Oropharyngeal Lipoma: A Rare Case of Dysphagia.

Lipomas are benign and slow-growing neoplasms that typically develop in the subcutaneous tissue. They rarely occur in the upper aerodigestive tract. Oropharyngeal lipomas are rare.

Primary Ewing Sarcoma in the Sphenoidal Sinus: A Case Report.

Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) is a rare malignant bone tumor that primarily affects children and young adults. While it typically affects long bones, it can occur in the head and neck region, including the paranasal sinuses in rare cases. We present a challenging case of a 45-year-old female diagnosed with an EWS of the sphenoidal and the right nasal fossa.

An intramuscular hemangioma of the semispinalis muscle: A case report.

Intramuscular hemangiomas are uncommon benign endotheliomas that typically occur in the trunk and limbs. Head and neck involvement is relatively infrequent, with the masseter muscle being the most commonly affected site. We present a rare case of intramuscular hemangiomas arising from the semispinalis muscle.

Rifampicin-induced acute tubulointerstitial nephritis during pulmonary tuberculosis treatment: A case report.

Drug-induced tubulointerstitial nephritis is an uncommon complication in patients on anti-tuberculosis therapy that can lead to permanent kidney damage. Rifampicin is the most offending drug. We report a case of a 41-years old man being treated for pulmonary tuberculosis and presenting with tubulointerstitial nephritis associated with rifampicin.

Association of matrix metalloproteinase-2 gene variants with diabetic nephropathy risk.

Background: Diabetic nephropathy is a highly destructive microvascular complication of diabetes. Genetic predisposition is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, with multiple allelic polymorphisms associated with the development and progression of the disease, thereby increasing the overall risk. To date, no study is available that shows the association of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) gene polymorphisms with diabetic nephropathy risk.

Is single fraction the future of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)? A critical appraisal of the current literature.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is a standard of care for many localizations but the question of the optimal fractionation remains a matter of concern. If single fraction sessions are routinely used for intracranial targets, their utilization for mobile extracranial lesions is a source of debate and apprehension. Single session treatments improve patient comfort, provide a medico-economic benefit, and have proven useful in the context of the SARS-CoV 2 pandemic.

Association of MMP-2 genes variants with diabetic retinopathy in Tunisian population with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Few studies investigated the association of genetic difference in metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) gene with diabetic retinopathy but with mixed outcome. To investigate the association between a set of MMP-2 genetic variants and the risk of diabetic retinopathy in an Arab Tunisian population with type 2 diabetes.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective case-control study comprising a total of 779 type 2 diabetes patients with or without diabetic retinopathy was conducted.

Prevalence and predicting factors of increased arterial stiffness in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is the noninvasive gold standard technique for measuring aortic stiffness. Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic renal disease in adults. It is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular complications.

Association of matrix metalloproteinase-2 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: A case control study.

Aims: Genetic variations mediating MMP-2 expression may result in individual differences in susceptibility to particular diseases. Our aim was to investigate the possible association of certain MMP-2 gene variants with the susceptibility of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a Tunisian population.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective case-control study involving 310 normoglycemic control subjects and 791 T2D patients was conducted.

Ion irradiation induced strain and structural changes in LiTaOperovskite.

LiTaOcrystals irradiated with 3 MeV and 1.162 GeV Au ions were studied by single crystal x-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements. The maximum lattice strains after 3 MeV Au ion irradiation to a fluence of 1.

A Unique and Scalable Model for Increasing Research Engagement, STEM Persistence, and Entry into Doctoral Programs.

Low persistence in science majors and limited participation in high-impact research experiences contribute to the nationwide underrepresentation of minorities in the science workforce, particularly jobs requiring a graduate degree. The Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences (PEERS) is an academic support program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that supports first- and second-year science majors from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds to maximize student success and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) persistence. Here, we evaluate the success of PEERS through data from the UCLA registrar, student surveys, and longitudinal tracking of student outcomes.

Modelling photovoltaic soiling losses through optical characterization.

The accumulation of soiling on photovoltaic (PV) modules affects PV systems worldwide. Soiling consists of mineral dust, soot particles, aerosols, pollen, fungi and/or other contaminants that deposit on the surface of PV modules. Soiling absorbs, scatters, and reflects a fraction of the incoming sunlight, reducing the intensity that reaches the active part of the solar cell.

Safety and efficacy of fiducial marker implantation for robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy with fiducial tracking.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, efficacy and toxicity of fiducial marker implantation and tracking in CyberKnife® stereotactic radiation therapy (SBRT) applied to extracranial locations.

Materials And Method: This is a retrospective, single-centre, observational study to collect the data of all patients treated by stereotactic radiation therapy with fiducial marker tracking at extracranial locations, conducted between June 2014 and November 2017. Information regarding the implantation procedure, the types of toxicity related to marker implantation and the number of markers implanted/tracked during treatment were collected.

Assessment of the quality of the change of surgical wound dressings by the nursing staff in a university hospital of Tunis.

Background: Infection of surgical wounds is the main cause of nosocomial infections. In the event of a defect in the care chain, in particular, during the change of the postoperative dressings, the infectious risk would be increased.

Aim: To evaluate the gestures of change of dressing practiced by nurses of a university hospital department of surgery, in order to observe the insufficiencies.

Elevation in Circulating Soluble CD40 Ligand Concentrations in Type 2 Diabetic Retinopathy and Association with its Severity.

Background: To investigate the relationship between changes in circulating soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) levels and the presence and severity of type 2 diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Subjects And Methods: sCD40L plasma concentrations were measured in 205 type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients without DR (DWR; n=50) and with DR (n=155), the latter subdivided into non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy [NPDR; n=98 (63.2%)], or proliferative retinopathy [PDR; n=57 (36.

Association of VEGFA variants with altered VEGF secretion and type 2 diabetes: A case-control study.

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) contributes to type 2 diabetes (T2DM) pathogenesis, and genetic variations in VEGFA gene were suggested to influence VEGF secretion and T2DM pathogenesis.

Aim: To evaluate the association of specific VEGFA variants with altered VEGF levels, and with T2DM among Tunisians.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective case-control study, performed on 815 T2DM patients, and 805 healthy controls.

Implementation of a Learning Assistant Program Improves Student Performance on Higher-Order Assessments.

Learning assistant (LA) programs have been implemented at a range of institutions, usually as part of a comprehensive curricular transformation accompanied by a pedagogical switch to active learning. While this shift in pedagogy has led to increased student learning gains, the positive effect of LAs has not yet been distinguished from that of active learning. To determine the effect that LAs would have beyond a student-centered instructional modality that integrated active learning, we introduced an LA program into a large-enrollment introductory molecular biology course that had already undergone a pedagogical transformation to a highly structured, flipped (HSF) format.

Facile Surfactant-Free Synthesis of p-Type SnSe Nanoplates with Exceptional Thermoelectric Power Factors.

A surfactant-free solution methodology, simply using water as a solvent, has been developed for the straightforward synthesis of single-phase orthorhombic SnSe nanoplates in gram quantities. Individual nanoplates are composed of {100} surfaces with {011} edge facets. Hot-pressed nanostructured compacts (Eg ≈0.

Over-expression of miR-10b in NPC patients: correlation with LMP1 and Twist1.

Aberrant expression of miR-10b has been described in many cancers but remains unexplored in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Therefore, we aimed to study the miR-10b expression level in 43 NPC biopsies collected from Tunisian patients and three NPC xenografts. Then, we investigated the correlation between miR-10b expression and its upstream regulators LMP1/Twist1 as well as its adjacent gene HoxD4.

Down-regulation of the cancer/testis antigen 45 (CT45) is associated with altered tumor cell morphology, adhesion and migration.

Background: Due to their restricted expression in male germ cells and certain tumors, cancer/testis (CT) antigens are regarded as promising targets for tumor therapy. CT45 is a recently identified nuclear CT antigen that was associated with a severe disease score in Hodgkin's lymphoma and poor prognosis in multiple myeloma. As for many CT antigens, the biological function of CT45 in developing germ cells and in tumor cells is largely unknown.

The pluripotency factor-bound intron 1 of Xist is dispensable for X chromosome inactivation and reactivation in vitro and in vivo.

X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a dynamically regulated developmental process with inactivation and reactivation accompanying the loss and gain of pluripotency, respectively. A functional relationship between pluripotency and lack of XCI has been suggested, whereby pluripotency transcription factors repress the master regulator of XCI, the noncoding transcript Xist, by binding to its first intron (intron 1). To test this model, we have generated intron 1 mutant embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and two independent mouse models.

Association of left-heart dysfunction with severe exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: diagnostic performance of cardiac biomarkers.

Rationale: Cardiac biomarkers are used to distinguish acute dyspnea due to left-heart dysfunction from that of pulmonary origin. However, they have not been assessed in the specific setting of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), where they might be released without left-heart impairment.

Objective: To assess the accuracy of troponin T and of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the diagnosis of AECOPD associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.