Medicina
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Background and Objectives: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate is one of the most common types of congenital malformations. Transcription factors paired box 7 and 9 (PAX7, PAX9) and receptor-like tyrosine kinase (RYK) have been previously associated with the formation of orofacial clefts but their exact possible involvement and interactions in the tissue of specific cleft types remains uncertain. There is a limited number of morphological studies analyzing these specific factors in cleft affected tissue due to ethical aspects and the limited amount of available tissue material. ⋯ Conclusions: PAX7, PAX9, and RYK have a variable involvement and interaction in postnatal morphopathogenesis of orofacial clefts. PAX7 is more associated with the formation of unilateral cleft lip, while PAX9 relates more towards the isolated cleft palate. The stable presence of RYK in all cleft types indicates its possible participation in different facial cleft formations.
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Background and Objectives: Calcium (Ca2+) signaling is critical for the normal functioning of various cellular activities. However, abnormal changes in cellular Ca2+ can contribute to pathological conditions, including various types of cancer. The maintenance of intracellular Ca2+ levels is achieved through tightly regulated processes that help maintain Ca2+ homeostasis. ⋯ Results: The present study found significantly different SERCA specific-type expressions in a series of breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis indicated that ATP2A1 and ATP2A3 expression was highly altered in patients with breast cancer. Conclusion: Overall, the present data suggest that SERCA gene-specific expressioncan possibly be considered as a crucial target for the control of breast cancer development and progression.
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Observational Study
Procalcitonin Levels in COVID-19 Patients Are Strongly Associated with Mortality and ICU Acceptance in an Underserved, Inner City Population.
Background and Objectives: This study aimed to identify demographic and clinical factors at the time of critical care consultation associated with mortality or intensive care unit acceptance in a predominantly Afro-Caribbean population during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, single-center observational cohort study included 271 COVID19 patients who received a critical care consult between March 11 and April 30, 2020 during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic at State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University. Results: Of the 271 patients with critical care consults, 33% survived and 67% expired. ⋯ Conclusions: Procalcitonin showed the greatest magnitude of association with both death and likelihood of intensive care unit acceptance at the bivariate level. Our data suggests that procalcitonin reflects pneumonia severity during COVID-19 infection. Thus, it may help the intensivist identify those COVID19 patients who require intensive care unit level care.
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Background and Objectives: Peri-implantitis is a common finding among patients with dental implants. There is no consensus regarding the treatment of this disease, but in many cases, surgical treatment is common practice. A histopathological analysis is not an integral part of suggested protocols. ⋯ The recurrence rate was the highest in peripheral giant cell granuloma (8, 12.3%), versus 6% in pyogenic granuloma and fibro-epithelial hyperplasia. These differences in the recurrence rate were statistically significant (p = 0.014). Conclusions: This study emphasizes the necessity of submitting tissue of peri-implantitis cases for histopathological analysis since the more locally aggressive lesions (peripheral giant cell granuloma and pyogenic granuloma), which comprise nearly half of the cases in this study, do not differ in clinical or radiographic characteristics from other peri-implant lesions.
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Observational Study
Cutoff Values for Providing the Ideal Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia According to the Intensity of Postoperative Pain-A Retrospective Observational Study.
Background and Objectives: The cutoff values were analyzed for providing the ideal intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) that could reduce rescue analgesics or antiemetics requirements, based on the grades of postoperative pain intensity (PPI). Materials and Methods: PCA regimens of 4106 patients were retrospectively analyzed, and they were allocated into three groups with low, moderate, and high PPI grades (groups L, M, and H, respectively) based on numeric rating scores obtained 6 h postoperatively. Opioid and non-opioid analgesic doses were converted into fentanyl-equivalent doses (DOSE-FEN-OP and DOSE-FEN-NONOP, respectively). ⋯ In assessments of the analgesic doses to reduce rescue antiemetic requirement, DOSE-FEN-OP was ≤950 μg for groups L and M and ≤850 μg for Group H, while DOSE-FEN-NONOP was ≤50 μg, ≤450 μg, and ≤700 μg for groups L, M, and H, respectively. Conclusion: The ideal PCA for reduction in rescue analgesics or antiemetics can be achieved by adjustment of PCA settings and drug dosages carefully with these cutoff values depending on the expected grades of PPI. Especially, the ideal PCA can be provided by adjusting the lockout interval and bolus volume rather than BIR and by applying smaller bolus doses and shorter lockout intervals with an increasing PPI grade.