Investigating the contribution of white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness to empathy in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases

GeroScience - Change in empathy is an increasingly recognised symptom of neurodegenerative diseases and contributes to caregiver burden and patient distress. Empathy impairment has been associated...     

Eosinophilic ascites as an uncommon presentation of eosinophilic gastroenteritis: A case report

BackgroundEosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE) is defined by the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms, with an abnormal eosinophilic infiltrate of the intestine wall and exclusion of other causes of secondary eosinophilia. EGE has three clinical presentations, depending on the depth of eosinophilic infiltration of the bowel wall. It individualizes into three types, namely mucosal, muscular, and subserosal. Eosinophilic ascites, which is caused by edema and eosinophilic inflammation of the serosal layer of the small bowel wall, is the most uncommon presentation of EGE.Case summaryA 30-year-old Egyptian woman presented with pain in the epigastrium and diffuse abdominal distension. Past medical history comprised allergy to iron injections (for iron deficiency anemia). Clinical examination showed moderate abdominal distention (palpation) and shifting dullness (percussion) suggestive of moderate ascites; mild right pleural effusion was also suspected, but findings were otherwise unremarkable. Abdominal and pelvic examinations by ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed moderate ascites, mild right pleural effusion, and diffuse thickening of the antrum and small bowel loops. Endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed mild diffuse hyperemia of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum, with no relevant findings in the histopathology of biopsy specimens taken from these sites. Laboratory results showed eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and marked increase of eosinophils in the ascitic fluid. Treatment with corticosteroids resulted in normalization of the laboratory test results, and the ascites resolved within a week of initiation of therapy.ConclusionEosinophilic ascites, characterized by increased eosinophils in peripheral blood and ascitic fluid, showed dramatic response to steroid therapy.     

Simple,selective detection and efficient removal of toxic lead and silver metal ions using Acid Red 94

Toward the goal of detecting toxic elements and removing them from drinking water, we report herein the utilization of Acid Red 94 (AR94) in sensing the hazardous metal ions in water. Among the various examined metal ions (Ag⁺, Pb²⁺, K⁺, Mn²⁺, Zn²⁺, La³⁺, Hg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cd²⁺, Co²⁺, and Ni²⁺), the UV-visible absorption spectra showed high selectivity and sensitivity for toxic silver and lead metal ions in an aqueous solution. The observed absorption spectral changes and the rapid color changes confirm complex formation between AR94 and both Ag⁺ and Pb²⁺ metal ions. The emission measurements showed the significant fluorescence quenching of the singlet excited state of AR94 in the presence of Ag⁺ and Pb²⁺ metal ions suggesting the formation of an irradiative dye–metal complex under the prevailing experimental conditions. In order to remove the accumulated complexes of AR94 with silver metal ions, safe and harmless mesoporous titanium dioxide was utilized efficiently in removing the complexes with adsorption capacities of 91% at 30 minutes. These findings suggest a simple, fast and efficient method for both detecting silver in water, and removing the formed AR94–metal complexes in water. In addition, AR94 is shown to be a good sensor for the presence of Ag and Pb nanoparticles, NPs, in aqueous solution. The absorption and emission spectra of AR94 showed significant changes that may be rationalized by the strong electromagnetic coupling induced by NPs plasmonic effects. These findings render AR94 a sensitive and selective sensor and a visual indicator for the qualitative and quantitative detection of silver ions, lead ions and their nanoparticles.

Toward the goal of detecting toxic elements and removing them from drinking water, we report herein the utilization of Acid Red 94 (AR94) in sensing the hazardous metal ions in water.     

Changes in Soft Tissue Profile After Orthodontic Treatment With and Without Extraction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the soft tissue changes in adult orthodontic patients who received extraction treatment in comparison to their counterparts who received nonextraction orthodontic treatment.

Salivary progesterone and cervical length measurement as predictors of spontaneous preterm birth

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of salivary progesterone, cervical length measurement in predicting preterm birth (PTB).

Methods: Prospective observational study included 240 pregnant women with gestational age (GA) 26–34 weeks classified into two equal groups; group one are high risk for PTB (those with symptoms of uterine contractions or history of one or more spontaneous preterm delivery or second trimester abortion) and group 2 are controls.

Results: There was a highly significant difference between the two study groups regarding GA at delivery (31.3?±?3.75 in high risk versus 38.5?±?1.3 in control), cervical length measured by transvaginal ultrasound (24.7?±?8.6 in high risk versus 40.1?±?4.67 in control) and salivary progesterone level (728.9?±?222.3 in high risk versus 1099.9?±?189.4 in control; p?p value 0.035) but not in low risk group (p value 0.492). CL measurement showed a sensitivity of 71.5% with 100% specificity, 100% PPV, 69.97% NPV and accuracy of 83%, while salivary progesterone showed a sensitivity of 84% with 90% specificity, 89.8% PPV, 85.9% NPV and accuracy of 92.2%.

Conclusion: The measurement of both salivary progesterone and cervical length are good predictors for development of PTB.