Correction: Antegrade versus retrograde facial nerve dissection in benign parotid surgery: Is there a difference in postoperative outcomes? A meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206028.].

Antegrade versus retrograde facial nerve dissection in benign parotid surgery: Is there a difference in postoperative outcomes? A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this meta-analysis was to test the null hypothesis of no difference in facial nerve dysfunction in studies that compared classical antegrade facial nerve dissection (AFND) versus retrograde facial nerve dissection (RFND) during benign parotid surgery. METHODS: A comprehensive search of PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct and relevant journals was undertaken up to June 27, 2018. Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), and retrospective studies aimed at comparing the effect of AFND vs. RFND during parotidectomy were included. The outcome measures included facial nerve dysfunction, Frey's syndrome, recurrence, silaocele, salivary fistula, operating time length of hospital stay, and estimated blood loss. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and weighted mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using either a fixed-effects or random-effects model. RESULTS: Ten studies; four RCTs and five retrospective studies were included. There were 570 patients (319 in RFND group and 251 in AFND group). 481 patients in 9 studies reported the incidence rate of facial nerve dysfunction. No statistical significant difference was observed between both groups concerning the occurrence of transient or permanent facial nerve paralysis (p = 0.44 and 0.11 respectively). One out 10 studies reported the incidence rate of sialocele, however no statistical difference was observed between the two techniques. There was reduction in the operative time (19.30 min), amount of blood loss (25.08 ml) and amount of healthy salivary tissues removed (12.20 mm) in RFND compared with AFND. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of the current review there is no evidence demonstrating a significant advantage of one approach over another, therefore, well-designed standardized RCTs are required.

Spectrum analysis of Chinese vowels formant in patients with tongue carcinoma underwent hemiglossectomy.

OBJECTIVES: Tongue is the most important phonatory organ in stomatognathic system. Radical resection of tongue squamous cell carcinoma can cause tongue defect and result in serious oral dysfunction, especially in phonetic function. This study aims to reveal the influence of tongue cancer, tongue defect and tongue reconstructions to phonetic function of tongue cancer patients. STUDY DESIGN: Formant spectrum analysis of Chinese vowels was performed by linear predictive coding (LPC) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma patients (before surgery and 3 months, 9 months and 2 years after surgery) and normal people. Patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma were divided into reconstruction group and non-reconstruction group. In reconstruction group, patients underwent tongue reconstruction with radial forearm free flap (RFFF) and lateral arm free flap (LAFF), respectively. RESULTS: 45 patients and 40 normal people were included. Differences were statistically significant between patients and normal persons, between patients before surgery and after surgery, between non-reconstruction group and construction group 2 years after operation. No statistical significance was found between patients underwent tongue reconstruction with RFFF or LAFF 2 years after operation. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that tongue cancer and tongue defect after radical resections affected phonetic function of patients. Tongue reconstruction with free flaps could restore phonetic function to some extent. The efficiency of tongue reconstruction with RFFF and LAFF respectively were similar.

p42/p44-MAPK and PI3K are sufficient for IL-6 family cytokines/gp130 to signal to hypertrophy and survival in cardiomyocytes in the absence of JAK/STAT activation.

The effect of differential signalling by IL-6 and leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) which signal by gp130 homodimerisation or LIFRß/gp130 heterodimerisation on survival and hypertrophy was studied in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Both LIF and IL-6 [in the absence of soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6Rα)] activated Erk1/2, JNK1/2, p38-MAPK and PI3K signalling peaking at 20min and induced cytoprotection against simulated ischemia-reperfusion injury which was blocked by the MEK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 but not the p38-MAPK inhibitor SB203580. In the absence of sIL-6R, IL-6 did not induce STAT1/3 phosphorylation, whereas IL-6/sIL-6R and LIF induced STAT1 and STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, IL-6/sIL-6R induced phosphorylation of STAT1 Tyr(701) and STAT3 Tyr(705) were enhanced by SB203580. IL-6 and pheneylephrine (PE), but not LIF, induced cardiomyocyte iNOS expression and nitric oxide (NO) production. IL-6, LIF and PE induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, but with phenotypic differences in ANF and SERCA2 expression and myofilament organisation with IL-6 more resembling PE than LIF. Transfection of cardiomyocytes with full length or truncated chimaeric gp130 cytoplasmic domain/Erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) extracellular domain fusion constructs showed that the membrane proximal Box 1 and Box 2 containing region of gp130 was necessary and sufficient for MAPK and PI3K activation; hypertrophy; SERCA2 expression and iNOS/NO induction in the absence of JAK/STAT activation. In conclusion, IL-6 can signal in cardiomyocytes independent of sIL-6R and STAT1/3 and furthermore, that Erk1/2 and PI3K activation by IL-6 are both necessary and sufficient for induced cardioprotection. In addition, p38-MAPK may act as a negative feedback regulator of JAK/STAT activation in cardiomyocytes.

Benefits of new tools in biotechnology to developing countries in south Asia: a perspective from UNESCO.

South Asia, once considered as a laggard, has grown at about 6% on average over the past two decades and the current growth outlook is much brighter. However, this growth is not always well distributed and the challenges of institutionalising policies and mechanisms to ensure inclusive growth are now being seriously considered by these countries governments. The targets set by south Asian countries are primarily based on the investments in infrastructural sector with an objective to generate educated and skilled human resources. The other most important inclusive growth area is the core public services; Agriculture, Health, and Energy, which are increasingly becoming technology driven. Biotechnology has been increasingly seen now to be an area of technology that holds the greatest new potential to address problems arising from low productivity, overburdened health systems, high-cost unsustainable energy supplies and the need for developing new materials for industrial and environmental applications. This article attempts to highlight perspectives on some of the emerging areas of biotechnology that have good potential for economic development in the context of south Asia, as well as discuss briefly some of UNESCO's initiatives in biotechnology for that region.

Neuroprotective effects of hesperetin in mouse primary neurones are independent of CREB activation.

Dietary flavonoids, including the citrus flavanone hesperetin, may have stimulatory effects on cytoprotective intracellular signalling pathways. In primary mouse cortical neurone cultures, but not SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells or human primary dermal fibroblasts (Promocells), hesperetin (100-300nM, 15min) caused significant increases in the level of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, but did not increase CREB phosphorylation. Administration of hesperetin for 18h did not alter gene expression driven by the cyclic AMP response element (CRE), assessed using a luciferase reporter system, but 300nM hesperetin partially reversed staurosporine-induced cell death in primary neurones. Our data show that hesperetin is a neuroprotective compound at concentrations where antioxidant effects are unlikely to predominate. The effects of hesperetin are cell-type dependent and, unlike the flavanol (-)epicatechin, neuroprotection in vitro is not associated with enhanced CREB phosphorylation or CRE-mediated gene expression.