Recurrent glioma and crossed cerebellar diaschisis in a patient examined with 18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG PET/CT

Two years after resection of a left parietal glioma, a 46-year-old woman underwent F-FDG and F-DOPA brain PET/CT. FDG showed left parietal hypometabolism with crossed cerebellar diaschisis. No abnormally increased FDG activity was seen. F-DOPA PET/CT scan demonstrated focal left parietal uptake. Recurrent glioma was confirmed by surgical biopsy. F-DOPA may demonstrate abnormal amino acid metabolism in evaluation of recurrence of glioma

Autoimmune mucocutaneous blistering diseases after SARS-Cov-2 vaccination: A Case report of Pemphigus Vulgaris and a literature review

Background: Cases of severe autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) have recently been reported in association with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. Aims: To describe a report of oropharyngeal Pemphigus Vulgaris (OPV) triggered by the mRNABNT162b2 vaccine (Comirnaty®/ Pfizer/ BioNTech) and to analyze the clinical and immunological characteristics of the AIBDs cases reported following the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Methods: The clinical and immunological features of our case of OPV were documented. A review of the literature was conducted and only cases of AIBDs arising after the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were included. Case report: A 60-year old female patients developed oropharyngeal and nasal bullous lesions seven days after the administration of a second dose of the mRNABNT162b2 vaccine (Comirnaty®/ Pfizer/BioNtech). According to the histology and direct immunofluorescence findings showing the presence of supra-basal blister and intercellular staining of IgG antibodies and the presence of a high level of anti-Dsg-3 antibodies (80 U/ml; normal < 7 U/ml) in the serum of the patients, a diagnosis of oropharyngeal Pemphigus Vulgaris was made. Review: A total of 35 AIBDs cases triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were found (including our report). 26 (74.3%) were diagnosed as Bullous Pemphigoid, 2 (5.7%) as Linear IgA Bullous Dermatosis, 6 (17.1%) as Pemphigus Vulgaris and 1 (2.9%) as Pemphigus Foliaceus. The mean age of the sample was 72.8 years and there was a predominance of males over females (F:M=1:1.7). In 22 (62.9%) cases, the disease developed after Pfizer vaccine administration, 6 (17.1%) after Moderna, 3 (8.6%) after AstraZeneca, 3 (8.6%) after CoronaVac (one was not specified). All patients were treated with topical and/or systemic corticosteroids, with or without the addition of immunosuppressive drugs, with a good clinical response in every case. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the potential, though rare, occurrence of AIBDs as a possible adverse event after the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. However, notwithstanding, they should encourage their patients to obtain the vaccination in order to assist the public health systems to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic

Postes prefabricados de fibra. Consideraciones para su uso clínico

Artículo de revisiónAcompañan al trabajo numerosas figurasEn la década de los 90 los Postes Prefabricados de Fibra (PPF) se introdujeron al mercado como alternativa a los sistemas metálicos o cerámicos. Hasta la fecha se mantienen en uso, modificando de manera constante sus presentaciones comerciales y estrategias de fijación. Sus cualidades mecánicas como su bajo Módulo Elástico (ME) similar al dentinario, introducen un nuevo paradigma en la rehabilitación del Diente Endodónticamente Tratado (DET): "el poste debe acompañar en forma solidatria la flexión de los tejidos dentarios frente a las cargas". Sus actuales cualidades estéticas, la fácil remoción y la posibilidad de su cementado adhesivo, los han convertido en una alternativa válida a las soluciones convencionales. Sin embargo, algunos resultados contradictorios junto con la importante dificultad de lograr hidratación en la dentina radicular, mantienen interrogantes a resolver en el futuro. Se indican en casos donde se prevea retratamiento, en pacientes jóvenes, de alta exigencia estética y toda vez que se quiera y pueda eludir los costos de aleaciones nobles. En el presente artículo se analizan los fundamentos clínicos y experimentales de distintos autores, extrapolándose consideraciones prácticas para su uso. Los mismos se ilustran en un caso clínico para un paciente joven, con antecedente de traumatismo y con altas expectativas estéticas. (AU

Role of combined DWIBS/3D-CE-T1w whole-body MRI in tumor staging: Comparison with PET-CT

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic performance of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) by diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) in malignant tumor detection and the potential diagnostic advantages in generating fused DWIBS/3D-contrast enhanced T1w (3D-CE-T1w) images. Methods: 45 cancer patients underwent 18F-FDG PET-CT and WB-MRI for staging purpose. Fused DWIBS/3D-CE T1w images were generated off-line. 3D-CE-T1w, DWIBS images alone and fused with 3D-CE T1w were compared by two readers groups for detection of primary diseases and local/distant metastases. Diagnostic performance between the three WB-MRI data sets was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Imaging exams and histopathological results were used as standard of references. Results: Areas under the ROC curves of DWIBS vs. 3D-CE-T1w vs. both sequences in fused fashion were 0.97, 0.978, and 1.00, respectively. The diagnostic performance in tumor detection of fused DWIBS/3DCE- T1w images were statistically superior to DWIBS (p < 0.001) and 3D-CE-T1w (p ≤ 0.002); while the difference between DWIBS and 3D-CE-T1w did not show statistical significance difference. Detection rates of malignancy did not differ between WB-MRI with DWIBS and 18F-FDG PET-CT. Conclusion: WB-MRI with DWIBS is to be considered as alternative tool to conventional whole-body methods for tumor staging and during follow-up in cancer patients

Unraveling the effect of proliferative stress in vivo in hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy mouse study

The hematopoietic system of patients enrolled in hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) gene therapy (GT) treatments is fully reconstituted upon autologous transplantation of engineered stem cells. HSCs highly proliferate up to full restoration of homeostasis and compete for niche homing and engraftment. The impact of the proliferation stress in HSC on genetic instability remains an open question that cured patients advocate for characterizing long-term safety and efficacy. The accumulation of somatic mutations has been widely used as a sensor of proliferative stress. Vector integration site (IS) can be used as a molecular tool for clonal identity, inherited by all HSC progeny, to uncover lineage dynamics in vivo at single-cell level. Here we characterized at single-clone granularity the proliferative stress of HSCs and their progeny over time by measuring the accumulation of mutations from the DNA of each IS. To test the feasibility of the approach, we set-up an experimental framework that combines tumor-prone Cdkn2a-/- and wild type (WT) mouse models of HSC-GT and molecular analyses on different hematopoietic cell lineages after transplantation of HSCs transduced with genotoxic LV (LV.SF.LTR) or GT-like non-genotoxic LV (SIN.LV.PGK). The Cdkn2a-/- mouse model provided the experimental conditions to detect the accumulation of somatic mutations, since the absence of p16INK4A and p19ARF enhances the proliferative potential of cells that have acquired oncogenic mutations. As expected, mice transplanted with Cdkn2a-/- Lin- cells marked with LV.SF.LTR (N=24) developed tumors significantly earlier compared to mock (N=20, p&lt;0.0001), while mice treated with SIN. LV.PGK (N=23) did not. On the other side, mice that received WT Lin- cells treated with LV.SF.LTR (N=25) or SIN.LV.PGK (N=24) vector have not developed tumors. Given this scenario, we expect that Cdkn2a-/- Lin- cells transduced with LV.SF.LTR are associated with higher mutation rates compared to the SIN.LV.PGK group and wild type control mice. The composition of peripheral blood, lymphoid (B and T) and myeloid compartments was assessed by FACS on samples collected every 4 weeks and IS identification. More than 200,000 IS have been recovered. To identify the presence of somatic mutations, the genomic portions of sequencing reads flanking each different IS were analyzed with VarScan2. The accumulation rates of mutations have been evaluated by our new Mutation Index (MI) which normalizes the number of mutations by clones and coverage. Considering that a large portion of IS has been discarded since not covered by a minimum number of 5 unique reads (genomes), the remaining number of IS contained &gt;90% of reads in each group. The MI increased over time in both LV.SF.LTR groups, with higher values for the Cdkn2a-/-. On the other hand, treatment with SIN.LV.PGK resulted in lower MI in both groups compared to LV.SF.LTR groups, reflecting the higher clonal composition of the cells treated with the SIN.LV.PGK and the phenomenon of insertional mutagenesis in the LV.SF.LTR. Moreover, the higher MI values of the SIN.LV.PGK Cdkn2a-/- group compared with the WT group proved the induction of DNA fragility. Our results showed that the analysis of the accumulation of somatic mutations at single clone unraveled HSC proliferation stress in vivo, combining for the first time the analysis of acquired mutations with IS. We are now applying our model to different clinical trials, and studying HSCs sub- clonal trees by symmetric divisions, previously indistinguishable by IS only. Our study will open the doors to in vivo long-term non-invasive studies of HSC stability in patients

CMS endcap RPC gas gap production for upgrade

The CMS experiment will install a RE4 layer of 144 new Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) on the existing york YE3 at both endcap regions to trigger high momentum muons from the proton-proton interaction. In this paper, we present the detailed procedures used in the production of new RPC gas gaps adopted in the CMS upgrade. Quality assurance is enforced as ways to maintain the same quality of RPC gas gaps as the existing 432 endcap RPC chambers that have been operational since the beginning of the LHC operation

In vivo and in vitro evidence that intrinsic upper- and lower-limb skeletal muscle function is unaffected by ageing and disuse in oldest-old humans

Aim: To parse out the impact of advanced ageing and disuse on skeletal muscle function, we utilized both in vivo and in vitro techniques to comprehensively assess upper- and lower-limb muscle contractile properties in 8 young (YG; 25 6 years) and 8 oldest-old mobile (OM; 87 5 years) and 8 immobile (OI; 88 4 years) women. Methods: In vivo, maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), electrically evoked resting twitch force (RT), and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) of the quadriceps and elbow flexors were assessed. Muscle biopsies of the vastus lateralis and biceps brachii facilitated the in vitro assessment of single fibre-specific tension (Po). Results: In vivo, compared to the young, both the OM and OI exhibited a more pronounced loss of MVC in the lower limb [OM (60%) and OI (75%)] than the upper limb (OM = 51%; OI = 47%). Taking into account the reduction in muscle PCSA (OM = 10%; OI = 18%), only evident in the lower limb, by calculating voluntary muscle-specific force, the lower limb of the OI (40%) was more compromised than the OM (13%). However, in vivo, RT in both upper and lower limbs (approx. 9.8 N m cm 2) and Po (approx. 123 mN mm 2), assessed in vitro, implies preserved intrinsic contractile function in all muscles of the oldest-old and were well correlated (r = 0.81). Conclusion: These findings suggest that in the oldest-old, neither advanced ageing nor disuse, per se, impacts intrinsic skeletal muscle function, as assessed in vitro. However, in vivo, muscle function is attenuated by age and exacerbated by disuse, implicating factors other than skeletal muscle, such as neuromuscular control, in this diminution of function. Keywords in vitro, in vivo, oldest-old, sarcopeni

Effects of the antioxidant crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of crocin on frozen-thawed sperm quality in buffalo. Spermatozoa were incubated in Tyrode’s Albumin Lactate Pyruvate medium supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM crocin for 2 h. Sperm motility was evaluated by phase-contrast microscopy, viability and acrosome integrity by Trypan blue Giemsa staining, and membrane functional integrity by the hypoosmotic swelling test. The DNA fragmentation was evaluated by Tunel and ROS levels by spectrofluorometric analysis. The treatment with 2 mM of crocin increased (P &lt;.05) sperm membrane functional integrity compared to the control group (59.1 ± 1.6 vs 53.3 ± 1.5) and reduced sperm DNA fragmentation, compared to the other groups (11.3 ± 1.1, 13.3 ± 1.2, 13.6 ± 1.2 and 6.0 ± 0.7, respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P &lt;.01). Finally, a dose-dependent decrease (P &lt;.01) in superoxide anion production in the presence of crocin was observed, as indicated by Dihydroethidium values (922.6 ± 13.0, 596.8 ± 7.4, 498.9 ± 5.3 and 421.4 ± 5.0 a.u., respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P &lt;.01). The results of this study demonstrated a positive effect of 2 mM crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo sperm, as indicated by the improvement of sperm membrane integrity and the reduction of DNA fragmentation and ROS levels.Highlights Crocin improves buffalo sperm quality. Crocin improves sperm membrane integrity and reduces DNA fragmentation. Crocin decreases oxidative stress in buffalo sperm

Determinación espectrofotométrica de metanol en la degradación de pectinas metiladas en zumos y néctares

It has been done a study about the degenaracy of comercial methylated pectins which are used as additives in juices and nectars. It 's shown that the acid medium produces the hydrolysis to them with the release of methanol. This method provides the total determination of methanol contained in the pectin and the release of this alcohol in similar acid conditions to those of gastric juice. AOAC 's method to determine methanol has been reexamined.Se ha realizado un estudio de la degradación de pectinas metiladas comerciales empleadas como aditivo en zumos y néctares. Se confirma que el medio ácido ocasiona la hidrólisis en las mismas con liberación de metanol. El método permite la determinación total de metanol contenido en la pectina así como la liberación de este alcohol en condiciones de acidez similares a las del jugo gástrico. Se hace una crítica del método de la AOAC para la determinación de metanol