Experimental Uterus Transplant in Various Models: Review of Surgical Techniques.

Uterus transplantation may become the surgical therapeutic modality of choice for uterine factor infertility. However, this procedure still faces technical, therapeutic, and immunologic challenges that limit its success and clinical application. Experimental studies are therefore still needed to address various challenges in the field of uterus transplantation. Among various laboratory animals, small animals are ideal models for the purpose of experimental uterus transplant. However, clinical success in small animal models is not generalizable to clinical application and treatment for uterine factor infertility in humans. Large animal models are necessary because their uterine anatomy and reproductive physiology closely resemble those of humans. In the literature, in general with small or large animal models, the same striking characteristic has been previous regular menstruation. Anesthesia was usually induced through inhalation and/or intraperitoneal injection in small models and intravenous injection in large models. Systemic heparinization was usually performed after preparation of uterus and vessels and before crossclamping of the vessels. Flushing of the graft was performed through the interior iliac artery or aorta. A grafted segment was frequently selected only from one horn of the uterus. The uterine artery, internal iliac artery, and aorta have been frequently used for arterial revascularization into the recipient's external iliac artery or abdominal aorta. The uterine vein, internal iliac vein, and inferior vena cava have been used for venous drainage into the recipient's inferior vena cava, external iliac vein, or uteroovarian vein. In most models, the native uterus was resected to reconstruct the grafted uterus continuity. Other models have left the native uterus in the recipient's abdomen, and stomas have been used for end of the grafted uterus.

A systematic review on the efficiency of cerium-impregnated activated carbons for the removal of gas-phase, elemental mercury from flue gas.

In the present systematic review, we aimed to collect and analyze all the relevant evidence on the efficiency of cerium-impregnated versus virgin-activated carbons (ACs) for the removal of gas-phase elemental mercury (Hg0) from the flue gas of coal-fired power plants and to assess the effect of different calcination and operational parameters on their efficiency. A total of eight relevant papers (out of 1193 hits produced by the search) met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study. Results indicated that the Hg0 adsorption capacity of cerium-impregnated ACs is significantly higher than that of virgin ACs, depending highly on the impregnation and operational parameters. It was noticed that although cerium-impregnated ACs possessed smaller surface areas and pore volumes, their Hg0 removal efficiencies were still higher than their virgin counterparts. An increased Hg0 removal efficiency was in general found by increasing the operational adsorption temperature as high as 150-170 °C. Studies also indicated that NO, SO2, and HCl have promoting impacts on the Hg0 removal efficiency of Ce-impregnated ACs, while H2O has an inhibitory effect.

The association between bisphenol A exposure and type-2 diabetes: a world systematic review.

The present study was conducted to systematically review, analyze, and interpret all the relevant evidence in the literature on the possible link between exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and the risk of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We developed a comprehensive search strategy and used it to search Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar up to March 31, 2016, producing 3108 hits, of which 13 original papers were included. Findings of these studies were quite controversial; few studies indicated a significant positive association between BPA exposure and T2DM, while some other failed to detect such a relationship. Overall, it can be suggested that chance is unlikely the plausible explanation for the observed association between BPA exposure and T2DM. This was mainly because even in the negative studies some clues could be found in favor of a statistically significant relationship between BPA and T2DM. Additionally, some of the studies had shortcomings in defining the exposure and outcome measures, which, if present, might have led to underestimating the relationship between BPA exposure and T2DM. The theoretical plausibility of such a relationship found earlier in animal studies also supports this point. However, more definitive answer requires the conduct of future longitudinal studies, in which the possible association between BPA exposure and T2DM is assessed over much longer periods of time with more temporally robust BPA measurements. In addition, it would be quite beneficial if future studies be conducted in areas where data is still lacking (e.g., South America, Australia/Oceania, and Europe). Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Performance evaluation of a bipolar electrolysis/electrocoagulation (EL/EC) reactor to enhance the sludge dewaterability.

The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of a bipolar electrolysis/electrocoagulation reactor designed to enhance the sludge dewaterability. The reactor was 15 L in volume, with two series of plates used in it; Ti/RuO(2) plates for the electrolysis of the sludge, and also aluminum and iron plates for electrocoagulation process. The dewaterability of the sludge was determined in terms of its capillary suction time (CST) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF), while the degree of sludge disintegration was determined based on the value of degree of sludge disintegration (DD(SCOD)). The maximum reduction in CST and SRF was observed at a detention time of 20 min and a voltage of 30 V. However, increasing of both detention time and voltage significantly increased the values of CST and SRF even to an extent that they both exceeded those of the untreated sludge. The optimal degree of sludge disintegration achieved by the present study was 2.5%, which was also achieved at a detention time of 20 min and a voltage of 30V. As reported previously, increased DD(SCOD) values led to increasing CST and SRF values, due primarily to the disruption of the sludge flocs. According to the results from the present study, it can be concluded that simultaneous application of electrocoagulation and electrolysis is effective in enhancing the sludge dewaterability, because electrocoagulation helps to achieve a higher degree of sludge disintegration while maintaining the desired sludge dewaterability.