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The current literature on the use of antibiotics perioperatively for many pediatric procedures, including hypospadias, is inconsistent. There is currently no clear evidence for the use of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis for stented distal hypospadias repair. This study aims to synthesize and assess the available literature on the use versus non-use of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis for stented distal hypospadias repair. Systematic literature search was performed on March 2018 for evaluation of trials that assessed the use and non-use of postoperative prophylactic antibiotics among stented distal hypospadias repair in children. Methodological quality of the studies was assessed according to the study design as recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. The outcome assessed includes composite overall posthypospadias repair complications of infection and wound healing complications. The event rate for each treatment group was extracted to extrapolate intervention relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Mantel–Haenszel method with random effect model was used in pooling of effect estimates from the included studies. Heterogeneity was assessed with subgroup analysis performed according to the study design. Publication bias was likewise determined. The protocol of this review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018087301) and reported in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of seven studies (four cohorts, three randomized controlled trials) with 986 stented distal hypospadias repairs (408 with no post-operative prophylactic antibiotics and 578 given postoperative prophylactic antibiotics) were included for the meta-analysis. Moderate to serious risk of bias was noted among the cohort studies, while the included randomized controlled trials (RCT) were of high risk of bias. Inconsistencies of effect estimates between subgroups and publication bias with small study effect were likely present. The overall pooled effect estimates comparing treatment groups showed no significant difference for outcomes of overall composite postoperative complication (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.45, 1.93). Assessment of composite infection related complications and wound healing complications likewise did not show any significant between-group differences (RR 1.28, 95% CI 0.49, 3.35 and RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.48, 2.12; respectively) (Table). Asymptomatic bacteriuria was noted to be significantly higher among the intervention group with no postoperative prophylactic antibiotics (RR 4.01, 95% CI 1.11, 14.54). The available evidence to date was assessed to be of high risk. The low level of evidence generated suggests that there is limited utility in the use of postoperative prophylactic antibiotics to prevent clinically significant posthypospadias repair complications. Table Summarized effect estimates for composite outcome assessed for post-operative prophylaxis. Outcome assessed Number of studies Relative risk 95% confidence interval Composite infection complications (UTI and SSI) 7 1.28 0.49, 3.35 Composite wound healing complications (urethrocutaneous fistula, meatal stenosis, and dehiscence) 6 1.01 0.48, 2.12 Overall composite postoperative complication (infection and wound healing) 7 0.93 0.45, 1.93 UTI, urinary tract infection; SSI, surgical site infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary A 10-year-old entire male French bulldog was presented following clusters of generalized tonic–clonic epileptic seizures. Neurolocalization was consistent with a lesion in the left forebrain. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed a large, ill-defined, intra-axial, space-occupying lesion at the level of the left temporal and parietal lobes, causing marked compression of the adjacent parenchyma. Computed tomography of the thorax and abdomen was consistent with disseminated metastatic disease. The dog was humanely destroyed and subjected to necropsy examination. Histological examination of the brain revealed a metastasis of prostatic carcinoma within an anaplastic oligodendroglioma in the left forebrain. To the author's knowledge, this is the first report describing clinical, imaging and histopathological features of an intracranial tumour-to-tumour metastasis in the brain of a dog. Graphical abstract Tumour-to-tumour metastasis phenomenon in the brain of a dog, where a prostatic adenocarcinoma metastatizes within an anaplastic oligodendroglioma. An intratumoural mass resembling metastatic foci is present in the center of the oligodendroglial tumour. PanCK immunopositivity in the brain is observed, indicating their epithelial origin demonstrating this phenomenon. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuAlO 2 and CuAl 2 O 4 thin films were synthesized by the deposition of the precursor metals using the physical vapor deposition technique and subsequent annealing. Annealing was carried out for 4–6 h in open and nitrogen atmospheres respectively at temperatures of 900–1000 °C with control of heating and cooling ramps. The band gap measurements ranged from 3.3 to 4.5 eV. Electrical properties were measured using the van der Pauw technique. The preferred orientations of CuAlO 2 and CuAl 2 O 4 were found to be along the (1 1 2) and (3 1 1) planes, respectively. The phase percentages were quantified using a Rietveld refinement simulation and the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicated that the composition is very close to the stoichiometry of CuAlO 2 samples and with excess of aluminum and deficiency of copper for CuAl 2 O 4 respectively. High resolution transmission electron microscopy identified the principal planes in CuAlO 2 and in CuAl 2 O 4 . Higher purities were achieved in nitrogen atmosphere with the control of the cooling ramps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the optimal load (Pmax load) and optimal power spectrum (OPS) to achieve maximum power output (Pmax) during the snatch and clean with international weightlifters (IW) and national competitive weightlifters (NW). Twenty-two male weightlifters participated in two testing sessions. The first session involved performing one-repetition maximums (1RM) in the snatch and clean and second session assessed a power test across a spectrum of loads (30–90%) of each subject’s 1RM in the predetermined exercises tested. Relative load had a significant effect on peak power, with Pmax load being obtained with 90% of 1RM for snatch and clean in the IW and 70 and 90% of 1RM for snatch and clean, respectively, in the NW. OPS was located between 80 and 90% for snatch and no OPS was found for the clean exercise in IW. In the NW, OPS was located between 70% up to 90% and 50% up to 90% in the snatch and clean, respectively. It may be advantageous to know the Pmax load and OPS in the snatch and clean when training to maximise power of weightlifters of different sport performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thin films of Cu 2 O and CuO oxides were developed by direct oxidation of physical vapor deposited copper films in an open atmosphere by varying the temperature in the range between 250 and 400 °C. In this work, the influence of oxidation temperature on structural, optical and electrical properties of copper oxide films has been discussed. The characterization results revealed that at lower temperatures (<300 °C), it is feasible to obtaine d coper (I) oxide whereas at temperatures higher than 300 °C, the copper (II) oxide is formed. The band gap is found to vary in between 1.54 and 2.21 eV depending on the oxidation temperature. Both oxides present p-type electrical conductivity. The carrier concentration has been increased as a function of the oxidation temperature from 1.61 × 10 12 at 250 °C to 6.8 × 10 12  cm −3 at 400 °C. The mobility has attained its maximum of 34.5 cm 2  V −1  s −1 at a temperature of 300 °C, and a minimum of 13.8 cm 2  V −1  s −1 for 400 °C. Finally, the resistivity of copper oxide films decreases as a function of oxidation temperature from 5.4 × 10 6 to 2.4 × 10 5  Ω-cm at 250 and 400 °C, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoped and F-doped CdS thin films were grown on glass slides by chemical bath deposition using thiourea, cadmium acetate and ammonium fluoride as sulfur, cadmium, and fluorine sources, respectively. Undoped CdS films were deposited varying the concentration of thiourea. Once the optimal thiourea concentration was determined, based on the crystalline quality of the samples, this concentration was maintained and ammonium fluoride was added at different concentrations in order to explore the effect of the F nominal concentration on properties of CdS films. Undoped and F-doped CdS films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis, room temperature photoluminescence, and four probe resistivity measurements. Results showed highly transparent F-doped CdS films with strong PL and low resistivity were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on minimal invasive techniques of ovariohysterectomy (OVH) called transvaginal total-NOTES which is done on bitches to study complications during the operation, and refers to decrease in surgical time, postoperative bleeding, and seroma.

Abstract: Polycrystalline transparent Zinc oxide thin films have been grown on glass substrates by the sol–gel technique using two different precursor solutions. The physical properties of the films were analyzed with X-ray diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy, UV–Vis and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the films grew in the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The band gap of the samples was estimated from UV–Vis measurements in values from 3.1 to 3.22eV, these values are in agreement with those reported in the literature. Two different simple ways to obtain polycrystalline ZnO were developed and the properties of the films were studied as a function of the precursor solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nowadays the study of faults and their consequences becomes an issue into highly safety critical computer network systems. How to bound the effects of a fault and how to tackle them into a dynamic system is still an open field. In here an approach to tackle this problem is presented. The use of Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy logic structure is given in order to accomplish two challenges, the presence of local faults and the respective time delays within a realtime distributed system. This approach is pursued as reconfigurable strategy according to communication time delays within a real-time distributed system. This approach is pursued as reconfigurable strategy according to communication delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Tooth hypersensitivity can occur when gum recession causes exposure of dentin. Tiny tubules, which permeate dentin, provide open passageways from the mouth to the intradental nerve in the pulpal cavity. Under such circumstances, stimuli in the mouth can cause pressure on the intradental nerve, leading to pain. Sealing the outside of the tubules with an impermeable substance can effectively treat hypersensitivity. One such clinically proven composition is a professionally applied tooth desensitizer, which has been shown to initially produce a layer of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) on the surface of dentin. Under the influence of fluoride, ACP reforms as hydroxyapatite (HAP), which has essentially the same composition as tooth mineral. Three fluoride toothpastes that deliver calcium and phosphate salts to the teeth also have been demonstrated in clinical trials to relieve hypersensitivity. This study compared the mechanism of action of these toothpastes to that of the professional desensitizer. A single application of the professional desensitizer or multiple applications of any of the three toothpastes was shown to reduce dentin permeability. A conventional fluoride toothpaste also was found to inhibit fluid flow through the dentin but to a lesser degree than the other toothpastes. The desensitizer and the three toothpastes were found to occlude the dentinal tubules with a layer of calcium phosphate that had a calcium-to-phosphate ratio consistent with the formation of ACP or HAP. The morphology of the coherent mineral layer formed by Arm & Hammer Enamel Care Sensitive was similar, especially to that produced by the desensitizer. In contrast, the conventional toothpaste left localized areas of surface residue composed of silica particles. The mechanism of action of the three toothpastes that deliver calcium and phosphate salts is the same as that of the professional desensitizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale and Objectives: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is associated with an increased risk of cardiac death. The present study evaluates whether using computed tomographic (CT)-derived criteria for normal myocardial mass can improve detection of LVH on CT angiography (CTA). Materials and Methods: A total of 2238 subjects (63 +/- 9 years, 27% female) who underwent CTA were studied. To identify normal limits for CT-derived myocardial mass, we studied normal subjects (those without diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, or coronary artery disease). Left ventricular mass (LVM) was measured manually using two different workstations. The CT criteria of LVH was defined as LVM above the 97th percentile per gender and compared to echocardiographic criteria (110 g/m(2) in women; 124 g/m(2) in men), and specificity and sensitivity of both models to detect LVH were calculated. Results: The LVM was higher in men than women in normal cohorts (75.5 +/- 14.0 vs. 63.1 +/- 12.8 g/m(2), P = .001 with electron beam CTA and 78.5 +/- 11.9 vs. 65.0 +/- 9.2 g/m(2), P = .001 with 64 multidetector [MD] CT, respectively). The coefficient of variation between electron beam CTA and 64 MDCT for measuring LVM was 3.1%. Comparing the new CTA/64 MDCT criteria of LVH (103.0 g/m(2) in men; 89.0 g/m(2) in women) to the previous echocardiographic criteria of LVH, the specificity in women and men decreased from 100% in both genders by echocardiography to 91.8% and 92.6%, respectively, but the sensitivity increased from 42.0% to 100% and from 41.1% to 100%. Conclusion: This study suggests that CT-measured LVM has low variability and normal values based on CT criteria will potentially increase the early detection of LVH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online reconfiguration performed by a computer network system needs to be addressed from several perspectives due to complexity onto the system. This paper proposes different modeling approximations to obtain a holistic view of reconfiguration onto complex systems. First model is dynamic system modeling, second is an automaton in order to bound possible scenarios and third model is a Real Time scheduling algorithm to match possible configurations and related control laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strawberries have been the target of research to find alternatives to methyl bromide (MB) as this crop is the largest single consumer of the chemical in Spain using 800 tonnes for fruit production and 237 tonnes in mother plant production. Electromagnetic waves (EW), Solarization (Sol), Biofumigation (Bio), Metham Sodium (MNa), Dazomet (Daz), 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D) and Chloropicrin (Pic) were evaluated alone or in combination as alternatives for Methyl Bromide (MB) in strawberry production over a three-year period at two locations. The GGE biplot method was employed to study the MB alternative by environment two-way data. This method graphically displays MB alternative by environment data and hence facilitates the pattern of MB alternative performance across environments. 1,3-D plus 35 % Pic (Telone C35), Pic alone, MB shank-applied to preformed beds under black polyethylene films and under black virtually impermeable films performed as well as the standard methyl bromide treatment and resulted in greatest total yield, early and total fruit weights. In addition, these treatments together with Daz and Sol plus MB resulted in greatest early yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]