Tramadol is used worldwide and is listed in many medical guidelines to treat both acute and chronic pains. There is a growing evidence of abuse of tramadol in some African and West Asian countries. Tramadol has some side effects. The present study designed to follow up the treatment of the cellular responses which might be induced in the kidney of tramadol mice. Treated mice received daily injection of tramadol dose (125 μg/100 g b.wt) for 20 and 40 days. Other mice received tramadol for 40 days and then were divided into three groups: the first received distilled water, the second received Lagenaria siceraria, and the third received melatonin daily for 40 days. Both the daily injection of tramadol for 20 and 40 days resulted in radical, extensive, and severe alterations in the normal histological architecture of the kidney. Treatment with Lagenaria siceraria or melatonin after tramadol administration for a long-term, markedly changed the collagen content and other chemical components, that may reach nearly normal levels. Such findings propose that although tramadol has many cytological and histopathological side effects on the kidneys of male mice, the treatments via Lagenaria siceraria and melatonin have effective therapeutic impacts on the tramadol side effects.

Background: Iatrogenic dural tear a complication of spinal surgery with significant morbidity and cost to the healthcare system. The optimal management is unclear, and therefore we aimed to survey current practices among Canadian practitioners. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to members of the Canadian Neurological Surgeon’s Society designed to explore methods of closure of iatrogenic durotomy. Results: Spinal surgeons were surveyed with a 55% response rate (n=91). For pinhole sized tears there is a trend toward sealant fixation(36.7%). Medium and large sized tears are predominantly closed with sutures and sealant(67% and 80%, respectively). Anterior tears are managed using sealant alone(48%). Posterior tears are treated with a combination of sutures and sealant(73.8%). Nerve root tears are treated with either sealant alone(50%). Most respondents recommended bed rest for at least 24 hours in the setting of medium(73.2%) and large(89.1%) dural tears. Conclusions: This study elucidates the areas of uncertainty with regard to iatrogenic dural tear management. There is disagreement regarding management of anterior and nerve root tears, pin-hole sized tears in any location of the spine, and whether patients should be admitted to hospital or on bed-rest following a pin-hole sized dural tear. There is a need for a robust comparative research study of dural repair strategies.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) as a cause of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage has not been well established. Methods: We report a patient who developed a spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage secondary to MM and conduct a systematic review of the literature. In addition, we discuss the underlying pathophysiology. Results: A 67-year-old relatively healthy female with a recent history of low back pain presented with an altered level of consciousness and left sided hemiplegia. CT demonstrated a large right temporal intracerebral hemorrhage. CT angiogram ruled out a vascular abnormality; however, multiple abnormal bony lesions were incidentally noted. Other causes for intracranial bleed were ruled out. She underwent a craniotomy for hematoma evacuation. Intra-operatively, the skull was noted to be abnormal and hematoma was not associated with a mass lesion. In addition, serum and urine electrophoresis were found to be positive for monoclonal free kappa light chains. Subsequent bone biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of MM. Our literature search identified 2 reported cases of spontaneous subdural hematomas and 2 patients with spontaneous intracerebral hematomas secondary to MM. Moreover, only 4 reports in the literature document intracranial hemorrhage secondary to a mass developed from MM. Conclusions: Multiple myeloma is perhaps an under-reported possible cause for spontaneous intracerebral hematoma.

Infectious complications of cardiac surgery are often severe and life threatening. Statins having both immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects were intuitively thought to influence the development of postsurgical infections. We sought to systematically examine whether any association exists between statin use and risk of infectious complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Thomson Scientific Web of Science, and Elsevier Scopus from inception through February 2011 for comparative studies examining the association between statin use and risk of postoperative infections in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We contacted a study's author for missing information. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of individual studies' odds ratios (adjusted for potential confounders). We identified 6 cohort studies for inclusion, 3 of which were conducted in Canada and 3 of which were conducted in the United States. Four were single-center studies, and 2 were population based. Exposure ascertainment was based on a review of admission medication list or prescription databases. Infectious outcomes were heterogeneous and included surgical site infections within 30 days, serious infections (sepsis), or any other postoperative infection. Statin use in the preoperative period was associated with a trend toward reduction in the incidence of postoperative infections in patients who underwent cardiac surgery (odds ratio, 0.81 [95% confidence interval, 0.64–1.01]; P = .06; I2 = 75%). Heterogeneity was explained by country effect. Studies performed in Canada showed weaker associations than studies performed in the United States. This difference could not be attributed to study quality alone. We did not find good evidence to support an association between statin use and postoperative infectious complications. However, the trend toward statistical significance for this association indicates that further investigation is warranted.

The appearance of chaotic particle trajectories in steady, laminar, incompressible flow through a twisted pipe of circular cross-section is demonstrated using standard dynamical systems diagnostics and a model flow based on Dean's perturbation solutions. A study is performed to determine the parameters that control fluid stirring in this mixing device that has no moving parts. Insight into the chaotic dynamics are provided by a simple one-dimensional map of the pipe boundary onto itself. The results of numerical experiments illustrating the stretching of material lines, stirring of blobs of material, and the three-dimensional trajectories of fluid particles are presented. Finally, enhanced longitudinal particle dispersal due to the coupling between chaos in the transverse direction and the non-uniform longitudinal transport of particles is shown.

Electron field emission was measured from GaN nanotip pyramids formed by polarity-selective chemical etching in KOH solution. The GaN samples were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and consisted of regions of Ga- and N-polar GaN grown at the same time. The pyramids were formed only in the N-polar regions and have extremely sharp tips with diameters estimated to be less than 20 nm. Field emission measurements showed a characteristic Fowler-Nordheim behavior. The average turn-on field was 1.6 V/μm with a corresponding normalized field enhancement factor of about 1500.

Thirty-eight species of larger foraminifera belonging to Nummulites, Operculina and Assilina are recorded, identified and systematically described from 5 stratigraphic sections of the Thebes Formation in the Red Sea Coast and the Nile Valley, Egypt.

According to these species the age assigned to the Thebes Formation is Lower Eocene (Ypresian).

The Nummulites species are subdivided here into 6 groups based on their evolutionary lineage following Schaub (1981). Moreover, spiral diagrams for the different species showing the relation between the number of whorls and the corresponding radius in median sections are drawn.