Spin Lifetime in Small Electron Spin Ensembles Measured by Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy

Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy can enable nanoscale imaging of spin lifetime. We report temperature dependent measurements of the spin correlation time $\tau_m$ of the statistical fluctuations of the spin polarization---the spin noise---of ensembles containing $\sim 100$ electron spins by this technique. Magneto-mechanical relaxation due to spin-cantilever coupling was controlled and spurious mechanisms that can affect the spin correlation time of the microscopic signal were characterized. These measurements have ramifications for optimizing spin sensitivity, understanding local spin dynamics and for nanoscale imaging.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Comm.

Aberrant DNA Methylation of Matrix Remodeling and Cell Adhesion Related Genes in Pterygium

10.1371/journal.pone.0014687PLoS ONE62

What is changing in indications and treatment of hepatic hemangiomas. A review.

Hepatic cavernous hemangioma accounts for 73% of all benign liver tumors with a frequency of 0.4-7.3% at autopsy and is the second most common tumor seen in the liver after metastases. Patients affected by hemangioma usually have their tumor diagnosed by ultrasound abdominal examination for a not well defined pain, but pain persist after treatment of the hemangioma. The causes of pain can be various gastrointestinal pathologies including cholelithiasis and peptic ulcer disease.The malignant trasformation is pratically inexistent. Different imaging modalities are used to diagnosis liver hemangioma including ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and less frequently scintigraphy, positronemission tomography combined with CT (PET/CT) and angiography. Imaging-guided biopsy of hemangioma is usually not resorted to except in extremely atypical cases. The right indications for surgery remain rupture, intratumoral bleeding, Kasabach-Merritt syndrome and organ or vessels compression (gastric outlet obstruction, Budd-Chiari syndrome, etc.) represents the valid indication for surgery and at the same time they are all complications of the tumor itself. The size of the tumor do not represent a valid indication for treatment. Liver hemangiomas, when indication exist, have to be treated firstly by surgery (hepatic resection or enucleation, open, laproscopic or robotic), but in the recent years other therapies like liver transplantation, radiofrequency ablation, radiotherapy, trans-arterial embolization, and chemotherapy have been applied

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Case Report: Adrenal LH/hCG Receptor Overexpression and Gene Amplification Causing Pregnancy-Induced Cushing's Syndrome

Transient pregnancy-induced Cushing's syndrome (CS) is extremely rare, with only several cases reported in the literature. Ectopic LH/hCG-receptors (LHCGR) in the adrenal gland have been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of this condition. We report the clinical, molecular, and genetic features of a patient with pregnancy-induced CS. A 29-year-old female patient developed CS during multiple pregnancies, leading to repeated miscarriage. Signs and symptoms of hypercortisolism resolved soon after delivery or abortion, only to recur in subsequent pregnancies. In the non-pregnant state, hCG stimulation testing resulted in elevated cortisol levels. Serum cortisol was not suppressible with dexamethasone. The adrenals exhibited bilateral adrenal cortical nodular hyperplasia. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed a 2-fold increase in LHCGR and progesterone receptor mRNA expression and decreased estrogen receptor-beta expression in the patient's adrenal tissue relative to normal adrenals. Higher intensity of immunostaining for LHCGR was observed, particularly within the nodular lesions, compared to controls. Quantitative PCR revealed a LHCGR-to-beta-actin ratio of 1.5 in genomic DNA from adrenal and peripheral leukocytes, suggesting the presence of a germline duplication of the LHCGR gene. LHCGR overexpression resulting from germline gene duplication may be a potential pathogenic mechanism underlying this case of pregnancy-induced CS