Gelatin Methacrylate Hydrogel for Tissue Engineering Applications-A Review on Material Modifications.

To recreate or substitute tissue in vivo is a complicated endeavor that requires biomaterials that can mimic the natural tissue environment. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is created through covalent bonding of naturally derived polymer gelatin and methacrylic groups. Due to its biocompatibility, GelMA receives a lot of attention in the tissue engineering research field. Additionally, GelMA has versatile physical properties that allow a broad range of modifications to enhance the interaction between the material and the cells. In this review, we look at recent modifications of GelMA with naturally derived polymers, nanomaterials, and growth factors, focusing on recent developments for vascular tissue engineering and wound healing applications. Compared to polymers and nanoparticles, the modifications that embed growth factors show better mechanical properties and better cell migration, stimulating vascular development and a structure comparable to the natural-extracellular matrix.

Case of anterolateral migration of herniated cervical disc fragment mimicking a spinal meningioma.

BACKGROUND: Before the introduction of high-resolution MR, few disc fragments were misdiagnosed as meningiomas. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 63-year-old female presented with a 6-month history of mild to moderate pain in the left arm, weakness 4/5 in the left arm C5-C6 distribution, and a loss of the left biceps reflex response. Although the MR study was read as showing a C5-C6 level probable spinal meningioma, this proved to be a sequestrated disc fragment at surgery. CONCLUSION: Rarely, cervical disc herniations may be misdiagnosed on MR studies as spinal meningiomas.

Minimally invasive management for a giant lumbar intervertebral disc herniation: A case report, and literature review.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Low back pain and lower limb radiculopathy are some of the most common diagnoses in our neurosurgery department. Giant lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, are not a common find in our daily practice. Management for this kind of pathology is controversial. The quest for the best surgical approach is still a matter of debate. This case report intends to demonstrate the advantages of minimally invasive procedures. CASE PRESENTATION: 40-year-old female, diagnosed with giant lumbar L5-S1 disc herniation with localized lower back electric-type pain, 5/10 intensity in the visual analog scale (VAS) and an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score of 76 points, underwent minimally invasive surgery (MIS) with tubular retractor system. 6-month post-op, the patient referred no pain, and an ODI score of 4 points was obtained. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: There is no clear classification, regarding the lumbar intervertebral disc herniated content. We didn't find any clear indications or contraindications regarding the relationship of the size of herniated disc content and surgical approach (MIS vs Open). We perform on average 175 spine cases per year and educational commitment with spine pathology is demonstrated with our spine fellowship since 3 years ago. CONCLUSION: We believe giant extruded regardless of migration, single-level intervertebral disc herniation, could be effectively and safely treated by MIS.

Intracranial hypertension syndrome secondary to internal jugular vein thrombosis due to miliary cervical tuberculosis: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Thrombosis of the internal jugular vein (IJV) is extremely rare, being central catheterization the most common cause. We present a case of a patient with an unusual appearance of neurological symptoms as a consequence of thrombosis of the IJV secondary to miliary tuberculosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 30-year-old woman with disseminated tuberculosis, with multiple lymphadenopathy, axillary, cervical, mesenteric, retroperitoneal, and inguinal, presented with clinical evidence of intracranial hypertension. A diagnostic cerebral angiography was performed, which revealed an occluded left internal jugular and venous stasis in the entire cerebral venous system. The patient was treated with low-molecular-weight heparin, with which she had an adequate evolution. CONCLUSION: Tuberculosis is capable of generating a state of hypercoagulability, in addition to a mechanical compression effect due to cervical lymphadenopathy. We report an unusual clinical presentation, with intracranial involvement due to IJV thrombosis secondary to miliary tuberculosis. So far, there are no cases with a similar presentation described above.

360-surgery for a giant cervical chordoma with involvement of the right vertebral artery.

BACKGROUND: Chordomas are malignant tumors that arise from the remnants of the notochord. Complete en bloc radical resection with postoperative radiation therapy is currently considered the gold standard. Here, we performed a 360-staged approach to manage a C3-C4 chordoma that involved the right vertebral artery. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 40-year-old woman presented with a C3-C4 chordoma that invaded the right vertebral artery. She responded well to a circumferential approach including resection and stabilization. CONCLUSION: A 40-year-old woman with a C3-C4 spinal chordoma was optimally managed with a combined anterior/posterior surgical approach including decompression/fusion.

Simultaneous extraction of antibiotic and estrogen from animal blood serum using aqueous two-phase systems as predictor of environmental impact.

Efficient analytical methods are required for optimizing dosage of veterinary antibiotics and hormones in order to reduce toxicity and antimicrobial resistance in the environment. Thus, the objective of this work was to develop a rapid and low-cost method for determination of hormone estradiol and antibiotic chlortetracycline in bovine and porcine blood serum by aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) extraction and capillary electrophoresis quantification. ATPS based on ionic liquid cholinium alaninate and citrate salt along with mixtures of protic and aprotic polar solvents were evaluated in terms of recovery of extraction (%R). The liquid-liquid equilibrium, phase diagrams, and tie lines are discussed. Antibiotic migrated to solvent-rich phase (R ≈ 89.0%) to all systems. Estradiol migrates to ionic liquid-rich phase; however, addition of 10% methanol changed partition to solvent-rich phase (R ≈ 89.7%). The method has high recovery and cleanliness, is cost-efficient, scalable, and hence is adequate for screening of antibiotics and hormones tested in animal blood serum for dosage optimization and to predict their environment.

Quantifying the degree of locking in weakly forced stochastic systems.

Controlling an stochastic nonlinear system with a small amplitude signal is a fundamental problem with many practical applications. Quantifying locking is challenging, and current methods, such as spectral or correlation analysis, do not provide a precise measure of the degree of locking. Here we study locking in an experimental system, consisting of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback operated in the regime where it randomly emits abrupt spikes. To quantify the locking of the optical spikes to small electric perturbations, we use two measures, the success rate (SR) and the false positive rate (FPR). The SR counts the spikes that are emitted shortly after each perturbation, while the FPR counts the additional extra spikes. We show that the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (SR versus FPR plot) uncovers parameter regions where the electric perturbations fully control the laser spikes, such that the laser emits, shortly after each perturbation, one and only one spike. To demonstrate the general applicability of the ROC analysis we also study a stochastic bistable system under square-wave forcing and show that the ROC curve allows identifying the parameters that produce best locking.

Differentiating resting brain states using ordinal symbolic analysis.

Symbolic methods of analysis are valuable tools for investigating complex time-dependent signals. In particular, the ordinal method defines sequences of symbols according to the ordering in which values appear in a time series. This method has been shown to yield useful information, even when applied to signals with large noise contamination. Here, we use ordinal analysis to investigate the transition between eyes closed (EC) and eyes open (EO) resting states. We analyze two electroencephalography datasets (with 71 and 109 healthy subjects) with different recording conditions (sampling rates and the number of electrodes in the scalp). Using as diagnostic tools the permutation entropy, the entropy computed from symbolic transition probabilities, and an asymmetry coefficient (that measures the asymmetry of the likelihood of the transitions between symbols), we show that the ordinal analysis applied to the raw data distinguishes the two brain states. In both datasets, we find that, during the EC-EO transition, the EO state is characterized by higher entropies and lower asymmetry coefficient, as compared to the EC state. Our results thus show that these diagnostic tools have the potential for detecting and characterizing changes in time-evolving brain states.

Simultaneous quantification of antibiotics in wastewater from pig farms by capillary electrophoresis.

Pig farming is an important activity in the economic development of Mexico with millions of tons of meat produced annually. Antibiotics are used in therapeutic dose to prevent diseases, and sometimes as growth promoters. These compounds are not completely metabolized; they are carried into the environment in its active form at concentrations that could induce antibiotic resistance in bacteria, which could be transferred to human pathogens by horizontal gene transfer. The objective of this work was to develop methods of analysis for simultaneous quantification of the antibiotics Oxytetracycline (OXT), Chlortetracycline (CLT), Enrofloxacin (ENRO) and Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) by field-amplified sampling injection in capillary zone electrophoresis (FASI-CZE). The method was validated by parameters of (1) linearity, obtaining a lineal range of 0.05 at 1 µg mL-1 for ENRO and CIPRO, and from 0.1 to 1 µg mL-1 for OXT and CLT; (2) precision, obtaining values <5% of standard deviation for CIPRO and ENRO and <10% of standard deviation for OXT and CLT; (3) accuracy, with recovery values from 93 to 115%; (4) selectivity, with values of resolution >2 for the all antibiotics tested. To prove the method, a sample of wastewater from a local pig farm was analyzed, detecting a concentration of 0.140 ±â€¯0.009 for OXT. This concentration was higher than the minimal selective concentration, indicating the point in which resistance to a determined antibiotic could develop. The methods were validated with precision and sensitivity comparable to chromatographic methods, which can be used to analyze wastewater from pig farms directly.

Facial color is an efficient mechanism to visually transmit emotion.

Facial expressions of emotion in humans are believed to be produced by contracting one's facial muscles, generally called action units. However, the surface of the face is also innervated with a large network of blood vessels. Blood flow variations in these vessels yield visible color changes on the face. Here, we study the hypothesis that these visible facial colors allow observers to successfully transmit and visually interpret emotion even in the absence of facial muscle activation. To study this hypothesis, we address the following two questions. Are observable facial colors consistent within and differential between emotion categories and positive vs. negative valence? And does the human visual system use these facial colors to decode emotion from faces? These questions suggest the existence of an important, unexplored mechanism of the production of facial expressions of emotion by a sender and their visual interpretation by an observer. The results of our studies provide evidence in favor of our hypothesis. We show that people successfully decode emotion using these color features, even in the absence of any facial muscle activation. We also demonstrate that this color signal is independent from that provided by facial muscle movements. These results support a revised model of the production and perception of facial expressions of emotion where facial color is an effective mechanism to visually transmit and decode emotion.

Pesticide residues in leafy vegetables and human health risk assessment in North Central agricultural areas of Chile.

To investigate pesticide residue concentrations and potential human health risk, a study was conducted in 118 leafy vegetable samples collected in 2014-2015 from the North Central agricultural areas of Chile. The pesticide residues were determined using the multiresidue QuEChERS method by gas chromatography as well as high-performance liquid chromatography. The results indicated that 27% of the total samples contained pesticide residues above the maximum residue limits of each active ingredient. The maximum estimated daily intake obtained for carbon disulphide (CS2), methamidophos, azoxystrobin and cypermethrin were 0.57, 0.07, 0.06 and 0.05 mg kg-1, respectively, which was higher than their acceptable daily intake. It is concluded that inhabitants of the North Central agricultural area of Chile are not exposed to health risks through the consumption of leafy vegetables with the exception of methamidophos. Nevertheless, the high levels of methamidophos detected in leafy vegetables could be considered a potential chronic health risk.

Tuberculoma cerebral en paciente joven inmunocompetente / Cerebral tuberculoma in young immunocompetent patient

RESUMEN La tuberculosis con afección del sistema nervioso central es una afectación infrecuente pero muy grave de esta enfermedad, representa el 1% de todos los casos de tuberculosis. Reportamos el caso de una joven HIV negativa, con daño del sistema nervioso central de tipo miliar a nivel cerebral y sin enfermedad pulmonar. La tuberculosis puede afectar extensamente a sujetos inmunocompetentes y este fenómeno ha sido descripto en muchas series a los largo del tiempo. Ante la sospecha clínica, el seguimiento de un protocolo específico para confirmar el diagnóstico es de vital importancia para el temprano diagnóstico y correcto manejo de una situación que puede comprometer la vida y generar a largo plazo secuelas graves. Se presenta el caso por el reto diagnóstico que ha supuesto y rara presentación en paciente inmunocompetente.

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis with central nervous system involvement is an uncommon but very serious disease, with a frecuence of 1% of all cases of tuberculosis. We report the case of a young HIV negative woman, with central nervous system damage of the miliary type in the brain without lung disease. Tuberculosis can extensively affect immunecompetent subjects and this phenomenon has been described in many series over the time. In the presence of clinical suspicion, the follow-up of a specific protocol to confirm the diagnosis is of vital importance for the early diagnosis and correct management of a situation that can compromise life and generate long-term serious sequelae. The case is presented because of diagnostic challenge and a rare presentation in an immunocompetent patient.

Milker's nodule--Case report.

Milker's nodule is an occupational viral skin disease of universal distribution, caused by the Paravaccinia virus and that occurs in individuals who deal with dairy cattle herds. We describe a case acquired due to lack of use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and perform a literature review.

Adaptación y validación de la escala de percepción de apoyo social de Vaux / Adaptation and validation of the scale of perceived social support from Vaux

El objetivo de la presente investigación fue la adaptación al idioma español y validación estadística de la Escala de Percepción de Apoyo Social (EPAS). Se eligió esta escala por sus propiedades métricas y adecuación en la construcción. Su estructura teórica es coherente con el tipo de resultados e investigación en el ámbito internacional. Mediante el análisis de los resultados se mostraron algunas diferencias respecto a la versión inglesa ûmenos ítems en esta investigaciónû, debido probablemente a contrastes de carácter cultural. Sin embargo, no puede descartarse otro tipo de variables. El valor relativo de la presente adaptación podrá ser evaluado mediante estudios de carácter empírico que den cuenta del constructo de apoyo social tal y como se define, y en concordancia con el marco teórico de construcción de la escala en mención...

The objective of this research was the adaptation to the Spanish language and statistical validation of Scale of Perceived Social Support (SPSS). This scale was chosen because by its metric properties and adequacy in the construction. Its theoretical structure is consistent with the type of findings and research on the international area. The analysis of the results showed some differences with regard to the English version -less items in our study- probably due to cultural contrasts. However, another type of variables cannot be ruled out. The relative value of this adaptation maybe evaluated by empirical studies that realize the construct of social support as defined, and in agreement with the theoretical framework for construction of the scale in question...

Milker's nodule - Case report

Abstract Milker's nodule is an occupational viral skin disease of universal distribution, caused by the Paravaccinia virus and that occurs in individuals who deal with dairy cattle herds. We describe a case acquired due to lack of use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and perform a literature review.

Multiobjective optimization for model selection in kernel methods in regression.

Regression plays a major role in many scientific and engineering problems. The goal of regression is to learn the unknown underlying function from a set of sample vectors with known outcomes. In recent years, kernel methods in regression have facilitated the estimation of nonlinear functions. However, two major (interconnected) problems remain open. The first problem is given by the bias-versus-variance tradeoff. If the model used to estimate the underlying function is too flexible (i.e., high model complexity), the variance will be very large. If the model is fixed (i.e., low complexity), the bias will be large. The second problem is to define an approach for selecting the appropriate parameters of the kernel function. To address these two problems, this paper derives a new smoothing kernel criterion, which measures the roughness of the estimated function as a measure of model complexity. Then, we use multiobjective optimization to derive a criterion for selecting the parameters of that kernel. The goal of this criterion is to find a tradeoff between the bias and the variance of the learned function. That is, the goal is to increase the model fit while keeping the model complexity in check. We provide extensive experimental evaluations using a variety of problems in machine learning, pattern recognition, and computer vision. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach yields smaller estimation errors as compared with methods in the state of the art.

Sobrepeso y obesidad en preadolescentes mexicanos: estudio descriptivo, variables correlacionadas y directrices de prevención / Overweight and obesity in Mexican preadolescents: a descriptive study, correlated variables and prevention guidelines / Sobrepeso e obesidade em pré-adolescentes mexicanos: estudo descritivo, variáveis correlacionadas e diretrizes de prevenção

El sobrepeso y la obesidad representan serios problemas de salud pública. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y correlacional de variables asociadas al sobrepeso y la obesidad en preadolescentes mexicanos escolarizados en México DF. Se valoró la Autoestima general (LAWSEQ, por sus siglas en inglés), Autoestima corporal (BES, por sus siglas en inglés), Actitudes hacia la alimentación (ChEAT, por sus siglas en iglés) e Imagen corporal (BIA, por sus siglas en inglés) y comparaciones por género y edad. La muestra fue de 600 alumnos, niños y niñas de entre nueve y doce años. Se encontró una baja autoestima general (más baja en las niñas y en los participantes de mayor edad) y corporal y una buena actitud hacia la alimentación. Los participantes se percibieron y creyeron ser vistos con sobrepeso y obesidad, pero a futuro e idealmente desearon figuras más delgadas. Se propone que los programas de prevención contemplen educación para la salud, actividad física, control de aspectos genéticos, actitudes funcionales (tendientes a una buena autoestima y actitudes positivas hacia la comida sana), e involucramiento de la familia y el entorno social.

Overweight and obesity are serious public health problems. A descriptive and correlational study of variables associated with overweight and obesity of Mexican school preadolescents in Mexico DF was performed. General self-esteem (LAWSEQ, for its English acronym), body esteem (BES, for its English acronym), Attitudes towards food (ChEAT, for its English acronym) and body image (BIA, for its English acronym) were assessed and comparisons by gender and age were drawn. The sample was formed by 600 students, boys and girls aged between nine and twelve. A general low self-esteem and body esteem (lower in girls and in older participants) as well as a good attitude toward eating were found. Participants perceived themselves and believed they were seen as overweight and obese but ideally they wanted thinner figures in the future. Prevention programs are proposed to include health education, physical activity, genetic control, functional attitudes (geared toward generating good self-esteem and positive attitudes toward healthy eating), as well as involvement of the family and social environment.

O sobrepeso e a obesidade representam sérios problemas de saúde pública. Realizou-se um estudo descritivo e correlacional de variáveis associadas ao sobrepeso e a obesidade em pré-adolescentes mexicanos escolarizados em México DF. Avaliou-se a Autoestima general (LAWSEQ, por suas siglas em inglês), Autoestima corporal (BES, por suas siglas em inglês), Atitudes com respeito à alimentação (ChEAT, por suas siglas em inglês) e Imagem corporal (BIA, por suas siglas em inglês) e comparações por gênero e idade. A amostra foi de 600 alunos, meninos e meninas entre nove e doze anos. Encontrou-se uma baixa autoestima geral (mais baixa nas meninas e nos participantes de maior idade ) e corporal e uma boa atitude com relação à alimentação. Os participantes se perceberam e acreditaram ser vistos com sobrepeso e obesidade, mas a futuro e idealmente desejaram figuras mais magras. Propõe-se que os programas de prevenção contemplem educação para a saúde, atividade física, controle de aspectos genéticos, atitudes funcionais (tendentes a uma boa autoestima e atitudes positivas com respeito à comida saudável), e envolvimento da família e do entorno social.

Instrumento para evaluar adherencia de personasadultas a procesos de neurorehabilitaci¾n funcionalbasado en las dimensiones propuestas de laOrganizaci¾n Mundial de la Salud / An instrument for assessing the adherence of adults to a functional long-term neurorehabilitation process, based on the dimensions proposed by the World Health Organization

Objetivo: dise±ar un instrumento de evaluaci¾n de la adherenciade pacientes adultos a procesos de neurorehabilitaci¾n funcionala largo plazo, basado en las dimensiones de la Organizaci¾nMundial de Salud, y evaluarlo en sus caracterÝsticas de validezinterna y de contenido. MetodologÝa: para las pruebas deconsistencia interna se cont¾ con la participaci¾n de 100pacientes adultos con diagn¾stico de lesi¾n neurol¾gica, serealiz¾ un muestreo no probabilÝstico de sujetos tipo. Para laspruebas de validez de contenido se cont¾ con la participaci¾nde profesionales de la salud dedicados a la neurorehabilitaci¾nfuncional. Se aplicaron pruebas de consistencia interna paravalidar el instrumento a travÚs del coeficiente alfa de Cronbach.Resultados: el valor de alfa de Cronbach, teniendo en cuentatodos los factores y cada uno de los Ýtems del instrumento smanfue de 0,835 lo que demuestra una buena consistencia internao validez longitudinal. Conclusiones: la estructura factorialdel sman resultado de esta investigaci¾n y los Ýtems que locomponen, muestran una fiabilidad satisfactoria demostradoa travÚs de pruebas de consistencia interna en las que seevidenci¾ homogeneidad del instrumento, demostrando elgrado con que los elementos que componen la escala midenel mismo concepto...

Objective: to design an assessment instrument for the adherenceof adult patients to long-term functional Neurorehabilitationprocesses, based on the dimensions of the who, and evaluate itsinternal characteristics and content validity. Methodology: 100patients diagnosed with neurological injury participated in theinternal consistency tests, and a non-probability sampling wascarried out on the subjects. Health professionals whose area ofexpertise is Functional Neurorehabilitation participated in thecontent validation tests. Internal consistency tests were appliedin order to validate the tool using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: taking into account all factors and each of the smaninstrument's items, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was 0.835,demonstrating good internal consistency and longitudinalvalidity. Conclusions: the factorial structure of the smanresulting from this research and the items which comprise it,show satisfactory reliability, demonstrated through the internalconsistency test which showed the tool's homogeneity. Thisdemonstrated the degree with which the elements that make upthe scale measure the same concept...

Anti HSV-1 activity of halistanol sulfate and halistanol sulfate C isolated from Brazilian marine sponge Petromica citrina (Demospongiae).

The n-butanol fraction (BF) obtained from the crude extract of the marine sponge Petromica citrina, the halistanol-enriched fraction (TSH fraction), and the isolated compounds halistanol sulfate (1) and halistanol sulfate C (2), were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the replication of the Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1, KOS strain) by the viral plaque number reduction assay. The TSH fraction was the most effective against HSV-1 replication (SI = 15.33), whereas compounds 1 (SI = 2.46) and 2 (SI = 1.95) were less active. The most active fraction and these compounds were also assayed to determine the viral multiplication step(s) upon which they act as well as their potential synergistic effects. The anti-HSV-1 activity detected was mediated by the inhibition of virus attachment and by the penetration into Vero cells, the virucidal effect on virus particles, and by the impairment in levels of ICP27 and gD proteins of HSV-1. In summary, these results suggest that the anti-HSV-1 activity of TSH fraction detected is possibly related to the synergic effects of compounds 1 and 2.

Shiitake dermatitis: the first case reported in Brazil.

Shiitake Dermatitis is often presented as papules and erythemato-violaceous linear streaks. It can be associated with bleomycin treatment, dermatomyositis and shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes). There is not any previous report concerning this rare etiology in our country. Shiitake is the second most consumed mushroom worldwide and it can cause flagellate erythema when ingested raw or half cooked. It has a higher incidence in Oriental countries because of their eating habits, this is the first case reported in Brazil, in a male patient that presented a cutaneous rash after consuming this raw mushroom.