Comparison of the application of low concentration and 80% phenol solution in pilonidal sinus disease

Objectives Many conservative methods have been applied in the treatment of pilonidal sinus disease (PSD). The most commonly used conservative treatment is 80% phenol solution. Our observations demonstrated that 80% phenol solution caused much destruction in the sacrococcygeal region. Design In this study low concentrations of phenol were used with the aim of reducing the unwanted side-effects of high-concentration phenol without reducing the therapeutic effects. Participants We treated 112 patients (18 women, 94 men) with PSD using phenol solution. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A was treated with a 40% solution of phenol solution, and Group B was treated with an 80% solution of phenol solution. Setting All patients were treated on an outpatient basis. One mL of low (40%) or high (80%) concentration phenol solution was injected into the main sinus orifice. During the check it was observed and noted whether there was skin necrosis, fatty tissue necrosis or abscesses. Main outcome measures The mean age was 27.4 years (6–44). The median length of symptoms was seven months (0.5–132). In the 2.8 years (1–6) of mean follow-up period, the disease recurred in 13 (11.6%) patients. Results This treatment procedure was well-tolerated by all the patients except for those who had unwanted results. No patients in group A had skin necrosis, and only one had abscesses. In group B two patients had abscesses, and three had skin necrosis. Fatty tissue necrosis was seen in one patient in Group A and in five patients in Group B. Recurrence rates were four (7.4%) cases in Group A and nine (15.5%) cases in Group B. Conclusions It is possible to treat patients in a shorter time with a considerably smaller loss of working time, since the destruction of peripilonidal adipose tissue and skin is less. Therefore, the use of low-concentration phenol solution is an option to be considered in the treatment of PSD.PubMe

A sequence variant at 4p16.3 confers susceptibility to urinary bladder cancer

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPreviously, we reported germline DNA variants associated with risk of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in Dutch and Icelandic subjects. Here we expanded the Icelandic sample set and tested the top 20 markers from the combined analysis in several European case-control sample sets, with a total of 4,739 cases and 45,549 controls. The T allele of rs798766 on 4p16.3 was found to associate with UBC (odds ratio = 1.24, P = 9.9 x 10(-12)). rs798766 is located in an intron of TACC3, 70 kb from FGFR3, which often harbors activating somatic mutations in low-grade, noninvasive UBC. Notably, rs798766[T] shows stronger association with low-grade and low-stage UBC than with more aggressive forms of the disease and is associated with higher risk of recurrence in low-grade stage Ta tumors. The frequency of rs798766[T] is higher in Ta tumors that carry an activating mutation in FGFR3 than in Ta tumors with wild-type FGFR3. Our results show a link between germline variants, somatic mutations of FGFR3 and risk of UBC.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/21807

What can inactivity (in its various forms) reveal about affective states in non-human animals? A review

Captive/domestic animals are often described as inactive, with the implicit or explicit implication that this high level of inactivity is a welfare problem. Conversely, not being inactive enough may also indicate or cause poor welfare. In humans, too much inactivity can certainly be associated with either negative or positive affective states. In non-human animals, however, the affective states associated with elevated or suppressed levels of inactivity are still not well understood. Part of the complexity is due to the fact that there are many different forms of inactivity, each likely associated with very different affective states. This paper has two aims. One is to identify specific forms of inactivity that can be used as indicators of specific affective states in animals. The other is to identify issues that need to be resolved before we could validly use the remaining, not yet validated forms of inactivity as indicators of affective state. We briefly discuss how inactivity is defined and assessed in the literature, and then how inactivity in its various forms relates to affective (either negative or positive) states in animals, basing our reasoning on linguistic reports of affective states collected from humans displaying inactivity phenotypically similar to that displayed by animals in similar situations, and, when possible, on pharmacological validation. Specific forms of inactivity expressed in response to perceived threats (freezing, tonic immobility, and hiding) appear to be, to date, the best-validated indicators of specific affective states in animals. We also identify a number of specific forms of inactivity likely to reflect either negative (associated with ill-heath, boredom-like, and depression-like conditions), or positive states (e.g. ‘sun-basking’, post-consummatory inactivity), although further research is warranted before we could use those forms as indicators of the affective states. We further discuss the relationship between increased inactivity and affective states by presenting misleading situations likely to yield wrong conclusions. We conclude that more attention should be paid to inactivity in animal welfare studies: specific forms of inactivity identified in this paper are, or have the potential to be, useful indicators of affective (welfare) states in animals

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Private wool selling : benefits to the grower and implications for wool marketing

Concern has been shown by those involved in the New Zealand wool marketing system for the recent trend for growers to sell more wool to private merchants and less through the auction system. If this trend continues, industry restructuring may be required to meet channel members' requirements. Telephone surveys were conducted with 120 wool growers in the Canterbury region to determine why private selling of wool had been increasing in the period 1981/82 to 1986/87. Fifty nine percent of growers surveyed sold all of their wool through the auction system in the 1987/88 season, while 28 percent sold to a private merchant and 13 percent sold through both systems. Quicker payment was the most preferred reason. Certainty of payment and convenience were also reasons for selling privately. Small scale growers sold significantly more wool to private merchants than the average. Eighty eight gross private wool prices were analysed and compared to gross prices that could have been obtained at auction, there was no significant difference. However, after discounting costs associated with selling and time, growers selling privately had a price advantage of 33.5 cents/kg (clean). Comparisons of the cost structures between the two selling systems was inconclusive

Predictive value of serial CA 125 antigen levels in ovarian cancer evaluated by second-look laparotomy

Serial serum CA 125 levels were measured before definitive surgery and during chemotherapy for 12 months or more in 64 patients with ovarian cancer. In the 42 patients who had a complete clinical remission and thus were subjected to a second-look laparotomy, an absence of disease was not predicted by patterns of CA 125 levels. Whilst rising or persistently high levels indicated the presence of tumour in 92% of patients, declining levels to negative predicted the absence of tumour in only 50%. Although the majority of these patients showed microscopic foci or a tumor mass < 1 cm, 3 patients had a larger amount of disease. In the follow-up of 49 patients, the accuracy of prediction of a good outcome was better than that of a poor outcome on the basis of CA 125 patterns, with rates of 92% and 79%, respectively. Our findings indicate that CA 125 lacks sensitivity in detecting small tumour masses (< 1 cm dia.) but rising or persistently high levels suggest a strong likelihood of a residual tumour to be found at a second-look laparotomy