communication

Background: Experimentally-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness of large muscle groups is frequently used in as an injurious model of muscle pain. We wanted to develop an experimental model of DOMS to to mimic overuse injuries from sports where repeated finger flexion activity is vital such as rock climbing. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the utility of a ‘finger trigger device’ to induce DOMS in the fingers, hands, wrists and lower arms. Methods: A convenient sample of six participants completed an experiment in which they undertook finger exercises to exhaustion after which measurements of pain, skin sensitivity to fine touch, forearm circumference and grip strength in the hand, wrist and forearm were taken from the experimental and contralateral non-exercised (control) arms. Results: Pain intensity was greater in the experimental arm at rest and on movement when compared with the control arm up to 24 hours after exercise, although the location of pain varied between participants. Pressure pain threshold was significantly lower in the experimental arm compared with the control arm immediately after exercises locations close to the medial epicondyle but not at other locations. There were no statistical significant differences between affected and non-affected limbs for mechanical detection threshold, forearm circumference or grip strength. Conclusion: Repetitive finger flexion exercises of the index finger by pulling a trigger against a resistance can induced DOMS. We are currently undertaking a more detailed characterization of sensory and motor changes following repetitive finger flexion activity using a larger sample.

Ironman Wales sept 14th 2014 Sea swim (2.4 mile), bike ride (112 mile) and Marathon (26 mile), all in one day! There are lessons that the 7.8 million UK Chronic Pain patients can learn from the world of endurance sports, and vice versa [1]. The training, psychological tools and strategies used by athletes to complete an endurance event, are equally relevant for those with chronic pain, who wish to regain some form of “normal” life if treatment therapies have failed [2,3]. This is my reflection of how, using some of the techniques involved in Pain Management Programs, I trained for an Ironman Triathlon in just over one year.

Purpose: The benefits of Physical Activity (PA) considered as a major supportive care in cancer patients, on survival, and recurrence risk is largely disseminated in public communication. However, these data must be taken with caution. The main objectives were to review the evidence and limits of studies reported regarding the post-diagnosis PA role on cancer survival and recurrence risk to secondly discuss of research perspectives on PA programs. Method: The narrative review included all published or ongoing studies in English during the last 20 years related to PA, survival and recurrence risk with a systematic search on main databases. Results and discussion: The current evidences regarding the PA role on survival and recurrence risk were only based on cohort studies, mainly in breast cancer. The major methodological limits identified as the lack of PA change assessment, PA level assessed largely by self-reported methods and the significant inter- but also intra- variability make the interpretation of data very. Beyond the use of rigorous RCT, the major issue is to develop adapted and personalized interventions to progressively increase PA level overtime in cancer survivors. Conclusion: Despite the lack of causal relationship between post-diagnosis PA, survival and recurrence risk, the review underlines several interesting research perspectives. The future PA interventions, using innovative tools and integrated to the “real-life” will argued for the potential antitumoral PA role growing in literature.

In order to suggest new pathogenetic hypothesis in some heart disease we think is interesting to observe some biomedical literature: Can we think some endogenus toxicologic movens in some heart pathologies?

The considerable improvements in cardiac support systems technologies have not solved until now the problem of connecting the cardiac assistance devices (CAD) to external energy sources, which makes these Patients at risk of lethal infections and dependent on external batteries with few hours of autonomy. Authors illustrate and discuss the hemodynamic concepts and clinical that underlie the mechanics of the first not-motorized implantable cardiac assistance device (NICA).

Anoikis resistance (AR) is a favorable attribute exhibited by cancer cells for metastasis. Carcinoma associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) plays a crucial role in AR in various cancers. It was proved in array of studies in different cancers that there was definite interrelationship between CAFs and AR. But its role in OSCC is ambiguous. It is the need of the time to reveal the correlation of CAF and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in relation with anoikis. Molecular pathways which affects the AR via CAFs in various cancers has been highlighted in this communication. Divulging the importance of CAF in cancer will aid in designing customized novel chemoprevention therapy and thus will help in enhancing the prognosis of patient in OSCC.

Antiphospholipid syndrome may present in various ways from cutaneous manifestation, obstetric complications, neurological manifestation, and cardiac manifestation to renal involvement. There are many cardiac complication of anti-phospholipid syndrome, among them are valvular dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, myocardial infarction, intracardiac thrombi, and ventricular dysfunction [1]. The most common cardiac manifestation is valvular abnormalities ranging from 11.6-32% [2-5].

Environmental electromagnetic fields are nowadays available in all environments today. These areas affect the biological system. Controlled interactions with elecrtomagnetic fields can have positive effects when unrestricted interactions have negative effects. Uncontrolled exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields can cause adverse effects such as signal transduction in cells and tissues, cell membrane structure, ion channels, molecular interactions, DNA damage. But contrary to controlled exposure, it positively affects tissues. The most obvious example of this is seen in the bone and cartilaginous tissue. Repairing fractures and damage in bone and cartilage. This has been shown in many studies. Below is a summary of the relevant information.

Intraparenchymal cysts without communication to the ventricles or the subarachnoid space are named ependymal or epithelial cysts. The estimated ratio of their incidence compared with arachnoid cysts is 1:10. Neurologic deficit can occur when the cyst exerts mass effect on its surroundings. We report a case of cerebral ependymal cyst in a 75-year-old lady who presented with history of headache, vomiting and left incomplete homonymous hemianopsia. Neuroimaging studies showed a large right occipital cyst. She underwent the neurosurgical procedure of marsupialization. Histologic findings and the immunophenotype was consistent with a diagnosis of ependymal cyst. The patient made an excellent recovery after the procedure.

Stem cell treatments depend not only on the type of cell to be used but also on the different implantation techniques. Intravascular cell injections are known to rapidly separate from the vessels. On the other hand, it is also well known that direct injection into the myocardium provides better coupling within the heart muscle. That were the cases of Embriofetal stem cell (HFDSC) or Autologous stem cells (ABMSC) in our experience focused on direct approaches.

Fluorescein was conjugated with 1-methyl-o-carborane and the resulting bioconjugate was biologically evaluated through microscopic and flow cytometric studies in pancreatic cancer and squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The uniform distribution of this bioconjugate, as well as its moderate cytotoxicity and higher boron content relative to present boronated delivery agents sodium borocaptate (BSH) and boronophenylalanine (BPA), provide justification for its further evaluation as a potential delivery agent for BNCT.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) conditioned medium (CM) has a promising prospect towards skin regeneration. Therefore, human dental pulp and adipose stem cells (DPSCs and ADSCs) were isolated, propagated and evaluated for their stemness and genetic stability over time in culture before making CM. We aimed to characterize the applicability of lyophilized ADSCs and DPSCs derived CM (AD-CM and DP-CM) at 5 mg, 10 mg and 20 mg for wound healing process. The ability of wound closure was assessed by direct human dermal fibroblast cell scratch assay, treated with variable concentrations of AD-CM and DP-CM in vitro. Additionally, we also assessed the expression of different cytokines and growth factors secreted from ADSCs and DPSCs in the CM relevant to the wound healing by cytokine array analysis. Our data demonstrates a significant effect of both the AD-CM and DP-CM in wound healing within 24 hrs compared to that in control.

Background: Intensive care patients are often in need of sedation to endure being intubated. Light sedation is increasingly common since it has been proved to offer benefits such as faster recovery to patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe critical care nurses’ experiences of nursing patients lightly sedated with dexmedetomidine. Research Methodology: Qualitative personal interviews were conducted during 2015 with 10 critical care nurses in Sweden. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Light sedation of the patient facilitated communication and interaction with him or her, and the relationship between the patient and his or her family members. Dexmedetomidine was described as a fairly new drug, and the critical care nurses stated that they needed more knowledge about it and about sedation scales in order to learn more about the drug’s mechanism of action and its potential side effects on patients. Conclusion: It is important to critical care nurses to learn more about dexmedetomidine and about sedation scales to assess levels of sedation, as light sedation has been shown to benefit the patient as opposed to deep sedation that can increase recovery time.

By researching the factors related to exposure to indoor and outdoor allergens, such seasons, climate changes and particulate matter, allergists can screen the sensitization profile of individuals according to their exposures and conduct preventive treatment and individualized immunotherapy. Molecular allergology has improved aerobiological screening of allergenic components toward more specific results on allergic exposure, sensitization, and symptoms [1,2]. The Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is a colorimetric enzyme immunoassay technique used to quantify soluble substances such as proteins, peptides, antibodies, and hormones. Due to its high sensitivity and specificity, ELISA can quantify substances at low concentrations, such as allergens [3].

The Ontario government has been battling with the issue of extensive wait times in hospitals for several years. Although there are many complex reasons that stem off of the issues of wait times, such as available in patient beds and bed blockers (patients who stay in the hospitals for long periods of time after sustaining a massive injury), the primary cause is concentrated as a system wide problem in access to care [1]. Through numerous reforming and restructuring plans, the Ontario government devised a Wait Time Strategy plan to monitor, manage and improve access to health care services including surgeries and time spent in the ER. The strategy was also devised to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare provision. The information derived from the results of the Ontario Wait Time Strategy (OWTS) was to be made public to citizens and providers to ensure that everyone is well aware of the results. Yet, it is quite difficult to implement such a strategy if the leadership challenges within the hospital are not addressed [2].

Background: The majority of aggregate econometric studies indicate that higher taxes and real prices on alcohol significantly reduce the alcohol consumption. Objectives: To estimate the effects of recent alcohol taxation and pricing policies on vodka sales per capita in Russia. Methods: Trends in the affordability of vodka, excise tax rates on vodka, real and minimum price of vodka and per capita vodka sales between 2010 and 2015, were compared. Results: A Pearson’s correlation analysis suggests a positive and statistically significant association between the affordability of vodka and per capita vodka sales. The association between vodka sales and excise tax rates on vodka, the real price of vodka and minimum price of vodka was negative. Conclusions: These findings indicate that pricing policy has potential to reduce binge drinking of vodka in Russia.

The hunger experiment was carried out in 1944 by Anselm Keys and others in the American city of Minnesota. The aim was to investigate the consequences of starvation in order to be able to restore the health of hunger victims of the Second World War. How could they be treated in the best possible way to regain a healthy weight? For this purpose 36 physical and psychosocial healthy young men were selected from a large group of men who refused to serve in the American Army. They were examined very carefully in the period before the hunger experiment which lasted 6 months. In this period they received only two mails a day with half of the number of calories they were used to eat. This period of malinutrition was followed by 3 months of refeeding. Not only their weight recovered quite well, but also the psychosocial consequences of starvation disappeared completely [1]. 

The study attempted to answer several questions: Does the cultural and social background of immigrant youth from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) affect their use of addictive substances? Do these youth show distinctive patterns of drug and alcohol abuse? Do the addictive substances used by these teenagers share similar characteristics? Are the patterns of drug abuse and alcohol abuse different? Do students in different educational frameworks demonstrate different consumption patterns? Can “critical moments” explain the presence or absence of alcohol and drug abuse?

Psychological phenomena of the doctor-patient relationship influence the therapeutic process. Among these phenomena are the transference (the emotions of the patient towards the doctor), and the countertransference (the emotional reactions of the doctor towards the patient). Doctor and patient are within an interactive relationship in a conscious and unconscious way: the patient is influenced by the doctor, and vice versa. Doctor is solely responsible for the control of transference and countertransference, since patients do not have a conscious perception of these phenomena. In general medicine the transference/countertransference have connotations of placebo effect and nocebo. The challenge of the doctor-patient relationship for the doctor is to realize the transference and countertransference phenomena and use them to achieve placebo effects and minimize the nocebo, and also respecting the needs of both parties, so that to improve the quality of clinical practice. Under these conditions, transference and countertransference are auxiliary resources of unparalleled value.

Background: Disabling hearing loss is a prevalent public health issue, with significant impact on patients’ communication. The disability associated with hearing loss depends on the severity of the hearing loss. There are limited rehabilitative measures in resource challenged environment. This study assesses the incidence, the factors for hearing impairment and the management outcome. Methods: A descriptive three-year chart review of patients managed for hearing loss in a tertiary health center in a developing country. The data collected include demographic data, clinical presentation and risk factors for hearing loss, audiometric reports, rehabilitative measures and management outcome. Results: The patients with ear symptoms managed within the study period were 1350, of whom 498 (36.8%) had hearing loss of varying degrees. These included 145 (29.1%) males and 353 (70.9%) females with male to female ratio of 1:2.4. The age ranged from 8 to 80 years (median age of 35.7). Disabling hearing loss in the better-hearing ear occurred in 216 (43.4%) of cases. Increasing age and chronic supportive otitis media were associated with disabling hearing loss. The hearing thresholds improved with hearing aids and ear surgical procedures; nonetheless the patients’ rehabilitation was impaired by limited resources. Conclusion: There is poor rehabilitation of people with hearing loss, though management outcome is commendable in a few of them. Health education will reduce the risk factors for disabling hearing loss and improved rehabilitative measures are needed for these individuals.