A cruel invasion of Ewing's sarcoma of the skull: A rare case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Ewing's sarcoma, a highly malignant bone tumor, typically affects the pelvis and long bones of the lower extremities in children and young adults; primary involvement of the skull is rare. Primary Ewing's sarcoma arising from the skull is very rare. In most cases, this disease is fatal, although the prognosis of Ewing sarcoma improves with radiation and chemotherapy after surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: This case is about 25-year-old woman who was referred to Omid Hospital in Urmia because of frequent headaches, where a tumor mass was found according to the results of CT scan. Biopsy confirmed small round cell sarcoma as the diagnosis. Chemotherapy was ineffective and tumor growth was unstoppable, causing the patient to die after 3 months. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Ewing's sarcoma can affect various parts of the human body, including bone and soft tissue, but rarely the skull. Ewing's sarcoma typically grows extradural and often reaches a very large size before invading the skull or being detected clinically. CONCLUSION: In most cases, Ewing's sarcoma is fatal, although the prognosis of this disease improves with radiation and chemotherapy after surgery.

Surgical excision for gigantic bilateral pulmonary hydatid cyst in a 14-year-old adolescent: A case report study.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Bilateral pulmonary hydatid cysts in adolescents are rare and present unique diagnostic and treatment challenges. Adolescents with pulmonary hydatid disease often present with nonspecific symptoms such as cough, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and hepatosplenomegaly. CASE PRESENTATION: This case is about 14-year-old adolescent who reported feeling a mass in his chest and experienced a loss of appetite. Imaging studies were performed which showed the presence of bilateral hydatid cyst in the lung. The cyst contents were sent for histopathological analysis, which confirmed the diagnosis of hydatid cysts. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: The clinical presentation of hydatid cysts varies depending on the organs involved. Bilateral hydatid cysts may occur in various organs such as liver, lung, brain, spleen, kidney, bone and other sites. Diagnosis of bilateral hydatid cysts in adolescents is difficult because symptoms may be nonspecific and the cysts may not be apparent until they reach a sufficient size. The type of surgical approach depends on the location, size, and number of cysts. CONCLUSION: Bilateral pulmonary hydatid cysts have become an increasingly important diagnosis in adolescent patients. Imaging plays a critical role in prompt diagnosis, and surgical intervention remains the mainstay of management. There are limited studies regarding the management of such rare cases, but through a multidisciplinary approach, improved outcomes can be achieved.

A process mining approach in big data analysis and modeling decision making risks for measuring environmental health in institutions.

This paper aimed to introduce a process-mining framework for measuring the status of environmental health in institutions. The methodology developed a new software-based index namely Institutional Environmental Health Index (IEHI) that was integrated from ontology-based Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making models based on the principles of fuzzy modeling and consensus evaluation. Fuzzy Ordered Weighting Average (OWA) with the capability of modeling the uncertainties and decision-making risks along with Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) were employed as the computation engine. The performance of the extended index was examined through an applied example on 20 mosques as public institutions. IEHI could analyze big data collected by environmental health investigators and convert them to a single and interpretable number. The index detected the mosques with very unsuitable health conditions that should be in priority of sanitation and suitable ones as well. Due to the capability of defining the type and numbers of criteria and benefitting from specific and user-friendly software namely Group Fuzzy Decision-Making, this index is highly flexible and practical. The methodology could be used for numerating the environmental health conditions in any intended institution or occupation. The proposed index would provide e-health assessment by more efficient analysis of big data and risks that make more realistic decisions in environmental health system.

Evaluation of complexing agents in the gel electro-membrane extraction: An efficient approach for the quantification of zinc (II) ions in water samples.

In this work, gel electro-membrane extraction (G-EME) combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) was used for the determination of zinc ions (Zn2+) in water samples. For the first time, the effect of the presence of three types of complexing agents such as phenanthroline (Phen), crown ethers (12C4, 15C5, 18C6), and ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) on the extraction efficiency of zinc ions was studied. In addition, the electroendosmosis (EEO) flow as an unwanted actuator was monitored in the presence and absence of complexing agents. By applying 50 V electrical potential across the membrane, the positive charged Zn2+ ions were migrated from a donor phase (pH 5.0) through the agarose gel membrane (pH 5.0, containing a complexing agent) into the acceptor phase (pH 3.0). The obtained results showed that the highest extraction recoveries were obtained when crown ethers, especially 1% (w/v) 18C6 was added to the gel membrane. In addition, EEO flow was decreased in the presence of all complexing agents (except EDTA), probably due to the increase in electrical resistance. Using the optimum conditions, the limit of detection (LOD), the limit of quantification (LOQ), and extraction recovery% (ER%) were 5.0 µg L-1, 15.0 µg L-1, and 92.5%, respectively. In the end, the applicability of the developed approach was successfully evaluated to determine Zn2+ in tap, mineral, and river water samples.

Applications of Ma'aljobon, a natural remedy from traditional Persian medicine, in dermatology: A journey from past to modernity.

Ma'aljobon, a handmade substance, is the liquid portion of coagulated milk after adding vinegar to the heated milk. In traditional Persian medicine (TPM) it has been known as a useful remedy for the treatment of some skin disorders. The aim of this study was to review the applications of Ma'aljobon for skin diseases according to the sages of TPM and modern medicine. Main TPM sources were reviewed with the keyword of "Ma'aljobon." Furthermore, electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, SID, and Google Scholar were searched with the keyword "Whey protein" during 2000 to 2018. According to TPM sources, Ma'aljobon was used by Iranian sages as a safe and effective remedy to treat a wide range of skin diseases, such as pimples, and ulcers. Meantime, recent evidence has also shown the effectiveness of whey protein in treating some skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis. Gastrointestinal discomfort was the most adverse effect of Ma'aljobon mentioned in TPM sources. In conclusion, there were several applications for Ma'aljobon in treatment of dermatologic disease according to TPM, as well as modern medicine. These finding could be the basis of future clinical trials on the effects of Ma'aljobon in the treatment of skin problems.

Overview of herbal and traditional remedies in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis based on Traditional Persian Medicine.

This study aims to describe the herbal and traditional remedies in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with an overview on related available evidence in modern medicine. This study is a review that focuses on the most important Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) sources including Avicenna's Canon of Medicine, Jorjani's Zakhira-yi Kharazmshahi, and Aazam-Khan's Eksir-e-Aazam, as well as pertinent information from Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Scientific Information Database, and Google Scholar by using the keywords salak, rish-e-balkhi, cutaneous leishmaniasis, and leishmaniasis for selected remedies. Several oral and topical herbal remedies, such as Vitis vinifera L. (Unripe grapes), Berberis vulgaris L., Rheum ribes L., Santalum album L., Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J.Presl (Camphor), Brassica nigra (L.) K. Koch, Crocus sativus L., Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb, honey, and Alum root, were mentioned in TPM resources for the treatment of CL. Furthermore, cauterization, cupping, and leech therapy were considered for this purpose. In this review, some evidence-based studies will also be presented that have demonstrated the therapeutic properties of some of these products. In conclusion, the sages of TPM have recommended several systemic or topical medications, in addition to physical procedures, for treatment of CL, all of which could be a base for conducting further research on its efficacy.

The Curative Role of Bitumen in Traditional Persian Medicine

AIM: Bitumen is a natural substance effusing from rocks' notches in some highland areas; it has been known as an effective remedy for treating some illnesses. Considering pain relieving properties of bitumen in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) sources, this study aims to review the viewpoints of TPM sages regarding bitumen in the context of traditional Persian medicine. It also provides applicable information for interested researchers to conduct well-designed clinical trials and evaluate therapeutic effects of bitumen claimed in TPM sources. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Various databases including Embase, SID, IRANDOC, IranMedex, Scopus and PubMed were searched with keywords "bitumen" and "Shilajit". Furthermore, main traditional Persian medicine sources including Avicenna's "Canon of medicine", "Continens Liber" by Razes, "The storehouse of medicaments" by Aghili, "Gift for the faithful" by Momen Tonekaboni and "Measure for medicine" written by Muhammad Akbar Shah Arzani were reviewed with Persian keywords "Moomiaii" and "Mumnaei" Results: According to TPM sources, bitumen was used by Iranian's physicians to treat a wide range of diseases. It was known especially as an effective remedy to improve gastrointestinal digestive problems. CONCLUSION: Bitumen is cited in traditional Persian medicine sources as an effective remedy for treatment of a wide range of diseases, especially GI disorders and bone pain. Recent studies showed the beneficial effects of bitumen in treatment of wound healing, however using it in medical practice for other health dilemma should be confirmed by conducting well-designed clinical studies in the future.

Application of pH-sensitive magnetic nanoparticles microgel as a sorbent for the preconcentration of phenoxy acid herbicides in water samples.

Introducing new sorbents is an interesting and debatable issue in the field of sample preparation. In this study, for the first time, a pH-sensitive magnetic nanoparticles microgel, Fe3O4-SiO2-oly(4-vinylpyridine), was introduced as a new sorbent. The operating mechanism of this sorbent is based on changing the pH value of the sample and consequently the structure of this pH-sensitive microgel is changed. So that, at pH 6.0 the microgel was ready to accept and load the analytes (partial swelling), and when the pH was increased to 8.0, the microgel was closed and analytes were trapped inside the sorbent (deswelling). At pH 2.0 the microgel was opened and the analytes were released from the microgel (swelling). As the adsorption and desorption mechanism is based on changing the pH and only aqueous medium is used as the effluent solvent, this method is introduced as a green extraction method. The use of this microgel resulted in excellent figures of merit. The limits of quantitation and detection for herbicides were obtained within the range of 10-30 and 3-10 ng mL(-1), respectively. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine the concentration of phenoxy acid herbicides as hazardous materials in water samples.