Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in public health measures and fewer viral infections, which trigger the nephrotic syndrome. Our objectives were to characterize the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with nephrotic syndrome. This single-center retrospective chart review compared children with nephrotic syndrome one year before the pandemic with the first wave of the pandemic. Epidemiologic events, clinical characteristics, and health care utilization were compared using paired t-tests, Fisher’s exact tests and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Among 96 children the mean age was 10.7 ± 5.28 years. The distribution was minimal change disease (16.7%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (12.5%), membranous nephropathy (1%) and not biopsied (69.8%). Medication responsiveness was steroid-sensitive (25%), frequently relapsed (54%) and steroid-resistant (20.8%). There were 14 new diagnoses of nephrotic syndrome pre-pandemic and 18 during the pandemic. Fewer relapses during the pandemic were likely due to fewer viral illnesses from public health measures during the pandemic.

Background: Fingerprint development techniques are being used for a long time and are considered one among the oldest methods in forensic science used to identify suspects. Fingerprints are one of the most significant types of physical evidence. There are various types of fingerprint patterns such as visible, plastic and latent. In criminal investigation cases, chance fingerprint impressions are mostly found at the crime scene. These prints are generally invisible and therefore require several development methods. The powder dusting technique of developing fingerprints involves the application of fine powder on the impression of the print with the help of a brush such as glass fiber or a camel hair brush. Main text: This paper rather focuses on various unconventional powder methods than the widely used conventional ones. This will help identify other cheaper, non-toxic powders that are commonly available as an alternative to the expensive, toxic ones. The author’s main aim is to provide a collective review of the work of other scientists in order to identify everyday materials, commonly available that can be used as possible means to develop a fingerprint impression. Conclusion: For a better result, the unconventional powder is used on different surfaces i.e. porous, non-porous, and semi-porous for latent fingerprint impressions. After developing impressions on different surfaces, we conclude our result that unconventional powder is very useful. 

Tissue banking is an interdisciplinary medical practice more reliant than others in specialized fields and applying knowledge from other branches of science, particularly nuclear sciences. A further difference from other medical disciplines is the urgent necessity to include laws, norms, standards and statutory regulations, which differ in their juridical binding force. Adopting a code of ethics and a code of practice is one of the main tasks to be conducted by a tissue establishment after its founding. The aim is to include in these codes the main ethical principles associated with the different laws, norms, standards, and statutory regulations in force in each country in the field of tissue banking.

We describe a case of thoracic endometriosis in a patient with a repeated episode of spontaneous pneumothorax. Investigations revealed diaphragmatic fenestrations and right-sided pleural and lung endometriosis. Considering the ultrasound evidence of pelvic endometriosis, the patient was scheduled for multidisciplinary surgical management, to treat in one step thoracic and pelvic endometriosis.

This review covers over one hundred Pt(II) complexes of the compositions Pt(η3–P1X1P2)(Y), (X1 = O1L, N1L, C1L, B1L, S1L or Si1L) and (Y = H, F, Cl, Br, I, O2L, N2L, C2L, or P3L). These complexes crystallized in five crystal classes: monoclinic (60 examples), triclinic (36 examples), orthorhombic (13 examples), trigonal (1 example) and tetragonal (1 example). Each heterotridentate organodiphosphine creates two metallocyclic rings with a common X1 atom. There are fourteen types of metallocycles from which the P1C2X1C2P2 is most common. The structural parameters (Pt-L, L-Pt-L) are analyzed and discussed with attention to the distortion of a square-planar geometry about the Pt(II) atoms as well as of trans-influence.

Objective: Pelvic masses can be classified as low risk (likely benign) and high risk (likely malignant) based on an initial clinical risk assessment, which involves a detailed history, physical exam, basic laboratory tests, and imaging. In recent years, the Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA), which combines CA125, HE4 and menopausal status, has emerged as a powerful tool in the classification of pelvic masses and triage of patients to either a generalist gynecologist or a gynecologic oncologist for management. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the use of ROMA, alone or in combination with Initial Clinical Risk Assessment (ICRA), provides cost savings compared to triage based on ICRA alone.Methods: A health-economic decision model was developed to assess clinical and cost differences associated with three different clinical pathways of risk assessment for a pelvic mass: ICRA alone, ROMA alone, or ICRA + ROMA in combination. Using previously reported accuracy rates and patient characteristics from a prospective, multicenter, blinded clinical trial, total healthcare costs were modeled for each clinical pathway using the Medicare 2020 reimbursement rates.Results: A total of 461 patients with pelvic masses were included with 10.4% ultimately diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer. Total healthcare costs for patients with benign disease, EOC, or low malignant potential tumors (LMP) (n = 441) triaged using ROMA alone were 3.3% lower than when triaged using ICRA alone. While lab costs increased 55% using ROMA, the use of ROMA alone resulted in a 4% decrease in laparoscopy costs and a 3.1% decrease in laparotomy costs compared with ICRA alone. Similarly, total costs associated with a combination of ICRA + ROMA were 3.9% lower than total costs associated with ICRA alone. The model also predicted a 63% reduction in repeat surgeries resulting from false negative ICRA when using ROMA to triage patients.Conclusion: Triage of women with pelvic masses using the more sensitive ROMA score lowers overall healthcare costs compared to ICRA alone. With fewer false negative results than ICRA alone, the ROMA score improves initial detection of malignancy and reduces second surgical treatments in women with pelvic masses.

One of the biggest challenges in sports medicine is the return-to-play decisions, making or breaking athletic careers. Since there are no protocols to guide team physicians and consultants for athletes with fatigue syndrome, illness, injury, or overtraining syndrome, real-time monitoring plays a crucial role in such cases. By monitoring a combination of performance (e.g., maximal lactate concentration, maximal heart rate at lactate threshold), physiological (e.g., resting heart rate and maximal heart rate), biochemical (e.g., glucose) and hormonal (e.g., cortisol) variables, there should be objective indices determining eligibility or disqualification for the ill or injured athletes, allowing rehabilitation practitioners to improve and adjust their plan accordingly on a real-time information provision basis.

Cerebral brain injuries (CBIs) account for up to 20% of all injuries in boxing. Approximately 97% of sports-related brain injuries are mild, their neurological symptoms are unexpressed, and young, strong, highly motivated athletes tend to dismiss the severity of their injuries. This may lead to an underestimation of the severity and extent of brain injuries. Changes in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in mild traumatic brain injury are absent in the early stages, making diagnosis difficult. Frequent repetitive traumatic brain injuries, including mild brain injuries, can result in functional and structural brain lesions that affect athletes’ performance and, in the long term, significantly impair their quality of life. Also, the consequences of cerebral brain injuries, including mild brain injury, can be affected by the individual condition of the Circle of Willis.

This article is part of a larger work carried out within the framework of a UNESCO Latin America financed Project, conducing to a publication supported by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics of Mexico (INEGI) and Virtual Educa. The book is currently being edited for publication.

The mental health impact caused by COVID-19 on adolescents was reviewed, and due to limited data, adult results were included, to support our assertion that additional mental health resources are needed for both adult and young people. Positive gains would include improved socio-emotional skills, a decrease in maladaptive behaviors contributing to the disruption in interpersonal relationships and lifetime achievements, suicide attempts and psychopathology, persistent mental health concerns found in the juvenile justice and foster care systems and substance use addiction later in adulthood (The American Psychological Association, 2019; Garber & Weersing, 2010; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, n.d.; Tomasello, 2018;). Geiger & Davis, 2019, found that 13% or 3.2 million United States (U.S.) teenagers aged 12 - 17 years old experienced at least one major depressive episode with the depression rate increasing 59% from 2007 to 2017. Therefore, we assert that developing programs to overcome barriers to mental health aid can reduce instances experienced in adolescence and adulthood.