Bowel obstruction due to the migration of the deflated intragastric balloon, a rare and potentially lethal complication.

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that carries significant morbidity and mortality. There are many weight loss strategies available, yet to this date, none are risk-free. Intragastric balloons have been used for decades as a temporary measure for weight reduction and can be a useful approach for specific patients.

Novel Biocompatible and Biodegradable PCL-PLA/ Iron Oxide NPs Marker Clip Composite for Breast Cancer Biopsy.

Strength and biocompatibility of composite materials (using a polymer matrix) are used in medicine for various devices such as prostheses and marker clips (biomarkers). Marker clips indicate the site of a lesion in the body, specifically for breast cancer diagnosis or treatment. In general, marker clips are made of steel or titanium, but lately, materials containing biodegradable polymers had been proposed.

Firefighters' basal cardiac autonomic function and its associations with cardiorespiratory fitness.

Background: Firefighters' activities require constant adjustments of the cardiovascular system with cardiac autonomic function (CAF) playing an important role. Despite the crucial role of CAF in regulating stress response, little is known about firefighters' CAF.

Objective: We aimed to characterize the resting on-duty and off-duty CAF of male firefighters, in association with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).

Amebiasis, a rare cause of acute appendicitis.

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal emergencies, even though most cases of appendicitis will be due to obstruction of the appendiceal lumen, in rare occasions and mostly due to poor sanitary conditions a parasitic infection may cause appendicitis. is a common parasite and has a broad clinical spectrum from an asymptomatic disease to a life-threatening condition. In rare occasions, trophozoites can invade the appendiceal wall causing appendicitis.

Endometriosis Mimicking a Cecum Mass with Complete Bowel Obstruction: An Infrequent Cause of Acute Abdomen.

Endometriosis is a common entity among fertile women which unfortunately manifests through variable symptomatology. Intestinal involvement in endometriosis is quite common and can simulate several diseases such as Crohn's disease, appendicitis, tubo-ovarian abscess, or malignant tumors. Intestinal obstruction due to endometriosis is rare, and preoperative diagnosis is difficult because the signs and symptoms are nonspecific and can be easily confused.

Gastric mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma case report.

Mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas are rare tumors that contain both an exocrine and an endocrine component. Since the latest classification by the World Health Organization and with the aid of immunostaining, more mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas are now identified and diagnosed. Nonetheless, our knowledge of these tumors is still limited, notably concerning gastric variants, as the cases reported in the literature are very limited.

Topical Combination of Fluorouracil and Calcipotriene as a Palliative Therapy for Refractory Extramammary Paget Disease.

Importance: Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD), a rare intraepithelial adenocarcinoma, poses a therapeutic challenge with high postoperative recurrence rates and a limited number of effective local treatment options.

Objective: To describe the use and efficacy of a topical combination of fluorouracil and calcipotriene as a palliative therapy for refractory EMPD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective case series of 3 women with recurrent, refractory EMPD was conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts and Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.

Current status of biotechnological production and applications of microbial exopolysaccharides.

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are an abundant and important group of compounds that can be secreted by bacteria, fungi and algae. The biotechnological production of these substances represents a faster alternative when compared to chemical and plant-derived production with the possibility of using industrial wastes as substrates, a feasible strategy after a comprehensive study of factors that may affect the synthesis by the chosen microorganism and desirable final product. Another possible difficulty could be the extraction and purification methods, a crucial part of the production of microbial polysaccharides, since different methods should be adopted.

Modulation of stress- and cocaine prime-induced reinstatement of conditioned place preference after memory extinction through dopamine D3 receptor.

Accumulating evidence indicates that dopamine (DA) D3 receptor (DAD3R) antagonists appear highly promising in attenuating cocaine reward and relapse in preclinical models of addiction. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the selective DAD3R antagonist SB-277011-A on the reinstatement of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) produced by a priming dose of cocaine, by social defeat stress and by two kinds of physiological stressors (restraint and tail pinch) in male adult mice. We also explored reinstatement-related plasma corticosterone levels (as marker of stress response) and the effects of blocking DAD3R.

Giant mesenteric cyst from the small bowel mesentery in a young adult patient.

Mesenteric cysts are rare tumors, they can emerge from any part of the mesentery of the bowel from the duodenum to the rectum. Their symptomatology can mimic almost any abdominal disease making diagnosis troublesome. In some circumstances, these cysts can grow to considerable sizes making resection almost impossible since its size can compromise different structures.

Newly isolated microorganisms with potential application in biotechnology.

Nowadays, food, cosmetic, environmental and pharmaceutical fields are searching for alternative processes to obtain their major products in a more sustainable way. This fact is related to the increasing demand from the consumer market for natural products to substitute synthetic additives. Industrial biotechnology appears as a promising area for this purpose; however, the success of its application is highly dependent of the availability of a suitable microorganism.

A nail in the appendix, accidental discovery on an asymptomatic patient.

Inadvertent ingestion of foreign bodies is a common condition within clinical practice. It rarely produces any symptoms. The diagnosis is difficult since most patients do not recall having swallowed any object.

Randomized clinical trial of class II restoration in permanent teeth comparing ART with composite resin after 12 months.

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of class II restorations, in permanent teeth, through the ART technique in comparison to composite resin.

Materials And Methods: Participants (154), aged 8 to 19 years, with good general health, with class II cavities in permanent teeth, and without pulp involvement and tooth pain were included in this parallel and randomized clinical trial. The Ethics Committee approval number was CAAE: 24012913.

Heterogeneous Colistin-Resistance Phenotypes Coexisting in Isolates Influence Colistin Susceptibility Testing.

The polymyxin antibiotic colistin shows activity against . However, an increased incidence of colistin-resistant isolates has been recently observed. In addition, evaluation of colistin susceptibility for this organism has been problematic.

Mitochondria and Coenzyme Q10 in the Pathogenesis of Preeclampsia.

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy constitute one of the main causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality across the world and particularly in developing countries such as Ecuador. However, despite its impact on public health, the primary pathophysiological processes involved are yet to be elucidated. It has been proposed, among other theories, that an abnormal placentation may induce an endothelial dysfunction, which is ultimately responsible for the final clinical manifestations.

Online interest regarding violent attacks, gun control, and gun purchase: A causal analysis.

Background: Increased interest about gun ownership and gun control are oftentimes driven by informational shocks in a common factor, namely violent attacks, and the perceived need for higher levels of safety. A causal depiction of the societal interest around violent attacks, gun control and gun purchase, both synchronous and over time, should be a stepping stone for designing future strategies regarding the safety concerns of the U.S.

Colonic perforation due to amebiasis, a rare and lethal complication.

Amebiasis is still a major healthcare concern, especially in developing countries like Ecuador. The lack of sanitary control and hygiene measures make parasites infections still a burden for patients and physicians. Despite infections due to this parasites are usually mild, severe infections and fatal outcomes although rare still occur.

Stability Analysis of Anthocyanins Using Alcoholic Extracts from Black Carrot ( ssp. Var. Alef.).

Anthocyanins are used for food coloring due their low toxicity and health benefits. They are extracted from different sources, but black carrot has higher anthocyanin content compared with common fruits and vegetables. Here, we study alcoholic anthocyanin extracts from black carrot to enhance their stability.

Caffeine increases parasympathetic reactivation without altering resting and exercise cardiac parasympathetic modulation: A balanced placebo design.

The sympathicotonic effect of caffeine is strongly evidenced in the literature. However, the effects of caffeine or caffeine expectancy on the cardiac parasympathetic modulation remain obscure. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of caffeine consumption and expectancy of caffeine consumption on the cardiac parasympathetic modulation under different stress conditions.

Massive retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma in a young patient.

Liposarcomas are rare malignant tumors that mostly develop in the retroperitoneum. They have a broad behavioral spectrum, from small masses of tissue to highly aggressive tumors. The dedifferentiation process occurs in up to 10% and it's most likely to occur in the retroperitoneum, a process that not only changes its components but also its prognosis.

Ascaris lumbricoides and its almost deadly complication.

Parasitic infections are still a burden in developing countries. The lack of sanitation and hygiene measures can result in an increase in morbidity and mortality due to parasitic infections. Surgery may be needed to treat serious complications caused by some of these parasites.

The colors of biotechnology: general overview and developments of white, green and blue areas.

Biotechnology is responsible for the manipulation of living organisms or their components for the production of products that are of benefit to human kind. Due to the wide range of applications, colors have been used to differentiate the main areas of research, such as white (industrial), green (agricultural) and blue (marine and fresh-water), among others. Thus, this review outlines the impacts of these areas of biotechnology, emphasizing their impact and potential to replace carbon-based technologies with more sustainable technologies.

Baculovirus capsid display in vaccination schemes: effect of a previous immunity against the vector on the cytotoxic response to delivered antigens.

The baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) infects lepidopteran invertebrates as natural hosts, although it also has been used as display vector for vaccine development. In this work, we evaluated the effectiveness of repetitive doses of AcMNPV-based vectors on the cytotoxic immune response specific to the capsid-displayed heterologous antigen ovalbumin (OVA). Our results demonstrate that baculovirus vectors induce a boosting effect in the cytotoxic immune response to OVA, making possible to recover the levels obtained in the primary response.