Background Among all the modalities of diagnostic radiology, ultrasonography is considered the least invasive one. However, this benefit usually comes at the cost of its subjective evaluation since it is purely a dynamic diagnostic modality. Thus, instead of ultrasonography, most clinicians usually rely on the report written by the radiologist.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) has a rich and pre-programmed microbiome. This microbiome is essential for physiological functions such as digestion, immunity, metabolism, and structural integrity, and of prime concern to us in conducting this study is the nervous system communication. This two-way communication between the GIT and central nervous system (CNS) is known as the gut-brain axis (GBA) and has implications for neurocritical disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeniere's disease (MD) is a disorder of the inner ear characterized by chronic episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, increased aural pressure, and sensorineural hearing loss. Causes of MD are unknown, but endolymphatic hydrops is a hallmark. In addition, 5%-15% of MD cases have been identified as familial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: FK506 binding protein 51 (FKBP5) is a co-chaperone regulator of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Recent studies have reported increased FKBP5 mRNA in the circulation from patients with Cushing disease (CD) which returned to comparable levels seen in healthy controls following successful -nasal -sphenoidal (TNTS) surgical corticotroph tumor removal. However, the expression of circulating FKBP5 mRNA levels in other pituitary tumor subtypes and its specificity to corticotroph tumors is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is known that bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX, X = Cl, Br, I) can easily form solid solutions like BiOBrI, BiOClI and BiOClBr (0 ≤ ≤ 1) and exhibit composition-dependent photocatalytic performance. However, the reported results indicate that the optimal composition changes with pollutant type. That is to say, the specific value with the best photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of a certain pollutant does not imply that it is an optimum value for another pollutant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop a novel method for evaluating coronary artery ischemia using a combination of non-invasive coronary CT angiograms (CCTA) and 3D printing (FFR).
Methods: Twenty eight patients with varying degrees of coronary artery disease who underwent non-invasive CCTA scans and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) of their epicardial coronary arteries were included in this study. Coronary arteries were segmented and reconstructed from CCTA scans using Mimics (Materialize).
In recent years, the semiconductor bismuth oxide (BiO) has attracted increasing attention as a potential visible-light-driven photocatalyst due to its simple composition, relatively narrow bandgap (2.2-2.8 eV), and high oxidation ability with deep valence band levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We evaluated tumor recurrence and regrowth rates following endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal (TNTS) surgical removal in a consecutive series of clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (CNFTs).
Design: Retrospective chart review of clinical, biochemical, and sellar MRI findings in all TNTS surgeries in patients with CNFT, performed by a single surgeon, between 2008 and 2015 (n = 280).
Patients: Ninety-three patients met eligibility criteria, with complete clinical, biochemical, and imaging follow-up for a 3-year minimum.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder that can potentially affect any organ. It usually presents between the ages of 15 and 45 with 9:1 ratio of female to male patients. Its clinical manifestations vary among people of different ethnicities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFlying foxes have been considered to be involved in the transmission of serious infectious diseases to humans. Using questionnaires, we aimed to determine the direct and/or indirect contacts of flying foxes in an Indonesian nature conservation area with domestic animals and humans living in the surrounding area. We surveyed 150 residents of 10 villages in West Java.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe nucleophilic cleavage of alpha-amino acetals induced by TMSOTf can be used to prepare a wide range of substituted 1,2-aminoethers. In particular, organometallic reagents, N-heterocycles, and enamines all react efficiently to give products in good yield. In appropriate cases, good levels of stereocontrol are possible, but this is very dependent on the nature of the nucleophile and the substrate, with diethylzinc proving particularly effective across a range of substrates.
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