Lipid Profile as a Predictive Marker for Organ Dysfunction after Thoracoabdominal Surgery: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Plasma total cholesterol is considered a negative acute phase reactant. In various pathological conditions, such as trauma, sepsis, burns, and liver dysfunction, as well as post-surgery, serum cholesterol level decreases. This study aimed to investigate the role of lipid profiles in determining the probability of organ dysfunction after surgery. Methods: This cross-sectional study included patients who underwent thoracoabdominal surgery and were admitted to the intensive care unit of Imam Reza Hospital in Tabriz, Iran, between October 2016 and September 2018. During the first two days of admission, blood samples were taken, and serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and albumin were measured. The relation between the changes in these laboratory markers and six organ functions including cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, central nervous system, hepatic, and hematologic, length of stay in the hospital and intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation duration, and vasopressor use were investigated. The independent t test was used to compare continuous variables. The association between different variables and organ dysfunction and mortality was evaluated by using logistic regression. Results: The serum TC increased the risk of mortality (OR=1.09, 95%CI=1.06-1.11, P<0.001), renal dysfunction (OR=1.09, 95%CI=1.06-1.12; P<0.001), liver dysfunction (OR=1.07, 95%CI=1.03-1.10; P<0.001), respiratory dysfunction (OR=1.08, 95%CI=1.05-1.13; P<0.001). Moreover, LDL, HDL, and TG were found to be inversely related to mortality, organ dysfunction, length of stay in the hospital and intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation duration, and vasopressor use. Conclusion: TC could be considered a risk factor for mortality, organ dysfunction, and clinical outcomes. On the other hand, LDL, HDL, and TG played a protective role in the patients' mortality, organ dysfunction, and clinical outcomes.

Postesophagectomy chylothorax: a review of the risk factors, diagnosis, and management.

Chylothorax is a crucial postoperative complication of esophagectomy. Characterized by the leakage of chyle and lymphatic fluid through the thoracic duct, chylothorax could result in pleural effusion, respiratory distress, shortness of breath, cardiac arrhythmia, electrolyte imbalance, and malnutrition. Postesophagectomy chylothorax is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and its diagnosis and management require prompt and accurate identification of risk factors and treatment strategies. A variety of strategies are available to treat postesophagectomy chylothorax, ranging from conservative management to pharmacological, lymphangiographic, and surgical treatments. This study reviews the physio-anatomical basis, disease presentation, diagnostic methods, risk factors, and management options for postesophageal chylothorax, filling the literature gap, and highlighting the importance of early recognition and timely intervention in improving patient outcomes.

Cellulose cross-linking with folic acid at room via diverse-based coupling reagents attaining multifunctional features.

Here, cellulose was cross-linked with folic acid (FA) using tetrafluoroborate (TBTU) and carbodiimide (DIC) as coupling reagents through the pad method at room temperature. The interactions between FA and cellulose were proposed and determined with FTIR, and UV-visible also confirmed with nitrogen content. The newly formed ester peak showed the grafting of FA to the cellulose through esterification followed by cellulose cross-linking. The surface morphology of treated fabrics indicated no significant changes and also remained similar after 5 washing cycles. This had no negative impacts on the various physical and mechanical fabric features. The fabric color was changed with reasonable fastness to laundering and light. More FA showed higher N content indicating more bacterial killing for Pseudomonas aeroginosa (Psa) and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA). The reasonable viability of L929 and MCF-7 cells showed for treated fabric with FA below 5 %.

Long noncoding RNA SNHG7-miRNA-mRNA axes crosstalk with oncogenic signaling pathways in human cancers.

LncRNAs and miRNAs are the two most important non-coding RNAs, which have been identified to be associated with cancer progression or prevention. The dysregulation of lncRNAs conducts tumorigenesis and metastasis in different ways. One of the mechanisms is that lncRNAs interact with miRNAs to regulate distinct cellular and genomic processes and cancer progression. LncRNA SNHG7 as an oncogene sponges miRNAs and develops lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA axes, leading to the regulation of several signaling pathways such as Wnt/ß-Catenin, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, SIRT1, and Snail-EMT. Therefore, in this article, after a brief overview of lncRNA SNHG7-miRNA-mRNA axes' contribution to cancer development, we will discuss the role of lncRNA SNHG7 in the genes expression and signaling pathways related to cancers development via acting as a ceRNA.

Amino-functionalized cross-linked cellulosic fabric with antibacterial, UV protection, and coloring effects using folic acid.

The amino-functionalized cellulose with folic acid, via an esterification reaction between carboxylic acid of folic acid and hydroxyl groups of cellulose, can develop multifunctional products with new chemical and physical properties. Folic acid contains two carboxylic groups as well as an amine group that can be used as a coupling agent and provide suitable conditions for coupling hydroxyl-based compounds to cellulose. Also; the multi-functionalized cellulose with folic acid has no effects on the physical and mechanical properties and also has benefits such as antibacterial, UV protection, and wrinkle resistance. The FTIR-ATR and Raman analysis confirmed the amino functionalized-cellulosic fabric via an esterification reaction between cellulose and folic acid. The cell viability of L929 fibroblast (NCBI C161) and MCF-7 (NCBI C135) cancer cells indicated more effectiveness on MCF-7 cancer cells. Therefore; folic acid can be used as a biocompatible natural cross-linker to modify cellulose fabrics for apparel and medical applications.

Effect of aberrant DNA methylation on cancer stem cell properties.

DNA methylation, as an epigenetic mechanism, occurs by adding a methyl group of cytosines in position 5 by DNA methyltransferases and has essential roles in cellular function, especially in the transcriptional regulation of embryonic and adult stem cells. Hypomethylation and hypermethylation cause either the expression or inhibition of genes, and there is a tight balance between regulating the activation or repression of genes in normal cellular activity. Abnormal methylation is well-known hallmark of cancer development and progression and can switch normal stem cells into cancer stem cells. Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) are minor populations of tumor cells that exhibit unique properties such as self-regeneration, resistance to chemotherapy, and high ability of metastasis. The purpose of this paper is to show how aberrant DNA methylation accumulation affects self-renewal, differentiation, multidrug-resistant, and metastasis processes in cancer stem cells.

The role of DNA damage response in chemo- and radio-resistance of cancer cells: Can DDR inhibitors sole the problem?

Up to now, many improvements have been made in providing more therapeutic strategies for cancer patients. The lack of susceptibility to common therapies like chemo- and radio-therapy is one of the reasons why we need more methods in the field of cancer therapy. DNA damage response (DDR) is a set of mechanisms which identifies DNA lesions and triggers the repair process for restoring DNA after causing an arrest in the cell cycle. The ability of DDR in maintaining the genome stability and integrity can be favorable to cancerous cells which are exposed to radiation therapy or are treated with chemotherapeutic agents. When DDR mechanisms are error-free in cancer cells, they can escape the expected cellular death and display resistance to treatment. In this regard, targeting different components of DDR can help to increase the susceptibility of advanced tumors to chemo- and radio-therapy.

Comparison of the Outcome of Low Dose and High-Dose Corticosteroid in the Treatment of Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare chronic inflammatory breast condition with unknown etiology. Different treatments including corticosteroids have been recommended with no universal consensus. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of low dose vs. high dose prednisolone in treatment of IGM. METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 30 female patients with IGM were randomly allocated to receive low dose or high dose prednisolone. First group received 5 mg daily prednisolone, while the second group received 50 mg for three days, 25 mg for the next three days and then 12.5 mg for further three days and 5 mg daily afterwards, both for two months. Patients were evaluated 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. The success and recurrence rate was compared between groups. RESULTS: High dose group had significantly higher rate of remission compared to low dose group (93.3% vs. 53.3%, p=0.03). One patient in high dose group and 5 patients in low dose group underwent lumpectomy due to persistent symptoms. Two other patients in low dose group received high dose treatment after three months due to no change in symptoms. Among patients with remission, recurrence was also significantly lower in high dose compared to low dose prednisolone (0% vs. 37.5%, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: High dose prednisolone has high success rate with lower recurrence in the treatment of IGM and could reduce the need for surgery. However, further studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

A novel controlled release system based on Tragacanth nanofibers loaded Peppermint oil.

In this paper, a novel controlled release system based on Tragacanth nanofibers loaded with Peppermint oil is introduced by using a sonochemical/microemulsion method. The synthesized Tragacanth nanofibers showed a one-dimensional shape with 58 nm thickness and relatively smooth surface. Also, the loading of Peppermint oil into the synthesized nanofibers confirmed with FT-IR spectra. Further, a relatively good controlled release property (92.38%) reported for the loaded Peppermint oil nanofibers after 18 h. Finally, the synthesized nanofibers loaded with 18.3% Peppermint oil presented reasonably good antibacterial activities against E. coli and S. aureus and a low-cytotoxicity against human fibroblast cells as the most important properties.

In-Situ sonosynthesis of Hedgehog-like nickel nanoparticles on polyester fabric producing magnetic properties.

Recently, nano finishing of textiles is increasingly attracted many researchers to create new features on the products. Here a new fabric is introduced through simultaneous aminolysis and hydrolysis of polyester along with in-situ sonosynthesis of hedgehog shaped nickel nanoparticles on the fabric with magnetic properties. To do this, nickel sulfate, hydrazine hydrate, sodium hydroxide and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as a precursor, reducing agent, alkali and stabilizer respectively. Nickel sulfate was reduced to nickel nanoparticles with hydrazine hydrate at the adjusted pH with NaOH in the presence of PVP at 75 °C for 2 h. The polyester fabric was aminolyzed and hydrolyzed produced various functional groups on the fabric surface assisted nucleation and stabilization of nickel nanoparticles. The morphology, crystal phase, magnetic properties and chemical structure of the treated fabrics were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The optimized sample treated with 3.19 (mL) hydrazine hydrate, 3.99 (mL) sodium hydroxide and 0.41 (g) nickel sulfate showed reasonable saturation magnetization value of 4.5 emu g-1. The treated fabrics showed no antibacterial and antifungal behavior indicating the safety of the products.

Combination of intracostal sutures with muscle flap to decrease post thoracotomy pain: A single blinded randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of intercostal nerve protection by intercostal muscle (ICM) flap in post-thoracotomy pain improvement compared to intracostal suturing. METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, ninety-four patients undergoing posterolateral thoracotomy surgery were divided into two subgroups. Intracostal sutures in isolation and in combination with ICM flap techniques were used for thoracotomy closure in both groups. Numeric Pain Scale and Visual Pain Scale as pain scores were assessed on the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh postoperative days and follow-up visits during the 2nd week, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th months after thoracotomy. RESULTS: Out of 94 patients, 58 were male and 36 were females. While the mean age of patients in intracostal group was 45.3 ± 17.6 years, it was 47.4 ± 16.1 years in intracostal plus ICM flap group. The mean operation time for the first group was 191.0 ± 74.7 minutes, while it was 219.3 ± 68.8 minutes in the second (p>0.05). Numeric rating score and visual pain scale did not demonstrate any significant difference in pain severity on postoperative days and follow-up visits between both groups (p>0.05). Although the trend of pain reduction was significant in each group (p<0.001), the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.001). CONCLUSION: Intracostal sutures in combination with muscle flap did not reduce postoperative pain in thoracotomy compared with intracostal sutures alone in thoracotomy closure.

In situ synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles on polyester fabric utilizing color, magnetic, antibacterial and sono-Fenton catalytic properties.

Multi-functional polyester fabric with magnetic, antibacterial and sono-Fenton catalytic activities was prepared by in situ synthesis of magnetite and hematite nanoparticles using ferric chloride, ferrous sulfate and sodium hydroxide. The process was carried out at two different temperatures, 100 °C and 130 °C, resulting in Fe3O4 and α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The morphology, crystal phase, thermal stability, magnetization properties and chemical structure of the fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The tensile properties and colorimetric values of the treated fabrics were also measured. It was found that Fe3O4 and α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with average crystal sizes of about 11 nm and 17 nm were synthesized on the fabrics treated at boiling point and 130 °C, respectively. The uniform distribution of the iron oxide nanoparticles on the fiber surface was confirmed by SEM and EDX. Moreover, the iron oxide nanoparticles had different coloring effects on the treated fabrics confirmed by reflectance spectra. The magnetite and hematite treated samples showed reasonable saturation magnetization values of about 7.5 emu g-1 and 0.1 emu g-1, respectively. Interestingly, the tensile properties of the treated samples were enhanced compared with the untreated fabric. These findings suggest the potential of the proposed method in producing fabrics with durable magnetic properties that are suitable for various applications especially electromagnetic shielding, excellent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and promising sono-Fenton catalytic ability for dye discoloration.