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The synthesis of brush glycopolymers mimicking the architecture of proteoglycans is achieved by grafting sequence‐defined glycooligomers derived from solid‐phase polymer synthesis onto a poly(active ester) scaffold. This approach gives access to a first library of brush glycopolymers with controlled variations in the degree of branching and number of carbohydrate ligands per branch. When studying lectin binding of linear and brush glycopolymers to lectins Concanavalin A (ConA), dendritic cell‐specific intercellular adhesion molecule‐3‐grabbing non‐integrin (DC‐SIGN), and mannose‐binding lectin (MBL), different preferences are observed with MBL showing higher binding to linear glycopolymer and ConA and DC‐SIGN favoring brush glycopolymers. This finding suggests that the architecture of polymeric glycan mimetics affects binding to lectins not only in terms of creating higher avidity but potentially also selectivity ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the SCUBE1 level, a biomarker in vascular biology that could determine the prognosis of cardiovascular events during OSA treatment., Methods: In total, 129 patients were included in the study. Thirty were diagnosed with simple snoring and 99 with OSA., Results: In males, significant correlation was determined between SCUBE1 non-REM AHI, hypopnea index, total apnea index, mean SO 2 , minimum SO 2 , and < 90% saturation duration., Conclusion: Serum SCUBE1 levels increased more in male patients with severe OSA compared to other OSA levels, and high serum SCUBE1 levels were found to be associated with lower oxygen levels in OSA patients. The SCUBE1 biomarker can correlate with severe OSA in males. There was a statistically significant difference between OSA groups in terms of SCUBE1 score for male patients ( p = 0.002) but not for females ( p = 0.498). It is important that future SCUBE1 studies evaluate males vs. females.

Introduction: Studies with inexperienced surgeons in terms of the learning curve for laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair are limited., Aim: To compare three inexperienced surgeons in terms of the learning curve without supervision., Material and Methods: Patients' data, which were from consecutive laparoscopic TEP hernioplasties between December 2017 and February 2020, were analysed retrospectively. The primary outcome was to compare the learning curve of three surgeons (Surgeon A, B, and C) in terms of complications, conversion, and duration of surgery. Secondary outcomes were recurrence rates., Results: A total of 299 patients were included in the study. Conversion and intraoperative complication rates decreased after the first 60 cases (from 10% to 2.5%, p = 0.013 and from 9% to 2.5%, p = 0.027, respectively). The mean operative time reached a plateau of less than 40 min after 51-81 cases (Surgeon A 51, B 71, and C 81 cases). Ageing was a risk factor for intraoperative complications and recurrence (p < 0.001, p = 0.008, respectively), and higher body mass index (BMI) was a risk factor for conversion (p = 0.004). Age ≥ 60 years compared to age < 60 years increased intraoperative complications five-fold and recurrence six-fold (p = 0.001). On the other hand, BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 increased the possibility of conversion to open surgery nine-fold (p < 0.001). In addition, a positive correlation was found between the operative time and the BMI and VAS score (p = 0.004, p = 0.015, respectively)., Conclusions: In order to reach the plateau in the operative time during the TEP learning curve period, more than 50 cases should be experienced, whereas more than 60 cases are needed for conversion, intraoperative complications, and recurrence., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Fundacja Videochirurgii.)

The selective isolation of bacteria from mixed populations has been investigated in varied applications ranging from differential pathogen identification in medical diagnostics and food safety to the monitoring of microbial stress dynamics in industrial bioreactors. Selective isolation techniques are generally limited to the confinement of small populations in defined locations, may be unable to target specific bacteria, or rely on immunomagnetic separation, which is not universally applicable. In this proof-of-concept work, we describe a novel strategy combining inducible bacterial lectin expression with magnetic glyconanoparticles (MGNPs) as a platform technology to enable selective bacterial isolation from cocultures. An inducible mutant of the type 1 fimbriae, displaying the mannose-specific lectin FimH, was constructed in Escherichia coli allowing for "on-demand" glycan-binding protein presentation following external chemical stimulation. Binding to glycopolymers was only observed upon fimbrial induction and was specific for mannosylated materials. A library of MGNPs was produced via the grafting of well-defined catechol-terminal glycopolymers prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to magnetic nanoparticles. Thermal analysis revealed high functionalization (≥85% polymer by weight). Delivery of MGNPs to cocultures of fluorescently labeled bacteria followed by magnetic extraction resulted in efficient depletion of type 1 fimbriated target cells from wild-type or afimbriate E. coli . Extraction efficiency was found to be dependent on the molecular weight of the glycopolymers utilized to engineer the nanoparticles, with MGNPs decorated with shorter Dopa-(ManAA) 50 mannosylated glycopolymers found to perform better than those assembled from a longer Dopa-(ManAA) 200 analogue. The extraction efficiency of fimbriated E. coli was also improved when the counterpart strain did not harbor the genetic apparatus for the expression of the type 1 fimbriae. Overall, this work suggests that the modulation of the genetic apparatus encoding bacterial surface-associated lectins coupled with capture through MGNPs could be a versatile tool for the extraction of bacteria from mixed populations.

Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder and often is associated with hiatal hernia (HH). Nissen fundoplication is the most common surgical treatment method. Despite surgical treatment, recurrence rate is still high. In this study, we aimed to identify the importance of the mesh shape in preventing recurrence after Nissen fundoplication. A hundred twenty two patients who operated Nissen fundoplication owing to GERD and/or HH were evaluated. Nissen fundoplication was made all patients. Patients were divided into three groups according to hiatoplasty procedure; group 1 (V-shaped mesh), group 2 (V-shaped mesh + Fibrin glue), and group 3 (special designed mesh, Kar's mesh). Groups were compared regarding intraoperative, postoperative early- and long-term complications. Mean age was 42.75 years, and male to female ratio was 1:2.98. The mean follow-up period was 27 mounts. There was no mortality during follow-up. The most common presenting symptom was heartburn (93.4%). There wasn't difference between groups in terms of the intraoperative complications and postoperative early-term complications. The overall recurrences rate was 4.9% and dysphagia > 3 months rate was 1.6%. No recurrence was not observed in group 3, while recurrence was observed in 4 patients in group 1 (P = 0.030). Patients should be carefully selected for surgery because complication rate is high despite successful anti-reflux surgical treatment. In this study, we have used a special designed mesh. We believe that this special designed mesh can be used safely and effectively in anti-reflux surgery because recurrence and complications were not observed.

Background: Although lymphocyte recruitment and activation are associated with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, the contributions of specific lymphocyte subpopulations and lymphocyte-derived interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) to stroke remain unknown. The objectives of this study were to define the contribution of specific populations of lymphocytes to the inflammatory and prothrombogenic responses elicited in the cerebral microvasculature by I/R and to investigate the role of T-cell-associated IFN-gamma in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke., Methods and Results: Middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced for 1 hour (followed by 4 or 24 hours of reperfusion) in wild-type mice and mice deficient in lymphocytes (Rag1(-/-)), CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, B cells, or IFN-gamma. Platelet and leukocyte adhesion was assessed in cortical venules with intravital video microscopy. Neurological deficit and infarct volume were determined 24 hours after reperfusion. Rag1(-/-), CD4+ T-cell(-/-), CD8+ T-cell(-/-), and IFN-gamma(-/-) mice exhibited comparable significant reductions in I/R-induced leukocyte and platelet adhesion compared with wild-type mice exposed to I/R. Infarct volume was reduced and I/R-induced neurological deficit was improved in immunodeficient Rag1(-/-) mice. These protective responses were reversed in Rag1(-/-) mice reconstituted with either wild-type or, to a lesser extent, IFN-gamma(-/-) splenocytes. B-cell-deficient mice failed to show improvement against ischemic stroke injury., Conclusions: These findings indicate that CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, but not B lymphocytes, contribute to the inflammatory and thrombogenic responses, brain injury, and neurological deficit associated with experimental stroke. Although IFN-gamma plays a pivotal role in stroke-induced inflammatory responses, T lymphocytes appear to be a minor source of this cytokine.