Megameatus intact prepuce variety of hypospadias: tips for repair using the modified glanular approximation procedure

Background/purpose Megameatus and intact prepuce (MIP) is an unusual, anterior hypospadias variant. Cosmetic remodeling is usually carried out to avoid disturbing the child’s psychological state. Several approaches are used for MIP repair. The purpose of this study was to present a single institution’s experience with the modified glanular approximation procedure (GAP) in the treatment of the MIP variant of hypospadias and the tips needed to obtain the best outcome.Patients and methods Seventeen patients with MIP were repaired between May 2004 and May 2009 by the modified GAP technique. The technique was used to achieve a conical glans with a vertical slit, tip-cited meatus, and a straight urine stream. Patient/parent satisfaction was assessed by a subjective score that ranged between 0 and 3 and complications were reported.Results All patients were repaired using the modified GAP technique. The age of the patients ranged from 6 months to 28 years. Four patients were circumcised with a history of intact prepuce. An intermediate layer was added in seven patients. Excision of a part of the redundant urethral plate was carried out in six cases. Disruption of the repair occurred in one patient as a result of wound infection. Excellent cosmetic results were achieved in 14 patients (10 with a subjective score of 3 and four with a subjective score of 2). Two patients expressed an acceptable score of 1 and one patient was dissatisfied with a subjective score of 0.Conclusion Good cosmetic results, such as achievement of a straight urine stream and patient satisfaction, can be achieved using the modified GAP procedure. The steps should be tailored to individual cases.Keywords: hypospadias, megameatus, modified glanular approximation procedur

Morphological and molecular evaluation of some Egyptian pomegranate cultivars

Six Egyptian pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars were characterized by fruit characteristics (physical and chemical) and two molecular markers; Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Genetic diversity of the pomegranate genotypes was evaluated. Physical fruit traits were determined (weight, volume and diameter), calyx [diameter, length (mm) and Carpels number], fruit firmness (Newton), peel as (weight and thickness), arils weight (g), volume of juice (ml), seeds [fresh and dry weight (g)], and color parameter of (fruit skin, internal peel, arils, juice and seeds). The chemical traits such as soluble solids contents (SSC), vitamin C content, anthocyanin content, pH, and titratable acidity (TA) were assessed and wide variations were observed in each of these traits among the studied cultivars. The genetic variability and relationships among six Egyptian pomegranate cultivars were tested using ISSR and AFLP analyses. The level of polymorphism across cultivars was 53 and 90.7% as revealed by ISSR and AFLP, respectively. ISSR and AFLP revealed different genetic similarities among the six pomegranate cultivars. Each analysis differs not only in its underlying principle, but also in their in-formativeness with regard to the type and amount of polymorphism detected. Genetic similarity matrices estimated from ISSR and AFLP data, showed similarity coefficients to range from 0.77 to 0.94 and 0.33 to 0.73, respectively. ISSR and AFLP characterized the six pomegranate cultivars by a large number of unique markers being 23 and 46 unique markers, respectively. The fruit weight ranged between 479.4 to 185 g of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and ʻAssuityʼ, the firmness was 79.98 of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and 71.84 Newton of ʻManfaloutyʼ cv. The fruit peel thickness varied from 0.6 mm ʻArabyʼ, ʻHegazyʼ and ʻWardiʼ to 0.3 mm ʻAssuityʼ. The arils weight ranged from 87.5 to 275 g of ʻAssuityʼ and ʻNab El Gamalʼ cvs. The percentage net of arils weight/ fruit weight was the highest (59.34% of ʻManfaloutyʼ cv). The juice volume ranged from 62.41 to 71.81 ml/100 g arils for ʻ Wardiʼ and ʻNab El Gamalʼ cvs. The SSC content ranged between 16.01 ʻHegazyʼ and 12.55% ʻAssuityʼ. V.C. content ranged from 3.21 to 14 mg. vitamin/100 ml juice of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and ʻAssuityʼ. The anthocyanin content ranged from 1.47 to 10.03 for ʻArabyʼ and ʻHegazyʼ. The pH values varied from 3.3 (Wardi) to 2.9 (Araby). The Egyptain cultivars of pomegranate have a wide variation in the morphological and chemical characteristics for many uses of fresh fruit and of industry purpose.Keywords: Morphological and chemical fruits characterization, pomegranate, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), DNA markers, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 226-237, 8 January, 201

Non-Tensile Tunica Albuginea Plication for the Correction of Penile Curvature

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of non-tensile tunica albuginea plication (NTTAP) using nonabsorbable sutures for the correction of congenital and acquired penile curvature and to determine the key points for a successful outcome of this procedure. Patients and Methods: From June 2004 to July 2007, 43 patients with penile curvature (35 congenital and 8 secondary to Peyronie’s disease) underwent surgical correction by NTTAP. The indications were difficult or impossible vaginal penetration, and a cosmetically unacceptable penis. For tunica albuginea plication (TAP) we applied the 16 dot procedure using non-absorbable sutures (Tycron® 2/0 polyester fiber).Results: After a mean follow-up period of 18 months, successful results with respect to penile straightening, normal erection, penetration and sensation, confirmed both subjectively and objectively, were achieved in all patients. Post-operative penile shortening of less than 1.5 cmwas present in 50% of the cases, but did not affect intercourse. Post-operative complications were mild and reversible; they consisted of penile skin necrosis after circumcising incisions and post-operative pain upon nocturnal erection that subsided after a few weeks with the frequent use of ice compresses. The overall satisfaction rate was nearly 100% (35/43 very satisfied and 8/43 satisfied).Conclusion:NTTAP is a simple and effective method for the correction of congenital and acquired penile curvature. The key points for successful outcomes are: clear identification of the line of maximum curvature, adequate pre-operative evaluation, counseling of the patient to setappropriate expectations, and careful discussion of the location of the suture sites. There is no need for mobilization of the urethra or neurovascular bundle, which adds a great advantage to this easy and simple technique. Cutting through the tunica albuginea, which may prevent postoperative erectile dysfunction, is not necessary. A disadvantage of this procedure is that it cannot correct hour-glass deformity

Screening the Efficacy of Some Traditional Herbal Drugs for Treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta Infection in Rats

Background: Hymenolepis nana (human infecting tapeworm) and H. diminuta (rodent infecting tapeworm) are currently incriminated to be the cause of non-specific bowel disturbances. They are in most instances resistant to the available anticestodal compounds due to misuse of drugs and probably adaptation of the parasites to the commercially available drugsObjective: Our objective is to study the toxicity and curative efficacy of different medicinal plants that are candidate for the treatment of tapeworm infections in man.Methods: Four medicinal plants were tested for their ability to treat Hymenolepis diminuta tapeworm infection in rats. These plants are Amaranthus viridis, Cucurbita maxima, Hagenia abyssinica and Balanites aegyptiaca. Selection of these plants was based on ethnobotanicalinformation. The evaluation of the efficiency of these medicinal plants was based on the “controlled test design”, modified from Moskey and Harwood10: Following pre-infection screening, and life cycle establishment rats were grouped to six experimental groups for each plant. Stool specimens were collected from all groups, the mean of eggs counts per gram of faeces were counted. The reduction percentage of eggs per gram (EPG) was calculated and time to clear eggs was compared with that of Niclosamide. Niclosamide drug was used in this study as a control treatment14.Results: There were no signs of toxic effect on the rats due to administration of any of the tested medicinal plants. Amaranthus viridis leavs exhibited a very weak efficacy. It did not reduce eggs ineither water or food significantly as compared to the untreated control group (p> 0.05). The deparasitization activity of this plant (35%) was not significant. Similarly, Balanites aegyptiaca seeds were not effective in treatment of the infection in rats. Egg counts and deparasitization infood and water, were not significantly (p> 0.05) different from those of the untreated control group. On the other hand, Cucurbita maxima and Hagenia abyssinica seeds were very effective in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats. Egg reduction (100%) was highly significant (p< 0.01) in food and water as compared to that of the untreated control group of rats (zero%). C. maxima seeds in food deparasitized 80% of the worms, while Hagenia abyssinica deparasitized 100%.Conclusion: Our conclusion was that Hagenia abyssinica was the most active plant of this group in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats

Speciation of heavy metals in paddy soils from selected areas in Kedah and Penang, Malaysia

This study was carried out with the intention of evaluating heavy metal contamination in cultivated paddy areas. The speciation of heavy metals in paddy soils was determined in order to gain insight regarding their origin and distribution in soils. Five sampling sites were randomly selected from Kedah (Yan, Kota Setar, Kubang Pasu district) and Penang (Bumbung Lima district), where the soils constituted marine alluvial deposits. A site in Langkawi, where organic paddy farming is practised was used as the control. The sequential extraction method was adopted in order to obtain the four heavy metal fractions namely the easily leachable and ion exchange (ELFE), acid reducible (AR), oxidizable organic (OO) and resistant (RR) fractions. This study shows that the soil samples were clayey (82 to 96% of grain size <63 μm), fairly high in organic carbon (6.54 to 8.71%) and slightly acidic (pH 4.92 to 5.12). Heavy metal content in the soils varied widely and occurred in the following decreasing order of Fe>Mn>Cr>Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu. Heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Cr and Zn predominantly occurred in the insoluble form (RR fraction), with the oxides of Fe and Mn incorporated into the clay minerals. Although, the fertilizers and pesticides studied contained low amounts of heavy metals, the elevated amount of amount of Mn and Cd in the soils (ELFE fraction) could possibly be attributed to the longterm and repeated application of these materials to the cultivated paddy areas.Key words: Heavy metals, paddy soil, pesticide, fertilizer

Controlled cavity collapse: scaling laws of drop formation

The formation of transient cavities at liquid interfaces occurs in an immense variety of natural processes, among which the bursting of surface bubbles and the impact of a drop on a liquid pool are salient. The collapse of a surface liquid cavity is a well documented natural process that leads to the ejection of a thin and fast jet. Droplets generated through this process can be one order of magnitude smaller than the cavity's aperture, and they are consequently of interest in drop on demand inkjet applications. In this work, the controlled formation and collapse of a liquid cavity is analyzed, and the conditions for minimizing the resulting size and number of ejected drops are determined. The experimental and numerical models are simple and consist of a liquid reservoir, a nozzle plate with the discharge orifice, and a moving piston actuated by single half-sine-shaped pull-mode pulses. The size of the jetted droplet is described by a physical model resulting in a scaling law that is numerically and experimentally validated

S100A4 Elevation Empowers Expression of Metastasis Effector Molecules in Human Breast Cancer.

Many human glandular cancers metastasize along nerve tracts, but the mechanisms involved are generally poorly understood. The calcium-binding protein S100A4 is expressed at elevated levels in human cancers, where it has been linked to increased invasion and metastasis. Here we report genetic studies in a Drosophila model to define S100A4 effector functions that mediate metastatic dissemination of mutant Ras-induced tumors in the developing nervous system. In flies overexpressing mutant RasVal12 and S100A4, there was a significant increase in activation of the stress kinase JNK and production of the matrix metalloproteinase MMP1. Genetic or chemical blockades of JNK and MMP1 suppressed metastatic dissemination associated with S100A4 elevation, defining required signaling pathway(s) for S100A4 in this setting. In clinical specimens of human breast cancer, elevated levels of the mammalian paralogs MMP2, MMP9, and MMP13 are associated with a 4- to 9-fold relative decrease in patient survival. In individual tumors, levels of MMP2 and MMP13 correlated more closely with levels of S100A4, whereas MMP9 levels correlated more closely with the S100 family member S100P. Overall, our results suggest the existence of evolutionarily conserved pathways used by S100A4 to promote metastatic dissemination, with potential prognostic and therapeutic implications for metastasis by cancers that preferentially exploit nerve tract migration routes. Cancer Res; 77(3); 1-10. ©2016 AACR

Immunohistochemical studies on the expression of cea, c-erbb-2 and cathepsin din tissue sections and fine needle aspirates of benign breast lesions

The diagnosis of breast lesions in histopathology relies heavily on the morphology of the epithelial cells. This study aim at looking on the immunohistological expression of well-known prognostic markers ofbreast carcinoma i.e. CEA, c-erbB-2 and Cathepsin D on the epithelial cells of benign breast lesions in tissue sections and fine needle aspiration smears. Being strongly positive in malignant breast lesions, it is expected that the markers will be less positive or totally negative in beni~ epithelial cells. 91 cases of benign breast leSions composed of 46 cases of fibroadenoma, 18 cases of fibrocystic change, 10 ~ of sclerosing adenosis, 9 cases of epithelial hyperplasia, 7 cases of papilloma and 1 case of lactating adenoma were identified in tissue sections. CEA was positive in 11 of the cases (12%) and Cathepsin D was positive in 20 cases (22%). Complete ring of epimembranous cytoplasmic C-erb-B2 expression was absent in all the cases, therefore it is considered that all cases were negative for c .. erb-B2 expression. 13 cases (14%) comprising of9 fibroadenoma, 2 fibrocystic change and 2 epithelial hyperplasia showed incomplete ring of epimembranous staining by c-erb-B2. It appeare4 that CEA and c-erbB-2 expression is low in benign breast lesion and the expression is specific in the epithelial cells. However, CEA at the same time also showed strong positivity to the adjacent myoepithelial cells and this may give a higher result of positivity in such cases. For Cathepsin D expression, on top of showing strong positivity for myoepithelial cells and epithelial cells, it showed a non-specific positivity in the surrounding stromal cells. These findings indicate that c-erbB .. 2 and CEA rather than Cathepsin D are more likely to give a better distinguishing expression when comparing benign and malignant breast lesion in tissue sections. In 46 cases of fibroadenoma studied, CEA was positive in 10 cases (21. 7%) and Cathepsin Din 9 cases (19.6%). In 18 cases offibrocystic change studied, none showed expression for CEA and cerbB- 2 ; and 3 cases were positive for Cathepsin D. The same pattern is observed in sclerosing adenosis and papilloma cases studied. CEA and c .. erbB-2 were not expressed in 10 cases of sclerosing adenosis and 7 cases of papilloma. Cathepsin D was positive in 3 cases of sclerosing adenosis and 2 cases of papilloma Sl.cases of fine needle aspirates of benign breast lesion were also studied. 28·c~ compnsitig of 21 fibroadenoma, 4 benign proliferative lesion, 2 fibrocystic change and 1 non-specific · inflammatory lesion were subjected to CEA staining while another 23 cases ·comprising .of 18 . fibroadenoma, 3 beriign proliferative lesion, 1 :fibrocystic change and 1 non-specific inflammatory lesion were subjected to c-erbB-2 staining. For the CEA staining, 6· cases (21%) comprising of 5 fibroadenoma and 1 :fibrocystic change were positive. C-erbB-2 expression is only seen in one case ( 4%) out of 23 cases subjected to the staining and that single case was a fibroadenoma In the study of the fine needle aspirate, c-erbB-2 appears to be less expressed compare to CEA. · In conclusion, it can be seen that c-erbB-2 marker is significantly less expressed or not expressed at all compare to CEA in both tissue sections as well as in fine needle aspiration smears. Therefore c-erbB-2 marker is a potential tool that can be used to differentiate benign from malignant breast lesions. Cathepsin D due to its non-specific staining and increased background staining m.ake it unsuitable for usage to distinguish benign :from malignant breast lesions

Coronary microvascular ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a pixel-wise quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance perfusion study.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular dysfunction in HCM has been associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Advances in quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) perfusion imaging now allow myocardial blood flow to be quantified at the pixel level. We applied these techniques to investigate the spectrum of microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and to explore its relationship with fibrosis and wall thickness. METHODS: CMR perfusion imaging was undertaken during adenosine-induced hyperemia and again at rest in 35 patients together with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified on a pixel-by-pixel basis from CMR perfusion images using a Fermi-constrained deconvolution algorithm. Regions-of-interest (ROI) in hypoperfused and hyperemic myocardium were identified from the MBF pixel maps. The myocardium was also divided into 16 AHA segments. RESULTS: Resting MBF was significantly higher in the endocardium than in the epicardium (mean ± SD: 1.25 ± 0.35 ml/g/min versus 1.20 ± 0.35 ml/g/min, P < 0.001), a pattern that reversed with stress (2.00 ± 0.76 ml/g/min versus 2.36 ± 0.83 ml/g/min, P < 0.001). ROI analysis revealed 11 (31%) patients with stress MBF lower than resting values (1.05 ± 0.39 ml/g/min versus 1.22 ± 0.36 ml/g/min, P = 0.021). There was a significant negative association between hyperemic MBF and wall thickness (β = −0.047 ml/g/min per mm, 95% CI: −0.057 to −0.038, P < 0.001) and a significantly lower probability of fibrosis in a segment with increasing hyperemic MBF (odds ratio per ml/g/min: 0.086, 95% CI: 0.078 to 0.095, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Pixel-wise quantitative CMR perfusion imaging identifies a subgroup of patients with HCM that have localised severe microvascular dysfunction which may give rise to myocardial ischemia