Carcinoma of sigmoid colon following urinary diversion: a case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND: The association of ureterosigmoidostomy with colonic cancer is well established. A 100-fold increased risk of malignancy has been proposed in association with ureterosigmoidostomy. Characteristically there is a latent period of around 20–30 years before the occurrence of cancer. CASE PRESENTATION: An unusual case of adenocarcinoma of the colon in a 36-year-old patient is presented. The patient underwent three operations in his infancy for exstrophy but after failure to close bladder, ureterosigmoidostomy was attempted at the age of 5 years and was converted to an ileal conduit after 8 months. At the age of 36 years, 30 years following ileal conduit urinary diversion for exstrophy, he presented in emergency with large bowel obstruction due to adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon. CONCLUSION: Patients who undergo urinary diversion for exstrophy may be kept on a regular follow-up surveillance colonoscopy as most of these young adults may later present with vague abdominal symptoms which may not be taken seriously until they increase to an extent as to present with intestinal obstruction as in the present case

Building Back Better in Small Island Developing States in the Pacific: Initial Insights from the BinD Model of Disaster Risk Management Policy Options in Fiji. ADBI Working Paper 1290.

Building resilience to disasters continues to pose challenges for developing countries. Historically, small island developing states (SIDS) bordering the Pacific Ocean have suffered from multiple hazards, such as earthquakes, coastal erosion, floods, and cyclones. Population increase, uneven progress in socioeconomic development, and the ongoing environmental degradation, including climate change, have exaggerated their vulnerability to disasters. At the same time, the recent COVID-19 global pandemic has shown that the small, remote, and less-diversified economies of SIDS are particularly prone to additional external shocks. Events such as COVID-19, in combination with disasters resulting from natural hazards, pose additional challenges for resource-constrained economies’ recovery. However, the existing literature has rarely evaluated such interactions. This study hence provides initial insights into the interaction of alternative DRM policies in the presence of additional demand-side constraints, which we evaluated through the recently developed binary constrained disaster (BinD) model. Our results indicate that a targeted increase of government spending in times of crisis could be beneficial for the economic recovery of Fiji. However, short-term trade-offs emerged with respect to financing options. Debt-financed recovery allows a faster and less painful recovery but requires quick and preferential access to foreign borrowing. Tax-financed recovery can compensate for short-term foreign borrowing needs but comes at the cost of more detrimental impacts on the GDP and private sector consumption

A flexible and pattern reconfigurable antenna with small dimensions and simple layout for wireless communication systems operating over 1.65–2.51 ghz

This research article proposes a compact frequency and pattern reconfigurable flexible antenna for heterogeneous applications. A triangular monopole antenna with a semicircular stub is made frequency and pattern tunable by connecting and disconnecting two inverted L-shaped stubs utilizing diodes. When either of the stubs is connected to the radiator, a relative phase difference happens at both ends of the radiator that changes the direction of the electromagnetic radiations, consequently pattern reconfigurability can be obtain. Besides that, because of the reactive load introduced by the stubs, the antenna's effective length has changed and, as a result, the frequency reconfigurability can be attained. The antenna features a compact size of 40 x 50 x 0.254 mm(3) corresponding to 0.22 lambda(o) x 0.27 lambda(o) x 0.001 lambda(o), where lambda(o) is free-space wavelength at 1.65 GHz, while its operational bandwidth is from 1.65 GHz to 2.51 GHz, with an average gain and radiation efficiency of better than 2.2 dBi and 80%, exhibiting a pattern reconfigurability of 180 degrees in the E-plane. The frequency of the proposed antenna can be switched from 2.1 GHz to 1.8 GHz by switching the state of both diodes in OFF and ON-state, respectively. The fabricated prototype of the antenna is tested to verify its performance parameters. In addition, to validate the proposed design, it has been compared with prior arts in terms of the overall size, reconfigurability type, flexibility, radio frequency (RF) switch type used for reconfigurability, and frequency bandwidth. The proposed antenna provides smaller size with a large bandwidth coverage alongside with discrete RF switch type with the advantages of flexibility and both frequency and pattern reconfigurability. As a result, the proposed compact flexible and pattern reconfigurable antenna is a promising candidate for heterogeneous applications, including the global system for mobile (GSM) band (1800 and 1900 MHz) and industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band (2.4 GHz) along with well-known cellular communication bands of 3G, 4G, and long term evolution (LTE) bands ranging from 1700-2300 MHz around the globe

Inter-band B(E2) transition strengths in odd-mass heavy deformed nuclei

Inter-band B(E2) transition strengths between different normal parity bands in 163Dy and 165Er are described using the pseudo-SU(3) model. The Hamiltonian includes Nilsson single-particle energies, quadrupole-quadrupole and pairing interactions with fixed, parametrized strengths, and three extra rotor terms used to fine tune the energy spectra. In addition to inter-band transitions, the energy spectra and the ground state intra-band B(E2) strengths are reported. The results show the pseudo-SU(3) shell model to be a powerful microscopic theory for a description of the normal parity sector in heavy deformed odd-A nuclei.Comment: 4 figures, 2 table

Giants and loops in beta-deformed theories

We study extended objects in the gravity dual of the N=1 beta-deformation of N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory. We identify probe brane configurations corresponding to giant gravitons and Wilson loops. In particular we identify a new class of objects, given by D5-branes wrapped on a two-torus with a world-volume gauge field strength turned on along the torus. These appear when the deformation parameter assumes a rational value and the gauge theory spectrum has additional branches of vacua. We give an interpretation of the new D5-brane dual giant gravitons in terms of rotating vacuum expectation values in these additional branches.Comment: 26 pages; typos corrected, published versio

Shell model description of normal parity bands in odd-mass heavy deformed nuclei

The low-energy spectra and B(E2) electromagnetic transition strengths of 159Eu, 159Tb and 159Dy are described using the pseudo SU(3) model. Normal parity bands are built as linear combinations of SU(3) states, which are the direct product of SU(3) proton and neutron states with pseudo spin zero (for even number of nucleons) and pseudo spin 1/2 (for odd number of nucleons). Each of the many-particle states have a well-defined particle number and total angular momentum. The Hamiltonian includes spherical Nilsson single-particle energies, the quadrupole-quadrupole and pairing interactions, as well as three rotor terms which are diagonal in the SU(3) basis. The pseudo SU(3) model is shown to be a powerful tool to describe odd-mass heavy deformed nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Accepted to be published in Phys. Rev.

Scaffold of Selenium Nanovectors and Honey Phytochemicals for Inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing and Biofilm Formation

Honey is an excellent source of polyphenolic compounds that are effective in attenuating quorum sensing (QS), a chemical process of cell-to-cell communication system used by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to regulate virulence and biofilm formation. However, lower water solubility and inadequate bioavailability remains major concerns of these therapeutic polyphenols. Its therapeutic index can be improved by using nano-carrier systems to target QS signaling potently. In the present study, we fabricated a unique drug delivery system comprising selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs; non-viral vectors) and polyphenols of honey (HP) for enhancement of anti-QS activity of HP against P. aeruginosa PAO1. The developed selenium nano-scaffold showed superior anti-QS activity, anti-biofilm efficacy, and anti-virulence potential in both in-vitro and in-vivo over its individual components, SeNPs and HP. LasR is inhibited by selenium nano-scaffold in-vitro. Using computational molecular docking studies, we have also demonstrated that the anti-virulence activity of selenium nano-scaffold is reliant on molecular binding that occurs between HP and the QS receptor LasR through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Our preliminary investigations with selenium-based nano-carriers hold significant promise to improve anti-virulence effectiveness of phytochemicals by enhancing effective intracellular delivery

Evidence for reduced collectivity around the neutron mid-shell in the stable even-mass Sn isotopes from new lifetime measurements

Precise measurements of the lifetimes of the first excited 2+ states in the stable even-A Sn isotopes 112-124Sn have been performed using the Doppler shift attenuation technique. For the isotopes 112Sn, 114Sn and 116Sn the E2 transition strengths deduced from the measured lifetimes are in disagreement with the previously reported values and indicate a shallow minimum at N=66. The observed deviation from a maximum at mid-shell is attributed to the obstructive effect of the s1/2 neutron orbital in generating collectivity when near the Fermi level. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci on under contracts FPA2007-66069, FPA2009-13377-C02-01 and FPA2009-13377-C02-02, the Spanish Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme CPAN (CSD2007-00042) and the Australian Re- search Council Discovery Scheme, grant no. DP0773273Peer Reviewe