Today, there are said to be some 590 million people of all ages around the world, who are suffering from a range of swallowing problems – probably about 4 million in the UK. Either living at home or as residents in some 20,000 Care Homes, with perhaps another 25,000 as patients in hospitals every day.Professor David Smithard, of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, has been leading a national campaign for some years to raise general awareness of Dysphagia and to improve the treatment of patients with varying conditions. He and his team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have now completed a detailed Review of the use of carbonated water (CW) in the treatment of Dysphagia, which has just been published and can be accessed here: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/8/1/6The Review concludes that further evidence-based research is essential before CW can be adopted as standard in clinical practice – but that although the amount of evidence is small, there is a suggestion that swallows are safer and that secretion management improves, and consequently until further studies are undertaken, Carbonated Water should be limited to individual patient use.My experience as a Dysphagia sufferer is that the use of CW has resulted in life-changing benefits, and this paper is devoted to describing how CW worked for me, and what the practical requirements are, so that many others may be able to benefit as I have done. The paper has three sections: My Personal Experience, Practical Considerations, and Conclusions.

Summary: Exercise is recommended for the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes. Also, to control and reduce glucose fluctuations in people with type 1 diabetes. However, the most appropriate time and the most effective intensity of exercise is still unknown, and various studies provide different results and different recommendations, and none of the studies provide a comprehensive and practical result. We conducted our studies to examine the results and determine the effect of time and intensity of exercise on blood sugar control and glucose fluctuations during the day. Methods: search in PubMed and Google Scholar with keywords morning, evening, type 1 and 2 diabetes, exercise, interval, periodic, aerobic, and glucose and blood sugar fluctuations were performed. A total of 31 articles were reviewed and finally, 10 articles that were most related to each other or had complementary information were selected. Conclusion: HIIT exercises are useful for type 2 diabetes, but they are recommended for type 1 diabetes with less pressure. Morning exercise increases glucose and evening exercise is applicable for type 1 and 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Bleeding from varices is a severe complication in patients with cirrhosis. Despite its treatment has been well established in the last three decades the mortality can be still high. This study compares the epidemiological features and the bleeding-related outcomes of a group of patients published about ten years ago with a more recent group of 168 consecutive patients. Methods: The diagnosis, the treatment, and the main outcomes (5-day failure, 5-day and 6-week rebleeding, 5-day and 6-week mortality) of variceal bleeding were evaluated according to the current guidelines.Results: The number of patients with cirrhosis admitted for variceal bleeding every year has progressively decreased in the last ten years. The age sex and severity of liver disease, evaluated with Child Pugh and MELD scores, were comparable in the two series. In the more recent series, there were significantly fewer patients with HCV infection and more patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis. The main outcomes of bleeding were comparable too. Overall, at 6 weeks 36.4% of patients did not overcome the bleeding episode. Conclusion: The decreasing incidence of bleeding from varices is likely attributable to antiviral treatment of HCV and HBV and the larger diffusion of beta-blockers in primary prophylaxis. Despite the larger application of the gold standard therapy, the mortality of variceal bleeding remains high in patients with cirrhosis.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend monitoring the depth of anesthesia during endoscopic examination of the gastrointestinal tract using sedation scales, despite their subjective nature, while the use of the bispectral index, an objective measure, during sedation, remains controversial. The main objective of this study was to assess the ability of bispectral index monitoring to characterize the depth of anesthesia during endoscopy.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the performance of the bispectral index using data from a multicentre clinical trial with 180 patients undergoing scheduled colonoscopies. Sedation was monitored using the bispectral index and Ramsay Sedation Scale. Data on sedation were recorded at five-time points (t1 to t5) during the colonoscopy.Results: Bispectral values were significantly associated with Ramsay scores (rho, -0.73; p < 0.0001). In regression analysis, each unit increase in bispectral value was associated with a reduction in the risk of a high Ramsay score (> 3) at all points (OR 0.922; 95% CI: 0.865–0.979; p < 0.0001 at t1). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis found areas under the curve of 0.8272 for a bispectral index cut-off for deep sedation of 69.76 (sensitivity, 95.35%; negative predictive value, 97.53%) when reaching the colic flexure (t2) and 0.8399 for a cut-off of 69.29 (sensitivity, 96.15%; negative predictive value, 98.81%) at the end of the colonoscopy (t5).Conclusion: Bispectral index monitoring enables objective real-time reliable assessment of sedation. It enables easy continuous monitoring with a very good performance for detecting deep sedation and correlates with a clinical scale routinely used in endoscopic procedures.

Today’s need for renewable energy combined with modern societies' reliability on on-demand power leads us to find solutions that can store excess or produce directly to storage for later use. A MOlecular Solar Thermal (MOST) based on norbornadiene/quadricyclane(NBD/QC) does the latter with an isomeric photoswitching molecule pair. The theoretical studies of molecular solar thermals (MOST) provide a needed understanding of potential synthetic candidates. We have investigated an array of more complex solvation models for the norbornadiene/quadricycle (NBD/QC) photoswitch and the impacts of the models on the first absorption energy. Our results have been obtained with various density functional theoretical methods and basis sets.

Background: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) is the standard of care for transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) and patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R-HL) who achieve chemosensitivity after salvage therapy. Although autologous HSCT is routinely performed in an  inpatient setting, the procedure can safely be performed in an  outpatient setting.Methods and materials: A retrospective study of patients with MM and R/R- HL who received outpatient autologous HSCT at King Fahad Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia between the first of April 2017 and the 31st of January 2022 was performed.Results: Over the study period of 4 years and 10 months, a total of 90 outpatient autologous HSCTs were performed for 79 patients (54 patients with MM; 4 of them received planned tandem autografts and 7 other myeloma patients received second autologous HSCTs for relapsed or progressive disease; and 25 patients with R/R-HL) at our institution. The median ages of patients with MM and those with R/R-HL at HSCT were 50.4 years and 27.8 years respectively.At the presentation of their MM, the following high-risk (HR) features were encountered: stage II and III diseases according to the revised international scoring system (RISS) in 53.7%; adverse cytogenetics in 42.6% and extensive bone involvement in 53.7% of patients. In patients with HL at presentation, 48% of patients had stage IV disease according to Ann Arbor staging classification and 84% of patients had B symptoms.Survival for 100 days post-HSCT for all patients with MM and HL who received outpatient autologous transplants was 100%. For patients with MM, the overall survival (OS) rates at 3 years and 4 years post-HSCT were 80% and 67%, while the progression-free survival (PFS) rates over 3 years and 4 years were 58% and 38% respectively. For patients with HL, the OS at 6 years post-HSCT was 95% while the PFS rates at 3 years and 6 years post-HSCT were 84% and 62% respectively.Conclusion: Outpatient autologous HSCT for patients with MM and HL is safe, and feasible and can lead to short-term as well as long-term outcomes that are comparable to autologous transplantation performed in an  inpatient setting. Additional benefits of outpatient autologous include saving beds and reducing hospital costs.

Free amino acids-based biostimulants are gaining momentum in Europe for sustainable agriculture. They stimulate plant growth, improve crop productivity, and reduce reliance on harmful fertilizers. Enzymatic hydrolysis is used to develop biostimulants from animal by-products, such as greaves and protein-rich wastewater from processed animal proteins. The effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis depends on selecting the appropriate conditioning stage for the by-products, yielding protein in the range of 86% to 97%. These protein hydrolysates, with optimal amino acid compositions, are evaluated as biostimulants. Promising results show growth improvements of 17% to 31% in Chinese cabbage and lettuce seeds. The optimal dilution concentration ranges from 0.05% to 0.3%, depending on the protein hydrolysate used. The findings highlight the potential of these biostimulants to enhance plant growth and productivity while reducing environmental impact by replacing chemical fertilizers. They offer sustainable alternatives for promoting environmentally friendly practices in agriculture.

Background and aim: Cirrhosis leads to sarcopenia and to life-threatening complications in decompensated stages. The objective of this study is to show the impact of the loss of muscle mass and function on hepatic decompensations. Methods: Our study compares a group of cirrhotic patients with controls matched with the same sex and age. A questionnaire was created to collect demographic, anthropometric, and cirrhosis characteristics. Several CT scan sections were analyzed and the average measurements have been grouped into tertiles to estimate the impact on cirrhotic complications.Results: Our study included 33 controls and 33 cirrhotic patients of which 59.4% had NASH. Anthropometric characteristics were similar in cirrhotics men and women. Grip strength was significantly lower in cirrhotic men. Using the skeletal muscle index we found 39.39% of cirrhotic patients were sarcopenic mostly men 84.61%. In Cirrhotic men, the density of the psoas and paravertebral muscles was lower than in controls. In women psoas and paravertebral muscle areas were comparable and the total muscle surface in cirrhotic patients was higher. There was a negative correlation between this surface and the density of the psoas (r = -0.293 p = 0.017) indicating the presence of myosteatosis in women. Analysing tertile groups showed a significantly higher incidence of complications related to liver disease and liver failure in patients with the psoas and paravertebral muscle density in the lowest tertile and in the frail population according to the frailty index.Conclusion: Cirrhotic patients have myosteatosis and sarcopenia associated with a higher incidence of complications related to hepatic failure.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by non-specific chronic relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and extra-intestinal manifestations. It includes Crohn’s disease (CD) ulcerative colitis (UC) and unclassified colitis.Objective: To assess the clinical presentations and management of inflammatory bowel disease in Sudanese patients.Methodology: Prospective, cross-section hospital-based study was conducted at Soba University Hospital (SUH) and Ibn Sina Hospital, in a period from December 2016 to March 2017. Data was entered and analyzed with SPSS, an interview questionnaire containing demographic, clinical, type of IBD, treatment, and complications.Results: A total of 64 IBD patients were included, 50% were diagnosed with UC, 28.1% with CD and 21.9% unclassified type. The most frequent age in UC patients was 41 – 50 years 34.4%, in CD was 31- 40 years 38.9% and for the unclassified type was 51 – 70 years 57.2%. The female was higher in CD while males were higher in Ulcerative colitis disease, symptoms were diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, rectal pain, tenesmus and fatigue. Study participants received 5 amino salicylic acid, and steroids, especially in the oral formulation. Minimal usage of topical forms, azathioprine, and biological agents. Conclusion: The study concluded UC is more common than CD. This should be taken into account as an important update for internal medicine professionals to adjust their expectations and lines of diagnosis, and management. The emergence of the unclassified type in Sudan requires good communication between the pathologists and the physicians and MDT meetings in every patient with suspicion of IBD.

The global pandemic COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, affected millions of people. COVID-19 is known for its respiratory symptoms, but new research reveals it may also affect other organ systems, including the liver. This abstract reviews COVID-19 and liver function. The virus enters host cells through liver-expressed angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors. Thus, viral infection and replication may target the liver. Virus-induced inflammation and cytokine production may also harm the liver. ALT and AST elevations are the most prevalent liver abnormalities in COVID-19 patients. Liver function test abnormalities frequently indicate serious illness and poor clinical outcomes. COVID-19 may worsen pre-existing liver diseases such as NAFLD and chronic viral hepatitis. Drug-induced liver damage (DILI) from COVID-19 therapies including antivirals and corticosteroids complicates liver complications care. Recent investigations have also shown that COVID-19 may cause long-term liver damage. In conclusion, COVID-19 infection, immune-mediated damage, and treatment problems may severely compromise liver function. Optimizing patient treatment and discovering targeted medicines requires understanding COVID-19's liver role. To reduce the effects of COVID-19 on liver function, further study is required to understand the mechanisms and long-term effects.