Eighty isolated channels are present in the array microreactor system that was coupled to a quadrupole mass spectrometer for high-throughput testing of heterogeneous catalyst libraries. The system was used to monitor the activities, selectivities, and reaction kinetics of 66 ternary Pt/Pd/In catalysts for the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to benzene over 24 h. It was possible to screen the entire 80-channel library in less than 10 minutes (see picture).

Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue consisting of glands and/or stroma located outside the uterus. Involvement of the terminal ileum is extremely rare. Preoperative distinction of ileal endometriosis from other diseases of the ileocecal region is difficult in terms of clinical presentation, symptomatology, radiological appearance, and surgical and pathological findings. We report a case initially diagnosed as Crohn's disease due to a longstanding diarrhea with subsequent intestinal obstruction, but finally diagnosed as ileal endometriosis by histopathological evaluation after resection of the involved segment.

AbstractGossypiboma (retained surgical sponge) is a pseudotumor within the body that is composed of non-absorbable surgical material with a cotton matrix. Because the symptoms of gossypiboma usually are nonspecific and may appear years after surgery, the diagnosis of gossypiboma may be difficult because the condition may mimic a benign or malignant soft-tissue tumour in the abdomen and pelvis. A 61-year-old woman with a one-year history of left upper-quadrant pain and weight loss was referred to our center. She had undergone peptic ulcer perforation 23 year ago. Physical examination revealed dullness and palpable mass in the left upper abdomen. On examination by computed tomography (CT), a hypodense mass of 12 cm in diameter between the greater curvature of the stomach, pancreas, and splenic hilus was detected. Upon exploration, a mass lesion of 10 cm in diameter was detected between the greater curvature of the stomach and splenic hilus, which caused dense adhesions not in communication with the pancreas. It was excised and a splenectomy was performed. After a macroscopic examination, the mass lesion was diagnosed as gossypiboma. Although ultrasonography (US), CT, angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be used to diagnose gossypiboma, definitive diagnosis is possibile only upon surgery or histopathological examination. As a result, when an abdominal mass is observed, surgeons should carefully investigate the patient’s past surgical history while taking the possibility of gossypiboma into consideration.

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) was discovered in the previous decade and is a promising bioelastomer with tuneable mechanical, biodegradable and biocompatible properties.Despite of these superiorities, PGS possesses solubility and processability disadvantages. To overcome these drawbacks of PGS, blends could be formed with a polymer which is soluble in a common solvent with PGS prepolymer, having a melting temperature above the crosslinking temperature and which can be removed from the structure after crosslinking. In this study, PGS fibers were fabricated for the first time using pressurized gyration as scaffolds. Fibers were obtained through blending the synthesized PGS prepolymer with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to overcome solubility/melting drawbacks of crosslinked PGS polymer. Obtained fiber diameters have a narrow size distribution which did not change after thermal crosslinking. After the washing procedure, ~ 25% decrease in the average fiber diameter was observed due to the PVA removal. Resulting PGS fibers were characterized in terms of chemical structure, morphology, and cell viability. Fibroblast cell adhesion and spreading on three-dimensional fiber networks were determined by microscopy. PGS fibers supported cell adhesion and proliferation. After 7 days of cell-PGS fiber interactions, cell proliferation and spreading increased without any toxicity.

AimTo investigate the effect of several chelating solutions on transforming growth factor (TGF‐β) release from dentine discs and their subsequent impact on cellular behaviour.MethodologyHuman dentine discs were prepared with a standardized diameter and disinfected using 1.5% NaOCl for 5 min. The dentine discs were then exposed to 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 1% phytic acid (IP6), 9% etidronic acid (HEDP) or distilled water (DW). The release of transforming growth factor (TGF‐β) was quantified using ELISA. The proliferation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) on the conditioned dentine discs was analysed using an MTT assay, and the cell morphology was observed by SEM. Migration of DPSCs towards the conditioned dentine discs was measured using a Transwell assay. Data for cell proliferation and migration were analysed using two‐way analysis of variance with a Bonferroni post hoc test; a Kruskal–Wallis test was used for analysing TGF‐β release.ResultsBoth HEDP and IP6 treatment triggered TGF‐β release and cell migration. The greatest TGF‐β release was observed after HEDP treatment as compared with EDTA and DW but there was no significant difference between the groups. In terms of cell migration, HEDP was more effective than EDTA (P < 0.05) whilst IP6 was similar to EDTA. Cell proliferation significantly increased with time after EDTA, DW and IP6 treatment (P < 0.05), whereas HEDP treatment did not induce cell proliferation (P > 0.05).ConclusionsIP6 and HEDP were effective chelating agents on TGF‐β release, and cell migration was as effective as EDTA.

A novel ceramic array microreactor system has been designed and, in conjunction with resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI), used for the discovery of an optimum ternary catalyst composition for the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to benzene. The catalyst library consisted of 66 ternary combinations of Pt, Pd, and In loaded on γ-Al O pellets. The optimum catalyst for the production of benzene had the composition 0.8 % Pt, 0.1 % Pd, and 0.1 % In (see diagram). The preparation and screening of the library of 66 catalysts took about 2.5 days to complete-with conventional methods this would have taken several months!

Neurite outgrowth and elongation of neural cells is the most important subject that is considered in nerve tissue engineering. In this regard, aligned nanofibers have taken much attention in terms of providing guidance for newly outgrown neurites. The main objective of this study was to fabricate aligned polyurethane nanofibers by electrospinning process and decorate them with gold nanoparticles to further investigate the synergistic effects of nanotopography, biological nerve growth factor (NGF) and electrical stimulations on neurite outgrowth and elongation of pheochromocytoma (PC-12) model cells. In this regard, smooth and uniform aligned polyurethane nanofibers with the average diameter of 519 ± 56 nm were fabricated and decorated with the gold nanoparticles with the average diameter of ∼50 nm. PC-12 cells were cultured on the various nanofiber surfaces inside the bio-mimetic bioreactor system and exposed either to NGF alone or combination of NGF and electrical stimulation. It was found that 50 ng/mL NGF concentration is an optimal value for the stimulation of neurite outgrowth. After 4 days of culture under 100 mV, 10 ms electrical stimulation in 1 h/day period it was found that the gold nanoparticle decorated aligned polyurethane nanofibers increased the neurite outgrowth and elongation more with the combinational NGF and electrical stimulation. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 1604-1613, 2018.

Regarding the complications of peptic ulcer, a perforation remains the most important fatal complication. The aim of our retrospective study was to determine relations between postoperative morbidity and comorbid disease or perioperative risk factors in perforated peptic ulcer. In total, 239 patients who underwent emergency surgery for perforated peptic ulcer in Ege University General Surgery Department, between June 1999 and May 2013 were included in this study. The clinical data concerning the patient characteristics, operative methods, and complications were collected retrospectively. One hundred seventy-five of the 239 patients were male (73.2%) and 64 were female (26.8%). Mean American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score was 1 in the patients without morbidity, but mean ASA score was 3 in the morbidity and mortality groups. Primary suture and omentoplasty was the selected procedure in 228 of the patients. Eleven patients underwent resection. In total, 105 patients (43.9%) had comorbidities. Thirtyseven patients (67.3%) in the morbidity group had comorbid diseases. Thirteen (92.9%) patients in the mortality group had comorbid diseases. Perforation as a complication of peptic ulcer disease still remains among the frequent indications of urgent abdominal surgery. Among the analyzed parameters, age, ASA score, and having comorbid disease were found to have an effect on both mortality and morbidity. The controversial subject in the present study is regarding the duration of symptoms. The duration of symptoms had no effect on mortality nor morbidity in our study.