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Fissures in concrete structures result from structural deterioration and inadequate building processes, among other factors. Traditional in situ repair is often expensive and complex. For this reason, self-healing techniques have been developed, such as the use of bacteria that precipitate calcium carbonate and seal fissures. However, adding bacteria directly to the concrete matrix reduces bacterial survival. We present a review of different methods of bacterial encapsulation and their effects on fissure repair and concrete resistance. We argue that encapsulation of Bacillus subtilis in clay is the most promising method for this type of concrete, increasing concrete strength by 12% and repairing fissures of up to 0.52 mm.

Recent developments in engineering have promoted the use of reinforced composite materials from natural fibers, which provides an opportunity to investigate such materials using state-of the-art tools. Here we present a morphological and nanomechanical characterization of the parallel section of the axis of guadua Angustifolia kunth fibers (GAK) from Colombia, focusing on properties such as hardness (nanoindentation), roughness and topography. Our method was based on the application of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). AFM provided curves of force by displacement, as well as characteristics of dynamic nanoindentation systems and images. Their analysis revealed ridges and valleys on the surface of GAK fibers. The estimated surface roughness of 9.51 nm suggests an adequate value to provide superior adhesion between polymer and fiber. The same conclusion follows from our measurements of hardness, reduced modulus and nanoscale topography. Due to their excellent properties, we conclude that GAK fibers represent an ideal reinforcement material in polymer matrices.

Despite the availability of an effective vaccine against viral hepatitis B infection, it remains prevalent, highly transmissible especially through mother-to-child, life-threatening, and a major public health challenge. A positive Hepatitis B e-Antigen (HBeAg) mother has a 90% risk of transmitting the virus to the unborn child in the perinatal period. This study sought to determine the prevalence and risk of Hepatitis B infection among pregnant women in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. A cross-sectional study employing systematic random sampling was conducted among 183 consented pregnant women who went for antenatal care in nine health facilities in the Wa Municipality. A structured validated questionnaire was used to collect information about socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics, awareness of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) transmission and its prevention. Blood samples (3.0 mls) were collected from each participant to test for HBV serum markers using a Wondfo One Step HBV rapid immunochromatographic assay (Catalog number W003) for the Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). We conducted descriptive statistics including the prevalence and used multivariable logistic regression to determine the risk of Hepatitis B among study participants. Data was analysed using Stata/SE 15. About 20.2% of the 183 pregnant women screened tested positive for HBsAg. Generally, compared with younger pregnant women, older (> = 25) pregnant women were >9 times less likely to test positive for both chronic Hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and (HBeAg) Hepatitis B infections. However, pregnant women in polygamous relationship were more likely to test positive for both (HBcAb) and (HBsAg and HBeAg) Hepatitis B infections compared with those in monogamous relationship. In a multivariable analysis, pregnant women in a polygamous relationships were about 5 times more likely to test positive for HBsAg (AOR = 4.61, 95% CI: 2.06-9.89) and HBcAb (AOR = 4.89, 95% CI:1.52-6.81) and HBeAg (AOR = 4.62, 95% CI:1.21-6.39) compared with those in a monogamous relationship. This study highlights a high HBsAg prevalence among pregnant women with those in polygamous relationship and younger age more likely to test positive. Facility and community-based health services should emphasize the need for regular screening, education, and vaccination of pregnant women, especially those at high risk, to prevent mother-to-child transmission of viral hepatitis B., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Awiah et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Chronic urticaria (CU) is the recurring development of wheals (aka "hives" or "welts"), angioedema, or both for more than 6 weeks. Wheals and angioedema occur with no definite triggers in chronic spontaneous urticaria, and in response to known and definite physical triggers in chronic inducible urticaria. Approximately 1.4% of individuals globally will have CU during their lifetime. The itching and physical discomfort associated with CU have a profound impact on daily activities, sexual function, work or school performance, and sleep, causing significant impairment in a patient's physical and mental quality of life. CU also places a financial burden on patients and healthcare systems. Patients should feel empowered to self-advocate to receive the best care. The voice of the patient in navigating the journey of CU diagnosis and management may improve patient-provider communication, thereby improving diagnosis and outcomes. A collaboration of patients, providers, advocacy organizations, and pharmaceutical representatives have created a patient charter to define the realistic and achievable principles of care that patients with CU should expect to receive. Principle (1): I deserve an accurate and timely diagnosis of my CU; Principle (2): I deserve access to specialty care for my CU; Principle (3): I deserve access to innovative treatments that reduce the burden of CU on my daily life; Principle (4): I deserve to be free of unnecessary treatment-related side-effects during the management of my CU; and Principle (5): I expect a holistic treatment approach to address all the components of my life impacted by CU. The stated principles may serve as a guide for healthcare providers who care for patients with CU and translate into better patient-physician communication. In addition, we urge policymakers and authors of CU treatment guidelines to consider these principles in their decision-making to ensure the goals of the patient are achievable., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

CXCR4 expression in neuroblastoma tumors correlates with disease severity. In this study, we describe mechanisms by which CXCR4 signaling controls neuroblastoma tumor growth and response to therapy. We found that overexpression of CXCR4 or stimulation with CXCL12 supports neuroblastoma tumorigenesis. Moreover, CXCR4 inhibition with the high-affinity CXCR4 antagonist BL-8040 prevented tumor growth and reduced survival of tumor cells. These effects were mediated by the upregulation of miR-15a/16-1, which resulted in downregulation of their target genes BCL-2 and cyclin D1, as well as inhibition of ERK. Overexpression of miR-15a/16-1 in cells increased cell death, whereas antagomirs to miR-15a/16-1 abolished the proapoptotic effects of BL-8040. CXCR4 overexpression also increased miR-15a/16-1, shifting their oncogenic dependency from the BCL-2 to the ERK signaling pathway. Overall, our results demonstrate the therapeutic potential of CXCR4 inhibition in neuroblastoma treatment and provide a rationale to test combination therapies employing CXCR4 and BCL-2 inhibitors to increase the efficacy of these agents. Significance: These results provide a mechanistic rationale for combination therapy of CXCR4 and BCL-2 inhibitors to treat a common and commonly aggressive pediatric cancer. Cancer Res; 78(6); 1471-83. ©2017 AACR ., (©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Unlabelled: Aortic stenosis is one of the most common valvular lesions. Nowadays, a new treatment is emerging: the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). It is considered a suitable alternative for the surgical approach in selected high-risk patients. This procedure may be performed under sedation (SED) or under general anesthesia (GEA)., Study Objective: Assess the feasibility and safety of TAVI under sedation., Design: Observational study., Setting: Single-center study conducted between the years 2009 and 2012., Patients: A total of 204 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 3 to 4 patients who underwent TAVI in the study period and for whom complete data were obtained were included. Demographic and periprocedural data were acquired from the patients' files. The patients were divided into SED and GEA groups., Interventions: The study was not an interventional study., Measurements: The study did not include measurements., Main Results: The 2 groups had similar demographic characteristics and echocardiographic parameters. The rate of conversion from SED to GEA was 4.6%. The SED group received significantly less catecholamines and intravenous fluids during the procedure. The total procedural time was significantly shorter for the SED group. There was a trend toward more postprocedural pulmonary complications in the GEA group. In-hospital mortality and total length of stay were similar between the groups., Conclusions: The results of the current study, which included a relatively large number of patients, suggest that both anesthetic modalities are safe for patients undergoing TAVI. The anesthesiologist should thus tailor the anesthetic approach to the patient, taking into account the team's experience as well as the hemodynamic status of the patient. With growing experience, our team recommends performing TAVI under SED and in selected cases under GEA., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extra-cranial pediatric solid tumor with up to 50% of NB patients classified as having high-risk disease with poor long-term survival rates. The poor clinical outcome and aggressiveness of high-risk NB strongly correlates with enhanced angiogenesis, suggesting anti-angiogenic agents as attractive additions to the currently insufficient therapeutics. TL-118, a novel drug combination has been recently developed to inhibit tumor angiogenesis. In the current study, we used the SK-N-BE (2) cell line to generate orthotopic NB tumors in order to study the combinational therapeutic potential of TL-118 with either Gemcitabine (40 mg/kg; IP) or Retinoic acid (40 mg/kg; IP). We show that TL-118 treatment (n = 9) significantly inhibited tumor growth, increased cell apoptosis, reduced proliferation and extended mouse survival. Moreover, the reciprocal effect of TL-118 and Gemcitabine treatment (n = 10) demonstrated improved anti-tumor activity. The synergistic effect of these drugs in combination was more effective than either TL or Gemcitabine alone (n = 9), via significantly reduced cell proliferation (p<0.005), increased apoptosis (p<0.05) and significantly prolonged survival (2-fold; p<0.00001). To conclude, we demonstrate that the novel drug combination TL-118 has the ability to suppress the growth of an aggressive NB tumor. The promising results with TL-118 in this aggressive animal model may imply that this drug combination has therapeutic potential in the clinical setting.

Background: Increased perioperative fluid administration is an independent risk factor for lung injury after pulmonary resection. In clinical practice, fluid therapy is heavily guided by urinary output; however, diuretic response to plasma volume expansion has been reported to be blunted during anesthesia and surgery. We therefore hypothesized that in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, different regimens of intraoperative fluid management would not affect urinary output as would be expected in the nonsurgical scenario. Moreover, a restrictive perioperative fluid approach, as indicated in these operations, will not harm renal function., Methods: One hundred two patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were randomly allocated to receive intraoperatively either high (8 mL/[kg · h]; n = 51) or low (2 mL/[kg · h]; n = 51) amounts of Ringer's lactate solution. The primary end point was intraoperative urinary output. Secondary end points included postoperative creatinine serum levels and postoperative complication rate., Results: Demographic and surgical data were comparable between groups. Regardless of the intraoperatively fluids administered (mean ± SD, 2131 ± 850 vs 1035 ± 652 mL in high and low groups, respectively; P < .0001), urinary output was similar (median 300 mL). Perioperative creatinine serum levels decreased significantly postoperatively and were not significantly different among the groups., Conclusions: In patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, intraoperative urinary output and postoperative renal function are not affected by administration of fluids in the range of 2 to 8 mL/(kg · h). The clinical practice of administering fluids to enhance diuresis in the perioperative period should therefore be abandoned., (Copyright © 2013 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)