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The majority of ingested foreign bodies are uneventfully expelled through the gastrointestinal tract. However, anatomically narrowed areas in the proximal gastrointestinal tract create sites of increased retention/impaction of ingested foreign bodies. Foreign body impaction in the esophagus poses a medical emergency because of the complications associated with delayed management: esophageal perforation, infection, and fistula formation. Thus, urgent endoscopic intervention to remove sharp esophageal foreign bodies is necessary. A 45-year-old male presented with a 3-day history of a foreign body in the esophagus. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy identified a horizontally lodged V-shaped fishbone with both lateral edges deeply embedded in the esophageal mucosa. When endoscopic removal using traditional removal accessories failed, endoscopic scissors were used to fracture the spinous process edge of the fishbone, and the fishbone was advanced into the gastric lumen. A makeshift endoscope hood was fashioned from a sterile glove, attached to the distal end of the endoscope, and used to remove the fishbone. The off-label use of endoscopic scissors to relieve the proximal esophageal obstruction by fracturing the fishbone was integral in achieving successful removal.

In the current digital environment, safeguarding visual data from unauthorized use remains a substantial challenge. Sensitive imagery, including biometric, medical and defence images, represents a frequent target of destructive cyberattacks. Although conventional visual cryptography approaches achieve satisfactory results in rendering visual content unreadable, these schemes often present serious drawbacks that include excessive computation, pixel expansion and reduced reconstruction quality. This paper suggests a new method and concept of lightweight visual cryptography based on the use of bitwise operations (specifically XOR) for secured colour image sharing. This methodology employs three non-expansible shares while providing the user with lossless encryption and low computation in addition to strong statistical and differential attack resistance during encryption and decryption. The proposed method utilizes a cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator (CSPRNG) and reversible XOR bitwise operations to determine and generate three unique unreadable shares. Tests and experiments reveal that the resulting shares have high reconstruction quality (PSNR > 40 dB), an ideal degree of randomness (entropy ≈ 7.997) and tolerable processing time (in comparison to traditional XOR-, polynomial- and CRT- based visual cryptography schemes). The new method and concept emphasize the merging of simplicity, scalability, and robustness in a computationally sound and secure solution for real-time use in areas such as military imaging, biometric authentication, and multi-media communication.

Intensive agricultural practices lower soil fertility, particularly micronutrients which are rarely applied to soils as chemical fertilizers. Micronutrient deficiency in soils results in inferior product quality and micronutrient malnutrition in humans. Application of compost to soil may improve crop yields and quality by enhancing macro- and micronutrients availability, enhancing soil microbial population, and improving soil physicochemical properties. Poultry mortality compost (PMC) was prepared by decomposing dead poultry birds with poultry litter in an aerated bin through indigenous microbial populations. The prepared PMC was used as an amendment in three field experiments during 2017–18 and 2018–19 to investigate the effect on yield and nutritional quality of potato, carrot, and radish. In these field trials, two compost levels, i.e., 1250 kg ha -1 (PMC1) and 1850 kg ha -1 (PMC2) were compared with the control (no compost application). The results revealed a 10–25% increase in root or tuber yield at PMC2 compared to that in the control. A substantial increase in Zn, Fe, and Mn concentrations in vegetable root/tubers was also observed. Organic matter content and microbial biomass were improved in the soil with PMC application leading to better soil health and better nutrient availability. These studies led us to conclude that the application of PMC not only enhances the vegetable yield but also biofortifies vegetables with micronutrients such as Zn, Fe, and Mn extending agricultural sustainability and eliminating micronutrient malnutrition in humans.

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on green innovation performance. In this relationship, the mediating role of green innovation behavior is also studied. Moreover, open innovation is tested as a mediator between Industry 4.0 technologies and green innovation behavior.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research method is adopted in which a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 217 manufacturing firms of Malaysia. After collecting data, the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is applied to analyze data and test the hypothesis of study.FindingsIt is found that Industry 4.0 positively impacts open innovation which leads to green innovation behavior. Also, the former lays positive impact on green innovation behavior which leads to improve green innovation performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors conclude that Industry 4.0 technologies can play an important role to improve green innovation performance of Malaysian manufacturing firms by managing open innovation for green innovation behavior which further improves the green innovation performance. In this context, it is recommended that strategists and policymakers should undertake the role of open innovation and Industry 4.0 technologies to promote environment-friendly innovations and to promote the green behavior in companies. The authors suggest hereby that firms should be given incentives to adopt and utilize Industry 4.0 technologies and collaborative innovation interactions – as they foster a climate for sustainable green innovations (which is also a key component to achieve competitive advantage) and a growing concern nowadays.Practical implicationsFirst of all the research contributes to achieving the broader of United Nations to promote sustainable innovation through green innovations. Moreover, the companies can also incorporate the findings and insights of this study while devising their policies to foster green innovations.Originality/valueThis research has done the novel contribution by bridging the gap between open innovation approach and sustainability fields while promoting green innovations in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These two research fields are rarely studied in previous studies by focusing open innovation particularly. Hence, the authors suggest researchers to undertake these fields to further enhance the level of scholarship between innovation management and sustainability. Also, the authors recommend considering technological orientation and technological absorptive capacity of firms to improve green innovations. The current study has investigated the SMEs perspective in general irrespective to their sectoral differences, thus, for future researchers the authors suggest investigating the sector-wise comparison, i.e. electrical and electronics sector, chemical sector, etc.; or service and manufacturing sector differences.

Duodenal foveolar gastric metaplasia is of well-known clinical occurrence, yet involvement in the form of a villous mass is of rare representation. Foveolar gastric metaplasia (FGM) usually seen as polyps on endoscopy has a benign clinical course and is diagnosed through biopsy. We report a case of FGM of the duodenum in a patient undergoing screening for possible metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma. An 84-year-old African American male was referred to our gastroenterology clinic for incidental radiological findings concerning for gastric and duodenal malignancy. The patient had surveillance CT abdomen with contrast following robotic assisted nephrectomy for right renal cell carcinoma done 6 months earlier. The CT abdomen revealed a heterogeneously enhancing mass involving the distal stomach and extending into the duodenum. It also revealed subtle enhancing liver lesions. The CT findings were not present on radiological images prior to the nephrectomy. The patient denied any abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or early satiety. However, the patient reported losing 20-30 pounds over the past 3 years. Upper endoscopy performed revealed a large circumferential villous mass in the duodenal bulb with no signs of active bleeding. Biopsies of the mass were taken endoscopically. Pathological interpretation revealed gastric foveolar mucosa with benign vascular proliferation and no neoplasm identified. The patient was offered an endoscopic ultrasound for further evaluation of the duodenal mass and the hepatic lesions to rule out malignancy. However, the patient refused the procedure and was accepting of death should the procedure yield findings consistent with malignancy. FGM is known for its benign pathology and involvement of the duodenum. Our case signifies the relative rarity of FGM presenting as a villous mass of the duodenum. Narrow band imaging and endoscopic ultrasonography are techniques used frequently to better evaluate duodenal FGM. Given reported cases of renal cell carcinoma presenting as metastasis with gastric polyps and in other cases with concomitant duodenal papillary carcinoma, we raise the question of the correlation between papillary renal cell carcinoma and FGM of the duodenum in this patient.

Due to the stroke-protective effects of dietary fiber and anthocyanin together with the synergistic interaction, we hypothesized that the functional drink containing the anthocyanins and dietary fiber-enriched functional ingredient from banana and germinated black Jasmine rice (BR) should protect against ischemic stroke. BR at doses of 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg body weight (BW) was orally given to male Wistar rats weighing 290–350 g once daily for 21 days, and they were subjected to ischemic reperfusion injury induced by temporary occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO/IR) for 90 min. The treatment was prolonged for 21 days after MCAO/IR. They were assessed for brain infarction volume, neuron density, Nrf2, MDA, and catalase in the cortex together with serum TNF-α and IL-6. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. in feces were also assessed. Our results showed that BR improved the increase in brain infarcted volume, MDA, TNF-α, and IL-6 and the decrease in neuron density, Nrf2, catalase, and both bacteria spp. induced by MCAO/IR. These data suggest the stroke-protective effect of the novel functional drink, and the action may involve the improvement of Nrf2, oxidative stress, inflammation, and the amount of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp.

INTRODUCTION:Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers, comprising malignancies of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, liver, biliary tract, and gallbladder, are the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States and are associated with significant comorbidities. Recent studies show a disproportionate rise in pancreatic and stomach cancer among young adults. This study aims to use a nationwide, population-based cohort to (i) evaluate the trend of all UGI cancer as an aggregate and (ii) examine the role of demographics, histology, and tumor stage in UGI cancer incidence among young adults.METHODS:Individuals diagnosed with UGI cancer in the United States from 2001 to 2019 were identified and obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-National Program of Cancer Registries database. The primary outcomes were incidence rates of UGI cancer (calculated per 100,000, age-adjusted to the year 2000 US population), stratified by sex and age (< 55 years for young adults and ≥ 55 years for older adults). Trends, annual percentage change, and average annual percentage change were calculated using the parametric method. Sensitivity analysis was performed according to primary site and histology; further analysis examining race and cancer stage was performed in the young adult subgroup.RESULTS:A total of 2,333,161 patients with UGI cancer were identified. Most cases were male, and 14.3% were < 55 years of age. Incidence of UGI cancer increased most in women younger than 55 years, driven primarily by pancreatic and stomach cancers, as well as neuroendocrine tumor and gastrointestinal stromal tumor histology. African American race and localized tumors and malignancy with distant spread are also contributing to the disparate increase among young women. UGI mortality rates have not changed significantly in young adults.DISCUSSION:The overall incidence rate of upper gastrointestinal cancer is increasing significantly in young women compared with men. Increased endoscopic procedures and disparate exposure to risk factors are likely contributing to these trends.