Acrometastasis to hand in vaginal carcinoma: a rare entity.

Although metastases to bones from solid tumors are very common, involvement of small bones of the hands is extremely rare. We report the first case of acrometastasis in vaginal carcinoma. We present a 65-year-old multiparous woman with FIGO Stage II vaginal carcinoma.

Diagnosis of bladder cancer by immunocytochemical detection of minichromosome maintenance protein-2 in cells retrieved from urine.

Background: We tested the accuracy of immunocytochemistry (ICC) for minichromosome maintenance protein-2 (MCM-2) in diagnosing bladder cancer, using cells retrieved from urine.

Methods: Adequate samples were obtained from 497 patients, the majority presenting with gross haematuria (GH) or undergoing cystoscopic surveillance (CS) following previous bladder cancer. We performed an initial study of 313 patients, followed by a validation study of 184 patients.

Synergistic effect of PVP and PEG on the behavior of silver nanoparticle-polymer composites.

Silver nanoparticles-polymer nanocomposites, Ag-(1 - x)PVP-(x)PEG, were synthesized by wet chemical method in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). A mixture of two stabilizing agent PVP and PEG is found to play a crucial role in controlling the morphology of nanocrystalline silver particles in the composite. This is inferred based on the shape and size study of nanocrystalline silver using the X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Uv-vis spectroscopy, FTIR, and surface enhance Raman studies.

Dose escalation by intensity-modulated radiotherapy boost after whole pelvic radiotherapy in postoperative patients of carcinoma cervix with residual disease.

Aims: External beam radiotherapy followed by brachytherapy is the standard treatment for patients with carcinoma cervix. However, for patients who come from peripheral hospitals after incomplete surgery, whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT) followed by boost with either vaginal vault brachytherapy if suitable or further external beam radiotherapy is recommended. This study was conducted to evaluate if it was possible to give a higher tumour dose using intensity-modulated radiotherapy for that group of patients who were not suitable for high dose rate vaginal vault brachytherapy because of gross disease after WPRT.

Wound healing and mucosal immunity during short Mars analog environment mission: salivary biomarkers and its clinical implications.

Objective: Wound healing in an extreme environment with micro-gravity is not well characterized, despite the likelihood that the increasing use of manned spaceflight as a research and commercial enterprise raises the probability of traumatic injury in this state. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the impact of the isolated environment of the Mars Desert Research Station on mucosal immunity and wound healing.

Materials And Methods: Two punch biopsy wounds were placed on the hard palate of two crewmembers.

Synthesis and properties of near infrared-absorbing magnetic-optical nanopins.

Novel near infrared-absorbing iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles in pin shapes were synthesized. The nanopins are superparamagnetic, with 35-fold better surface enhanced Raman scattering activities than the conventional core-shell nanospheres and 50-fold greater photothermal properties than solid gold nanorods. The nanoparticles will have important impact on medical imaging, molecular diagnostics and disease treatment.

Surgical management for upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma (UUT-TCC): a systematic review.

Surgical management of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma (UUT-TCC) has significantly changed over the past two decades. Data for several new surgical techniques, including nephron-sparing surgery (NSS), is emerging. The study systematically reviewed the literature comparing (randomised and observational studies) surgical and oncological outcomes for various surgical techniques MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, British Nursing Index, AMED, LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus, Biosis, TRIP, Biomed Central, Dissertation Abstracts, ISI proceedings, and PubMed were searched to identify suitable studies.

Stress, workload and physiology demand during extravehicular activity: a pilot study.

Background: Extravehicular activity (EVA), such as exercise performed under unique environmental conditions, is essential for supporting daily living in weightlessness and for further space exploration like long Mars mission.

Aim: The study was planned stress, workload, and physiological demands of simulated Mars exploration.

Materials And Methods: In this study, the six-person crew lived (24 hours) for 14 days during a short-term stay at the Mars Desert Research Station.

Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels functionalized with heparin that support controlled release of bioactive BMP-2.

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is a potent osteoinductive factor, yet its clinical use is limited by a short biological half-life, rapid local clearance and propensity for side effects. Heparin (HP), a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) that avidly binds BMP-2, has inherent biological properties that may circumvent these limitations. Here, we compared hyaluronan-based hydrogels formulated to include heparin (Heprasil™) with similar gels without heparin (Glycosil™) for their ability to deliver bioactive BMP-2 in vitro and in vivo.

Simple bone cyst of mandible mimicking periapical cyst.

Simple bone cysts (SBC) are pseudocysts occurring less commonly in the maxillofacial region. The uncertain and unclear etiopathogenesis led to numerous synonyms to refer this particular cyst. These cysts are devoid of an epithelial lining and are usually empty or contain blood or straw-colored fluid.

RETRACTED: Salivary amylase and stress during stressful environment: three Mars analog mission crews study.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal).

Working hours, sleep, salivary cortisol, fatigue and neuro-behavior during Mars analog mission: five crews study.

The buoyancy of humans in exploring extreme space environments has been established during missions to the moon. Long duration missions like mission to Mars however, requires humans to adapt to systemic and complex environments beyond the human body's capacity. Astronauts will encounter both physiological and psychological extremes during this trip.

Exploring aromatic chemical space with NEAT: novel and electronically equivalent aromatic template.

In this paper, we describe a lead transformation tool, NEAT (Novel and Electronically equivalent Aromatic Template), which can help identify novel aromatic rings that are estimated to have similar electrostatic potentials, dipoles, and hydrogen bonding capabilities to a query template; hence, they may offer similar bioactivity profiles. In this work, we built a comprehensive heteroaryl database, and precalculated high-level quantum mechanical (QM) properties, including electrostatic potential charges, hydrogen bonding ability, dipole moments, chemical reactivity, and othe properties. NEAT bioisosteric similarities are based on the electrostatic potential surface calculated by Brood, using the precalculated QM ESP charges and other QM properties.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: case report.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), a potentially fatal complication of neuroleptic therapy is described. It is found to be associated with a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions. Various risk factors and non specific investigations pathognomic to various medical conditions has been proposed.

Suprapubic catheter insertion using an ultrasound-guided technique and literature review.

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The conventional 'blind' technique for suprapubic catheter (SPC) insertion relies on adequate filling of the bladder to displace bowel away from the site of needle puncture. However, in a small percentage of patients this fails to happen, which can occasionally lead to life-threatening bowel injury. Recently published British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) guidelines have recommended that ultrasonography (US) may be helpful to identify bowel loops and recommends its usage whenever possible.

Bone marrow-derived heparan sulfate potentiates the osteogenic activity of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2).

Lowering the efficacious dose of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) for the repair of critical-sized bone defects is highly desirable, as supra-physiological amounts of BMP-2 have an increased risk of side effects and a greater economic burden for the healthcare system. To address this need, we explored the use of heparan sulfate (HS), a structural analog of heparin, to enhance BMP-2 activity. We demonstrate that HS isolated from a bone marrow stromal cell line (HS-5) and heparin each enhances BMP-2-induced osteogenesis in C2C12 myoblasts through increased ALP activity and osteocalcin mRNA expression.

Evaluation by an aeronautic dentist on the adverse effects of a six-week period of microgravity on the oral cavity.

Objective. HDT bed rest condition is a simulated microgravity condition in which subject lies on bed inclined -6 degree feet up. To determine the influence of a simulated microgravity (HDT bed rest) on oral cavity, 10 healthy male volunteers were studied before, during, just after, and after 6 weeks of the simulated microgravity condition of -6° head-down-tilt (HDT) bed rest.

An outbreak of schistosomiasis in travellers returning from endemic areas: the importance of rigorous tracing in peer groups exposed to risk of infection.

Background: Each year, schools across Scotland send their students on exchange programmes to Malawi. Between 2005 and 2009, 22.8% of Scotland's new cases of schistosomiasis were from freshwater exposure in Malawi, with 41.

Heparan sulfate enhances the self-renewal and therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells from human adult bone marrow.

Insufficient cell number hampers therapies utilizing adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and current ex vivo expansion strategies lead to a loss of multipotentiality. Here we show that supplementation with an embryonic form of heparan sulfate (HS-2) can both increase the initial recovery of hMSCs from bone marrow aspirates and increase their ex vivo expansion by up to 13-fold. HS-2 acts to amplify a subpopulation of hMSCs harboring longer telomeres and increased expression of the MSC surface marker stromal precursor antigen-1.

Antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial isolates in neonatal care unit.

Introduction: Bacterial infections account for a huge proportion of neonatal deaths worldwide. The problem of antibiotic resistance among common bacterial pathogens mainly the gram negative bacteria is emerging globally which is of more serious concern in developing countries like Nepal.

Methods: A one year retrospective hospital based study was carried out to analyze the results of neonatal blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, stool and surface cultures and to look into the sensitivity pattern of the commonly used antibiotics.

Heparan sulfate-based treatments for regenerative medicine.

This review summarizes the emerging strategies that exploit the glycosaminoglycan sugar, heparan sulfate (HS), either as a substitute for, or as a supplement to growth factor (GF) therapy for regenerative medicine. Excluding autograft, the administration of GFs is currently the most effective treatment for critical bone repair and restoration. However, major hurdles in the clinical development of GF therapies include the high cost, the unwanted side effects, and the toxicity associated with the physiological overdosing required to achieve a successful outcome.

Modification of polystyrene surface in aqueous solutions.

Herein, we report our analysis of the surface modification of polystyrene (PS) when treated under ambient conditions with a common biological buffer such as phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or aqueous solutions of the ionic constituents of PBS. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used for the analysis because the resultant spectra are very sensitive to minor changes in the chemical and structural properties of PS films. In addition, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy was applied to characterize the surface modifications of PS.

Serum lipid profile in patients with thyroid disorders in central Nepal.

Thyroid dysfunction is a major public health problem among Nepalese population. Hence the study is aimed to find out the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and to investigate the effect of it in serum lipids. Serum fT3, fT4, TSH, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides (TG) were measured using standardized assays.