Aortic rupture complicating the fracture of an ankylosed lumbar spine

Background: A 79-year-old man was transferred to the emergency department after a fall on the forehead. On arrival, he seizured and went into shock and apnea. His medical history included ankylosing spondilitis and alcoholism with recurrent falls. An initial ultrasonographic examination was strongly limited by obesity and intestinal air. Therefore, a CT scan of the abdomen was immediately performed

Exploiting flocculation and membrane filtration synergies for highly energy-efficient, high-yield microalgae harvesting

International audienceHigh energy consumption during harvesting is one of the main bottlenecks for sustainable microalgae production. Membranes can efficiently separate microalgae from liquids with low energy consumption, but membrane fouling remains an important issue. Flocculation prior to membrane filtration can increase membrane fluxes and decrease fouling, thus offering a low-cost and efficient solution to harvest microalgae. Biobased cationic cellulose nanocrystals were successfully used as flocculants for microalgae and were effective over a wide pH-range and for both freshwater and marine microalgae. Such flocculation was for the first time combined with vibration-assisted filtration using a charged, surface patterned membrane, enabling operation at very high flux (95 L/m2 h) using a vibration frequency of only 1 Hz, and even under sub-optimal flocculation conditions. Intermittent vibration decreased energy consumption further while keeping excellent filtration performance to finally achieve a record-low energy consumption for the membrane filtration of only 6.7 Wh/m3, which is andgt;25-times lower than that of normal membrane filtration. Interaction forces revealed that increasing particle size through flocculation prior to membrane filtration can significantly prevent microalgae attachment on the vibrating membrane surface. This work opens a new direction for sustainable microalgae harvesting with an ultra-low energy consumption, combined with a very high microalgae recovery, reduced use of chemicals, and lower membrane investment cost

Fibrillin-1 impairment enhances blood-brain barrier permeability and xanthoma formation in brains of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice

We recently reported that apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient mice with a mutation in the fibrillin-1 gene (ApoE(-/-)Fbn1(C1039G+/-)) develop accelerated atherosclerosis with enhanced inflammation, atherosclerotic plaque rupture, myocardial infarction and sudden death. In the brain, fibrillin-1 functions as an attachment protein in the basement membrane, providing structural support to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, we investigated whether fibrillin-1 impairment affects the permeability of the BBB proper and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), and whether this leads to the accelerated accumulation of lipids (xanthomas) in the brain. ApoE(-/-) (n=61) and ApoE(-/-)Fbn1(C1039G+/-) (n=73) mice were fed a Western-type diet (WD). After 14 weeks WD, a significantly higher permeability of the BBB was observed in ApoE(-/-)Fbn1(C1039G+/-) mice compared to age-matched ApoE(-/-) mice. This was accompanied by leukocyte infiltration, enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases and transforming growth factor-β, and by decreased expression of tight junction proteins claudin-5 and occludin. After 20 weeks WD, 83% of ApoE(-/-)Fbn1(C1039G+/-) mice showed xanthomas in the brain, compared to 23% of their ApoE(-/-) littermates. Xanthomas were mainly located in fibrillin-1-rich regions, such as the choroid plexus and the neocortex. Our findings demonstrate that dysfunctional fibrillin-1 impairs BBB/BCSFB integrity, facilitating peripheral leukocyte infiltration, which further degrades the BBB/BCSFB. As a consequence, lipoproteins can enter the brain, resulting in accelerated formation of xanthoma