Telenutrition for the management of inflammatory bowel disease: Benefits, limits, and future perspectives

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require lifelong and personalized care by a multidisciplinary healthcare team. However, the traditional medical model is not ideal for patients who require continuous close monitoring and whose symptoms may dramatically worsen between regularly scheduled visits. Additionally, close dietary follow-up and monitoring of IBD in a traditional setting are challenging because of the disease complexity, high pressure on outpatient clinics with a small number of IBD specialist dietitians, and rising incidence. Given the significant burden of IBD, there is a need to develop effective dietary management strategies. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic caused an unprecedented shift from in-person care to delivering health care via technological remote devices. Traditional nutrition therapy and consultation can be provided by telenutrition through remote electronic communication applications that could greatly benefit patient care. Telenutrition might be useful, safe, and cost-effective compared with standard care. It is likely that virtual care for chronic diseases including IBD will continue in some form into the future. This review article summarizes the evidence about telenutrition applications in the management of IBD patients, and we gave an overview of the acceptance and impact of these interventions on health outcomes

A comparative real-time speed control of PMSM with Fuzzy Logic and ANN based vector controller

This paper presents, analyzed real-time speed control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) under constant load by using Fuzzy Logic (FL) controller and recurrent Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controller. A closed loop PMSM drive system is improved using the mathematical model of the PMSM in Matlab / Simulink. Two types of controllers are used; the first controller is the real-time FL controller and the second controller is a real-time recurrent ANN controller in terms of smoother speed response. Whole drive systems is simulated in Matlab/Simulink program. The simulation results show that the focused ANN controller produce considerable control performance compare to the FL controller on controlling speed reference variation

The relationship between social support and spousal support perceived by women in the postpartum period and readiness for discharge

Abstract Aim: The study was conducted to determine the relationship between puerperal hospital readiness for discharge and social and spousal support. Materials and Methods:The descriptive and relationship-seeking study was conducted with 388 women hospitalized in the maternity ward of a public hospital. Personal Information Form, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Spouse Support Scale Perceived by Women in Early Postpartum Period (SSSPWEPP) and Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale–New Mother Form (RHD-NMF) were used to collect the data. Results:The average score of postpartum women from RHD-NMF was 171.41±28.55 with 89.9% of them to be ready for discharge. There was a weak positive correlation between total scores from RHD-NMF and MSPSS and its sub-dimensions (family, friends) (r=.164, r=.177, r=.156, respectively; p<0.01); whilst there was a weak positive correlation between total scores from RHD-NMF and SSSPWEPP and its sub-dimensions (emotional, physical, social) (r=.249, r=.199, r=.194, r=.232, respectively;p<0.01). Conclusion and Suggestions:The study found that most of the postpartum women were ready for discharge. There was a positive correlation between preparedness for discharge and social and family support and support from friends in the puerperium period; also, more physical, emotional and social support from the spouse translated into more readiness for discharge from the hospital. In addition, it was found that the most important variablee affecting readiness for discharge from the hospital was the support of friends and physical support of the spouse

Surface modification of graphene oxide for preparing self-healing nanocomposite hydrogels

In this work, graphene oxide (GO) and vinyl modified GO (V-GO)-based nanocomposite hydrogels with improved mechanical property and self-healing ability have been synthesized and characterized. GO first was synthesized by modified Hummer's method using graphite powder and then functionalized with vinyl groups by using (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTS) via silanization method. The GO and V-GO nanoparticles were characterized by FT-IR, UV-vis spectroscopy, SEM, and dynamic light scattering technique (DLS). Hydrogels were obtained by in-situ free-radical polymerizations of acrylamide (AAm) and [3-(methacryloylamino)propyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MAPTAC) monomers in the presence of GO and V-GO nanoparticles. The effects of the amount of GO and V-GO on the gelation profile and viscoelastic characteristics of the hydrogels were studied. The pH-responsive action, swelling behavior, and swelling kinetics of the hydrogels with various GO and V-GO contents were also evaluated. The mechanical performance of nanocomposite cationic hydrogels prepared with GO and V-GO nanosheets was compared to the neat AAm-MAPTAC hydrogels. The self-healing ability of the hydrogels were elucidated as a function of the amount of GO and V-GO nanosheets bound to the polymer network by physical interactions and chemical cross-links, respectively

Investigation of new treatment option for hepatocellular carcinoma: a combination of sorafenib with usnic acid

WOS: 000470977400010PubMed ID: 31025377Objectives Sorafenib (SOR) is an orally administered molecular targeted agent in the systemic chemotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the partial response of SOR is limited due to its adverse side effect and high heterogeneity and resistant phenotype of HCC. In the current study, we investigated synergistic effects of SOR and usnic acid (UA) on HCC cell lines including HepG2 and SNU-449, and a normal cell line, HUVEC. Methods The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of combination therapy and SOR alone were analysed by WST-1 and Annexin V analysis, respectively. Furthermore, cell cycle, gene expression analysis of SOR-targeted kinases and acridine orange-ethidium bromide staining were also performed in combined treatments. Key findings Our results demonstrated that SOR and UA combination indicated a strong synergism in HCC cell lines and reduced SOR toxicity in HUVEC cells. Additionally, the combination treatment SOR and UA significantly induced much more apoptotic cell death and G0/G1 arrest through downregulation of SOR-targeted kinases. Conclusions Consequently, SOR and UA combination could be a new therapeutic strategy for HCC treatment

Synergistic effects of hormone therapy drugs and usnic acid on hormone receptor-positive breast and prostate cancer cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of usnic acid (UA) and Tamoxifen (Tam) or Enzalutamide (Enz) on hormone receptor-positive breast and prostate cancer (BC and PC), respectively. The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of Tam or Enz alone and in combination with UA on MCF7 and LNCaP cancer cells were detected. The results of the WST-1 assay indicated that UA was a promising anticancer compound that significantly enhanced the effectiveness of hormone therapy drugs compared with each drug alone (combination index < 1). In addition, the combination of UA with Tam or Enz remarkably induced more cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and apoptosis than only drug-treated cells (P < 0.01). Consequently, our findings suggest that the combination of UA with Tam or Enz may be a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of BC and PC and further studies are required to exploit the potential mechanisms of synergistic effects

E-Health and Bioengineering Conference

We mentioned the importance of clinical sequence analysis in risk determination, diagnostic and therapeutic process of familial breast cancer and we also summarized next generation sequencing applications in this cancer type. In conclusion, BRCA1/2 genes mutations are associated with an increasing the risk of particularly familial breast cancer. However, sequencing of moderate penetrance genes and/or whole exome could also fill large knowledge gaps in explaining genetic predisposition of breast cancer

E-Health and Bioengineering Conference

The anti-estrogen tamoxifen (Tam) is the most preferred option for patients with estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. However, multi-drug resistance (MDR) is a considerable clinical problem in the successful chemotherapeutic treatment. Members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family proteins play an important role in acquired drug resistance. Many studies have focused primarily on the clinical significance of P-gp (MDR1), BCRP and MRP1 members belong to ABC transporter superfamily on anticancer-drug resistance. Consequently, several strategies have been improved to overcome drug resistance. Nanoparticle drug delivery systems provide an increase in the intracellular concentration of the drugs as well as a reduction in toxicity of free-drug on healthy cells thanks to unique physical and biological properties. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have been improved as an alternative colloidal drug delivery systems due to successful incorporation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds and their related benefits (controlled drug release, high entrapment efficiency and small size etc.) For this purpose, the aim of this study was to discuss the role of Tam-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) to overcome MDR and determine the ability of Tam-SLNs to induce apoptosis