Aetiology and Treatment Outcome of Non-traumatic Small Bowel Perforations at Mbarara Hospital in South-Western Uganda

Background: Non-traumatic small bowel perforation (SBP) is the most common form of gastrointestinal perforation in sub-Saharan Africa. Although SBP is a surgical emergency associated with complications, information regarding its aetiology is scanty in Uganda. This study was aimed at determining the aetiology and document treatment outcomes of non-traumatic small bowel perforations in South-western Uganda. Methods: This was a descriptive case series of 87 consenting patients with non-traumatic SBP confirmed at laparotomy, on the emergency ward of Mbarara University Teaching Hospital. They were enrolled from September 2011 to May 2012. Specimens for blood culture, stool microscopy, HIV testing and tissue biopsies at the site of perforation were collected and analyzed. Patient follow-up was done till discharge. Results: Of the 78 biopsies performed, 66(84.6%) had histological features suggestive of typhoid perforations while 12(15.4%) had features of non-specific inflammation. Salmonella typhi was isolated in 13(15.0%) out of the 87 patients. Isolates were susceptible to Ceftriaxone and Ciprofloxacin. All patients tested HIV negative. Ascaris lumbricoides were seen in two patients. Re-laparotomy was done in four patients with new perforations, two with anastomotic breakdown and two with intra-abdominal abscesses. Wound sepsis was observed in 25(28.7%). Average length of hospital stay was 13 days. Some 10(11.5%) patients died. Conclusions: Most cases of non-traumatic SBP in south western Uganda are associated with Salmonella infection. There is need to enhance laboratory capacity to detect typhoid and preventive measures should be instituted in the general population

Efficacy of an internet-based psychological intervention for problem gambling and gambling disorder: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Gambling Disorder is a prevalent non-substance use disorder, which contrasts with the low number of people requesting treatment. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) could help to enhance the dissemination of evidence-based treatments and considerably reduce the costs. The current study seeks to assess the efficacy of an online psychological intervention for people suffering from gambling problems in Spain. The proposed study will be a two-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial. A total of 134 participants (problem and pathological gamblers) will be randomly allocated to a waiting list control group (N = 67) or an intervention group (N = 67). The intervention program includes 8 modules, and it is based on motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and extensions and innovations of CBT. It includes several complementary tools that are present throughout the entire intervention. Therapeutic support will be provided once a week through a phone call with a maximum length of 10 min. The primary outcome measure will be gambling severity and gambling-related cognitions, and secondary outcome measures will be readiness to change, and gambling self-efficacy. Other variables that will be considered are depression and anxiety symptoms, positive and negative affect, difficulties in emotion regulation strategies, impulsivity, and quality of life. Individuals will be assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. During the treatment, participants will also respond to a daily Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) in order to evaluate urges to gamble, self-efficacy to cope with gambling urges, gambling urge frequency, and whether gambling behaviour occurs. The EMI includes immediate automatic feedback depending on the participant''s responses. Treatment acceptance and satisfaction will also be assessed. The data will be analysed both per protocol and by Intention-to treat. As far as we know, this is the first randomized controlled trial of an online psychological intervention for gambling disorder in Spain. It will expand our knowledge about treatments delivered via the Internet and contribute to improving treatment dissemination, reaching people suffering from this problem who otherwise would not receive help

Synthesis, resolution, and absolute configuration determination of a vicinal amino alcohol with axial chirality. Application to the synthesis of new box and pybox ligands

New racemic vicinal amino alcohol derivatives with 4-benzylidenecyclohexane skeleton and axial chirality have been prepared. A preparatively easy and efficient protocol for resolution of the N-benzoylamino alcohol is described. Using a 250 x 20 mm (L x ID) Chiralpak (R) IA column, and the appropriate mixture of n-hexane/ethanol/chloroform as eluent, both enantiomers of N-benzoylamino alcohol 3 are obtained with >99% enantiomeric excess (ee) by successive injections of a solution of the racemic sample in chloroform. The obtained axially chiral vicinal amino alcohol is used to synthesize structurally novel bisoxazoline ligands in high yields

Embryonic Amygdalar Transplants in Adult Rats with Motor Cortex Lesions: A Molecular and Electrophysiological Analysis

Transplants of embryonic nervous tissue ameliorate motor deficits induced by motor cortex lesions in adult animals. Restoration of lost brain functions has been recently shown in grafts of homotopic cortical origin, to be associated with a functional integration of the transplant after development of reciprocal host–graft connections. Nevertheless little is known about physiological properties or gene expression profiles of cortical implants with functional restorative capacity but no cortical origin. In this study, we show molecular and electrophysiological evidence supporting the functional development and integration of heterotopic transplants of embryonic amygdalar tissue placed into pre-lesioned motor cortex of adult rats. Grafts were analyzed 3 months post-transplantation. Using reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction, we found that key glutamatergic, GABAergic, and muscarinic receptors transcripts were expressed at different quantitative levels both in grafted and host tissues, but were all continuously present in the graft. Parallel sharp electrode recordings of grafted neurons in brain slices showed a regular firing pattern of transplanted neurons similar to host amygdalar pyramidal neurons. Synaptic connections from the adjacent host cortex on grafted neurons were electrophysiologically investigated and confirmed our molecular results. Taken together, our findings indicate that grafted neurons from a non-cortical, non-motor-related, but ontogenetical similar source, not only received functionally effective contacts from the adjacent motor cortex, but also developed electrophysiological and gene expression patterns comparable to host pyramidal neurons; suggesting an interesting tool for the field of neural repair and donor tissue in adults

Is the future universe singular: Dark Matter versus modified gravity?

The fundamental problem of the occurrence/removal of finite-time future singularity in the universe evolution for coupled dark energy (DE) is addressed. It is demonstrated the existence of the (instable or local minimum) de Sitter space solution which may cure the Type II or Type IV future singularity for DE coupled with DM as the result of tuning the initial conditions. In case of phantom DE, the corresponding coupling may help to resolve the coincidence problem but not the Big Rip (Type I) singularity issue. We show that modified gravity of special form or inhomogeneous DE fluid may offer the universal scenario to cure the Type I,II,III or IV future singularity of coupled (fluid or scalar) DE evolution.Comment: LaTeX 9 page

Preparation of Dipteran Larvae for Scanning Electron Microscopy with Special Reference to Myiasigen Dipteran Species

Although controversy exists concerning the role of chemical fixatives in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies of Dipteran larvae, we have observed that filtered 10% formaldehyde solution gives excellent results as a preservative. After immersing in vivo in formaldehyde, the larvae material is preserved for prolonged periods (up to 8 months), before examination with SEM. As a fixative, formaldehyde preserves the structure of the larval cuticle and produces no visible artifacts. Moreover, postfixation is not necessary. Due to pecularities of the way of life of Wohlfahrtia magnifica (principally the accumulations of necrotic tissue, purulent particles, and other types of substances that often adhere to the numerous spines of larvae), this species must be cleaned before examination by SEM. Manual cleaning with alternating bidistilled water and 0.9% saline solution proved to be a rapid, easy and inexpensive method that gave good results. Both lyophilization drying and critical point drying were used before sputtering the material. While lyophilization drying proved to be the most effective method for instars II and III, critical point drying was the best technique for study of specimens belonging to instar I. The optimum time for drying and conditions for lyophilization and sputter-coating with gold were determined experimentally. Samples were mounted on SEM stubs with double-sided adhesive and silver conductive paint. The method proposed is easy and effective for the SEM study of larvae myiasis-producing diptera

Temperature Effects in the Composition of Metal Halide Perovskite thin Films

Metal halide perovskites have shown to be a structure with great promise as an efficient photovoltaic, but at the same time it is affected by instability problems that degrade their performance. Degradation mechanisms vary with temperature, moisture, oxidation, and energy conversion during light exposure. We study performance loss due to temperature by probing diffusion of elemental composition across the thickness of films produced by spin coating and for temperatures ranging from 20 to 200°C. X-ray reflectivity was used to identify the electron density, composition, and quality of the films, aided with X-ray fluorescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies to obtain information about degradation of the organic phase of the films

Osteoarthritis:Mechanistic Insights, Senescence, and Novel Therapeutic Opportunities

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease. In the last years, the research community has focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that led to the pathogenesis of the disease, trying to identify different molecular and clinical phenotypes along with the discovery of new therapeutic opportunities. Different types of cell-to-cell communication mechanisms have been proposed to contribute to OA progression, including mechanisms mediated by connexin43 (Cx43) channels or by small extracellular vesicles. Furthermore, changes in the chondrocyte phenotype such as cellular senescence have been proposed as new contributors of the OA progression, changing the paradigm of the disease. The use of different drugs able to restore chondrocyte phenotype, to reduce cellular senescence and senescence-associated secretory phenotype components, and to modulate ion channel activity or Cx43 appears to be promising therapeutic strategies for the different types of OA. In this review, we aim to summarize the current knowledge in OA phenotypes related with aging and tissue damage and the new therapeutic opportunities currently available

Cutaneous Biology: In vivo blockade of pemphigus vulgaris acantholysis by inhibition of intracellular signal transduction cascades

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune disease characterized by mucocutaneous intraepithelial blisters and pathogenic autoantibodies against desmoglein 3. The mechanism of blister formation in pemphigus has not been defined; however, in vitro data suggest a role for activation of intracellular signalling cascades. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the contribution of these signalling pathways to the mechanism of PV IgG-induced acantholysis in vivo. METHODS: We used the passive transfer mouse model. Mice were injected with IgG fractions of sera from a patient with PV, with or without pretreatment with inhibitors of proteins that mediate intracellular signalling cascades. RESULTS: Inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, phospholipase C, calmodulin and the serine/threonine kinase protein kinase C prevented PV IgG-induced acantholysis in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These observations strongly support the role of intracellular signalling cascades in the molecular mechanism of PV IgG-induced acantholysi

Magnetic domain wall curvature induced by wire edge pinning

open14In this study, we report on the analysis of the magnetic domain wall (DW) curvature due to magnetic field induced motion in Ta/CoFeB/MgO and Pt/Co/Pt wires with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. In wires of 20 mu m and 25 mu m, a large edge pinning potential produces the anchoring of the DW ends to the wire edges, which is evidenced as a significant curvature of the DW front as it propagates. As the driving magnetic field is increased, the curvature reduces as a result of the system moving away from the creep regime of DW motion, which implies a weaker dependence of the DW dynamics on the interaction between the DW and the wire edge defects. A simple model is derived to describe the dependence of the DW curvature on the driving magnetic field and allows us to extract the parameter sigma (E), which accounts for the strength of the edge pinning potential. The model describes well the systems with both weak and strong bulk pinning potentials like Ta/CoFeB/MgO and Pt/Co/Pt, respectively. This provides a means to quantify the effect of edge pinning induced DW curvature on magnetic DW dynamics.embargoed_20210815Herrera Diez, L.; Ummelen, F.; Jeudy, V.; Durin, G.; Lopez-Diaz, L.; Diaz-Pardo, R.; Casiraghi, A.; Agnus, G.; Bouville, D.; Langer, J.; Ocker, B.; Lavrijsen, R.; Swagten, H. J. M.; Ravelosona, D.Herrera Diez, L.; Ummelen, F.; Jeudy, V.; Durin, G.; Lopez-Diaz, L.; Diaz-Pardo, R.; Casiraghi, A.; Agnus, G.; Bouville, D.; Langer, J.; Ocker, B.; Lavrijsen, R.; Swagten, H. J. M.; Ravelosona, D