Intracaval migration of ureteral stent

Ureteral stents have proven to be an invaluable tool for endourologists. Morbidity is minimal, but complications do exist. Up to 3 months complications are not frequent, but longer indwelling times are associated with increasing frequency of incrustation, infections, secondary stone formation, obstruction of the stented tract and migration. We report a rare case of a 33 year old pregnant patient with migration of an ureteral endoprosthesis. The patient received a right ureteral stent at 12 weeks for acute obstructive pyelonephritis. When her urologist tried to remove the ureteral stent post delivery, the stent was not found in the bladder. Ureteroscopy was performed but no ureteral stent was found .The patient showed a moderate improvement of the pyelonephritis, but complained about insidious palpitations. A CT scan was performed and showed the presence of the ureteral stent extending from the inferior vena cava up to the right atrium. Endovascular retrieval was performed through a puncture of the common femoral vein, using a curved guide that was introduced through the vena cava into the right atrium. Under fluoroscopic control, it was twisted around the stent and pulled out. The outcome was favorable, and no other complications were noted

Bio-precipitation of uranium by two bacterial isolates recovered from extreme environments as estimated by potentiometric titration, TEM and X-ray absorption spectroscopic analyses

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Journal of Hazardous Materials. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.This work describes the mechanisms of uranium biomineralization at acidic conditions by Bacillus sphaericus JG-7B and Sphingomonas sp. S15-S1 both recovered from extreme environments. The U–bacterial interaction experiments were performed at low pH values (2.0–4.5) where the uranium aqueous speciation is dominated by highly mobile uranyl ions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) showed that the cells of the studied strains precipitated uranium at pH 3.0 and 4.5 as a uranium phosphate mineral phase belonging to the meta-autunite group. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analyses showed strain-specific localization of the uranium precipitates. In the case of B. sphaericus JG-7B, the U(VI) precipitate was bound to the cell wall. Whereas for Sphingomonas sp. S15-S1, the U(VI) precipitates were observed both on the cell surface and intracellularly. The observed U(VI) biomineralization was associated with the activity of indigenous acid phosphatase detected at these pH values in the absence of an organic phosphate substrate. The biomineralization of uranium was not observed at pH 2.0, and U(VI) formed complexes with organophosphate ligands from the cells. This study increases the number of bacterial strains that have been demonstrated to precipitate uranium phosphates at acidic conditions via the activity of acid phosphatase

Molecular Tools for Monitoring the Ecological Sustainability of a Stone Bio-Consolidation Treatment at the Royal Chapel, Granada

Background: Biomineralization processes have recently been applied in situ to protect and consolidate decayed ornamental stone of the Royal Chapel in Granada (Spain). While this promising method has demonstrated its efficacy regarding strengthening of the stone, little is known about its ecological sustainability.Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we report molecular monitoring of the stone-autochthonous microbiota before and at 5, 12 and 30 months after the bio-consolidation treatment (medium/long-term monitoring), employing the well-known molecular strategy of DGGE analyses. Before the bio-consolidation treatment, the bacterial diversity showed the exclusive dominance of Actinobacteria (100%), which decreased in the community (44.2%) after 5 months, and Gamma-proteobacteria (30.24%) and Chloroflexi (25.56%) appeared. After 12 months, Gamma-proteobacteria vanished from the community and Cyanobacteria (22.1%) appeared and remained dominant after thirty months, when the microbiota consisted of Actinobacteria (42.2%) and Cyanobacteria (57.8%) only. Fungal diversity showed that the Ascomycota phylum was dominant before treatment (100%), while, after five months, Basidiomycota (6.38%) appeared on the stone, and vanished again after twelve months. Thirty months after the treatment, the fungal population started to stabilize and Ascomycota dominated on the stone (83.33%) once again. Members of green algae (Chlorophyta, Viridiplantae) appeared on the stone at 5, 12 and 30 months after the treatment and accounted for 4.25%, 84.77% and 16.77%, respectively.Conclusions: The results clearly show that, although a temporary shift in the bacterial and fungal diversity was observed during the first five months, most probably promoted by the application of the bio-consolidation treatment, the microbiota tends to regain its initial stability in a few months. Thus, the treatment does not seem to have any negative side effects on the stone-autochthonous microbiota over that time. The molecular strategy employed here is suggested as an efficient monitoring tool to assess the impact on the stone-autochthonous microbiota of the application of biomineralization processes as a restoration/conservation procedure.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Junta de Andalucía (Spain) and the “Fortalecimiento de la I+D+i” program from the University of Granada, co-financed by grant RNM-3493 and Research Group BIO-103 from Junta de Andalucía, as well as by the Spanish Government through “José Castillejo” program from the “Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte” (I+D+i 2008-2011), and by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under Grant “Elise-Richter V194-B20”

A Synchronous undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma and infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast successfully treated with induction chemotherapy followed by local control of both tumours: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple primary cancers have a low incidence particularly when cancers are synchronous. Few cases of synchronous head and neck cancer and breast carcinoma are reported in the literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report here an exceptional case of a 47 years old Moroccan woman presenting two synchronous cancers, the first in the nasopharynx and the second in the breast. The patient was treated successfully with a combined strategy associating chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. She remains disease free after 27 months of follow up.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Treatment strategy in the case of multiple primary cancers remains controversial because of the variety of presentations; initial aggressive treatment reports good results.</p

The clinical features of the piriformis syndrome: a systematic review

Piriformis syndrome, sciatica caused by compression of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle, has been described for over 70 years; yet, it remains controversial. The literature consists mainly of case series and narrative reviews. The objectives of the study were: first, to make the best use of existing evidence to estimate the frequencies of clinical features in patients reported to have PS; second, to identify future research questions. A systematic review was conducted of any study type that reported extractable data relevant to diagnosis. The search included all studies up to 1 March 2008 in four databases: AMED, CINAHL, Embase and Medline. Screening, data extraction and analysis were all performed independently by two reviewers. A total of 55 studies were included: 51 individual and 3 aggregated data studies, and 1 combined study. The most common features found were: buttock pain, external tenderness over the greater sciatic notch, aggravation of the pain through sitting and augmentation of the pain with manoeuvres that increase piriformis muscle tension. Future research could start with comparing the frequencies of these features in sciatica patients with and without disc herniation or spinal stenosis

Effect of U(VI) aqueous speciation on the binding of uranium by the cell surface of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, a natural yeast isolate from bentonites

This study presents the effect of aqueous uranium speciation (U-hydroxides and U-hydroxo-carbonates) on the interaction of this radionuclide with the cells of the yeast Rhodotorula mucigilanosa BII-R8. This strain was isolated from Spanish bentonites considered as reference materials for the engineered barrier components of the future deep geological repository of radioactive waste. X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy showed that the aqueous uranium speciation has no effect on the uranium binding process by this yeast strain. The cells bind mobile uranium species (U-hydroxides and U-hydroxo-carbonates) from solution via a time-dependent process initiated by the adsorption of uranium species to carboxyl groups. This leads to the subsequent involvement of organic phosphate groups forming uranium complexes with a local coordination similar to that of the uranyl mineral phase meta-autunite. Scanning transmission electron microscopy with high angle annular dark field analysis showed uranium accumulations at the cell surface associated with phosphorus containing ligands. Moreover, the effect of uranium mobile species on the cell viability and metabolic activity was examined by means of flow cytometry techniques, revealing that the cell metabolism is more affected by higher concentrations of uranium than the cell viability. The results obtained in this work provide new insights on the interaction of uranium with bentonite natural yeast from genus Rhodotorula under deep geological repository relevant conditions

Metabolism-dependent bioaccumulation of uranium by Rhodosporidium toruloides isolated from the flooding water of a former uranium mine

Remediation of former uranium mining sites represents one of the biggest challenges worldwide that have to be solved in this century. During the last years, the search of alternative strategies involving environmentally sustainable treatments has started. Bioremediation, the use of microorganisms to clean up polluted sites in the environment, is considered one the best alternative. By means of culture-dependent methods, we isolated an indigenous yeast strain, KS5 (Rhodosporidium toruloides), directly from the flooding water of a former uranium mining site and investigated its interactions with uranium. Our results highlight distinct adaptive mechanisms towards high uranium concentrations on the one hand, and complex interaction mechanisms on the other. The cells of the strain KS5 exhibit high a uranium tolerance, being able to grow at 6 mM, and also a high ability to accumulate this radionuclide (350 mg uranium/g dry biomass, 48 h). The removal of uranium by KS5 displays a temperature- and cell viability-dependent process, indicating that metabolic activity could be involved. By STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy) investigations, we observed that uranium was removed by two mechanisms, active bioaccumulation and inactive biosorption. This study highlights the potential of KS5 as a representative of indigenous species within the flooding water of a former uranium mine, which may play a key role in bioremediation of uranium contaminated sites.This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung grand nº 02NUK030F (TransAqua). Further support took place by the ERDF-co-financed Grants CGL2012-36505 and 315 CGL2014-59616R, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain

Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children in 2015:a systematic review and modelling study

Background: We have previously estimated that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was associated with 22% of all episodes of (severe) acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) resulting in 55 000 to 199 000 deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2005. In the past 5 years, major research activity on RSV has yielded substantial new data from developing countries. With a considerably expanded dataset from a large international collaboration, we aimed to estimate the global incidence, hospital admission rate, and mortality from RSV-ALRI episodes in young children in 2015. Methods: We estimated the incidence and hospital admission rate of RSV-associated ALRI (RSV-ALRI) in children younger than 5 years stratified by age and World Bank income regions from a systematic review of studies published between Jan 1, 1995, and Dec 31, 2016, and unpublished data from 76 high quality population-based studies. We estimated the RSV-ALRI incidence for 132 developing countries using a risk factor-based model and 2015 population estimates. We estimated the in-hospital RSV-ALRI mortality by combining in-hospital case fatality ratios with hospital admission estimates from hospital-based (published and unpublished) studies. We also estimated overall RSV-ALRI mortality by identifying studies reporting monthly data for ALRI mortality in the community and RSV activity. Findings: We estimated that globally in 2015, 33·1 million (uncertainty range [UR] 21·6–50·3) episodes of RSV-ALRI, resulted in about 3·2 million (2·7–3·8) hospital admissions, and 59 600 (48 000–74 500) in-hospital deaths in children younger than 5 years. In children younger than 6 months, 1·4 million (UR 1·2–1·7) hospital admissions, and 27 300 (UR 20 700–36 200) in-hospital deaths were due to RSV-ALRI. We also estimated that the overall RSV-ALRI mortality could be as high as 118 200 (UR 94 600–149 400). Incidence and mortality varied substantially from year to year in any given population. Interpretation: Globally, RSV is a common cause of childhood ALRI and a major cause of hospital admissions in young children, resulting in a substantial burden on health-care services. About 45% of hospital admissions and in-hospital deaths due to RSV-ALRI occur in children younger than 6 months. An effective maternal RSV vaccine or monoclonal antibody could have a substantial effect on disease burden in this age group

Omics-based molecular techniques in oral pathology centred cancer: Prospect and challenges in Africa

: The completion of the human genome project and the accomplished milestones in the human proteome project; as well as the progress made so far in computational bioinformatics and “big data” processing have contributed immensely to individualized/personalized medicine in the developed world.At the dawn of precision medicine, various omics-based therapies and bioengineering can now be applied accurately for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and risk stratifcation of cancer in a manner that was hitherto not thought possible. The widespread introduction of genomics and other omics-based approaches into the postgraduate training curriculum of diverse medical and dental specialties, including pathology has improved the profciency of practitioners in the use of novel molecular signatures in patient management. In addition, intricate details about disease disparity among diferent human populations are beginning to emerge. This would facilitate the use of tailor-made novel theranostic methods based on emerging molecular evidences