To assess the use of miniaturized percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PCNL) for renal stones in children, as well as its safety and efficacy. Seventy-seven patients with more than 15 mm renal stones whose age was less than 15 years were enrolled in this prospective case-controlled study at Al-Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Ar Razi Private Hospital, and Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital for Surgical Specialties, Anbar and Baghdad, Iraq. The study was conducted from January 2020 to January 2024. The group mentioned above served as group A, and it was compared to the control group (group B), which consisted of 70 adult patients aged 18–60 years. Patients in both groups underwent mini-PCNL. Gender, stone size and location, time of operation, stone-free rate, hemoglobin drop, need for blood transfusion, postoperative fever, associated visceral injury, and need for further interventions such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy or flexible ureteroscopy (ESWL or FURS) were compared in both groups. The age of patients in group A ranged from 8 months to 15 years with a mean (4.30 ± 3.16), while in group B ranged from 18 to 60 years with a mean (36.3 ± 12.0), p-value 0.001. There were no statistically significant differences regarding gender distribution, stone size, and location, p-value > 0.05. The stone-free rate was 87.01% for group A and 88.57% for group B, with no statistical difference, p-value 0.773. Hemoglobin drop was 1.096 ± 0.412 for group A and 1.195 ± 0.110 for group B, p-value 0.046. Blood transfusion was needed in one case in each group with no statistical difference, p-value 0.946. The need for ESWL was 3 cases in group A, and 2 cases in group B, with no statistical difference between the two groups, p-value 0.729. The need for FURS was 4 cases in group A and 3 cases in group B, p-value 0.796. Operative time was 30 to 125 min in group A and 34 to 129 min in group B, p-value 0.941. Postoperative fever was seen in 23 cases in group A and 21 cases in group B, p-value 0.986. Minor liver injury was seen was seen in one case in each group. The use of mini-PCNL for treating renal stones in children is safe and effective as it is associated with a relatively low rate of significant complications and achieves a high stone-free rate.
This paper presents the ability to use cheap adsorbent (corn leaf) for the removal of Malachite Green (MG) dye from its aqueous solution. A batch mode was used to study several factors, dye concentration (50-150) ppm, adsorbent dosage (0.5-2.5) g/L, contact time (1-4) day, pH (2-10), and temperature (30-60) The results indicated that the removal efficiency increases with the increase of adsorbent dosage and contact time, while inversely proportional to the increase in pH and temperature. An SEM device characterized the adsorbent corn leaves. The adsorption's resulting data were in agreement with Freundlich isotherm according to the regression analysis, and the kinetics data followed pseudo-first-or
... Show MoreConstruction of artificial higher order protein complexes allows sampling of structural architectures and functional features not accessible by classical monomeric proteins. Here, we combine in silico modelling with expanded genetic code facilitated strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition to construct artificial complexes that are structurally integrated protein dimers and demonstrate functional synergy. Using fluorescent proteins sfGFP and Venus as models, homodimers and heterodimers are constructed that switched ON once assembled and display enhanced spectral properties. Symmetrical crosslinks are found to be important for functional enhancement. The determined molecular structure of one artific
The ongoing research to improve the clinical outcome of titanium implants has resulted in the implementation of multiple approaches to deliver osteogenic growth factors accelerating and sustaining osseointegration. Here we show the presentation of human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) adsorbed to titanium discs coated with poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA). We have previously shown that PEA promotes fibronectin organization into nanonetworks exposing integrin- and growth-factor-binding domains, allowing a synergistic interaction at the integrin/growth factor receptor level. Here, titanium discs were coated with PEA and fibronectin and then decorated with ng/mL doses of BMP-7. Human mesenchymal stem cells were used to investigate cellular resp
... Show MoreThe main objective of this paper is to study the behavior of Non-Prismatic Reinforced Concrete (NPRC) beams with and without rectangular openings either when exposed to fire or not. The experimental program involves casting and testing 9 NPRC beams divided into 3 main groups. These groups were categorized according to heating temperature (ambient temperature, 400°C, and 700°C), with each group containing 3 NPRC beams (solid beams and beams with 6 and 8 trapezoidal openings). For beams with similar geometry, increasing the burning temperature results in their deterioration as reflected in their increasing mid-span deflection throughout the fire exposure period and their residual deflection after cooling. Meanwhile, the existing ope
... Show MoreThis study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modi
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