A Retrospective Analysis of γδ T Cell Expression in Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Its Association with Recurrence of Nasal Polyps.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To examine whether γδ T cell is expressed in the nasal mucosa of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients and its potential association with recurrence of nasal polyps. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and 25 patients with CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) were recruited. Twenty-six patients with other nasal diseases served as controls. The CRSwNP group was divided into the eosinophilic CRSwNP and noneosinophilic CRSwNP groups. The expression of γδ T cells was detected by immunohistochemistry. The expression of each subtype of γδ T cells was detected by using qRT-PCR. All patients underwent nasal endoscopy, and postoperative follow-up lasted over 12 months. CRS patients were evaluated by preoperative VAS scores of symptoms and nasal endoscopy Lund-Kennedy scores. RESULTS: The expression of γδ T cells in the CRSwNP groups was stronger than in the CRSsNP and the control group (p < 0.05, p < 0.05). The expression of Vγ1+γδ T cells in the eosinophilic CRSwNP group was higher than that in the CRSsNP group and the control group (p < 0.05, p < 0.05). The expression of γδ T cells was associated with high rate of recurrence, tissue eosinophil infiltration, worse symptom score of nasal obstruction, and higher Lund-Kennedy score (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased expression of γδ T cells in CRSwNP may be associated with recurrence of nasal polyps.

Deep Learning-Assisted Repurposing of Plant Compounds for Treating Vascular Calcification: An In Silico Study with Experimental Validation.

BACKGROUND: Vascular calcification (VC) constitutes subclinical vascular burden and increases cardiovascular mortality. Effective therapeutics for VC remains to be procured. We aimed to use a deep learning-based strategy to screen and uncover plant compounds that potentially can be repurposed for managing VC. METHODS: We integrated drugome, interactome, and diseasome information from Comparative Toxicogenomic Database (CTD), DrugBank, PubChem, Gene Ontology (GO), and BioGrid to analyze drug-disease associations. A deep representation learning was done using a high-level description of the local network architecture and features of the entities, followed by learning the global embeddings of nodes derived from a heterogeneous network using the graph neural network architecture and a random forest classifier established for prediction. Predicted results were tested in an in vitro VC model for validity based on the probability scores. RESULTS: We collected 6,790 compounds with available Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System (SMILES) data, 11,958 GO terms, 7,238 diseases, and 25,482 proteins, followed by local embedding vectors using an end-to-end transformer network and a node2vec algorithm and global embedding vectors learned from heterogeneous network via the graph neural network. Our algorithm conferred a good distinction between potential compounds, presenting as higher prediction scores for the compound categories with a higher potential but lower scores for other categories. Probability score-dependent selection revealed that antioxidants such as sulforaphane and daidzein were potentially effective compounds against VC, while catechin had low probability. All three compounds were validated in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings exemplify the utility of deep learning in identifying promising VC-treating plant compounds. Our model can be a quick and comprehensive computational screening tool to assist in the early drug discovery process.

Care for older adults with dementia: PACE day care or residential dementia care units?

BACKGROUND: Persons with dementia (PwD) are at greater risk for various adverse health outcomes, and the best care model remains to be determined. This study aimed to compare the physical and neurocognitive performance of PwD in the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and residential dementia care units. METHODS: This was a case-control study comparing outcomes between care recipients of PACE services (PC group) and residential dementia care (RC group). Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, physical function, cognitive function, mood status, and behavioral and psychotic symptoms of dementia (BPSDs) were assessed every 3-6 months in both groups, while frailty status and Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUGT) performance were assessed every 6 months in the PC group only. RESULTS: Overall, 96 participants (PC group: 25, RC group: 71; mean age: 86.4 ± 6.8 years) were enrolled with the median follow-up period of 43.6 weeks. Lower incidence of hospital admissions was noted in the PC group (0.52 ± 1.12 vs 1.38 ± 2.49 admissions/1,000 person-days, p=0.023), even though the PC group had higher multimorbidity and more severe BPSDs. During the study period, the PC group showed a significant improvement in body mass index, less physical dependence, better cognitive performance and reduced depressive mood. In addition, the PC group showed improvement in frailty, leisure hour activities, and TUGT results. However, participants in the PC group were more likely to experience BPSD deterioration (ß coeff.: 0.193, 95% CI: 0.121- 0.265). CONCLUSION: The PACE services significantly reduced unexpected hospital admissions of PwD, facilitated the maintenance of physical independence, and improved cognitive performance and mood status. Further randomized controlled studies are needed to determine the most appropriate care model for PwD.

Split calvarial bone graft for chemical burn-associated nasal augmentation.

The nose is the central part of the face, and constitutes the most prominent projection in facial geometry. This report presents five cases that sustained a chemical burn injury with associated facial mutilation resulting from contact with strong acids. The chemical burn affected the nasal architecture after inflicting a burn injury to the face. Applying bone deriving from a split skull procedure for the nasal projection restoration and the augmentation of the dorsal nose is a feasible undertaking, and the overall result appears satisfactory. A retrospective survey of cases admitted to our clinic from January 1999 to December 2001, inclusively was undertaken and is described below. Split calvarial bone graft procedure for the nasal tip projection reconstruction was performed for five patients, all of whom had sustained chemical burns following assault by strong acid. The disfiguration of the nasal anatomical structure was due to healing from deep burn wounds. The tip became blunt and less protruberant following the arising of cicatricial tightness of the surrounding tissue. Strength and resistance to scar contraction are the first considerations for such implantation when attempting to correct the nasal tip projection. The five female patients sustained a severe chemical burn which involved a surface area ranging from 25 to 60% of total body surface area. The facial mutilation was noted simultaneously with the determination of the extent of the burning injury. A severe burn scar is the typical sequel following a deep chemical burn. Nasal tip projection was restored and a nasal dorsum augmentation procedure with a split calvarial bone graft under an "open" method was used. This particular surgical procedure was able to be used in order to improve the nasal tip projection and resist surrounding scar contracture. The three-dimensional surface structure of the face became more prominent subsequent to the administration of this procedure.