Applications of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in nanomedicine

Nanotechnology is an exciting field that has a profitable outcome due to the increased applications of nanomaterials in many areas such as industry, agriculture, business, medicine and public health. Nanomedicine is a science that studies the application of nanotechnology in medicine. For diseases diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, control and prevention. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) possess the potential to be used in nanomedicine for cancer diagnosis and therapy due to their advantageous characteristics such as biocompatibility, photocatalytic activity and good optical and electronic properties. This review aims to introduce nanomedicine and nanomaterials and focus on the recent research interest toward TiO2NPs in medicine

Surgical treatment of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fracture using a single small lateral approach

The objective of this study was to evaluate the outcome of semi-open reduction and minimal internal fixation through a single small lateral approach as a minimally invasive technique for treatment of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures. This prospective study was conducted on eighteen patients (16 men and 2 women). The average age was 37.7 (22–55). The most common cause of injury was a fall from height in fourteen patients. Patients were operated on within a mean time of 4.8 days of admission (1–11 days) and were followed up for an average period of 24.1 months (6–39 months). Patients were evaluated clinically using the Creighton-Nebraska Heath Foundation Assessment score of Crosby and Fitzgibbons (J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 72-A:852–859, 1990). The scoring system proposed by Knirk and Jupiter was used for radiological assessment of the posterior subtalar joint (Knirk and Jupiter in J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 68-A: 647–659, 1986). The skin incision healed in all cases without necrosis, infection, or sural nerve injury. All fractures healed after an average of 8 weeks (7–10 weeks), and patients returned to the routine daily activities after an average time of 4.3 months (3–7 months). In conclusion, semi-open reduction and minimal internal fixation through a small lateral approach is an effective treatment for carefully selected cases of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures

Cloud computing based unsupervised fault diagnosis system in the context of Industry 4.0

ABSTRACT: New online fault monitoring and alarm systems, with the aid of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Cloud Technology (CT), are examined in this article within the context of Industry 4.0. The data collected from machines is used to implement maintenance strategies based on the diagnosis and prognosis of the machines' performance. As such, the purpose of this paper is to propose a Cloud Computing Platform containing three layers of technologies forming a Cyber-Physical System which receives unlabelled data to generate an interpreted online decision for the local team, as well as collecting historical data to improve the analyzer. The proposed troubleshooter is tested using unlabelled experimental data sets of rolling element bearing. Finally, the current and future Fault Diagnosis Systems and Cloud Technologies applications in the maintenance field are discussed

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

Design, synthesis, molecular docking and anticonvulsant evaluation of novel 6-iodo-2-phenyl-3-substituted-quinazolin-4(3H)-ones

A new series of 6-iodo-2-phenyl-3-substituted-quinazolin-4(3H)-one (5–12a–b) derivatives were synthesized, evaluated for their anticonvulsant activity against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures and maximal electroshock test and compared with the reference drugs phenobarbital sodium and methaqualone. The neurotoxicity was assessed using rotarod test. The molecular docking was performed for all the synthesized compounds to assess their binding affinities to GABA-A receptor in order to rationalize their anticonvulsant activities in a qualitative way. The data obtained from the molecular modeling were correlated with those obtained from the biological screening. Compounds 9a, 9b, 12a and 7a showed the highest anticonvulsant activities of this series with relatively low neurotoxicity and low toxicity in the median lethal dose test when compared with the reference drugs. The obtained results proved that the most active compounds could be a useful model for future design, adaptation and investigation to construct more active analogs

Possible Underlying Mechanisms for the Renoprotective Effect of Retinoic Acid-Pretreated Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells against Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Objectives: The current work investigated the effect of Wharton jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) pretreated with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) on renal ischemia in rats and the possible role of oxidative stress, apoptotic and Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathways, and inflammatory cytokines in their effects. Methods: The study included 90 male Sprague Dawley rats that were allocated to five groups (n = 18 rats): (I) Sham-operated group (right nephrectomy was performed); (II) Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) group, a sham group with 45-min renal ischemia on the left kidney; (III) ATRA group, an ischemic group with an intravenous (i.v.) administration of ATRA 10 µM, 10 min post-surgery); (IV) WJ-MSCs group, an IRI group with an i.v. administration of 150 µL containing 7 × 106 WJ-MSCs, 10 min post-surgery; (V) WJ-MSCs + ATRA group, an IRI group with an i.v. administration of 150 µL of 7 × 106 WJ-MSCs pretreated with 10 µM ATRA. At the end of the experiments, serum creatinine, BUN micro-albuminuria (MAU), urinary protein, markers of redox state in the left kidney (MDA, CAT, SOD, and GSH), and the expression of Bax, IL-6, HIF-1α, Wnt7B, and β-catenin genes at the level of mRNA as well as for immunohistochemistry for NFkB and β-Catenin markers were analyzed. Results: The current study found that 45-min of renal ischemia resulted in significant impairment of kidney function (evidenced by the increase in serum creatinine, BUN, and urinary proteins) and deterioration of the kidney morphology, which was associated with a significant increase in redox state (evidenced by an increase in MDA and a decrease in GSH, SOD, and CAT), and a significant increase in inflammatory and apoptotic processes (evidenced by an increase in Bax and IL-6, NFkB, Wnt7B, β-catenin and HIF-1α) in kidney tissues (p p < 0.05). Moreover, the renoprotective effect of WJ-MSCs pretreated with ATRA was more potent than WJ-MSCs alone. Conclusions: It is concluded that preconditioning of WJ-MSCs with ATRA may enhance their renoprotective effect. This effect could be due to the upregulation of the beta-catenin/Wnt pathway and attenuation of apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress

Immunoenhancing properties of the anti-tumor effects of adoptively transferred T cells with chemotherapeutic cyclophosphamide by co-administration of bone marrow cells

In this study we aimed to determine the anti-tumor efficacy of co-treatment of adoptively transferred T cells with bone marrow either harvested from naïve mice or G-CSF activated after treatment with the anti-cancer drug cyclophosphamide (CTX) as a source enriched in stem cells. CTX-treated Swiss Albino (CD-1) mice were injected with 2 × 105 Ehrlich ascetic carcinoma (EAC) cell line and then adoptively transferred with in vitro co-activated T cells with or without bone marrow one day post CTX treatment. All mice were vaccinated with tumor lysate and Hiltonol®. The results showed that co-transfer of activated T cells with bone marrow provided the highest antitumor effect and induced marked increase in numbers of splenocytes, leucocytes and bone marrow cells. Interestingly, T cells derived from EAC tumor-bearing host induced higher effects than those from normal mice. In sum, our data suggest that combination of CTX and activated transferred T cells with bone marrow induces proliferation and expansion of immune cells, which are functional and can be exploited in vivo to foster more effective antitumor adoptive immunotherapy strategies