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Co-implanting of TiO2 and liquid-phase-delaminated g-C3N4 on multi-functional graphene nanobridges for enhancing photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen
No full textHerein, an efficient all-solid-state Z-type photocatalyst, TiO2/graphene/g-C3N4 (TGCN), was fabricated, characterized and utilized toward acetaminophen (ACM) degradation under a simulated solar light (SSL). The acid-treatment-assisted exfoliation process was used to break Van-der-Waals bonds between the bulk g-C3N4 layers and yield of ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets was fully explained. Also, the importance of using HCl and water in the process was examined. Structural, morphological and surface features of samples were thoroughly determined using XRD, Raman, TGA, FTIR, EDX, DRS, TEM, HRTEM, FESEM, BET, PL, EIS and photocurrent analyses. By considering different locations of graphene nanosheets in the TGCN, different charge transfer mechanisms were purposed and investigated employing Coulomb's law and trapping experiments. Constructing the efficient Z-type photocatalyst by introduction of graphene as shuttle electron mediator to TiO2 and g-C3N4 nanocomposite significantly enhanced the degradation performance and photo-activity. The adsorption edge of the TGCN nanocomposite was extended to the visible·light region by g-C3N4 nanosheets benefiting a more favorable band gap position. The characterization results clarified that graphene facilitates photo-induced electron transportation and separation as well as improving the specific surface area and promoting the ACM adsorption capacity. Then, the most possible indirect Z-type charge separation mechanism for TGCN/SSL system was successfully confirmed by findings. Benefiting from the excellent synergetic effect of the catalyst individual systems, the ACM (50 mg/L) could reach up to complete degradation under SSL irradiation with the 0.6 g/L of TGCN (60:10:30) at pH = 9.0 within 120 min reaction. In the end, a tentative pathway for ACM decomposition was suggested. © 2021 Elsevier B.V
Fatal necrotising cutaneous mucormycosis due to novel Saksenaea species: A case study
No full textThis case report describes the progressive wound infection in the left thigh of a 34-year-old man due to an old landmine explosion. The infection developed into rapidly spreading skin and soft tissue necrotising Saksenaea infection, despite antifungal therapy and surgical debridement. The report provides evidence that Saksenaea spp. should be added to the list of mucoralean fungi that can cause severe necrotising infection. It also highlights the need for improved early diagnostic procedures and enhanced understanding of Saksenaea virulence factors that contribute to necrotising infection. Declaration of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. © 2021 MA Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved
Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis presented with acute psychotic symptoms: A case report
Get PDFIntroduction: Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR) autoimmune encephalitis is one of the most challenging disorders with both psychiatric and neurologic presentations. Approximately three-fourth of patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) first referred to psychiatrists. Case Presentation: A 15-year-old female adolescent was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She presented a history of behavior changes, including aggression, the symptoms mimicking depression, and suicidal ideation, for one year. Then she showed more severe disinhibited behaviors, stupor, and generalized tonic-colonic seizure, so she was hospitalized in a general hospital. After neurological assessments, she was referred to a psychiatric hospital due to her uncontrollable aggressive behaviors in addition to sleep disturbance, rapid mood swings, restlessness, stereotypic behaviors, fluctuating attention and concentration, misidentification delusion, and perceptual changes. All lab tests and brain images were normal. Electroencephalograms showed generalized sharp and slow waves. The autoimmune panel tests were requested. When anti-glutamate receptor antibody was finally reported in her CSF, anti-NMDARE was finally diagnosed. Her symptoms improved by receiving five corticosteroid pulses. Conclusions: In patients with first and acute psychotic symptoms, especially in young individuals with seizures, the possibility of autoimmune disorders should be kept in mind, and complementary tests must be done for autoantibody detection. Copyright © 2021, Author(s)
Toe-brachial index is beyond a peripheral issue in patients with type 2 diabetes
Get PDFBackground Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes. We aimed to evaluate the association between ankle-brachial index (ABI) and toe-brachial index (TBI) with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods This cross sectional study included 296 patients with T2DM who met the American Diabetes Association criteria for the assessment of peripheral arterial atherosclerosis. The ABI � 0.9 and TBI � 0.7 were considered as abnormal values. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between TBI/ABI and CIMT. Results Right CIMT was significantly greater in the low TBI group (p = 0.03) while, left CIMT did not show a significant difference. Each 0.1-unit decrease in TBI value was independently associated with 0.017 mm increase in the right CIMT (β ± SE; -0.017 ± 0.005, p = 0.002) and with odds of the presence of increased CIMT odds ratio and 95% confidence interval: 1.21 (1.02, 1.44) after adjustment with all traditional risk factors. There was not any significant association between ABI and increased CIMT. Conclusions Beyond a suitable tool for the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease in patients with T2DM, TBI can be applied for prediction of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. © 2021 Darban Hosseini Amirkhiz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Cranial remolding orthosis for postoperative management of bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis: A case report
No full textCASE DESCRIPTION: This is a report of a 2.5-month-old infant with bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis who underwent minimally invasive suturectomy followed by cranial remolding orthosis (CRO). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the result of minimally invasive suturectomy followed by CRO treatment in an infant with bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis. STUDY DESIGN: This is a case report. TREATMENT: We fabricated the orthosis based on a computer-aided design and with computer-aided manufacturing technology. Cranial remolding orthosis compliance was measured subjectively. The child's parents were asked to complete a survey using visual analog scales to assess their satisfaction of their child's head appearance, problems with donning/doffing the orthosis, and feedback received from other people. OUTCOMES: At the time of fitting, the posterior skull hemisphere volume was 389.4 cm3. The values of cephalic index and cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) were 81 and 5, respectively. After 6 months of CRO treatment, the cephalic index and CVAI were 83 and 1.5, respectively. Moreover, the posterior skull hemisphere volume was 589.2 cm3. Average compliance with CRO wear was 88. According to the parental questionnaire results, pressure sores occurred 0 of the time, displacement occurred 15 of the time, contact dermatitis occurred 10 of the time, problems with donning/doffing of the orthosis occurred 27 of the time, difficulties in breastfeeding occurred 30 of the time, negative feedback from other people upset them 55 of the time, and they were 100 satisfied with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: After 6 months of using CRO, the CVAI and skull volume improved and reached their normal proportions. Our results may help ongoing research and clinical care regarding the role of postoperative CRO treatment in patients with complex synostosis. Copyright © 2021 International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics
Evaluating of the results of long fusion surgery in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis
No full textBackground: Degenerative scoliosis most commonly affects the lumbar spine in the elderly, resulting in facet and disc degeneration, leading to increased pain and progressive deformity. Due to the importance of the results of long fusion and the rate of coronary and sagittal correction of imbalance in patients with degenerative scoliosis, the present study was performed to evaluate the results of long fusion surgery in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis. Methods: The present study was performed as a prospective cohort study in patients with degenerative scoliosis who were candidates for surgery at Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. Basic patient information including age, sex, anatomical location of vertebral deviation and slip, degree of severity of deviation based on cobb angle and number of previous surgeries were reviewed and recorded. The surgical characteristics of the patient were extracted from the medical record including the approach used, the anatomical location of the fusion, whether or not to perform decompression, the number of decompression and fusion levels, the amount of bleeding during surgery, and the duration of surgery. Results: Eleven female patients participated in this study. The mean age of patients was 55.64 years with a standard deviation of 7.67 years. The minimum age was 40 years and the maximum age was 66 years. Patients' symptoms included low back pain-leg pain (3 cases), back pain-lameness (2 cases) and back pain-leg pain-lameness (6 cases). All patients underwent two stages of surgery. Mean amount of bleeding and time of surgery in the second surgery were significantly reduced compared to the first surgery (p <0.05). Complications of surgery included proximal junctional vertebral fracture (PGK) in two patients. Conclusion: Degenerative scoliosis is a complex clinical condition in which the patient's main problems are pain and disability. Long fusion surgery in patients with degenerative scoliosis significantly reduced the mean deviation, Patient's pain and severity of disability 6 months after surgery. Copyright © 2021 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Impact of coenzyme Q10 on inflammatory biomarkers and its role in future therapeutic strategies
No full textCoenzyme Q (CoQ) is an important component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The finding that multiple chronic diseases show lower levels of CoQ10 has led to the possibility that CoQ10 supplementation could be an effective approach to ameliorate or prevent disease progression. In this review, we discuss the state of the art regarding the role of CoQ10 in health and disease and describe the latest clinical studies which have tested the effects of CoQ10 supplementation in inflammatory diseases. The results of these studies indicate that individuals suffering from inflammation-related diseases show improvement under the CoQ10 supplementation protocol. However, these results have been inconsistent, leading to the need for additional studies at the preclinical and clinical levels, involving a greater number of subjects and different treatment regimes. © 2021 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolis
Depression symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in Iran: A national cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: Coronavirus 2019 is a new infectious disease that has been declared by the World Health Organization as a global pandemic. This pandemic may have psychological effects on populations. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the quality of sleep and depression in the Iranian community during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This nationwide cross-sectional web-based study was conducted from April 19 to May 12, 2020 in Iran. The data collection tools were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Depression Center for Epidemiologic Studies� Depression Scale questionnaires. Each province in Iran was assumed as a cluster, and generalized estimating equations models were used to determine the demographic variables that were related to depression symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak. Results: In this study, 73.5 and 41.4 of the participants had poor sleep quality and had depression symptoms, respectively. Perceived income, hours spent outdoors, the number of people with COVID-19 that were acquainted with, and a history of depression significantly were related to sleep quality. Also, gender, age, having a child, education level, economic status, and a history of depression were significantly associated with having depression symptoms. Conclusions: Most participants had poor sleep quality, and less than half had depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. These problems can disturb daily routines, cut social ties, and increase worries and fears of the future. Interventions are necessary to reduce psychological problems in Iran. Copyright © 2021, Author(s)
The effects of hesperidin supplementation or orange juice consumption on anthropometric measures in adults: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials
No full textBackground: The current evidence-base regarding the effect of hesperidin (a flavanone found in citrus fruits) on body composition is equivocal. Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis on the effect of orange juice and/or hesperidin supplementation on anthropometric measures in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Materials and methods: A systematic search of PubMed and Scopus was performed up to February 2020. The overall estimates and their 95 confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Results: Eleven eligible RCTs, with 512 individuals, were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed that orange juice and/or hesperidin had no significant effect on body weight weighted mean difference (WMD) = �0.31 kg; 95% CI, �1.44 to 0.82, P = 0.592, body mass index WMD = 0.11 kg/m2; 95% CI, �0.33 to 0.56, P = 0.617, fat mass WMD = 0.14 kg; 95% CI, �0.95 to 1.22, P = 0.807, percentage body fat WMD = �0.70%; 95% CI, �2.58 to 1.18, P = 0.463 and waist circumference WMD = 0.07 cm; 95% CI, �1.16 to 1.30, P = 0.588. Conclusion: The present study revealed that there is no significant beneficial effect of orange juice and/or hesperidin supplementation on anthropometric measures. The authors advocate that more high-quality clinical trials are needed to better discern the potential efficacy of orange juice and/or hesperidin. © 2021 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolis
Optimization of photo-electro/Persulfate/nZVI process on 2�4 Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation via central composite design: a novel combination of advanced oxidation process
No full text2�4 Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid is most publicly applied from chlorinated phenoxy acids herbicides. In this research, central composite design for optimization of photo-Elecro/persulfate/nZVI process to degradation and mineralization of this herbicide in aqueous solution to environment protection was applied. The initial pH (2�4), persulfate anion concentration (0.25�0.5 mg/L), direct electrical (0.5�1 A), herbicide concentration (50�100 mg/l), nZVI dose (0.05�1 mg/L), and reaction time (50�100 mg/l) are independent variables optimized. Also, the synergist effect, COD and TOC removal, the effect of radical scavengers, and by-products were investigated. The fitting of the model, suggested a quadratic model (R2 = 0.9926). F-value and P value of ANOVA were 719.81 and 0.0001 respectivelty. After optimizing the PEP/nZVI process, the proposed optimal conditions was pH = 3.4, persulfate concentration equal to 0.49 mg/l, in 1 A direct current, nZVI dose equal to 0.1 mg/l, in 50.05 mg/l herbicide concentration as an initial concentration, in 80 min reaction time. The theoretical and actual removal was evaluated 91.99 and 92, respectively. In the optimum condition, 45.4 synergist effect indicated. 78.3 and 66.5 of initial COD and TOC were decreased. 39.02 of Cl ion was released form 2,4-D structure. The presence of radical scavengers have an adverse impact on the performance of process. The highest amount of radical scavenging was in methanol, tert-butyl alcohol and bicarbonate ions at concentrations at 50 mM/l. The kinetic data was fitted via pseudo-first-order reaction (R2 = 0.99).The direct and indirect oxidation process lead to formation of several organic by-products which were confirmed by GC-MS analysis. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG