15 research outputs found
Review on diagnosis and management of urolithiasis in pregnancy: an ESUT practical guide for urologists
No full textPURPOSE: Management of urolithiasis in pregnancy can be challenging for most urologists with diagnostic and treatment dilemma to ensure the best outcome for both mother and fetus. We wanted to review the literature for urolithiasis in pregnancy with a practical management guide for urologists.METHODS: A non-systematic review of literature was carried out for all English language literature using Medline. To ensure a more comprehensive search, the review of diagnosis and management of pregnant patients with urolithiasis was carried out separately, by two authors independently. Due to diagnostic complexity, investigations (US, CT, MRI) carried out were assessed separately.RESULTS: Our search included diagnostic studies such as US, CT and MRI (73, 20 and 27 articles, respectively) and management studies (55 articles in total). Details on etiology, radiation risk, safety of various diagnostic modalities, medications and treatment options are covered through an evidence-based approach. We provide a practical guide for urologists in what is clearly a stressful situation for patient and physician alike.CONCLUSIONS: Urolithiasis in pregnancy needs a careful multidisciplinary management to achieve good outcomes for both mother and baby. Our review shows that a balanced approach for diagnosis and treatment seems to achieve the best outcomes in pregnancy.</p
Micro-Simulation of Social Security Reforms in Belgium
No full textThe present paper analyzes the budgetary impact of various Social Security reforms in the Belgian institutional setting. Our approach relies on parameters that were derived in Dellis et alii (2002) using a micro-modeling strategy. focusing our attention on a hypothetical age cohort, we illustrate the budgetary impact that the reforms considered might have on the budget of the federal government.
Apalutamide: the established and emerging roles in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer
No full textInsight into long-term histological, proliferative and apoptotic modifications in ileal orthotopic neobladder and conduit mucosa
No full textAims and background To assess the long-term histological, apoptotic and proliferating alterations of the intestinal mucosa of ileal conduits and orthotopic neobladders. Methods Fifty patients (46 males, 4 females), aged 52–78 years, who underwent urinary diversion with either ileal orthotopic neobladder (group ON, 20 patients) or conduit (group IC, 30 patients) from 2001 to 2005, were included in this prospective study Ileal samples were collected during surgery (controls) and by random mucosal biopsies 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months later. Histological (villi height, crypt depth, eosinophil cell count), proliferation (Ki67 immunochemistry), and apoptotic (Bcl-2 immunochemistry TUNEL) parameters were assessed. Results During the 4-year follow-up, we recorded progressive villi area, height and crypt depth reduction, mucosa flattening, and inflammatory and eosinophilic infiltration. Villi height: crypt depth ratio showed a statistically significant difference ( P <0.05) between the two groups from the 6th month. Dysplasia, metaplasia, and neoplasia were not observed. Bcl-2 values showed a progressive increase until 24 months in group ON and 12 months in group IC, followed by a decline thereafter. Ki-67 values showed a progressive increase after 6 months in group ON and an increase until 24 months followed by a decline thereafter in group IC. TUNEL showed two peaks, at 24 and 48 months. Conclusions Histological adaptation was revealed in both groups, with statistically significant differences in favor of orthotopic substitution. Proliferative and apoptotic pathways are implicated as demonstrated by relevant modifications of Bcl-2, Ki-67 and TUNEL, in accord with the histological adaptation. </jats:sec
Minimal surgical management of penile paraffinoma after subcutaneous penile paraffin injection
No full textThe Impact of Technique Standardization on Total Operating and Fluoroscopy Times in Simple Endourological Procedures: A Prospective Study
No full textVitamins as primary or adjunctive treatment in infertile men with varicocele: A systematic review
No full textObjective: To investigate the usage and the efficacy of vitamins as primary or adjuvant treatment in infertile men with varicocele. Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) and Cochrane Library with the terms (varicocele) AND (vitamins) was performed. We searched for studies: a) reporting the administration of vitamins (individually or as part of a complex) in men with varicocele and infertility, b) primarily or adjuvant to invasive treatment, and c) reporting the impact on semen parameters and/or pregnancy rates. Exclusion criteria were animal, adolescent and non-English studies, grey literature and trials reporting abstracts only. Results: Seven studies were identified eligible for qualitative analysis. All studies were randomised except one (case series). Vitamins were administered dominantly as part of antioxidant complex and only two studies used vitamins (C and E, respectively) as sole agent. In two studies, vitamin monotherapy resulted in improvement in semen quality, but the effect on pregnancy rates is unknown. One study reported no efficacy of adjuvant multivitamin treatment after embolisation in terms of both semen quality and pregnancy rates. Finally, four studies reported a positive effect of vitamins on semen parameters after varicocelectomy, but the effect on pregnancy rates is conflicting; one study reported improved pregnancy rates with adjuvant treatment, two studies did not evaluate the pregnancy rates, and in one study the outcome was unclear due to missing data. Conclusions: Vitamins have been used mostly as part of an antioxidant panel for the management of infertile men with varicocele. Most studies have found a positive impact on semen parameters in selected men with varicocele and infertility, as primary or adjuvant treatment. However, the clinical benefit of vitamins administration on pregnancy rate is under-evaluated and should be the target of future research
ChemBioServer 2.0: An advanced web server for filtering, clustering and networking of chemical compounds facilitating both drug discovery and repurposing
No full textChemBioServer 2.0 is the advanced sequel of a web server for filtering, clustering and networking of chemical compound libraries facilitating both drug discovery and repurposing. It provides researchers the ability to (i) browse and visualize compounds along with their physicochemical and toxicity properties, (ii) perform property-based filtering of compounds, (iii) explore compound libraries for lead optimization based on perfect match substructure search, (iv) re-rank virtual screening results to achieve selectivity for a protein of interest against different protein members of the same family, selecting only those compounds that score high for the protein of interest, (v) perform clustering among the compounds based on their physicochemical properties providing representative compounds for each cluster, (vi) construct and visualize a structural similarity network of compounds providing a set of network analysis metrics, (vii) combine a given set of compounds with a reference set of compounds into a single structural similarity network providing the opportunity to infer drug repurposing due to transitivity, (viii) remove compounds from a network based on their similarity with unwanted substances (e.g. failed drugs) and (ix) build custom compound mining pipelines. © 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press
Post neutron irradiation annealing and defect evolution in single crystal tungsten
No full textSingle crystal W is offered for Physics understanding of irradiation induced defects and their annealing as its structure is well defined and it is almost defect free. W(1 0 0) single crystal was neutron irradiated to a damage of 0.11 displacements per atom at 600 °C and subsequently isochronally annealed from 700 up to 1500 °C in 100 °C steps. Irradiation causes the formation of dislocation loops and vacancy clusters and a 45 % increase in hardness. After the annealing of 1500 °C the positron lifetime annihilation spectrum shows a defect free material and its hardness has been reverted to the pre-irradiation value and only clusters of Re, WRe and WOs2 have been detected by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The total line density of dislocations, number density of voids and their size versus annealing temperature have been determined. From hardness, the critical resolved stresses arising from dislocations and voids have been derived and correlated with their densities. The kinetics of defect annihilation versus annealing temperature is discussed. © 2022 The Author(s
Fe+ ion irradiation effects in Fe-10at%Cr films irradiated at 300 °C
No full textFe-Cr alloys constitute the model systems for the investigation of radiation damage effects in ferritic-martensitic steels which are candidate structural materials for fusion reactors. In the current study Fe-10at%Cr alloy films of 70 nm thickness were irradiated by 490 keV Fe + ions at 300 °C at doses ranging from 0.5 up to 20 displacements per atom (dpa). The Fe + ion energy chosen corresponds to the energy of primary Fe(Cr) knock-on atoms from 14 MeV neutrons. The irradiation effects were investigated employing X-ray diffraction and X-ray and polarized neutron reflectivity. The irradiation produced dose dependent: a) lattice constant increase, b) grain size growth and c) Cr depletion in the matrix. These changes occur largely up to 4 dpa and afterwards the system attains a dynamic equilibrium. © 2022 The Author
