598 research outputs found

    Infectious Diseases of the Stomach in Immune-compromised Patients

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    The gastrointestinal tract is a vast reservoir for internal microbiota; it is exposed directly to various externally introduced microbes, including bacteria, viruses, parasites and others. In immune-compromised conditions, the gastrointestinal tract is frequently affected by infectious diseases that seldom manifest clinically in immune-competent hosts. Immune-compromised conditions result from a variety of reasons, including human immunodeficiency virus infection, anti-cancer chemo-radiotherapy, immune suppressive therapy for autoimmune diseases, and organ transplantations. The stomach is a relatively rare site for opportunistic infections in immune-compromised patients compared to the esophagus and colon, where esophagitis and colitis develop frequently and cause significant clinical consequences. Helicobacter pylori infection is majorly involved in gastric malfunctioning in immune- compromised patients, followed by cytomegalovirus infection. Infections by Cryptosporidium, Mycobacterium avium complex, histoplasmosis, leishmaniasis, aspergillosis, or treponema, have been reported; however, gastric involvement of these agents is extremely rare. This review discusses the general aspects and recent reports on gastric infection in immune-compromised patients

    Proanthocyanidin from Grape Seed Extracts Protects Indomethacin-Induced Small Intestinal Mucosal Injury

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    Proanthocyanidin (grape seed proanthocyanidin extracts, GSPEs) is an antioxidant and scavenges free radicals. Excessive oxidative stress and free radical production are major components in the pathogenesis of NSAID-induced small intestinal injury. We investigated the effect of GSPEs on indomethacin-induced intestinal mucosal injury in the rat. Rats were allocated into four groups: the null control group, the indomethacin control group, the low-dose GSPEs group, and the high-dose GSPEs group. GSPEs were administered for 4 days. Then indomethacin and GSPEs were coadministered for the following 2 days by oral route. The dose of indomethacin was 200 mg/Kg. The doses of GSPEs were 100 mg/Kg for low-dose group and 300 mg/Kg for high-dose group. Luminal bleeding was solely observed in one of 5 rats from indomethacin control group. The number of ulcer count was reduced to 0.1 ± 0.3 per rat in GSPEs treated group compared to 1.4 ± 0.5 per rat in indomethacin control group. Submucosal inflammatory cell infiltration was also reduced to 50% in GSPEs treated group. The tissue level of prostaglandin E2 was not affected by GSPEs treatment. GSPEs attenuated the indomethacin-induced small intestinal injury irrespective of the tissue PGE2 depletion and glutathione consumption

    Comparing the Efficacy of Concomitant Therapy with Sequential Therapy as the First-Line Therapy of Helicobacter pylori

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    Background. The decline of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication rates with standard triple therapy resulted in a search for novel therapies for first-line therapy of H. pylori infection. Aim. The aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of concomitant therapy with sequential therapy as the first-line therapy of H. pylori eradication. Methods. We reviewed medical records of patients who were confirmed to have H. pylori infection and received eradication treatment from September 2012 to March 2015. The concomitant group was treated with rabeprazole, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and metronidazole for 7 days. The sequential group was treated with rabeprazole and amoxicillin for 5 days and then rabeprazole, clarithromycin, and metronidazole for an additional 5 days. Six weeks after the treatment period, patients in both groups underwent 13C-Urea breath test (UBT) to confirm H. pylori eradication. Results. The eradication rate was 90.3% in the concomitant group and 85.5% in the sequential group. However, the eradication rates between the two groups showed no statistical difference (P=0.343). Conclusion. No statistical difference was found in eradication rates between the two groups. However, in areas where antibiotic resistance is high, concomitant therapy may be more effective than sequential therapy for H. pylori eradication

    Mesoscopic Luttinger Liquid Theory in an Aharonov-Bohm Ring

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    A careful study on the mesoscopic PC in a Luttinger liquid ring is carried out. It is shown that discreteness plays an important role in calculating the PC caused by the magnetic flux. At zero temperature, the current is shown to be independent of the interaction even when g=g2g4g=g_2-g_4 is not zero. The current becomes enhanced at finite temperatures comparing to the non-interacting case, when the parameter g is positive.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Version to appear in PR

    Congenital Hemidiaphragmatic Agenesis Presenting as Reversible Mesenteroaxial Gastric Volvulus and Diaphragmatic Hernia: A Case Report

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    A 70-yr-old woman complained of left sided chest pain and non-bilious vomiting for four days after taking a gastric bloating agent for an upper gastrointestinal study. The chest radiography revealed gastric air-fluid levels and bowel loops in the left thoracic cavity. An emergency thoracotomy was performed. The abdominal organs (stomach, spleen, splenic flexure of the colon) were in the left thorax and the entire left hemidiaphragm was absent. There were no diaphragmatic remnants visible for reconstruction of the left diaphragm. We provided warm saline irrigation and performed a left lower lobe adhesiotomy. Thirteen days after surgery, the chest radiography showed improvement in the herniation but mild haziness remained at the left lower lung field. Here we present the oldest case of congenital diaphragmatic agenesis presenting with transient gastric volvulus and diaphragmatic hernia

    Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

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    Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

    Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

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    This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

    Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

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    One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI
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