Successful Treatment of Xanthogranulomatous Cholecystitis Following Total Knee Replacement.

Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis (XGC) is a rare form of chronic gallbladder inflammation that most commonly presents as acute cholecystitis and is often mistaken for carcinoma of the gallbladder. This case details the hospital course and follow-up of a 77-year-old male who developed suspected acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) resulting in severe sepsis after elective left total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Histopathological findings after elective cholecystectomy later revealed XGC as the underlying etiology.

Rare Vascular Anomalies in an Adult: Absent Left Pulmonary Artery With a Right-Sided Aortic Arch.

Congenital absence of the left pulmonary artery remains a rarely reported anomalous condition and is even less commonly seen in conjunction with a right-sided aortic arch. While most cases are identified during prenatal fetal ultrasonography and require early childhood intervention, some asymptomatic cases can go unrecognized until incidentally detected on chest imaging as an adult. This case details a 31-year-old male with a congenital absence of the left pulmonary artery and right-sided aortic arch with subsequent atretic and fibrotic lung, all found on imaging during admission for acute alcoholic hepatitis.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of antiparasitic dinitroaniline-ether phospholipid hybrids.

A series of nine novel ether phospholipid-dinitroaniline hybrids were synthesized in an effort to deliver more potent antiparasitic agents with improved safety profile compared to miltefosine. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antiparasitic activity against L. infantum, L.

Antileishmanial Effects of Synthetic PIb Analogs Derived from the Entamoeba histolytica Lipopeptidephosphoglycan.

With an estimated number of new cases annually of approximately 1.4 million, leishmaniasis belongs to the most important parasitic diseases in the world. Nevertheless, existing drugs against leishmaniasis in general have several drawbacks that urgently necessitate new drug development.

Discovery of a benzothiophene-flavonol halting miltefosine and antimonial drug resistance in Leishmania parasites through the application of medicinal chemistry, screening and genomics.

Leishmaniasis, a major health problem worldwide, has a limited arsenal of drugs for its control. The appearance of resistance to first- and second-line anti-leishmanial drugs confirms the need to develop new and less toxic drugs that overcome spontaneous resistance. In the present study, we report the design and synthesis of a novel library of 38 flavonol-like compounds and their evaluation in a panel of assays encompassing parasite killing, pharmacokinetics, genomics and ADME-Toxicity resulting in the progression of a compound in the drug discovery value chain.

Wireless Sensor Networks Composed of Standard Microcomputers and Smartphones for Applications in Structural Health Monitoring.

Wireless sensor networks have attracted great attention for applications in structural health monitoring due to their ease of use, flexibility of deployment, and cost-effectiveness. This paper presents a software framework for WiFi-based wireless sensor networks composed of low-cost mass market single-board computers. A number of specific system-level software components were developed to enable robust data acquisition, data processing, sensor network communication, and timing with a focus on structural health monitoring (SHM) applications.

Length of Barrett's segment predicts failure of eradication in radiofrequency ablation for Barrett's esophagus: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: We aim to investigate factors that may contribute to failure of eradication of dysplastic Barrett's Esophagus among patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation treatment.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for treatment of Barrett's Esophagus was performed. Data analyzed included patient demographics, medical history, length of Barrett's Esophagus, number of radiofrequency ablation sessions, and histopathology.

Delayed Tibial Osteomyelitis after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction with Hamstrings Autograft and Bioabsorbable Interference Screw: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Osteomyelitis following arthroscopically assisted anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction has rarely been reported in the literature. We report a case of a 20-year-old female who had delayed tibial osteomyelitis and a pretibial cyst with culture-positive, oxacillin sensitive 15 months after an ACL reconstruction with hamstring autograft. Soft tissue fixation within the tibial tunnel was with a poly-L-D-lactic acid (PLDLA) bioabsorbable interference screw.

Improving the Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines at an Academic Primary Care Practice.

Expert groups recommend annual chest computed tomography for lung cancer screening (LCS) in high-risk patients. Lung cancer screening in primary care is a complex process that includes identification of the at-risk population, comorbidity assessment, and shared decision making. We identified three key processes required for high-quality screening implementation in our academic primary care practice: (1) systematic collection of lifetime cumulative smoking history to identify potentially eligible patients; (2) visit-based clinical reminders and order sets embedded in the electronic health record (EHR); and (3) tools to facilitate shared decision making and appropriate test ordering.

Synthetic analogs of an Entamoeba histolytica glycolipid designed to combat intracellular Leishmania infection.

Intracellular pathogens belonging to the genus Leishmania have developed effective strategies that enable them to survive within host immune cells. Immunostimulatory compounds that counteract such immunological escape mechanisms represent promising treatment options for diseases. Here, we demonstrate that a lipopeptidephosphoglycan (LPPG) isolated from the membrane of a protozoan parasite, Entamoeba histolytica (Eh), shows considerable immunostimulatory effects targeted against Leishmania (L.

Phenotypic Characterization of a Leishmania donovani Cyclophilin 40 Null Mutant.

Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania adapt to their arthropod and vertebrate hosts through the development of defined life cycle stages. Stage differentiation is triggered by environmental stress factors and has been linked to parasite chaperone activities. Using a null mutant approach we previously revealed important, nonredundant functions of the cochaperone cyclophilin 40 in L.

Profiling of Flavonol Derivatives for the Development of Antitrypanosomatidic Drugs.

Flavonoids represent a potential source of new antitrypanosomatidic leads. Starting from a library of natural products, we combined target-based screening on pteridine reductase 1 with phenotypic screening on Trypanosoma brucei for hit identification. Flavonols were identified as hits, and a library of 16 derivatives was synthesized.

A versatile qPCR assay to quantify trypanosomatidic infections of host cells and tissues.

The majority of PCR-based detection systems for Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi aim at high sensitivity and specificity, rather than an accurate parasite load quantification required for experimental infections in basic research and drug development. Here, we describe the use of a dual-labelled probe qPCR to detect and quantify intracellular Old World Leishmania spp.

[Rectal neuroendocrine tumors: endoscopic therapy].

Clinically detected neuroendocrine neoplasms of the rectum have increased 10- to 30-fold in frequency over the past 45 years in Germany. Endoscopic ultrasonography is the method of choice for exact determination of the size of the tumor, depth of infiltration and detection of local lymph node metastases. Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors ≤ 10.

Suppression of early hematogenous dissemination of human breast cancer cells to bone marrow by retinoic Acid-induced 2.

Unlabelled: Regulatory pathways that drive early hematogenous dissemination of tumor cells are insufficiently defined. Here, we used the presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in the bone marrow to define patients with early disseminated breast cancer and identified low retinoic acid-induced 2 (RAI2) expression to be significantly associated with DTC status. Low RAI2 expression was also shown to be an independent poor prognostic factor in 10 different cancer datasets.

Cortical activation during visual illusory walking in persons with spinal cord injury: a pilot study.

Objective: To determine the location of cortical activation during a visual illusion walking paradigm, a recently proposed treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI)-related neuropathic pain, in persons with SCI compared with able-bodied controls.

Design: Pilot experimental functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) trial.

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation clinic.

Clinically detected gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are on the rise: epidemiological changes in Germany.

Aim: To study the epidemiologic changes of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET) in Germany, we analyzed two time periods 1976-1988 and 1998-2006.

Methods: We evaluated epidemiological data of GEP-NET from the former East German National Cancer Registry (DDR Krebsregister, 1976-1988) and its successor, the Joint Cancer Registry (GKR, 1998-2006), which was founded after German reunification. Due to a particularly substantial database the epidemiological data from the federal states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, covering a population of more than 10.

Effect of bioactive borate glass microstructure on bone regeneration, angiogenesis, and hydroxyapatite conversion in a rat calvarial defect model.

Borate bioactive glasses are biocompatible and enhance new bone formation, but the effect of their microstructure on bone regeneration has received little attention. In this study scaffolds of borate bioactive glass (1393B3) with three different microstructures (trabecular, fibrous, and oriented) were compared for their capacity to regenerate bone in a rat calvarial defect model. 12weeks post-implantation the amount of new bone, mineralization, and blood vessel area in the scaffolds were evaluated using histomorphometric analysis and scanning electron microscopy.

Silorane resin supports proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization of MLO-A5 bone cells in vitro and bone formation in vivo.

Methyl methacrylate used in bone cements has drawbacks of toxicity, high exotherm, and considerable shrinkage. A new resin, based on silorane/oxirane chemistry, has been shown to have little toxicity, low exotherm, and low shrinkage. We hypothesized that silorane-based resins may also be useful as components of bone cements as well as other bone applications and began testing on bone cell function in vitro and in vivo.

Estimation of properties of a photoinitiated silorane-based composite with potential for orthopaedic applications.

We have synthesized a filler-reinforced silorane composite that has potential applications in orthopaedic surgery, such as for a bone stabilizer. The purpose of the present work was to develop a method for estimating four properties of this material; namely, maximum exotherm temperature, flexural strength, flexural modulus, and fracture toughness. The method involved the use of mixture design-of-experiments and regression analysis of results obtained using 23 formulations of the composite.

Effects of simulated functional loading conditions on dentin, composite, and laminate structures.

Use of composite restorations continues to increase, tempered by more potential problems when placed in posterior dentition. Thus, it is essential to understand how these materials function under stress-bearing clinical conditions. Because mastication is difficult to replicate in the laboratory, cyclic loading is frequently used within in vitro evaluations but often employs traditional fatigue testing, which typically does not simulate occlusal loading because higher stresses and loading frequencies are used, so failure mechanisms may be different.

Fluoride prophylactic agents effect on ceramic bracket tie-wing fracture strength.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that fluoride prophylactic agents do not affect the fracture strength and fracture morphology of the tie-wing complex of ceramic brackets.

Materials And Methods: The fracture strength of the distal incisal tie-wing of two polycrystalline brackets, Clarity and Mystique, and a monocrystalline bracket, Inspire, was measured after the brackets were exposed to either Prevident, Phos-flur gel, or distilled water (control). Scanning electron microscopy was used to qualitatively evaluate the tie-wing intact and fractured surfaces.