Post Mortem Ultrasound and Computed Tomography Findings of an Extraluminal Urinary Bladder Leiomyoma in a Dog

Background: Neoplasia of the urinary bladder is common in dogs, accounting approximately 0.5 to 1.0 percent of all neoplasms. Most of the neoplasia of the urinary bladder is epithelial in origin and only 10% of urinary bladder neoplasms in dogs are from mesenchymal origin, of which the most frequent types are leiomyoma / leiomyosarcoma, and hemangioma / hemangiosarcoma. Virtual autopsy refers to the postmortem use of radiology, ultrasound and cross-sectional imaging prior to conventional necropsy. This paper reports the detection of a rare extra-luminal urinary bladder mass diagnosed as leiomyoma with a virtual autopsy techniques.Case: A 16-year-old male Schnauzer had previous history of seizure and no complains related to the urinary system. The animal was treated symptomatically to the neurological signs and responded to medical treatment. Nine weeks later from the first visit to the hospital the dog was found dead at home. Then postmortem ultrasound and computed tomography of the abdomen were performed. Postmortem ultrasound revealed a homogenously hypoechoic, rounded and slightly irregularly marginated mass located externally but adjacent to the left cranial wall of the urinary bladder and appears to extend from its serosal margins. Postmortem computed tomography was performed after postmortem ultrasound. A pedunculated homogenous soft tissue attenuating mass was located at the left lateral aspect of the urinary bladder and extended cranially. It had a stalk that connected to the left lateral wall of the urinary bladder. A partial necropsy of the abdomen was done just to examine the mass. A round extraluminal, pedunculated mass was observed at the left lateral aspect of the urinary bladder wall. It was pale pink on the outside and white inside, with a soft to firm consistency. The lumen and mucosal surface of the urinary bladder was smooth and regular. The histology of the mass revealed a densely cellular neoplastic proliferation, expansive, composed of spindle-shaped cells with moderate to large eosinophilic cytoplasm, sometimes wavy and with indistinct edges. The nuclei were large, oval to flattened, with dense chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. Anisocytosis and anisokariosis were discrete and no mitotic figures were observed. The arrangement consisted of dense, irregular and multidirectional bundles and the stroma was scarce. The mass was histologically confirmed as leiomyoma.Discussion: In this case, we performed postmortem ultrasound and computed tomography as part of a virtual necropsy study and in both modalities the urinary bladder mass was able to be identified, followed by a partial necropsy to further investigate the nature of the mass and to collect a sample to obtain the histological diagnosis. A few of the disadvantages of the postmortem ultrasound and computed tomography specially in this case were the lack of color Doppler investigation on ultrasound and the lack of evaluation of the patter of contrast enhancement on computed tomography. These techniques could have added important information related to the vascularity characteristics of the mass in a live patient. This is the first case report in veterinary medicine that describes an extra-luminal pedunculated urinary bladder leiomyoma in a canine patient, and it is emphasized the approach by postmortem ultrasound, postmortem computed tomography and conventional necropsy findings to reach the definitive diagnosis

Single Heavy Lepton Production in High Energy Electron-Positron Collisions

The production and decay of exotic leptons are discussed in the context of the vector singlet, vector doublet and fer\-mion mirror-fer\-mion models, at c.m. energies $\sqrt{s}=190GeV$ (LEP II) and $\sqrt{s}=500GeV$ (NLC). The model dependence of total cross sections and kinematic distributions at these energies is shown to be weak for these three extended models, indicating that it would be difficult to establish which of them is best fit to describe the underlying new physics, should exotic leptons be detected. We suggest that, in order to resolve this difficulty, one should measure the angular distributions of single exotic leptons in longitudinally polarized $e^+e^-$ collisions.Comment: 11 pages, 10 Figs, LATeX, Preprint IF-UFRJ/9

Femtosecond laser induced structural changes in fluorozirconate glass

Fluorozirconate glasses, such as ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3- AlF3-NaF), have a high infrared transparency and large rare-earth solubility, which makes them an attractive platform for highly efficient and compact mid-IR waveguide lasers. We investigate the structural changes within the glass network induced by high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses and reveal the origin of the observed decrease in refractive index by using Raman microscopy. The high repetition rate pulse train causes local melting followed by rapid quenching of the glass network. This results in breaking of bridging bonds between neighboring zirconium fluoride polyhedra and as the glass resolidifies, a larger fraction of single bridging fluorine bonds relative to double bridging links are formed in comparison to the pristine glass. The distance between adjacent zirconium cations is larger for single bridging than double bridging links and consequently an expansion of the glass network occurs. The rarified glass network can be related to the experimentally observed decrease in refractive index via the Lorentz-Lorenz equation. © 2013 Optical Society of America.Simon Gross, David G. Lancaster, Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Tanya M. Monro, Alexander Fuerbach, and Michael J. Withfor

The Vortex State in Geologic Materials: A Micromagnetic Perspective

A wide variety of Earth and planetary materials are very good recorders of paleomagnetic information. However most magnetic grains in these materials are not in the stable single (SD) domain grain size range, but are larger and in non-uniform vortex magnetization states. We provide a detailed account of vortex phenomena in geologic materials by simulating first-order reversal curves (FORCs) via finite-element micromagnetic modeling of magnetite nanoparticles with realistic morphologies. The particles have been reconstructed from focused ion beam nanotomography of magnetite-bearing obsidian, and accommodate single and multiple vortex structures. Single vortex (SV) grains have fingerprints with contributions to both the transient and transient-free zones of FORC diagrams. A fundamental feature of the SV fingerprint is a central ridge, representing a distribution of negative saturation vortex annihilation fields. SV irreversible events at multiple field values along different FORC branches determine the asymmetry in the upper and lower lobes of generic bulk FORC diagrams of natural materials with grains predominantly in the vortex state. Multi vortex (MV) FORC signatures are modeled here for the first time. MV grains contribute mostly to the transient-free zone of a FORC diagram, averaging out to create a broad central peak. The intensity of the central peak is higher than that of the lobes, implying that MV particles are more abundant than SV particles in geologic materials with vortex state fingerprints. The abundance of MV particles, as well as their SD-like properties point to MV grains being the main natural remanent magnetization carriers in geologic materials.European Research Counci

Factors associated with lack of prenatal care in a large municipality

OBJECTIVE To analyze the factors associated with a lack of prenatal care in a large municipality in southern Brazil. METHODS In this case-control age-matched study, 716 women were evaluated; of these, 179 did not receive prenatal care and 537 received prenatal care (controls). These women were identified using the Sistema Nacional de Informação sobre Nascidos Vivos (Live Birth Information System) of Pelotas, RS, Southern Brazil, between 2009 and 2010. Multivariate analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression to estimate the odds ratios (OR). RESULTS In the final model, the variables associated with a lack of prenatal care were the level of education, particularly when it was lesser than four years [OR 4.46; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.92;10.36], being single (OR 3.61; 95%CI 1.85;7.04), and multiparity (OR 2.89; 95%CI 1.72;4.85). The prevalence of a lack of prenatal care among administrative regions varied between 0.7% and 3.9%. CONCLUSIONS The risk factors identified must be considered when planning actions for the inclusion of women in prenatal care by both the central management and healthcare teams. These indicated the municipal areas with greater deficits in prenatal care. The reorganization of the actions to identify women with risk factors in the community can be considered to be a starting point of this process. In addition, the integration of the activities of local programs that target the mother and child is essential to constantly identify pregnant women without prenatal care

Thermochemical and structural changes in Jatropha curcas seed cake during torrefaction for its use as coal co-firing feedstock

Jatropha curcas seed cake is a viable feedstock for co-firing with coal as it has the advantages of being renewable, carbon-neutral and sourced from a versatile plant. Torrefaction, a mild pyrolysis treatment by heating in a N2 atmosphere, was investigated as a technique to improve the thermochemical properties of the biomass, primarily the HHV (higher heating value). The temperature and holding time were varied in the ranges of 200–300 °C and 0–60 min, respectively, to form a 5-level full-factorial experimental matrix. An optimum envelope of torrefaction parameters was identified in the range of 280 °C to >45 min at 220–250 °C under a heating rate of 10 °C/min. This results in an enhancement of the HHV from 24 MJ/kg to more than 27 MJ/kg, which is within the range of coal, while maintaining an energy yield higher than 90%. The relationships between the HHV and the proximate fixed carbon content as well as the elemental CHO content were also investigated. Through 13C NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, hemicellulose was determined as the most volatile component, undergoing decomposition before 250 °C while cellulose only degraded fully in the 250–300 °C range and lignin decomposition spanned from 200 °C to beyond 300 °C

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

Beyond structural models for the mode of action:How natural antimicrobial peptides affect lipid transport

Hypothesis: Most textbook models for antimicrobial peptides (AMP) mode of action are focused on structural effects and pore formation in lipid membranes, while these deformations have been shown to require high concentrations of peptide bound to the membrane. Even insertion of low amounts of peptides in the membrane is hypothesized to affect the transmembrane transport of lipids, which may play a key role in the peptide effect on membranes. Experiments: Here we combine state-of-the-art small angle X-ray/neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS) techniques to systematically study the effect of a broad selection of natural AMPs on lipid membranes. Our approach enables us to relate the structural interactions, effects on lipid exchange processes, and thermodynamic parameters, directly in the same model system. Findings: The studied peptides, indolicidin, aurein 1.2, magainin II, cecropin A and LL-37 all cause a general acceleration of essential lipid transport processes, without necessarily altering the overall structure of the lipid membranes or creating organized pore-like structures. We observe rapid scrambling of the lipid composition associated with enhanced lipid transport which may trigger lethal signaling processes and enhance ion transport. The reported membrane effects provide a plausible canonical mechanism of AMP-membrane interaction and can reconcile many of the previously observed effects of AMPs on bacterial membranes

Relationships Linking Amplification Level to Gene Over-Expression in Gliomas

Background: Gene amplification is thought to promote over-expression of genes favouring tumour development. Because amplified regions are usually megabase-long, amplification often concerns numerous syntenic or non-syntenic genes, among which only a subset is over-expressed. The rationale for these differences remains poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Finding: To address this question, we used quantitative RT-PCR to determine the expression level of a series of co-amplified genes in five xenografted and one fresh human gliomas. These gliomas were chosen because we have previously characterised in detail the genetic content of their amplicons. In all the cases, the amplified sequences lie on extra-chromosomal DNA molecules, as commonly observed in gliomas. We show here that genes transcribed in nonamplified gliomas are over-expressed when amplified, roughly in proportion to their copy number, while non-expressed genes remain inactive. When specific antibodies were available, we also compared protein expression in amplified and nonamplified tumours. We found that protein accumulation barely correlates with the level of mRNA expression in some of these tumours. Conclusions/Significance: Here we show that the tissue-specific pattern of gene expression is maintained upon amplification in gliomas. Our study relies on a single type of tumour and a limited number of cases. However, it strongly suggests that, even when amplified, genes that are normally silent in a given cell type play no role in tumour progression

Fabrication, Modeling and Characterization of Multi-Crosslinked Methacrylate Copolymeric Nanoparticles for Oral Drug Delivery

Nanotechnology remains the field to explore in the quest to enhance therapeutic efficacies of existing drugs. Fabrication of a methacrylate copolymer-lipid nanoparticulate (MCN) system was explored in this study for oral drug delivery of levodopa. The nanoparticles were fabricated employing multicrosslinking technology and characterized for particle size, zeta potential, morphology, structural modification, drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. Chemometric Computational (CC) modeling was conducted to deduce the mechanism of nanoparticle synthesis as well as to corroborate the experimental findings. The CC modeling deduced that the nanoparticles synthesis may have followed the mixed triangular formations or the mixed patterns. They were found to be hollow nanocapsules with a size ranging from 152 nm (methacrylate copolymer) to 321 nm (methacrylate copolymer blend) and a zeta potential range of 15.8–43.3 mV. The nanoparticles were directly compressible and it was found that the desired rate of drug release could be achieved by formulating the nanoparticles as a nanosuspension, and then directly compressing them into tablet matrices or incorporating the nanoparticles directly into polymer tablet matrices. However, sustained release of MCNs was achieved only when it was incorporated into a polymer matrix. The experimental results were well corroborated by the CC modeling. The developed technology may be potentially useful for the fabrication of multi-crosslinked polymer blend nanoparticles for oral drug delivery