Massive obstetric haemorrhage in a patient with placenta percreta

We present a case of a 38 year-old patient with prenatal diagnosis of placenta praevia. When the elective caesarean began it was found a placenta accreta. In spite of an emergency hysterectomy, embolisation using interventional radiography was needed after a massive obstetric haemorrhage. The post-operative period progressed without incidents.     

Altering the way the optic nerve head responds to intraocular pressure—a potential approach to glaucoma therapy

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Highlights► Optic nerve head biomechanics influences the relationship between IOP and glaucoma. ► A ‘stiffer’ sclera reduces ganglion cell loss in an animal model of glaucoma. ► Sclera stiffens with ageing and glaucoma increases with age. ► It is theoretically possible to cross-link sclera to increase its stiffness. ► Unclear whether scleral cross-linking will be safe or protective in glaucoma.     

12 Weeks’ aerobic and resistance training without dietary intervention did not influence oxidative stress but aerobic training decreased atherogenic index in middle-aged men with impaired glucose regulation

Our aim was to determine whether 12 weeks’ aerobic Nordic walking (NW) or resistance exercise training (RT) without diet-induced weight loss could decrease oxidative stress and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and MetS score in middle-aged men with impaired glucose regulation (IGR) (n = 144. 54.5 ± 6.5 years). In addition, we compared effects of intervention between overweight and obese subgroups.Prevalence of MetS and AIP index decreased only in NW group and MetS score in both NW and RT groups but not in control group. The changes in AIP index correlated inversely with changes in plasma antioxidant capacity. The change in AIP index remained a significant independent predictor of the changes in MetS score after the model was adjusted for age, BMI and volume of exercise (MET h/week) in NW group. There were no changes in the other measured markers of oxidative stress and related cytokines (e.g. osteopontin and osteoprotegerin) in any of the groups.Nordic walking decreased prevalence of MetS and MetS score. Improved lipid profile remained a predictor of decreased MetS score only in NW group and it seems that Nordic walking has more beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease risks than RT training.     

Uncertainty in the number of contributors for the European Standard Set of loci

The effect of masking on the assignment of the number of contributors is assessed for the European Standard Set of loci by simulation. The risk that a two person mixture presents as single source is assessed as 2.6 × 10⁻¹³, a three person mixture presents as a two person 6.7 × 10⁻⁴ and a four person mixture presents as a three person 0.165.     

Spherical indentation of free-standing acellular extracellular matrix membranes

Numerous scaffold materials have been developed for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications to replace or repair damaged tissues and organs. Naturally occurring scaffold materials derived from acellular xenogeneic and autologous extracellular matrix (ECM) are currently in clinical use. These biological scaffold materials possess inherent variations in mechanical properties. Spherical indentation or ball burst testing has commonly been used to evaluate ECM and harvested tissue due to its ease of use and simulation of physiological biaxial loading, but has been limited by complex material deformation profiles. An analytical methodology has been developed and applied to experimental load-deflection data of a model hyperelastic material and lyophilized ECM scaffolds. An optimum rehydration protocol was developed based on water absorption, hydration relaxation and dynamic mechanical analysis. The analytical methodology was compared with finite element simulations of the tests and excellent correlation was seen between the computed biaxial stress resultants and geometry deformations. A minimum rehydration period of 5 min at 37 °C was sufficient for the evaluated multilaminated ECM materials. The proposed approach may be implemented for convenient comparative analysis of ECM materials and source tissues, process optimization or during lot release testing.