Incidentally Detected Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Renal Pelvis in Patients with Staghorn Calculi: Case Series with Review of the Literature

Squamous cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis is a rare neoplasm, often unsuspected clinically due to its rarity and ambiguous clinical and radiological features, and hence patients present at advanced stages resulting in poor prognosis. We report here four cases of incidentally diagnosed primary renal squamous cell carcinoma, treated at our hospital over a short span of one year, and review the relevant literature. Mean age of the patients (3 males, 1 female) was 60 years. All suffered from staghorn stones. Interestingly, renal carcinoma was unsuspected clinically in all patients. In one case, a computerised tomography scan showed a suspicious nodule. All underwent nephrectomy for nonfunctioning kidney. In just two cases, tumor was identified on gross examination, while the other two only showed thickened pelvis. Our series emphasises the need for pelvicalyceal biopsy during treatment for long-standing nephrolithiasis, and thorough sampling of the renal pelvis in nephrectomy specimen of such patients

In-situ synthesis of reagents in paper-based analytical devices using paper stacking

This article demonstrates a technique for the in-situ synthesis of an insoluble analytical reagent in paper analytical devices, using paper stacking. Previously, our group has demonstrated that stacking a fast-wicking paper membrane on top of a slow-wicking paper membrane containing dried reagents enables the uniform rehydration of the dried reagents over large areas. This technique is utilized here to fabricate distance-based sweat chloride quantification strips, which requires the synthesis of insoluble silver chromate as an analytical reagent within paper. The in-situ generation of silver chromate for sweat chloride detection was previously accomplished by manually dipping a hydrophobically patterned paper channel into multiple precursor solutions with intermittent washing and drying. Compared to the previous technique, the stacking method obviates the need for i) patterning hydrophobic barriers in paper for creation of flow channels, and ii) multiple dipping steps that need large reagent volumes. The method is amenable to large scale manufacturing as the insoluble reagent can be synthesized uniformly over large paper areas and can then be cut into multiple sensing strips. The developed sensor has a limit of detection of ~0.3 mM and a wide linear dynamic range of 0-120mM for the detection of chloride ion, which enables the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, characterized by sweat chloride levels greater than 60 mM. This simple technique of in-situ synthesis of insoluble analytical reagents in paper could enable expanding the range of analytical chemistries that may be performed in paper-based analytical devices

Bright Is Not Always Better: A Pictorial Review of Hyperechoic Malignant Breast Masses

Hyperechogenic breast lesions are a relatively rare finding at breast ultrasonography and are traditionally thought to be benign. However, hyperechogenicity on the ultrasound alone does not provide enough evidence to rule out malignancy completely. We herein reported a short series of nine cases of echogenic malignant breast lesions, which include invasive ductal carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive lobular carcinoma, angiosarcoma, lymphoma, and metastasis to the breast. Echogenic breast lesions should be carefully evaluated and properly categorized based on any other suspicious sonographic characteristics and must be correlated with mammographic findings and clinical history to lower the threshold for biopsy and avoid delay in diagnosis. Hyperechogenicity should not be considered as a characteristically benign feature and should not supersede the less specifically benign features of the same lesion on the other examination

<i>In situ</i> synthesis of reagents in paper-based analytical devices using paper stacking

This article demonstrates a technique for the in situ synthesis of an insoluble reagent in microfluidic paper analytical devices (μPADs). We demonstrate it's application in distance-based chloride ion measurement using paper stacking.The publisher's final version of this work can be found at https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ay00924b. Deposited by shareyourpaper.org and openaccessbutton.org. We've taken reasonable steps to ensure this content doesn't violate copyright. However, if you think it does you can request a takedown by emailing [email protected]

Synthesis of novel acrylyl pyranochromen-2-one derivatives and their antibacterial activity evaluation

482-496A series of fourteen pyranochromen-2-one acrylate derivatives has been synthesized by acid-catalyzed esterification reaction of the corresponding pyranochromen-2-one acrylic acids with various alcohols under reflux conditions. In order to have comparison of the activity profiles of esters and amides, the synthesis of ten pyranochromen-2-one acrylamides from corresponding acrylic acids using different coupling agents has also been carried out. All of the synthesized compounds have been fully characterized from their spectral data and evaluated for antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli). It is inferred form the results that the presence of hydroxyl group along with longer hydrophobic alkyl chain is favorable for a compound to inhibit bacterial growth, which can be used to design and develop the next generation of compounds with higher antibacterial efficacy

A comparative study of micro insurance products

Micro Insurance in India is beginning from the financial institutions’ activities i.e., they hedge their own risks while lending to the poor under the requirements of direct lending. In India, Micro Insurance is guaranteed through poverty alleviation programs by the Government. These programs are built into the credit package as compulsory elements to the development of the unorganized sector. Both the life and General insurance companies have issued various Micro Insurance products for those who are not financially strong enough to buy the premium products.&nbsp; For comparing the Micro Insurance products, total top three companies form life insurance sector (inclusive of public and private sector companies) have been selected on the basis of annual premium being received. Out of top three companies one (i.e. Life Insurance Company) from consists of three companies related to life insurance such as Life Insurance Corporation of India Public sector and two private (i.e. DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company Limited and Shriram Life Insurance Company) have been selected in life insurance business. All of these businesses were chosen based on the amount of annual premium they collected (2015-16)

Comparative assessment of digital pathology systems for primary diagnosis

Background: Despite increasing interest in whole-slide imaging (WSI) over optical microscopy (OM), limited information on comparative assessment of various digital pathology systems (DPSs) is available. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive evaluation was undertaken to investigate the technical performance–assessment and diagnostic accuracy of four DPSs with an objective to establish the noninferiority of WSI over OM and find out the best possible DPS for clinical workflow. Results: A total of 2376 digital images, 15,775 image reads (OM - 3171 + WSI - 12,404), and 6100 diagnostic reads (OM - 1245, WSI - 4855) were generated across four DPSs (coded as DPS: 1, 2, 3, and 4) using a total 240 cases (604 slides). Onsite technical evaluation revealed successful scan rate: DPS3 < DPS2 < DPS4 < DPS1; mean scanning time: DPS4 < DPS1 < DPS2 < DPS3; and average storage space: DPS3 < DPS2 < DPS1 < DPS4. Overall diagnostic accuracy, when compared with the reference standard for OM and WSI, was 95.44% (including 2.48% minor and 2.08% major discordances) and 93.32% (including 4.28% minor and 2.4% major discordances), respectively. The difference between the clinically significant discordances by WSI versus OM was 0.32%. Major discordances were observed mostly using DPS4 and least in DPS1; however, the difference was statistically insignificant. Almost perfect (κ ≥ 0.8)/substantial (κ = 0.6–0.8) inter/intra-observer agreement between WSI and OM was observed for all specimen types, except cytology. Overall image quality was best for DPS1 followed by DPS4. Mean digital artifact rate was 6.8% (163/2376 digital images) and maximum artifacts were noted in DPS2 (n = 77) followed by DPS3 (n = 36). Most pathologists preferred viewing software of DPS1 and DPS2. Conclusion: WSI was noninferior to OM for all specimen types, except for cytology. Each DPS has its own pros and cons; however, DPS1 closely emulated the real-world clinical environment. This evaluation is intended to provide a roadmap to pathologists for the selection of the appropriate DPSs while adopting WSI

Oligo-glycerol based non-ionic amphiphilic nanocarriers for lipase mediated controlled drug release

A new class of non-ionic amphiphiles is synthesized using a diaryl derivative of diglycerol as a central core and functionalizing it with long alkyl chains (C-12/C-15) and monomethoxy PEG moiety (M-n: 350/550) by following a chemo-enzymatic approach. The aggregation behavior of the amphiphiles in aqueous medium is studied by using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fluorescence spectroscopy, whereas the size and morphology of the aggregates are studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A hydrophobic dye, Nile red and a hydrophobic drug, nimodipine, are used to demonstrate the nano-carrier capability of these non-ionic amphiphilic systems and the results are compared with amphiphilic analogues obtained from the triaryl derivatives of triglycerol. Thein vitrocontrolled release of the encapsulated dye is successfully carried out in the presence of immobilized Candida antarcticalipase (Novozym 435). Furthermore, cytotoxicity data is also collected which suggests that the amphiphiles are suitable for biomedical applications