Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

MONDAY, Nov. 4, 2024 -- For children with a history of recurrent urinary tract infection (RUTI), nitrofurantoin and cranberry products may reduce the incidence of symptomatic UTI episodes, according to a review published online Nov. 4 in Pediatrics . Nikolaos Gkiourtzis, M.D., from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials comparing prophylaxis options for the prevention of UTI and kidney scarring in children with a history of RUTI. A total of 3,335 participants from 23 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The researchers found that cranberry products (compared with the control group) and nitrofurantoin (compared with the control, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or trimethoprim groups) led to lower odds of symptomatic UTI episodes during prophylaxis. Compared with all available documented interventions, nitrofurantoin appeared to be the best option for reduction in the incidence of UTI. None of the prophylaxis options showed a reduction in kidney scarring. "Future studies with optimal methodology, studying nonantibiotic prophylaxis options, focusing on children with RUTI, and the risk for kidney scarring are needed to draw further conclusions," the authors write. Abstract/Full Text Editorial (subscription or payment may be required) Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

MONDAY, July 1, 2024 -- Among patients with incompletely excised basal cell carcinoma (BCC), only about 16 percent with positive histopathologic margins have clinical recurrence, according to a study published online June 13 in Dermatology . Maria Daviti, M.D., from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and colleagues reported the real-life management of incompletely excised BCC in a tertiary referral center and compared recurrence rates according to management modality in a retrospective study. All BCCs with available histopathologic assay reporting at least one involved margin (lateral or deep) over a five-year period were identified. Patients were categorized into three groups: immediate re-excision (group 1; 26 patients); follow-up without any additional treatment (group 2; 40 patients); and treatment with adjuvant/complementary nonsurgical treatment (group 3; 18 patients). The researchers found that based on histopathological reports, 53.8 percent of 26 tumors in group 1 that were re-excised had residual tumor. After a mean follow-up of 17 months, a clinical recurrence occurred in 14 of 84 patients (16.7 percent), with a median of 14 months to recurrence. Recurrence developed in 25 percent of the patients without any additional treatment, compared with 11.1 percent of those receiving nonsurgical treatments. "Our study suggests that positive histopathologic margins after BCC excision result in a clinical recurrence only in a proportion of patients," the authors write. "This percentage is higher when no further treatment is applied and lower when the area is re-excised or treated with imiquimod alone or combined with cryotherapy." Abstract/Full Text Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

We are living in a world surrounded by liquid and flow, and understanding the principles that govern its movement is vital in our high-tech world. Through mathematical modeling and experimentation, researchers have expanded on Tanner's Law -- a law in fluid dynamics that describes how non-volatile liquids move across surfaces -- to cover a wider range of volatile liquids. These findings have the potential to play a role in various liquid-based industries such as electronics cooling. From the rain drops rolling down your window, to the fluid running across a COVID rapid test, we cannot go a day without observing the world of fluid dynamics. Naturally, how liquids traverse across, and through, surfaces are a heavily researched subject, where new discoveries can have profound effects in the fields of energy conversion technology, electronics cooling, biosensors, and micro-/nano-fabrications. Now, using mathematical modeling and experimentation, researchers from Kyushu University's Faculty of Engineering have expanded on a fundamental principle in fluid dynamics. Their new findings may lead to more efficient product development in many liquid-based industries such as high-end electronics manufacturing and lab-on-a-chip disease diagnosis. "We are living in an ever-present world of liquid and flow," explains Assistant Professor Zhenying Wang, the first author of the study that was published in the Journal of Fluid Dynamics. "Over the decades, scientist have made efforts to mathematically describe the seemingly simple phenomena of liquid flow and spreading. For example, Tanner's law describes how a droplet of water spreads on a solid surface over time." However, these equations remain incomplete. Even the classic Tanner's law is only valid for non-volatile liquids like oil. The law becomes less reliable when it comes to volatile liquids like water, alcohol, and perfumes due to the thermodynamics between the air, liquid, and surface coming into play. "Therefore, we looked into the current laws in hopes of expanding our understanding of the dynamics of volatile liquids," continues Wang. "We began by mathematically introducing parameters that reflect how volatile liquids react under similar conditions when Tanner's law was derived." The team -- in collaboration with Prashant Valluri of the University of Edinburgh and George Karapetsas of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki -- then conducted a series of experiments carefully imaging the movement and thermodynamics of volatile liquids. These two approaches allowed the researchers scale up the established fluid dynamic principles and put together a more diverse picture of the physics of volatile liquids interacting with a surface and the air. "The work here depicts a vast range of real cases and draws a more complete picture of liquid dynamics that could not be explained simply by Tanner's law," explains co-author of the paper Associate Professor Chihiro Inoue. "At a more practical level, these results could play a significant role in various liquid-based industries, for example in the cooling of electronics and other energy devices. The world of fluid dynamics can be very meticulous, but careful examination of it is required if we hope to decipher the fundamental flows around us."