Articles

Central venous catheter fracture and migration are rare complications in patients receiving long-term infusions or chemotherapy. We present a rare case of a chest port catheter fracture that migrated into the coronary sinus. This case is likely the fourth report of a port catheter fracture with migration to the coronary sinus. Because of the difficult-to-retrieve location, multiple attempts were unsuccessful with traditional techniques using a loop snare. Finally, the fractured portion was disengaged from the coronary sinus using a navigational electrophysiology catheter guided by intracardiac echocardiography; the dislodged end was snared and eventually removed by the femoral route. This case of a chest port catheter fracture is unique because of the unusual migration to the coronary sinus and the use of a navigational electrophysiology catheter as a novel retrieval technique.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the industrialized world. Among these diseases, aortic dissection affects the aorta wall and is a surgical emergency with a low survival rate. This pathology occurs when an injury leads to a localized tear of the innermost layer of the aorta. It allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart and creating a false lumen. Endovascular treatment seeks to obliterate the entrances to the false lumen with a covered stent. There are very few studies on the postoperative demonstration of blood flow phenomena in the aortic dissection endovascular treatment. It is crucial to study the hemodynamics of blood in the aorta after an intervention because the new geometrical configuration of the aorta with a stent leads to modifications in blood flow. For the surgeons, the procedure can only be performed empirically, using MRI-4D images to view the postoperative flow of the patient’s blood in the aorta with the stent.This paper aims to present a numerical tool developed from the open-source software FOAM- Extend®, allowing for multiphysics numerical simulations. Using MRI data, a bio-faithful model of the patient-specific case was built. Numerical simulations were performed to predict preoperative and postoperative (endovascular treatment) hemodynamics. The modifications of the flow in the aorta were analyzed focusing on the postoperative perfusions. The results were compared with the corresponding MRI data and have a good qualitative agreement. Biomarkers are calculated to localize possible zones of post-operative pathological developments and recommendations may be suggested to the surgeons.

Resource recovery provides an opportunity to transform limited and abundant materials in form of waste into biobased products. In the production system, this technique could offer an economic means to utilize wastes to generate valuable products which are fundamental to a sustainable economy.

Quick and cost-effective recovery is foundational to high-quality training and good competition results in today’s sports. The aim of the research was to elucidate the effects of hand and massage chair massage on the biomechanical parameters of muscles of lower limbs and back, indicators of Pain Pressure Thresholds (PPT) and subjectively perceived fatigue. A total of 32 female recreational athletes (18 – 50 years old) were assigned to a hand massage, massage chair, or lying down the group. They were measured for muscle biomechanical properties (MyotonPro), PPT (Wagner Instruments) and subjectively perceived fatigue (VAS scale) before and after fatigue tests and treatment. The recovery procedure and subjective satisfaction with treatment were rated on a Likert scale. Changes in the median value of m. rectus femoris and m. gastrocnemius stiffness with treatment showed that hand massage could be more effective in reducing stiffness, as compared to chair massage. Hand massage may have benefits for recovery from physical exertion, but due to the individuality of subjects, detailed methodological studies are needed to evaluate the effects of massage chair vs. hand massage.

Recent clinical, experimental and epidemiological studies report that ALS is thought possibly due to a multi-stage process, arising from a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors, which alone or superimposed, perhaps on genetic polymorphism yet to be identified, may contribute to the incidence rate of sporadic ALS. In particular, a large amount of evidence suggests that mercury is toxic to motor neurons and may be a risk factor for ALS, playing a part in its pathogenesis. In fact, there have been case reports of ALS or ALS-like symptoms associated with mercury exposure, thus raising the possibility that mercury could be one of the non-genetic factors of the multistep process that is thought to underlie ALS. In order to give recent elucidations on the putative relationship between mercury exposure and ALS, we reviewed all the papers reported in the literature and published on Pubmed from 2006 to 2022. Despite a number of pathogenetic mechanisms that have been linked to mercury, evidence linking exposure to mercury to ALS is not consistent and discordant and, based on the evaluation of the articles, which emerged from our analysis that to date no convincing correlation between mercury and ALS has been established and no conclusive evidence has been enlightened suggesting increased mercury exposure is associated with ALS.

Background and objective: Peroxidase is an oxidoreductase that uses different compounds as substrates and thus can be utilized for different applications. The goal of this work is to isolate peroxidase from lemon peels using Three-Phase Portioning (TPP). Methods: TPP was set by adding varying amounts of salts and alcohol and the enzyme activity recovery was measured for each variable. Different parameters were optimized successively in order to achieve the highest enzyme activity recovery including salt type, salt concentration, pH, alcohol/crude extract ratio and type of alcohol and then, combining all optimized conditions together.Results: Salt that gave maximal recovery was sodium potassium tartrate, optimal salt concentration was 15%, optimal pH was 8, optimal alcohol/crude extract ratio was 1 and t-butanol was preferred to 1-butanol. Efficiently, upon combining all optimized factors, an activity recovery of 175% was obtained.Conclusion: This protocol provides an easy, feasible method to efficiently isolate peroxidase from lemon peels using TPP.

The complex requirements of a database system for recording regulated chemicals exceed the capabilities of a relational database system. Inheritance, which is part of object-oriented programming, must also be logically transferred to chemical objects. This issue is illustrated here by means of examples of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the German version of the New Psychoactive Substances Law (NpSG).

Introduction: Intraductal Papillary Neoplasm of the Bile ducts (IPNB) is a rare entity characterized by exophytic growth of the bile ducts.Case presentation: In this report, we present a 57-year-old male with no prior medical history consulted for upper right abdominal pain, jaundice and pruritus. Abdominal Ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging/Bili-magnetic resonance were performed. They revealed that the circumferential parietal thickening of the common hepatic duct had extended approximately 4 cm with moderate dilatation of the left intrahepatic bile ducts. Computed tomography showed no evidence of distant metastasis.Biopsy revealed a high-grade intraductal papillary neoplasm. After 40 days, the patient had left hepatectomy with resection of the main bile duct and the gallbladder. Macroscopic examination of the surgical specimen showed a dilatation duct at the hilum with thickening of their walls.The histopathology report revealed multiple intra-hepatic papillary neoplasms with high-grade dysplasia with an invasive carcinoma component in the left hepatic duct without extending to the biliary wall, classified as pT1N0.Conclusion: This premalignant lesion has the potential to transform into invasive carcinoma if not properly diagnosed.Our case illustrates how early identification can lead to potential surgical resection.

Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) is produced from the liver, kidney, bone and placenta. During pregnancy, ALP may raise markedly with no clear reason. Here, we present a rare case of highly elevated ALP in a 21 years old pregnant woman during the third trimester who had no important past medical history. It was 2800 U/L. Bone, renal, or liver was all normal. Close monitoring of the fetus and his mother until birth was the way of treatment. We had seven weeks postpartum to decline in ALP concentration but did not return to the normal range. The placenta showed lesions of chronic villitis. The extreme incline in ALP during the gestational stages is riskier because the threat here is posed to 2 lives. In such conditions, constant monitoring of ALP in the maternal serum backed with necessary medication is required. 

Objectives: Investigate binge-watching (BW) behavior among students and assess its correlation with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Methods: Medical students who met the definition of BW were divided, according to their viewing frequency, into three groups: G1: once a month or less, G2: once a week or once every two weeks, and G3: twice a week or more. Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were used. Results: Ninety-four participants were recruited. The prevalence of BW was 72.3%. Depression and anxiety scores didn’t differ between binge watchers and the non-binge watcher group. G2 was found to be significantly less depressed (p = 0.014) and had a lower anxiety state (p = 0.05) and anxiety trait scores (p = 0.026) than the control group. Feeling tired was the most prevalent reason to stop viewing among G3 (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Binge-watching could be when used in a specific manner, a way to cope with negative feelings.