Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis, central retinal artery occlusion and optic neuropathy: A new association

Purpose: To report a patient with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) complicated by optic neuropathy and central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). Observations: CRMO is a noninfectious, inflammatory bone disorder. It is thought to be an autoimmune condition related to an imbalance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Retinal vasculitis has been reported in a patient with CRMO but not CRAO or optic neuropathy. Conclusions: We expanded the list of ophthalmic involvement of CRMO to include CRAO and optic neuropathy

Salinity and temperature balances at the SPURS central mooring during fall and winter

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 28, no. 1 (2015): 56-65, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2015.06.One part of the Salinity Processes in the Upper-ocean Regional Study (SPURS) field campaign focused on understanding the physical processes affecting the evolution of upper-ocean salinity in the region of climatological maximum sea surface salinity in the subtropical North Atlantic (SPURS-1). An upper-ocean salinity budget provides a useful framework for increasing this understanding. The SPURS-1 program included a central heavily instrumented mooring for making accurate measurements of air-sea surface fluxes, as well as other moorings, Argo floats, and gliders that together formed a dense observational array. Data from this array are used to estimate terms in the upper-ocean salinity and heat budgets during the SPURS-1 campaign, with a focus on the first several months (October 2012 to February 2013) when the surface mixed layer was becoming deeper, fresher, and cooler. Specifically, we examine the salinity and temperature balances for an upper-ocean mixed layer, defined as the layer where the density is within 0.4 kg m–3 of its surface value. The gross features of the evolution of upper-ocean salinity and temperature during this fall/winter season are explained by a combination of evaporation and precipitation at the sea surface, horizontal transport of heat and salt by mixed-layer currents, and vertical entrainment of fresher, cooler fluid into the layer as it deepened. While all of these processes were important in the observed seasonal (fall) freshening at this location in the salinity-maximum region, the variability of salinity on monthly-to-intraseasonal time scales resulted primarily from horizontal advection.J.T. Farrar, A.J. Plueddemann, J.B. Edson, and the deployment of the central mooring were supported by NASA grant NNX11AE84G. L. Rainville, C. Lee, C. Eriksen, and the Seaglider program were supported by NASA grant NNX11AE78G. R. Schmitt was supported by NSF grant OCE-1129646. B. Hodges and D. Fratantoni were supported by NASA grant NNX11AE82G. The Prawler moorings were funded by PMEL. The data analysis was also supported by NASA grant NNX14AH38G

Bottom mixed layer oxygen dynamics in the Celtic Sea

The seasonally stratified continental shelf seas are highly productive, economically important environments which are under considerable pressure from human activity. Global dissolved oxygen concentrations have shown rapid reductions in response to anthropogenic forcing since at least the middle of the twentieth century. Oxygen consumption is at the same time linked to the cycling of atmospheric carbon, with oxygen being a proxy for carbon remineralisation and the release of CO2. In the seasonally stratified seas the bottom mixed layer (BML) is partially isolated from the atmosphere and is thus controlled by interplay between oxygen consumption processes, vertical and horizontal advection. Oxygen consumption rates can be both spatially and temporally dynamic, but these dynamics are often missed with incubation based techniques. Here we adopt a Bayesian approach to determining total BML oxygen consumption rates from a high resolution oxygen time-series. This incorporates both our knowledge and our uncertainty of the various processes which control the oxygen inventory. Total BML rates integrate both processes in the water column and at the sediment interface. These observations span the stratified period of the Celtic Sea and across both sandy and muddy sediment types. We show how horizontal advection, tidal forcing and vertical mixing together control the bottom mixed layer oxygen concentrations at various times over the stratified period. Our muddy-sand site shows cyclic spring-neap mediated changes in oxygen consumption driven by the frequent resuspension or ventilation of the seabed. We see evidence for prolonged periods of increased vertical mixing which provide the ventilation necessary to support the high rates of consumption observed

Photoproduction of K+K− meson pairs on the proton

The exclusive reaction γp→pK+K− was studied in the photon energy range 3.0–3.8  GeV and momentum transfer range 0.6<−t<1.3  GeV2. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. In this kinematic range the integrated luminosity was approximately 20  pb−1. The reaction was isolated by detecting the K+ and the proton in CLAS, and reconstructing the K− via the missing-mass technique. Moments of the dikaon decay angular distributions were extracted from the experimental data. Besides the dominant contribution of the ϕ meson in the P wave, evidence for S−P interference was found. The differential production cross sections dσ/dt for individual waves in the mass range of the ϕ resonance were extracted and compared to predictions of a Regge-inspired model. This is the first time the t-dependent cross section of the S-wave contribution to the elastic K+K− photoproduction has been measured

Beam-target helicity asymmetry for γ→n→→π−p in the N*resonance region

We report the first beam-target double-polarization asymmetries in the γ þ nðpÞ → π− þ pðpÞ reaction spanning the nucleon resonance region from invariant mass W ¼ 1500 to 2300 MeV. Circularly polarized photons and longitudinally polarized deuterons in solid hydrogen deuteride (HD) have been used with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at Jefferson Lab. The exclusive final state has been extracted using three very different analyses that show excellent agreement, and these have been used to deduce the E polarization observable for an effective neutron target. These results have been incorporated into new partial wave analyses and have led to significant revisions for several γnN* resonance photocouplings

Recombinant Expression, Purification, and Functional Characterisation of Connective Tissue Growth Factor and Nephroblastoma-Overexpressed Protein

The CCN family of proteins, especially its prominent member, the Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) has been identified as a possible biomarker for the diagnosis of fibrotic diseases. As a downstream mediator of TGF-β1 signalling, it is involved in tissue scarring, stimulates interstitial deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, and promotes proliferation of several cell types. Another member of this family, the Nephroblastoma-Overexpressed protein (NOV/CCN3), has growth-inhibiting properties. First reports further suggest that these two CCN family members act opposite to each other in regulating extracellular matrix protein expression and reciprocally influence their own expression when over-expressed. We have established stable HEK and Flp-In-293 clones as productive sources for recombinant human CCN2/CTGF. In addition, we generated an adenoviral vector for recombinant expression of rat NOV and established protocols to purify large quantities of these CCN proteins. The identity of purified human CCN2/CTGF and rat CCN3/NOV was proven by In-gel digest followed by ESI-TOF/MS mass spectrometry. The biological activity of purified proteins was demonstrated using a Smad3-sensitive reporter gene and BrdU proliferation assay in permanent cell line EA•hy 926 cells. We further demonstrate for the first time that both recombinant CCN proteins are N-glycosylated

Unilateral congenital elongation of the cervical part of the internal carotid artery with kinking and looping: two case reports and review of the literature

Unilateral and bilateral variation in the course and elongation of the cervical (extracranial) part of the internal carotid artery (ICA) leading to its tortuosity, kinking and coiling or looping is not a rare condition, which could be caused by both embryological and acquired factors. Patients with such variations may be asymptomatic in some cases; in others, they can develop cerebrovascular symptoms due to carotid stenosis affecting cerebral circulation. The risk of transient ischemic attacks in patients with carotid stenosis is high and its surgical correction is indicated for the prevention of ischemic stroke. Detection of developmental variations of the ICA and evaluation of its stenotic areas is very important for surgical interventions and involves specific diagnostic imaging techniques for vascular lesions including contrast arteriography, duplex ultrasonography and magnetic resonance angiography. Examination of obtained images in cases of unusual and complicated variations of vascular pattern of the ICA may lead to confusion in interpretation of data. Awareness about details and topographic anatomy of variations of the ICA may serve as a useful guide for both radiologists and vascular surgeons. It may help to prevent diagnostic errors, influence surgical tactics and interventional procedures and avoid complications during the head and neck surgery. Our present study was conducted with a purpose of updating data about developmental variations of the ICA. Dissections of the main neurovascular bundle of the head and neck were performed on a total 14 human adult cadavers (10 – Africans: 7 males & 3 females and 4 – East Indians: all males). Two cases of unilateral congenital elongation of the cervical part of the ICA with kinking and looping and carotid stenoses were found only in African males. Here we present their detailed case reports with review of the literature

Genome-wide RNA-Sequencing analysis reveals a distinct fibrosis gene signature in the conjunctiva after glaucoma surgery

Fibrosis-related events play a part in most blinding diseases worldwide. However, little is known about the mechanisms driving this complex multifactorial disease. Here we have carried out the first genome-wide RNA-Sequencing study in human conjunctival fibrosis. We isolated 10 primary fibrotic and 7 non-fibrotic conjunctival fibroblast cell lines from patients with and without previous glaucoma surgery, respectively. The patients were matched for ethnicity and age. We identified 246 genes that were differentially expressed by over two-fold and p < 0.05, of which 46 genes were upregulated and 200 genes were downregulated in the fibrotic cell lines compared to the non-fibrotic cell lines. We also carried out detailed gene ontology, KEGG, disease association, pathway commons, WikiPathways and protein network analyses, and identified distinct pathways linked to smooth muscle contraction, inflammatory cytokines, immune mediators, extracellular matrix proteins and oncogene expression. We further validated 11 genes that were highly upregulated or downregulated using real-time quantitative PCR and found a strong correlation between the RNA-Seq and qPCR results. Our study demonstrates that there is a distinct fibrosis gene signature in the conjunctiva after glaucoma surgery and provides new insights into the mechanistic pathways driving the complex fibrotic process in the eye and other tissues