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Introduction: Enzymatic debridement (ED) is a novel powerful therapy for debridement of severe burns. Standard ED is usually performed within 72 h after injury following a presoaking phase. Little evidence exists on the effectiveness of ED later than 72 h after trauma. In this retrospective study, we compared outcomes of burn patients treated within versus later than 72 h after injury. Patients and Methods: 110 patients with severe burns treated with ED between 2016 and 2020 were evaluated. Patients treated later than 72 h after trauma were identified and matched to a control group treated within 72 h. Matching criteria included age, area treated with ED, and localization of ED. Exclusion criteria were abbreviated burn severity index (ABSI) greater than 12 and death within the first 10 days after burn injury. Primary outcomes were time to full epithelialization and number of secondary surgical interventions. Results: 16 patients (11 female, 5 male) matched the inclusion criteria and were assigned to the late treatment group. Mean age was 54.0 ± 19.0 years, the = and mean ABSI score 6.3 ± 3.2. 16 matched patients were assigned to the early ED group. Secondary surgical procedures were performed in 62.5% of cases in both groups with a mean of 1.7 (late treatment) vs. 2.2 (control; p = 0.29) secondary procedures in each group, respectively. No significant difference between groups regarding time to complete epithelialization (28.2 days vs. 27.3 days, p = 0.45) was observed. Infection rate was higher (18.8% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.28) in the delayed group. Conclusion: Delayed ED is a feasible procedure as part of personalized care in burn surgery. In our retrospective study, we could not identify r safety issues except a slightly higher infection rate. This may however be attributed to delayed initiation of burn treatment itself.

Polyphenols can trigger immunity that activates intracellular anti-inflammatory signaling and prevents external infections. In this study, we report the fabrication of chitosan-based hydrogels with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) using enzyme-mediated one-pot synthesis. The tyrosinase-mediated oxidative reaction of the phenolic rings of EGCG with the primary amines on chitosan results in stable EGCG-chitosan hydrogels. The EGCG concentrations contributed to the cross-linking density and physical properties of EGCG-chitosan hydrogels. Furthermore, EGCG-chitosan hydrogels maintained intrinsic properties such as antibacterial and antioxidant effects. When endotoxin-activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells were cultured with EGCG-chitosan hydrogels, the hydrogels reduced the inflammatory response of the RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, subcutaneous implantation of EGCG-chitosan hydrogels reduced endogenous macrophage and monocyte activation. When the EGCG-chitosan hydrogels were applied to a full-skin defect wound, they facilitated skin regeneration. Our study demonstrates that the one-pot synthesized EGCG-chitosan hydrogels can be applied in broad tissue regeneration applications that require immune modulation.

The β-phase Titanium (β-Ti) alloys have been under the spotlight in the recent past for their use as biomedical prosthetic materials owing to their excellent properties such as low elastic modulus, high corrosion resistance and tensile strength. Recently, Niobium (Nb) has gained a lot of attention as a β-phase stabilizing element in Ti alloys to replace Vanadium (V) due to its excellent solubility in Ti, low elastic modulus and biocompatibility. In this work, low cost Ti-20Nb binary alloy has been fabricated via powder metallurgy procedures. The blended powder mixtures of Ti and Nb were sintered at 900°C for 20 mins by the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) with an applied uniaxial pressure of 40 MPa. The heating rate was fixed at 50°C/min. The sintered alloy was subject to heat treatments at 1200°C in vacuum condition for various time durations. The characterizations of microstructure obtained during this process were done using FE-SEM, EDS and XRD. By increasing heat treatment time, as understood, the volume of residual Nb particles was decreased resulting in accelerated diffusion of Nb into Ti. Micro hardness of the alloy increased from 340 to 355 HV with the increase in β phase content from 30 to 45%. The resultant alloys had relatively high densities and homogenized microstructures of dispersed lamellar β grains in α matrix.

The present study sought to identify pathogens associated with septicaemia in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and to characterise antibiotic resistance in these pathogens. Twenty-three isolates recovered from the livers of diseased soft-shelled turtles were genetically identified as Aeromonas hydrophila (n = 8), A. veronii (n = 3), Citrobacter freundii (n = 4), Morganella morganii (n = 3), Edwardsiella tarda (n = 2), Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica (n = 1), Chryseobacterium sp. (n = 1), and Comamonas sp. (n = 1). Most isolates (n = 21) were resistant to ampicillin whereas a low percentage of isolates was susceptible to aminoglycosides (amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin). PCR assays and sequence analysis revealed the presence of the qnrS2 and blaTEM antibiotic resistance genes in all isolates. The blaDHA-1, blaCTX-M-14 and blaCMY-2 genes were harboured by 17.4% (n = 4), 13.5% (n = 3) and 8.7% (n = 2) of the strains, respectively. One or more tetracycline resistance genes were detected in 60.9% (n = 14) of the isolates. Four isolates (17.4%) harboured single or multiple class 1 integron cassettes. Collectively, a variety of bacterial pathogens were involved in the occurrence of septicaemia in Chinese soft-shelled turtles and most of the isolates had multi-antibiotic resistant phenotypes. To our knowledge, the present report is the first to identify W. chitiniclastica and Comamonas sp. as causes of septicaemia in soft-shelled turtles and the first to identify Aeromonas spp. with blaCTX-M-14 and blaDHA-1 resistance genes.

SummaryIn this study we have investigated the efficiency of in vitromaturation (IVM) as a basic way to study the development of canine oocytes after in vitrofertilization (IVF). We decided, therefore, to perform two-part experiments. Firstly, experiment I compared the effects of TCM199 without fetal bovine serum (FBS) with TCM199 supplemented with 5% FBS on the in vitronuclear maturation rate of canine oocytes. For the efficiency of meiotic development to the metaphase II (MII) stage, we found that 4.7% (4/64) of all oocytes grown in TCM199 without FBS developed to the MII stage compared with only 1.7% (1/59) of those grown in TCM199 with 5% FBS for 48 h. Therefore, FBS did not increase in vitronuclear maturation. In experiment II, the cleavage rate of canine oocytes used for IVF was investigated following heparin treatment. Canine oocytes were fertilized in four groups: Fert?TALP medium without heparin (Fert I) or Fert?TALP medium supplemented with 10, 20 or 30 ?g/ml heparin (Fert II, Fert III, Fert IV, respectively). Oocytes that were grown for 24 h in Fert I following fertilization showed the highest rate of all of the groups, 6.5% (5/77) and developed to the early morula stage. Markedly, the oocytes cultured in Fert I for 24 h following insemination had a higher rate of embryonic development than other groups. We can assert that, unlike findings in other mammals, heparin treatment in canine IVF does not increase the efficiency of the fertilization rate and is therefore not an important factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine how gait speed and frontal lobe functionsin community-dwelling older adults in Korea., Design: This was a cross-sectional study., Setting: The study used data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Survey (KFACS), a multi-center longitudinal study addressing 10 centers across urban, rural, and suburban communities in Korea, between 2016 and 2017., Participants: A total of 1552 older adults who underwent both gait speed tests and cognitive functions tests during the investigation of the KFACS., Measurements: Gait speed was assessed by asking participants to walk from a starting point to a point 4 meters away at a normal gait. Cognitive functions were evaluated using various standardized cognitive functions tests., Results: Gait speed was slower when participants were older or less educated The percentage of women, higher BMI, people with lower incomes, singles, smokers, and drinkers was high in the slower gait group. Also, all cognitive function scores were low and depression score was high in the group with slower walking speed. The slower walking speed showed low physical activity score and high prevalence of hypertension, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Among the seven cognitive functions (MMSE, memory, TMT, Recall, Recognition, digit span, and Fab), only TMT showed no significant difference between different gait speed groups. The other six cognitive functions showed higher results in the fastest gait speed group (T3), Participants in middle gait speed group (T2) also showed higher results in five of the seven cognitive function scores as well (Memory, Recall, Recognition, digit span, and Fab)., Conclusion: In this study, we found correlation between the slower gait speeds and the decrease in cognitive function, and especially the frontal lobe dysfunction was most prominent of all cognitive dysfunctions., Competing Interests: Dr. Seo has nothing to disclose