Dupla extrusão uretral assincrônica de prótese peniana semi-rígida: relato de caso e revisão da literatura

This case reports a 61 year-old man who presented urinary retention 4 years after theinsertion of the penile prosthesis. The prosthesis was extrused through the urethralmeatus. This patient had another prosthesis extrused 2 years before. There are fewcases in the literature about this rare complication. We present the case and literaturereview.Relatamos o caso de um paciente de 61 anos com retenção urinária e portador deprótese peniana semi-rígida há 4 anos. Ao exame físico, uma haste de prótese protuíase pelo meato uretral. O paciente tinha história de extrusão de outra haste da prótesehá 2 anos. Essa rara complicação é pouco citada na literatura, não sendo encontradadescrição de dupla extrusão. Descrevemos o caso e revisamos a literatura

Maternal Programming of Sexual Behavior and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Function in the Female Rat

Variations in parental care predict the age of puberty, sexual activity in adolescence and the age at first pregnancy in humans. These findings parallel descriptions of maternal effects on phenotypic variation in reproductive function in other species. Despite the prevalence of such reports, little is known about potential biological mechanisms and this especially true for effects on female reproductive development. We examined the hypothesis that parental care might alter hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian function and thus reproductive function in the female offspring of rat mothers that vary pup licking/grooming (LG) over the first week postpartum. As adults, the female offspring of Low LG mothers showed 1) increased sexual receptivity; 2) increased plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and progesterone at proestrus; 3) an increased positive-feedback effect of estradiol on both plasma LH levels and gonadotropin releasing-hormone (GnRH) expression in the medial preoptic region; and 4) increased estrogen receptor α (ERα) expression in the anterioventral paraventricular nucleus, a system that regulates GnRH. The results of a cross-fostering study provide evidence for a direct effect of postnatal maternal care as well as a possible prenatal influence. Indeed, we found evidence for increased fetal testosterone levels at embryonic day 20 in the female fetuses of High compared to Low LG mothers. Finally, the female offspring of Low LG mothers showed accelerated puberty compared to those of High LG mothers. These data suggest maternal effects in the rat on the development of neuroendocrine systems that regulate female sexual behaviour. Together with studies revealing a maternal effect on the maternal behavior of the female offspring, these findings suggest that maternal care can program alternative reproductive phenotypes in the rat through regionally-specific effects on ERα expression

A CFD study on ultrasound-enhanced CFB riser with calcium oxide and activated coal for CO2 capture application

This numerical study explores techniques for optimizing fluidization in circulating fluidized beds (CFB), which are of significant industrial interest. Various intrusive and non-intrusive approaches have been investigated to mitigate issues such as cluster formation, core-annulus profiles, and solid back-mixing. Specifically, this research focuses on non-intrusive methods, employing ultrasonic waves to enhance solids distribution within a CFB riser by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Particulate phases, including calcium oxide and activated carbon particles, were studied alongside a gas phase of air with a 10 % carbon dioxide concentration, commonly encountered in carbon capture processes. A radial ultrasonic device featuring 20 transducers at 20 kHz and 40 kHz was affixed to the CFB to disperse particle flow. Numerical experiments within a 3-D CFD domain employed the URANS-k-ε-KTGF-EMMS mathematical model. Findings reveal that ultrasonic waves significantly influence particle motion, modifying riser flow profiles and enhancing solids distribution. While ultrasounds increase pressure drop within the transducers' region, they decrease it above, reshaping the flow profile for both particle types. Distinct outcomes are observed for calcium oxide and coal particles regarding the radial Péclet number and solids volume fraction dispersion coefficient, suggesting that ultrasounds effectively improve coal particle distribution along the riser's height