Examining the relationship between head trauma and opioid use disorder: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To examine recent literature and determine common clinical risk factors between antecedent traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the following development of opioid misuse and provide a framework for clinical identification of at-risk subjects and evaluate potential treatment implications within this association. DESIGN: A comprehensive systematic literature search of PubMed was conducted for articles between 2000 and December 2022. Studies were included if the human participant had any head trauma exposure and any chronic opioid use or dependence. After eligibility criteria were applied, 16 studies were assessed for thematic trends. RESULTS: Opioid use disorder (OUD) risks are heightened in cohorts with head trauma exposed to opioids while in the hospital, specifically with tramadol and oxycodone. Chronic pain was the most common predictor of long-term OUD, and continuous somatic symptoms associated with the TBI can lead to long-term opioid usage. Individuals who present with coexisting psychiatric conditions pose significantly more risk associated with a higher risk of long-term opioid use. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that therapists and clinicians must consider a risk profile for persons with TBI and follow an integrated care approach to account for mental health, prior substance misuse, presenting somatic symptoms, and current medication regimen during evaluation.

Pembrolizumab-Induced Hypothyroidism: A Case Report.

Pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody frequently used as immunotherapy for lung cell carcinoma that has been reported to cause hypothyroidism and myasthenia gravis among other, unwanted side effects. Here, we present an interesting case of a 77-year-old male previously diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma managed with pembrolizumab. Initially, he was admitted after a mechanical fall sustaining a facial laceration and subacute fracture in the nasal bone. However, during the workup, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was found to be elevated, which was attributed to the history of pembrolizumab usage.

4D Printing of Electroactive Triple-Shape Composites.

Triple-shape polymers can memorize two independent shapes during a controlled recovery process. This work reports the 4D printing of electro-active triple-shape composites based on thermoplastic blends. Composite blends comprising polyester urethane (PEU), polylactic acid (PLA), and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conductive fillers were prepared by conventional melt processing methods. Morphological analysis of the composites revealed a phase separated morphology with aggregates of MWCNTs uniformly dispersed in the blend. Thermal analysis showed two different transition temperatures based on the melting point of the crystallizable switching domain of the PEU (Tm~50 ± 1 °C) and the glass transition temperature of amorphous PLA (Tg~61 ± 1 °C). The composites were suitable for 3D printing by fused filament fabrication (FFF). 3D models based on single or multiple materials were printed to demonstrate and quantify the triple-shape effect. The resulting parts were subjected to resistive heating by passing electric current at different voltages. The printed demonstrators were programmed by a thermo-mechanical programming procedure and the triple-shape effect was realized by increasing the voltage in a stepwise fashion. The 3D printing of such electroactive composites paves the way for more complex shapes with defined geometries and novel methods for triggering shape memory, with potential applications in space, robotics, and actuation technologies.

Comparison of Bond Strength of Metal and Ceramic Brackets with or without Primer.

Background: Bonding is an integral part of orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic bonding could be accomplished without the use of primer, it might be possible to reduce the risk of occupational exposure to primer and will save time. So it is very important to know whether primer is required or not. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic and ceramic brackets bonded with and without primer application and to check for residual adhesive post debonding. Material and Method: A total of 100 extracted human premolar teeth were divided into 2 main groups A and B which were further subdivided into: Group A1 - metallic brackets bonded with primer; Group A2 - ceramic brackets bonded with primer; Group B1 - metallic brackets bonded without primer; group B2 - ceramic brackets bonded without primer. The SBS of these brackets was measured. Result: The SBS of group A2 was significantly higher than the other groups, group A1 was the second highest, group B3 was the third highest and group B4 was the least significant. The adhesive remnant index was lowest on failure of ceramic brackets bonded with primer. Conclusion: SBS of ceramic brackets bonded without primer is superior to SBS of metallic bracket bonded without primer and metallic brackets bonded with primer was superior than metallic bonded without primer.

Kinetic Resolution Approach to the Synthesis of C-N Axially Chiral N-Aryl Aminomaleimides via NHC-Catalyzed [3 + 3] Annulation.

Chiral NHC-catalyzed kinetic resolution of N-aryl aminomaleimides allowing the synthesis of C-N axially chiral N-aryl aminomaleimides via remote chirality control is presented. The catalytically generated α,ß-unsaturated acylazoliums from 2-bromoenals underwent selective [3 + 3] annulation with one of the enantiomers of maleimide to furnish fused-dihydropyridinone (bearing axial/central chirality, up to 6:1 dr, >99:1 er) leaving the enantioenriched opposite enantiomer (up to >99:1 er). Studies on C-N bond rotation barrier and dependence on temperature are also provided.

Zwitterionic Nanogels and Microgels: An Overview on Their Synthesis and Applications.

Zwitterionic polymers by virtue of their unique chemical and physical attributes have attracted researchers in recent years. The simultaneous presence of positive and negative charges in the same repeat unit renders them of various interesting properties such as superhydrophilicity, which has significantly broadened their scope for being used in different applications. Among polyzwitterions of different architectures, micro- and/or nano-gels have started receiving attention only until recently. These 3D cross-linked colloidal structures show peculiar characteristics in context to their solution properties, which are attributable either to the comonomers present or the presence of different electrolytes and biological specimens. In this review, a concise yet detailed account is provided of the different synthetic techniques and application domains of zwitterion-based micro- and/or nanogels that have been explored in recent years. Here, the focus is kept solely on the "polybetaines," which have garnered maximum research interest and remain the extensively studied polyzwitterions in literature. While their vast application potential in the biomedical sector is being detailed here, some other areas of scope such as using them as microreactors for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles or making smart membranes for water-treatment are discussed in this minireview as well.

Exploring different attributes of source information for speaker verification with limited test data.

This work explores mel power difference of spectrum in subband, residual mel frequency cepstral coefficient, and discrete cosine transform of the integrated linear prediction residual for speaker verification under limited test data conditions. These three source features are found to capture different attributes of source information, namely, periodicity, smoothed spectrum information, and shape of the glottal signal, respectively. On the NIST SRE 2003 database, the proposed combination of the three source features performs better [equal error rate (EER): 20.19%, decision cost function (DCF): 0.3759] than the mel frequency cepstral coefficient feature (EER: 22.31%, DCF: 0.4128) for 2 s duration of test segments.