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906, P = 0.037), indicating its contribution to TIPN duration. CONCLUSION SCN9A rs13017637 was associated with the severity and duration of TIPN. These findings are highly exploratory and require replication and validation prior to any consideration of clinical use.BACKGROUND Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the USA, Canada, and Europe. Clinical manifestations vary greatly, with localized skin findings functioning as early signs of the disease, followed by disseminated disease. The rarest dermatologic presentation of Lyme is a borrelial lymphocytoma, occurring distinctly in Europe and caused typically by Borrelia afzelii. CASE PRESENTATION We report a case of a Caucasian 5-year-old European-American boy with slowly progressing, painless edema and erythema of his right pinna. Travel history revealed significant exposure to ticks during a recent trip to Eastern Europe. Laboratory testing for Borrelia burgdorferi demonstrated mixed positivity. He was treated with a 21-day course of amoxicillin, with complete resolution of symptoms and no sign of secondary Lyme disease. CONCLUSIONS Borrelial lymphocytoma is a rare manifestation of Lyme disease in North America, although not uncommon in Europe. Diagnosis is made by the presence of a painless erythematous swelling typically found on the ear lobe, nipples, or testes. Laboratory tests are available but with low sensitivity, therefore, a high index of suspicion is necessary for a clinical diagnosis to be made. Treatment for isolated borrelial lymphocytoma is doxycycline 4 mg/kg up to 100 mg twice daily, whereas for children less than 8 years of age amoxicillin 50 mg/kg divided three times daily, for 3-4 weeks, is preferred.BACKGROUND This study was aimed to explore the secular trends of antibiotic utilisation in China’s hospitals over an 8-year period. METHODS We retrospectively analysed aggregated monthly antibiotic procurement data of 586 hospitals from 28 provinces in China from January 2011 to December 2018. Information including generic name, procurement amount, dosage form, strength, the route of administration, and geographical data were collected. Population weighted antibiotic utilisation were expressed in DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). WHO’s ‘Access, Watch, Reserve’ categorization was also adopted to analyse antibiotic utilisation. RESULTS Between 2011 and 2018, total antibiotic utlisation in China’s hospitals increased by 39.6% (from 4.8 DID in 2010 to 6.7 DID in 2018). Antibiotic utilisation was stable or had moderately decreased in 13 provinces, while in the other 15 provinces they had substantially increased. Cephalosporins were the most consumed antibiotics, accounting for 26.9% of the total antibiotic ubiotic use at the individual level.OBJECTIVE Flexible sigmoidoscopy is useful to look for an underlying aetiology in fistula-in-ano. This study was aimed to assess the yield of routine flexible sigmoidoscopy in patients presenting with fistula-in-ano. A retrospective analysis of 159 consecutive patients with fistula-in-ano who underwent routine flexible sigmoidoscopy was performed. Sigmoidoscopy findings were recorded on a standard uniform format using a computer database. Those with a known aetiology were excluded. RESULTS The median age was 39 (range 14-74) years and the majority were males (n = 128, 80.5%). Forty-nine patients (30.8%) presented with a recurrent fistula-in-ano. On flexible sigmoidoscopy, internal opening was seen in only 23 patients (14.4%). Furthermore, incidental findings of haemorrhoids (n = 5, 3.1%) and polyps (n = 7, 4.4%) were found. One patient (0.6%) had a healed anal fissure, 5 patients (3.1%) had inflamed mucosa and 2 patients (1.3%) had ulcers. Only two patients with inflamed mucosa were diagnosed to have Crohn’s disease on histology. Therefore, flexible sigmoidoscopy was not helpful in the majority to locate the internal opening. Only two patients had evidence of an underlying aetiology, which was Crohn’s disease. However, they had recurrent complex fistulae and other associated symptoms. Therefore, flexible sigmoidoscopy may be reserved for selected group of patients with symptoms of an underlying aetiology.Large elastic arterial stiffening and endothelial dysfunction are phenotypic characteristics of vascular aging, a major risk factor for age-associated cardiovascular diseases. Compared to men, vascular aging in women appears to be slowed until menopause, whereafter vascular aging accelerates to match that seen in men. These sex differences in vascular aging have been attributed to changes in sex hormones that occur with aging. Although the role of estradiol in vascular aging in women has been highlighted in recent aging research, little is known about the impact of declining testosterone concentrations in both sexes. Importantly, while androgen concentrations generally decline with age in men, there are data that indicate reductions in androgen concentrations in women as well. Evidence suggests that low testosterone is associated with impaired endothelial function and increased arterial stiffness in men, although the effect of androgens on vascular aging in women remains unclear. AZD5438 clinical trial Testosterone may modulate vascular aging by mitigating the effects of oxidative stress and inflammation, although there is sex specificity to this effect. The purpose of this review is to present and summarize the research regarding sex differences in vascular aging in response to androgens, specifically testosterone. Because exercise is a potent lifestyle factor for slowing and reversing vascular aging, we briefly summarize the available literature regarding the regulatory function of testosterone on vascular adaptations to exercise training.BACKGROUND Malignant pleural effusions are a serious complication of many late stage cancers that adversely affect quality of life. Pleurodesis with talc slurry is a standard treatment option, but clinical failures occur, possible due to poor talc delivery. A novel drug-delivery system was developed that fills the entire thoracic cavity with a liquid foam containing talc. The foam is designed to gel and adhere to the tissue walls at body temperature, to improve talc deposition and efficacy. METHODS Rheology, foam stability, and ex-vivo coating and bio-adhesion studies were performed on three concentrations of a novel hydrogel talc foam system that was developed to improve delivery of talc to the pleural surfaces. A New Zealand rabbit model of pleurodesis was used to evaluate effectiveness of the foams at inducing adhesion formation and compared to talc slurry. The rabbits were recovered after they had one of the test agents instilled into their pleura, and then sacrificed after 28 days. Pleurodesis was assessed by a blinded pathologist using a standardized pathological scoring system.