Notes

Evaluation of different spend substrates for biofilm enhancement and future use in cardio packed-bed reactor regarding secondary treatment of domestic wastewater.
Opisthorchis felineus and Metorchis bilis are trematodes that cause opisthorchiasis and metorchiasis, respectively. The freshwater snails Bithynia hispanica and B. tentaculata are the respective intermediate hosts for these parasites in the Iberian Peninsula, where both parasites are present.

To study the distribution of these snail species, an exhaustive literature review and revision of museum collections was performed.

A total of 370 localities were compiled and mapped. B. tentaculata were found throughout the Iberian Peninsula, both in Spain and Portugal, while B. hispanica was found only in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Knowing the distribution of the Bithynia species found in the Iberian Peninsula is highlighted in terms of public health, as the presence of the snail is related to the presence of the disease and can be used as a tool to face future outbreaks.
Knowing the distribution of the Bithynia species found in the Iberian Peninsula is highlighted in terms of public health, as the presence of the snail is related to the presence of the disease and can be used as a tool to face future outbreaks.This narrative review describes the epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal diseases, nasopharyngeal carriage, and antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes, and vaccination coverage in children in the Philippines. Epidemiological data show that, despite the availability of the free-of-cost 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for infants as part of the National Immunization Program, the burden of pneumococcal disease in young children remains high in the Philippines. The significant variability in data reported between studies highlights an urgent need for active and comprehensive disease surveillance for more accurate estimates of pneumococcal disease in the country. Although data from 2001 to 2013 show high rates of pneumococcal carriage in children in the Philippines aged  less then  5 years, contemporary data are lacking, again emphasizing the need for active surveillance programs. The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines has resulted in substantial declines in disease caused by pneumococcal serotypes included in the vaccines, but the emergence of pneumococcal disease due to nonvaccine serotypes is an ongoing concern. Surveillance of actively circulating serotypes is critical to better understand vaccine coverage. Antimicrobial resistance of S. pneumoniae remains a significant threat to public health worldwide; data regarding antibiotic resistance in young children in the Philippines are limited, but reports generally show low rates of antibiotic resistance in this group. National immunization rates have increased in recent years, yet many individuals are still unprotected from pneumococcal disease. Overall, there is a critical need for contemporary and accurate disease surveillance in the Philippines. Such data would provide better estimates of pneumococcal disease incidence, serotype distribution, and antibiotic resistance to better inform vaccination strategies and to ensure that children in the Philippines are best protected against pneumococcal disease.
Hyperuricemia (HUA) and hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) were very common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and associated with accelerated progression of CKD. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study which aimed to explore the relationship between serum uric acid levels or triglyceride levels and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis (proven by renal biopsy).

The present study enrolled 229 CKD individuals who included 127 biopsy-proven primary IgA nephrology (IgAN) patients and 102 biopsy-proven primary membranous nephropathy (MN) patients. The baseline characteristics at the time of the kidney biopsy were collected. According to the serum uric acid (UA) or triglyceride (TG) whether it exceeds the normal reference range, patients were divided into non-HUA (n = 127), HUA (n = 102), non-HTG (n = 119), and HTG group (n = 110). Based on the extent of tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis, patients were divided into no/mild injury (T0, n = 127), moderate injury (T1, n = 102). Multivariable logistic regression ors for moderatetubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis. HUA together with HTG could improve the value of diagnosis for moderatetubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis to some extent.
Hyperuricemia and hypertriglyceridemia, which were prevalent in CKD patients, were the independent risk factors for moderate tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis. HUA together with HTG could improve the value of diagnosis for moderate tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis to some extent.
The global rise in obesity has been accompanied by widespread uptake of the procedure of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Despite this, the key components for performance assessment have not been standardized for this procedure. The aim of this study was to develop and demonstrate the validity of a Sleeve Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (SOSATS) scale for learning the procedure of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

The SOSATS evaluation tool was based upon critical steps of the LSG procedure. Both the SOSATS and the Global Rating Scale (GRS) component of the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (OSATS) tools were utilized in a prospective single-blinded observational study design of 26 video recordings of surgeons performing sleeve gastrectomies using a novel simulation. The surgeons were allocated into "novice" or "experienced" groups dependent on case-volume criteria. Surgical performance was assessed using both the GRS and SOSATS scales by blinded assessors of the video recordings.

Face and content validity were demonstrated for key components of the simulated model. An overall positive correlation was established inferring concurrent validity between the accepted OSATS Global Rating Scale against the SOSATS procedural scale. Construct validity was established for a number of areas of the SOSATS scale.

The SOSATS scale is shown to exhibit construct and concurrent validity in the simulated setting for the procedure of sleeve gastrectomy. Utilizing this scale to review surgical performance is potentially feasible and reliable but would require further research prior to use in high-stakes assessment processes such as credentialing.
The SOSATS scale is shown to exhibit construct and concurrent validity in the simulated setting for the procedure of sleeve gastrectomy. Utilizing this scale to review surgical performance is potentially feasible and reliable but would require further research prior to use in high-stakes assessment processes such as credentialing.Human amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells-derived conditioned medium (hAM-MSCs-CM) has positive effects against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. However, it needs further investigations how hAM-MSCs-CM leads to the cell survival under MI/R via modulation of autophagy. The purpose of this study is investigating the effects of hAM-MSCs-CM in a rat model of MI/R injury by focusing on the role of autophagy as one of its possible mechanisms. Male Wistar rats (44 rats, 175-200 g) were randomly divided into four groups Sham, MI/R, culture media-receiving and conditioned medium-receiving. MI/R was induced by 30 min of left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. After 15 min reperfusion, culture media or hAM-MSCs-CM (150 μl) were injected intramyocardially. At the end of the experiment, CK-MB, autophagy markers, phosphorylated and total forms of mTOR and ULK1, cardiac function and fibrosis were measured. hAM-MSCs-CM significantly decreased CK-MB levels (P  less then  0.0001), and also the mRNA levels of Beclin1 (P  less then  0.0001), LC3 (P = 0.012) and p62 (P = 0.003). In addition, hAM-MSCs-CM significantly reduced Beclin1, LC3II/LC3I and p62 protein levels (P  less then  0.0001), and increased p-mTOR/mTOR (P = 0.022) and p-ULK1/ULK1 (P  less then  0.0001) expressions. Moreover, hAM-MSCs-CM improved cardiac function and decreased fibrosis (P  less then  0.0001). This study showed cardioprotective effects of hAM-MSCs-CM against MI/R injury through modulation of autophagy via mTOR/ULK1 pathway. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that hAM-MSCs-CM can be offered as an attractive candidate for attenuation of MI/R injury in future, but needs further investigations.Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) as family of anti-cancer drugs recently received much attention due to their interesting anti-cancer mechanism. In spite of small drugs, RIPs use the large-size effect (LSE) to prevent the efflux process governed by drug resistance transporters (DRTs) which prevents inside of the cells against drug transfection. There are many clinical translation obstacles that severely restrict their applications especially their delivery approach to the tumor cells. As the main goal of this review, we will focus on trichosanthin (TCS) and gelonin (Gel) and other types, especially scorpion venom-derived RIPs to clarify that they are struggling with what types of bio-barriers and these challenges could be solved in cancer therapy science. Then, we will try to highlight recent state-of-the-arts in delivery of RIPs for cancer therapy.Peritoneal metastases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are occasionally observed, but rupture of such metastases is rare. We report a resected case with a single ruptured peritoneal HCC metastasis. A 57-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C underwent hepatic resection twice for hepatocellular carcinoma. Recurrence in S3 was found, and the tumor was treated by radiofrequency ablation therapy (RFA). One month after RFA, plane computed tomography (CT) showed a nodule with a diameter of 5 cm near the upper pole of the spleen, and the serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level remained high. The patient was admitted to hospital, with a chief complaint of abdominal pain 4 days after the CT scan, and diagnosed with intra-abdominal hemorrhage caused by a ruptured peritoneal HCC metastatic nodule. We performed semi-urgent surgery, including splenectomy and peritoneal metastasis resection, and the patient was discharged on the 10th postoperative day. Histopathological examination of the nodule confirmed HCC metastasis. The patient is alive with no evidence of recurrence as of 1 year and 6 months after the operation, with AFP levels remaining within the normal range.Biliary obstruction is one of challenging biliary disorders in gastroenterology field, where this long-standing condition can also lead to portal hypertension and multi-disciplinary teamwork is usually needed to manage this problem. Biliary drainage is the primary management to prevent prolonged cholestasis. Biliary system with its thin-walled and tubular structure sometimes makes the diagnosis and therapeutic not easy to approach. Over the past 3 decades, numerous new and modern diagnostic and therapeutic modalities have been developed to manage the complex biliary problems. It is well known that endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD), and surgical procedure are common procedures in managing biliary disorders. However, surgical therapy and ERCP are not always easy to perform due to several contraindications. Because of difficulty in performing these procedures or unavailability of these procedures in the facility, PTBD, as the primary non-surgical procedure of choice, has been popular due to its easy technique.
My Website: