Reducing the donor site morbidity in radial forearm free flaps by utilizing a narrow radial forearm free flap

Background: The radial forearm free flap (RFFF) has remained a leading choice of many plastic surgeons as a fasciocutaneous flap due to its versatility, pedicle length, and simple elevation technique. However, donor site morbidity has led many reconstructive surgeons to limit their use of the RFFF and to use other flaps instead. We propose that using a narrow RFFF (nRFFF) decreases the aesthetic and functional morbidity of the donor site.Methods: We report our experiences with the nRFFF from April 2012 through May 2015 at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Hand Surgery at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. The donor defects were closed primarily. The Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale and comparison with the contralateral hand were used to assess aesthetic and functional outcomes, respectively.Results: A total of 24 patients underwent nRFFF procedures during the study period. The donor arm showed excellent motor function in 22 cases (91.7%), and very good function in the remaining two cases (8.3%). The aesthetic outcomes were excellent in four patients (16.6%), very good in eight patients (33.3%), good in 10 patients (41.6%), and fair in two patients (8.3%) who developed a hypertrophic scar. All flaps were successful and there were no cases of partial or complete loss.Conclusions: For small to medium-sized soft tissue defects, the nRFFF had acceptable outcomes due to its thinness, pliability, and major reduction in donor site aesthetic and functional morbidity

Synthesis, characterization, lipoxygenase, and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of non- cytotoxic titanium(III) and (IV) hydrazide complexes

Ti(III) and (IV) hydrazide complexes were synthesized, characterized, and screened for their tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibitory and cytotoxic activities. The geometry of Ti(III) hydrazide complexes is tentatively assigned as octahedral. Magnetic moments were found around 1.7 B.M. and electronic spectral transition in the range of 495-518 nm. Evaluation of Ti(IV) and Ti(III) hydrazide complexes for tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities revealed varying inhibition potential. Hydrazide ligands were inactive against tyrosinase, while significant activity was observed against lipoxygenase (LOX). Good to moderate inhibition activity was observed by Ti(IV) and Ti(III) hydrazide complexes against both enzymes. At the same time, promising results were obtained for Ti(IV) hydrazide complexes against tyrosinase enzymes suggesting their broad application as tyrosinase inhibitors. Complex 4d possess negative inhibition, thus behaving as a tyrosinase activator. The docking results showed a good correlation between complex experimental activities and binding energies. Cytotoxic investigation revealed the non-toxicity of complexes against normal cells.Z. Shaikh is thankful to the Higher Education Commission for Indigenous Scholarship No. 213-65456-2PS2-101 under Ph.D. Fellowships for 5000 scholars, HEC (Phase-II). Furthermore, the authors thank the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for financial support (‘The National Research Grants Program for Universities’, Grant No. 1862/R&D/10)

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements