Search Results (72,296)

This study examined the correlation of titin (TTN) polymorphisms with the sensitivity of oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC) and clinical characteristics. Six TTN SNPs, including rs10497520, rs12463674, rs12465459, rs2042996, rs2244492, and rs2303838, were evaluated in 322 control groups and 606 patients with oral cancer. We then investigated whether the SNP genotypes rs10497520 had associations with clinical pathological categories. Our data showed that the TC + CC genotype of rs10497520 was associated with moderate/poor tumor cell differentiation. The carriers of TTN rs10497520 polymorphic variant “TC + CC” in OSCC patients with cigarette smoking were linked with poor tumor differentiation (p = 0.008). Our results suggest that the TTN SNP rs10497520 is a possible genetic marker for oral cancer patients in the cigarette-smoking population. The TTN rs10497520 polymorphisms may be essential biomarkers to predict the onset and prognosis of oral cancer disease. Full article

Conformational freedom-restricted peptides, such as stapled peptides, play a crucial role in the advancement of functional peptide development. We synthesized stapled octapeptides using α-carbocyclic α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids, particularly 3-allyloxy-1-aminocyclopentane-1-carboxylic acid, as the crosslink motifs. The organocatalytic capabilities of the synthesized stapled peptides were assessed in an asymmetric nucleophilic epoxidation reaction because the catalytic activities are known to be proportional to α-helicity. Despite incorporating side-chain crosslinks, the enantioselectivities of the epoxidation reaction catalyzed by stapled octapeptides were found to be comparable to those obtained using unstapled peptides. Interestingly, the stapled peptides using α-carbocyclic α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids demonstrated higher reactivities and stereoselectivities (up to 99% ee) compared to stapled peptides derived from (S)-α-(4-pentenyl)alanine, a commonly used motif for stapled peptides. These differences could be attributed to the increased α-helicity of the former stapled peptide in contrast to the latter, as evidenced by the X-ray crystallographic structures of their N-tert-butoxycarbonyl derivatives. Full article

Petroleum refining has been, is still, and is expected to remain in the next decades the main source of energy required to drive transport for mankind. The demand for automotive and aviation fuels has urged refiners to search for ways to extract more light oil products per barrel of crude oil. The heavy oil conversion processes of ebullated bed vacuum residue hydrocracking (EBVRHC) and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) can assist refiners in their aim to produce more transportation fuels and feeds for petrochemistry from a ton of petroleum. However, a good understanding of the roles of feed quality and catalyst characteristics is needed to optimize the performance of both heavy oil conversion processes. Three knowledge discovery database techniques—intercriteria and regression analyses, and artificial neural networks—were used to evaluate the performance of commercial FCC and EBVRHC in processing 19 different heavy oils. Seven diverse FCC catalysts were assessed using a cascade and parallel fresh catalyst addition system in an EBVRHC unit. It was found that the vacuum residue conversion in the EBVRHC depended on feed reactivity, which, calculated on the basis of pilot plant tests, varied by 16.4%; the content of vacuum residue (VR) in the mixed EBVRHC unit feed (each 10% fluctuation in VR content leads to an alteration in VR conversion of 1.6%); the reaction temperature (a 1 °C deviation in reaction temperature is associated with a 0.8% shift in VR conversion); and the liquid hourly space velocity (0.01 h-1 change of LHSV leads to 0.85% conversion alteration). The vacuum gas oil conversion in the FCC unit was determined to correlate with feed crackability, which, calculated on the basis of pilot plant tests, varied by 8.2%, and the catalyst ΔCoke (each 0.03% ΔCoke increase reduces FCC conversion by 1%), which was unveiled to depend on FCC feed density and equilibrium FCC micro-activity. The developed correlations can be used to optimize the performance of FCC and EBVRHC units by selecting the appropriate feed slate and catalyst. Full article

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of mortality among older adults. Early detection is critical as the prognosis for advanced-stage CVD is often poor. Consequently, non-invasive diagnostic tools that can assess hemodynamic function, particularly of the aorta, are essential. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a promising method for simulating cardiovascular dynamics efficiently and cost-effectively, using increasingly accessible computational resources. This study developed a CFD model to assess the aorta geometry using tetrahedral and polyhedral meshes. A healthy aorta was modeled with mesh sizes ranging from 0.2 to 1 mm. Key hemodynamic parameters, including blood pressure waveform, pressure difference, wall shear stress (WSS), and associated wall parameters like relative residence time (RRT), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and endothelial cell activation potential (ECAP) were evaluated. The performance of the CFD simulations, focusing on accuracy and processing time, was assessed to determine clinical viability. The CFD model demonstrated clinically acceptable results, achieving over 95% accuracy while reducing simulation time by up to 54%. The entire simulation process, from image construction to the post-processing of results, was completed in under 120 min. Both mesh types (tetrahedral and polyhedral) provided reliable outputs for hemodynamic analysis. This study provides a novel demonstration of the impact of mesh type in obtaining accurate hemodynamic data, quickly and efficiently, using CFD simulations for non-invasive aortic assessments. The method is particularly beneficial for routine check-ups, offering improved diagnostics for populations with limited healthcare access or higher cardiovascular disease risk. Full article

Atherosclerosis involves an inflammatory response due to plaque formation within the arteries, which can lead to ischemic stroke and heart disease. It is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with various contributing factors such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and smoking. Wall shear stress (WSS) is also known as a contributing factor of the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Since the causes of atherosclerosis cannot be attributed to a single factor, clearly understanding the mechanisms and causes of its occurrence is crucial for preventing the disease and developing effective treatment strategies. To better understand atherosclerosis and define the correlation between various contributing factors, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is primarily used. CFD simulates WSS, the frictional force caused by blood flow on the vessel wall with various hemodynamic changes. Using apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-KO) mice subjected to partial ligation and a high-fat diet at 1-week, 2-week, and 4-week intervals as an atherosclerosis model, CFD analysis was conducted along with the reconstruction of carotid artery blood flow via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and compared to the inflammatory factors and pathological staining. In this experiment, a comparative analysis of the effects of high WSS and low WSS was conducted by comparing the standard deviation of time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) at each point within the vessel wall. As a novel approach, the standard deviation of TAWSS within the vessel was analyzed with the staining results and pathological features. Since the onset of atherosclerosis cannot be explained by a single factor, the aim was to find the correlation between the thickness of atherosclerotic plaques and inflammatory factors through standard deviation analysis. As a result, the gap between low WSS and high WSS widened as the interval between weeks in the atherosclerosis mouse model increased. This finding not only linked the occurrence of atherosclerosis to WSS differences but also provided a connection to the causes of vulnerable plaques. Full article

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a leading ocular imaging modality, known for delivering high-resolution volumetric morphological images. However, conventional OCT systems are limited by their narrow field-of-view (FOV) and their reliance on scattering contrast, lacking molecular specificity. Methods: To address these limitations, we developed a custom-built 105^∘ ultra-widefield polarization-diversity OCT (UWF PD-OCT) system for assessing various retinal and choroidal conditions, which is particularly advantageous for visualizing peripheral retinal abnormalities. Patients with peripheral lesions or pigmentary changes were imaged using the UWF PD-OCT to evaluate the system’s diagnostic capabilities. Comparisons were made with conventional swept-source OCT and other standard clinical imaging modalities to highlight the benefits of depolarization contrast for identifying pathological changes. Results: The molecular-specific contrast offered by UWF PD-OCT enhanced the detection of disease-specific features, particularly in the peripheral retina, by capturing melanin distribution and pigmentary changes in a single shot. This detailed visualization allows clinicians to monitor disease progression with greater precision, offering more accurate insights into retinal and choroidal pathologies. Conclusions: Integrating UWF PD-OCT into clinical practice represents a major advancement in ocular imaging, enabling comprehensive views of retinal pathologies that are difficult to capture with current modalities. This technology holds great potential to transform the diagnosis and management of retinal and choroidal diseases by providing unique insights into peripheral retinal abnormalities and melanin-specific changes, critical for early detection and timely intervention. Full article

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the corrosion resistance in Hanks’ solution of Cr-Ni-Mo stainless steel (AISI 316L) coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings to establish its suitability for biomedical applications, e.g., as temporary implants. The influence of the carbon coating thickness as well as the correlated effect of the metallic sublayer type and defects present in DLC films on corrosion propagation were discussed. The results obtained were compared with findings on the adhesion of DLC to the steel substrate. The synthesis of carbon thin films with Cr and Ti adhesive sublayers was performed using a combined DC and a high-power-impulse vacuum-arc process. Evaluation of the corrosion resistance was carried out by means of potentiodynamic polarisation tests and scanning electron microscopy. Adhesive properties of the sublayer/DLC coating systems were measured using a scratch tester. It was found that systems with Ti sublayers were less susceptible to the corrosion processes, particularly to pitting. The best anti-corrosion properties were obtained by merging Ti with a DLC coating with a thickness equal to 0.5 μm. The protective properties of the Cr/DLC systems were independent of the carbon coating thickness. On the other hand, the DLC coatings with the Cr sublayer showed better adhesion to the substrate. Full article

Advanced manufacturing techniques such as Additive Manufacturing (AM) have grown rapidly in major industries such as aerospace, automotive, and biomedical device manufacturing. Biomedical industry has benefitted immensely from AM because of its flexibility in design and its rapid production cycle. Powder bed processes are the major production technique for metal-based AM implants. This paper serves as a comprehensive review on the research efforts being made using AM to develop new patient centered medical devices. This review focuses on AM of the most common metals for biomedical applications, Magnesium alloys, Cobalt-Chromium alloys, pure Titanium, Titanium alloys. Several different aspects are discussed including biocompatibility and osseointegration, application of specific metals in different types of implants, their advantages and disadvantages, mechanical properties in comparison to bone, and their production technologies. Regulatory and quality assurance hurdles that are facing new innovations made using AM are discussed. Full article

Objective—Heart rate variability (HRV) and photoplethysmographic waveform variability (PPGV) are available approaches for assessing the state of cardiovascular autonomic regulation. The goal of our study was to compare the frequency-domain features and low-frequency (LF) synchronization of the PPGV and HRV with increasing severity of cardiovascular diseases. Methods—Our study included 998 electrocardiogram (ECG) and finger photoplethysmogram (PPG) recordings from subjects, classified into five categories: 53 recordings from healthy subjects, aged 28.1 ± 6.2 years, 536 recordings from patients with hypertension (HTN), 49.0 ± 8.8 years old, 185 recordings from individuals with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) (63.9 ± 9.3 years old), 104 recordings from patients with myocardial infarction (MI) that occurred three months prior to the recordings (PMI) (65.1 ± 11.0 years old), and 120 recordings from study subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (64.7 ± 11.5 years old). Spectral analyses of the HRV and PPGV were carried out, along with an assessment of the synchronization strength between LF oscillations of the HRV and of PPGV (synchronization index). Results—Changes in all frequency-domain indices and the synchronization index were observed along the following gradient: healthy subjects → patients with HTN → patients with CAD → patients with PMI → patients with AMI. Similar frequency-domain indices of the PPGV and HRV show little relationship with each other. Conclusions—The frequency-domain indices of the PPGV are highly sensitive to the development of any cardiovascular disease and, therefore, are superior to the HRV indices in this regard. The S index is an independent parameter from the frequency-domain indices. Full article

This research examines the application of non-invasive acoustic analysis for detecting obstructions in vascular access (fistulas) used by kidney dialysis patients. Obstructions in these fistulas can interrupt essential dialysis treatment. In this study, we utilized a condenser microphone to capture the blood flow sounds before and after angioplasty surgery, analyzing 3819 sound samples from 119 dialysis patients. These sound signals were transformed into spectrogram images to classify obstructed and unobstructed vascular accesses, that is fistula conditions before and after the angioplasty procedure. A novel lightweight two-dimension convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed and benchmarked against pretrained CNN models such as ResNet50 and VGG16. The proposed model achieved a prediction accuracy of 100%, surpassing the ResNet50 and VGG16 models, which recorded 99% and 95% accuracy, respectively. Additionally, the study highlighted the significantly smaller memory size of the proposed model (2.37 MB) compared to ResNet50 (91.3 MB) and VGG16 (57.9 MB), suggesting its suitability for edge computing environments. This study underscores the efficacy of diverse deep-learning approaches in the obstructed detection of dialysis fistulas, presenting a scalable solution that combines high accuracy with reduced computational demands. Full article

Background: To evaluate analgesic practices in perioperative treatment during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; recording parameters collected in the PAIN OUT database, and to compare COVID and no-COVID data. Methods: Data were analyzed for 277 patients (87 COVID-19 confirmed diagnosis and 190 non-COVID): years aged, gender, minutes of surgery duration, Likert Scale punctuation, hours in severe pain, minimum and maximum pain intensity, interference with sleep quality, anxiety, need for help, nausea, drowsiness, itching, dizziness, perception of care, pain relief, participation, satisfaction, and information received. Results: Postoperative mortality 1 month after surgery was recorded at 25.3% in COVID-19. Significant differences were found in postoperative pain intensity (p = 0.019), time with severe pain (p < 0.01), lower sleep quality (p < 0.01), and better outcomes in functional items (p < 0.01); there were more side effects and satisfaction with pain relief (p < 0.01) in COVID-patients than with no COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: In conclusion, COVID-19 patients presented greater intensity and duration of severe postoperative pain, greater somnolence, pruritus, and dizziness, lower physical activity limitation, and higher quality index. Full article

In recent years, several methods have emerged for compressing image classification models using CNNs, for example, by applying pruning to the convolutional layers of the network. Typically, each pruning method uses a type of pruning distribution that is not necessarily the most appropriate for a given classification problem. Therefore, this paper proposes a methodology to select the best pruning policy (method + pruning distribution) for a specific classification problem and global pruning rate to obtain the best performance of the compressed model. This methodology was applied to several image datasets to show the influence not only of the method but also of the pruning distribution on the quality of the pruned model. It was shown that the selected pruning policy affects the performance of the pruned model to different extents, and that it depends on the classification problem to be addressed. For example, while for the Date Fruit Dataset, variations of more than 10% were obtained, for CIFAR10, variations were less than 5% for the same cases evaluated. Full article

Social media is used by many Transgender and Gender-Diverse (TGD) people to access queer communities and social support. However, TGD users are also at a higher risk of online harassment than their cisgender peers. There are few studies which explore the role that social media plays in TGD people’s lives. In this study, a qualitative online survey examining online experiences was completed by 52 TGD participants, and the data were analysed using deductive template analysis. The results identified that online communities provided spaces within which participants could experience community-specific support, the validation of their identities, and find much-needed healthcare information. However, the use of social media also exposed participants to transphobia, and the participants described both proactive protective and reactive mitigation behaviours used to deal with these. Key findings highlight the pivotal role that online communities can have for improving wellbeing but also the potential for unintended exposure to transphobia through these communities. The importance of improving online moderation/reporting tools to combat harassment is discussed, as is the need to develop accessible information resources for healthcare professionals so that they may better provide support for TGD patients. Full article

Colic is a common and potentially life-threatening condition in horses; in many cases, it remains challenging for clinicians to determine the cause, appropriate treatment, and prognosis. One approach that could improve patient care and outcomes is identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a biomarker that shows promise for characterizing disease severity and predicting survival in humans with acute abdominal pain or requiring emergency abdominal surgery. In horses, we recently determined that extracted plasma cfDNA concentrations are elevated in colic patients compared to healthy controls. For this current study, we hypothesized that extracted plasma cfDNA concentrations would be significantly higher in horses with strangulating or inflammatory colic lesions, in colic patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and in non-survivors. Cell-free DNA concentrations were measured in extracted plasma samples using a compact, portable Qubit fluorometer. Colic patients that met published criteria for equine SIRS had significantly higher median extracted plasma cfDNA compared to non-SIRS colic patients. There were no significant differences in extracted plasma cfDNA concentrations between other groups of interest. Our data offer early evidence that extracted plasma cfDNA concentration may provide information about systemic inflammation in colic patients, and additional research is warranted to expand on these findings. Full article

Empyema necessitatis is a rare complication of an untreated or inadequately controlled empyema. We present the case of an 11-year-old female adolescent living in precarious conditions, overcrowding, incomplete vaccinations, irregular dental hygiene, and no significant family or personal medical history. The patient started with symptoms one week prior to her hospitalization, presenting a persistent sporadic dry cough, and was later diagnosed with complicated pneumonia, resulting in the placement of an endopleural tube. Vancomycin (40 mg/kg/day) and ceftriaxone (75 mg/kg/day) were administered. However, the clinical evolution was unfavorable, with fever and respiratory distress, so a right jugular catheter was placed. The CT scan showed a loculated collection that occupied the entire right lung parenchyma and pneumothorax at the right upper lobe level. After four days of treatment, the patient still presented purulent drainage with persistent right pleural effusion syndrome. P. melaninogenica and D. pneumosintes were identified from the purulent collection on the upper right lobe, so the antimicrobial treatment was adapted to a glycopeptide, Teicoplanin, at a weight-based dosing of 6 mg/kg/day and Metronidazole at a weight-based dosing of 30 mg/kg/day. In addition, VAC therapy was used for 26 days with favorable resolution. Full article