Primary torsion of the greater omentum: An overlooked cause of acute abdomen

Background/purpose Primary torsion of the greater omentum is an uncommon cause of acute abdomen in children. It was estimated to be found in 0.1% of cases operated for acute appendicitis and is almost impossible to be diagnosed preoperatively. Surgical excision of the infarcted omentum is the treatment of choice. In this study, we aimed to highlight the importance of suspecting primary omental torsion when operating upon a child presenting with a picture of acute appendicitis with normal appearing appendix intraoperatively.Patients and methods Through the period from June 2009 to May 2016, medical records of patients who had definite diagnosis of primary omental torsion were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical presentations, laboratory findings, imaging studies results, intraoperative findings, and histopathological findings were reviewed.Results During the specified time period, out of 1344 patients operated upon for acute appendicitis in our department, only four patients proved to have primary torsion of the greater omentum. All the patients were obese with clinical picture mimicking acute appendicitis. The postoperative histopathological examination showed normal appendix and ischemic necrosis of the resected omental segment.Conclusion Inspection of the greater omentum is essential when finding a normal appearing appendix in any case operated for suspicion of acute appendicitis. Keywords: acute abdomen, appendix, greater omentum, omental torsio

Stimulated emission from ZnO thin films with high optical gain and low loss

Stimulated surface- and edge-emission were investigated for ZnO thin films grown epitaxially by pulsed laser deposition. The lasing threshold was 0.32 MW/cm2 for surface pumping and 0.5 MW/cm2 for edge pumping, which is significantly lower than thresholds observed previously. A modified variable stripe length method was used to measure the gain, which was 1369 cm-1 for N-band emission. Losses were measured using the shifting excitation spot method and values of 6.2 cm-1 and 6.3 cm-1 were found for the N-band and P-band, respectively. The measured gain and loss were the highest and lowest (respectively) ever reported for ZnO films

Pilot-Scale Investigation of Forward/Reverse Osmosis Hybrid System for Seawater Desalination Using Impaired Water from Steel Industry

This paper was focused on the investigation of a forward osmosis- (FO-) reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process to cotreat seawater and impaired water from steel industry. By using this hybrid process, seawater can be diluted before desalination, hence reducing the energy cost of desalination, and simultaneously contaminants present in the impaired water are prevented from migrating into the product water through the FO and RO membranes. The main objective of this work was to investigate on pilot-scale system the performance of the combined FO pretreatment and RO desalination hybrid system and specifically its effects on membrane fouling and overall solute rejection. Firstly, optimization of the pilot-scale FO process to obtain the most suitable and stable operating conditions for practical application was investigated. Secondly, pilot-scale RO process performance as a posttreatment to FO process was evaluated in terms of water flux and rejection. The results indicated that the salinity of seawater reduced from 35000 to 13000 mg/L after 3 hrs using FO system, while after 6 hrs it approached 10000 mg/L. Finally, FO/RO system was tested on continuous operation for 15 hrs and it was demonstrated that no pollutant was detected neither in draw solution nor in RO permeate after the end of operating time

Stellar parameters of Be stars observed with X-shooter

Aims. The X-shooter archive of several thousand telluric star spectra was skimmed for Be and Be-shell stars to derive the stellar fundamental parameters and statistical properties, in particular for the less investigated late type Be stars, and the extension of the Be phenomenon into early A stars. Methods. An adapted version of the BCD method is used, utilizing the Balmer discontinuity parameters to determine effective temperature and surface gravity. This method is optimally suited for late B stars. The projected rotational velocity was obtained by profile fitting to the Mg ii lines of the targets, and the spectra were inspected visually for the presence of peculiar features such as the infrared Ca ii triplet or the presence of a double Balmer discontinuity. The Balmer line equivalent widths were measured, but due to uncertainties in determining the photospheric contribution are useful only in a subsample of Be stars for determining the pure emission contribution. Results. A total of 78 Be stars, mostly late type ones, were identified in the X-shooter telluric standard star archive, out of which 48 had not been reported before. The general trend of late type Be stars having more tenuous disks and being less variable than early type ones is confirmed. The relatively large number (48) of relatively bright (V > 8.5) additional Be stars casts some doubt on the statistics of late type Be stars; they are more common than currently thought: The Be/B star fraction may not strongly depend on spectral subtype.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Effects of administration of 10 nm or 50 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on blood profile, liver and kidney functions in male albino rats

This work aimed to investigate the effect of acute and chronic administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on liver and kidney functions, blood glucose concentration, lipid profile, and haematological parameters in male albino rats. Two experiments were conducted. In acute study: Fifty-four adult mature male rats were randomly assigned into three equal groups (18 per group). Group 1 (control group): in which rats were received intramuscular (i.m) injection of 1 ml normal saline 0.9%. Group 2 (50 nm GNPs group): rats were i.m. injected with a single dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg body weight (bwt). In Group 3 (10 nm GNPs group): rats were i.m. injected with a single dose of 75 µg 10 nm GNPs/kg bwt. In chronic study: Eighteen adult male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups (6 per group). Group І (control): rats were intramuscular (i.m) repeatedly injected with 1 ml normal saline 0.9% once/week 5 for weeks. Group 2 (50 nm GNPs): rats were i.m. injected with once/week with a dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg bwt) for 5 weeks. In Group 3 (10 nm GNPs): male rats were i.m. injected with once/week with a dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg bwt for 5 weeks, followed by 3 weeks washout period for all groups. Blood was collected at 3, 7, and 60 days in acute experiment, while, they were collected only before and after 2 months in chronic experiment. Acute and chronic administration of GNPs (10 or 50 nm size) in male albino rats induced no significant alterations for liver and kidney functions, lipid profile parameters and different haematological parameters at days 3 and 60 of the study. However, on day-7 post-treatment, GNPs-treated rats showed significantly (P <0.05) higher serum ALT, AST, ALP, urea, creatinine, glucose, and different lipid profile and decreased HDL level. Chronic administration of 10 nm or 50 nm GNPs significantly (P <0.05) decreased serum glucose levels. In conclusion acute or chronic administration of 10 nm or 50 nm GNPs could alter the liver, kidney functions and blood profile on day 7 post-treatment, however, these values returned to the normal levels on day 60 post- injection. Also, the chronic administration of GNPs induced a hypoglycemic effect in male albino rats

Patient's dissatisfaction with the public and private laboratory services in conducting HIV related testing in Tanzania

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patient's satisfaction with both private and public laboratory services is important for the improvement of the health care delivery in any country.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 24 randomly selected health facilities with laboratories that are conducting HIV related testing, in Mainland Tanzania. The study assessed patient's satisfaction with the laboratory services where by a total of 295 patients were interviewed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of data analyzed for a varying totals from 224 to 294 patients, the percentage of dissatisfaction with both public and private laboratory services, ranged from 4.3% to 34.8%, with most of variables being more than 15%. Patients who sought private laboratory services were less dissatisfied with the cleanness (3/72, 4.2%) and the privacy (10/72, 13.9%) than those sought public laboratory service for the same services of cleanness (41/222, 18.5%) and privacy (61/222, 27.5%), and proportional differences were statistically significant (X²= 8.7, p = 0.003 and X²= 5.5, p = 0.01, respectively). Patients with higher education were more likely to be dissatisfied with privacy (OR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1–3.1) and waiting time (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.5 – 4.2) in both private and public facilities. Patients with secondary education were more likely to be dissatisfied with the waiting time (OR = 5.2; 95%CI: 2.2–12.2) and result notification (OR = 5.1 95%CI (2.2–12.2) than those with lower education.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>About 15.0% to 34.8% of patients were not satisfied with waiting time, privacy, results notification cleanness and timely instructions. Patients visited private facilities were less dissatisfied with cleanness and privacy of laboratory services than those visited public facilities. Patients with higher education were more likely to be dissatisfied with privacy and waiting time in both private and public facilities.</p

Effects of administration of 10 nm or 50 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on blood profile, liver and kidney functions in male albino rats

486-493This work aimed to investigate the effect of acute and chronic administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on liver and kidney functions, blood glucose concentration, lipid profile, and haematological parameters in male albino rats. Two experiments were conducted. In acute study: Fifty-four adult mature male rats were randomly assigned into three equal groups  (18  per  group).   Group   1   (control   group):  in   which  rats   were  received   intramuscular   (i.m)   injection  of 1 ml normal saline 0.9%. Group 2 (50 nm GNPs group): rats were i.m. injected with a single dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg body weight (bwt). In Group 3 (10 nm GNPs group): rats were i.m. injected with a single dose of 75 µg 10 nm GNPs/kg bwt. In chronic study: Eighteen adult male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups (6 per group). Group І (control): rats were intramuscular (i.m) repeatedly injected with 1 ml normal saline 0.9% once/week 5 for weeks. Group 2 (50 nm GNPs): rats were i.m. injected with once/week with a dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg bwt) for 5 weeks. In Group 3 (10 nm GNPs): male rats were i.m. injected with once/week with a dose of 75 µg 50 nm GNPs/kg bwt for 5 weeks, followed by 3 weeks washout period for all groups. Blood was collected at 3, 7, and 60 days in acute experiment, while, they were collected only before and  after  2  months  in  chronic  experiment.  Acute  and  chronic  administration  of  GNPs  (10  or 50 nm size) in male albino rats induced no significant alterations for liver and kidney functions, lipid profile parameters and different haematological parameters at days 3 and 60 of the study. However, on day-7 post-treatment, GNPs-treated rats showed significantly (P P <0.05) decreased serum glucose levels. In conclusion acute or chronic administration of 10 nm or 50 nm GNPs could alter the liver, kidney functions and blood profile on day 7 post-treatment, however, these values returned to the normal levels on day 60 post- injection. Also, the chronic administration of GNPs induced a hypoglycemic effect in male albino rats

The Pixel Luminosity Telescope: a detector for luminosity measurement at CMS using silicon pixel sensors

The Pixel Luminosity Telescope is a silicon pixel detector dedicated to luminosity measurement at the CMS experiment at the LHC. It is located approximately 1.75 m from the interaction point and arranged into 16 “telescopes”, with eight telescopes installed around the beam pipe at either end of the detector and each telescope composed of three individual silicon sensor planes. The per-bunch instantaneous luminosity is measured by counting events where all three planes in the telescope register a hit, using a special readout at the full LHC bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz. The full pixel information is read out at a lower rate and can be used to determine calibrations, corrections, and systematic uncertainties for the online and offline measurements. This paper details the commissioning, operational history, and performance of the detector during Run 2 (2015–18) of the LHC, as well as preparations for Run 3, which will begin in 2022

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton–proton collisions at √s=13Te

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton–proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137fb$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on the model, the combined result excludes a top squark mass up to 1325GeV for a massless neutralino, and a neutralino mass up to 700GeV for a top squark mass of 1150GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420GeV