Ultraviolet-induced Surface Grafting of Octafluoropentyl Methacrylate on Polyether Ether Ketone for Inducing Antibiofilm Properties

Since octafluoropentyl methacrylate is an antifouling polymer, surface modification of polyether ether ketone with octafluoropentyl methacrylate is a practical approach to obtaining anti-biofilm biocompatible devices. In the current study, the surface treatment of polyether ether ketone by the use of ultraviolet irradiation, so as to graft (octafluoropentyl methacrylate) polymer chains, was initially implemented and then investigated. The Fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra corroborated the appearance of new signals associated with the fluoroacrylate group. Thermogravimetric curves indicated enhanced asymmetry in the polymer structure due to the introduction of the said new groups. Measuring the peak area in differential scanning calorimetry experiments also showed additional bond formation. Static water contact angle measurements indicated a change in wettability to the more hydrophobic surface. The polyether ether ketone–octafluoropentyl methacrylate surface greatly reduced the protein adsorption. This efficient method can modulate and tune the surface properties of polyether ether ketone according to specific applications

Molecular Investigation of Glutaric Aciduria Type1 in Iran

Glutaric Acidemia, Type I (GA I), was first described in 1975. The disease is caused by a genetic deficiency of the enzyme, Glutaryl-CoA Dehydrogenase (GCD), which leads to the buildup of Glutaric acid in the tissues and its excretion in the urine of affected patients. GCD is involved in the catabolism of the amino acids, Lysine, Hydroxylysine, and Tryptophan. Over 200 cases of GA I have been reported in the medical literature. GA I is one of the most common organic acidemias and has an estimated incidence of about 1 in 50,000 live births.Because of the initial slow progression of clinical symptoms, GA I is frequently undiagnosed until an acute metabolic crisis occurs. A total of 25 unrelated patients suspected to GA1 were investigated in our study. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells of the 25 probands whom were biochemically and/or clinically and/or neuro-radiologically suspected to GA1. 15 of them had elevated glutaric acid in the urine organic acid test.PCR and direct sequencing of all 11 exons and their flanking region of the GCDH gene were examined.Some of them were investigated for known mutation in the other their family members. Fifteen patients had homozygous mutations and 10 patients were normal for GCDH gene. Our Results Showed:• 60% Known mutation were found in our 15 patients• 80% can be detected by 4 exons sequencing so for molecular investigatins exon 6, 7, 8, 10 are good choice for beginning of analysis• 33% was mutation in exon 7, so because of the cost of genetic diagnosis we suggest that investigation begin with this exon.• Pro 348 Leu was most detected 20%.• 40% are new mutations wich will be investigated for phenotype Genotype Correlations

MicroRNA-183 family in inner ear: Hair cell development and deafness

miRNAs are essential factors of an extensively conserved post-transcriptional process controlling gene expression at mRNA level. Varoius biological processes such as growth and differentiation are regulated by miRNAs. Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched using the Endnote software for the publications about the role miRNA-183 family in inner ear: hair cell development and deafness published from 2000 to 2016. A triplet of these miRNAs particularly the miR-183 family is highly expressed in vertebrate hair cells, as with some of the peripheral neurosensory cells. Point mutations in one member of this family, miR-96, underlie DFNA50 autosomal deafness in humans and lead to abnormal hair cell development and survival in mice. In zebrafish, overexpression of the miR-183 family induces extra and ectopic hair cells, while knockdown decreases the number of hair cell. The miR-183 family (miR-183, miR-96 and miR-182) is expressed abundantly in some types of sensory cell in the eye, nose and inner ear. In the inner ear, mechanosensory hair cells have a robust expression level. Despite much similarity of these miRs sequences, small differences lead to distinct targeting of messenger RNAs targets. In the near future, miRNAs are likely to be explored as potential therapeutic agents to repair or regenerate hair cells, cell reprogramming and regenerative medicine applications in animal models because they can simultaneously down-regulate dozens or even hundreds of transcripts. © 2016 The Korean Audiological Society

Endovascular treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms usually present in elderly patients with serious renal, pulmonary, cerebral, or cardiac comorbidities that pose a great challenge to the attending surgeon. Endovascular techniques for the treatment of thoracoabdominal aneurysms are not yet widely used due to limitations associated with them, such as spinal and visceral ischemia.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>An 87-year-old Caucasian man with a symptomatic Crawford type I thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm was treated successfully with a long tube stent graft using endovascular techniques and without any complication in follow-up examinations. The stent was placed distal to the left subclavian artery, and proximal to the celiac axis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of endovascular stents for long segment thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms needs to undergo clinical investigation to determine whether this procedure decreases morbidity and mortality rates.</p

One-Stage Angioplasty and Stenting of Ostium of Left Common Carotid Artery and Stenting of Left Internal Carotid Artery

Our aim was to report techniques and our experience in One-stage angioplasty and stenting of ostium of left common carotid and left internal carotid arteries in an octogenarian man with transient ischemic attack, who was completely recovered from neurologic insults short time after the procedure. An 81-year-old man presented with a transient ischemic attack. Neurologic examination showed left side transient visual obscuration or amaurosis fugax and right hemiparesis. Carotid duplex imaging revealed an 80% stenosis of the left internal carotid artery (LICA) and 95 % of the ostium of left common carotid artery (left CCA). Immediate brain MRI wasn’t possible. Angioplasty and stenting of both lesions (left CCA and LICA ) was performed successfully without complications in one session. Stenting of common carotid artery ostial lesion and internal carotid artery (due to significant lesion) in one session could be done even in acute neurologic phase and also in very old patients, provided that, considering technical ways for neuroprotection and avoidance of other complications

ANGIOPLASTY AND STENTING OF BASILAR ARTERY WITH SHORT-TERM RESULTS

ABSTRACT Symptomatic basilar artery stenosis has a poor prognosis. Surgical bypasses are technically demanding and of no proven benefit. A new generation of intravascular stents that are flexible enough to navigate the tortuosities of the vertebral artery may provide a new therapeutic approach. Our two cases, 57 and 52 year-old men experienced a vertebrobasilar ischemia with repeated vertigo and falls. Magnetic resonance angiography from vertebrobasilar arteries revealed severe middle basilar artery stenos is in one case, and severe vertebrobasilar artery stenosis in the other. The patients underwent uncomplicated angioplasty and stenting of the basilar arteries, with excellent angiographic results. The new flexible intravascular stents provide a new therapeutic approach for patients with basilar artery stenosis. Key Words: Basilar artery - Vertebral artery &ndash; Angioplasty &ndash; Stenting</p

An Energy-Aware Simulation Model and Transaction Protocol for Dynamic Workload Distribution in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

This paper introduces a network simulation model for detailed evaluation of the performance of different energy management policies in a MANET. Next it presents an energy-aware network transaction protocol that dynamically redistributes the computational workload among a set of cooperative hosts within a MANET so as to improve network performance (network lifetime and service latency.) Extensive simulation data and empirical results are presented and discussed

SRF: Matrix completion based on smoothed rank function

In this paper, we address the matrix completion problem and propose a novel algorithm based on a smoothed rank function (SRF) approximation. Among available algorithms like FPCA and OptSpace, there is no solution that can simultaneously cover wide range of easy and hard problems. This new algorithm provides accurate results in almost all scenarios with a reasonable run time. It especially has low execution time in hard problems where other methods need long time to converge. Furthermore, when the rank is known in advance and is high, our method is very faster than previous methods for the same accuracy. The main idea of the algorithm is based on a continuous and differentiable approximation of the rank function and then, using gradient projection approach to minimize it. Index Terms — Matrix completion, nuclear norm, Compressed Sensing, Sparse Signal Processin