Unusual Findings in the Small Bowel

AbstractSmall bowel endoscopy has now become a routine investigation. The most common methods to visualize the small bowel are balloon-assisted enteroscopy and capsule endoscopy. Currently, the most common indications for small bowel endoscopy are obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and suspected or established Crohn's disease. Common findings of small bowel endoscopy include arteriovascular malformations, erosions, ulcers, and edema in the mucosa. However, there are myriad uncommon small bowel conditions which can now be visualized endoscopically. These include vasculitis, neuroendocrine tumors, familial polyposis syndromes such as Peutz–Jeghers syndrome; ulcerative celiac disease; enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma; and infections such as Whipple's disease, tuberculosis, and blastomycosis. The aim of this video is to demonstrate the endoscopic characteristics of various unusual but very important small bowel diseases. This article is part of an expert video encyclopedia

Profits and Fractal Properties: Notes on Marx, Countertendencies and Simulation Models

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. There are new reasons for revisiting Marx’s elaboration on the rate of profit because contemporary debates provide findings from the MEGA Project, long-term data on the rate of profit, and tools for dealing with complexity and non-equilibrium systems. This article proposes that the interplay between the tendency and the countertendencies of the rate of profit to fall can be translated into a simple system of equations, one based on each chapter of Section Three of Capital—as if Marx sought to mathematically formalise his insights. This article reviews previous debates, presents data and runs a simulation model, showing that the rate of profit behaves as fractals.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), grant (BEX 0840/14-9

Relevance of Circulating Nucleosomes, HMGB1 and sRAGE for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Background/Aim: Evasion from cell death occurs in prostate cancer (PCa). We verified whether serum levels of cell death markers can have diagnostic value in PCa. Patients and Methods: A total of 233 men scheduled for prostate biopsy [prostate specific antigen (PSA) level: 2-10 ng/ml] were enrolled. Serum nucleosomes, nucleosomes containing the H3 histone (H3), high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays. Results: There were no differences (p>0.05) in nucleosomes, H3, and sRAGE levels between patients with and without PCa or clinically significant PCa (csPCa). HMGB1 had lower levels in PCa patients (p=0.023) and was a predictor of PCa (p=0.047), but not of csPCa (p=0.180). Conclusion: In patients with critical PSA levels between 2-10 ng/ml, HMGB1 had some diagnostic value for overall PCa detection, but it was not predictive of csPCa. Nucleosomes, H3 and sRAGE did not discriminate between PCa or csPCa and controls.The Authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

Comparison of Three Assays for Total and Free PSA Using Hybritech and WHO Calibrations

Background/Aim: Lack of interchangeability between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) assays could have a clinical impact. We compared PSA assays from different manufacturers and calibrations. Patients and Methods: A total of 233 men who underwent prostate biopsy (PSA: 2-10 ng/ml; Beckman Coulter Access® Hybritech® as reference) were enrolled. Total (tPSA) and free PSA (fPSA) were also measured using the Roche cobas® and the Abbott Architect® methods. Results: Roche tPSA values were ≈1% higher than Beckman, while Abbott values were ≈5% lower. Roche had the highest diagnostic sensitivity (92%) compared to Beckman Coulter (87%) and Abbott (85%). Roche fPSA was ≈3% lower and Abbott ≈17% higher than that of Beckman. For the percentage of fPSA, Roche had the highest sensitivity (98%). Conclusion: Roche cobas® and Beckman Coulter Access® Hybritech® tPSA were almost interchangeable. While the agreement was acceptable for tPSA, this did not happen with fPSA and greater efforts for harmonization are required

A thermoregulation model for whole body cooling hypothermia

This paper presents a thermoregulation model based on the finite element method to perform numerical analyses of brain cooling procedures as a contribu tion to the investigation on the use of therapeutic hypothermia after ischemia in adults. The use of computational methods can aid clinicians to observe body temperature using different cooling methods without the need of invasive techniques, and can thus be a valuable tool to assist clinical trials simulat ing different cooling options that can be used for treatment. In this work, we developed a finite element method (FEM) package using isoparametric linear three-dimensional elements which is applied to the solution of the continuum bioheat Pennes equation. Blood temperature changes were considered using a blood pool approach and a lumped analysis for intravascular catheter methods of blood cooling. Some analyses are performed using a three-dimensional mesh based on a complex geometry obtained from computed tomography medical images, considering a cooling blanket and an intravascular catheter. A com parison is made between the results obtained with the two techniques and the effects of each case in brain temperature reduction in a required period of time, maintainance of body temperature at moderate hypothermia levels and gradual rewarming

A parallel finite volume method for incompressible and slightly compressible reactive flows

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. In this article, a parallel formulation of the finite volume method is presented for solving three-dimensional, turbulent, mixed, reactive, and slightly compressible flows. It can also be used for incompressible laminar/turbulent flows. The method is designed for nonorthogonal meshes, and oscillations caused by the advective terms are treated by a deferred correction technique. The chosen finite volume scheme is cell centered. The studied fluid is a single-phase multicomponent gas with Newtonian behavior. The focus is mainly on gas mixtures with predominance of N 2 , since the chemical reaction of greatest interest is the combustion process in the air. The buoyancy is caused by the gradient of the specified mass, which is a function of the temperature and the composition of the gas mixture. The mathematical model uses an approximation for low Mach numbers, describing slightly compressible flows. The coupling between the fluid dynamic equations is given by the nonlinear Picard's method, with the pressure-velocity coupling treatment given by the SIMPLE algorithm (semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations). The complete mathematical model includes the sensitive enthalpy equation for the conservation of energy. The LES (large eddy simulation) model is used for modeling the turbulence. The chemical reactions are implemented using the EDC (eddy dissipation concept) and the EDM (eddy dissipation model) approaches. The parallel strategy is based on a subdomain-by-subdomain approach, and uses the MPI and OpenMP standards in a hybrid parallel scheme. Compressed data structures are used to store the matrix coefficients.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq, Brazil), Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES, Brazil)

The Percentage of [−2]Pro–Prostate-Specific Antigen and the Prostate Health Index Outperform Prostate-Specific Antigen and the Percentage of Free Prostate-Specific Antigen in the Detection of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer and Can Be Used as Reflex Tests

Context.—: There is a need to avoid the overdiagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) and to find more specific biomarkers. Objective.—: To evaluate the clinical utility of [-2]pro-prostate-specific antigen ([-2]proPSA) derivatives in detecting clinically significant PCa (csPCa) and to compare it with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and with the percentage of free PSA (%fPSA). Design.—: Two hundred thirty-seven men (PSA: 2-10 ng/mL) scheduled for a prostate biopsy were enrolled. Parametric and nonparametric tests, receiver operating characteristic curves, and logistic regression analysis were applied. Outcomes were csPCa and overall PCa. Results.—: Both [-2]proPSA derivatives were significantly higher in csPCa and overall PCa (P < .001). The areas under the curves for the prediction of csPCa were higher for the percentage of [-2]proPSA (%[-2]proPSA) (0.781) and the prostate health index (PHI) (0.814) than for PSA (0.651) and %fPSA (0.724). There was a gain of 11% in diagnostic accuracy when %[-2]proPSA or PHI were added to a base model with PSA and %fPSA. Twenty-five percent to 29% of biopsies could have been spared with %[-2]proPSA (cutoff: ≥1.25%) and PHI (cutoff: ≥27), missing 10% of csPCas. The same results could have been achieved by using [-2]proPSA as a reflex test, when %fPSA was 25% or less (cutoffs: ≥1.12% and ≥24 for %[-2]proPSA and PHI, respectively). Conclusions.—: The [-2]proPSA derivatives improve the diagnostic accuracy of csPCa when the PSA value is between 2 and 10 ng/mL, sparing unnecessary biopsies and selecting patients for active surveillance. [-2]proPSA can be used as a reflex test when %fPSA is 25% or less, without reducing the diagnostic accuracy for csPCa and the number of spared biopsies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microbiota of Deciduous Endodontic Infections Analyzed by MDA and Checkerboard DNA-DNA Hybridization

Aims To evaluate the microbiota of endodontic infections in deciduous teeth by checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization after uniform amplification of DNA in samples by multiple displacement amplification (MDA). Methodology Forty samples from the root canal system of deciduous teeth exhibiting pulp necrosis with or without radiographically detectable periradicular/interadicular bone resorption were collected and 32 were analyzed, with 3 individuals contributing 2 samples; these were MDA- amplified and analyzed by Checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization for levels of 83 bacterial taxa. Two outcome measures were used: the percentage of teeth colonized by each species; and the mean proportion of each bacterial taxon present across all samples were computed. Results The mean amount of DNA in the samples prior to amplification was 5.2 (± 4.7) ng and 6.1 (± 2.3) μg after MDA. The mean number of species detected per sample was 19 (± 4) (range: 3–66) to the nearest whole number. The most prevalent taxa were Prevotella intermedia (96.9%), Neisseria mucosa (65.6%), Prevotella nigrescens (56.2%) and Tannerella forsythia (56.2%). Aggregatibacter (Haemophilus) aphrophilus and Helicobacter pylori were not detected. P. intermedia (10%), Prevotella tannerae (7%) and Prevotella nigrescens (4.3%) presented the highest mean proportions of the target species averaged across the positive samples. Conclusion Root canals of infected deciduous teeth had a diverse bacterial population. Prevotella sp were commonly found with P. intermedia, Prevotella tannerae and Prevotella nigrescens among the most prominent species detected