic Interferometer. The interaction between particle–particle and particle–fluid are explained on the basis of thermo-acoustic parameters.
As the world is at present confronting tremendous issues concerning the atmosphere, energy, and the environment, catalysis innovations have all the earmarks of being getting critical to energy, ...synthesis process, and environmental areas. In the recent years, transformation of the research on catalytic activities and advanced catalyst was seen with the advancement of nanotechnology. Undoubtedly, the utilization of nanomaterials in catalysis and, all the more especially, inorganic nanoparticles has pulled in many research attempts over the globe to create imaginative and greener conventions. These nanoparticles can be used as the catalyst or as mediator and can encourage the reactant procedure in new medium such as, water. Besides, attributable to their little size and expanded surface area, nano-catalysts have obviously risen as offering an interesting candidate at the interface among homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, taking into consideration an expanded response rate. Furthermore, nanoparticles give extra reactant functionalities because of their interesting inherent properties (e.g., nanomagnetism, photocatalytic activity). Along these lines, in this pursuit for eco-friendly and more affordable catalyst, nano-catalysis is turning into a significant field in science, which is applied broadly in the academics and industrial areas. This brief review principally centered around portraying the major comprehension of nano-catalysis, how remarkable catalytic property and other explicit properties of nanomaterials rely upon its size and structure at the nano level.
The silica aerogel was synthesized by simple and cost-effective sol-gel process under ambient pressure drying. The wet gel was modified by using trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) as silylating agent. The ...prepared aerogel was characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyzer (TG-DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyzer, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometer for structural, thermal, functional, surface, morphological and optical properties. The presence of hump in X-ray diffraction pattern revealed the amorphous nature of prepared silica aerogel. Thermal stability of silica aerogel investigated by TG-DTA show a hydrophobic nature up to 478 °C. FE-SEM images confirmed the porous nature of silica aerogel. The surface area and pore radius measured by BET analyzer disclosed as 792.308 m2/g and 5.779 nm respectively while the total pore volume is 2.289 cc/g. Superhydrophobic nature of silica aerogel sample was affirmed by contact angle measurements. The energy band gap calculated from UV–Vis spectra was found to be 4.25 eV confirming the insulating nature of prepared silica aerogel. The resulting silica aerogel possesses high thermal stability, Superhydrophobicity and large specific surface area which can be useful in various applications such as catalysis, coating materials, oil spill cleanup processes and insulating materials.
Display omitted
•Synthesis of silica aerogel by simple and economic ambient pressure drying method.•Trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) used as a silylating agent for surface modifications.•Prepared aerogels shown high thermal stability with respect to hydrophobicity.•Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis disclosed large surface area of prepared aerogel.•High contact angle value affirmed the superhydrophobic nature of the aerogel.
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