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Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant strain on world health care systems. The lack of trained and experienced staff was a complicated issue during the pandemic. To overcome insufficient staffing problems, the intrahospital transfer (IHT) strategy was implemented at Milad Hospital in Tehran during COVID-19. We evaluated the effectiveness of the IHT strategy in order to determine whether the strategy should be continued post-COVID., Methods: Six supervisors with experience in COVID-19 wards and the IHT strategy were consulted to identify the advantages of continuing the IHT strategy and to evaluate the success and continuation of IHT factors. Then, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method was used to establish a network of influence relationships among IHT strategy factors' success., Results: The result showed that all criteria except increasing patient satisfaction (C1) and reducing waste of time (C8) are cause-and-effect criteria that affected other criteria., Conclusion: The research findings have implications for improving the day-to-day experience of staff navigating transfers of patients between wards and paraclinic units. This study also highlights the theoretical value of the cross-disciplinary integration of medical decision issues and multiple-attribute decision-making methodologies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Utilizing electrospun nanofibers and microneedle arrays in wound regeneration has been practiced for several years. Researchers have recently asserted that using multiple methods concurrently might enhance efficiency, despite the inherent strengths and weaknesses of each individual approach. The combination of microneedle arrays with electrospun nanofibers has the potential to create a drug delivery system and wound healing method that offer improved efficiency and accuracy in targeting. The use of microneedles with nanofibers allows for precise administration of pharmaceuticals due to the microneedles' capacity to pierce the skin and the nanofibers' role as a drug reservoir, resulting in a progressive release of drugs over a certain period of time. Electrospun nanofibers have the ability to imitate the extracellular matrix and provide a framework for cellular growth and tissue rejuvenation, while microneedle arrays show potential for enhancing tissue regeneration and enhancing the efficacy of wound healing. The integration of electrospun nanofibers with microneedle arrays may be customized to effectively tackle particular obstacles in the fields of wound healing and drug delivery. However, some issues must be addressed before this paradigm may be fully integrated into clinical settings, including but not limited to ensuring the safety and sterilization of these products for transdermal use, optimizing manufacturing methods and characterization of developed products, larger-scale production, optimizing storage conditions, and evaluating the inclusion of multiple therapeutic and antimicrobial agents to increase the synergistic effects in the wound healing process. This research examines the combination of microneedle arrays with electrospun nanofibers to enhance the delivery of drugs and promote wound healing. It explores various kinds of microneedle arrays, the materials and processes used, and current developments in their integration with electrospun nanofibers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A new series of ciprofloxacin-derived Ugi adducts were rationally designed and synthesized. The synthesized molecules were explored for their potential antimicrobial activities against four pathogenic microorganisms. Among these derivatives, compound 7h with a 4-nitrophenyl substituent at R 2 exhibited significant activity against two tested Gram-positive bacteria with a minimum inhibitory concentration value of 0.097 µg/mL while 7i bearing 4-chlorophenyl pendant demonstrated the best antimicrobial activities against Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, the analysis of the structure-activity relationships disclosed that types of substitutions differently affect the bacteria so the most potent derivative against Gram-negative infections was the least active one in Gram-positive microorganisms. Also, the molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations were executed on 7i as the most potent Gram-negative anti-bacterial agent against ATP-binding sites of DNA gyrase B. Accordingly, our findings suggest that ciprofloxacin-based Ugi adducts are an interesting precursor for the design of potent antimicrobial agents.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

A new series of indole-carbohydrazide-phenoxy-N-phenylacetamide derivatives 7a-l were designed, synthesized, and screened for their α-glucosidase inhibitory abilities and cytotoxic effects. The results obtained in the α-glucosidase inhibition assay indicated that most of the synthesized derivatives displayed good to moderate inhibitory abilities (K i values ranging from 14.65 ± 2.54 to 37.466 ± 6.46 μM) when compared with the standard drug acarbose (K i  = 42.38 ± 5.73 μM). Among them, 2-mehoxy-phenoxy derivatives 7l and 7h with 4-nitro and 4-chloro substituents on the phenyl ring of the N-phenylacetamide moiety, respectively, displayed the most inhibition effects. The inhibitory mechanism of these compounds was investigated by molecular docking studies. The in vitro cytotoxicity assay showed that only one compound, 2-methoxy-phenoxy derivative 7k with a 4-bromo substituent on the phenyl ring of the N-phenylacetamide moiety, exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against the human non-small-cell lung cancer cell line A549 and the rest of the compounds show almost no cytotoxicity. Further cytotoxic evaluations were also performed on compound 7k. The in silico pharmacokinetic study predicted that the selected compounds 7l and 7h are likely to be orally active., (© 2023 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

A series of 5-nitrofuran-2-yl-thiadiazole linked to different cyclohexyl-2-(phenylamino)acetamides were rationally designed and synthesized. All synthetic compounds were evaluated for their urease inhibitory activity and exhibited good inhibitory potential against urease with IC 50 values in the range of 0.94 - 6.78 μM as compared to the standard thiourea (IC 50  = 22.50 μM). Compound 8g (IC 50  = 0.94 μM) with a thiophene substituent at the R 2 position was found to be the most active member of the series. Kinetic studies exhibited that the compound 8g was a non-competitive inhibitor. In silicostudy showed the critical interactions of potent inhibitors with the active site of the enzyme. These newly identified inhibitors of the urease enzyme can serve as leads for further research and development., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

A new series of quinoxalin-1,3,4-oxadiazole (10a-l) derivatives was synthesized and evaluated against some metabolic enzymes including human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) isoenzymes I and II (carbonic anhydrases I and II), cholinesterase (acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase), and α-glucosidase. Obtained data revealed that all the synthesized compounds were more potent as compared with the used standard inhibitors against studied target enzymes. Among the synthesized compounds, 4-fluoro derivative (10f) against hCA I, 4-chloro derivative (10i) against hCA II, 3-fluoro derivative (10e) against acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, and 3-bromo derivative (10k) against α-glucosidase were the most potent compounds with inhibitory activity around 1.8- to 7.37-fold better than standard inhibitors. Furthermore, docking studies of these compounds were performed at the active site of their target enzymes., (© 2021 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

Purpose: To evaluate two settings (noise reduction of 50% or 75%) of a deep learning (DL) reconstruction model relative to each other and to conventional MR image reconstructions on clinical orthopedic MRI datasets., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 54 patients who underwent two-dimensional fast spin-echo MRI for hip ( n = 22; mean age, 44 years ± 13 [standard deviation]; nine men) or shoulder ( n = 32; mean age, 56 years ± 17; 17 men) conditions between March 2019 and June 2020. MR images were reconstructed with conventional methods and the vendor-provided and commercially available DL model applied with 50% and 75% noise reduction settings (DL 50 and DL 75, respectively). Quantitative analytics, including relative anatomic edge sharpness, relative signal-to-noise ratio (rSNR), and relative contrast-to-noise ratio (rCNR) were computed for each dataset. In addition, the image sets were randomized, blinded, and presented to three board-certified musculoskeletal radiologists for ranking based on overall image quality and diagnostic confidence. Statistical analysis was performed with a nonparametric hypothesis comparing derived quantitative metrics from each reconstruction approach. In addition, inter- and intrarater agreement analysis was performed on the radiologists' rankings., Results: Both denoising settings of the DL reconstruction showed improved edge sharpness, rSNR, and rCNR relative to the conventional reconstructions. The reader rankings demonstrated strong agreement, with both DL reconstructions outperforming the conventional approach (Gwet agreement coefficient = 0.98). However, there was lower agreement between the readers on which DL reconstruction denoising setting produced higher-quality images (Gwet agreement coefficient = 0.31 for DL 50 and 0.35 for DL 75)., Conclusion: The vendor-provided DL MRI reconstruction showed higher edge sharpness, rSNR, and rCNR in comparison with conventional methods; however, optimal levels of denoising may need to be further assessed. Keywords: MRI Reconstruction Method, Deep Learning, Image Analysis, Signal-to-Noise Ratio, MR-Imaging, Neural Networks, Hip, Shoulder, Physics, Observer Performance, Technology Assessment Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2021., Competing Interests: Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: K.M.K. institution received a grant from GE Healthcare. M.S. disclosed no relevant relationships. V.E.A. disclosed no relevant relationships. S.B. disclosed no relevant relationships. R.A. disclosed no relevant relationships. A.S.N. institution received funding from GE Healthcare for work in neuroimaging MRI technology development and dissemination; is an inventor on patents including MRI technology focusing on multispectral imaging and magnetic field measurement and modulation; is a scientific advisor for and holds stock in Vasognosis, a start-up company focused on neurovascular imaging applications. R.M.L. is employed by and holds stock options in GE Healthcare; GE Healthcare has patents pending on the algorithms used in this work, but no money has been received. G.M. is employed by GE Healthcare; has been issued U.S. patent no. US10635943B1. S.S.K. is employed by GE Healthcare; received royalties from the Medical College of Wisconsin for a licensed patent unrelated to this work that was filed in 2015. D.V. disclosed no relevant relationships. M.R.S. disclosed no relevant relationships. S.F. disclosed no relevant relationships. R.M. disclosed no relevant relationships., (2021 by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.)

A series of new quinazolinone-dihydropyrano[3,2-b]pyran derivatives 10A-L were synthesized by simple chemical reactions and were investigated for inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase and α-amylase. New synthesized compounds showed high α-glucosidase inhibition effects in comparison to the standard drug acarbose and were inactive against α-amylase. Among them, the most potent compound was compound 10L (IC 50 value = 40.1 ± 0.6 µM) with inhibitory activity around 18.75-fold more than acarboase (IC 50 value = 750.0 ± 12.5 µM). This compound was a competitive inhibitor into α-glucosidase. Our obtained experimental results were confirmed by docking studies. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of the most potent compounds 10L, 10G, and 10N against normal fibroblast cells and in silico druglikeness, ADME, and toxicity prediction of these compounds were also evaluated., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, novel quinazolinone derivatives 7a-n were synthesized and evaluated against metabolic enzymes including α-glycosidase, acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, human carbonic anhydrase I, and II. These compounds exhibited high inhibitory activities in comparison to used standard inhibitors with K i values in the range of 19.28-135.88 nM for α-glycosidase (K i value for standard inhibitor = 187.71 nM), 0.68-23.01 nM for acetylcholinesterase (K i value for standard inhibitor = 53.31 nM), 1.01-29.56 nM for butyrylcholinesterase (K i value for standard inhibitor = 58.16 nM), 10.25-126.05 nM for human carbonic anhydrase I (K i value for standard inhibitor = 248.18 nM), and 13.46-178.35 nM for human carbonic anhydrase II (K i value for standard inhibitor = 323.72). Furthermore, the most potent compounds against each enzyme were selected in order to evaluate interaction modes of these compounds in the active site of the target enzyme. Cytotoxicity assay of the title compounds 7a-n against cancer cell lines MCF-7 and LNCaP demonstrated that these compounds do not show significant cytotoxic effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The failure of total hip arthroplasty (THA) is commonly associated with the necrosis of the periprosthetic tissue. To date, there is no established method to noninvasively quantify the progression of such necrosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of soft tissues near implants has undergone a recent renaissance due to the development of multispectral metal-artifact reduction techniques. Advanced analysis of multispectral MRI has been shown capable of detecting small magnetism effects of metallic debris in periprosthetic tissue. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the diagnostic utility of these MRI-based tissue-magnetism signatures. Together with morphological MRI metrics, such as synovial volume and thickness, these measurements are utilized as biomarkers to noninvasively detect soft-tissue necrosis in symptomatic THA patients ( N = 78 ). All subjects underwent an advanced MRI scan before revision surgery and tissue biopsies utilized for necrosis grading. Statistical analyses demonstrated a weak, but significant positive correlation (P = .04) between MRI magnetism signatures and necrosis scores, while indicating no meaningful association between the latter and serum cobalt and chromium ion levels. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were then performed based on uni- and multivariate logistic regression models utilizing the measured MRI biomarkers as predictors of severe necrosis. The area under the curve of the ROC plots for MRI biomarkers as combined predictors were found to be 0.70 and 0.84 for cross-validation and precision-recall tests, respectively., (© 2020 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Flowers have been hypothesized to contain either modules of attraction and reproduction, functional modules (pollination-effecting parts) or developmental modules (organ-specific). Do pollination specialization and syndromes influence floral modularity? In order to test these hypotheses and answer this question, we focused on the genus Erica: we gathered 3D data from flowers of 19 species with diverse syndromes via computed tomography, and for the first time tested the above-mentioned hypotheses via 3D geometric morphometrics. To provide an evolutionary framework for our results, we tested the evolutionary mode of floral shape, size and integration under the syndromes regime, and - for the first time - reconstructed the high-dimensional floral shape of their most recent common ancestor. We demonstrate that the modularity of the 3D shape of generalist flowers depends on development and that of specialists is linked to function: modules of pollen deposition and receipt in bird syndrome, and access-restriction to the floral reward in long-proboscid fly syndrome. Only size and shape principal component 1 showed multiple-optima selection, suggesting that they were co-opted during evolution to adapt flowers to novel pollinators. Whole floral shape followed an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (selection-driven) evolutionary model, and differentiated relatively late. Flower shape modularity thus crucially depends on pollinator specialization and syndrome., (© 2019 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2019 New Phytologist Trust.)

Phase separation is a crucial ingredient of the physics of manganites; however, the role of mixed phases in the development of the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) phenomenon still needs to be clarified. We report the realization of CMR in a single-valent LaMnO3 manganite. We found that the insulator-to-metal transition at 32 GPa is well described using the percolation theory. Pressure induces phase separation, and the CMR takes place at the percolation threshold. A large memory effect is observed together with the CMR, suggesting the presence of magnetic clusters. The phase separation scenario is well reproduced, solving a model Hamiltonian. Our results demonstrate in a clean way that phase separation is at the origin of CMR in LaMnO3.