A rare case of cervical myofibroma in an infant: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: A solitary infantile myofibroma tumor arises as a hard, painless cutaneous or subcutaneous nodule and is defined as an uncommon soft tissue neoplasm that is usually seen in childhood. CASE PRESENTATION: A nine-month-old female infant presented with a solid mass that appeared one month ago. The mass gradually increased in size within the right posterior triangle of the neck, without any local or systemic accompanying symptoms. Laboratory tests were normal. Ultrasonography revealed a homogeneous tissue mass measuring 1.5 × 3 cm, with blood flow within it. Multislice CT scan accurately localized the isolated tumor. The mass was surgically excised and found within the sternocleidomastoid muscle, without any adhesions to adjacent tissues. Histological examination of the tumor and immunohistochemical tests confirmed infantile myofibroma. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: IM is one of the most common soft tissue tumors in children and mainly consists of myofibroblasts. 90 % of IM cases are diagnosed before the age of two years. Possible therapeutic measures for this tumor include conservative management, surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and steroid injections into the tumor. Surgical removal of the tumor is often performed, and if it is single and completely removed, the prognosis is good with a recurrence rate of less than 10 %. CONCLUSION: Infantile myofibroma is considered a benign tumor, but it may be fatal in some cases. Each case is treated individually according to the number (single or multicentric), size, location, symptoms, and visceral involvement. Surgical resection remains the therapeutic procedure of choice in most cases.

Unveiling the Potential of Cannabinoids in Multiple Sclerosis and the Dawn of Nano-Cannabinoid Medicine.

Multiple sclerosis is the predominant autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system in adolescents and adults. Specific treatments are categorized as disease-modifying, whereas others are symptomatic treatments to alleviate painful symptoms. Currently, no singular conventional therapy is universally effective for all patients across all stages of the illness. Nevertheless, cannabinoids exhibit significant promise in their capacity for neuroprotection, anti-inflammation, and immunosuppression. This review will examine the traditional treatment for multiple sclerosis, the increasing interest in using cannabis as a treatment method, its role in protecting the nervous system and regulating the immune system, commercially available therapeutic cannabinoids, and the emerging use of cannabis in nanomedicine. In conclusion, cannabinoids exhibit potential as a disease-modifying treatment rather than merely symptomatic relief. However, further research is necessary to unveil their role and establish the safety and advancements in nano-cannabinoid medicine, offering the potential for reduced toxicity and fewer adverse effects, thereby maximizing the benefits of cannabinoids.

A pleuropulmonary blastoma type III in a 4-month-old infant: First case report in Syria.

INTRODUCTION: Pleuropulmonary blastoma is a rare, aggressive intrathoracic neoplasm of early childhood. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 4-month-old male baby who has presented with recurrent respiratory infections since birth. A surgical team was consulted due to abnormal opacification observed on a chest X-ray. An enhanced-contrast CT scan of the chest revealed a heterogenous, well-delineated mass measuring about 3,8 × 6 cm in the posterior mediastinum. A left posterolateral thoracotomy was performed. The mass was separated from the lung parenchyma, located behind the parietal pleura, and adherent to the chest wall and superior ribs. The lesion was totally removed. Histologically, the lesion was a pleuropulmonary blastoma type III. Currently, the patient is on a 6-month course of chemotherapy. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: The aggressive, insidious behavior of PPB requires a high index of suspicion for diagnosis. The clinical manifestations and imaging modalities are atypical and nonspecific. However, PPB should be kept in mind when a huge solid or cystic mass is observed in the lung field on imaging. CONCLUSION: Extrapulmonary pleuropulmonary blastoma is a very rare entity characterized by highly aggressive behavior and a poor prognosis. Early excision of thoracic cystic lesions in children is warranted regardless of the symptoms to avoid future mishaps.

Thoracic spinal tuberculosis in a 2.5-year-old child treated by surgical procedure with a transthoracic approach: a case report.

Pott's disease is a form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and has a global increase in incidence. The diagnosis should be made early to avoid neurological deficiency or deformity of the spine. Case presentation: A 2-year-old and 6-month-old boy was admitted with fever and unspecific generalized pain, the examination revealed mild hyperreflexia in the lower extremities, isotope scan showed increased uptake in the T8 vertebra. MRI demonstrated destruction in the T8 vertebra with kyphotic deformity and abscess anterior to T7, T8, and T9 levels with an epidural abscess at the T8 level extending to the spinal canal and compressing the spinal cord. The patient underwent a surgical procedure with a transthoracic approach, the decompression of the spinal canal was performed through T8 corpectomy, the reduction of kyphosis was performed and the internal fixation with a dynamic cylinder and lateral titanium plate was carried out. Microbiologic examination suggests Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Clinical discussion: Pott's disease (spinal TB) is extremely rare in the young children population, and surgical treatment is reported only in a few reports, and it is considered a technical challenge. There are several surgical approaches during childhood, for upper thoracic spinal TB, the posterior approach is easy, minimally invasive, safe, reliable, and effective. But it had the worst outcomes. In contrast, the anterior approach provides direct access to the lesions. Conclusion: More research are needed to detect the best choice in the management of thoracic spinal TB in children.

Letterer-Siwe disease presenting with gastrointestinal and cutaneous manifestations.

Histiocytosis is a set of distinct proliferative illnesses defined by the proliferation and infiltration of varied numbers of dendritic cells, macrophages, and monocytes in the afflicted tissues. The skin and other organs may be impacted by the inflammatory infiltration. It can occur at any age. The severity of the symptoms can range from mild to severe, depending on the degree and type of organ involvement. Although certain forms of histiocytosis can be fatal, others can be treated successfully without sequelae. Langerhans cell histiocytosis manifests itself clinically in both children and adults. A combination of clinical, histological, and radiological tests is required to achieve a diagnosis. A severe, multisystemic, acute form of Langerhans cell histiocytosis is called Letterer-Siewe illness, which usually affects infants in their first year of life. In this article, we provide a brief literature review and a case study of a 9-month-old girl who presented with recurring gastrointestinal problems as the first sign of Letterer-Siwe disease.

Climate change, human health, and the exposome: Utilizing OMIC technologies to navigate an era of uncertainty.

Climate change is an anthropogenic phenomenon that is alarming scientists and non-scientists alike. The emission of greenhouse gases is causing the temperature of the earth to rise and this increase is accompanied by a multitude of climate change-induced environmental exposures with potential health impacts. Tracking human exposure has been a major research interest of scientists worldwide. This has led to the development of exposome studies that examine internal and external individual exposures over their lifetime and correlate them to health. The monitoring of health has also benefited from significant technological advances in the field of "omics" technologies that analyze physiological changes on the nucleic acid, protein, and metabolism levels, among others. In this review, we discuss various climate change-induced environmental exposures and their potential health implications. We also highlight the potential integration of the technological advancements in the fields of exposome tracking, climate monitoring, and omics technologies shedding light on important questions that need to be answered.

Annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma in a woman with metabolic syndrome.

Annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma (AEGCG) is a rare granulomatous skin condition. It belongs to a group of skin and elastic fiber disorders. When it affects sun-exposed skin, it is also called actinic granuloma. The etiology and pathogenesis are still debated. However, sun-induced actinic damage to elastic fibers is acknowledged as the primary triggering factor, though the pathogenesis of instances in sun-covered areas is unknown. The most commonly linked systemic illness is diabetes mellitus. Different case reports show an association of this disease with hematological conditions, infections, sarcoidosis, and protoporphyria. Multisystemic involvement was also reported in a case. The disease is clinically recognized by erythematous non-scaly annular patches and plaques with raised borders and hypopigmented or skin-colored centers, sometimes atrophic. It is usually asymptomatic or mildly itchy. The presence of an inflammatory infiltration with non-palisading granulomas, multinucleate large cells, elastin degradation, and elastophagocytosis, as well as the absence of necrobiosis and mucin, are histopathological characteristics. We report a 5-year history of annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma in a 66-year-old woman with a history of type two diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and fatty liver disease (steatosis). She presented with asymptomatic polymorphic erythematous skin lesions mainly in sun-exposed areas.

Computational and experimental elucidation of the boosted stability and antibacterial activity of ZIF-67 upon optimized encapsulation with polyoxometalates.

Water microbial purification is one of the hottest topics that threats human morbidity and mortality. It is indispensable to purify water using antimicrobial agents combined with several technologies and systems. Herein, we introduce a class of nanosized metal organic framework; Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cages encapsulated with polyoxometalates synthesized via facile one-step co-precipitation method. We employed two types of polyoxometalates bioactive agents; phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) that act as novel antibacterial purification agents. Several characterization techniques were utilized to investigate the morphological, structural, chemical, and physical properties such as FESEM, EDS, FTIR, XRD, and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms techniques. The antibacterial assessment was evaluated using colony forming unit (CFU) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as models of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The PTA@ZIF-67 showed higher microbial inhibition against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 98.8% and 84.6%, respectively. Furthermore, computational modeling using density functional theory was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of PTA when compared to PMA. The computational and experimental findings demonstrate that the fabricated POM@ZIF-67 materials exhibited outstanding bactericidal effect against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and effectively purify contaminated water.

Cost-Effective Face Mask Filter Based on Hybrid Composite Nanofibrous Layers with High Filtration Efficiency.

One of the main protective measures against COVID-19's spread is the use of face masks. It is therefore of the utmost importance for face masks to be high functioning in terms of their filtration ability and comfort. Notwithstanding the prevalence of the commercial polypropylene face masks, its effectiveness is under contention, leaving vast room for improvement. During the pandemic, the use of at least one mask per day for each individual results in a massive number of masks that need to be safely disposed of. Fabricating biodegradable filters of high efficiency not only can protect individuals and save the environment but also can be sewed on reusable/washable cloth masks to reduce expenses. Wearing surgical masks for long periods of time, especially in hot regions, causes discomfort by irritating sensitive facial skin and warmed inhaled air. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of novel electrospun composites layers as face mask filters for protection against pathogens and tiny particulates. The combinatorial filter layers are made by integrating TiO2 nanotubes as fillers into chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) polymeric electrospun nanofibers as the outer layer. The other two filler-free layers, chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) and silk/poly(vinyl alcohol) as the middle and inner composite layers, respectively, were used for controlled protection, contamination prevention, and comfort for prolonged usage. The ASTM standards evaluation tests were adopted to evaluate the efficacy of the assembled filter, revealing high filtration efficiency compared to that of commercial surgical masks. The TiO2/Cs/PVA outer layer significantly reduced Staphylococcus aureus bacteria by 44.8% compared to the control, revealing the dual effect of TiO2 and chitosan toward the infectious bacterial colonies. Additionally, molecular dynamics calculations were used to assess the mechanical properties of the filter layers.

Recent Advances in the Regenerative Approaches for Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: Materials Perspective.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating health condition that may lead to permanent disabilities and death. Understanding the pathophysiological perspectives of traumatic SCI is essential to define mechanisms that can help in designing recovery strategies. Since central nervous system tissues are notorious for their deficient ability to heal, efforts have been made to identify solutions to aid in restoration of the spinal cord tissues and thus its function. The two main approaches proposed to address this issue are neuroprotection and neuro-regeneration. Neuroprotection involves administering drugs to restore the injured microenvironment to normal after SCI. As for the neuro-regeneration approach, it focuses on axonal sprouting for functional recovery of the injured neural tissues and damaged axons. Despite the progress made in the field, neural regeneration treatment after SCI is still unsatisfactory owing to the disorganized way of axonal growth and extension. Nanomedicine and tissue engineering are considered promising therapeutic approaches that enhance axonal growth and directionality through implanting or injecting of the biomaterial scaffolds. One of these recent approaches is nanofibrous scaffolds that are used to provide physical support to maintain directional axonal growth in the lesion site. Furthermore, these preferable tissue-engineered substrates can afford axonal regeneration by mimicking the extracellular matrix of the neural tissues in terms of biological, chemical, and architectural characteristics. In this review, we discuss the regenerative approach using nanofibrous scaffolds with a focus on their fabrication methods and their properties that define their functionality performed to heal the neural tissue efficiently.

Novel mineralized electrospun chitosan/PVA/TiO2 nanofibrous composites for potential biomedical applications: computational and experimental insights.

Electrospun nanofibrous materials serve as potential solutions for several biomedical applications as they possess the ability of mimicking the extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues. Herein, we report on the fabrication of novel nanostructured composite materials for potential use in biomedical applications that require a suitable environment for cellular viability. Anodized TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) in powder form, with different concentrations, were incorporated as a filler material into a blend of chitosan (Cs) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to synthesize composite polymeric electrospun nanofibrous materials. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nanoindentation, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and MTT assay for cell viability techniques were used to characterize the architectural, structural, mechanical, physical, and biological properties of the fabricated materials. Additionally, molecular dynamics (MD) modelling was performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of the polymeric PVA/chitosan matrix upon reinforcing the structure with TiO2 anatase nanotubes. The Young's modulus, shear and bulk moduli, Poisson's ratio, Lame's constants, and compressibility of these composites have been computed using the COMPASS molecular mechanics force fields. The MD simulations demonstrated that the inclusion of anatase TiO2 improves the mechanical properties of the composite, which is consistent with our experimental findings. The results revealed that the mineralized material improved the mechanical strength and the physical properties of the composite. Hence, the composite material has potential for use in biomedical applications.

Recent advances in the use of TiO2 nanotube powder in biological, environmental, and energy applications.

The use of titanium dioxide nanotubes in the powder form (TNTP) has been a hot topic for the past few decades in many applications. The high quality of the fabricated TNTP by various synthetic routes may meet the required threshold of performance in a plethora of fields such as drug delivery, sensors, supercapacitors, and photocatalytic applications. This review briefly discusses the synthesis techniques of TNTP, their use in various applications, and future perspectives to expand their use in more applications.

Smart bi-metallic perovskite nanofibers as selective and reusable sensors of nano-level concentrations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

A strategy for trace-level carbon-based electrochemical sensors is investigated via exploring the interesting properties of BaNb2O6 nanofibers (NFs). Utilizing adsorptive stripping square wave voltammetry (ASSWV), an electrochemical sensing platform was developed based on BaNb2O6 nanofibers-modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) for the sensitive detection of lornoxicam (LOR). Different techniques were used to characterize the fabricated BaNb2O6 perovskite NFs. The obtained data show the feasibility to electro-oxidize LOR and paracetamol (PAR) on the surface of the fabricated sensor. The amount of nanofiber and testing conditions were optimized using response surface methodology and ASSWV technique. The optimized BaNb2O6/CPE sensor exhibits low detection limit of 6.39 × 10-10 mol L-1, even in the presence of the co-formulated drug paracetamol (PAR). The sensor was successfully applied for biological applications.