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Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: A Case Report.
CONCLUSION There is not enough evidence to quantify the risks of COVID-19 transmission in surgical smoke. However, steps can be undertaken to manage the potential hazards. The advantages of minimally invasive surgery may not need to be sacrificed in the current crisis. © 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of BJS Society Ltd.Social media has overtaken mainstream media in terms of strength of public engagement. News and debate on hot topics trend on Twitter much before visual or print media. Scientists and researchers are increasingly utilizing various social media platforms including Facebook , Twitter and WhatsApp to engage readers. There are several barriers to social media usage by researchers like lack of time, poor understanding of the potential of social media, fear of criticism or not being tech-savvy. The benefits of social media for academics and research are potentially huge and largely untapped. Many specialists on Twitter, for example, actively educate others (sharing research or explaining difficult concepts through #tweetorials), discuss and critique research articles, live-tweet presentations during conferences, promote new ideas and trends, and collaborate with peers. Posting published articles on social media can increase readership, engagement and boost visibility for the journal (1). It is not surprising that new popular metrics in scientific publication like Altmetrics include social media mentions (2). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.OBJECTIVE To investigate the value of platelet count in evaluating the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). METHODS A total of 158 CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy in our hospital were included, and the clinical characteristics of these patients were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic values of platelet count, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and the fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4) for significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2) and early cirrhosis (F = 4) stages in CHB patients were assessed by the use of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. RESULTS The median (F0 221.0; F1 210.0; F2 188.0; F3 171.0; and F4 155.5) and mean rank (F0 120.4; F1 100.1; F2 82.2; F3 67.9; and F4 49.5) of platelet count decreased along the aggravation of fibrosis (F0-F4). The areas under the ROC curve for the platelet count in diagnosis of significant fibrosis stage was 0.70, which had no significant difference with FIB-4 (0.73) and APRI (0.68) in diagnostic efficacy (P = .428). The areas under the ROC curve of platelet count in diagnosis of early cirrhosis were 0.72, which had no significant difference with FIB-4 (0.76) and APRI (0.68) (P = .094). CONCLUSION The platelet count, as a simple and non-invasive index, could evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in CHB individuals. At the same time, the diagnostic efficiency of platelet count to evaluate the significant liver fibrosis and early cirrhosis is comparable to FIB-4 and APRI. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Throughout the history of humanity, major global events have caused great changes in human practices. As the outbreak of COVID-19 has developed worldwide, various big events of the world are either cancelled or postponed like the Olympics, religious events, award ceremonies, etc. Numerous dermatological organizations have been monitoring daily recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization, along with the numerous travel restrictions issued by companies and medical institutions. It has been a very difficult but necessary decision for all the organizers to cancel the meetings last minute or a few months in advance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND The alcohol cue reactivity paradigm is increasingly used to screen medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other substance use disorders. Yet, its prospective association with craving and naturalistic drinking outcomes in clinical trials remains unknown. Liraglutide This study embedded repeated human laboratory assessments of alcohol cue reactivity within the context of a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of varenicline tartrate (Chantix® ), a partial agonist of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, on alcohol craving among treatment-seeking heavy drinkers with AUD. Our main objectives were to test whether varenicline, as compared to placebo, blunts alcohol-cue elicited craving and test whether alcohol cue reactivity observed in the human laboratory predicts subsequent alcohol craving and use during the remainder of the trial. DESIGN AND METHODS This double-blind, randomized, two-site study compared the effects of varenicline (up to 2 mg/day) and placebo on responses to in vivo alcohol cue and affective picture cue exposure in the human laboratory. Forty-seven volunteers (18 females, 29 males), ages 23 to 67 years (M = 43.7, SD = 11.5), were recruited from the community via advertisements to participate in a clinical trial designed to study the effects of varenicline on alcohol use. Participants were randomized to either varenicline or placebo for 6 weeks. RESULTS Varenicline did not attenuate cue-induced alcohol craving relative to placebo, but craving captured during the cue reactivity paradigm significantly predicted subsequent alcohol use in real-world settings during the clinical trial. Higher craving predicted heavier alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS Our results are among the first to show alcohol cue-induced craving captured during a human laboratory paradigm predicts drinking outcomes in the context of a clinical trial. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Industrial applications require enzymes to be highly stable and economically viable in terms of reusability. Enzyme immobilization is an exciting alternative to improve the stability of enzymatic processes. Immobilization of β-1,4-xylanase produced by Bacillus licheniformis S3 is performed by using two polymer supports (agar-agar and calcium alginate). The maximum enzyme immobilization yield was achieved at a concentration of 3% agar, whereas a combination of sodium alginate, 4%, and calcium chloride, 0.3 M, was used for the formation of immobilized beads. The immobilization process increased the optimum reaction time from 10 min to 35 and 40 min for agar and calcium alginate, respectively, and the incubation temperature increased from 55°C to 60°C for agar, but it remained unchanged for calcium alginate. The pH profile of free and immobilized xylanase was quite similar in both cases. Both the techniques altered the kinetic parameters of immobilized β-1,4-xylanase as compared with the free enzyme. The diffusion limit of high molecular weight xylan caused a decline in Vmax of the immobilized enzyme, whereas there was an increase in the Km value.
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