臂丛神经根性撕脱伤后TGF—β、TNF-α、bFGF在脊髓中表达的变化

目的:通过观测大鼠臂丛神经根性撕脱伤后脊髓中运动及感觉神经元内转化生长因子β(TGF-β)、肿瘤坏死因子α(TNF-α)、碱性成纤维细胞生长因子(bFGF)的表达变化,探讨臂丛神经撕脱伤后神经相关细胞因子TGF-β、TNF-α、bFGF可能对神经再生的影响.方法:清洁级大白鼠54只,随机分为正常对照组和损伤术后1、3、7、10 d和14 d 组,共6组.损伤组均从前路造成臂丛C-5～T-1神经根性撕脱伤.按各组所示时间取脊髓分别检测TGF-β、TNF-α及bFGF的蛋白表达.并通过观察阳性细胞数对组织切片中TGF-β、TNF-α及bFGF进行半定量分析及比较. 结果:臂丛神经根性撕脱伤后,脊髓TGF-β、TNF-α、bFGF表达均增高, 前两者3 d时达到高峰, 随后下降, 14 d时仍高于对照组.而bFGF 7 d时达到高峰,随后下降,14 d时下降到接近正常水平.结论:臂丛神经根性撕脱伤后神经因子在中枢神经元表达增高, 可能有保护神经元、促进神经再生的作用.     

外周血肿瘤坏死因子α与神经根型颈椎病疼痛程度的相关研究

目的:探讨外周血肿瘤坏死因子α浓度与神经根型颈椎病疼痛程度的相关性。方法:随机抽取2007年1～11月在我科确诊的神经根型颈椎病100例患者中的40例,采用直观模拟量表测量就诊时的疼痛程度,同时清晨空腹抽取患者静脉血,提取血清,并低温冷冻保存;病例收集完毕后,采用人肿瘤坏死因子α双抗体夹心酶标免疫分析法检测患者外周血中肿瘤坏死因子α(TNF-α)浓度。结果:患者外周血中的肿瘤坏死因子浓度明显高于正常人;对病程、疼痛程度值及外周血TNF-α浓度数据采用秩相关分析方法分析,发现外周血中TNF-α浓度与神经根型颈椎病疼痛程度成正相关(rs=0.9713,P<0.01);外周血肿瘤坏死因子α浓度与患者病程呈正相关(rs=0.3149,P<0.01～0.05)。结论:肿瘤坏死因子α在神经根型颈椎病疼痛的发生、发展及程度上可能起着重要作用。     

Complications of laser-in-situ-keratomileusis

Laser-in-situ-keratomileusis (LASIK) has become a popular technique of refractive surgery because of lower postoperative discomfort, early visual rehabilitation and decreased postoperative haze. Compared to photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), LASIK involves an additional procedure of creating a corneal flap. This may result in complications related to the flap, interface and underlying stromal bed. The common flap-related complications include thin flap, button holing, free caps, flap dislocation and flap striae. The interface complications of diffuse lamellar keratitis, epithelial ingrowth and microbial keratitis are potentially sight threatening. Compared to PRK, there is less inflammation and faster healing after LASIK, but there is a longer period of sensory denervation leading to the complication of dry eyes. The refractive complications include undercorrection, regression, irregular astigmatism, decentration and visual aberrations. Honest and unbiased reporting is important to understand the aetiology and redefine the management.     

Establishing a telemedicine program for interventional radiology: a study of patient opinion and experience

PURPOSEThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced healthcare officials to implement new policies, such as the use of virtual consultations over office-based medical appointments, to reduce the transmission of the virus. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively compare patients’ experiences with virtual outpatient telemedicine encounters at a single academic institution in interventional radiology (IR) and in-person visits during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODSThe TeleENT Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Medical Communication Competence Scale (MCCS) were used to survey patients’ satisfaction with both in-person and virtual office visits.RESULTSNinety respondents (38 in-person and 52 virtual) acknowledged numerous benefits of virtual visits versus in-person office visits including reductions in time, cost, and potential viral transmission risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. No statistically significant difference was noted, based on a Likert scale from 1 to 7, between in-person and virtual visits (all P > .05) for scheduling-related factors. No statistically significant difference was noted in any of the MCCS subscales between the 2 cohorts with regard to medical information communication (all P > .05). A majority of patients with virtual encounters (82.7%) stated that it was easy to obtain an electronic device for use during the telemedicine visit, and 73.1% of patients felt that setting up the telemedicine encounter was easy.CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrates that telemedicine is an acceptable alternative to in-office appointments and could increase access to IR care outside of the traditional physician–patient interaction. With telemedicine visits, patients can communicate their concerns and obtain information from the doctor with noninferior communication compared to in-person visits.

Main points

• In a pilot telemedicine program for interventional radiology clinic visits at a tertiary care hospital, the experience of telemedicine encounters was not inferior to in-person visits.
• There was no significant difference in patient experience and satisfaction between in-person and virtual encounters.
• There was no significant difference in the transmission and understanding of information between in-person and virtual encounters.

Telemedicine is an efficient and cost-effective service “that seeks to improve a patient’s health by permitting a two-way, real-time interactive communication between the patient and the physician at a distant site,” according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).¹ With improvements in real-time audiovisual communications technology and secure high-speed internet access over the past several decades, the practice of telemedicine has evolved to augment and even replace traditional face-to-face medical visits. This has translated into improved accessibility to high-quality medical care for a wide variety of patient populations.In recent years, telemedicine has been shown to improve care logistics and increase the geographic reach of healthcare providers, which is more important than ever in the current environment of specialty care centralized in higher volume urban medical centers.^2,3 The benefits of telemedicine include improved clinical efficiency, increased access for patients in underserved areas to specialty care, reduction in transportation time and costs, as well as increased patient satisfaction.^4-11 Telemedicine has proven useful for a variety of patient appointments (e.g., initial consultations, preoperative evaluation, postoperative checks, and long-term follow-ups) in a broad range of healthcare settings (e.g., primary care, specialty care, stroke care, and physician-to-physician consultation between academic institutions or networks of rural community clinics).^7-15 However, despite this progress, telemedicine had previously not been broadly adopted due to regulatory hurdles and inflexible payment structures until coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).¹⁶The pandemic forced healthcare systems to implement new practice workflows to mitigate the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Various governing bodies and associations instituted guidelines resulting in the cancelation of elective, non-emergent appointments and procedures. However, a large cohort of patients remained who suffered from time-sensitive ailments that required urgent consultation, evaluation, and medical procedures, making cancellation impossible.In order to continue to deliver care to these patients and reduce both patients’ and healthcare workers’ exposure to the virus, clinical assessments shifted to a virtual platform. Furthermore, CMS authorized a rule stating that virtual telemedicine visits would be temporarily reimbursed at the same rate as face-to-face visits to incentivize the use of telemedicine and thus reduce viral transmission rates.¹⁷ These changes were welcomed by healthcare personnel and patients alike. Additionally, the use of telemedicine allowed for continued routine care of the elderly or high-risk patients who would otherwise have been hesitant to seek face-to-face care in the midst of the pandemic.Telemedicine is a relatively new endeavor for many providers in a variety of specialties. Although various guidelines and recommendations have been published, there are few studies of telemedicine utilization in the practice of interventional radiology (IR).^18-33 The aim of this study was to evaluate patients’ experiences with the newly implemented COVID-19 era telemedicine in IR at a single tertiary care academic center.     

A novel 3-methylthiophene additive to boost the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a practical candidate for new-generation photovoltaic devices to meet global energy demands. Recently, researchers'' attempts have been focused on the crucial issues related to PSCs, i.e., stability and performance. In this research, MAPbI₃-based PSCs were prepared via a two-step deposition process. To boost the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the prepared PSCs, an additive engineering approach was employed. A novel 3-methylthiophene (MTP) organic molecule was added to the methylammonium iodide (MAI)/isopropanol (IPA) solution precursor. The additive improved the crystallinity of the perovskite layer, which indicates a more desirable film with lower surface defects and larger particle size. Modified PSCs reduced carries recombination rate at the interfacial of perovskite/hole transport layer (HTL), and the charge transport process is facilitated due to a desirable delocalized π-electron system of the MTP additive. The PCE of PSCs in the presence of MTP additive improved from 12.32% to 16.93% for pristine devices. Importantly, MTP-based PSCs showed higher ambient air stability due to the hydrophobic structure of MTP compared to pristine PSCs.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a practical candidate for new-generation photovoltaic devices to meet global energy demands.     

Chemical characterization,cytotoxic, antioxidant,antimicrobial, and enzyme inhibitory effects of different extracts from one sage (Salvia ceratophylla L.) from Turkey: open a new window on industrial purposes

In the present study, the methanolic, hydro-methanolic, dichloromethane, hexane and aqueous extracts of Salvia ceratophylla L. (Family: Lamiaceae), a lemon-scented herb, were tested for total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activities were evaluated using a battery of assays (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), cupric reducing antioxidant capacity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (phosphomolybdenum) and metal chelating). Enzyme inhibitory effects were investigated using acetyl- (AChE), butyryl-cholinesterase (BChE), tyrosinase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase as target enzymes. Regarding the cytotoxic abilities, HepG2, B164A5 and S17 cell lines were used. The phytochemical profile was conducted using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Our data showed that the methanolic aerial extracts possessed the highest phenolic (72.50 ± 0.63 mg gallic acid equivalent per g) and flavonoid (43.77 ± 1.09 mg rutin equivalent per g) contents. The hydro-methanolic aerial extract showed significant DPPH radical scavenging activity (193.40 ± 0.27 mg TE per g) and the highest reducing potential against CUPRAC (377.93 ± 2.38 mg TE per g). The best tyrosinase activity was observed with dichloromethane root extract (125.45 ± 1.41 mg kojic acid equivalent per g). Among the tested extracts, hexane root extract exerted the highest antimicrobial potential with a minimum inhibitory concentration value of 0.048 mg mL⁻¹. Methanolic root extract showed the lowest cytotoxicity (28%) against HepG2 cells. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of important polyphenolic compounds including luteolin, gallic acid, rosmarinic acid, to name a few. This research can be used as one methodological starting point for further investigations on this lemon-scented herb.

Our findings suggested that Salvia ceratophylla could be one potential raw material in industrial applications.