Surgical treatment of diverticulitis and its complications: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.

Purpose: The surgical interventions of diverticulitis vary according to its grade and severity. There is a controversy about the best of these different surgical procedures. We aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing outcomes and complications between different surgical approaches for acute diverticulitis and its complications.

An energy efficiency routing protocol for wireless body area networks.

The wireless body area networks (WBANs) play an important role in monitoring and minimising the duration of patients stays at the hospital. The aim of our study was to design an energy efficient routing protocol for WBANs taking into consideration the minimisation of energy and maximisation of the network lifetime, such as that the routing is recognised as a resource hungry operation. In this protocol, to confront the different constraints, we use the concept of the gateway body sensor which is responsible for sending data to the base station.

Regulation of indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase and its role in a porcine model of acute kidney allograft rejection.

In kidney transplantation acute allograft rejection is the most common cause of late allograft loss. Changes in indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) activity, which catabolizes the degradation of tryptophan to kynurenine, may predict rejection. However, exogenous IDO is immunosuppressive in rodent kidney transplantation.

Fibroblast growth factor-23 as a predictor biomarker of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury is a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). The lack of early biomarkers for predicting AKI has hampered our ability to initiate preventive and therapeutic measures in an opportune way. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is elevated in chronic kidney disease, but data on FGF-23 in humans with AKI are limited.

Endovascular Therapy for Rheumatic Mitral and Aortic Valve Disease: Review Article.

Rheumatic heart disease remains a major cause of significant mortality and morbidity in the developing world. Rheumatic mitral and aortic stenosis are the two most common valvular sequelae of acute rheumatic fever. Open surgical procedures with either valve replacement or surgical commissurotomy have largely been replaced by percutaneous commissurotomy and balloon valvuloplasty for selected patients since the early 1980s.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of caprine brucellosis in Khartoum state, Sudan.

Aim: This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to July 2012 in Khartoum state, Sudan, to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis in goats and to investigate potential risk factors associated with this disease.

Materials And Methods: A total of 307 serum samples were collected from both sexes of goats in four different localities and were subjected to testing for brucellosis using rose bengal plate test (RBPT), serum agglutination test (SAT), and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA).

Results: The overall seroprevalence was 11.

A holistic approach to the mycetoma management.

Mycetoma, one of the badly neglected tropical diseases, it is a localised chronic granulomatous inflammatory disease characterised by painless subcutaneous mass and formation of multiple sinuses that produce purulent discharge and grains. If untreated early and appropriately, it usually spread to affect the deep structures and bone resulting in massive damage, deformities and disabilities. It can also spread via the lymphatics and blood leading to distant secondary satellites associated with high morbidity and mortality.

Outcome of indeterminate liver lesions on computed tomography in patients with colorectal cancer.

Introduction The aim of this study was to determinate the outcome of indeterminate liver lesions on computed tomography (CT) in patients with a background history of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to identify clinicopathological variables associated with malignancy in these lesions. A secondary aim was to devise a management algorithm for such patients. Methods Patients referred to our institution with indeterminate liver lesions on CT with a background history of CRC between January 2012 and December 2014 were included in the study.

Diagnostic performance of F-FDG PET/CT and whole-body MRI before and early after treatment of multiple myeloma: a prospective comparative study.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of WB-MRI and F-FDG PET/CT in detecting infiltration pattern, disease activity, and response to treatment in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

Materials And Methods: Fifty-six patients with confirmed MM were included in the present study for pre-treatment evaluation. Among these individuals, 22 patients were available for the post-treatment evaluation of response to therapy.

Prevalence of Eosinophilic Esophagitis in Adult Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Locality in Upper Egypt.

Background/aims: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is gaining importance in the diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptoms. Diagnosis is based on the clinical presentation of esophageal dysfunction and pathological findings in the absence of other causes of tissue eosinophilia. Our study was designed to evaluate EoE prevalence in patients with UGI symptoms in our locality (El-Minia, Egypt).

Model combining pre-transplant tumor biomarkers and tumor size shows more utility in predicting hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and survival than the BALAD models.

Aim: To assess the performance of BALAD, BALAD-2 and their component biomarkers in predicting outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after liver transplant.

Methods: BALAD score and BALAD-2 class are derived from bilirubin, albumin, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive AFP (AFP-L3), and des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP). Pre-transplant AFP, AFP-L3 and DCP were measured in 113 patients transplanted for HCC from 2000 to 2008.

The cellular metabolic landscape in the tumor milieu regulates the activity of myeloid infiltrates.

Malignant cells upregulate distinct energy metabolism programs that support their proliferation, migration, and adaptation to the stressful tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, this exaggerated metabolic activity allows cancer cells to hijack essential nutrients and outcompete neighboring infiltrating immune cells, thereby impairing antitumor immunity. During recent years, there has been great interest in the field to understand the tumor-induced energy metabolism signals that regulate the function of immune cells in individuals with cancer.

Laboratory evolution reveals regulatory and metabolic trade-offs of glycerol utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Most microbial species, including model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, possess genetic capability to utilize many alternative nutrient sources. Yet, it remains an open question whether these manifest into assimilatory phenotypes. Despite possessing all necessary pathways, S.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin can alter the sex ratio of embryos with decreased viability of Y spermatozoa in mice.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a reproductive and developmental toxicant that can alter the sex ratio of offspring (proportion of male offspring). We hypothesized that the alteration of sex ratio is associated with sex chromosome ratio of live spermatozoa affected by exposure to TCDD. After exposure to TCDD we analyzed simultaneously sperm sex chromosome constitution and viability, and evaluated sperm sex chromosome ratio association with embryo sex ratio in mice.

Polymeric micelles for potentiated antiulcer and anticancer activities of naringin.

Naringin is one of the most interesting phytopharmaceuticals that has been widely investigated for various biological actions. Yet, its low water solubility, limited permeability, and suboptimal bioavailability limited its use. Therefore, in this study, polymeric micelles of naringin based on pluronic F68 (PF68) were developed, fully characterized, and optimized.

Underexpression of miR-486-5p but not Overexpression of miR-155 is Associated with Lung Cancer Stages.

Background: Evidence is increasing that microRNAs (miR) are particularly important in lung homeostasis and development and have been shown to be involved in many pulmonary diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sarcoidosis, Lung Cancer (LC) and other smoking-related diseases.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of miR-155 and miR-486-5p in tissues from LC patients and healthy endobronchial mucosa as prognostic biomarkers for diagnosing LC.

Methods: Bronchoscopic and thoracoscopic tissue biopsies were taken from 50 LC patients and other 50 control subjects without lung mass, who were planned for a clinical bronchoscopy.

Rutin and meloxicam attenuate paw inflammation in mice: Affecting sorbitol dehydrogenase activity.

Rutin, naturally occurring flavonoid, has reported to cover interesting multiple pharmacological properties. This study evaluated rutin or/and meloxicam effects in paw inflammation induced by formalin in mice. Mice were divided into four groups: I-Formalin group, II-Rutin 60 mg/kg (p.

Antigen-Specific Antitumor Responses Induced by OX40 Agonist Are Enhanced by the IDO Inhibitor Indoximod.

Although an immune response to tumors may be generated using vaccines, so far, this approach has only shown minimal clinical success. This is attributed to the tendency of cancer to escape immune surveillance via multiple immune suppressive mechanisms. Successful cancer immunotherapy requires targeting these inhibitory mechanisms along with enhancement of antigen-specific immune responses to promote sustained tumor-specific immunity.

Measurement of the top quark mass with lepton+jets final states using collisions at .

The mass of the top quark is measured using a sample of events collected by the CMS detector using proton-proton collisions at at the CERN LHC. Events are selected with one isolated muon or electron and at least four jets from data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 .

Enhanced ocular bioavailability of fluconazole from niosomal gels and microemulsions: formulation, optimization, and in vitro-in vivo evaluation.

Fungal keratitis may cause vision loss if it is not treated. Methods other than ocular delivery exhibited several limitations. No previous studies investigated and compared ocular bioavailability of fluconazole (FLZ) from niosomal gels and microemulsions.

Monoamine oxidases inhibitors from Colvillea racemosa: Isolation, biological evaluation, and computational study.

Bioassay-guided fractionation and chemical investigation of Colvillea racemosa stems led to identification of two new α, β-dihydroxydihydrochalcones, colveol A (1) and colveol B (2) along with fifteen known compounds. The structures were elucidated via interpretation of spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations of the dihydrochalcones 1 and 2 were assigned by a combination of chemical modification and electronic circular dichroism data.

Generation of a platform strain for ionic liquid tolerance using adaptive laboratory evolution.

Background: There is a need to replace petroleum-derived with sustainable feedstocks for chemical production. Certain biomass feedstocks can meet this need as abundant, diverse, and renewable resources. Specific ionic liquids (ILs) can play a role in this process as promising candidates for chemical pretreatment and deconstruction of plant-based biomass feedstocks as they efficiently release carbohydrates which can be fermented.

Lead in Egyptian soils: Origin, reactivity and bioavailability measured by stable isotope dilution.

The current availability of Pb in Egyptian soils and associated plants were studied in 15 locations (n=159) that had been historically subjected to industrial and automobile Pb emissions. Isotopic dilution with enriched Pb was used to estimate the soil Pb labile pool (Pb); results showed that %Pb values were mostly <25% which is likely due to the alkaline nature of the soils. Nonetheless, lability of Pb was significantly higher in urban and industrial locations indicating greater reactivity of anthropogenic Pb in comparison to geogenic-Pb.

Role of VEGF, CD105, and CD31 in the Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer Cases.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence is increasing globally. It is ranked as the second most common cancer in women and the third most in men. Angiogenesis plays a significant role in the development and spread of colorectal cancer.

Different applications of isosbestic points, normalized spectra and dual wavelength as powerful tools for resolution of multicomponent mixtures with severely overlapping spectra.

Background: Analysis of complex mixture containing three or more components represented a challenge for analysts. New smart spectrophotometric methods have been recently evolved with no limitation. A study of different novel and smart spectrophotometric techniques for resolution of severely overlapping spectra were presented in this work utilizing isosbestic points present in different absorption spectra, normalized spectra as a divisor and dual wavelengths.