Search

Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory disease (ISD) affecting skin, mucosa, nail, and hair. Previous studies demonstrated a pivotal role of type 1 immunity in LP, as infiltrating T cells trigger apoptosis and necroptosis in the epidermis. In this study, we investigated the role of DAPK1 in LP with special focus on its role in mediating cell death and inflammation.

Background: The main aim of this study was the evaluation of mismatch negativity (MMN) in tinnitus patients in relation to serum cortisol levels. This study was designed to evaluate mismatch negativity (MMN) in tinnitus patients in relation to serum cortisol levels. For such purpose, MMN response and cortisol level were compared in tinnitus patients with normal hearing in comparison to normal hearing control. The methodology included full history taking, basic audiological evaluation, MMN, and the serum cortisol level measured at 9:00 am in addition to a tinnitus questionnaire in the study group only. Results: There was a statistically significant delayed MMN latency in the study group in both the right and left ear in comparison to the control group. Regarding MMN amplitude, it was significantly reduced in the left ear in comparison to the left ear of the control. As regards the cortisol level, it was significantly increased in the study group when compared with the control group. Conclusion: Mismatch negativity can be used to evaluate echoic memory in tinnitus patients. Additionally, serum cortisol levels can be used as an effective indicator of stress status and psychological condition in tinnitus patients.

Background: Despite existing extensive literature, a comprehensive and clinically relevant classification system for osteoarthritis (OA) has yet to be established. In this study, we aimed to further characterize four knee OA (KOA) inflammatory phenotypes (KOIP) recently proposed by our group, by identifying the inflammatory factors associated with KOA severity and progression in a phenotype-specific manner. Methods: We performed an analysis within each of the previously defined four KOIP groups, to assess the association between KOA severity and progression and a panel of 13 cytokines evaluated in the plasma and synovial fluid of our cohort’s patients. The cohort included 168 symptomatic female KOA patients with persistent joint effusion. Results: Overall, our analyses showed that associations with KOA outcomes were of higher magnitude within the KOIP groups than for the overall patient series (all p-values < 1.30e−16) and that several of the cytokines showed a KOIP-specific behaviour regarding their associations with KOA outcomes. Conclusion: Our study adds further evidence supporting KOA as a multifaceted syndrome composed of multiple phenotypes with differing pathophysiological pathways, providing an explanation for inconsistencies between previous studies focussed on the role of cytokines in OA and the lack of translational results to date. Our findings also highlight the potential clinical benefits of accurately phenotyping KOA patients, including improved patient stratification, tailored therapies, and the discovery of novel treatments.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a critical public health issue. Spirometric measurements are used to diagnose chronic obstructive lung disease, as per the guidelines of the GOLD initiative. Post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) is a predictor of mortality from COPD and helps to classify the disease’s severity. Smoking contributes to the high levels of exhaled CO. Evidence suggests that the exhaled CO level in COPD patients varies with degree of blockage and can be used to assess treatment response. Estimating the exhaled CO level can help assess airway inflammation and severity of airflow obstruction in individuals with COPD. Aim: Evaluate role of exhaled CO in assessment of severity of COPD. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study included 132 patients who visited the outpatient clinics or were admitted to the Chest Department, Kasr Alainy Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. The study participants were divided into three groups: group 1nonsmoker healthy control, group 2smoker non-COPD, and group 3smoker COPD which further divided according to GOLD 2023 into mild, moderate, and severe COPD. The smoking status, exhaled CO, and spirometry test including FEV1/FVC and FEV1 were measured for each patient. Results: Exhaled CO was significantly increased in the smoker group (mean 9.69, SD3.11) compared to the nonsmoker group (mean 2.19, SD0.98) with p-value < 0.001. Exhaled CO was also statistically significantly higher in the smoker COPD group (mean 10.45, SD3.03) compared to the smoker non-COPD group (mean 7.05, SD1.56) with p-value < 0.001. Although exhaled CO was increased in the severe COPD group compared to the mild and moderate group, there is no statistically significant difference between them. Conclusion: Exhaled CO is a fast, sensitive, noninvasive, and well-established method test that can be used to identify smokers from nonsmokers with 98.9% sensitivity at 4.5 cutoff value. Also, exhaled CO levels in COPD patients vary with different degrees of airway obstruction.

Background: This study aims to assess the sustained immunological response to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRD) undergoing different treatment regimens. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study involving 157 AIRD patients without prior COVID-19 infection. Treatment regimens included non-treatment or glucocorticoid-only (not-treated/GCs), non-biological drugs, biological therapy, and JAK inhibitors. All participants completed the two-dose vaccine schedule, and 110 of them received an additional booster dose. Serum samples were collected approximately 3–6 months after the second and third vaccine doses to measure antibodies against the Spike protein (antiS-AB) and neutralizing antibodies (nAB) targeting six SARS-CoV-2 variants. Results: Following the third dose, all patients exhibited a significant increase in antiS-AB (FC = 15, p< 0.0001). Patients under biological therapy had lower titres compared to the non-biological (66% decrease, p= 0.038) and the not-treated/GCs group (62% decrease, p= 0.0132), with the latter persisting after the booster dose (86% decrease, p= 0.0027). GC use was associated with lower antiS-AB levels in the biological group (87% decrease, p= 0.0124), although not statistically significant after confounders adjustment. nABs showed the highest positivity rates for the wild-type strain before (50%) and after the booster dose (93%), while the Omicron variant exhibited the lowest rates (11% and 55%, respectively). All variants demonstrated similar positivity patterns and good concordance with antiS-AB (AUCs from 0.896 to 0.997). Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster strategy effectively elicited a sustained antibody immune response in AIRD patients. However, patients under biological therapies exhibited a reduced response to the booster dose, particularly when combined with GCs.

Background: Proper securement of central venous catheters plays an important role in onco-hematological pediatric patients. A new subcutaneously anchored securement device has been recently introduced in the clinical practice, and it has been extensively used in children.Method: In our study, we have retrospectively investigated the safety and the effectiveness of such device, reviewing the experience of three Italian pediatric oncological units. We have considered only tunneled catheters (cuffed or non-cuffed) inserted in children with malignancy; all types of tunneled central catheters were included in the analysis (both centrally and peripherally inserted) as long as they were secured with a subcutaneously anchored device. We investigated the incidence of dislodgment and of other catheter-related complications, with special attention to local adverse effects potentially related to the securement device.Results: We collected data from 311 tunneled catheters of different caliber: 80.4% were centrally inserted central catheters (CICC), 15.4% were peripherally inserted (PICC), and 4.2% were femorally inserted. Approximately half of the catheters (51%) were non-cuffed. Incidence of dislodgment was very low (2.6%) and the incidence of local pain or inflammation potentially related to the securement device was minimal (1.9%). Catheter related bacteremias were below 1 episode/1000 catheter days. No symptomatic catheter related thrombosis was reported. There was no significant difference in complications comparing cuffed versus non-cuffed catheters, or CICCs versus PICCs, or hematologic tumors versus solid tumors.Conclusion: In our retrospective analysis of a vast population of oncological pediatric patients with tunneled central catheters, the subcutaneously anchored securement device was tolerated very well, and it was highly effective in preventing dislodgment, both in cuffed and non-cuffed catheters.

Introduction:Visceral solid cancers can metastasize in almost any organ, including the skin and its appendages. Case Presentation:We report here the case of a 19-year-old Caucasian girl carrying a diagnosis of malignant germ cell tumor of the ovary, with pulmonary and brain metastases, that developed a painful red-violaceous subungual papule of the 4th finger of the left hand, associated with an over-curvature of the nail plate. Dermoscopy was characterized initially by different shades of pink and red, while after few weeks, it showed black pigmentation due to subcorneal hematomas, hemorrhagic crusts, and a rainbow pattern. Histology confirmed a diagnosis of a metastasis from a poorly differentiated carcinoma of ovarian origin. Discussion and Conclusion:A brief review on the diagnosis and treatment of subungual metastases is reported.

Single-cell transcriptomics has allowed unprecedented resolution of cell types/states in the human lung, but their spatial context is less well defined. To (re)define tissue architecture of lung and airways, we profiled five proximal-to-distal locations of healthy human lungs in depth using multi-omic single cell/nuclei and spatial transcriptomics (queryable at lungcellatlas.org). Using computational data integration and analysis, we extend beyond the suspension cell paradigm and discover macro and micro-anatomical tissue compartments including previously unannotated cell types in the epithelial, vascular, stromal and nerve bundle micro-environments. We identify and implicate peribronchial fibroblasts in lung disease. Importantly, we discover and validate a survival niche for IgA plasma cells in the airway submucosal glands (SMG). We show that gland epithelial cells recruit B cells and IgA plasma cells, and promote longevity and antibody secretion locally through expression of CCL28, APRIL and IL-6. This new ‘gland-associated immune niche’ has implications for respiratory health.

Serious games have been recently used for different purposes; a few of them have been developed to support cultural heritage purposes. Pandemics, for instance, change a lot in people’s lives and cause some changes, such as social distancing and lower mobility. Additionally, individuals with physical challenges do not always have the opportunity to experience heritage sites as if they were there. Hence, arises the need for applications that encourage the precautionary measures required without totally isolating the users in similar conditions. The existing serious games in the literature have proven effective for teaching cultural heritage and enhancing tourists’ experiences while at the heritage site. However, less serious games focused on giving the tourists a similar experience, but in the comfort of their homes. Therefore, this study discusses the design, development, and evaluation of ARTour. ARTour is a collaborative serious game that increases players’ engagement and enhances the overall experience, without exposing them to danger during pandemics or similar situations. The player can choose between existing heritage sites, and a timeline, in order to get the full experience.

The article offers information about entrepreneurship, featuring several most daring businesspeople. These include Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Motors, Delane Parnell, the founder and chief executive officer of PlayVS with his move to bring video games to school, and Tom Lewand, the chief executive officer of Shinola with his move to make a very symbolic statement.

In the recent few decades, the demand for green sources of energy that are clean and sustainable became very essential to reduce the greenhouse and global warming problems. Consequently, there is an increasing demand to identify nonprecious, cheap bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting. Herein, nanosheets of different earth-abundant Ni, Co, Mn, and Fe combinations are electrodeposited over commercial Ti mesh and tested for the overall water splitting. The bare Ti mesh requires overpotentials of −486.6 mV at −10 mA cm–2and 534.5 mV at 10 mA cm–2for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. However, the electrodeposited catalysts show much higher catalytic activity for both HER and OER with overpotentials of −300 and 279 mV at −10 and 10 mA cm–2, respectively, lowering the overpotential needed to drive the OER by 50%. Nevertheless, to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of the fabricated catalysts, they are phosphidized using different phosphorous precursors. The resulted NiCoMnFe–P catalysts exhibit much lower HER overpotential (−200 mV at −10 mA cm–2), which is 40% lower than that needed by the bare Ti mesh. For the overall water splitting, a cell voltage of 1.71 V is recorded to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm–2. Lastly, the stability test of the overall device reveals very high stability with current retention of 90% over 22 h of continuous electrolysis. Furthermore, the synergy between the metallic components in the absence and presence of P is elucidated using density functional theory calculations, revealing optimized GH*and GH2O*for the HER reaction over the P-top site of the MnFeCoNiP catalyst. In addition, the calculations explain the superiority of the NiCoMnFe catalyst over the NiCoMnFeP counterpart for the OER.