Single instillation of mitomycin C reduces 1st year recurrence following transurethral resection of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Objective: To study the impact of single instillation of 40 mg Mitomycin C (MMC-40) within first hour of transurethral resection (TUR), on first year recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Methods: In this study of two groups of patients with similar demographics and tumour profile were compared to assess first year tumour recurrence pattern. Group A received MMC-40 within 30 minutes of TUR. Group B patients only had TUR of bladder tumour. Patients\u27 charts were reviewed for demographic profile, preoperative diagnosis and imaging used, cytological work up, tumour profile both during cystoscopy and imaging used, patients records were also reviewed for all subsequent check cystoscopies for recurrence. Any adjuvant treatments like intravesical chemo/immunotherapy etc. were also noted. The results were analysed using a commercially available statistical package, SPSS. The level of significance was \u3c or = 0.05.Results: There were 29 and 46 patients in group A and B respectively. The demographic profile in terms of age, gender distribution, tumour characteristics (size, site, multiplicity) and pathological evaluation including, tumour grade and presence of carcinoma in situ were similar (p \u3c 0.4 and p \u3c 0.5) respectively. The first year recurrence rate in group A was 15% whereas it was 37.4% in group B (p \u3c 0.04).Conclusions: The first year recurrence rate is significantly decreased if MMC-40 is instilled following TUR. MMC-40 is safe and cost effective. Most low grade, low volume tumours would not require any further treatment if MMC-40 is given immediately following TUR

Workplace mistreatment and mental health in female surgeons in Pakistan

Background: Despite workplace mistreatment, which includes harassment, bullying and gender discrimination(GD)/bias, being serious problems for female surgeons, there are limited data from lower-middle-income countries like Pakistan. This study explored harassment and GD/bias experienced by female surgeons in Pakistan, and the effects of these experiences on mental health and well-being.Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted between July and September 2019 in collaboration with the Association of Women Surgeons of Pakistan, an organization consisting of female surgeons and trainees in Pakistan. An anonymous online survey was emailed directly, disseminated via social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), and sent to surgical programmes in Pakistan.Results: A total of 146 women surgeons responded to the survey; 67.1 per cent were trainees and the rest attending surgeons. Overall, 57.5 per cent of surgeons reported experiencing harassment, most common being verbal (64.0 per cent) and mental (45.9 per cent), but this mostly went unreported (91.5 per cent). On multivariable analysis adjusted for age and specialty, workplace harassment (odds ratio 2.02 (95 per cent c.i. 1.09 to 4.45)) and bullying (odds ratio 5.14 (95 per cent c.i. 2.00-13.17)) were significantly associated with severe self-perceived burnout, while having a support system was protective against feelings of depression (odds ratio 0.35 (95 per cent c.i. 0.16 to 0.74)). The overwhelming majority (91.3 per cent) believed that more institutional support groups were needed to help surgeons with stress reduction (78.8 per cent), receiving mentorship (74.7 per cent) and work-life balance (67.8 per cent).Conclusion: Workplace mistreatment, in particular harassment and bullying, has a damaging impact on the mental well-being of female surgeons, particularly trainees. The absence of support groups in Pakistan should be urgently addressed so that surgeons, especially trainees, may cope better with potentially harmful workplace stressors

Correlation of three immunohistochemically detected markers of neuroendocrine differentiation with clinical predictors of disease progression in prostate cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The importance of immuno-histological detection of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma with respect to disease at presentation and Gleason grade is gaining acceptance. There is limited literature on the relative significance of three commonly used markers of NE differentiation i.e. Chromogranin A (CgA), Neuron specific enolase (NSE) and Synaptophysin (Syn). In the current work we have assessed the correlation of immuno-histological detection of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma with respect to disease at presentation and Gleason grade and to determine the relative value of various markers.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Consecutive samples of malignant prostatic specimens (Transurethral resection of prostate or radical retropubic prostatectomy) from 84 patients between January 1991 and December 1998 were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining (PAP technique) using selected neuroendocrine tumor markers i.e. Chromogranin A (CgA), Neuron specific enolase (NSE), and Synaptophysin (Syn). According to the stage at diagnosis, patients were divided into three groups. Group (i) included patients who had organ confined disease, group (ii) included patients with locally invasive disease, and group (iii) with distant metastasis. NE expression was correlated with Gleason sum and clinical stage at presentation and analyzed using Chi-Square test and one way ANNOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of the patients was 70 ± 9.2 years. Group I had 14 patients, group II had 31 patients and group III had 39 patients. CgA was detected in 33 cases, Syn in 8 cases, and NSE in 44 cases. Expression of CgA was seen in 7% of group I, 37% in group II and 35% of group III patients (p 0.059). CgA (p 0.024) and NSE (p 0.006) had a significantly higher expression with worsening Gleason grade.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CgA has a better correlation with disease at presentation than other markers used. Both NSE and CgA had increasing expression with worsening histological grade this correlation has a potential for use as a prognostic indicator. Limitations in the current work included small number and retrospective nature of work. The findings of this work needs validation in a larger cohort.</p

The Endogenous Th17 Response in NO<inf>2</inf>-Promoted Allergic Airway Disease Is Dispensable for Airway Hyperresponsiveness and Distinct from Th17 Adoptive Transfer

Severe, glucocorticoid-resistant asthma comprises 5-7% of patients with asthma. IL-17 is a biomarker of severe asthma, and the adoptive transfer of Th17 cells in mice is sufficient to induce glucocorticoid-resistant allergic airway disease. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an environmental toxin that correlates with asthma severity, exacerbation, and risk of adverse outcomes. Mice that are allergically sensitized to the antigen ovalbumin by exposure to NO2 exhibit a mixed Th2/Th17 adaptive immune response and eosinophil and neutrophil recruitment to the airway following antigen challenge, a phenotype reminiscent of severe clinical asthma. Because IL-1 receptor (IL-1R) signaling is critical in the generation of the Th17 response in vivo, we hypothesized that the IL-1R/Th17 axis contributes to pulmonary inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in NO2-promoted allergic airway disease and manifests in glucocorticoid-resistant cytokine production. IL-17A neutralization at the time of antigen challenge or genetic deficiency in IL-1R resulted in decreased neutrophil recruitment to the airway following antigen challenge but did not protect against the development of AHR. Instead, IL-1R-/- mice developed exacerbated AHR compared to WT mice. Lung cells from NO2-allergically inflamed mice that were treated in vitro with dexamethasone (Dex) during antigen restimulation exhibited reduced Th17 cytokine production, whereas Th17 cytokine production by lung cells from recipient mice of in vitro Th17-polarized OTII T-cells was resistant to Dex. These results demonstrate that the IL-1R/Th17 axis does not contribute to AHR development in NO2-promoted allergic airway disease, that Th17 adoptive transfer does not necessarily reflect an endogenously-generated Th17 response, and that functions of Th17 responses are contingent on the experimental conditions in which they are generated. © 2013 Martin et al

Space-charge limited conduction in epitaxial chromia films grown on elemental and oxide-based metallic substrates

We study temperature dependent (200 – 400 K) dielectric current leakage in high-quality, epitaxial chromia films, synthesized on various conductive substrates (Pd, Pt and V2O3). We find that trap-assisted space-charge limited conduction is the dominant source of electrical leakage in the films, and that the density and distribution of charge traps within them is strongly dependent upon the choice of the underlying substrate. Pd-based chromia is found to exhibit leakage consistent with the presence of deep, discrete traps, a characteristic that is related to the known properties of twinning defects in the material. The Pt- and V2O3-based films, in contrast, show behavior typical of insulators with shallow, exponentially-distributed traps. The highest resistivity is obtained for chromia fabricated on V2O3substrates, consistent with a lower total trap density in these films. Our studies suggest that chromia thin films formed on V2O3 substrates are a promising candidate for next-generation spintronics

Stone clearance in lower pole nephrolithiasis after extra corporeal shock wave lithotripsy – the controversy continues

BACKGROUND: To determine factors influencing the clearance of fragments after extra-corporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for lower pole calyceal (LPC) stones. METHODS: In the period between July 1998 and Oct 2001, 100 patients with isolated lower polar calyceal calculi ≤ 20 mm, in patients aged ≥ 14 years, were included in the study. Intravenous urograms (IVU) were reviewed to define the LPC anatomy (width of the infundibulum and pelvicalyceal angle). Study end points i.e. stone free status; number of shock waves used and number of sessions were correlated with variables like LPC anatomy, body mass index and stone size. RESULTS: At three months follow up the clearance for stone size ≤ 10 mm, 11–15 mm and 16–20 mm were 95, 96 and 90% respectively. Patients with acute LPC (<90°) and obtuse angle (>90°) had stone clearance of 94 and 100% respectively. For the infundibular width of < 4 mm, the stone clearance was 93% were as for > 4 mm, it was 100%. For body mass index (BMI) less than and > 30 kg/m(2), the stone clearance was 92 and 95% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a trend towards more ESWL sessions and shock wave requirement in patients with acute pelvi-calyceal angle and narrow infundibulum but it is not statistically significant. Size (≤ 20 mm) and BMI has no relation with stone clearance. With modern lithotripter, stones up to 20 mm could primarily be treated by ESWL, irrespective of an un-favorable lower polar calyceal anatomy and body habitus

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum