Does hair removal necessary after crystallized phenol treatment in pilonidal disease?

Objective: The most important cause of post-treatment recurrence in the pilonidal sinus is the re-entry of hair into the skin. The study aimed to investigate the effect of hair removal and its duration on the prevention of recurrences after crystallized phenol treatment. Subject and Methods: The patients with pilonidal sinus disease who were treated with crystallized phenol treatment were evaluated. Hair in the sacrococcygeal area were removed with depilatory cream before every crystallized phenol procedure, during the treatment, and after treatment once a month for six years. Of 1016 patients, 735 were contacted by telephone or e-mail regarding the frequency of sacrococcygeal hair removal and recurrence. Demographic and sinus features and crystallized phenol application data of patients treated with crystallized phenol for pilonidal sinus disease, as well as recurrences were retrospectively assessed. Results: The mean follow-up time was 46.23 ± 33 (range, 11–240) months, with 139 (18.9%) patients experiencing recurrence. Patients who underwent hair removal experienced significantly less recurrence than those who did not (p = 0.003, odds ratio (OR): 0.54 [0.36–0.82]). The OR of recurrence decreased by 0.8% every month as the hair removal time increased (OR = 0.992, 95% CI = 0.985-1.000, p = 0.049). The cut-off value for sensitivity was 0.636, specificity 0.466, and area under the curve 0.562 in hair removal procedures that lasted for over 30 months. Conclusion: Regular hair removal during and at least 30 months after crystallized phenol treatment reduced recurrences in patients with pilonidal sinus disease.

New Xerophilic Species of Penicillium from Soil

Soil is one of the main reservoirs of fungi. The aim of this study was to study the richness of ascomycetes in a set of soil samples from Mexico and Spain. Fungi were isolated after 2% w/v phenol treatment of samples. In that way, several strains of the genus Penicillium were recovered. A phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (BenA), calmodulin (CaM), and RNA polymerase II subunit 2 gene (rpb2) sequences showed that four of these strains had not been described before. Penicillium melanosporum produces monoverticillate conidiophores and brownish conidia covered by an ornate brown sheath. Penicillium michoacanense and Penicillium siccitolerans produce sclerotia, and their asexual morph is similar to species in the section Aspergilloides (despite all of them pertaining to section Lanata-Divaricata). P. michoacanense differs from P. siccitolerans in having thick-walled peridial cells (thin-walled in P. siccitolerans). Penicillium sexuale differs from Penicillium cryptum in the section Crypta because it does not produce an asexual morph. Its ascostromata have a peridium composed of thick-walled polygonal cells, and its ascospores are broadly lenticular with two equatorial ridges widely separated by a furrow. All four new species are xerophilic. Despite the genus Penicillium containing more than 480 known species, they are rarely reported as xerophilic.

Controllable Synthesis of Mn3O4 Nanowires and Application in the Treatment of Phenol at Room Temperature

Nanosized Mn3O4 nanowires are prepared with KMnO4 and ethanol in mild conditions by facile hydrothermal method. Hydrothermal reaction temperature is optimized to get uniform nanowires. The prepared Mn3O4 nanowires exhibit high activity in the treatment of phenol at acid condition and room temperature. The 20 mg Mn3O4 nanowires can efficiently dispose of 50 mL phenol solution (0.2 g·L−1) at pH 2 and 25 °C. The nanowires before and after phenol treatment are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the reaction mechanism is discussed.