Synthesis of a new potassium-substituted lead fluorapatite and its structural characterization.

Prismatic crystals of partially potassium substituted lead fluorapatite PbCaK(PO)F were grown through a solid-state reaction. The structural study conducted by single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that the compound crystallizes in the hexagonal 6/ space group, with unit cell parameters = = 9.7190(5) Å, = 7.

Removal of airway foreign body using flexible bronchoscopy in children.

Background: Flexible bronchoscopy is mainly used to diagnose airway foreign bodies (AFBs). Due to advances in pediatric anesthesia, many teams have considered the extraction of AFBs by flexible bronchoscopy. We aimed to assess the success of flexible bronchoscopy in AFB removal in children.

COPD after "Tabouna" Exposure: A Distinct Phenotype in Tunisian Women?

Background: COPD due to exposure to combustible biomass is an increasingly recognized phenotype, particularly among women who use traditional ovens, known as 'Tabouna', for baking bread. This paper aims to investigate the clinical and functional characteristics of COPD in Tunisian female patients attributed to the use of 'Tabouna'.

Methods: A retrospective single-center cohort study was conducted on patients recruited from the Department of Respiratory Disease at A.

Unusual bone localization of sarcoidosis mimicking metastatic lesions: case report and review of literature.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease of unknown origin. Diagnosis remains challenging, based on organ site involvement, histological confirmation of non-caseating granuloma and an appropriate clinical syndrome. Granulomatous bone involvement is rare and may be ignored because it is usually asymptomatic.

Spindle cell hemangioma of the lung: An unusual presentation.

Spindle cell hemangioma (SCH) is a benign vascular tumour, first identified by Weiss and Enzinger in 1986. Habitually, the SCH affects almost exclusively the dermis and subcutaneous tissues of distal extremities. So far, only 2 cases have been described in the lung.

Organically tuned white-light emission from two zero-dimensional Cd-based hybrids.

In this work, we report two zero-dimensional Cd-based hybrid compounds, denoted CdACP and CdODA, where the Cd atoms adopt tetrahedral geometry. The optical analysis reveals that these materials are classified as wide-gap semi-conductors which makes them suitable for optoelectronic applications. The photoluminescence analysis proves the wavelength dependent white-light emission behavior of the investigated materials.

Giant pulmonary hydatid cyst in children.

Hydatid disease is still endemic in Tunisia. It is mostly seen in young people less than 40 years and children are affected in one third of cases. The lungs are the predominant location in children.

Giant pulmonary hydatid cyst in children.

Background: Lungs are the second most common site for hydatid disease after the liver. Giant hydatid cyst (GHC) of the lung is a special clinical entity in children and is related to higher lung tissue elasticity.

Aim: To compare clinical and imaging features, types of surgical interventions, and postoperative complications in pulmonary GHC and non-giant pulmonary hydatid cysts (NGHC) in children.

Sputum IL-26 Is Overexpressed in Severe Asthma and Induces Proinflammatory Cytokine Production and Th17 Cell Generation: A Case-Control Study of Women.

Objective: Asthma inflammation is a complex pathway involving numerous mediators. Interleukin-26 (IL-26), a member of the IL-10 cytokine family, is abundant in human airways and induces the production of proinflammatory cytokines. Our aim was to investigate the possible role of IL-26 in severe asthma.

Th 9 cells in Behçet disease: Possible involvement of IL-9 in pulmonary manifestations.

Behçet disease (BD) is a multisystemic disease some of whose manifestations are characterized by pulmonary involvements. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the level of T-helper type 9 (Th9) cells and the cytokine interleukin (IL)-9 in peripheral blood and in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of patients with Behçet's disease (BD) affected by pulmonary manifestations. Nevertheless, until recently there have been no studies on its role in BD.

About a lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the lung with an endotracheal localization.

Introduction: Lympho-epithelioma like carcinoma is a rare lung tumour that acounts for less than 1% of non small cell lung carcinomas. It is defined as a special entity among the 2015 World Health Organization.

Aim: Our aim was to describe a completely illustrated new case of lymhpo-epithelioma like carcinoma.

Antifungal, molluscicidal and larvicidal assessment of anemonin and Clematis flammula L. extracts against mollusc Galba truncatula, intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica in Tunisia.

Objective: To investigate the potential of anemonin and Clematis flammula (C. flammula) extracts against infective organisms.

Methods: The molluscicidal activities of anemonin and C.

Interleukin-26 is overexpressed in Behçet's disease and enhances Th17 related -cytokines.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multi-systemic inflammatory disorder characterized by the "triple symptom complex". Several pro-inflammatory cytokines, mainly derived from the immune Th17 axis, seem to be involved in different pathogenic pathways leading to development of the clinical manifestations. Here, we have analyzed the expression and role of IL-26 in active BD patients, an inflammatory disorder characterized by bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammation.

Childhood tuberculosis: A descriptive study in a pneumo-pediatrics department in Tunisia.

Objective to assess the different localizations of tuberculosis (TB) in children in a pneumopediatric department in Tunisia and to describe its diagnosis tools since clinical investigations of childhood TB are challenged by the paucibacillary nature of the disease and the difficulties in obtaining specimens. Methods Forty-six cases of TB in children were studied between 2008 and 2013. Clinical history, examination and chest radiography were reported.

Increased expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin in induced sputum from asthmatic children.

Objective: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays a role in amplifying the inflammatory response in asthmatics. TSLP is also a critical factor in airway remodeling airways. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of TSLP in induced sputum from asthmatic children and to look to the impact of TNF-α and IL-37 on TSLP production in induced sputum from asthmatic children.

Anti-inflammatory activity of IL-37 in asthmatic children: Correlation with inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-β, IL-6 and IL-17A.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess interleukin (IL)-37 production in asthmatic children in serum and induced sputum and to look to the impact of IL-37 on pro-inflammatory cytokines production (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β and IL-17).

Methods: Forty children with well-controlled asthma (20 moderate and 20 mild asthmatics) were studied. IL-37 was measured by ELISA in serum and induced sputum (IS) samples, and compared with 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with asthma risk: systematic review and updated meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Background: The association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms and asthma risk has been inconsistently investigated, but published studies demonstrated conflicting results. The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of TaqI, BsmI, ApaI, and FokI VDR polymorphisms on asthma disease by using a meta-analysis approach.

Methods: Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines, a systematic search and meta-analysis of the literature were conducted.

Vitamin D reduces the differentiation and expansion of Th17 cells in young asthmatic children.

Vitamin D [25(OH)D3] deficiency has been associated with asthma as in many inflammatory and autoimmune pathologies; however, there is still a lack of data about the effects of administration of vitamin D in immune regulation in young asthmatic patients. In this study, we investigated its inhibitory effect on the immune response in young asthmatic patients and the possible mechanisms involved. Peripheral blood CD4(+) T cells from 10 asthmatic patients and 10 healthy controls were cultured under Th17 polarizing conditions in the presence or absence of [25(OH)D3], IL-17 cytokine production was determined by ELISA and flow cytometry.

Antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activities of extract and isolates from Zygogynum pancheri subsp. arrhantum.

One new sesquiterpenoid (5R(*),8R(*),9R(*),10R(*))-cinnamolide (8), and seven known compounds, 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavonone (1), 8-hydroxy-3-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-6,7-(2″,2″-dimethylchromene)-tetralone (2), 8-hydroxy-3-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-6,7-(2″,2″-dimethylchromene)-tetralone (3), 1β-E-O-p-methoxycinnamoyl-bemadienolide (4), 1β-O-(E-cinnamoyl)-6α-hydroxy-9-epi-polygodial (5), 1β-O-(E-cinnamoyl)-6α-hydroxypolygodial (6), and 1β-O-E-cinnamoylpolygodial (7) were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of barks of Zygogynum pancheri subsp. arrhantum (Winteraceae). The structures of these molecules were assigned predominantly based on spectral data.

New secoiridoid from olive mill wastewater.

A new secoiridoid, olenoside A (1a) and its known epimer olenoside B (1b), were isolated from olive mill wastewater as a mixture of two isomers. Their structures, 1-methyl-7-oxo-6,6a,8,8a-tetrahydro-1H,3H-pyrano[3,4-c]pyran-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester, were determined by spectroscopic methods including 2-D NMR. The structure of major compound 1a was confirmed by X-ray diffraction.

Ethyl 6-amino-5-cyano-4-isopropyl-2-methyl-4H-pyran-3-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(13)H(18)N(2)O(3), the two H atoms of the NH(2) group are engaged in hydrogen bonding with the N atom of the cyano group and with one O atom of the ethoxy-carbonyl group, building a chain parallel to the [100] direction. The N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds assemble the mol-ecules around inversion centres, forming dimers with an R(2) (2)(12) graph-set motif.

2-Hydr-oxy-3,3-dimethyl-7-nitro-3,4-dihydro-isoquinolin-1(2H)-one.

In the title compound, C(11)H(12)N(2)O(4), a new hydroxamic acid which belonging to the isoquinole family, the heterocyclic ring adopts a half-chair conformation. The nitro group is essentially coplanar with the aromatic ring. Inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds assemble the mol-ecules around inversion centres to form pseudo-dimers.

N-(Hydroxymethyl)ibogaine.

16-hydroxy-methyl-12-methoxy-ibogamine), C(21)H(28)N(2)O(2), was prepared by reaction of ibogaine with a formaldehyde-acetic acid solution (pH = 4). The crystal structure of this new product, belonging to the iboga indole family, is stabilized by an inter-molecular O-H⋯N hydrogen bond. The identity of the compound was confirmed by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopic techniques.

N-Methyl-isosalsoline from Hammada scoparia.

1,2-dimethyl-6-meth-oxy-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-isoquinolin-7-ol), C(12)H(17)NO(2), is a major alkaloid isolated from Hammada scoparia leaves. It belongs to the isoquinoline family and it was characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallographic techniques. The absolute configuration could not be reliably determined.