3D-printed protected face shields for health care workers in Covid-19 pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a shortage of protective equipment. To meet the request of eye-protecting devices, an interdisciplinary consortium involving practitioners, researchers, engineers and technicians developed and manufactured thousands of inexpensive 3D-printed face shields, inside hospital setting. This action leads to the concept of “concurrent, agile, and rapid engineering”.     

Inflammatory effect on the gastrointestinal system associated with COVID-19

The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has provoked a global pandemic, mainly affecting the respiratory tract; however, a percentage of infected individuals can develop gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Some studies describe the development of GI symptoms and how they affect the progression of COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the main mechanisms associated with gut damage during infection by SARS-CoV-2 as well as other organs such as the liver and pancreas. Not only are host factors associated with severe COVID-19 but intestinal microbiota dysbiosis is also observed in patients with severe disease.     

Emergence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter pittii carrying the blaOXA-72 gene in the Amazon region,Brazil

We sought to characterize the genetic context of bla_OXA-72 gene in a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter pittii strain recovered from a hospitalized patient from Belém, North Brazil, in the Amazon region. We found that the bla_OXA-72 gene was carried by a small plasmid, pIEC338SCox, that is 10,498?bp. The gene is flanked by XerC/XerD-like recombinase sites, which suggests that this gene was acquired onto this plasmid by recombination.     

Relationship between small intestinal fasting motility and vomiting in dogs

Preceding vomiting, several changes in small intestinal motility have been described. They consist mainly of high-amplitude retrograde contractions and inhibition of motility before and after these contractions. The recordings of 94 episodes of emesis occurring spontaneously, during manometric studies of intestinal motility by means of infused catheters in dogs with gastric and duodenal cannulae, showed that 95.7% of all episodes developed during phase II of the migratory motor complex. In order to establish whether different phases of the fasting cyclic activity are associated with a different sensitivity to emetic stimulus, two agents, apomorphine, a centrally acting drug and copper sulfate, a peripherally acting agent, were administered at the beginning of phases I and II of the migratory motor complex. Coincident with spontaneously occurring vomiting, a statistically significative greater number of responses to both emetic agents was observed during phase II as compared to phase I. This finding suggests that cyclic changes of the small bowel motility are related to changes in the threshold of the vomiting center.Supported by a grant from the University of Chile, project M1553-8445.     

Length of hospital stay and postdischarge mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism: a statewide perspective

BACKGROUND: The optimal length of stay (LOS) for patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) is unknown. Although reducing LOS is likely to save costs, the effects on patient safety are unclear. We sought to identify patient and hospital factors associated with LOS and assess whether LOS was associated with postdischarge mortality. METHODS: We evaluated patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of PE from 186 acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania (January 2000 through November 2002). We used discrete survival models to examine the association between (1) patient and hospital factors and the time to discharge and (2) LOS and postdischarge mortality within 30 days of presentation, adjusting for patient and hospital factors. RESULTS: Among 15 531 patient discharges with PE, the median LOS was 6 days, and postdischarge mortality rate was 3.3%. In multivariate analysis, patients from Philadelphia were less likely to be discharged on a given day (odds ratio [OR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73-0.93), as were black patients (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82-0.94).The odds of discharge decreased notably with greater patient severity of illness and in patients without private health insurance. Adjusted postdischarge mortality was significantly higher for patients with an LOS of 4 days or less (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.21-2.00) relative to those with an LOS of 5 to 6 days. CONCLUSIONS: Several hospital and patient factors were independently associated with LOS. Patients with a very short LOS had greater postdischarge mortality relative to patients with a typical LOS, suggesting that physicians may inappropriately select patients with PE for early discharge who are at increased risk of complications.     

Different circumstances of the first venous thromboembolism among younger or older heterozygous carriers of the G20210A polymorphism in the prothrombin gene

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The G20210A polymorphism in the prothrombin gene is a common cause of inherited thrombophilia. Scarce information is available about the circumstances of the heralding thrombotic manifestation at different ages. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of spontaneous or secondary venous thromboembolism (VTE) among younger and older carriers of the G20210A prothrombin polymorphism. DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a case-control study, investigating 650 patients with a first objectively documented deep venous thrombosis of the legs or pulmonary embolism and 703 individuals with no history of vascular disease. In all of them we carried out laboratory screening for antithrombin III, protein C and protein S deficiencies, and for the presence of the factor V Leiden and the G20210A prothrombin polymorphisms. RESULTS. After adjustment for other inherited causes of thrombophilia (deficiency of antithrombin III, protein C or S, factor V Leiden) the overall risk for VTE associated with the prothrombin polymorphism was 3.4 times higher than in the controls (95% CI, 2.0 to 5.8). Stratification according to the age and to the circumstances of the first event revealed an increased risk of spontaneous VTE only among the patients older than 45 years in comparison with age-matched controls (odds ratio 4.4, 95% CI 1.8 to 10.6); among the younger individuals the risk was increased for secondary VTE (odds ratio 4.8, 95% CI, 2.3 to 9.8) but not for spontaneous VTE. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: The clinical penetrance of the thrombotic tendency associated with the G20210A prothrombin polymorphism is more expressed in the presence of a circumstantial risk factor (oral contraceptives, pregnancy, surgery, trauma) and in the presence of older age, which acts as an additional circumstantial risk factor. Accordingly, such situations should not discourage from carrying out laboratory screening.     

Quinazoline-4-piperidine sulfamides are specific inhibitors of human NPP1 and prevent pathological mineralization of valve interstitial cells

Background and Purpose

Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/PDE1 (NPP1) is an ectoenzyme, which plays a role in several disorders including calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD). So far, compounds that have been developed as inhibitors of NPP1 lack potency and specificity. Quinazoline-4-piperidine sulfamides (QPS) have been described as potent inhibitors of NPP1. However, their mode of inhibition as well as their selectivity and capacity to modify biological processes have not been investigated.

Experimental Approach

In the present series of experiments, we have evaluated the efficacy of two derivatives, QPS1-2, in inhibiting human NPP1, and we have evaluated the effect of the most potent derivative (QPS1) on other ectonucleotidases as well as on the ability of this compound to prevent phosphate-induced mineralization of human primary aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs).

Key Results

The QPS1 derivative is a potent (K_i 59.3 ± 5.4 nM) and selective non-competitive inhibitor of human NPP1. Moreover, QPS1 also significantly inhibited the K121Q NPP1 gene variant (K_i 59.2 ± 14.5 nM), which is prevalent in the general population. QPS1 did not significantly alter the activity of other nucleotide metabolizing ectoenzymes expressed at the cell surface, namely NPP3, NTPDases (1–3), ecto-5′-nucleotidase and ALP. Importantly, QPS1 in the low micromolar range (≤10 μM) prevented phosphate-induced mineralization of VICs and lowered the rise of osteogenic genes as expected for NPP1 inhibition.

Conclusions and Implications

We have provided evidence that QPS1 is a potent and selective non-competitive inhibitor of NPP1 and that it prevented pathological mineralization in a cellular model.     

Dental stem cells for craniofacial tissue engineering

This article focuses on the biological characterization and discussion of the potential application of oral-derived adult stem cells for craniofacial tissue engineering applications. The authors reviewed experimental (in vitro and in vivo) and clinical reports regarding the isolation, characterization, modulation, and translational clinical application of human precursor cell populations derived from postnatal dental tissues. Five different human dental stem/progenitor cell populations have been isolated and characterized. These postnatal populations present mesenchymal stem cell-like characteristics and enjoy forceful capabilities regarding the differentiation into odontogenic/osteogenic lineages, supporting evidence-in preclinical and clinical trials-for the regeneration of oral/dental tissues.