A Rare Cause of Renal Mass; A Case Study

A seventy five year old gentleman with the clinical diagnosis of renal tuberculosis was found to have renal squamous cell carcinoma. The clinical presentation and management are being discussed

Risk Factors and Incidence of Macular Edema after Cataract Surgery:A Database Study of 81984 Eyes

PurposeTo define the incidence of pseudophakic macular edema (PME) after cataract surgery and to identify contributory risk factors.DesignRetrospective database study of electronic medical records (EMRs).ParticipantsA total of 81984 eyes undergoing cataract surgery between December 2010 and December 2014 from 8 independent United Kingdom clinical sites.MethodsStructured clinical data mandated by the EMR were anonymized and extracted for each eye undergoing cataract surgery including: perioperative visual acuity, copathologic features, simultaneous surgical procedures, and the presence or absence of a specified list of intraoperative complications. Diabetic status with matched Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grading also was mandated by the EMR. Eyes receiving prophylactic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were excluded.Main Outcome MeasureDiagnosis of cystoid macular edema or new-onset macular edema in patients with diabetes, recorded by a healthcare professional within 90 days of surgery.ResultsBaseline incidence of PME in eyes without operative complications, diabetes, or risk factors was 1.17%. Eyes in which PME developed were more likely to be male, older, and to demonstrate risk factors. The relative risk (RR) was increased in eyes with capsule rupture with or without vitreous loss (RR, 2.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.57–4.34), a previous diagnosis of epiretinal membrane (RR, 5.60; 95% CI, 3.45–9.07), uveitis (RR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.50–5.51), retinal vein occlusion (RR, 4.47; 95% CI, 2.56–5.92), or retinal detachment repair (RR, 3.93; 95% CI, 2.60–5.92). High myopia, age-related macular degeneration, or prostaglandin analog use were not shown to increase risk. Eyes with PME on average had poorer postoperative visual acuity, which persisted to the latest time point assessed, up to 24 weeks. Eyes from patients with diabetes, even in the absence of retinopathy, had an increased RR (RR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.36–2.36) of new macular edema after surgery. The risk was higher in the presence of any diabetic retinopathy (DR; RR, 6.23; 95% CI, 5.12–7.58) and rose proportionately with increasing severity of DR.ConclusionsPseudophakic macular edema occurs commonly after phacoemulsification cataract surgery, even in the absence of complications and risk factors. This large retrospective study using structured EMR data quantified the RRs of PME and the risk with increasing ETDRS severity of DR. It highlights the need for prophylactic therapy, especially in those groups of eyes with the highest RRs

PON2 Deficiency Leads to Increased Susceptibility to Diet-Induced Obesity.

(1) Background: Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) is a ubiquitously expressed protein localized to endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Previous studies have shown that PON2 exhibits anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory functions, and PON2-deficient (PON2-def) mice are more susceptible to atherosclerosis. Furthermore, PON2 deficiency leads to impaired mitochondrial function. (2) Methods: In this study, we examined the susceptibility of PON2-def mice to diet-induced obesity. (3) Results: After feeding of an obesifying diet, the PON2-def mice exhibited significantly increased body weight due to increased fat mass weight as compared to the wild-type (WT) mice. The increased adiposity was due, in part, to increased adipocyte hypertrophy. PON2-def mice had increased fasting insulin levels and impaired glucose tolerance after diet-induced obesity. PON2-def mice had decreased oxygen consumption and energy expenditure. Furthermore, the oxygen consumption rate of subcutaneous fat pads from PON2-def mice was lower compared to WT mice. Gene expression analysis of the subcutaneous fat pads revealed decreased expression levels of markers for beige adipocytes in PON2-def mice. (4) Conclusions: We concluded that altered systemic energy balance, perhaps due to decreased beige adipocytes and mitochondrial dysfunction in white adipose tissue of PON2-def mice, leads to increased obesity in these mice

A New Species of the Neopterygian Fish Enchodus from the Duwi Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous, Western Desert, Central Egypt

The neopterygian fish Enchodus was a widespread, speciose genus consisting of approximately 30 recognized species that were temporally distributed from the late Early Cretaceous through the Paleocene. Many Enchodus specimens are fragmentary cranial remains or isolated dental elements, as is the case for previously reported occurrences in Egypt. Here, we present the most complete specimen of Enchodus recovered from the Late Cretaceous of northeast Africa. The specimen was collected from the upper Campanian Duwi Formation, near the village of Tineida (Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt). The new species, Enchodus tineidae sp. nov., consists of right and left dentaries, a partial ectopterygoid, and other cranial bones. The size of the specimen places it into the upper body-size range for the genus. The palatine tooth, an element often useful for diagnosing Enchodus to the species level, is not preserved, but a combination of other cranial characters supports the referral of this specimen to Enchodus. In particular, the dentary preserves three symphysial rostroventral prongs and two tooth rows, the lateral of which consists of small denticles, whereas the medial row comprises large, mediolaterally-compressed teeth. The rostral-most tooth exhibits the highest crown, whereas the rest of the teeth are of lower, variable crown heights. The eight robust, caudal-most medial-row teeth are distributed in a cluster pattern never before observed in Enchodus. Additionally, the dentary and preopercle are both without dermal ornamentation, and the mandibular sensory canal is closed. Phylogenetic analysis recovers this new species as the sister species to E. dirus from North America. Along with previously described materials from Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Italy, Morocco, and Libya, this specimen represents a thirteenth species from the northwestern Tethyan geographic distribution of Enchodus

Dental eruption and growth in Hyracoidea (Mammalia, Afrotheria)

We investigated dental homologies, development, and growth in living and fossil hyracoids, and tested if hyracoids and other mammals show correlations between eruption patterns, gestation time, and age at maturity. Unlike living species, fossil hyracoids simultaneously possess replaced P1 and canine teeth. Fossil species also have shorter crowns, an upper and lower I3 locus, an upper I2, and a hypoconulid on m3. Prenatal specimens of the living $\textit{Procavia capensis}$ and $\textit{Heterohyrax brucei}$ show up to three tooth buds posterior to upper dI1 and anterior to the seven upper cheek teeth that consistently erupt; these include an anterior premolar but not a canine. Most lower cheek teeth finish eruption during growth in hyracoids, not after growth as in most other afrotherians. All hyracoids show the m1 at (lower) or near (upper) the beginning of eruption of permanent teeth; M3/m3 is the last permanent tooth to erupt. The living P. capensis erupts most lower antemolar loci before m2. In contrast, fossil hyraxes erupt lower antemolars after m2. While the early eruption of antemolars correlates with increased gestation time and age at maturity in primates and $\textit{Tupaia}$ (i.e., "Schultz's Rule"), and while modern hyraxes resemble some anthropoid primates in exhibiting long gestation and eruption of antemolars at or before molars, eruption patterns do not significantly co-vary with either life history parameter among afrotherians sampled so far. However, we do observe a shift in eruption timing and crown height in $\textit{Procavia}$ relative to fossil hyracoids, mirroring observations recently made for other ungulate-grade mammals.Collection of Fayum hyracoids has been funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grants to E. L. Simons (BCS-0114856), to ELS and E. R. Seiffert (BCS- 0416164), to ERS (BCS-0819186), and to ERS, J. G. Fleagle, G. F. Gunnell, and D. M. Boyer (BCS-1231288). Fieldwork was undertaken in collaboration with the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority and the Egyptian Geological Museum, and was managed by P. Chatrath. RJA, LH, and DP acknowledge support from the Leverhulme Trust and the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. We thank C. Riddle and V. Yarborough for access to fossils and fossil preparation, and C. Soubiran for help with segmentation of extant hyrax CT scans. Some CTscan data presented in this work were produced thanks to the imaging facilities of the MRI Platform and of the LabEx CeMEB (Montpellier)

Managing coastal aquifer salinity under sea level rise using rice cultivation recharge for sustainable land cover

Data Availability: No data was used for the research described in the article.Code availability: Upon request.Supplementary material is available online at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581823001532#sec0095 .Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Study region: The coastal aquifer of Nile Delta, Egypt is used to develop the current study. Study focus: Excess water from rice irrigation is a source of incidental recharge to mitigate seawater intrusion. This paper numerically explores the optimal location of rice cultivations by subdividing the delta domain into three distinct recharging regions (north, central and south). Additionally, SEAWAT code was simulated under a combination of rice cultivation relocation and sea level rise (SLR). New hydrological insights for the region: The study findings revealed significant variations in salt volume reduction depending on the location of rice cultivation in the delta. Placing rice cultivation in the northern region resulted in the highest reduction of salt volume (19 %). In contrast, locating the recharge in the central region yielded a salt volume reduction of 0.50 %, while rice cultivation in the southern region produced a 15 % increase. Considering the projected SLR of 61 cm by 2100, there was an overall salt volume increment of 3 %. However, when accounting for both SLR and rice cultivation recharge in the northern region, a substantial salt volume reduction of 17 % was observed. The results demonstrated that incidental recharge by rice cultivation in coastal aquifers is an effective method for enhancing saltwater intrusion control. Moreover, this study improves our understanding of hydrological processes and expected responses in the delta under future climate scenarios

Genomic epidemiology of the first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Palestine.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to cause a significant public-health burden and disruption globally. Genomic epidemiology approaches point to most countries in the world having experienced many independent introductions of SARS-CoV-2 during the early stages of the pandemic. However, this situation may change with local lockdown policies and restrictions on travel, leading to the emergence of more geographically structured viral populations and lineages transmitting locally. Here, we report the first SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Palestine sampled from early March 2020, when the first cases were observed, through to August of 2020. SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Palestine fall across the diversity of the global phylogeny, consistent with at least nine independent introductions into the region. We identify one locally predominant lineage in circulation represented by 50 Palestinian SARS-CoV-2, grouping with genomes generated from Israel and the UK. We estimate the age of introduction of this lineage to 05/02/2020 (16/01/2020-19/02/2020), suggesting SARS-CoV-2 was already in circulation in Palestine predating its first detection in Bethlehem in early March. Our work highlights the value of ongoing genomic surveillance and monitoring to reconstruct the epidemiology of COVID-19 at both local and global scales