Pessaries for pelvic organ prolapse: evaluation of vaginal discharge and pain during pessary cleaning in an outpatient setting.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Pessary treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is effective and safe, but long-term continuation is low. Pain and vaginal discharge may play a role. This study was aimed at evaluating vaginal discharge and pain during pessary cleaning in an outpatient setting and in continuous pessary use.

Celiac Disease and Possible Dietary Interventions: From Enzymes and Probiotics to Postbiotics and Viruses.

Celiac Disease (CeD) is a chronic small intestinal immune-mediated enteropathy caused by the ingestion of dietary gluten proteins in genetically susceptible individuals. CeD is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, affecting around 1.4% of the population globally.

Does monthly self-management of vaginal ring pessaries reduce the rate of adverse events? A clinical audit.

Objective: To determine the rate of adverse events (AE) in women who self-manage their vaginal ring pessary on a monthly basis. We hypothesised that the AE rate would be lower compared to previously published traditional management protocols.

Study Design: Audit study of 75 women with pelvic organ prolapse and/or stress incontinence, who were fitted with a vaginal ring pessary during a five-year period, and who have self-managed their vaginal rings for at least two years, in a tertiary referral urogynaecology clinic.

Manipulating geometric and optical properties of laser-inscribed nanogratings with a conical phase front.

The formation of volumetric nanogratings in fused silica by femtosecond laser pulses are shown to afford new opportunities for manipulating the physical shape and tailoring the optical properties of the modification zone by harnessing unconventional beam shapes. The nanograting assembly was observed to rigorously follow the beam elongation effects induced with conical-shaped phase fronts, permitting a scaling up of the writing volume. Detailed optical characterization of birefringence, dichroism, and scattering loss pointed to flexible new ways to tune the macroscopic optical properties, with advantages in decoupling the induced phase retardation from the modification thickness by controlling the conical phase front angle.

From celiac disease to coccidia infection and vice-versa: The polyQ peptide CXCR3-interaction axis.

Zonulin is a physiological modulator of intercellular tight junctions, which upregulation is involved in several diseases like celiac disease (CeD). The polyQ gliadin fragment binds to the CXCR3 chemokine receptor that activates zonulin upregulation, leading to increased intestinal permeability in humans. Here, we report a general hypothesis based on the structural connection between the polyQ sequence of the immunogenic CeD protein, gliadin, and enteric coccidian parasites proteins.