Antibiotic resistance determinants of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates in Algeria

Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed on 71 Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates, and presence of antibiotic resistance genes was screened for by PCR amplification and sequencing. Resistance rates were very high for aminoglycosides (22–80%), fluoroquinolones (>90%), and cephalosporins (>90%) but remained low for rifampin (2.8%) or null for colistin. Antibiotic resistance encoding genes detected were as follows: bla_TEM-128 gene (74.6%), aph(3′)-VI (50.7 %), aadA (63.4%), ant(2″)-I (14.1%), aac(3)-Ia (91.1%), aac(6′)-Ib (4.2%), mutation Ser83Leu in gyrA (94.4%), double mutations Ser83Leu and Ser80Leu (or Ser84Leu) in gyrA and parC (69.0%), and mutation I581N in RRDR of the rpoB gene.     

Estrogen–BDNF interactions: Implications for neurodegenerative diseases

Since its’ discovery over 20 years ago, BDNF has been shown to play a key role in neuronal survival, in promoting neuronal regeneration following injury, regulating transmitter systems and attenuating neural-immune responses. Estrogen’s actions in the young and mature brain, and its role in neurodegenerative diseases in many cases overlaps with those observed for BDNF. Reduced estrogen and BDNF are observed in patients with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, while high estrogen levels are a risk factor for development of multiple sclerosis. Estrogen receptors, which transduce the actions of estrogen, colocalize to cells that express BDNF and its receptor trkB, and estrogen further regulates the expression of this neurotrophin system. This review describes the distribution of BDNF and trkB expressing cells in the forebrain, and the roles of estrogen and the BDNF–trkB neurotrophin system in Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.     

Laser tattoo removal: Fundamental principles and practical approach

Tattoos have long become a part of human civilization. However, as the number of people who get tattoos increases, so is the number of people who wish to have their tattoos removed. Compared to other methods, laser‐based devices are associated with the best efficacy and least side effects in tattoo removal. Lack of understanding of the fundamental principles of laser and managing its parameters may result in suboptimal result and increased risk of side effects. Recognizing and mastering multiple factors including skin types, nature and color of tattoos, and proper selection of laser parameters such as wavelength, fluence, and pulse, are central in achieving an optimal tattoo removal outcome. This review provides a comprehensive overview on the fundamental principle of laser and practical approaches in tattoo removal.     

Urethral Coitus in a Patient with Congenital Absence of the Vagina

Summary: A case of urethral coitus is presented in which the patient had maximum urethral dilation and good urinary control and had no symptoms of cystitis. She had a left hypoplastic kidney, cervicodorsal kyphoscoliosis, and absent internal genitalia.     

Multistage graph-based segmentation of thoracoscopic images

This paper presents a graph-based segmentation method using multiple criteria in successive stages to segment thoracoscopic images acquired during a diskectomy procedure commonly used for thoracoscopic anterior release and fusion for scoliosis treatment. Starting with image pre-processing, including Gaussian smoothing, brightness and contrast enhancement, and histogram thresholding, a standard graph-based method is applied to produce a coarse segmentation of thoracoscopic images. Next, regions are further merged in a multistage graph-based process based on features like grey-level similarity, region size and common edge length. Experimental results show that our approach achieves good spatial coherence, accurate edge location and appropriate segmentation of the regions of interest from a sequence of thoracoscopic images.