The Clinical Role of LASER for Vulvar and Vaginal Treatments in Gynecology and Female Urology: An ICS/ISSVD Best Practice Consensus Document.

In this best practice document, we propose recommendations for the use of LASER for gynecologic and urologic conditions such as vulvovaginal atrophy, urinary incontinence, vulvodynia, and lichen sclerosus based on a thorough literature review. Most of the available studies are limited by their design; for example, they lack a control group, patients are not randomized, follow-up is short term, series are small, LASER is not compared with standard treatments, and most studies are industry sponsored. Because of these limitations, the level of evidence for the use of LASER in the treatment of these conditions remains low and does not allow for definitive recommendations for its use in routine clinical practice.

A bacteria-based genetic assay detects prion formation.

Prions are infectious, self-propagating protein aggregates that are notorious for causing devastating neurodegenerative diseases in mammals. Recent evidence supports the existence of prions in bacteria. However, the evaluation of candidate bacterial prion-forming proteins has been hampered by the lack of genetic assays for detecting their conversion to an aggregated prion conformation.

Borderline Brenner Tumor: A Review of the Literature.

Brenner tumors arise from ovarian epithelium, accounting for approximately 5% of benign ovarian epithelial tumors. The World Health Organization classification groups them into benign, borderline, and malignant on the basis of proliferation and invasiveness, and borderline Brenner tumor is defined as "displaying epithelial proliferation beyond that seen in benign Brenner's tumor, but lacking stromal invasion." Borderline Brenner tumors are rare.

The clinical role of LASER for vulvar and vaginal treatments in gynecology and female urology: An ICS/ISSVD best practice consensus document.

Background: The clinical role of LASER for vulvar and vaginal treatments in gynecology and female urology is controversial.

Aims: In this best practice document, we propose recommendations for the use of LASER for gynecologic and urologic conditions such as vulvovaginal atrophy, urinary incontinence, vulvodynia, and lichen sclerosus based on a thorough literature review.

Materials & Methods: This project was developed between January and September 2018.

Isolated acute funisitis in the absence of acute chorioamnionitis: What does it mean?

Objective: Acute funisitis (AF) is most commonly associated with acute chorioamnionitis (AC) and ascending infection. The significance of cases of AF without associated AC or isolated funisitis (IF) is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate clinical and pathologic features of IF and to determine its significance.

SVIM: structural variant identification using mapped long reads.

Motivation: Structural variants are defined as genomic variants larger than 50 bp. They have been shown to affect more bases in any given genome than single-nucleotide polymorphisms or small insertions and deletions. Additionally, they have great impact on human phenotype and diversity and have been linked to numerous diseases.

Recurrence of Basal Plate Myofibers, with Further Consideration of Pathogenesis.

Objectives: Basal plate myofibers (BPMF) may indicate morbid adherence. We assessed recurrence and clinical progression of BPMF.

Methods: In 5 years, 135 BPMF placentas were reported.

Calcinosis Cutis of the Vulva: A Review.

Idiopathic calcinosis cutis (CC) is an uncommon skin condition. Although it has been reported many times in the scrotum, it is exceedingly rare in the vulva. Most reports of vulvar CC are in children.

Pitfalls of Frozen Section in Gynecological Pathology: A Case of Ovarian Serous Surface Papillary Adenofibroma Imitating Malignancy.

Serous cystadenofibromas are uncommon benign ovarian lesions, consisting of both fibrous and epithelial components, that are usually cystic but may contain solid or papillary architecture that can be confused with a malignancy on imaging. Papillary architecture seen on frozen section may also falsely steer the pathologist in the direction of a diagnosis of a borderline serous tumor. Overcalling the lesion may lead to more aggressive surgery than necessary, so extensive tissue sampling and consideration of this entity is important in possibly avoiding this mistake.

Context/Resource-Aware Mission Planning Based on BNs and Concurrent MDPs for Autonomous UAVs.

This paper presents a scalable approach to model uncertainties within a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) embedded mission manager. It proposes a concurrent version of BFM models, which are Bayesian Networks built from FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) and used by MDPs (Markov Decision Processes). The models can separately handle different applications during the mission; they consider the context of the mission including external constraints (luminosity, climate, etc.

Pitfalls of Frozen Section in Gynecological Pathology: A Rare Case of Ovarian Lymphoma in an HIV-Positive Woman Resembling Dysgerminoma on Frozen Section.

Primary lymphoma of the ovary, particularly in an HIV-positive woman, is exceptionally rare, and ovarian lymphoma may not be considered at the time of intraoperative consultation. In this article, we present a case in an HIV-positive woman thought to be a dysgerminoma at the time of frozen section, but which was found to be a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the ovary.

Defining Early-Onset Colon and Rectal Cancers.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence is rising in the young, yet the age of those affected is not clearly defined. In this study, we identify such cohorts and define clinicopathological features of early-onset colon and rectal cancers. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) database was queried to compare clinicopathological characteristics of colon and rectal cancers diagnosed during 1973-1995 with those diagnosed during 1995-2014.

eggNOG 5.0: a hierarchical, functionally and phylogenetically annotated orthology resource based on 5090 organisms and 2502 viruses.

eggNOG is a public database of orthology relationships, gene evolutionary histories and functional annotations. Here, we present version 5.0, featuring a major update of the underlying genome sets, which have been expanded to 4445 representative bacteria and 168 archaea derived from 25 038 genomes, as well as 477 eukaryotic organisms and 2502 viral proteomes that were selected for diversity and filtered by genome quality.

Are Short Umbilical Cords Seen in Pathology Really Short?

Purpose: Short umbilical cords are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Clinicians may rely on measurements made by pathologists, which do not include portions of the cord remaining n the child or sent for blood gasses.

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of term placentas.

Regional Differences in Palliative Care Utilization Among Geriatric Colorectal Cancer Patients Needing Emergent Surgery.

Background: The benefits of palliative care (PC) in critical illness are validated across a range of diseases, yet it remains underutilized in surgical patients. This study analyzed patient and hospital factors predictive of PC utilization for elderly patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) requiring emergent surgery.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was queried for patients aged ≥ 65 years admitted emergently with CRC from 2009 to 2014.

Protein-protein interactions reveal key canonical pathways, upstream regulators, interactome domains, and novel targets in ALS.

Developing effective treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases require an understanding of the underlying cellular pathways that lead to neuronal vulnerability and progressive degeneration. To date, numerous mutations in 147 distinct genes are identified to be "associated" with, "modifier" or "causative" of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Protein products of these genes and their interactions helped determine the protein landscape of ALS, and revealed upstream modulators, key canonical pathways, interactome domains and novel therapeutic targets.

An optical nanoreporter of endolysosomal lipid accumulation reveals enduring effects of diet on hepatic macrophages in vivo.

The abnormal accumulation of lipids within the endolysosomal lumen occurs in many conditions, including lysosomal storage disorders, atherosclerosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and drug-induced phospholipidosis. Current methods cannot monitor endolysosomal lipid content in vivo, hindering preclinical drug development and research into the mechanisms linking endolysosomal lipid accumulation to disease progression. We developed a single-walled carbon nanotube-based optical reporter that noninvasively measures endolysosomal lipid accumulation via bandgap modulation of its intrinsic near-infrared emission.

Diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy measurements as screening method of potential reactions of API and excipients in drug formulations.

In the development of new pharmaceutical formulations it is important to consider the possible interactions between the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and excipients which is a well-known problem. The objective of the work presented here was to investigate such reactions by means of diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY). The known reaction of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) and the excipient citric acid was studied.

Chorion laeve accreta - Another manifestation of morbid adherence.

Introduction: Smooth muscle in the decidua of fetal membranes (membrane myofibers, MMF) is not mentioned in standard textbooks.

Methods: The current report presents collected observations on 52 patients with MMF at 2 institutions between 2004 and 2017 - including placentas, postpartum curettages, and hysterectomies.

Results: Clinical presentations include observation of adherent membranes during delivery, disrupted and incomplete membranes in placentas submitted for examination, postpartum bleeding associated with retained fetal membranes, association with membrane hematomas and membrane hemosiderin, morbidly adherent fetal membranes in hysterectomies; and association with grossly adherent pieces of tissue or nodules in fetal membranes.

Multicystic Mesothelioma of the Omentum Presenting as an Incidental Finding.

Multicystic mesotheliomas of peritoneal origin (also termed benign multicystic mesotheliomas) are uncommon and are exceptionally rare in the omentum. Lack of familiarity of this entity could lead to overinterpretation as a malignancy or present a challenge at frozen section. We describe a case of multicystic mesothelioma arising in the omentum found incidentally at laparotomy for endometriosis.

A Fluorescent Carbon Nanotube Sensor Detects the Metastatic Prostate Cancer Biomarker uPA.

Therapeutic outcomes in patients with prostate cancer are hindered by the inability to discern indolent versus aggressive disease. To address this problem, we developed a quantitative fluorescent nanosensor for the cancer biomarker urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA). We used the unique fluorescent characteristics of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) to engineer an optical sensor that responds to uPA via optical bandgap modulation in complex protein environments.