Hepatobiliary scintigraphy with SPET in the diagnosis of bronchobiliary fistula due to a hydatid cyst

In this report, we present the application of hepatobiliary scintigraphy using Tc-99m mebrofenin in the diagnosis of bronchobiliary fistula caused by a liver hydatid cyst, which penetrated the diaphragm. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy noticeably depicted the leakage of the tracer from the biliary system of the liver to the bronchial tree. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy stands as a robust modality in the accurate diagnosis and treatment planning of bronchobiliary fistulas. © 2015, P.Ziti and Co. All rights reserved

Coarse Graining Makes It Hard to See Micro-Macro Entanglement

Observing quantum effects such as superpositions and entanglement in macroscopic systems requires not only a system that is well protected against environmental decoherence, but also sufficient measurement precision. Motivated by recent experiments, we study the effects of coarse-graining in photon number measurements on the observability of micro-macro entanglement that is created by greatly amplifying one photon from an entangled pair. We compare the results obtained for a unitary quantum cloner, which generates micro-macro entanglement, and for a measure-and-prepare cloner, which produces a separable micro-macro state. We show that the distance between the probability distributions of results for the two cloners approaches zero for a fixed moderate amount of coarse-graining. Proving the presence of micro-macro entanglement therefore becomes progressively harder as the system size increases.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

The Effect of Darab Salt Dome on the Quality of Adjacent Karstic and Alluvium Aquifers (South of Iran)

Zakrasele kraške formacije vsebujejo najpomembnejše vodne vire osrednjih delov jugovzhodnega Irana. Če kraška voda ni onesnažena zaradi slanih dom, je v tem delu Irana njena električna prevodnost pod 500 µS cm-1. Področje raziskav je južno krilo antiklinale Shahneshin-Milk, 200 km vzhodno od Shiraza, ki sodi v narivno cono Zagrosa. Kraška formacija Tarbur (zgornji Campanij-Maastrichtij) izdanja v južnem krilu antiklinale Shahneshin-Milk, pod katero je neprepustna radiolaritna formacija. Solna doma Darab izdanja znotraj zakrasele formacije Tarbur. Iz formacije Tarbur priteka več izvirov. Kvaliteta vode vseh izvirov je v mejah neonesnažene kraške vode razen treh, ki so v bližini solne dome. Električna prevodnost teh treh izvirov je med 1200 in 2000 µS cm-1. Del aluvija okoli solne dome je slano močvirje, ki ga obrobljata dva kanala. Električna prevodnost močvirske vode pod nivojem talne vode je okoli 1400 µS cm-1, v večjih globinah pa se zmanjša na 400 µS cm-1. Odtok s solne dome Darab in prenikanje vode nizke kakovosti iz kanala sta najbrž glavna vzroka za nastanek slanega močvirja. Pomemben delež onesnažene kraške vode iz Tarburja ne teče proti močvirju, saj, prvič, večina kraške vode iz Tarburja priteka na dan skozi izvire, in drugič, na globlje plasti aluvijalnega vodonosnika onesnažena voda ne vpliva.Karstified carbonate formations are among the most important water resources in the south-central regions of Iran. If the karst water is not contaminated by salt domes, the electrical conductivity of water in the karst aquifer is less than 500 µS cm-1 in the south-center of Iran. The study area is located in the southern flank of Shahneshin-Milk anticline, 200 km east of Shiraz. This region is situated in the Zagros Thrust Zone. The Tarbur karstic formation (Late Campanian-Maastrichtian) is outcropped on the southern flank of the Shahneshin-Milk anticline which is underlain by the impermeable Radiolarite formation. The Darab salt dome outcrops inside the karstified Tarbur Formation. Several springs emerge from the Tarbur Formation. The quality of all springs is in the range of unpolluted karst water except for three springs which are located near the Darab salt dome. The electrical conductivity of these springs range from 1200 to 2000 µS cm-1. Part of the alluvium near the Darab salt dome is salt-marsh which is bounded by two channels. The electrical conductivity in the salt-marsh below the water table is about 1400 µS cm-1, and it reduces to 400 µS cm-1 at the lower depths. Run-off from the Darab salt dome and seepage from the channel with low quality water are probably the main reasons of salt-marsh development. A considerable amount of polluted Tarbur karst water does not flow towards the marshland because, firstly, most of the Tarbur karst water discharges from the springs, and secondly, the alluvium aquifer is not affected by polluted water at lower depths

99mTc-MIBI Lung Scintigraphy in the Assessment of Pulmonary Involvement in Interstitial Lung Disease and Its Comparison With Pulmonary Function Tests and High-Resolution Computed Tomography: A Preliminary Study

The differentiation of active inflammatory processes from an inactive form of the disease is of great value in the management of interstitial lung disease (ILD). The aim of this investigation was to assess the efficacy of 99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) scans in distinguishing the severity of the disease compared to radiological and clinical parameters.In total, 19 known cases of ILD were included in this study and were followed up for 1 year. Five patients without lung disease were considered as the control group. The patients underwent pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and high-resolution computed tomography scans, followed by 99mTc-MIBI scanning. The 99mTc-MIBI scans were analyzed either qualitatively (subjectively) or semiquantitatively.All 19 ILD patients demonstrated a strong increase in 99mTc-MIBI uptake in the lungs compared to the control group. The 99mTc-MIBI scan scores were higher in the patient group in both the early phase (0.240.19-0.31 vs 0.110.10-0.15, P 0.14). The 99mTc-MIBI scan scores were not significantly correlated with the PFT findings (P > 0.05). In total, 5 patients died and 14 patients were still alive over the 1-year follow-up period. There was also a significant difference between the uptake intensity of 99mTc-MIBI and the outcome in the early phase (dead: 0.320.29-0.43 vs alive: 0.210.18-0.24, P < 0.05) and delayed phase (dead: 0.270.22-0.28 vs alive: 0.100.07-0.19, P < 0.05).The washout rate was ~40 min starting from 20 min up to 60 min and this rate was significantly different in our 2 study groups (ILD: 46.6115.61-50.39 vs NL: 70.9127.09-116.36, P = 0.04).The present study demonstrated that 99mTc-MIBI lung scans might distinguish the severity of pulmonary involvement in early views, which were well correlated with HRCT findings. These results also revealed that 99mTc-MIBI lung scans might be used as a complement to other diagnostic and clinical examinations in terms of functional information in ILD; however, further investigations are strongly required

Comparison of non-electrophoresis grade with electrophoresis grade BIS in NIPAM polymer gel preparation

Introduction: The main objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of replacing electrophoresis cross-linker with non-electrophoresis N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) in N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) polymer gel and its possible effect on dose response. Methods: NIPAM polymer gel was prepared from non-electrophoresis grade BIS and the relaxation rate (R-2) was measured by MR imaging after exposing the gel to gamma radiation from Co-60 source. To compare the response of this gel with the one that contains electrophoresis grade BIS, two sets of NIPAM gel were prepared using electrophoresis and non-electrophoresis BIS and irradiated to different gamma doses. Results: It was found that the dose-response of NIPAM gel made from the non-electrophoresis grade BIS is coincident with that of electrophoresis grade BIS. Conclusion: Taken all, it can be concluded that the non-electrophoresis grade BIS not only is a suitable alternative for the electrophoresis grade BIS but also reduces the cost of gel due to its lower price

Asymptomatic bacteriuria and pyuria in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis at dialysis centers in Kermanshah, Iran

Pyuria is the presence of increased numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the urine and is evidence of an inflammatory response in the Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). The aim of this study is determination asymptomatic bacteriuria and pyuria in patients undergoing hemodialysis with chronic renal failure. Out of 103 patients with renal failure undergoing hemodialysis who were able to produce urine with clean catch way, we received urine sample. All samples were examined by the Microbiologist in Central Laboratory of Kermanshah, Iran. The mean age for the patients at diagnosis was 42.4 years (range, 20-67 years). Sixty-four patients (62.5) were male and thirty-nine (37.5) were female. Results have been showed 39 cases were aged between 44-49 years and the highest number cases were middle-aged. Out of 31 patients with leukocytosis, 14 patients had age between 44-49 years and majority of them were male. Pyuria(>10 WBC/HPF or 10 WBC/HPF) developed colony count more than 105 colony-forming units per milliliter that indicating positive culture. Microorganisms didn�t grow in patients (10/19) with pyuria (10 WBC/HPF is a good marker for significant bacteriuria in these patients. © 2015 Academic Journals Inc

The first case series of malaria overlapped with COVID-19 in Iran

Introduction: Although indigenous malaria cases have dramatically declined over the past decades, the COVID pandemic has continued to affect the programs designed to combat malaria, particularly in those countries where hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have been used as medications for treating COVID. Two immigrants entered Iran illegally from neighboring countries (i.e., Afghanistan and Pakistan). This study mainly aimed to assess the effects of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on these cases from all aspects (i.e., case-finding, diagnosis, and treatment). Case Presentation: Both cases presented with common symptoms such as fever and shaking chills. In addition, they had no sign of COVID-19, and their oxygen level and CT images were normal in some cases, but they were mistakenly treated as COVID-19 patients long after the onset of malaria symptoms. One of the suspected coronavirus cases was given chloroquine on a voluntary basis for one day, which may have been responsible for the possible relapse in vivax or resistance of plasmodium vivax to chloroquine and the recurrence of parasitemia in falciparum. Conclusions: The active case detection of malaria was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Case finding was dramatically decreased with the onset of coronavirus, thereby causing a spurt in malaria incidence. Moreover, the malaria treatment strategy was negatively affected by the misdiagnosis of COVID-19

Skin tissue engineering: wound healing based on stem-cell-based therapeutic strategies

Normal wound healing is a dynamic and complex multiple phase process involving coordinated interactions between growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, and various cells. Any failure in these phases may lead wounds to become chronic and have abnormal scar formation. Chronic wounds affect patients' quality of life, since they require repetitive treatments and incur considerable medical costs. Thus, much effort has been focused on developing novel therapeutic approaches for wound treatment. Stem-cell-based therapeutic strategies have been proposed to treat these wounds. They have shown considerable potential for improving the rate and quality of wound healing and regenerating the skin. However, there are many challenges for using stem cells in skin regeneration. In this review, we present some sets of the data published on using embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and adult stem cells in healing wounds. Additionally, we will discuss the different angles whereby these cells can contribute to their unique features and show the current drawbacks