Huge plastic bezoar: a rare cause of gastrointestinal obstruction

Bezoars are rare causes of gastrointestinal obstruction. Basically, they are of four types: trichobezoars, phytobezoars, pharmacobezoars, and lactobezoars. Some rare types of bezoars are also known. In this article a unique case of plastic bezoars is presented. We describe a girl aged 14 years who ingested large amounts of plastic material used for knitting chairs and charpoys. The conglomerate of plastic threads, entrapped food material and other debris, formed a huge mass occupying the whole stomach and extended into small bowel

PLACE DE LA CHIRURGIE DANS LA PRISE EN CHARGE DE LA MALADIE DE CROHN ANO-PERINEALE

Introduction: The attack ano-perinéale during the disease of Crohn is relatively frequent, with difficult treatment. Materials and methods: A retrospective study, spread out over six years, 12 patient collages in the service of visceral and proctologic surgery II of the military hospital of instruction Mohamed V of Rabat, were taken charges some for localizations anoperinéales of  Crohn’s disease  . Results: Ano-perinéale was noted has 38 years an average age, dominated especially by the dents in 83% of the cases. The diagnosis was evoked in front of the presence of the épithélio-giganto-cellular granulome among all patients, and retained on the whole of the arguments clinical, endoscopic, histological and evolutionary. The surgical treatment was a fistulectomy or a fistulotomy associated with drainage in 10 cases and a double fissurectomy with anoplastie at two others. The average retreat was of 19.42mois. The cicatrization was considered to be good in 3 cases, slow in 3cas, an anal stenos moderate in a case and a relapse of fistula in a case. On the functional level, one noted a hypotonic in 5cas and an anal incontinence at a case. Discussion: The anoperinéal lesions of Crohn’s disease are frequent, often awkward, chronic, repeating, extensive, complex and of difficult treatment. The treatment of these lesions remains still discussed, partly because of the difficulties of evaluation related to their diversity and their complexity. Currently the contribution of the modern medical treatment made it possible to avoid any surgical aggression which is likely to involve or to worsen disorders of the continence except required. Conclusion: The medical treatment must be always prescribed in first intention. As for the surgical treatment, it should be considered only in the event of no active Crohn’s disease.Introduction : L’atteinte ano-perinéale au cours de la maladie de Crohn est relativement fréquente et de traitement difficile. Nous rapportons une étude rétrospective dont le but est de discuter la prise en charge thérapeutique medico-chirurgicale de ces lésions. Matériels et méthodes : Une étude rétrospective, entre le premier Janvier 2000 et le 31 Décembre 2005 avec un recul de 19 mois, faite d’une série de12 patients opérés pour maladie de Crohn ano-perinéale au sein de service de chirurgie viscérale et proctologique II de l’hôpital militaire d’instruction Mohamed V, Résultats : La maladie de Crohn ano-perinéale a été notée à un âge moyen de 38 ans avec une prédominance masculine, dominé surtout par les fistules dans 83% des cas. Le diagnostic a été évoqué en postopératoire, devant la présence du granulome épithélio-giganto-cellulaire chez tous les malades, et retenu, après un bilan complémentaire réalisé à distance, sur l’ensemble des arguments cliniques, endoscopiques, histologiques et évolutifs. Un bilan de la maladie crohnienne a été réalisés, les LAP, en rapport avec la maladie de Crohn, étaient isolées chez  8 patients et associée à des lésions intestinales méconnues chez 4 patients. Le traitement chirurgical a été une fistulectomie ou une fistulotomie associée à un drainage en séton(10cas) et une double fissurectomie avec anoplastie (2cas). Le recul moyen était de 19 mois. La cicatrisation a été jugée bonne dans 3 cas, lente dans 3cas, une sténose anale modérée a été notée dans un cas et une récidive de fistule dans un cas. Sur le plan fonctionnel, on a noté une hypotonie sphinctérienne dans 5cas et une incontinence anale chez un cas. Discussion : Les lésions anoperinéales de la maladie de Crohn sont fréquentes, souvent gênantes, chroniques, récidivantes, extensives, complexes et de traitement difficile. Le traitement de ces lésions reste encore controversé, en partie du fait des difficultés d’évaluation liées à leur diversité et à leur complexité. Actuellement l’apport du traitement médical moderne permet d’éviter toute agression chirurgicale qui risque d’entraîner ou d’aggraver des troubles de la continence sphinctérienne sauf nécessité. Conclusion : Le traitement médical doit être toujours prescrit en première intention. Quant au traitement chirurgical, il ne doit être envisagé qu’en cas l’absence de maladie de Crohn active

Pengaruh Penambahan Perekat Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAC) Terhadap Kualitas Briket Dari Ampas Tebu Sebagai Energi Alternatif

Ampas tebu yang merupakan dari hasil sisa pemerahan (ekstraksi) tebu pada proses produksi gula dapat memiliki nilai jual yang lebih apabila diproses menjadi sebuah bahan bakar alternatif berupa briket. Penelitian ini mempelajari pengaruh penggunaan perekat polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) dengan proses karbonisasi pada pembuatan briket ampas tebu terhadap kualitas briket yang dihasilkan, mencakup kadar air dan nilai kalor. Massa arang ampas tebu dibuat tetap sebanyak 30 gram, dengan penambahan berat perekat 5, 10, 15, 20 gram dan laju aliran udara konstan yaitu 2 m/s. Briket yang menghasilkan nilai kalor paling tinggi yakni dengan penambahan 20 gram perekat PVAc dengan nilai kalor sebanyak 6623,1545 kalori/gram, namun setelah dilakukan perbandingan jumlah penambahan (gram) perekat dengan jumlah kenaikan nilai kalor, maka briket dengan pencampuran perekat 10 gram merupakan briket dengan nilai kalor paling optimum yakni sebesar 6,332.069 kalori/gram

Soil Dust Aerosols and Wind as Predictors of Seasonal Meningitis Incidence in Niger

Background: Epidemics of meningococcal meningitis are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa during the dry season, a period when the region is affected by the Harmattan, a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind blowing from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea. Objectives: We examined the potential of climate-based statistical forecasting models to predict seasonal incidence of meningitis in Niger at both the national and district levels. Data and methods: We used time series of meningitis incidence from 1986 through 2006 for 38 districts in Niger. We tested models based on data that would be readily available in an operational framework, such as climate and dust, population, and the incidence of early cases before the onset of the meningitis season in January–May. Incidence was used as a proxy for immunological state, susceptibility, and carriage in the population. We compared a range of negative binomial generalized linear models fitted to the meningitis data. Results: At the national level, a model using early incidence in December and averaged November–December zonal wind provided the best fit (pseudo-R2 = 0.57), with zonal wind having the greatest impact. A model with surface dust concentration as a predictive variable performed indistinguishably well. At the district level, the best spatiotemporal model included zonal wind, dust concentration, early incidence in December, and population density (pseudo-R2 = 0.41). Conclusions: We showed that wind and dust information and incidence in the early dry season predict part of the year-to-year variability of the seasonal incidence of meningitis at both national and district levels in Niger. Models of this form could provide an early-season alert that wind, dust, and other conditions are potentially conducive to an epidemic

Prion Protein Is a Key Determinant of Alcohol Sensitivity through the Modulation of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (NMDAR) Activity

The prion protein (PrP) is absolutely required for the development of prion diseases; nevertheless, its physiological functions in the central nervous system remain elusive. Using a combination of behavioral, electrophysiological and biochemical approaches in transgenic mouse models, we provide strong evidence for a crucial role of PrP in alcohol sensitivity. Indeed, PrP knock out (PrP−/−) mice presented a greater sensitivity to the sedative effects of EtOH compared to wild-type (wt) control mice. Conversely, compared to wt mice, those over-expressing mouse, human or hamster PrP genes presented a relative insensitivity to ethanol-induced sedation. An acute tolerance (i.e. reversion) to ethanol inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitatory post-synaptic potentials in hippocampal slices developed slower in PrP−/− mice than in wt mice. We show that PrP is required to induce acute tolerance to ethanol by activating a Src-protein tyrosine kinase-dependent intracellular signaling pathway. In an attempt to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying PrP-dependent ethanol effect, we looked for changes in lipid raft features in hippocampus of ethanol-treated wt mice compared to PrP−/− mice. Ethanol induced rapid and transient changes of buoyancy of lipid raft-associated proteins in hippocampus of wt but not PrP−/− mice suggesting a possible mechanistic link for PrP-dependent signal transduction. Together, our results reveal a hitherto unknown physiological role of PrP on the regulation of NMDAR activity and highlight its crucial role in synaptic functions

RACK1 Associates with Muscarinic Receptors and Regulates M2 Receptor Trafficking

Receptor internalization from the cell surface occurs through several mechanisms. Some of these mechanisms, such as clathrin coated pits, are well understood. The M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor undergoes internalization via a poorly-defined clathrin-independent mechanism. We used isotope coded affinity tagging and mass spectrometry to identify the scaffolding protein, receptor for activated C kinase (RACK1) as a protein enriched in M2-immunoprecipitates from M2-expressing cells over those of non-M2 expressing cells. Treatment of cells with the agonist carbachol disrupted the interaction of RACK1 with M2. We further found that RACK1 overexpression inhibits the internalization and subsequent down regulation of the M2 receptor in a receptor subtype-specific manner. Decreased RACK1 expression increases the rate of agonist internalization of the M2 receptor, but decreases the extent of subsequent down-regulation. These results suggest that RACK1 may both interfere with agonist-induced sequestration and be required for subsequent targeting of internalized M2 receptors to the degradative pathway

Analysing Spatio-Temporal Clustering of Meningococcal Meningitis Outbreaks in Niger Reveals Opportunities for Improved Disease Control

Meningococcal meningitis (MM) is an infection of the meninges caused by a bacterium, Neisseria meningitidis, transmitted through respiratory and throat secretions. It can cause brain damage and results in death in 5–15% of cases. Large epidemics of MM occur almost every year in sub-Saharan Africa during the hot, dry season. Understanding how epidemics emerge and spread in time and space would help public health authorities to develop more efficient strategies for the prevention and the control of meningitis. We studied the spatio-temporal distribution of MM cases in Niger from 2002 to 2009 at the scale of the health centre catchment areas (HCCAs). We found that spatial clusters of cases most frequently occurred within nine districts out of 42, which can assist public health authorities to better adjust allocation of resources such as antibiotics or rapid diagnostic tests. We also showed that the epidemics break out in different HCCAs from year to year and did not follow a systematic geographical direction. Finally, this analysis showed that surveillance at a finer spatial scale (health centre catchment area rather than district) would be more efficient for public health response: outbreaks would be detected earlier and reactive vaccination would be better targeted

Archaeogenetic analysis of Neolithic sheep from Anatolia suggests a complex demographic history since domestication

Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating from Epipaleolithic to late Neolithic, comparatively with modern-day breeds and central Asian Neolithic/Bronze Age sheep (OBI). Analyzing ancient nuclear data, we found that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds relative to Asian breeds, a conclusion supported by mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. In contrast, OBI showed higher genetic affinity to present-day Asian breeds. These results suggest that the east-west genetic structure observed in present-day breeds had already emerged by 6000 BCE, hinting at multiple sheep domestication episodes or early wild introgression in southwest Asia. Furthermore, we found that ANS are genetically distinct from all modern breeds. Our results suggest that European and Anatolian domestic sheep gene pools have been strongly remolded since the Neolithic

Postulated Vasoactive Neuropeptide Autoimmunity in Fatigue-Related Conditions: A Brief Review and Hypothesis

Disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and gulf war syndrome (GWS) are characterised by prolonged fatigue and a range of debilitating symptoms of pain, intellectual and emotional impairment, chemical sensitivities and immunological dysfunction. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) surprisingly may have certain features in common with these conditions. Post-infection sequelae may be possible contributing factors although ongoing infection is unproven. Immunological aberration may prove to be associated with certain vasoactive neuropeptides (VN) in the context of molecular mimicry, inappropriate immunological memory and autoimmunity