Roblesfenger6588

BACKGROUND Due to under-utilization of liver allografts, our center previously showed that Hepatitis C (HCV) antibody positive, nucleic acid antibody test (NAT) negative livers when transplanted into HCV nonviremic recipients were safe with a 10% risk of HCV transmission. Herein, we present our single center prospective experience of using HCV NAT positive liver allografts transplanted into HCV NAT negative recipients. METHODS A prospective IRB approved case-controlled study was conducted examining post liver transplant (LT) outcomes of HCV negative patients who received HCV NAT positive organs (treatment group), compared to matched recipients with HCV NAT negative organs (control group) between June 2018 to October 2019. Primary endpoint was success of HCV treatment and elimination of HCV infection. The secondary outcomes included the 30-day and one-year graft/patient survival as well as perioperative complications. RESULTS 32 recipients were enrolled into each group. Due to one death in the index admission, 30/31 patients (97%) were given HCV treatment at a median starting time of 47 days (18-140 days) after LT. Nineteen patients (63%) achieved sustained virologic response at 12 weeks (SVR-12). Another six achieved end-of-treatment response while five remain on therapy and one is soon to start. No HCV treatment failure has been noted. There were no differences in 30 day and 1-year graft and patient survival, length of hospital stay, biliary or vascular complications or CMV viremia between the two groups. CONCLUSION In this interim analysis of a prospective case-controlled study, which is the first and largest study to date, the patients that received the HCV NAT positive organs had similar outcomes regarding graft function, patient survival and post-LT complications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Recently, nanometric ions were shown to adsorb to hydrated neutral surfaces and to bind to the cavities of macrocyclic molecules with an unexpectedly strong affinity arising from a solvent-mediated effect named superchaotropicity. We show here that nano-ions at low concentrations (μm range), similarly to anionic surfactants, induce the spontaneous transformation of a swollen lyotropic lamellar phase of non-ionic surfactant into a vesicle phase. This transition occurs when the neutral lamellae acquire charges, either by adsorption of the nano-ions onto, or by anchoring of the ionic surfactant into the lamellae. In contrast to ionic surfactants, nano-ions strongly dehydrate the neutral surfactant assemblies. As a conclusion, these purely inorganic nanometric ions act as alternatives to the widely used organic ionic surfactants. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.OBJECTIVES This study aimed to characterize surface properties such as roughness (Ra) and surface-free energy (SFE) of glazed and polished yttria-stabilized zirconia and to evaluate in vitro adherence of fungus Candida albicans and salivary bacteria, Staphylococcus epidermidis, mixed with C. albicans to these substrata. Additionally, the influence of salivary proteins (albumin, mucin and α-amylase) on yeast adhesion was studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ra and SFE of glazed and polished zirconia discs were measured. Specimens were wetted with saliva and salivary proteins prior to incubation with C. albicans and mixed suspension of C. albicans and S. epidermidis for 24 hr, respectively. Microbial adhesion was quantified by counting colony-forming units (CFU). Differences in physicochemical properties were proved by t test. "Linear mixed model" with the factors "type of surface" and "wetting media" was applied to analyse the effects on fungal adhesion (p less then .05). RESULTS SFE and Ra of glazed specimens were significantly higher than corresponding values of polished ones. The wetting media significantly changed the fungal binding (p = .0016). Significantly higher quantities of adhering fungi were found after mucin incubation compared to saliva (p = .004). For the factor "surface" as well as the interaction between "surface" and "wetting media," no statistically significant differences have been found. In mixed suspension, the growth of Candida was completely prevented. CONCLUSIONS Glazed and polished zirconia differs in terms of physicochemical surface properties. These differences appear to be modulated by pellicle coating affecting the biomass of adhered Candida. Mucin seems to be good binding sites for adhesion of C. albicans. © 2020 The Authors. Oral Diseases published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.OBJECTIVES To evaluate the educational support provided for three cohorts of pharmacists to inform an educational support framework for this new career path. METHODS This study evaluated training using mixed methods and measured the development of competence and confidence in the professional role as a pharmacist in GP Practice. Data were collected via pro formas before training events, and evaluation questionnaires immediately after events. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was applied. The outcome evaluation collected data via a repeated measure of self-assessed competency and confidence via an online questionnaire at three time points. Logistic regression identified predictors of competency and confidence at the end of structured training. KEY FINDINGS Evaluation of training events was very positive. The theme of clinical and consultation skills was the most professionally satisfying, followed by teamwork and support. However, early work in practice was focussed on management and systems. There were significant improvements in competence and confidence over time. Independent predictors of increased competence in the role in GP Practice were having an Independent prescriber (IP) qualification or undertaking the IP course and having had additional health board training and support. CONCLUSIONS Formal training was well received. Early local support from health boards and GP Practices would enable pharmacists to get an earlier grasp of tasks relating to 'management and systems' so they could focus on more rewarding clinical tasks. NXY-059 chemical structure Being an independent prescriber (or working towards this) is essential for the development of competence in this role. An educational support framework model is proposed. © 2020 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.BACKGROUND Gut microbiota are known to be closely related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, not much is known about characteristic fecal metabolic profiles of IBS. We aimed to characterize fecal metabolites in patients with IBS with predominant diarrhea (IBS-D) using 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR) spectroscopy. METHODS In this study, we enrolled 29 patients diagnosed with IBS-D according to the Rome IV criteria, 22 healthy controls (HC) and 11 HC administered laxatives (HC-L) in the age group of 20-69 year. The usual diet of the patients and HC was maintained, their fecal samples were collected and investigated by NMR-based global metabolic profiling coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. RESULTS We detected 55 metabolites in 1 H-NMR spectra of fecal samples four amines, 16 amino acids, six fatty acids, eight organic acids, three sugars, and 18 other compounds. Orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis derived score plots showed clear separation between the IBS-D group and the HC and HC-L groups. Among the 55 metabolites identified, we found five disease-relevant potential biomarkers distinguishing the IBS-D from the HC, namely, cadaverine, putrescine, threonine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. CONCLUSIONS The patients with IBS-D were clearly differentiated from the HC and HC-L by fecal metabolite analysis using 1 H-NMR spectroscopy, and five fecal metabolites characteristic of IBS-D were found. The findings of this study could be used to develop alternative and complementary diagnostic methods and as a source of fundamental information for developing novel therapies for IBS-D. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Sperm cells exhibit extraordinary phenotypic diversity and rapid rates of evolution, yet the adaptive value of most sperm traits remains equivocal. Recent findings suggest that to understand how selection targets ejaculates, we must recognize that female-imposed physiological conditions often alter sperm phenotypes. These phenotypic changes may influence the relationships among sperm traits and their association with fitness. Here, we show that chemical substances released by eggs (known to modify sperm physiology and behaviour) alter patterns of selection on a suite of sperm traits in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. We use multivariate selection analyses to characterize linear and nonlinear selection acting on sperm traits in (a) seawater alone and (b) seawater containing egg-derived chemicals (egg water). Our analyses revealed that nonlinear selection on canonical axes of multiple traits (notably sperm velocity, sperm linearity and percentage of motile sperm) was the most important form of selection overall, but importantly these patterns were only evident when sperm phenotypes were measured in egg water. These findings reveal the subtle way that females can alter patterns of selection, with the implication that overlooking environmentally moderated changes to sperm, may result in erroneous interpretations of how selection targets phenotypic (co)variation in sperm traits. © 2020 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2020 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.BACKGROUND Hearing loss (HL) is one of the most influential risk factors of dementia in older adults. However, its potential association with neurodegeneration is not well established. We evaluated the association between HL and cortical thickness in cognitively normal older adults. METHODS We identified 982 cognitively normal older adults (age ≥ 65 years) from the Health Promotion Center at the Samsung Medical Center from September 2008 to December 2014. The participants underwent pure tone audiometry and brain MRI. HL was evaluated according to a four-frequency (0.5, 1, 2, 4 KHz) pure tone average (PTA). Participants were divided into three groups according to the PTA (normal hearing ≤15 dB, minimal HL 16-25 dB, mild-to-severe HL >25dB). Cortical thickness in the HL groups were compared with that of the normal hearing group. RESULTS In women, right ear HL was associated with cortical thinning the minimal HL group showed cortical thinning in the left frontal and bilateral occipital areas and the mild-to-severe HL group showed cortical thinning in the bilateral frontal, right temporal, and bilateral occipital areas when compared to the normal hearing group. In men, there was no significant association between HL in either side and cortical thickness. CONCLUSION In older women, right ear HL is associated with neurodegeneration even in a cognitively normal state. Therefore, managing HL especially in older women may be an effective strategy for dementia prevention. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.OBJECTIVES To determine the prognostic significance of preoperative prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in patients with primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) after ablative surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 333 patients from two tertiary referral centers were enrolled as training and validation cohorts. The PNI was calculated as 10× serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte number (per mm3 ), and its optimal cutoff value for patient stratification was identified by X-tile software. Cox's proportional regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to identify prognostic factors and their predictive performance. RESULTS The optimal cutoff value of PNI was 47.4. Patients with low PNI had significantly shorter overall (OS) and disease-free survival than those with high PNI. Moreover, multivariate regression analyses indicated that PNI was an independent prognostic factor for OS in the training (hazard ratio [HR], 2.267; 95% confidence interval [CI]1.335-3.