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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable molecules with covalently closed structures that have an irreplaceable role in the occurrence, progression, and even treatment of plenty of cancers. Mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator in cancers and plays several biological functions, such as proliferation, migration, invasion, autophagy, and apoptosis.

Psychometric tests can provide important information for diagnostics and progression in chronic pain patients. Between 2008 and 2018, the electronic system painDETECT® was used in the outpatient pain clinic of the Hannover Medical School (MHH). The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the pain symptomatology data recorded using painDETECT® and the treatment procedures used in the patient cohort examined over a period of 15 months.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder which harm exocrinic glands located mainly in the oral and ocular regions. pSS patients often complain about pain and mouth dryness. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the influence of parotid glands' sialendoscopy on salivary flow in pSS patients and to assess the tissue characteristics of the parotid glands during the sialendoscopy procedure.

Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy in which the radioactive source is directly delivered to the tumor and is used to treat a variety of malignancies. Although the local control effect of brachytherapy is higher than that of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), it is often the case that brachytherapy is more invasive than conventional EBRT. As a result, patients receiving head and neck brachytherapy confront several physical, nutritional, and pain management issues. The nurses caring for patients with head and neck cancer receiving high-dose rate interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT) should have a thorough understanding of radiation therapy principles, technology, applicator management, and the acute and chronic side effects of ISBT. However, there are no appropriate textbooks or review articles regarding nursing care for head and neck patients undergoing ISBT. The purpose of this article is to provide radiation oncologists and nurses who want to start head and neck ISBT with a comprehensive guide regarding nursing care and to help the wide spread of this treatment strategy.

Previous studies have demonstrated that thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) and the sub-nuclei play important roles in pain sensation. Our previous findings showed that activating parvalbumin-positive (PV+) neurons in dorsal sector of TRN (dTRN) could reduce the pain threshold and consequently increase the pain sensitivity of mice. Recent studies have shown that activation of GABAergic projection of TRN to ventrobasal thalamus (VB) alleviated pathological pain. GABAergic neurons in TRN are mainly PV+ neurons. However, the exact roles of ventral TRN (vTRN) PV+ neurons in pain sensation remain unclear. In this study, the designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) method was used to activate the PV+ neurons in vTRN of PV-Cre transgenic mice, and the mechanical threshold and thermal latency were measured to investigate the regulatory effects of vTRN on pain sensitivity in mice. Thereafter, PV-Cre transgenic mice, conditional anterograde axonal tract tracing, and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the distribution of PV+ neurons fibers in vTRN. The results showed that the activation of PV+ neurons in vTRN increased the mechanical threshold and thermal latency, which indicated reduction of pain sensitivity. The fibers of these neurons mainly projected to ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus (VPL), ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus (VPM), ventrolateral thalamic nucleus (VL), centrolateral thalamic nucleus (CL) and various other brain regions. These findings indicated that activation of PV+ neurons in the vTRN decreased pain sensitivity in mice, which provided additional evidence on the mechanisms of PV+ neurons of TRN in regulating neuralgia.

This study aimed to identify the benefits of thoracic paravertebral block (PVB) by focusing on its role in reducing chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) after thoracic surgery.

Headaches are common and often lead patients to seek advice from a pharmacist and consequently self-medicate for relief. Computerized pharmacy decision support systems (PDSSs) may be a valuable resource for health care professionals, particularly for community pharmacists when counseling patients with headache, to guide treatment with over-the-counter medications and recognize patients who require urgent or specialist care.

A 10-year-old boy presented with headache, fever, left-sided ptosis, and right-sided forehead soft tissue swelling. There was no recent history of trauma or infection. The patient had a large, fluctuant mass on the right side of his forehead, upgaze restriction, left-sided ptosis, and bilateral optic disc edema. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed a frontal bone extradural fluid collection superficial to the superior sagittal sinus in keeping with an epidural abscess. There were multiple venous thromboses and thickening and enhancement of the dura, compatible with meningitis. There was right sphenoid sinusitis. This patient had Potts puffy tumor, a rare diagnosis associated with a forehead swelling from frontal bone osteomyelitis and subperiosteal abscess. It is seen in the pediatric population in association with sinusitis or trauma. Antibiotics, anticoagulation, and acetazolamide were initiated, and the epidural abscess was evacuated. The symptoms and signs resolved with treatment.

Local inflammation in the joint is considered to contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Here, we describe an immunomodulating nanoparticle for OA treatment. Intradermal injection of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) loaded with type II collagen (Col II) and rapamycin (LNP-Col II-R) into OA mice effectively induced Col II-specific anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells, substantially increased anti-inflammatory cytokine expression, and reduced inflammatory immune cells and proinflammatory cytokine expression in the joints. Consequently, LNP-Col II-R injection inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis and cartilage matrix degradation and relieved pain, while injection of LNPs loaded with a control peptide and rapamycin did not induce these events. Adoptive transfer of CD4CD25 T cells isolated from LNP-Col II-R-injected mice suggested that T induced by LNP-Col II-R injection were likely responsible for the therapeutic effects. Collectively, this study suggests nanoparticle-mediated immunomodulation in the joint as a simple and effective treatment for OA.