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Over the past two decades, research into the accumulation of small plastic particles and fibers in organisms and environmental settings has yielded over 7,000 studies, highlighting the widespread presence of microplastics in ecosystems, wildlife, and human bodies. In recent years, these contaminants have posed a significant threat to human, animal, and environmental health, with most efforts concentrated on removing them from aquatic systems. Given this urgency, the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of rhamnolipid, a biosurfactant, for the removal of microplastics from water. Specifically, this study evaluates the effects of water matrix, initial pH of the solution (7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0, 9.5, and 10.0), concentrations of alum (5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mg/L), and concentrations of rhamnolipid (1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 100 mg/L). Optimum removal was achieved at alum and rhamnolipid concentrations of 5.0 mg/L and 1.0 mg/L, respectively, with a solution pH of 8.0. In both types of water tested, a removal efficiency of about 74% was determined, indicating the potential of rhamnolipid as a nature-based solution to control microplastic pollution in surface waters., (© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Upper limp hyperhydrosis is an idiopathic disease with bilateral involvement. However, Pourfour du Petit syndrome, the opposite of Horner syndrome, may result in unilateral upper limb hyperhydrosis. It occurs following hyperactivity of the sympathetic cervical chain as a consequence of irritation secondary to trauma. We report herein two cases with Pourfour du Petit syndrome showing unilateral upper limb hyperhydrosis. The patients presented with right-sided mydriasis and ipsilateral hemifacial hyperhydrosis. The onset of disease was followed by a trauma in both patients. They underwent upper thoracic sympathectomy with favorable outcome. A history of an antecedent trauma in patients with unilateral upper limb hyperhydrosis and anisocoria may imply a possible diagnosis of Pourfour du Petit syndrome.

In this study the fertility and outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using megalohead spermatozoa from the ejaculates and testicles was evaluated. Seventeen males with megalohead and pinhead sperm forms in their ejaculate were studied in 22 cycles. A high number of sperm heads without tails and abundant round spermatid forms were commonly observed. Round-headed spermatozoa were seldom accompanied by these severely abnormal spermatozoa. The majority of megalohead spermatozoa were observed to have multiple tails, were predominant in the sample, and were used for ICSI. Ejaculated megalohead spermatozoa were used for ICSI in 15 cycles, while testicular spermatozoa were used in seven cycles where there were no vital spermatozoa or spermatozoa of low vitality in the ejaculate. The same abnormal morphology was observed in the testicles as in the ejaculated spermatozoa in the same males. Mean (+/- SD) low motility 4.7 +/- 5.6% and sperm count (3.8 +/- 4.19 x 10(6)) were common findings in these severely teratozoospermic patients. A low fertilization rate (43.2%) was achieved by using megalohead sperm forms (group I, n = 17) in comparison with the control group (60.2%) which had zero normal sperm morphology according to strict criteria (group II, n = 30) (P <0.01). Furthermore, a low pregnancy rate (9.1%) was obtained in the megalohead sperm group in comparison with the control group (40%) (P <0.05). Low fertilization and pregnancy rates may be due to a high incidence of chromosomal abnormalities from severely defective spermatozoa in the ejaculate. Couples should be counselled and warned about possible low fertilization and pregnancy rates with ICSI when only pinhead and megalohead forms with a high number of sperm heads without tails are present in the ejaculate.

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of sonohysterography in the detection of abnormalities of the uterine cavity in infertile patients, compared with other diagnostic methods. Transvaginal ultrasonography, sonohysterography, hysterosalpingography and finally hysteroscopy were performed in 37 patients with primary and 25 patients with secondary infertility. Suspected uterine anomalies were also confirmed by laparoscopy. Transvaginal ultrasonography and hysterosalpingography were able to detect 36.3 and 72.7% of uterine pathologies respectively. Sonohysterography was able to detect all the anomalies except for a single endometrial polyp (90.3%). However, there was no significant difference between the diagnostic capabilities of these methods. We recommend the use of sonohysterography as an easy, cheap and noninvasive method for the diagnosis of intrauterine pathologies in infertile patients.