Papillary thyroid carcinoma formation in a thyroglossal cyst. A case report

Thyroglossal cyst rarely presents with carcinoma formation in the remnants of the thyroid gland. We report a 40 year old male with papillary thyroid carcinoma formation in a thyroglossal cyst. The patient underwent surgical intervention for the cyst. His pathology was positive for thyroid carcinoma and he underwent complete thyroidectomy with postoperative radioactive iodine treatment. His follow up revealed no evidence of recurrence

Synthesis of cyclopropyl-substituted furans by Brønsted acid promoted cascade reactions

Chloroacetic acid promotes an efficient and diastereoselective intramolecular cascade reaction of electron-deficient ynenones to deliver products featuring a 2,3,5-trisubstituted furan bearing a fused cyclopropyl substituent at the 5-position. Synthetically relevant polycyclic building blocks featuring rings of various sizes and heteroatoms have been synthesized in high yield using this mild acid-catalyzed reaction

Disability, physical activity, and health-related quality of life in Australian adults: An investigation using 19 waves of a longitudinal cohort.

BACKGROUND: Any form of long-term physical or mental impairment might negatively influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL). HRQoL, as an independent concept, covers a wide range of characteristics that includes physical, mental, social, and spiritual functions. People with disabilities are continuously exposed to multiple barriers that deteriorate their HRQoL. It also creates impairment in performing physical activities. However, experts opine regular physical exercise as an intervention to help disabled people. This research aims to investigate the association between disability and physical activity with HRQoL among the adult population in Australia. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. METHODS: This study utilized the most recent 19 waves of data (2002-2020) from the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Component summary scores such as physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS), and SF-6D utility scores were utilized to measure HRQoL. Random-effects GLS regression technique was fitted to estimate the association between disability and physical activity with HRQoL, after adjusting for a range of socio-demographic and health-related characteristics. RESULTS: Disability was negatively associated with the PCS (-5.95), MCS (-2.70) and SF-6D (-0.060) compared with non-disabled counterparts. However, respondents engaged in the recommended level of physical activity had substantial gain in PCS (b = 0.96), MCS (1.57), and SF-6D (0.021) scores. Besides, the results showed that performing the recommended level of physical activity in the presence of disability has lessen the negative effect of disability/ positive moderating effect of physical activity on PCS, MCS, and SF-6D scores by 1.84 points, 0.82 points, and 0.013 percentage points, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study found an inverse association between disability and HRQoL among Australian adults. However, physical activity was associated with improved HRQoL. Therefore, public health interventions, such as the orientation of physical activities, have a higher potential to dwindle the burden regarding HRQoL

A Water-Processable and Bioactive Multivalent Graphene Nanoink for Highly Flexible Bioelectronic Films and Nanofibers

The capabilities of conductive nanomaterials to be produced in liquid form with well-defined chemical, physical, and biological properties are highly important for the construction of next-generation flexible bioelectronic devices. Although functional graphene nanomaterials can serve as attractive liquid nanoink platforms for the fabrication of bioelectronics, scalable synthesis of graphene nanoink with an integration of high colloidal stability, water processability, electrochemical activity, and especially bioactivity remains a major challenge. Here, a facile and scalable synthesis of supramolecular-functionalized multivalent graphene nanoink (mGN-ink) via [2+1] nitrene cycloaddition is reported. The mGN-ink unambiguously displays a well- defined and flat 2D morphology and shows good water processability and bioactivity. The uniquely chemical, physical, and biological properties of mGN-ink endow the constructed bioelectronic films and nanofibers with high flexibility and durability, suitable conductivity and electrochemical activity, and most importantly, good cellular compatibility and a highly efficient control of stem-cell spreading and orientation. Overall, for the first time, a water-processable and bioactive mGN-ink is developed for the design of flexible and electrochemically active bioelectronic composites and devices, which not only presents manifold possibilities for electronic- cellular applications but also establishes a new pathway for adapting macroscopic usages of graphene nanomaterials in bionic, biomedical, electronic, and even energy fields

Vascular responses of the extremities to transdermal application of vasoactive agents in Caucasian and African descent individuals

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in European Journal of Applied Physiology on 04/04/2015, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3164-2 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Individuals of African descent (AFD) are more susceptible to non-freezing cold injury than Caucasians (CAU) which may be due, in part, to differences in the control of skin blood flow. We investigated the skin blood flow responses to transdermal application of vasoactive agents. Methods: Twenty-four young males (12 CAU and 12 AFD) undertook three tests in which iontophoresis was used to apply acetylcholine (ACh 1 w/v %), sodium nitroprusside (SNP 0.01 w/v %) and noradrenaline (NA 0.5 mM) to the skin. The skin sites tested were: volar forearm, non-glabrous finger and toe, and glabrous finger (pad) and toe (pad). Results: In response to SNP on the forearm, AFD had less vasodilatation for a given current application than CAU (P = 0.027–0.004). ACh evoked less vasodilatation in AFD for a given application current in the non-glabrous finger and toe compared with CAU (P = 0.043–0.014) with a lower maximum vasodilatation in the non-glabrous finger (median [interquartile], AFD n = 11, 41[234] %, CAU n = 12, 351[451] %, P = 0.011) and non-glabrous toe (median [interquartile], AFD n = 9, 116[318] %, CAU n = 12, 484[720] %, P = 0.018). ACh and SNP did not elicit vasodilatation in the glabrous skin sites of either group. There were no ethnic differences in response to NA. Conclusion: AFD have an attenuated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in non-glabrous sites of the fingers and toes compared with CAU. This may contribute to lower skin temperature following cold exposure and the increased risk of cold injuries experienced by AFD.Published versio

The state of ambient air quality in Pakistan—a review

Background and purpose: Pakistan, during the last decade, has seen an extensive escalation in population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, together with a great increase in motorization and energy use. As a result, a substantial rise has taken place in the types and number of emission sources of various air pollutants. However, due to the lack of air quality management capabilities, the country is suffering from deterioration of air quality. Evidence from various governmental organizations and international bodies has indicated that air pollution is a significant risk to the environment, quality of life, and health of the population. The Government has taken positive steps toward air quality management in the form of the Pakistan Clean Air Program and has recently established a small number of continuous monitoring stations. However, ambient air quality standards have not yet been established. This paper reviews the data being available on the criteria air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. Methods: Air pollution studies in Pakistan published in both scientific journals and by the Government have been reviewed and the reported concentrations of PM, SO2, O3, CO, NO2, and Pb collated. A comparison of the levels of these air pollutants with the World Health Organization air quality guidelines was carried out. Results: Particulate matter was the most serious air pollutant in the country. NO2 has emerged as the second high-risk pollutant. The reported levels of PM, SO2, CO, NO2, and Pb were many times higher than the World Health Organization air quality guidelines. Only O3 concentrations were below the guidelines. Conclusions: The current state of air quality calls for immediate action to tackle the poor air quality. The establishment of ambient air quality standards, an extension of the continuous monitoring sites, and the development of emission control strategies are essential. © Springer-Verlag 2009

Disclosing the multi-faceted world of weakly interacting inorganic systems by means of NMR spectroscopy

The potential of NMR spectroscopy to investigate inorganic systems assembled by, or whose reactivity is affected by, non-covalent interactions is described. Subjects that have received particular attention in recent years (halogen bonding and Frustrated Lewis Pairs) and more classical subjects that remain under-explored (self-aggregation of ion pairs in low polar solvents, behavior of MAO containing metallocenium ion pairs, and hydrogen bonding/ion pairing effects in Au(I) catalysis) are considered, using an innovative approach, always focusing on the crucial information that can be provided by NMR