Exploring nanoparticles in lungs under COPD conditions for nanospray drug flow and deposition: CFD simulations and AI predictions.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) plays a heavy burden on individuals and the social health system, not only causing direct medical costs but also economic losses. Today, treatments for COPD include drugs, bronchodilators, and oxygen therapies. In these treatments, depositing drug particles within the bronchioles is quite critical.

Gradient Guided-Mode Resonance Biosensor with Smartphone Readout.

Integrating biosensors with smartphones is becoming an increasingly popular method for detecting various biomolecules and could replace expensive laboratory-based instruments. In this work, we demonstrate a novel smartphone-based biosensor system with a gradient grating period guided-mode resonance (GGP-GMR) sensor. The sensor comprises numerous gratings which each correspond to and block the light of a specific resonant wavelength.

Prophylactic cerebrospinal fluid drainage and spinal cord ischemia in thoracic and thoracoabdominal endovascular procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Spinal cord ischemia (SCI) is one of the most devastating complications of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). Prophylactic cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CSFD) has been shown to decrease the risk of SCI in open thoracic aortic procedures; however, its utility in TEVAR remains uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to determine the role of prophylactic CSFD in preventing SCI in TEVAR.

Procedural and clinical outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in bicuspid aortic valve patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Currently, bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) anatomy remains a relative contraindication for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) due to concerns of suboptimal anatomy. However, recent advancements in the field have provided a wealth of promising data and more clinicians are opting for TAVR as an alternative to surgical repair. We aim to review and analyze the available data for TAVR in BAV patients, targeting procedural outcomes, clinical outcomes and mortality with up to two years of follow-up.

Endovascular repair of acute complicated type B aortic dissection-systematic review and meta-analysis of long-term survival and reintervention.

Background: Thoracic endovascular repair (TEVAR) is considered the first-line therapy in the repair of acute complicated type B aortic dissection (AC-BAD). Given the difficulty of designing randomized trials in this surgical cohort, long-term outcome data is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis provide a complete aggregation of reported long-term survival and freedom from reintervention of AC-BAD patients based on the existing literature.

Gradient Waveguide Thickness Guided-Mode Resonance Biosensor.

Portable systems for detecting biomolecules have attracted considerable attention, owing to the demand for point-of-care testing applications. This has led to the development of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. However, most LOCs are developed with a focus on automation and preprocessing of samples; fluorescence measurement, which requires additional off-chip detection instruments, remains the main detection method in conventional assays.

The Effects of Alkyl Chain Combinations on the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Biomimetic Ion Pair Amphiphile Bilayers.

Ion pair amphiphile (IPA), a lipid-like complex composed of a pair of cationic and anionic surfactants, has great potentials in various pharmaceutical applications. In this work, we utilized molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to systematically examine the structural and mechanical properties of the biomimetic bilayers consist of alkyltrimethyl-ammonium-alkylsulfate (CTMA⁺-CS) IPAs with various alkyl chain combinations. Our simulations show an intrinsic one-atom offset for the CTMA⁺ and CS alignment, leading to the asymmetric index definition of ΔC = m - (n + 1).

Galectin-1-Induced Autophagy Facilitates Cisplatin Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in Taiwan. Although chemotherapy is the primary treatment for HCC patients, drug resistance often leads to clinical failure. Galectin-1 is a beta-galactoside binding lectin which is up-regulated in HCC patients and promotes tumor growth by mediating cancer cell adhesion, migration and proliferation, but its role in chemoresistance of HCC is poorly understood.

[Classification of the pectus excavatum and minimally invasive Nuss procedure].

Objective: To investigate the improvement of the Nuss procedure with the classification of the pectus excavatum by symmetry and extend the indication of the operation for a better outcome.

Methods: The clinic data of 403 patients who underwent repair of pectus excavatum by Nuss technique and its modifications from July 2002 to September 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. There were 299 male patients and 104 female patients.