Vascular anomaly in bilateral ectopic kidney: a case report

Ectopic kidney occurs as a result of a halt in migration of kidneys to their normal locations during embryonal period. While kidneys ascend through pelvis, they receive new branches from vessels (iliac and aorta) close to them. When they reach the highest point, they receive new branches from aorta and the former branches degenerate. Renal vessels do not degenerate in the ectopic caudal kidney, more than one accessory and polar arteries may arise. In various studies, a possibility of association between presence of multiple renal arteries and hypertension, has been reported. We aimed to present a case with bilateral ectopic kidney and vascular anomaly associated with hypertension and renal dysfunction

The intestinal expulsion of the roundworm Ascaris suum is associated with eosinophils, intra-epithelial T cells and decreased intestinal transit time

Ascaris lumbricoides remains the most common endoparasite in humans, yet there is still very little information available about the immunological principles of protection, especially those directed against larval stages. Due to the natural host-parasite relationship, pigs infected with A. suum make an excellent model to study the mechanisms of protection against this nematode. In pigs, a self-cure reaction eliminates most larvae from the small intestine between 14 and 21 days post infection. In this study, we investigated the mucosal immune response leading to the expulsion of A. suum and the contribution of the hepato-tracheal migration. Self-cure was independent of previous passage through the liver or lungs, as infection with lung stage larvae did not impair self-cure. When animals were infected with 14-day-old intestinal larvae, the larvae were being driven distally in the small intestine around 7 days post infection but by 18 days post infection they re-inhabited the proximal part of the small intestine, indicating that more developed larvae can counter the expulsion mechanism. Self-cure was consistently associated with eosinophilia and intra-epithelial T cells in the jejunum. Furthermore, we identified increased gut movement as a possible mechanism of self-cure as the small intestinal transit time was markedly decreased at the time of expulsion of the worms. Taken together, these results shed new light on the mechanisms of self-cure that occur during A. suum infections

Nippostrongylus-induced intestinal hypercontractility requires IL-4 receptor alpha-responsiveness by T cells in mice

Gut-dwelling helminthes induce potent IL-4 and IL-13 dominated type 2 T helper cell (T H 2) immune responses, with IL-13 production being essential for Nippostrongylus brasiliensis expulsion. This T H 2 response results in intestinal inflammation associated with local infiltration by T cells and macrophages. The resulting increased IL-4/IL-13 intestinal milieu drives goblet cell hyperplasia, alternative macrophage activation and smooth muscle cell hypercontraction. In this study we investigated how IL-4-promoted T cells contributed to the parasite induced effects in the intestine. This was achieved using pan T cell-specific IL-4 receptor alpha-deficient mice (iLck cre IL-4Rα −/lox ) and IL-4Rα-responsive control mice. Global IL-4Rα −/− mice showed, as expected, impaired type 2 immunity to N. brasiliensis . Infected T cell-specific IL-4Rα-deficient mice showed comparable worm expulsion, goblet cell hyperplasia and IgE responses to control mice. However, impaired IL-4-promoted T H 2 cells in T cell-specific IL-4Rα deficient mice led to strikingly reduced IL-4 production by mesenteric lymph node CD4 + T cells and reduced intestinal IL-4 and IL-13 levels, compared to control mice. This reduced IL-4/IL-13 response was associated with an impaired IL-4/IL-13-mediated smooth muscle cell hypercontractility, similar to that seen in global IL-4Rα −/− mice. These results demonstrate that IL-4-promoted T cell responses are not required for the resolution of a primary N. brasiliensis infection. However, they do contribute significantly to an important physiological manifestation of helminth infection; namely intestinal smooth muscle cell-driven hypercontractility

2-Year Outcomes of High Bleeding Risk Patients After Polymer-Free Drug-Coated Stents.

BACKGROUND: A 1-year follow-up, polymer-free metallic stent coated with biolimus-A9 followed by 1-month dual antiplatelet therapy is safer and more effective than a bare-metal stent (BMS) for patients with high risk of bleeding. OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed 2-year outcomes to determine whether these benefits are maintained. METHODS: In a prospective, multicenter, double-blind trial, we randomized 2,466 high bleeding risk patients to receive a drug-coated stent (DCS) or a BMS followed by 1-month dual antiplatelet therapy. The primary safety endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or stent thrombosis. The primary efficacy endpoint was clinically driven target lesion revascularization. RESULTS: At 2 years, the primary safety endpoint had occurred in 147 DCS and 180 BMS patients (15.3%) (hazard ratio: 0.80; 95% confidence interval: 0.64 to 0.99; p = 0.039). Clinically driven target lesion revascularization occurred for 77 DCS and 136 BMS patients (12.0%) (hazard ratio: 0.54; 95% confidence interval: 0.41 to 0.72; p 75 years, anemia, raised plasma creatinine, and planned long-term anticoagulation. Correlates of the primary safety endpoint were age, anemia, congestive heart failure, multivessel disease, number of stents implanted, and use of a BMS rather than a DCS. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and efficacy benefits of DCS over BMS were maintained for 2 years in high bleeding risk patients. Rates of major bleeding and coronary thrombotic events were no different and were associated with a substantial and comparable mortality risk. (A Prospective Randomized Comparison of the BioFreedom Biolimus A9 Drug Coated Stent Versus the Gazelle Bare Metal Stent in Patients With High Risk of Bleeding [LEADERS FREE]; NCT01623180)

Charged-Higgs phenomenology in the Aligned two-Higgs-doublet model

The alignment in flavour space of the Yukawa matrices of a general two-Higgs-doublet model results in the absence of tree-level flavour-changing neutral currents. In addition to the usual fermion masses and mixings, the aligned Yukawa structure only contains three complex parameters, which are potential new sources of CP violation. For particular values of these three parameters all known specific implementations of the model based on discrete Z_2 symmetries are recovered. One of the most distinctive features of the two-Higgs-doublet model is the presence of a charged scalar. In this work, we discuss its main phenomenological consequences in flavour-changing processes at low energies and derive the corresponding constraints on the parameters of the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model.Comment: 46 pages, 19 figures. Version accepted for publication in JHEP. References added. Discussion slightly extended. Conclusions unchange

Real-time PCR detection of Human Herpesvirus 1-5 in patients lacking clinical signs of a viral CNS infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) with herpes- or enterovirus can be self-limiting and benign, but occasionally result in severe and fatal disease. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has revolutionized the diagnostics of viral pathogens, and by multiple displacement amplification (MDA) prior to real-time PCR the sensitivity might be further enhanced. The aim of this study was to investigate if herpes- or enterovirus can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients without symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 373 patients lacking typical symptoms of viral CNS infection were analysed by real-time PCR targeting herpesviruses or enteroviruses with or without prior MDA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, virus was detected in 17 patients (4%). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was most commonly detected, in general from patients with other conditions (e.g. infections, cerebral hemorrhage). MDA satisfactorily amplified viral DNA in the absence of human nucleic acids, but showed poor amplification capacity for viral DNA in CSF samples, and did not increase the sensitivity for herpes virus-detection with our methodology.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Viral pathogens are rarely detected in CSF from patients without signs of CNS infection, supporting the view that real-time PCR is a highly specific method to detect symptomatic CNS-infection caused by these viruses. However, EBV may be subclinically reactivated due to other pathological conditions in the CNS.</p

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV