Objectives To discuss management protocol, surgical complications, and outcomes of thyroid carcinoma in children. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis including all pediatric patients with ...thyroid carcinoma who were managed at our institution between January 2011 and January 2021. Data were analyzed regarding demographics, clinical features, operative details, postoperative complications, and survival data. Results Thirty-two patients were identified; 26 females (81.25%) and 6 males (18.75%). The median age at operation was 14 years (range: 5-18). Twenty-six (81.25%) patients presented with palpable thyroid swelling. Median tumor size was 3 cm (range: 1-7). Metastatic workup did not detect any pulmonary metastases. Total thyroidectomy was performed in 25 patients (78%), and 16 of them underwent additional bilateral neck dissection (16 had central nodal dissection, and 7 had both central and lateral nodal dissection). Seven patients (22%) underwent hemithyroidectomy, and only one of them had a completion thyroidectomy after 2 weeks. Conservative resection was adopted in six children with similar criteria (tumor size < 1.5 cm in one lobe, no extrathyroid extension, differentiated thyroid carcinoma, no detected lymph nodes). Postoperative complications occurred in eight patients (all had total thyroidectomy) with an overall incidence of 25%. Seven patients had transient morbidities that were managed conservatively (chylous leak n = 1, hypoparathyroidism n = 3, and nerve palsy n = 3). At a median follow-up time of 54 months, four patients had relapsed (all underwent total thyroidectomy). The 5-year OS and EFS were 100% and 87.5%, respectively. Conclusion Operative resection for pediatric thyroid carcinoma can be performed with average short-term complications and achieving excellent outcomes. Total thyroidectomy remains the standard procedure of choice in the majority of those patients. However, conservative surgery can be successfully adopted in a well-selected group of children with favorable long-term results as per our findings. Keywords: Thyroid carcinoma, Pediatric, Thyroidectomy, Complications, Outcome
A comprehensive study is reported for temperature-dependent current–voltage (I–V–T), capacitance–voltage (C–V–T), and impedance spectroscopy measurements carried out in the temperature range of ...289–413 K for Al/MoO
x
/
n
-Si/Al heterojunction solar cell device. Impedance spectroscopy measurements carried out over a broad frequency range (10
2
–10
6
Hz) exhibit semicircle standard Nyquist’s plots implying excellent device stability. An electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) for the device is proposed and the key fitting parameters for the proposed EEC are determined. The C–V–T characteristics of the cell as well as the temperature dependence of the built-in potential, doping gradient, and depletion region width are investigated. Based on the I–V–T measurements, three dominant transport mechanisms are identified in the forward bias regime; thermionic emission (for
V
<
0.55
V
), trap-space charge limited current due to an exponential distribution of traps (for
0.55
≤
V
<
0.95
V
) and space charge limited current controlled by a single trap state (for
0.95
≤
V
≤
2
V
). However, at reverse bias, two different conduction mechanisms, namely Schottky’s emission (SE) and Poole–Frenkel’s (PF) mechanisms are identified. The temperature dependence of the series and shunt resistances, barrier height, ideality factor as well as the photovoltaic performance of the device under illumination are carefully analyzed.
In a simplified heterojunction crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell, a molybdenum oxide/silver/molybdenum oxide (MoOx/Ag/MoOx) stack has been investigated as an alternative to the well-known p-type ...amorphous silicon hydrogenated (a-Si: H) layer or a single layer of MoOx. The optical characteristics of the MoOx/Ag/MoOx multilayer were studied and found to have acceptable features for embedding on the solar cell's front side. Using a straightforward fabrication technique, thermal evaporation, a device structure composed of Al/Ag/MoOx/Ag/MoOx/n-Si/MoOx/Mg/Al has been fabricated. Impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed and Nyquist plots revealed single semicircles in the frequency range (102 Hz - 106 Hz) and at different temperatures, indicating the formation of a junction between MoOx/Ag/MoOx and n-Si substrate and the establishment of good Ohmic contacts for the front/rear electrodes. Moreover, capacitance-voltage characteristics were used to determine the temperature dependency of the built-in potential, doping concentration, and depletion width. The temperature-dependent current-voltage plots for the cell suggested that the predominant carrier transport mechanisms in the forward bias regime are trap-assisted tunneling at V> 0.35 V and e-h pair recombination at 0.35–0.75 V. For the reverse bias regime, carriers transport is dominated by the current generation in the space-charge region. Additionally, the photovoltaic performance of the solar cell was measured under illumination.
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•Thermal evaporation was used to fabricate an Al/Ag/MoOx/Ag/MoOx/n-Si/MgOx/Mg/Al heterojunction solar cells (OMO-Si HJSCs).•The OMO-Si HJSC revealed an efficiency of 8.80%.•Measurements and interpretations of C-V and J-V characteristics have been reported.•The dominated conduction mechanisms of the OMO-Si HJSC were discussed.
This study sought to develop new strategies for reverting the resistance of pathogenic Gram-negative bacilli by a combination of conventional antibiotics, potent permeabilizers and natural beta ...lactamase inhibitors enhancing the activity of various antibiotics.
The antibiotic susceptibility in the presence of natural non-antibacterial tested concentrations of phytochemicals (permeabilizers and natural beta lactamase inhibitors) was performed by disk diffusion and susceptibility assays. Thymol and gallic acid were the most potent permeabilizers and facilitated the passage of the antibiotics through the outer membrane, as evidenced by their ability to cause LPS release, sensitize bacteria to SDS and Triton X-100.
The combination of permeabilizers and natural beta lactamase inhibitors (quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate) with antibiotics induced greater susceptibility of resistant isolates compared to antibiotic treatment with beta lactamase inhibitors alone. Pronounced effects were detected with 24.4 Gy in vitro gamma irradiation on permeability barrier, beta lactamase activity, and outer membrane protein profiles of the tested isolates.
The synergistic effects of the studied natural phytochemicals and antibiotics leads to new clinical choices via outer membrane destabilization (permeabilizers) and/or inactivation of the beta lactamase enzyme, which enables the use of older, more cost-effective antibiotics against resistant strains.
A profoundly touchy voltammetric sensor for detection of nicotine (NIC) in urine and tobacco specimens has been developed in light of the boosted electrochemical response of NIC at gold and chitosan ...nanocomposite modified carbon paste electrode (ACMCPE). Material characterization techniques Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray (SEM & EDX) were utilized to describe the ACMCPE surface material. The impedance spectroscopy technique (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were employed to explore the electrochemical sensing of NIC at ACMCPE. The created sensor exhibits an exceptional electrochemical sensitivity to NIC in a universal Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution with a pH range of 2.0 to 8.0. The sensor shows a linear response over NIC concentration ranges of 4.0-320.0 µM, with the detection limit (LOD) of 7.6 µM. The prepared sensor has been shown to be exceptionally viable in detecting NIC with amazing selectivity and reproducibility. We suggest it as a trustworthy and useful electrochemical sensor for NIC location.
Purpose
To determine whether the bathing of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) autograft in vancomycin reduces the rate of infection following an ACL reconstruction.
Methods
Retrospective analysis ...of all ACL reconstructions over an 8-year period in two University Hospitals. In the initial 4-year period, all patients were operated on under classical antibiotic intravenous prophylaxis (group 1). Over the last 4-year period, this prophylaxis was supplemented with presoaking of the autograft (group 2). Presoaking was performed with sterile gauze previously saturated with a vancomycin solution (5 mg/ml).
Results
There were 810 and 734 patients in group 1 and 2, respectively. Fifteen cases of knee joint infections were identified in the series (0.97 %). All of these infections occurred in group 1, representing a rate of infection of 1.85 % in comparison with 0 % in group 2 (
p
< 0.001).
Conclusions
Autograft presoaking with vancomycin in combination with classical intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis reduced the rate of knee joint infection following an ACLR in comparison with antibiotic prophylaxis alone. This technique could be of relevance in daily clinical practice to prevent infection after ACLR.
Level of evidence
Case control study, retrospective comparative study, Level III.
It appeared that either the carbon paste or the screen-printed carbon electrodes that were modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) gave rise to the largest current responses after a rapid screening ...of various nanomaterials as modifiers of carbon composite electrodes in view of designing an electrochemical sensor for Moxifloxacin Hydrochloride (Moxi). The screen-printed electrode (SPE) support was preferred over the carbon paste one for its ability to be used as disposable single-use sensor enabling the circumvention of the problems of surface fouling encountered in the determination of Moxi. The response of AuNPs modified SPE to Moxi was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) (including the effect of the potential scan rate and the pH of the medium), chronoamperometry, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) after morphological and physico-chemical characterization. DPV was finally applied to Moxi detection in phosphate buffer at pH 7, giving rise to an accessible concentration window ranging between 8 µM and 0.48 mM, and the detection and quantification limits were established to be 11.6 µM and 38.6 µM, correspondingly. In order to estimate the applicability of Moxi identification scheme in actual trials, it was practiced in a human baby urine sample with excellent recoveries between 99.8 % and 101.6 % and RSDs of 1.1-3.4%, without noticeable interference.
Stress, anxiety, and depression resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as subsequent restrictive measures had a negative impact on eating behaviors. This study aimed to determine the emotional ...eating behaviors and the perceived stress level and to assess the relation between them among adults in the faculty of medicine during the late period of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was a cross-sectional study among 580 persons from the faculty of medicine, at Tanta University, Egypt conducted over a period of one month during the last period of partial lockdown (October 2020). A self-administered structured questionnaire consisted of five parts used in the study (sociodemographic factors, COVID-19-related parameters, nutrition-related information during the pandemic, emotional eating scale, and perceived stress scale).
More than two-fifths of students, employees, and staff (45.2%, 45.5%, and 44.2%, respectively) stated that their weight increased as a result of the lockdown. 50.8% of students, 42.5% of employees, and 54.6% of staff were in the moderate emotional eating groups. Similarly, the majority of students, employees, and staff reported moderate levels of stress(84%, 80.8%, and 76.1% respectively). The total emotional eating score was positively correlated with the total perceived stress scores (r = 0.13, p = 0.001*).
COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during the period of lockdown, had a negative impact on individuals' psychological stress levels and levels of emotional eating behaviors.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a significant burden on both the healthcare systems as well as individuals. The high mortality rate of CRC may be attributed to its metastatic potential, heterogeneity, ...and delayed diagnosis. CircRNAs are an essential class of regulatory RNAs that play significant roles in cancers. This study aimed to detect the expression status of circ-SMARCA5, circ-NOL10, circ-LDLRAD3, and circ-RHOT1 in patients with CRC. This study included 50 CRC patients, 30 individuals with colorectal diseases (non-cancer), and 20 healthy volunteers. By using real-time PCR, the relative expression of circ-SMARCA5, circ-NOL10, circ-LDLRAD3, and circ-RHOT1 was determined in the collected blood samples. In addition, ECLIA was used to quantify carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level. All circRNAs expression and CEA levels were significantly up-regulated in cancer patients (CRC, colon, rectum) as compared to healthy controls, except circ-SMARCA5. Moreover, there was a significant up-regulation of circRNAs in most non-cancer patients (UC, polyp, piles). Insignificant upregulation was observed in circRNAs and CEA when comparing cancer with non-cancer patients. No correlations were found between the studied parameters and most clinicopathological characteristics of cancer and non-cancer patients. Circ-SMARCA5, circ-NOL10, circ-LDLRAD3, and circ-RHOT1 were differentially expressed in patients with CRC as well as in non-cancer patients. Circ-SMARCA5 and circ-NOL10 may act as tumor suppressors, while circ-LDLRAD3 and circ-RHOT1 may be oncogenes. Circ-SMARCA5, circ-NOL10, circ-LDLRAD3, and circ-RHOT1 could be promising markers for the early detection of CRC.
This study investigated the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of three Spirulina extracts (methanol, acetone, and hexane) and the biological selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) fabricated by Bacillus ...subtilis AL43. The results showed that Spirulina extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity against tested pathogens. Besides, Spirulina extracts significantly scavenged ABTS and DPPH radicals in a dose-dependent manner. The methanolic extract had higher total phenolic content, antimicrobial activity, and antioxidant activity than other extracts. The selenium nanoparticles were synthesized by Bacillus subtilis AL43 under aerobic conditions and were characterized as spherical, crystalline with a size of 65.23 nm and a net negative charge of −22.7. We evidenced that SeNPs possess considerable antimicrobial activity against three gram-positive, three gram-negative bacteria, and three strains from both Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp. Moreover, SeNPs were able to scavenge ABTS and DPPH radicals in a dose-dependent manner. An association was found between the total phenolic content of Spirulina and SeNPs and their biological activities. Our results indicate that Spirulina and SeNPs with significant antimicrobial and antioxidant activities seem to be successful candidates for safe and reliable medical applications.
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