Since foreign bodies (FB) retained after penetrating trauma may cause severe infection or inflammatoryreaction, detection and removal is necessary.1 Radiolucent foreign bodies such as wood often remain undiscovered; 2 therefore, sonography plays an important role in the evaluation of these cases.3 Forty-seven patients were referred for ultrasono-graphic (US) examination because of the possible retention of non-opaque SOFt tissue foreign bodies in the lower or upper extremities during a three-year period (from January 2006 to January 2009). We detected and localized the foreign bodies in 45 of the 47 patients by ultrasonography. Then the sensitivity and specificityofsonographyinthediagnosiSOFSOFttissue foreign bodies was evaluated as 95.7% and 100%, respectively.Sonography revealed the foreign bodies as hyperechoic objects with or without posterior acoustic shadowing in all 45 patients (Figs.1 & 2).

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can lead to increased mortality, disability, and liver transplantation if left untreated, and it is associated with a possible increase in disease burden in the future, all of which would surely have a significant impact on the health system. New antiviral regimens are effective in the treatment of the disease yet expensive. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of three medication regimens, namely, ledipasvir/ SOFosbuvir (LDV/SOF), velpatasvir/SOFosbuvir, and daclatasvir/SOFosbuvir (DCV/SOF) for HCV patients with genotype 1 in Iran. Methods: A Markov model with a lifetime horizon was developed to predict the costs and outcomes of the three mentioned medication therapy strategies. The final outcome of the study was quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), which was obtained using the previously published studies. The study was conducted from the perspective of the Health Ministry,therefore, only direct medical costs were estimated. The results were provided as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per QALY. Ultimately, the one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were used to measure the strength of study results. Results: The results showed that the QALYs for LDV/SOF, DCV/SOF, and VEL/SOF were 13. 25, 13. 94, and 14. 61, and the costs were 4, 807, 7, 716, and 4, 546$, respectively. The VEL/SOF regimen had lower costs and higher effectiveness than the LDV/SOF and DCV/SOF regimens, making it a dominant strategy. The tornado diagram results showed that the study results had the highest sensitivity to chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and compensated cirrhosis (CC) state costs. Moreover, the scatter plots showed that the VEL/SOF was the dominant therapeutic strategy in 73% of the simulations compared to LDV/SOF and 66% of the simulations compared to DCV/SOF,moreover, it was in the acceptable region in 92% of the simulations and below the threshold. Therefore, it was considered the most cost-effective strategy. Moreover, the results showed that DCV/SOF was in the acceptable region below the threshold in 69% of the simulations compared to LDV/SOF. Therefore, the DCV/SOF regimen was more cost-effective than LDV/SOF. Conclusions: According to the present study results, it is suggested that the VEL/SOF regimen be used as the first line of therapy in patients with HCV genotype 1. Moreover, DCV/SOF can be the second-line medication regimen.

Background: Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) have changed the treatment landscape of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. SOFosbuvir (SOF), as a DAA inhibiting HCV NS5B polymerase, has found a remarkable contribution to the treatment regimens of HCV genotype-2 (HCV-2) and-3 infections. Objectives: In this meta-analysis, we aimed to evaluate the effi cacy of the combination of SOF and Ribavirin (RBV) with or without pegylated-interferon (PegIFN) in the treatment of HCV-2 and-3 infections. Methods: In this meta-analysis, we searched electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science using appropriate and relevant keywords. Based on the results of the heterogeneity test (chi-squared and I-squared), fi xed-or randomeff ects models were used to calculate the pooled sustained virological response (SVR) rates. Results: After removing duplicates and screening of 1408 articles, 16 studies were included in the quantitative synthesis. The pooled SVR rates calculated for the treatment of patients suff ering HCV-2 infection were 91. 2% (95% CI: 86. 6%-95. 8%) using the SOF + RBV regimen for 12 weeks and 92. 6% (95% CI: 87. 1%-98. 1%) using the SOF + RBV + PegIFN regimen for 12 weeks. The pooled SVR calculated for the treatment of patients suff ering HCV-3 infection was 53. 1% (95% CI: 41%-65. 1%) using the SOF + RBV regimen for 12 weeks, 81. 6% (95% CI: 74. 4%-88. 7%) using the SOF + RBV regimen for 24 weeks, and 93. 8% (95% CI: 86. 9%-100%) using the SOF + RBV + PegIFN regimen for 12 weeks. Conclusions: The combination of SOF and BV with or without PegIFN for 12 weeks is highly effi cacious (> 90%) for the treatment of patients with HCV-2 infection. However, for the treatment of patients with HCV-3 infection only would 12 weeks of SOF + PegIFN + RBV result in > 90% treatment success.

Background: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an approach for the propagation of elite animals. In vitro condition, especially the composition of culture media has a profound effect on the developmental competency of in vitro derived e mbryos. There are limited studies evaluating the effect of culture media on SCNT outcomes. To address this gap, we compare the effect of two culture media synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF) vs. commercial bracket-oliphant (BO) on developmental comptenecy. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, embryos derived from in vitro fertilized (IVF) and SCNT were cultured in both BO and SOF media for 7 days. In addition to the assessment of cleavage and blastocyst on day 3, and 7, the quantitative expression of 16 genes in theresultant blastocysts were assessed. The resultant SCNT blastocysts from SOF and BO groups were also transferred to the synchronized recipient for developmental competency to term. Results: The blastocyst rate in the BO medium was significantly higher than that of the SOF medium in the SCNT group (P<0. 05). All of the examined genes showed increased expression levels in SCNT blastocyst in both media compared to IVF Blastocyst. In the IVF group, Oct4, Bmpr1, and Gcn5 showed significantly higher expression in the SOF medium compared to the BO medium while Akt, Fgfr4, Sox2 showed significantly lower expression in the SOF medium compared to the BO medium. In the SCNT group, Fgfr4, Gcn5, Fzd, Ctnnb, Bmpr1, and Fgfr4 showed significantly higher expression in SOF compared to BO derived blastocyst. Conclusion: It appears that in SCNT blastocysts, gene regulation is less controlled compared to IVF ones, irrespective of the type of medium. In addition, there are differences regarding certain genes expressions between IVF and SCNT derived blastocysts between SOF and BO, reiterating that culture composition affects developmental competency and gene expression.

Background: Improvements in culture media formulations have led to an increase in the ability of sheep embryo in culture throughout the preimplantation period.Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of various concentrations of MEM vitamins during in vitro maturation of sheep oocytes and subsequent embryo development.Materials and Methods: Sheep ovaries were collected from a slaughterhouse and transported to the laboratory. Oocytes were matured in SOF medium supplemented with, eCG, hCG and EGF in various concentrations of MEM vitamins (control, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 ´) for 24h. The cumulus oocyte compelex (COCs) were co-incubated with epididymal spermatozoa of post mortem rams in synthetic oviduct fluid fertilization (SOFF) medium with 10% heat inactivated estrous sheep serum for 18h. Embryos were cultured in synthetic oviduct fluid culture 1 (SOFC1) medium for 48h followed by cultured in synthetic oviduct fluid culture 2 (SOFC2) medium for six days.Results: Addition of 0.5 and 1 ´ MEM vitamins significantly increased (P<0.05) overall blastocyst development (21.62% and 22.33%; respectively) compared with 1.5 ´ MEM vitamins (15.59%), but there was no difference between control, 0.5 and 1´MEM vitamins in the percentage of embryos successfully developing to the blastocyst stage (19.50%, 21.62% and 22.33% respectively).Conclusion: It seems that addition of 1.5 ´ of MEM vitamins has detrimental effect on blastocyst rate.