Neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in infectious and inflammatory diseases of the spine: is there a correlation with clinical and radiological variants of myelopathy? Preliminary result of the analysis of a single-center cohort

Objective. To study the relationship between clinical and radiation variants of myelopathy and types of the neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in patients with infectious spondylitis. Material and Methods. A single-center cohort observational study was conducted with the analysis of medical records and a prospective examination of 20 patients with infectious spondylitis complicated by neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract. Results. Infectious spondylitis can be complicated by the development of various urodynamic disorders, including neurogenic detrusor hyperactivity (30 %), its combination with detrusor-sphincter dissinergia (30 %) and a decrease in detrusor contractility (40 %). In 50 % of patients, an urodynamic examination revealed an increase in detrusor pressure of more than 40 cm water. There was no connection between the development of any type of lower urinary tract dysfunction and MRI types of myelopathy according to Vendatam, as well as between the level of spinal cord compression and the severity of neurological disorders according to AIS. Conclusion. The results of the study do not confirm the existence of a relationship between the various characteristics of myelopathy in infectious spondylitis and the results of urodynamic examination. The limitation of the reliability of the results is the small number of observations. Studies with a larger sample are required to assess the relationship between the clinical and radiation characteristics of myelopathy and variants of neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in patients with infectious spondylitis

Donnan-exclusion-driven distribution of catalytic ferromagnetic nanoparticles synthesized in polymeric fibers

One of the routes to overcome the high instability of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) lies in the use of polymeric materials for their synthesis and stabilization. Besides, one of the most serious concerns associated with the growing production and use of MNPs is the possibility of their uncontrollable escape into the medium under treatment and the environment. A possible solution to this problem could be the synthesis of ferromagnetic MNPs with desired functionality, that might not only prevent their escape by using simple magnetic traps but also allow their recovery and reuse. In our work we report the results obtained by the development of environmentally-safe polymer-metal nanocomposite materials containing polymer-stabilized MNPs (PSMNPs) with properties. This material consists of a functional polymer with immobilized Pd@Co core-shell PSMNPs distributed mainly near the surface of the polymer which makes PSMNPs maximally accessible for reagents in catalytic applications. The material was characterized by different techniques to evaluate the total metal content, the size and the magnetic properties of MNPs and their distribution inside the polymer. All nanocomposites were tested as catalysts in Suzuki cross-coupling reactions between arylboronic acids and aryl halides to produce biphenyls as a reference reaction

Donnan-exclusion-driven distribution of catalytic ferromagnetic nanoparticles synthesized in polymeric fibers

One of the routes to overcome the high instability of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) lies in the use of polymeric materials for their synthesis and stabilization. Besides, one of the most serious concerns associated with the growing production and use of MNPs is the possibility of their uncontrollable escape into the medium under treatment and the environment. A possible solution to this problem could be the synthesis of ferromagnetic MNPs with desired functionality, that might not only prevent their escape by using simple magnetic traps but also allow their recovery and reuse. In our work we report the results obtained by the development of environmentally-safe polymer-metal nanocomposite materials containing polymer-stabilized MNPs (PSMNPs) with properties. This material consists of a functional polymer with immobilized Pd@Co core-shell PSMNPs distributed mainly near the surface of the polymer which makes PSMNPs maximally accessible for reagents in catalytic applications. The material was characterized by different techniques to evaluate the total metal content, the size and the magnetic properties of MNPs and their distribution inside the polymer. All nanocomposites were tested as catalysts in Suzuki cross-coupling reactions between arylboronic acids and aryl halides to produce biphenyls as a reference reaction