Background Flail chest is a life-threatening injury typically treated with supportive ventilation and analgesia. Several small studies have suggested large improvements in critical care outcomes ...after surgical fixation of multiple rib fractures. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of surgical fixation and nonoperative management for flail chest injuries. Study Design A systematic review of previously published comparative studies using operative and nonoperative management of flail chest was performed. Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane databases were searched for relevant studies with no language or date restrictions. Quantitative pooling was performed using a random effects model for relevant critical care outcomes. Sensitivity analysis was performed for all outcomes. Results Eleven manuscripts with 753 patients met inclusion criteria. Only 2 studies were randomized controlled designs. Surgical fixation resulted in better outcomes for all pooled analyses including substantial decreases in ventilator days (mean 8 days, 95% CI 5 to 10 days) and the odds of developing pneumonia (odds ratio OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.32). Additional benefits included decreased ICU days (mean 5 days, 95% CI 2 to 8 days), mortality (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.48), septicemia (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.71), tracheostomy (OR 0.06, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.20), and chest deformity (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.60). All results were stable to basic sensitivity analysis. Conclusions The results of this meta-analysis suggest surgical fixation of flail chest injuries may have substantial critical care benefits; however, the analyses are based on the pooling of primarily small retrospective studies. Additional prospective randomized trials are still necessary.
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•Crystallization of anatase type-TiO2 was achieved in the traditional borosilicate glasses.•Heat treatment at 650 °C /10 h was applied to convert the glasses into glass ceramics.•A ...sample with a lower value of TiO2 /Na2O revealed a higher degree of crystallization of anatase.•Both Cr2O3 and NiO enhanced the crystallization of cristobalite; while CoO, Fe2O3, V2O5, MnO, CuO or ZnO significantly enhanced the crystallization of anatase.•The obtained materials can be utilized as electron transport layers of perovskite solar cells.
In this study, crystallization of anatase type-TiO2 was achieved in the traditional borosilicate glasses (Na2O.B2O3.SiO2) for the first time. The effect of the TiO2 /Na2O ratio was studied to optimize the selected glass composition, also the effect of adding a definite amount of different transition metal oxides (TMO) was studied. The glasses were prepared via the conventional melt-quenching method. According to DSC results, heat treatment at 650 °C /10hrs was applied to convert the glasses into glass ceramics. XRD detected the crystallization of anatase, rutile, and cristobalite. A sample with a lower value of TiO2 /Na2O revealed a higher degree of crystallization of anatase than that with a higher value. Both Cr2O3 and NiO additions enhanced the crystallization of cristobalite; while additions of CoO, Fe2O3, V2O5, MnO, CuO or ZnO significantly enhanced the crystallization of anatase in the same order. The morphology of glass ceramic was observed by TEM and SEM, which revealed crystal size < 50 nm. The optical band gap was estimated from UV-Visible absorption spectra, it depicted a wide range of values (4.4–2.1 eV). PL spectra revealed emission colors varied from purple to blue color according to TMO and TiO2 /Na2O ratio. The obtained materials can be utilized as electron transport layers for perovskite solar cells.
Polymer nanocomposite films were prepared using the casting method through filling a polymer mixture of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) (70:30 wt%) by different weight ...ratios (0.0, 0.3, 0.8, 2, 4, and 6 wt%) of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) prepared by sol–gel method. Significant structural and morphological changes of the prepared mixture were noticed upon the increase of CuO NPs content, which in turn led to shift the absorption edge toward the lower frequencies and thus decreased the energy gap value. The electrical and dielectric properties of the polymeric mixture were improved after being filled with CuO NPs reaching their optimum at 2 wt%. For further AC conductivity (
σ
ac
) studies, the temperature dependence of the
σ
ac
and dielectric parameters for the optimum concentration CMC/PEO-CuO NPs (2 wt%) were investigated throughout a wide range of frequencies (0.1Hz–10 MHz). The calculation of the activation energy (
E
a
) and relaxation time (
τ
) suggests that these nanocomposite films are promising for solid-state supercapacitors.
The properties of quantum materials are commonly tuned using experimental variables such as pressure, magnetic field and doping. Here we explore a different approach using irreversible, plastic ...deformation of single crystals. We show that compressive plastic deformation induces low-dimensional superconductivity well above the superconducting transition temperature (T
) of undeformed SrTiO
, with evidence of possible superconducting correlations at temperatures two orders of magnitude above the bulk T
. The enhanced superconductivity is correlated with the appearance of self-organized dislocation structures, as revealed by diffuse neutron and X-ray scattering. We also observe deformation-induced signatures of quantum-critical ferroelectric fluctuations and inhomogeneous ferroelectric order using Raman scattering. Our results suggest that strain surrounding the self-organized dislocation structures induces local ferroelectricity and quantum-critical dynamics that strongly influence T
, consistent with a theory of superconductivity enhanced by soft polar fluctuations. Our results demonstrate the potential of plastic deformation and dislocation engineering for the manipulation of electronic properties of quantum materials.
White spot disease (WSD), a major threat to sustainable aquaculture worldwide, is caused by White spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The diagnosis of WSD relies heavily on molecular detection of the virus ...by one-step PCR. These procedures are neither field-usable nor rapid enough considering the speed at which the virus spreads. Thus, development of a rapid, reliable and field-usable diagnostic method for the detection of WSSV infection is imperative to prevent huge economic losses.
Here, we report on the development of a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) employing gold nanoparticles conjugated to a polyclonal antibody against VP28 (envelope protein of WSSV). The LFIA detected WSSV in ~20 min and showed no cross-reactivity with other shrimp viruses, viz. Monodon Baculovirus (MBV), Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) and Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis virus (IHHNV). The limit of detection (LOD) of the assay, as determined by real-time PCR, was 103 copies of WSSV. In a time course infectivity experiment, ~104 WSSV particles were injected in Litopenaeus vannamei. The LFIA could rapidly (~ 20 min) detect the virus in different tissues after 3 h (hemolymph), 6 h (gill tissue) and 12 h (head soft tissue, eye stalk, and pleopod) of infection. Based on these findings, a validation study was performed using 75 field samples collected from different geographical locations in India. The LFIA results obtained were compared with the conventional "gold standard test", viz. one-step PCR. The analysis of results in 2x2 matrix indicated very high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (96.77%) of LFIA. Similarly, Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.983 suggested "very good agreement" between the developed LFIA and the conventional one-step PCR.
The LFIA developed for the rapid detection of WSSV has an excellent potential for use in the field and could prove to be a boon to the aquaculture industry.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The University of British Columbia's (UBC) Division of General Surgery is a diverse group, including both academic and community surgeons. Since its launch in 2019, the UBC Reticulum website has been ...a transformative tool in engaging general surgeons, fellows, residents, students and researchers through its many features and user-created content, such as its messaging board, Netter, and Connect feature, which connects members based on their specialty, location, procedures and interests. Reticulum also serves as a valuable repository of educational resources and is instrumental in the division's goal of improving continuing medical education; the Reticulum mentorship grant program provides financial support for practising surgeons pursuing peer-mentorship projects. UBC Reticulum serves as a model for how to coordinate surgical education, research and quality improvement within diverse provincial divisions.
In this work, gene expression in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is analyzed with the goal of selecting the most attributed genes and performing classification. The objective was achieved by utilizing ...a combination of various statistical filters and a wrapper-based geometric binary particle swarm optimization-support vector machine (GBPSO-SVM) algorithm. The utilization of different filters was accentuated by incorporating a mean and median ratio criterion to remove very similar genes. The results showed that the most discriminative genes that were identified in the first and last selection steps included the presence of a repetitive gene (CAPS2), which was assigned as the gene most highly related to ASD risk. The merged gene subset that was selected by the GBPSO-SVM algorithm was able to enhance the classification accuracy.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The family Nodaviridae includes two genera, Alphanodavirus and Betanodavirus. The family name derives from the Japanese village of Nodamura where Nodamura virus was first isolated from Culex ...tritaeniorhynchus mosquitoes. Virions are non-enveloped and spherical in shape with icosahedral symmetry (T=3) and diameters ranging from 25 to 33 nm. The genome consists of two molecules of single-stranded positive-sense RNA: RNA1 and RNA2. The virion capsid consists of 180 protein subunits arranged on a T=3 surface lattice. Alphanodaviruses infect insects, whereas betanodaviruses are pathogens of fish. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the taxonomy of the Nodaviridae, which is available at www.ictv.global/report/nodaviridae.
Aims
Drug repurposing is an attractive chemotherapeutic strategy that serves to make up for the inadequacy of current antifungal drugs. The present study aims to repurpose theophylline (THP) against ...Candida albicans. THP is a methylxanthine derived from cocoa beans and tea extracts, generally used as the first‐line drug for asthma and other respiratory disorders.
Methods and Results
We investigated the antifungal activity of THP against C. albicans and non‐albicans species. Mechanistic insights revealed that THP induces membrane damage. Enhanced ionic disturbances and depleted ergosterol levels with the concomitant rise in membrane fluidity due to elevated flippase activity confirmed the membrane damaging effect. THP impeded the metabolic adaptability of C. albicans by inhibiting malate synthase and isocitrate lyase enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle. In vivo efficacy of THP was depicted by increased survival of C. albicans infected Caenorhabditis elegans model.
Conclusions
This study elucidates the antifungal potential of THP with mechanistic insights.
Significance and Impact of the Study
This study unveils the antifungal potential of THP, a known respiratory drug that can be further utilized for a wider range of applications such as combating fungal infections. The effect of THP with the known antifungal drugs can be exploited in the combinatorial drug approach for treating candidiasis.
•Ecofriendly synthesis of Ag decorated ZnO nanoparticles was carried out.•Carya illinoinensis leaves extract was used as reducing and capping agent.•Decoration of Ag increased the photocatalytic ...activity due to trapping of electrons.•The effect of various factors were examined, degradation kinetic of dye (Rhodamine B) obeyed pseudo first order model.
In the present work, ZnO and Ag@ZnO nanoparticles based photocatalyst were synthesized via green route by using the leaves extract of pecan nuts (Carya illinoinensis) for the first time. The phytochemicals present in leaf of extract pecan nuts (Carya illinoinensis) such as methyl gallate and kaempferol act as capping and reducing agents. The obtained photocatalyst were analyzed via various techniques such as XRD (X-ray diffraction), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), PL (Photoluminescence spectroscopy), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and UV (UV–visible spectroscopy). The activity of biogenic photocatalyst were investigated against RhB (Rhodamine B) dye and the results demonstrated that the catalytic properties become enhanced significantly after Ag doping as compared to bare ZnO. The effect of various parameters were also investigated such as pH, catalyst dose, initial concentration of dye. The obtained results showed highest efficacy of catalyst at pH 10, further the photo-degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye followed pseudo first order kinetic model. The reusability test of biogenic photocatalyst revealed that the catalyst was an excellent option for practical use with high stability even after 5 cycles. The mechanism for, ZnO and Ag@ZnO synthesis and degradation pathway of RhB dye was proposed.
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