Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of surgical options for the management of anterior and/or posterior vaginal wall prolapse: two randomised controlled trials within a comprehensive cohort study – results from the PROSPECT Study.

There was evidence of no benefit from using mesh or graft over standard repair for primary vaginal prolapse surgery at 2 years in terms of efficacy, quality of life and adverse effects.

http://ift.tt/2jgcWE8

Calcium phosphate-phosphorylated adenosine hybrid microspheres for anti-osteosarcoma drug delivery and osteogenic differentiation

Publication date: March 2017
Source:Biomaterials, Volume 121
Author(s): Zi-Fei Zhou, Tuan-Wei Sun, Feng Chen, Dong-Qing Zuo, Hong-Sheng Wang, Ying-Qi Hua, Zheng-Dong Cai, Jun Tan
Biocompatibility, biodegradability and bioactivity are significantly important in practical applications of various biomaterials for bone tissue engineering. Herein, we develop a functional inorganic-organic hybrid system of calcium phosphate-phosphorylated adenosine (CPPA). Both calcium phosphate and phosphorylated adenosine molecules in CPPA are fundamental components in mammalians and play important roles in biological metabolism. In this work, we report our three leading research qualities: (1) CPPA hybrid microspheres with hollow and porous structure are synthesized by a facile one-step microwave-assisted solvothermal method; (2) CPPA hybrid microspheres show high doxorubicin loading capacity and pH-responsive drug release properties, and demonstrate positive therapeutic effects on six osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro and a mouse model of 143B osteosarcoma subcutaneous tumor in vivo; (3) CPPA hybrid microspheres are favorable to promote osteogenic differentiation of human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) by activating the AMPK pathway, with satisfactory evidences from cellular alkaline phosphatase staining, alizarin red staining, real time PCR and western analysis. The as-prepared CPPA hybrid microspheres are promising in anti-osteosarcoma and bone regeneration, which simultaneously display excellent properties on drug delivery and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs.



http://ift.tt/2iGxYuo

Graphene quantum dots with nitrogen-doped content dependence for highly efficient dual-modality photodynamic antimicrobial therapy and bioimaging

Publication date: March 2017
Source:Biomaterials, Volume 120
Author(s): Wen-Shuo Kuo, Hua-Han Chen, Shih-Yao Chen, Chia-Yuan Chang, Pei-Chi Chen, Yung-I Hou, Yu-Ting Shao, Hui-Fang Kao, Chih-Li Lilian Hsu, Yi-Chun Chen, Shean-Jen Chen, Shang-Rung Wu, Jiu-Yao Wang
Reactive oxygen species is the main contributor to photodynamic therapy. The results of this study show that a nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot, serving as a photosensitizer, was capable of generating a higher amount of reactive oxygen species than a nitrogen-free graphene quantum dot in photodynamic therapy when photoexcited for only 3 min of 670 nm laser exposure (0.1 W cm^-2), indicating highly improved antimicrobial effects. In addition, we found that higher nitrogen-bonding compositions of graphene quantum dots more efficiently performed photodynamic therapy actions than did the lower compositions that underwent identical treatments. Furthermore, the intrinsically emitted luminescence from nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots and high photostability simultaneously enabled it to act as a promising contrast probe for tracking and localizing bacteria in biomedical imaging. Thus, the dual modality of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots presents possibilities for future clinical applications, and in particular multidrug resistant bacteria.



http://ift.tt/2hW9jxX

Effects of a Least-to-Most Prompting Procedure on Multisymbol Message Production in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Purpose

In this study, we investigated the efficacy of a least-to-most (LTM) prompting procedure (Ault & Griffen, 2013; MacDuff, Krantz, & McClannahan, 2001; Neitzel & Wolery, 2009) for increasing use of multisymbol messages in school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) during a storybook reading activity.

Method

In the study, we used a single-subject, multiple-probe research design across participants (Kazdin, 1982) with 6 children (ages 8–12) with ASD and who used AAC systems for communication. There were 4 phases in this investigation: (a) baseline, (b) intervention, (c) generalization, and (d) maintenance.

Results

All participants exhibited a positive increase in multisymbol message production almost immediately upon introduction of the LTM prompting procedure.

Conclusions

The results of the investigation contribute important information on the efficacy of the LTM prompting procedure for teaching use of multisymbol messages to school-age children with ASD who use AAC.

http://ift.tt/2igEll3

Nichtvirale sexuell übertragene Infektionen – Epidemiologie, Klinik, Labordiagnostik und Therapie

Zusammenfassung

Seit 2010 steigen die Syphilis-Meldezahlen in Deutschland kontinuierlich an, um im Jahr 2015 mit 6834 Syphilis-Meldungen einen Höchstwert zu erreichen. Der größte Zuwachs an Meldungen betraf Männer, die Sex mit Männern haben. Antibiotikum der Wahl zur Behandlung der Syphilis ist nach wie vor Penicillin. Es gibt praktisch keine Penicillin-resistenten Treponema-pallidum-Stämme. Alternativen sind Ceftriaxon und Doxycyclin. Azithromycin ist in Deutschland zur Behandlung der Syphilis nicht zugelassen, zudem wurde über Therapieversagen berichtet. Die bakterielle Vaginose geht mit Fluor vaginalis einher. Das Vaginalsekret weist einen erhöhten pH-Wert von über 4,5 auf. Klinische Symptome sind Juckreiz, Brennen und der charakteristische Amin-Geruch. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit für eine bakterielle Vaginose ist am höchsten bei einer höheren Zahl von Sexualpartnern, bei unverheirateten Frauen, frühem erstem Geschlechtsverkehr, bei kommerziellen Sex-Arbeiterinnen und bei regelmäßiger Anwendung von Vaginalduschen. Leitkeim der bakteriellen Vaginose ist Gardnerella vaginalis. Die Therapie erfolgt mit Metronidazol, alternativ mit Clindamycin, das zusätzlich auch topisch verabreicht werden sollte. Die Trichomoniasis gilt als die nichtvirale sexuell übertragene Infektion mit der weltweit höchsten Prävalenz. Neben dem mikroskopischen Direktnachweis der Protozoen (Trophozoiten) im Vaginalsekret oder Urin hat sich die Polymerasekettenreaktion als diagnostische Methode mit der höchsten Empfindlichkeit erwiesen. Metronidazol ist Mittel der Wahl in der Behandlung.

http://ift.tt/2iNh51z

Versorgung des Melanoms in der Schwangerschaft

Zusammenfassung

Pro Jahr sieht jedes große Zentrum etwa 1 Fall mit einer schwangeren Patientin mit Erstdiagnose eines Melanoms. Diese seltene klinische Herausforderung gilt es zu meistern. Auf der Basis der Literatur ist evident, dass die primär chirurgische Therapie des Melanoms in der Schwangerschaft mit entsprechenden Anpassungen in gleichem Umfang erfolgen kann und soll, wie bei Nichtschwangeren. Anpassungen betreffen die Terminierung, Narkoseführung, Medikamente und die bildgebenden Untersuchungen. Für die adjuvante Interferontherapie und die Systemtherapie im seltenen Fall einer metastasierten Situation bestehen bei bisher nur 30 solchen Fällen in der Weltliteratur nur wenig klinische Erfahrungen, sodass auf der Basis der präklinischen Daten nur Hinweise für eine individuelle Entscheidungsfindung gegeben werden können.

http://ift.tt/2hW9kSG

Adsorption-controlled preparation of anionic imprinted amino-functionalization chitosan for recognizing rhenium(VII)

Publication date: 28 April 2017
Source:Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 177
Author(s): Ying Xiong, Yang Song, Qiang Tong, Peng Zhang, Yuejiao Wang, Zhenning Lou, Feng Zhang, Weijun Shan
This study described the synthesis of the Mo(VI)-imprinted ethylenediamine (EDA) grafted chitosan (I-EDA-CS), which is a novel technique in combination with surface imprinting and polymer crosslinking. Results indicated that mass ratio of ammonium molybdate and chitosan as 1g:25g–3g:25g could be conducive to achieve higher adsorption capacity of Re(VII). The maximum adsorption capacity of Re(VII) was found to be 418.98mg·g⁻¹ at 303K with an initial Re(VII) concentration of 500mg·L⁻¹, while maximum adsorption of Re(VII) on the non-imprinted absorbent (N-EDA-CS) was just 83.92mg·g⁻¹. The maximum selectivity coefficients of the I-EDA-CS for Re(VII)/Cu(II), Re(VII)/Zn(II), Re(VII)/Mn(II), Re(VII)/Fe(II) were 1.29, 1.9, 2.31, 1.81, respectively. It revealed that the Mo(VI)-imprinted adsorbent showed superior selectivity and affinity to Re(VII) in case of the existence of competition ions. The analysis results of FT-IR and XPS confirmed that the high adsorption selectivity of the I-EDA-CS attributed to the chelation and electrostatic attraction between the amine groups and Re(VII) anionic complexes in the "cavities". Imprinted I-EDA-CS was successfully employed for the selective adsorption of Re(VII) from industrial wastewater.

Graphical abstract

http://ift.tt/2igu8F7