A great global concern is currently focused on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated morbidities. The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) and its different types among COVID-19 patients, and to check the glycemic control in diabetic cases for three months. After excluding known cases of DM, 570 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were studied. All participants were classified as non-diabetic or newly discovered diabetic. According to hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting insulin, newly discovered diabetic patients were further classified into pre-existing DM, new-onset type 1 DM, and new-onset type 2 DM. Glycemic control was monitored for three months in newly diagnosed diabetic patients. DM was diagnosed in 77 patients (13.5%); 12 (2.1%) with pre-existing DM, 7 (1.2%) with new-onset type 1 DM, and 58 (10.2%) with new-onset type 2 DM. Significantly higher rates of severe infection and mortality (p < 0.001 and p = 0.046) were evident among diabetic patients. Among survived diabetic patients (n = 63), hyperglycemia and the need for anti-diabetic treatment persisted in 73% of them for three months. COVID-19 was associated with a new-onset of DM in 11.4% of all participants and expression of pre-existing DM in 2.1% of all participants, both being associated with severe infection. COVID-19 patients with newly diagnosed diabetes had high risk of mortality. New-onset DM persisted for at least three months in more than two-thirds of cases.

Purpose: To compare safety and efficacy of combined therapy with conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE)þmicrowave ablation (MWA) versus only TACE or MWA for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) >3-<5 cm. Methods: This randomized controlled trial (NCT04721470) screened 278 patients with HCC >3-<5 cm. Patients were randomized into three groups: 90 underwent TACE (Group 1); 95 underwent MWA (Group 2); and 93 underwent combined therapy (Group 3). Patients were followed-up with contrastenhanced CT or MRI. Images were evaluated and compared for treatment response and adverse events based on modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumor. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentration was measured at baseline and during every follow-up visit. Results: Final analysis included 265 patients (154 men, 111 women; mean age ¼ 54.5 ± 11.8 years; range ¼ 38-76 years). Complete response was achieved by 86.5% of patients who received combined therapy compared with 54.8% with only TACE and 56.5% with only MWA (p ¼ 0.0002). The recurrence rate after 12 months was significantly lower in Group 3 (22.47%) than Groups 1 (60.7%) and 2 (51.1%) (p ¼ 0.0001). The overall survival rate (three years after therapy) was significantly higher in Group 3 (69.6%) than Groups 1 (54.7%) and 2 (54.3%) (p ¼ 0.02). The mean progression-free survival was significantly higher in Group 3 than groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.001). A decrease in AFP concentration was seen in 75%, 63%, and 48% patients of Group 3, 2, and 1, respectively. Conclusions: Combined therapy with cTACE þ MWA is safe, well-tolerated, and more effective than TACE or MWA alone for treatment of HCC >3-<5 cm.

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Purpose To compare effectiveness of three widely used embolic agents in partial splenic embolization (PSE) by analyzing their clinical, laboratory, and radiological outcomes within one year of follow-up. Materials and methods This retrospective study examined 179 patients who underwent PSE to manage hypersplenism secondary to cirrhosis. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to embolic agent used. Group 1 (gelatin sponge) included 65 patients, group 2 (embospheres) included 58 patients, and group 3 (PVA) included 56 patients. Clinical, laboratory, and radiological outcomes were compared between groups. Results The technical success rate was 100% in all groups. Pain as a major complication was lower in the gelatin sponge group (20%) compared to the embosphere group (31%) and PVA group (32.3%). Major complications other than pain were found in 20.1%; 24.6% in gelatin sponge group, 15.5% in embosphere group and 19.6% in PVA group (p = 0.045). WBCs and platelet counts showed a significant increase after PSE in all groups. Entire splenic volume as measured by computed tomography after PSE showed no significant difference among the 3 groups; however, the volume of infarcted spleen was significantly lower in the gelatin sponge group compared to other two groups (p = 0.001). The splenic span was significantly reduced one-year post-procedure in three groups (p = 0.006), and it was significantly less in embosphere and PVA groups compared to gelatin sponge group (p < 0.05). Recurrent bleeding was higher in gelatin sponge group (p < 0.05). Conclusions Permanent embolic materials achieved better laboratory and radiological outcomes than gelatin sponge particles in PSE of cirrhotic hypersplenism patients. However, permanent particles were associated with greater abdominal pain.

Accelerated Blue cheese ripening as affected by addition of sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) in levels of 0.05 or 0.075% alone or SDS (0.05 or 0.0750/,) + lipase was studied. There were no effects on the cheese chemical composition by addition to the cheese curd of SDS or SDS/lipase combination, except for an increase in titratable acidity of cheese. Proteolysis, lipolysis and carbonyl formation were enhanced in Blue cheese treated with SDS alone. Addition of lipase with SDS greatly increased lipolysis and carbonyl formation but it did not increase proteolysis as SDS alone.Organoleptic evaluation indicated that addition of SDS alone or in combination with lipase enhanced the development of texture and flavour of cheese and improved Penicilliurn roqueforri distribution throughout the cheese. Cheese treated with SDS (0.075%) and lipase showed higher quality than the other cheeses.

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