The present work describes in vitro and in vivo behaviors of thermosensitive composite hydrogels based on polymers/bioactive glass nanoparticles. Assays in SBF (simulated body fluid) solution showed ...that loss of hydrogel mass in vitro was decreased by 4.3% when bioactive glass nanoparticles (nBG) were incorporated, and confirmed the bioactivity of nBG containing hydrogels. In vitro assays demonstrated the cytocompatibility of the hydrogels with encapsulated rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC). Crystal violet assays showed a 27% increase in cell viability when these cells were seeded in hydrogels containing nBG. In vivo biocompatibility was examined by injecting hydrogels into the dorsum of Swiss rats. The results indicated that the prepared hydrogels were nontoxic upon subcutaneous injection, and could be candidates for a safe in situ gel-forming system. Injection of the hydrogels into a rat tibial defect allowed preliminary evaluation of the hydrogels' regenerative potential. Micro Computed Tomography analysis suggested that more new tissue was formed in the defects treated with the hydrogels. Taken together, our data suggest that the developed injectable composite hydrogels possess properties which make them suitable candidates for use as temporary injectable matrices for bone regeneration.
Jupiter's sodium nebula, which originates from Io's volcanic gas, shows variations in its brightness due to the volcanic activity on Io. Imaging observation of D-line brightness in the sodium nebula ...was performed from 2013 through 2015 in a conjunction with the HISAKI mission. The D-line brightness of the sodium nebula had been stably faint and dim until January 2015, but it showed a distinct enhancement from February through March, 2015. The brightness increased by three times during this enhancement. Details in variations of Jupiter's sodium nebula are shown in this paper.
Background
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a well established treatment for severe obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although the gut microbiota is linked to the efficacy of LSG, the underlying ...mechanisms remain elusive. The effect of LSG for morbid obesity on the gut microbiota and bile acids was assessed here.
Methods
Severely obese subjects who were candidates for LSG were included and followed until 6 months after surgery. The composition and abundance of the microbiota and bile acids in faeces were assessed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, quantitative PCR and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.
Results
In total, 28 patients with a mean(s.d.) BMI of 44·2(6·6) kg/m2 were enrolled. These patients had achieved excess weight loss of 53·2(19·0) per cent and showed improvement in metabolic diseases by 6 months after LSG, accompanied by an alteration in the faecal microbial community. The increase in α‐diversity and abundance of specific taxa, such as Rikenellaceae and Christensenellaceae, was strongly associated with reduced faecal bile acid levels. These changes had a significant positive association with excess weight loss and metabolic alterations. However, the total number of faecal bacteria was lower in patients before (mean(s.d.) 10·26(0·36) log10 cells per g faeces) and after (10·39(0·29) log10 cells per g faeces) operation than in healthy subjects (10·83(0·27) log10 cells per g faeces).
Conclusion
LSG is associated with a reduction in faecal bile acids and greater abundance of specific bacterial taxa and α‐diversity that may contribute to the metabolic changes.
Antecedentes
La gastrectomía vertical laparoscópica (laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, LSG) es un tratamiento bien establecido para la obesidad grave y la diabetes tipo 2. Aunque la microbiota intestinal se ha vinculado con la eficacia de LSG, los mecanismos subyacentes siguen siendo poco conocidos. En este estudio se evaluó el efecto de LSG en la obesidad mórbida sobre la microbiota del intestino y de los ácidos biliares (bile acids, BA).
Métodos
Tras la aprobación del Comité ético y la obtención del consentimiento informado, los sujetos con obesidad grave que eran candidatos para LSG fueron incluidos en el estudio y seguidos durante 6 meses después de la operación. Se evaluaron la composición y abundancia de la microbiota y BA en las heces mediante secuenciación del gen 16S rRNA, PCR cuantitativa y cromatografía líquida‐espectrometría de masas.
Resultados
En total, 28 pacientes con una mediana (rango) del IMC de 43,9 kg/m2 (35,0‐61,9) fueron reclutados y a los 6 meses tras una LSG, consiguieron una pérdida del exceso de peso de 47,3% (20,7‐95,1) y mejoría de las enfermedades metabólicas acompañada de una alteración en la comunidad microbiana fecal. El aumento en la diversidad α y abundancia de especies taxonómicas específicas como Rikenellaceae y Christensenellaceae, se asociaba fuertemente con niveles fecales reducidos de BA. Estos cambios se asociaban de manera positiva y significativa con la pérdida del exceso de peso y las alteraciones metabólicas. Sin embargo, el número total de bacterias fecales en los pacientes fue inferior al de los sujetos sanos (10,84 log10 células/g heces (9,46‐11,35)) antes de la operación (10,26 log10 células/g heces (9,44‐10,91)) y después de la misma (10,42 log10 células/g heces (9,57‐10,96)).
Conclusión
LSG se asoció con menos BA fecal y mayor abundancia de especies bacterianas específicas y diversidad α lo que puede contribuir a los cambios metabólicos.
Obesity is the most common metabolic disease, with an increasing trend worldwide. Bariatric surgery has been proven to be the best line of treatment for morbid obesity. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a well established treatment for severe obesity and type 2 diabetes. To clarify the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of LSG, this study examined the effect of LSG on the gut microbiota and bile acids (BAs) in patients with morbid obesity. The findings indicated an increase in α‐diversity and abundance of specific taxa, such as Rikenellaceae and Christensenellaceae, which was strongly associated with reduced faecal BA levels. These changes were closely associated with excess weight loss and metabolic alterations. However, the total number of bacteria in patients before and after surgery was lower than that in healthy subjects. Quantitative abnormalities in major gut bacteria in patients with morbid obesity were not restored after operation. These findings indicate that LSG alone has limited effects on obesity‐related dysbiosis in the gut microbiota. %EWL, percentage excess weight loss; BW, bodyweight; HbA1c, haemoglobin A1c; HOMA‐R, homeostasis model assessment ratio; HOMA‐β, homeostasis model assessment of β‐cell function; CPI, C peptide immunoreactivity index; CPR, C peptide immunoreactivity; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; TG, triglyceride; HDL, high‐density lipoprotein; PD, phylogenetic diversity; F/B, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes.
Insights into the altered microenvironment
Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) is a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) that suppresses the growth of tumor cells in humans and canines. SAHA reportedly enhances the antitumor activity of ...human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC). However, it is unclear whether a similar effect is exerted in canines. The present study focused on the effect of SAHA on the cytotoxicity of IL-2 activated PBMC in three tumor cell lines (CTAC, CIPm, and MCM-N1). The mRNA expression of a ligand for the NKG2D receptor was upregulated in SAHA-treated cell lines. Moreover, the SAHA-treated cell lines, except MCM-N1 demonstrated a significantly higher PBMC cytotoxicity compared to the untreated cell lines. Therefore, the NKG2DL upregulation likely enhanced the interaction of NKG2D-NKG2DL, leading to enhanced cytotoxicity of PBMC. It was also revealed that activated PBMC treated with SAHA significantly attenuated their cytotoxicity toward all the cell lines. Although the NKG2D, NKp46, NKp44, and NKp30 receptors, involved in PBMC cytotoxicity, were presumed to be downregulated, there was no significant reduction in the mRNA expression of these receptors. This study revealed that SAHA not only sensitizes the canine tumor cells to cytotoxicity due to PBMC activation, but also suppresses the cytotoxicity of PBMC themselves. Therefore, our results highlight the necessity of avoiding this inhibitory action to enhance the antitumor effect of SAHA in canines.
Conventional and activated tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding were conducted under the same welding conditions in an experiment to compare the weld penetration, temperature distribution and angular ...distortion. The results showed that the quantities of heat input per unit welding length were almost the same, but the shapes of the weld penetration and heat-affected zones changed drastically. The difference in angular distortion between conventional and activated TIG welding was strongly dependent on the thickness of the welded plate. A distortion analysis was developed by considering convective heat transfer in the weld pool to obtain a more detailed understanding of the temperature distribution effect on the relation between welding heat input and angular distortion. The resulting distinguishable curves for conventional and activated TIG welding, which can lead to the thickness dependence of differences in angular distortion, showed the traditional relation between the heat input parameter and the angular distortion.
Synopsis Theoretical understanding of hyperfine coupling constant (HFCC) is important to analyze muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance (μSR) spectrum. We performed ab initio path integral molecular ...dynamics simula-tions to predict and analyze the reduced HFCCs of muoniated thioacetone radical (Mu-TACE) and hydrogenated thioacetone radical (H-TACE). Our predicted HFCC value of Mu in Mu-TACE was larger than that of H in H-TACE, because of the larger nuclear quantum effect of positive muon.
Wrong-side block is an uncommon yet potentially preventable complication of regional anaesthesia. One strategy for reducing the incidence of wrong-side block is to introduce an additional check into ...the pre-block workflow in the form of a block 'time out' or 'stop before you block'. In the aftermath of a wrong-side block incident at our institution, the mandatory use of a preblock safety checklist was successfully introduced into the workflow of the block room. Compliance with the checklist rose from 31% in the six-month pre-intervention phase to over 90% in the six-month post-intervention phase. This was achieved without any negative effect on block efficacy, theatre efficiency, complication rates or patient satisfaction. The high rate of checklist utilisation was associated with an increased rate of ultrasound video documentation. This suggests that there may be collateral benefit to using a pre-block safety checklist in addition to merely reducing the risk of wrong-side block.
A common complication of central venous access devices (CVADs) is catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CABSI). We previously demonstrated that insertion of CVADs on the right side was ...associated with increased risk of CABSI, and hypothesized that this related to the predominance of right-handedness in the patient population, resulting in greater movement and bacterial contamination.
To perform a prospective randomized, controlled, non-blinded study to determine whether the side of CVAD insertion influenced the incidence of CABSI.
Adult cancer patients were randomly allocated to either dominant or non-dominant side CVAD insertion. The primary endpoint of the study was the number of line-days until CABSI, determined in a blinded fashion by two assessors.
In all, 640 CVADs were randomized to dominant (N = 322) or non-dominant (N = 318) side of insertion, 60% had haematological malignancies, and 40% solid tumours. CVADs were a peripherally inserted central catheter line (67%), tunnelled CVAD (23%), and non-tunnelled CVAD (10%). Twenty-two percent of CVADs were complicated by CABSI. The rate of CABSI per 1000 line-days was 3.49 vs 3.66 in the non-dominant vs dominant group (hazard ratio (HR): 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65–1.28). By multivariable analysis, the rate of CABSI was increased by: use of tunnelled CVADs compared to peripherally inserted central venous catheter lines (HR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.45–2.91); having a haematological malignancy compared to non-gastrointestinal solid tumours (5.55; 2.47–12.5); but not dominant compared to non-dominant side of CVAD (0.97; 0.69–1.36).
CABSI in adult patients with cancer was not impacted by whether CVAD insertion was on the dominant or non-dominant side.
There is limited research on the relationship between side of insertion of central venous catheter (CVAD) and bloodstream infection risk in patients with cancer.
To conduct an exploratory analysis of ...data from a randomized control trial (RCT) and data from a prospective cohort study to compare infection rates for right- and left-sided insertions.
The study populations were patients aged >14 years with cancer from two tertiary hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. The primary endpoint was catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CABSI) adjudicated by blinded assessors. For the RCT, randomized intention-to-treat comparisons were conducted between left- and right-side allocated insertion for early (≤14 days) and late (>14 days) infection using Cox proportional hazards regression. The RCT data were also combined with cohort study data collected from one of the hospitals prior to the RCT and non-randomized comparisons conducted between left- and right-sided insertions.
In 634 randomly allocated CVADs there were 141 CABSIs. Analysis showed strong evidence of right-side allocated insertions having an increased risk of early infection by 2.5 times (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3–4.7); however, there was no evidence of increased risk for late infection (hazard ratio: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.71–1.59). Results from analysis of the RCT and cohort study data combined (2786 CVADs and 385 CABSIs) were similar.
There appears to be an increased risk of CABSI in patients with cancer for CVAD inserted into the right-side for around two weeks after line insertion. The mechanism underpinning the increased risk is unknown.
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