Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Restoring Candidacy for Liver Transplant in Patients With Cirrhosis

Guidelines for preoperative workup for an orthotopic liver transplant often rule out patients with severe aortic stenosis as transplant candidates. This case illustrates the potential of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as a bridge for liver transplants in cirrhotic patients with severe aortic stenosis. The 1-year and 2-year post-liver transplant follow-ups showed no complications in the patient\u27s prosthetic aortic valves, and graft survival was 100% with no evidence of rejection. Notable post-transplant recovery involved medical complications that were not related to the liver function or surgical procedure

6,6′-Dihydr­oxy-3,3′-dithio­dibenzoic acid

In the title compound, C14H10O6S2, the dihedral angle between the planes of the two phenyl­ene rings is 55.9 (1)°. Both hydr­oxy groups form intra­molecular hydrogen bonds; however, one of them also engages in inter­molecular hydrogen bonding. In the crystal, mol­ecules are connected into helical chains by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The crystal studied was an inversion twin with a domain ratio of 0.51 (13):0.49 (13)

A liquid crystalline copper phthalocyanine derivative for high performance organic thin film transistors

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012Bottom-gate, bottom-contact organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) were fabricated using solvent soluble copper 1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octakis(hexyl)phthalocyanine as the active semiconductor layer. The compound was deposited as 70 nm thick spin-coated films onto gold source–drain electrodes supported on octadecyltrichlorosilane treated 250 nm thick SiO2 gate insulators. The performance of the OTFTs was optimised by investigating the effects of vacuum annealing of the films at temperatures between 50 0C and 200 0C, a range that included the thermotropic mesophase of the bulk material. These effects were monitored by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and XRD measurements. Device performance was shown to be dependent upon the annealing temperature due to structural changes of the film. Devices heat treated at 100 0C under vacuum (≥10-7 mbar) were found to exhibit the highest field-effect mobility, 0.7 cm2 V^-1 s^-1, with an on–off current modulation ratio of~107, a reduced threshold voltage of 2.0 V and a sub-threshold swing of 1.11 V per decade.UK Technology Strategy Board (Project no: TP/6/EPH/6/S/K2536J) and UK National Measurement System (Project IRD C02 ‘‘Plastic Electronics’’, 2008–2011)

Artificial Intelligence and Surgery: Ethical Dilemmas and Open Issues

Background: Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications aiming to support surgical decision-making processes are generating novel threats to ethical surgical care. To understand and address these threates, we summarize the main ethical issues that may arise from applying AI to surgery, starting from the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence framework recently promoted by the European Commission. Study Design: A modified Delphi process has been employed to achieve expert consensus. Results: The main ethical issues that arise from applying AI to surgery, described in detail herein, relate to human agency, accountability for errors, technical robustness, privacy and data governance, transparency, diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness. It may be possible to address many of these ethical issues by expanding the breadth of surgical AI research to focus on implementation science. The potential for AI to disrupt surgical practice suggests that formal digital health education is becoming increasingly important for surgeons and surgical trainees. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary focus on implementation science and digital health education is desirable to balance opportunities offered by emerging AI technologies and respect for the ethical principles of a patient-centric philosophy

Opioid Misuse: A Review of the Main Issues, Challenges, and Strategies

In the United States, from 1999 to 2019, opioid overdose, either regularly prescribed or illegally acquired, was the cause of death for nearly 500,000 people. In addition to this pronounced mortality burden that has increased gradually over time, opioid overdose has significant morbidity with severe risks and side effects. As a result, opioid misuse is a cause for concern and is considered an epidemic. This article examines the trends and consequences of the opioid epidemic presented in recent international literature, reflecting on the causes of this phenomenon and the possible strategies to address it. The detailed analysis of 33 international articles highlights numerous impacts in the social, public health, economic, and political spheres. The prescription opioid epidemic is an almost exclusively North American problem. This phenomenon should be carefully evaluated from a healthcare systems perspective, for consequential risks and harms of aggressive opioid prescription practices for pain management. Appropriate policies are required to manage opioid use and prevent abuse efficiently. Examples of proper policies vary, such as the use of validated questionnaires for the early identification of patients at risk of addiction, the effective use of regional and national prescription monitoring programs, and the proper dissemination and translation of knowledge to highlight the risks of prescription opioid abuse