Effect of lactic acid bacteria and the potential probiotic Hafnia alvei on growth and survival rates of narrow clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus Esch., 1823) stage II juveniles

The aim of this study was to screen potential probiotic bacteria against Aeromonas hydrophila and determine the effects of antagonistic bacteria and a commercial product containing lactic acid bacteria on the survival and growth of stage II Astacus leptodactylus juveniles. For this purpose, a total of 110 bacterial strains were isolated from adult, stage II crayfish juveniles and rearing water screened for antagonistic activities against A. hydrophila with well diffusion agar assay. Hafnia alvei strain from stage II crayfish juveniles displayed the inhibition zone (10mm) against A. hydrophila. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments for 60 days: (I) crayfish fed with live food without probiotics (control group); (II) crayfish fed with live food enriched with lactic acid bacteria (0.015 gL^-1); (III) crayfish fed with live food enriched with Hafnia alvei (10^6 CFU mL^−1); (IV) crayfish fed with control diet and H. alvei added to rearing water (10^6 CFU mL^−1). As a result of this study, lactic acid bacteria and Hafnia alvei applications did not positively affect growth and survival of stage II A. leptodactylus juveniles. In the future, studies on screening potential probiotic bacteria should be used in vitro and in vivo tests. In addition, it will be useful to investigate the lactic acid bacteria and Bacillus spp. from indigenous microflora of crayfish

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the duodenum together with multiple intra-abdominal thromboses and hepatitis C virus infection: a case report

Mucosa associated lymphoid tissue MALT lymphoma is a low grade malignancy that arises most commonly from the gastric mucosa. Small intestinal involvement is very rare. The causative relationship between Helicobacter pylori and the gastric MALT lymphoma is a well known issue, but recently there are several data suggesting the role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the pathogenesis of lymphoma including MALT lymphoma. Herein we present a rare case of duodenal MALT lymphoma with multiple intra-abdominal thromboses together with HCV infection that was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction detecting HCV-RNA within the peripheral blood mononuclear cells

A novel Fontan Y-graft for interrupted inferior vena cava and azygos continuation

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the hemodynamicdynamic advantage of a new Fontan surgical template that is intended for complex single-ventricle patients with interrupted inferior vena cava-azygos and hemi-azygos continuation. The new technique has emerged from a comprehensive pre-surgical simulation campaign conducted to facilitate a balanced hepatic flow and somatic Fontan pathway growth after Kawashima procedure. METHODS For 9 patients, aged 2 to18 years, majority having poor preoperative oxygen saturation, a pre-surgical computational fluid dynamics customization is conducted. Both the traditional Fontan pathways and the proposed novel Y-graft templates are considered. Numerical model was validated against in vivo phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging data and in vitro experiments. RESULTS The proposed template is selected and executed for 6 out of the 9 patients based on its predicted superior hemodynamic performance. Pre-surgical simulations performed for this cohort indicated that flow from the hepatic veins (HEP) do not reach to the desired lung. The novel Y-graft template, customized via a right- or left-sided displacement of the total cavopulmonary connection anastomosis location resulted a drastic increase in HEP flow to the desired lung. Orientation of HEP to azygos direct shunt is found to be important as it can alter the flow pattern from 38% in the caudally located direct shunt to 3% in the cranial configuration with significantly reversed flow. The postoperative measurements prove that oxygen saturation increased significantly (P-value = 0.00009) to normal levels in 1 year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS The new Y-graft template, if customized for the individual patient, is a viable alternative to the traditional surgical pathways. This template addresses the competing hemodynamic design factors of low physiological venous pressure, high postoperative oxygen saturation, low energy loss and balanced hepatic growth factor distribution possibly assuring adequate lung development. Date and number of IRB approval 25 October 2019, 280011928-604.01.01

LUNG CANCER

The aim of this study was to evaluate the symptomatic and endoscopic responses as well as the toxicities in 158 patients with endobronchial. lung cancer treated with high dose rate endobronchial. brachytherapy (HDR-EB). Forty-three patients with stage III NSCLC were treated with 60 Gy external beam radiotherapy (ERT) and three applications of 5 Gy each of HDR-EB (group A). Seventy-four patients who did not receive previous RT were treated with 30Gy ERT and two applications of 7.5 Gy HDR-EB with palliative intent (group B). Forty-one patients with recurrent tumor who were irradiated previously were treated with three applications of 7.5 Gy HDR-EB, with palliative intent (group C). In group A, bronchoscopic complete (CR) and overall response rates (ORR) were 67% and 86%, respectively. Symptomatic improvement was obtained in 58% of patients with cough, 77% of patients with dyspnea and 100% of patients with hemoptysis. Two and 5-year survival rates were 25.5% and 9.5%, respectively and the median survival time (MST) was 11 months. In group B, the bronchoscopic CR and ORR were 39% and 77%, respectively and 28% and 72% in group C. The symptomatic response rates were 57% and 55% for cough, 90% and 78% for dyspnea and 94% and 77% for hemoptysis, with a MST of 7 and 6 months in Groups B and C, respectively. Eighteen patients (11%) died of fatal hemoptysis (FH) with the median time to this event of 7 months. Treatment intent (p < 0.001), totat BED (p < 0.001) and the number of HDR-EB fractions (p < 0.001) were significant prognostic factors for FH. HDR-EB provides effective palliation in relieving the symptoms of patients with enclobronchial lung cancer, however, there is a risk of developing FH that is associated with a high BED and multiple HDR-EB applications. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved