A research on asymptomatic bacteriuria in 14- to 17-year-old female students

Urinary tract infections, which are more common in women than in men, are especially seen in young asymptomatic females who don't obey the general rules of hygiene. This research has been carried out on 14- to 17-year-old young females from several high schools, 966 specimens in total. 3.3% of them had bacteriuria and 75% of the isolated bacteria was Escherichia coli. Copyright © 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Modelling the water budget and the riverflows of the Maritsa basin in Bulgaria

International audienceA soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model coupled with a macroscale distributed hydrological model was used in order to simulate the water cycle for a large region in Bulgaria. To do so, an atmospheric forcing was built for two hydrological years (1 October 1995 to 30 September 1997), at an eight km resolution. It was based on the data available at the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) of Bulgaria. Atmospheric parameters were carefully checked and interpolated with a high level of detail in space and time (3-h step). Comparing computed Penman evapotranspiration versus observed pan evaporation validated the quality of the implemented forcing. The impact of the human activities on the rivers (especially hydropower or irrigation) was taken into account. Some improvements of the hydrometeorological model were made: for better simulation of summer riverflow, two additional reservoirs were added to simulate the slow component of the runoff. Those reservoirs were calibrated using the observed data of the 1st year, while the 2nd year was used for validation. 56 hydrologic stations and 12 dams were used for the model calibration while 41 rivergages were used for the validation of the model. The results compare well with the daily-observed discharges, with good results obtained over more than 25% of the rivergages. The simulated snow depth was compared to daily measurements at 174 stations and the evolution of the snow water equivalent was validated at 5 sites. The process of melting and refreezing of snow was found to be important on this region. The comparison of the normalized values of simulated versus measured soil moisture showed good correlation. The surface water budget shows large spatial variations due to the elevation influence on the precipitations, soil properties and vegetation variability. An inter annual difference was observed in the water cycle as the first year was more influenced by Mediterranean climate, while the second year was characterised by continental influence. Energy budget shows a dominating sensible heat component in summer, due to the fact that the water stress limits the evaporation. This study is a first step for the implementation of an operational hydrometeorological model that could be used for real time monitoring and forecast the water budget and the riverflow of Bulgaria

Solitary colon metastasis from renal cell carcinoma nine years after nephrectomy: A case report

AbstractIntroductionRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common renal malignancy in adults. Metastatic disease is relatively common at presentation and frequently involves the lung, bone, brain, liver and adrenal glands. After curative resection, there is a 30–40% risk of recurrence, and a 10% risk of developing metastatic disease after 5 years. The gastrointestinal tract, particularly the colon, represents a very uncommon site of late metastatic disease.Presentation of CaseWe present a case of a 67 year-old-male who underwent a left radical nephrectomy for RCC 9 years before presenting with a metastatic large bowel obstruction. He was later found to have a near-completely obstructing mass in the rectosigmoid colon and underwent a sigmoidectomy with anterior resection of the upper rectum. Histopathology confirmed metastatic RCC confined to the colonic wall with negative microscopic margins.DiscussionThe tendency of RCC to metastasize to unusual sites such as the pancreas or thyroid gland has been widely reported. However, cases of colon metastasis from RCC are extremely rare. Despite the absence of randomized prospective data, widespread consensus supports the surgical treatment of solitary and oligometastatic disease in light of the poor patient outcomes in non-surgically treated disease (Milovic et al., 2013) [3]. Multiple groups have reported favorable outcomes for surgically resected solitary metastatic disease with long disease-free intervals and good performance status.ConclusionThe colon is a potential, though uncommon, site for solitary metastasis from RCC. The clinical presentation is frequently several years after initial curative resection. Oncologic resection with negative margins may result in long-term survival in patients with isolated metastatic disease

Routine nasogastric suction may be unnecessary after a pancreatic resection

AbstractBackgroundMost surgeons routinely place a nasogastric tube at the time of a pancreatic resection. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the outcome when a pancreatic resection is performed without routine post-operative nasogastric suction.MethodsOne hundred consecutive patients underwent a pancreatic resection (64a pancreaticoduodenectomy, 98% pylorus sparing and 36a distal pancreatectomy). In the first cohort (50 patients), a nasogastric tube was routinely placed at the time of surgery and in the second cohort (50 patients) the nasogastric was removed in the operating room. Outcomes for these two cohorts were recorded in a prospective database and compared using the χ2 or Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon's rank-sum test.ResultsDemographical, surgical and pathological details were similar between the two cohorts. A post-operative complication occurred in 22 (44%) in each group (P= 1.000). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency or severity of complications, or length of stay between groups. The spectrum of complications experienced by the two cohorts was similar including complications that could potentially be related to the use of nasogastric suction such as delayed gastric emptying, anastomotic leak, wound dehiscence and pneumonia. There was no difference between the two groups in the number of patients who required post-operative nasogastric tube placement (or replacement) [2 (4%) vs. 4 (8%), P= 0.678].ConclusionIt may be safe to place a nasogastric tube post-operatively in a minority of patients after a pancreatic resection and spare the majority the discomfort associated with routine post-operative nasogastric suction

Mailed Outreach Invitations Significantly Improve HCC Surveillance Rates in Patients With Cirrhosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147207/1/hep30129-sup-0001-Appendix.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147207/2/hep30129_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147207/3/hep30129.pd

Challenges and Pitfalls in the Management of Parathyroid Carcinoma: 17-Year Follow-Up of a Case and Review of the Literature

A 29-year-old man presented to his primary care physician with nausea, severe weight loss and muscle weakness. He had a hard, fixed neck swelling. He was severely hypercalcaemic with 10-fold increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations. A diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism was established and the patient was referred for parathyroidectomy. At neck exploration, an enlarged parathyroid gland with invasive growth into the thyroid gland was found and removed, lymph nodes were cleared and hemithyroidectomy was performed. A suspected diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma was confirmed histologically. Serum calcium and PTH levels normalised post-operatively, but hyperparathyroidism recurred within 3 years of surgery. Over the following 17 years, control of hypercalcaemia represented the most difficult challenge despite variable success achieved with repeated surgical interventions, embolisations, radiofrequency ablation of metastases and treatment with calcimimetics, bisphosphonates and haemodialysis using low-dialysate calcium. In this paper, we report the challenges and pitfalls we encountered in the management of our patient over nearly two decades of follow-up and review recent literature on the topic

Malaria problem in Afghanistan: Malaria scanning results of the Turkish medical aid group after the war

Malaria is a parasitic infection caused by Plasmodium species and it is especially seen in tropical and subtropical areas. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the infection in Afghanistan, which is an endemic place for malaria and had severe socio-economical lost after the war. We also compared these data with the ones that were recorded before the war. Blood samples were taken from 376 malaria suspected patients who come to the health center, established by the medical group of Istanbul Medical Faculty in 2002, Afghanistan. Blood samples were screened using the OPTIMAL Rapid Malaria Test and Giemsa staining method. In 95 (25.3%) patients diagnosis was malaria. In 65 patients (17.3%) the agent of the infection was P. falciparum and in 30 patients (8%) agents were other Plasmodium species. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Modelling the water budget and the riverflows of the Maritsa basin in Bulgaria

A soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model coupled with a macroscale distributed hydrological model was used to simulate the water cycle for a large region in Bulgaria. To do so, an atmospheric forcing was built for two hydrological years (1 October 1995 to 30 September 1997), at an eight km resolution. The impact of the human activities on the rivers (especially hydropower or irrigation) was taken into account. An improvement of the hydrometeorological model was made: for better simulation of summer riverflow, two additional reservoirs were added to simulate the slow component of the runoff. Those reservoirs were calibrated using the observed data of the 1st year, while the 2nd year was used for validation. 56 hydrologic stations and 12 dams were used for the model calibration while 41 river gauges were used for the validation of the model. The results compare well with the daily-observed discharges, with good results obtained over more than 25% of the river gauges. The simulated snow depth was compared to daily measurements at 174 stations and the evolution of the snow water equivalent was validated at 5 sites. The process of melting and refreezing of snow was found to be important in this region. The comparison of the normalized values of simulated versus measured soil moisture showed good correlation. The surface water budget shows large spatial variations due to the elevation influence on the precipitation, soil properties and vegetation variability. An inter-annual difference was observed in the water cycle as the first year was more influenced by Mediterranean climate, while the second year was characterised by continental influence. The energy budget shows a dominating sensible heat component in summer, due to the fact that the water stress limits the evaporation. This study is a first step for the implementation of an operational hydrometeorological model that could be used for real time monitoring and forecasting of water budget components and river flow in Bulgaria

Research on Toxocara Canis antibodies obtained from patients with eosinophilia

Background: Eosinophils may suggest the presence of a great variety of anomalies whereupon allergies, malignancies, certain tissue disorders, idiopathic hypereosynophilic syndrome and parasitic infections (with the exception of protozoons) can be cited as a few. Although the clinical manifestations may differ, the eosinophils level is quite an important data in cases related to the helminth infections. Similarly, in parasitic infections related to larva migrans (visceral, cutaneous, ocular), the eosinophils level is again a primary indicator and its evident cause is the roundworm Toxocara spp. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance characteristics of Toxocara spp. in patients with eosonophilia. Materials and Methods: In our study, serums were collected from 93 patients of various age groups with eosonophilia (10% and above) while visiting Istanbul University Medical Faculty due to various complaints. Results: Serum samples were treated with Toxocara IgG ready ELISA kit and Toxocara western blot IgG ready kit. Based on the ELISA method; out of 93 patients, 30 patients (32.3%) were positive. Western blot technique; 45 (48.4%) were positive with anti-toxocara IgG antibodies. Conclusion: Results point out to western blot technique being more sensitive and superior on a scale of (P < 0.0001) when compared with the ELISA method