Hysterectomy in a male? A rare case report

INTRODUCTION

Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome is a rare form of male pseudo-hermaphroditism characterized by the presence of Mullerian duct structures in an otherwise phenotypically, as well as genotypically, normal man; only a few cases have been reported in the worldwide literature. A great variety of organs have been found in indirect inguinal hernial sacs.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

We report a case of 70 year old man, father of 4 children with unilateral cryptorchidism on the right side and left-sided obstructed inguinal hernia containing uterus and fallopian tube (that is, hernia uteri inguinalis; type I male form of persistent Mullerian duct syndrome) coincidentally detected during an operation for an obstructed left inguinal hernia.

DISCUSSION

PMDS is usually coincidently detected during surgical operation, as was in our case. However pre-operative ultrasonography, computerized tomography and MRI allow possible pre-operative diagnosis.³

CONCLUSION

In cases of unilateral or bilateral cryptorchidism associated with hernia, as in our patient''s case, the possibility of PMDS should be kept in mind.     

High performance and remarkable cyclic stability of a nanostructured RGO–CNT-WO3 supercapacitor electrode

One of the most pressing concerns in today''s power networks is ensuring that consumers (both home and industrial) have access to efficient and long-lasting economic energy. Due to improved power accessibility and high specific capacitance without deterioration over long working times, supercapacitor-based energy storage systems can be a viable solution to this problem. So, here, tungsten trioxide (WO₃) nanocomposites containing reduced graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes i.e. (RGO-WO₃), (CNT-WO₃), and (RGO–CNT-WO₃), as well as pure WO₃ nanostructures as electrode materials, were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal process. The monoclinic phase of WO₃ with high diffraction peaks is visible in X-ray diffraction analysis, indicating good crystallinity of all electrode materials. Nanoflowers of WO₃ were well-decorated on the RGO/CNTs conductive network in SEM micrographs. In a three-electrode system, the specific capacitance of the RGO–CNT-WO₃ electrode is 691.38 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ and 633.3 F g⁻¹ at 2 A g⁻¹, which is significantly higher than that of pure WO₃ and other binary electrodes. Furthermore, at 2 A g⁻¹, it achieves a coulombic efficiency of 98.4%. After 5000 cycles, RGO–CNT-WO₃ retains 89.09% of its capacitance at 1000 mV s⁻¹, indicating a promising rate capability and good cycling stability performance.

One of the most pressing concerns in today''s power networks is ensuring that consumers (both home and industrial) have access to efficient and long-lasting economic energy.     

Monodisperse magnetic lecithin-PFP submicron bubbles as dual imaging contrast agents for ultrasound (US) and MRI

Multimodal imaging is a recent idea of combining two or more imaging methods synergistically to overcome the weakness of individual imaging modalities and utilizing complementary benefits. Ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are widely used imaging techniques in healthcare and to fully utilize the potential of fusion imaging, dual-modal contrast agents are necessary to improve disease diagnosis by enhancing contrast resolution and reducing health risks associated with the dual dosage of contrast agents. In this study, magnetic microbubbles were synthesized by incorporating oleic acid stabilized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (OA-SPIONs) into lecithin microbubbles, encapsulating the perfluoropentane (PFP) core. The magnetic microbubbles were characterized by FTIR, SEM, MFM, zeta potential, in vitro MRI, and ultrasound. Upon in vitro MRI, magnetic microbubbles showed a negative contrast effect by producing darker T2 weighted images. Magnetic microbubbles showed concentration-dependent response with a decrease in signal intensity with an increase in the concentration of OA-IONP in microbubbles. However, a decrease in acoustic enhancement was also observed with an increase in OA-IONP concentration, therefore concentration was optimized to achieve the best effect on both modalities. The magnetic lecithin microbubble with 10 mg SPIONs provided the best contrast on both US and MR imaging. The hemocompatibility testing resulted in hemolysis less than 7% with plasma recalcification time and thrombin time of 240 s and 6 s corresponding to excellent hemocompatibility. Thus the magnetic microbubbles with a phase convertible PFP core encapsulated by a lecithin shell loaded with OA-SPIONs can serve as a potential bimodal contrast agent for both US and MRI imaging.

The magnetic microbubbles with phase convertible PFP core encapsulated by lecithin shell loaded with OA-SPIONs can serve as a potential bimodal contrast agent for both ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).     

Long-term male-specific chronic pain via telomere- and p53‑mediated spinal cord cellular senescence

Mice with experimental nerve damage can display long‑lasting neuropathic pain behavior. We show here that 4 months and later after nerve injury, male but not female mice displayed telomere length (TL) reduction and p53‑mediated cellular senescence in the spinal cord, resulting in maintenance of pain and associated with decreased lifespan. Nerve injury increased the number of p53‑positive spinal cord neurons, astrocytes, and microglia, but only in microglia was the increase male‑specific, matching a robust sex specificity of TL reduction in this cell type, which has been previously implicated in male‑specific pain processing. Pain hypersensitivity was reversed by repeated intrathecal administration of a p53‑specific senolytic peptide, only in male mice and only many months after injury. Analysis of UK Biobank data revealed sex-specific relevance of this pathway in humans, featuring male‑specific genetic association of the human p53 locus (TP53) with chronic pain and a male-specific effect of chronic pain on mortality. Our findings demonstrate the existence of a biological mechanism maintaining pain behavior, at least in males, occurring much later than the time span of virtually all extant preclinical studies.     

Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network Modelling of Membrane Rotating Biological Contactors for Wastewater Treatment

Membrane fouling is a major hindrance to widespread wastewater treatment applications. This study optimizes operating parameters in membrane rotating biological contactors (MRBC) for maximized membrane fouling through Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). MRBC is an integrated system, embracing membrane filtration and conventional rotating biological contactor in one individual bioreactor. The filtration performance was optimized by exploiting the three parameters of disk rotational speed, membrane-to-disk gap, and organic loading rate. The results showed that both the RSM and ANN models were in good agreement with the experimental data and the modelled equation. The overall R² value was 0.9982 for the proposed network using ANN, higher than the RSM value (0.9762). The RSM model demonstrated the optimum operating parameter values of a 44 rpm disk rotational speed, a 1.07 membrane-to-disk gap, and a 10.2 g COD/m² d organic loading rate. The optimization of process parameters can eliminate unnecessary steps and automate steps in the process to save time, reduce errors and avoid duplicate work. This work demonstrates the effective use of statistical modeling to enhance MRBC system performance to obtain a sustainable and energy-efficient treatment process to prevent human health and the environment.     

Familial mediterranean fever (recurrent hereditary polyserositis) in children: analysis of 88 cases

The clinical profile, course and complications of familial Mediterranean fever (recurrent hereditary polyserositis) seen in 88 children over a period of 11 years are presented. Forty eight children (55%) started their illness below the age of 5 years, and the mean age of onset was 4.9 years. Peritonitis occurred in 85% of children, arthritis in 50%, pleuritis in 33% and erysipelas-like lesions in 16%. Two children developed renal amyloidosis, and one third of the children were subjected to unnecessary operative surgery, reflecting the diagnostic difficulties. The arthritis was mono-articular in 80% and polyarticular in 20% of children with arthritis, and was seronegative (rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibodies). Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) typing for the B-27 antigen carried out in ten children with arthritis was negative. The synovial attack showed a wide variation in the clinical presentation, course and duration of arthritis, causing diagnostic difficulties. The difficulties in the differentiation of recurrent hereditary polyserositis (familial Mediterranean fever) arthritis from the common causes of acute and chronic juvenile arthritis and the seronegative spondyloarthropathies are discussed. Of 45 children treated with colchicine, 42 children (93%) achieved a therapeutic response.Abbreviations FMF familial Mediterranean fever - HLA human leucocyte antigen - RHP recurrent hereditary polyserositis     

Sporadic pharyngitis-associated acute poststreptococcal nephritis. A four-year prospective clinical study of the acute episode

Between December 1980 and November 1984, the acute episode was studied prospectively in 187 children under 14 years presenting with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. The mean annual incidence was 19.5/10(5) children. The disease was mainly pharyngitis-associated and occurred throughout the year but peaked in the winter. The mean age was 5.4 years, and 71 percent of children were under the age of 8 years. Gross hematuria was the presenting feature in 93.6% of cases and was usually associated with edema. Hypertension was present in 45 percent, circulatory congestion in 27 percent, and heavy proteinuria in 22 percent of cases. The C3 level was low in 97 percent of the patients tested and returned to normal within 6-8 weeks. There were no deaths. Only one patient needed peritoneal dialysis. All except one patient were asymptomatic with normal creatinine within 8 weeks. The authors adopted a very optimistic attitude in the counseling of children with the disease and of their families.