Prevalence of depression among heart failure inpatients and its associated socio-demographic factors: implications for personal-and family-based treatment management in health facilities in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to identify the prevalence of depression among inpatients with heart failure (HF), and to ascertain the factors associated with the depression from a wide spectrum of sociodemographic variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional survey of prospectively collected data in inpatients with a diagnosis of HF at Vietnam National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi, Vietnam) from July 2020 to July 2021. A sample size of 128 inpatients with HF was finally included. Primary outcome variable was depression ICD-10. RESULTS: The mean age was 62.34 (SD = 14.76). The sex ratio was 66 males to 62 females. The overall prevalence of depression ICD-10 was 46.88% among HF inpatients. The proportion of the depressed patients fluctuated between 37.21% and 83.33% by NYHA heart failure classification. Compared to the depressive prevalence among patients with NYHA class II, the odds were 8.43 times higher for those with NYHA class IV (OR univariate 8.43; 95% CI 1.63-43.46). Patient's age was significantly associated with increased prevalence of depression (OR multivariate 1.07; 95% CI 1.003-1.14). It was significantly higher odds of depression in HF patients who felt sadness after a diagnosis of an illness (OR multivariate 18.02, 95% CI: 4.21-77.08). Individuals with higher household economic status were less likely to be diagnosed with depression compared to those with lower household economic status (OR multivariate 0.15, 95% CI: 0.02-0.92). The odds of depression were significantly higher in HF patients who reported family conflict (OR multivariate 23.45, 95% CI: 1.29-423.55), and in those having the loss of a close family member (OR multivariate 38.62, 95% CI: 1.41-1055.98). CONCLUSIONS:   The prevalence of depression by ICD-10 was relatively high. Age of patient, sadness after a diagnosis of an illness, household economic status, family conflict and loss of a close family member were significantly associated with the depression among HF inpatients. Present results suggest a need for a disease management program addressing both psychological and HF aspects with the aim of improving health outcomes for the inpatients in Vietnam health facilities.

Inhibition of Salmonalla enterica by a novel strain of Bacillus subtilis isolated from the faeces of healthy chickens.

1. The objective of the study was to demonstrate that Bacillus subtilis strain VL28 (BS-VL28), a novel strain isolated from faeces of healthy chicken, has potential as a probiotic.2. The study evaluated the probiotic properties of BS-VL28 and the effects of dietary supplementation of this strain on growth performance and mortality in chickens challenged with Salmonella enterica CT01.3. BS-VL28 exhibited a specific inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli CT11, Salmonella enterica CT01, Staphylococcus spp. CT21 and Streptococcus spp. CT31.4. BS-VL28 also showed an auto-aggregation percentage of 82%, co-aggregation activity greater than 60%, high tolerance to low pH (<2.0) under the presence of 0.05% bile salts. However, the results from the antibiotic susceptibility tests demonstrated that this strain was sensitive to erythromycin, gentamycin, doxycycline, norfloxacin, oxytetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, enrofloxacin but was intermediate to neomycin.5. Inclusion of probiotic (5 g BS-VL28 (107 CFU/g) per kg of feed to diet of challenged chickens showed better performance and feed conversion rates (FCR). There was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in mortality in the probiotic-treated group compared to the control and antibiotic-treated groups.6. From these results, BS-VL28 could potentially function as a probiotic for broilers.

Light therapy: is it safe for the eyes?

OBJECTIVE: Light therapy has become an increasingly popular treatment for depression and a range of other neuropsychiatric conditions. Yet, concerns have been raised about the ocular safety of light therapy. METHOD: We conducted the first systematic review into the ocular safety of light therapy. A PubMed search on January 4, 2017, identified 6708 articles, of which 161 were full-text reviewed. In total, 43 articles reporting on ocular complaints and ocular examinations were included in the analyses. RESULTS: Ocular complaints, including ocular discomfort and vision problems, were reported in about 0% to 45% of the participants of studies involving light therapy. Based on individual studies, no evident relationship between the occurrence of complaints and light therapy dose was found. There was no evidence for ocular damage due to light therapy, with the exception of one case report that documented the development of a maculopathy in a person treated with the photosensitizing antidepressant clomipramine. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that light therapy is safe for the eyes in physically healthy, unmedicated persons. The ocular safety of light therapy in persons with preexisting ocular abnormalities or increased photosensitivity warrants further study. However, theoretical considerations do not substantiate stringent ocular safety-related contraindications for light therapy.

Aplicaciones de la cirugía robótica en urología pediátrica. Descripción de los principios técnicos / Applications of robotic surgery in pediatric urology. Description of the technical principles

La incorporación de la cirugía robótica a la urología pediátrica abre las puertas a alternativas terapéuticas menos invasivas y más precisas para el paciente. Suple ciertas limitaciones de la cirugía laparoscópica, permitiendo una visión tridimensional, movimientos muy finos y sin temblor, con más grados de libertad, manteniendo el cirujano una postura más ergonómica y teniendo una curva de aprendizaje más corta. Se han realizado distintos procedimientos asistidos con da Vincisurgical system de forma segura y eficaz, como la pieloplastia, nefrectomía total o parcial, orquidopexia, reimplante ureteral intra y extra vesical, enterocistoplastia, apendico-vesicostomía y otros. Se describen estas técnicas y los resultados que hemos obtenido, así como los retos que se plantean con este abordaje (AU)

The incorporation of the robotic surgery to the pediatric urologypermits less invasive and more precise therapeutic alternatives for the patient. It corrects some limitations of laparoscopic surgery, with its 3dimensional vision, accurate movements without tremor, and more degrees of freedom, allows an ergonomic position to the surgeon and has a shorter learning curve. Different procedures were performed with da Vinci surgical system, in a secure and effective way, as pyeloplasty, total or partial nephrectomy, orchidopexy, intra or extravesical ureteral reimplant, enterocystoplasty, Mitrofan off and others. These techniques and their outcomes will be reviewed, as well as some of the challenges still posed by this methodology (AU)

Characterization and mapping of Rpi1, a gene that confers dominant resistance to stalk rot in maize.

The maize inbred lines 1145 (resistant) and Y331 (susceptible), and the F(1), F(2) and BC(1)F(1) populations derived from them were inoculated with the pathogen Pythium inflatum Matthews, which causes stalk rot in Zea mays. Field data revealed that the ratio of resistant to susceptible plants was 3:1 in the F(2) population, and 1:1 in the BC(1)F(1)population, indicating that the resistance to P. inflatum Matthews was controlled by a single dominant gene in the 1145xY331 cross. The gene that confers resistance to P. inflatum Matthews was designated Rpi1 for resistance to P. inflatum) according to the standard nomenclature for plant disease resistance genes. Fifty SSR markers from 10 chromosomes were first screened in the F(2) population to find markers linked to the Rpi1 gene. The results indicated that umc1702 and mmc0371 were both linked to Rpi1, placing the resistance gene on chromosome 4. RAPD (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA) markers were then tested in the F(2)population using bulked segregant analysis (BSA). Four RAPD products were found to show linkage to the Rpi1 gene. Then 27 SSR markers and 8 RFLP markers in the region encompassing Rpi1 were used for fine-scale mapping of the resistance gene. Two SSR markers and four RFLP markers were linked to the Rpi1 gene. Finally, the Rpi1 gene was mapped between the SSR markers bnlg1937 and agrr286 on chromosome 4, 1.6 cM away from the former and 4.1 cM distant from the latter. This is the first time that a dominant gene for resistance to maize stalk rot caused by P. inflatum Matthews has been mapped with molecular marker techniques.

Liquid crystal helical ribbons as isometric textures.

Deformations that conserve the parallelism and the distances--between layers, in smectic phases; between columns, in columnar phases--are commonplace in liquid crystals. The resulting isometric deformed textures display specific geometric features. The corresponding order parameter singularities extend over rather large, macroscopic, distances, e.g., cofocal conics in smectics. This well-known picture is modified when, superimposed to the 1D or 2D periodicities, the structure is helical. However isometry can be preserved. This paper discusses the case of a medium whose structure is made of 1D modulated layers (a lamello-columnar phase), assuming that the modulations rotate helically from one layer to the next. The price to pay is that any isometric texture is necessarily frustrated; it consists of layers folded into a set of parallel helicoids, in the manner of a screw dislocation (of macroscopic Burgers vector), the modulations being along the helices, i.e. double-twisted. The singularity set is made of two helical disclination lines. We complete this geometric analysis by a crude calculation of the energy of a helical ribbon. It is suggested that the helical ribbons observed in the B7 phase of banana-like molecules are such isometric textures. As a side result, let us mention that the description of double-twist, traditionally made in terms of a partition of the director field into nested cylinders, could more than often be profitably tested against a partition into nested helicoids.

Formation of string defects at thinning transitions in smectic-C* free-standing films

The layer thinning transitions in freely suspended smectic-C* films have been investigated. The defect structure formed by stringlike lines was observed just before the thinning transitions. The string defects disappear after the thinning transition and appear again near the temperature of the next thinning transition. These results clearly indicate that thin free-standing films at the thinning transitions are slightly below the melting temperature of the interior layers.

Hexagonal symmetry for smectic blue phases

Smectic blue phases are liquid crystalline phases which exhibit both three-dimensional-orientational order and smectic positional order. X-ray scattering experiments reveal that at least one of these phases is not cubic, as classical blue phases, but offers a hexagonal symmetry. A comparison of the experimental patterns with the scattering patterns given by smectic double twist tubes sketched by Kamien is proposed.

Deuteron NMR study of molecular dynamics in a compound exhibiting a reentrant nematic phase

A deuteron NMR study of molecular dynamics in the partial bilayer smectic A(d) and reentrant nematic phases of a pure chain-deuterated compound is presented. The deuteron spin-lattice relaxation times T(1Z) and T(1Q) were measured as a function of temperature for two different frequencies (15 and 46 MHz). The experimental results were interpreted in terms of the internal conformational motions of a chain decoupled from the molecular small-step rotational diffusion and the order director fluctuations. The latter motion was found to be essential to the fit of experimental results in the reentrant nematic phase. The fitting parameters obtained by using a global target fitting method are acceptable when compared with those obtained from other deuteron and proton NMR studies of the same mesophases.

Multicritical behaviors and an induced twist grain boundary phase in a binary liquid crystalline mixture

We report here the composition-temperature phase diagram of a mixture between n=9 and n=16 terms of a chiral tolans series shortly noted nF(2)BTFO1M7. This diagram constitutes an experimental illustration of one of the three theoretical phase diagrams predicted by the Renn and Lubensky's model. The pure compounds n=9 and n=16 exhibit, respectively, the phase sequences Cry-Sm-C*-Sm-A-TGB(A)-N*-BP-I and Cry-Sm-C*-N*-BP-I, where TGB refers to a twist grain boundary phase. Phases identification and transition temperatures, at atmospheric pressure, have been determined by both optical microscopy and photothermal methods. The experimental phase diagram shows the disappearance of Sm-A and TGB(A) mesophases and the appearance of a TGB(C) phase when the n=16 composition increases. Four of the five multicritical points theoretically anticipated by Renn and Lubensky are pointed out.

Genetic variability and molecular responses of root penetration in cotton.

Compacted soils restrict root penetration hindering productivity. In this paper, genetic variability of cotton (Gossipium spp.) root capacity to penetrate hard soil layers and the patterns of gene expression during penetration event were investigated. To mimic hard soil layers, wax-petrolatum mixtures were used. Genetic variability among 27 cotton genotypes for the root capacity to penetrate wax-petrolatum disks of 500-700 g wax/kg of mixture was high indicating that breeding efforts targeted to improve this trait can be successful. In the root tips of a cotton strain with high root penetrating ability (G. hirsutum HS 200) which penetrated through wax-petrolatum disks (P), quantity of four polypeptides with molecular weights 35-66 kDa increased compared to those root tips which grew in the absence of mechanical impedance (NP). Differential display showed significant differences in the sets of mRNA expressed in P and NP roots. Out of a total of 917 cDNAs scored in the differential display experiment, 118 cDNAs, or 13%, were specific to P roots and hence could be associated with the root penetration event. Further detailed study of gene expression in penetrated roots will pinpoint molecular factors involved in root penetration ability in cotton.