Robotic Management of Pheochromocytoma of the Vesicoureteric Junction

This study describes a case of urinary bladder pheochromocytoma that presented with paraneoplastic manifestation of bowel symptoms and thrombocytosis managed with laparoscopic techniques

Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty with Stone Removal in an Ectopic Pelvic Kidney

The authors suggest that robotic technology may be used for pyeloplasty in difficult cases of ectopic position and concomitant stones

Ohmic Heating Technology and Its Application in Meaty Food: A Review

The purpose of the current review paper is to investigate and analyze about the effects of ohmic heating (OH) different application in the field of fish, meat and its product and compare it with other conventional thermal methods of food processing such as thawing, heating, cooking etc. Food quality, food safety, convenience, freshness, healthy food, natural flavor and taste with extended shelf-life are the main criteria for the demand made by today’s consumers. Ohmic heating is a substitute of conventional heating method of food commodities. It has shorter heating times, avoid hot surfaces and help to minimize temperature gradients. Product parameters such as electrical, thermo-physical and rheological properties of the food and process parameters such as the current frequency, electrode material and the geometry of ohmic chamber affect the process. as a result various application of OH are found such as heating, evaporation, dehydration, extraction, waste water treatment, thawing, cooking of different type fish and meat and its product such as meat ball, hamburger patties surmi, beef, turkey etc

Computational studies for the effective electrical conductivity of Copper powder filled LDPE/LLDPE composites

486-493The effective electrical conductivity (EEC) of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) polymer composites filled with copper has been studied. The nonlinear behavior has been observed for effective electrical conductivity versus filler content. Several approaches have been described to predict the electrical conductivities of polymer composites. EEC is described by artificial neural network (ANN) and it demonstrates the accurate match of experimental data for EEC with different training functions (TRAINOSS, TRAINLM, TRAINBR, TRAINSCG, TRAINBFG, and TRAINRP). The ANN approach satisfied the experimental data for EEC of polymer composites reasonably well. The complex structure encountered in LDPE/Cu and LLDPE/Cu, along with the difference in the EEC of the components, make it difficult to estimate the EEC exactly. This is the reason for which artificial neural network has been employed here. By using ANN approach experimental results indicate that EEC of polymer composites increases with increasing filler content at the same concentration

Characterizing New-Onset Exudation in the Randomized Phase 2 FILLY Trial of Complement Inhibitor Pegcetacoplan for Geographic Atrophy.

To evaluate clinical characteristics of eyes in which investigator-determined new-onset exudative age-related macular degeneration (eAMD) developed during the FILLY trial.Post hoc analysis of the phase 2 study of intravitreal pegcetacoplan in geographic atrophy (GA).Patients with GA secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), n = 246.Either 15 mg intravitreal pegcetacoplan or sham given monthly or every other month for 12 months followed by a 6-month off-treatment period.Time of new eAMD onset in the study eye, history of eAMD in the fellow eye, presence of double-layer sign (DLS) on structural OCT in the study eye, changes in retinal anatomic features by structural OCT and fluorescein angiography (FA), and changes in visual acuity.Exudation was reported in 26 study eyes across treatment groups over 18 months. Mean time to eAMD diagnosis was 256 days (range, 31-555 days). Overall, a higher proportion of patients with a baseline history of eAMD in the fellow eye (P = 0.016) and a DLS in the study eye (P = 0.0001) demonstrated eAMD. Among study eyes in which eAMD developed, 18 of 26 (69%) had history of fellow-eye eAMD and 19 of 26 (73.1%) had DLS at baseline, compared with 76 of 217 study eyes (35%; P = 0.0007) and 70 of 215 study eyes (32.5%; P0.0001), respectively, in which eAMD did not develop. All 21 patients with structural OCT imaging at the time of eAMD diagnosis demonstrated subretinal fluid, intraretinal cysts, or both consistent with exudation. Among 17 patients who underwent FA at eAMD diagnosis, 10 showed detectable macular neovascularization (MNV), all occult lesions. Development of eAMD did not have an appreciable impact on visual acuity, and all patients responded to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.Intravitreal pegcetacoplan slowed the rate of GA growth and was associated with an unexpected dose-dependent increased incidence of eAMD with no temporal clustering of onset. Exudative AMD seemed to be associated with baseline eAMD in the contralateral eye and a DLS, suggestive of nonexudative MNV, in the study eye. The safety profile of pegcetacoplan was acceptable to proceed to phase 3 studies without adjustments to enrollment criteria

Nepafenac 0.3% after Cataract Surgery in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy: Results of 2 Randomized Phase 3 Studies

Purpose To demonstrate the efficacy and safety of once-daily nepafenac 0.3% ophthalmic suspension versus vehicle, based on clinical outcomes, after cataract surgery in patients with diabetes. Design Two prospective, randomized, multicenter, double-masked, vehicle-controlled phase 3 studies. Participants Total, 615 patients in study 1 and 605 patients in study 2. Methods Patients were randomized (1:1) to topical nepafenac 0.3% or vehicle once-daily starting the day before surgery and continuing for 90 days thereafter. Main Outcome Measures Key efficacy variables were: patients (%) in whom macular edema (ME) developed (≥30% increase from preoperative baseline central subfield macular thickness) within 90 days after cataract surgery and the patients (%) with a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improvement of ≥15 letters from preoperative baseline through day 14 maintained through day 90. Secondary end points included: patients (%) with a BCVA improvement of ≥15 letters from preoperative baseline through days 90 and 60 and safety over 3 months. Results A significantly lower percentage of patients demonstrated ME within 90 days after surgery with nepafenac 0.3% versus vehicle (study 1: 2.3% vs. 17.3%; P P = 0.001; pooled: 4.1% vs. 15.9%; P P P = 0.671) in study 2, and 55.4% versus 46.7% ( P = 0.003) in the pooled analysis. A greater percentage of patients treated with nepafenac 0.3% versus vehicle in study 1 and similar percentage in study 2 had a BCVA improvement of ≥15 letters from preoperative baseline through day 90 (77.2% vs. 67.7% [ P = 0.009] and 65.4% vs. 65.9% [ P = 0.888]) and through day 60 (76.2% vs. 64.7% [ P = 0.002] and 68.9% vs. 62.1% [ P = 0.092]). No unanticipated adverse events were observed. Conclusions These studies demonstrated the clinical benefits of nepafenac 0.3% over vehicle in reducing the risk of postoperative ME, with the integrated analysis showing improved BCVA after cataract surgery in patients with diabetic retinopathy, with no unanticipated safety events

FOXD1-ALDH1A3 signaling is a determinant for the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of mesenchymal glioma stem cells

Glioma stem-like cells (GSC) with tumor-initiating activity orchestrate the cellular hierarchy in glioblastoma and engender therapeutic resistance. Recent work has divided GSC into two subtypes with a mesenchymal (MES) GSC population as the more malignant subtype. In this study, we identify the FOXD1-ALDH1A3 signaling axis as a determinant of the MES GSC phenotype. The transcription factor FOXD1 is expressed predominantly in patient-derived cultures enriched with MES, but not with the proneural GSC subtype. shRNA-mediated attenuation of FOXD1 in MES GSC ablates their clonogenicity in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, FOXD1 regulates the transcriptional activity of ALDH1A3, an established functional marker for MES GSC. Indeed, the functional roles of FOXD1 and ALDH1A3 are likely evolutionally conserved, insofar as RNAi-mediated attenuation of their orthologous genes in Drosophila blocks formation of brain tumors engineered in that species. In clinical specimens of high-grade glioma, the levels of expression of both FOXD1 and ALDH1A3 are inversely correlated with patient prognosis. Finally, a novel small-molecule inhibitor of ALDH we developed, termed GA11, displays potent in vivo efficacy when administered systemically in a murine GSC-derived xenograft model of glioblastoma. Collectively, our findings define a FOXD1-ALDH1A3 pathway in controling the clonogenic and tumorigenic potential of MES GSC in glioblastoma tumors

Competence in Endoscopic Ultrasound and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography, From Training Through Independent Practice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is unclear whether participation in competency-based fellowship programs for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) results in high-quality care in independent practice. We measured quality indicator (QI) adherence during the first year of independent practice among physicians who completed endoscopic training with a systematic assessment of competence. METHODS: We performed a prospective multicenter cohort study of invited participants from 62 training programs. In phase 1, 24 advanced endoscopy trainees (AETs), from 20 programs, were assessed using a validated competence assessment tool. We used a comprehensive data collection and reporting system to create learning curves using cumulative sum analysis that were shared with AETs and trainers quarterly. In phase 2, participating AETs entered data into a database pertaining to every EUS and ERCP examination during their first year of independent practice, anchored by key QIs. RESULTS: By the end of training, most AETs had achieved overall technical competence (EUS 91.7%, ERCP 73.9%) and cognitive competence (EUS 91.7%, ERCP 94.1%). In phase 2 of the study, 22 AETs (91.6%) participated and completed a median of 136 EUS examinations per AET and 116 ERCP examinations per AET. Most AETs met the performance thresholds for QIs in EUS (including 94.4% diagnostic rate of adequate samples and 83.8% diagnostic yield of malignancy in pancreatic masses) and ERCP (94.9% overall cannulation rate). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective multicenter study, we found that although competence cannot be confirmed for all AETs at the end of training, most meet QI thresholds for EUS and ERCP at the end of their first year of independent practice. This finding affirms the effectiveness of training programs. Clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT02509416