Sandersdominguez2479
Background Home enteral nutrition (HEN), including tube feeding and oral supplementation, can improve or worsen quality of life (QoL). The specific assessment of factors affecting QoL may identify the inherent problems associated with HEN. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the validated NutriQoL® questionnaire is useful for assessing the QoL and the factors influencing it in patients receiving HEN. Methods A total of 78 patients receiving HEN completed both the NutriQoL and the SF-12 questionnaires during their routine visits to nutrition service at the hospital. Results Ninety percent of patients receiving HEN had cancer, 58% received oral supplements, and 42% received tube feeding. At recruitment, the mean score ± SD of the NutriQoL was 66 ± 14, whereas that of the SF-12 was 40 ± 9. A positive correlation between NutriQoL and SF-12 scores (ρ = 0.5; P less then .001) was found. Multivariate analysis showed that HEN type (oral vs tube) (odds ratio [OR], 5.6; 95% CI 2.0-15.3; P = .001) and the absence of secondary effects (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.2-7.9; P = .024) were both variables explaining NutriQoL results adjusted by sex and age. The SF-12 results did not show associations with nutrition factors. On visit 2, we observed significant improvements in NutriQoL results. Conclusion The NutriQoL questionnaire identifies specific problems that affect the QoL of patients receiving HEN, whereas SF-12 does not. The route of entry and the occurrence of complications influence specific QoL. see more NutriQoL is a useful tool to identify the factors that worsen the QoL in patients receiving HEN.Rheumatoid arthritis is a disabling autoimmune disease with a high global prevalence. Treatment with disease-modifying anti-arthritic drugs (DIMARDs) has been routinely used with beneficial effects but with adverse long-term consequences; novel targeted biologics and small-molecule inhibitors are promising options. In this study, we investigated whether purified omega unsaturated fatty acids (ω-UFAs) and dialysable leukocyte extracts (DLEs) prevented the development of arthritis in a model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. We also investigated whether the transcription factor NF-κB and the NLRP3 inflammasome were involved in the process and whether their activity was modulated by treatment. The development of arthritis was evaluated for 84 days following treatment with nothing, dexamethasone, DLEs, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, and oleic acid. Progression of CIA was monitored by evaluating clinical manifestations, inflammatory changes, and histological alterations in the pads' articular tissues. Both DLEs and ω-UFAs led to an almost complete inhibition of the inflammatory histopathology of CIA and this was concomitant with the inhibition of NF-kB and the inhibition of the activation of NLRP3. These data suggest that ω-UFAs and DLEs might have NF-κB as a common target and that they might be used as ancillary medicines in the treatment of arthritis.The role of left atrial appendage occlusion devices for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) continues to expand. Device embolization is a rare but potentially catastrophic complication with variable clinical presentations. Here, we present a case of delayed dislodgment of a watchman device discovered on routine echocardiographic follow-up in a patient who later admitted to neurological symptoms. Urgent surgical device retrieval was performed with no further complications or neurological sequelae.Melt electrowriting, a high-resolution additive manufacturing technology, has so far been developed with vertical stacking of fiber layers, with a printing trajectory that is constant for each layer. In this work, microscale layer shifting is introduced through deliberately offsetting the printing trajectory for each printed layer. Inaccuracies during the printing of sinusoidal walls are corrected via layer shifting, resulting in accurate control of their geometry and mechanical properties. Furthermore, more substantial layer shifting allows stacking of fiber layers in a horizontal manner, overcoming the electrostatic autofocusing effect that favors vertical layer stacking. Novel nonlinear geometries, such as overhangs, wall texturing and branching, and smooth and abrupt changes in printing trajectory are presented, demonstrating the flexibility of the layer shifting approach beyond the state-of-the-art. The practice of microscale layer shifting for melt electrowriting enables more complex geometries that promise to have a profound impact on the development of products in a broad range of applications.Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a type of invasive malignancy and the seventh most common cancer in the worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are self-renewal cells in tumors and can produce heterogeneous tumor cells, which play an important role in the development of HNSCC. In our research, we aimed to identify genes related to the CSCs characteristics in HNSCC. Methods Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression-based stiffness index (mRNAsi) can be used as a quantitative characterization of CSCs. We used one-class logistic regression machine learning algorithm (OCLR) to calculate the mRNAsi and investigate the relationship between mRNAsi and clinical characteristics of HNSCC. Then, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to screen hub genes related to mRNAsi of HNSCC. Results The results indicated that the score of mRNAsi in HNSCC tissues is higher than in paracancer tissues, while the mRNAsi was not statistically correlated with the prognosis and clinical characteristics of HNSCC. Six positive and six negative hub genes related to mRNAsi of HNSCC were selected, which may act as therapeutic targets for inhibiting CSCs within HNSCC. Conclusions In conclusion, our research selected 12 hub genes related to mRNAsi of HNSCC through weighted gene co-expression network analysis. These genes may become therapeutic targets to inhibit the CSCs of HNSCC in the future.The hydrogen-bonded complexes of fluorophenylacetylenes exhibit unusual and interesting turn ON/FF fluorescence behaviour following excitation to 1 ππ* (S 1 ) state. The fluorescence switching behaviour can be realized either (i) changing the intermolecular structure, (ii) change in the position of fluorine substitution and (iii) change in the hydrogen bonding partner or a combination thereof. Experiments indicate that the ≡C-H···X (X=O, N) hydrogen bonding with the acetylenic group plays a pivotal role in this switching behaviour. Intriguingly, weaker ≡C-H···X hydrogen bonding leads to fluorescence OFF state, which is turned ON by stronger hydrogen bonding. The observed fluorescence switching behaviour is rationalized on the basis of a phenomenological model which suggests a coupling between the initially excited S 1 state and a dark S n state in the Franck-Condon region with limited window controlled by the ≡C-H···X hydrogen bonding as a crucial parameter. Such fluorescence switching behaviour in hydrogen-bonded complexes is unprecedented and these intriguing results hopefully will stimulate theoreticians to test 'state of the art' theories to explain these observations in a consistent manner.