Combined sciatic-paravertebral nerve block vs. general anaesthesia for fractured hip of the elderly

Sixty elderly patients scheduled for surgical hip fracture repair were given the choice of either general isoflurane anaesthesia (n = 30) or a nerve stimulator guided combined sciatic-paravertebral nerve block (n = 30). The incidence of intraoperative hypotension and the need for postoperative admission to the intensive care unit/high dependency unit (ICU/HDU) within 48 hours postoperatively were recorded. No differences in patient characteristics, ASA class or concomitant disease status were detected between the two study groups. Both the incidence of intraoperative hypotension (0/30 vs. 11/30, p < 0.001) and the postoperative need for ICU/HDU admission (0/30 vs. 11/30, p < 0.001) was significantly reduced in patients treated with a combined sciatic-paravertebral nerve block compared to patient receiving general anaesthesia. The length of hospital stay was also found to be shorter for patient in the regional anaesthesia group [mean 6.7 days (SD 2.3) vs. 13.6 days (SD 6.1)]. The described technique appears to be an attractive alternative method to handle proximal fractures of the femur in the elderly, especially in a situation with limited ICU/HDU availability.     

伊朗传统医学治疗牙周疾病

目的:牙周疾病非常普遍,尽管有各种特定的治疗方法,但我们始终面临治疗方法有限的问题。考虑到世界组织十分关注传统医学在医疗服务中的发展和应用,我们在一直考察研究伊朗传统医学中药物对牙周疾病的治疗作用。方法:此项研究是一个对有关方面书籍的综合论述,伊朗传统医学内容是经过对重量级作者如Avicenna和Alzahrawy所著的有价值的书籍修订,收集了各医学院校馆藏图书和医药公司的有关信息编辑而成,因为在伊朗传统医学中牙周疾病分成不同目类,对有关药物的研究也被分成8个大组63个题目。(1)缓解牙龈肿胀药物(2)治疗牙龈恶化药物(3)治疗口疮腐烂药物(4)治疗牙龈肥大药物(5)利于伤口康复药物(6)利于牙龈加固的药物(7)阻止牙龈出血的药物(8)防止牙齿松动药物。结果结论:伊朗传统医学在准确的观察和实践的基础上来描述和治疗牙周疾病的。在制药学、有效治疗方面、科学研究手段等领域,伊朗传统医学在以下几个方面可作为现代制药研究的重要资源:(1)纯天然资源(2)容易获得(3)相对比较安全。     

Resistance of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae to Lytic Phage X2 by Spontaneous Mutation of Lipopolysaccharide Synthesis-Related Glycosyltransferase

Phage therapy is a promising biocontrol management on plant diseases caused by bacterial pathogens due to its specificity, efficiency and environmental friendliness. The emergence of natural phage-resistant bacteria hinders the application of phage therapy. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is the causal agent of the devastating bacterial leaf blight disease of rice. Here, we obtained a spontaneous mutant C2R of an Xoo strain C2 showing strong resistance to the lytic phage X2. Analysis of the C2R genome found that the CDS2289 gene encoding glycosyltransferase acquired a frameshift mutation at the 180th nucleotide site, which also leads to a premature stop mutation at the 142nd amino acid. This mutation confers the inhibition of phage adsorption through the changes in lipopolysaccharide production and structure and bacterial surface morphology. Interestingly, glycosyltransferase-deficient C2R and an insertional mutant k2289 also showed reduced virulence, suggesting the trade-off costs of phage resistance. In summary, this study highlights the role of glycosyltransferase in interactions among pathogenic bacteria, phages and plant hosts, which provide insights into balanced coevolution from environmental perspectives.     

Mentha: A genus rich in vital nutra‐pharmaceuticals—A review

The genus Mentha comprises several aromatic species, which are cultivated world‐over due to their distinct aroma and commercial value. In addition to traditional food flavoring uses, Mentha are well recognized for their folk medicinal uses, especially to treat cold, fever, and digestive and cardiovascular disorders. A number of biological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, biopesticidal, antitumor, anticancer, antiviral, antiallergic, antiinflammatory, antihypertensive, and urease inhibitory activity have been ascribed to Mentha. The traditional pharmacological attributes of Mentha herbs can be linked to the occurrence of bioactive phytochemicals such as terpenoids, alcohols, rosmarinic acid, and antioxidant phenolics among others. A rich source of bioactives, different species of Mentha, can be explored as a promising candidate for the development of nutra‐pharmaceuticals. This review covers the nutritional, phytochemical, and traditional medicinal aspects and multiple biological activities of some commonly available species of Mentha so as to explore their potential applications for nutra‐pharmaceutical and cosmo‐nutraceutical industry. Detailed chemical profile and pharmaceutical attributes of various Mentha essential oils are also covered. Moreover, based on computational analysis, quantitative chemical component–antioxidant activity relationship model is reviewed to predict and correlate structure–activity relationship of potential bioactives in selected Mentha essential oils leading to discovery and developmenmt of novel natural drugs.     

The role of electrochemical biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 detection: a bibliometrics-based analysis and review

The global pandemic of COVID-19, which began in late 2019, has resulted in extremely high morbidity and severe mortality worldwide, with important implications for human health, international trade, and national politics. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is the primary pathogen causing COVID-19. Analytical chemistry played an important role in this global epidemic event, and detection of SARS-CoV-2 even became a part of daily life. Analytical chemists have devoted much effort and enthusiasm to this event, and different analytical techniques have shown very rapid development. Electrochemical biosensors are highly efficient, sensitive, and cost-effective and have been used to detect many highly pathogenic viruses long before this event. However, another fact is that electrochemical biosensors are not the technology of choice for most detection applications. This review describes for the first time the role played by electrochemical biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 detection from a bibliometric perspective. This paper analyzed 254 relevant research papers up to June 2022. The contributions of different countries and institutions to this topic were analyzed. Keyword analysis was used to explore different methodological attempts of electrochemical detection techniques. More importantly, we are trying to find an answer to the question: do electrochemical biosensors have the potential to become a genuinely employable detection technology in an outbreak of infectious disease?

This review describes for the first time the role played by electrochemical biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 detection from a bibliometric perspective.     

Optimized Formulation of Magnetic Chitosan Microspheres Containing the Anticancer Agent,Oxantrazole

A combined emulsion/polymer cross-linking/solvent evaporation technique was used to prepare magnetic chitosan microspheres (MCM) containing the anticancer drug, oxantrazole. A central composite experimental design was used to simultaneously evaluate a variety of formulation factors on a number of response variables, such as the percentage of oxantrazole entrapped in the MCM. In association with the study design, statistical optimization procedures indicated the factors that significantly influence MCM preparation and what levels of the factors are needed to produce optimum MCM. Entrapment of anticancer agents into biodegradable microspheres is difficult because of low aqueous drug solubility and porosity of the particles. The latter effect was circumvented by a chitosan cross-linking step that resulted in 3% (w/w) oxantrazole entrapment in the MCM via the optimization procedures. The combined formulation and statistical optimization strategy provide a basis to develop other microparticulate systems and led to a dosage form that can be used for future in vivo investigations.     

A Comparative Study to Evaluate the Essential Work of Fracture to Measure the Fracture Toughness of Quasi-Brittle Material

In the present work, three different woven composite laminates were fabricated using the hand lay-up method. The woven reinforcement fibres were carbon fibres (CFRP), glass fibres (GFRP-W) and (GFRP-R) in combination with epoxy resin. Then, the central notch specimen tensile test (CNT) was used to measure the fracture toughness and the corresponding surface release energy (GIC). Then, the data were compared with the essential work of fracture (we) values based on the stored energy of the body to obtain a new standard fracture toughness test for composite laminates using relatively simple techniques. In addition to an extended finite element model, XFEM was implemented over a central notch specimen geometry to obtain a satisfactory validation of the essential work of fracture concepts. Therefore, the average values of (GIC) were measured with CNT specimens 25.15 kJ/m², 32.5 kJ/m² and 20.22 kJ/m² for CFRP, GFRP-W and GFRP-R, respectively. The data are very close as the percentage error for the surface release energy measured by the two methods was 0.83, 4.6 and 5.16 for carbon, glass and random fibre composite laminates, respectively. The data for the fracture toughness of XFEM are also very close. The percentage error is 4.6, 5.25 and 2.95 for carbon, glass and random fibre composite laminates, respectively. Therefore, the fundamental work of the fracture concept is highly recommended as a fracture toughness test for composite laminates or quasi-brittle Material.