Endoscopic Removal of an Unusual Foreign Body Causing Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Foreign body ingestion is a condition more common in the pediatric population than in adults. In adults, although foreign body ingestion can be well tolerated, approximately 10-20% of patients require endoscopic intervention. Delayed diagnosis and unremoved foreign bodies can cause serious and fatal complications including perforation, fistula and gastrointestinal bleeding. Here we report a patient with bleeding duodenal ulcer thought to be initiated by a large foreign body

Plasma biomarkers of brain injury in COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms

Objective: Neurological symptoms (NS) were often reported in COVID-19 infection. We examined the plasma levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100B together, as brain injury biomarkers, in relation to persistent NS in a cohort of patients with COVID-19 during the acute phase of the disease.Methods: A total of 20 healthy controls and 58 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum GFAP and S100B levels were measured by using enzymle linked immunoassay method from blood samples.Results: Serum GFAP levels were found to be significantly higher in the severe group than in the controls (p = 0.007). However, serum S100B levels were similar between control and disease groups (p > 0.05). No significant results for GFAP and S100B were obtained between the disease groups depending on whether the sampling time was below or above 5 days (p > 0.05). We did not find a correlation between serum GFAP and S100B levels and the presence of NS (p > 0.05). However, serum S100B levels were slightly higher in patients with multiple NS than in those with a single symptom (p = 0.044).Conclusions: Elevated GFAP was associated with disease severity but not with NS in COVID-19 patients. Whereas, high serum S100B was associated with the multipl NS in these patients. Our data suggest that GFAP and S100B may be of limited value currently in order to represent the neuronal damage, though serving a basis for the future work

Neurological symptoms and neuronal damage markers in acute COVID-19: Is there a correlation? A pilot study

A wide spectrum of neurological symptoms (NS) has been described in patients with COVID-19. We examined the plasma levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and neurofilament light chain (NFL) together, as neuronal damage markers, and their relationships with clinical severity in patients with NS at acute COVID-19. A total of 20 healthy controls and 59 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this pilot prospective study. Serum NSE and NFL levels were measured by using the enzyme-linked immunoassay method from serum samples. Serum NSE levels were found to be significantly higher in the severe group than in the nonsevere group (p = 0.034). However, serum NFL levels were similar between the control and disease groups (p > 0.05). For the mild group, serum NFL levels were significantly higher in patients with the sampling time >= 5 days than in those with the sampling time 0.05). Increased serum NSE levels were associated with disease severity regardless of accompanied NS in patients with acute COVID-19 infection. However, serum NFL levels may have a role at the subacute phase of COVID-19

Novel HMO-Glasses with Sb2O3 and TeO2 for Nuclear Radiation Shielding Purposes: A Comparative Analysis with Traditional and Novel Shields

The radiation shielding characteristics of samples from two TeO2 and Sb2O3-based basic glass groups were investigated in this research. TeO2 and Sb2O3-based glasses were determined in the research as six samples with a composition of 10WO3-(x)MoO3-(90 − x)(TeO2/Sb2O3) (x = 10, 20, 30). A general purpose MCNPX Monte Carlo code and Phy-X/PSD platform were used to estimate the radiation shielding characteristics. Accordingly, the linear and mass attenuation coefficients, half value layer, mean free path, variation of the effective atomic number with photon energy, exposure and built-up energy factors, and effective removal cross-section values were determined. It was determined that the results that were produced using the two different techniques were consistent. Based on the collected data, the most remarkable findings were found to be associated with the sample classified as T80 (10WO3 + 10MoO3 + 80TeO2). The current study showed that material density was as equally important as composition in modifying radiation shielding characteristics. With the T80 sample with the greatest density (5.61 g/cm3) achieving the best results. Additionally, the acquired findings were compared to the radiation shielding characteristics of various glass and concrete materials. Increasing the quantity of MoO3 additive, a known heavy metal oxide, in these TeO2 and Sb2O3-based glasses may have a detrimental impact on the change in radiation shielding characteristics