Hepatic involvement in Wegener's granulomatosis: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>We report the case of a 58-year-old Caucasian Greek man who presented with dry cough, fever, bilateral alveolar infiltrates and acute hepatitis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>After a lung biopsy, the patient was diagnosed with Wegener's granulomatosis. The diagnosis was supported by the presence of anti-proteinase-3 anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies. A liver biopsy demonstrated the presence of mild non-specific lobular hepatitis and periodic acid-Schiff positive Lafora-like inclusions in a large number of his liver cells. The patient was treated with prednisone and cyclophosphamide, which was followed by subsequent remissions of chest X-ray findings and liver function studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>What makes this case worth reporting is the coexistence of liver inflammation with a biochemical profile of severe anicteric non-viral, non-drug induced hepatitis coinciding with the diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis. Our paper may be the first report of hepatic involvement in a patient diagnosed with Wegener's granulomatosis. The aetiological link between the two diseases is supported by the reversion of hepatitis after the immunosuppression of Wegener's granulomatosis. We favor the hypothesis that hepatic vasculitis may be the cause of acute hepatocellular necrosis.</p

Production of phi mesons at mid-rapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We present the first results of meson production in the K^+K^- decay channel from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX detector at RHIC. Precision resonance centroid and width values are extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from the PDG accepted values is observed. The transverse mass spectra are fitted with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. These data are also fitted by a hydrodynamic model with the result that the freeze-out temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values previously derived from fitting single hadron inclusive data. As a function of transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral.to.central yield ratio RCP for the is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result lends support to theoretical models which distinguish between baryons and mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous proton yield.Comment: 326 authors, 24 pages text, 23 figures, 6 tables, RevTeX 4. To be submitted to Physical Review C as a regular article. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Tracking antioxidant properties and color changes in low-sugar bilberry jam as effect of processing, storage and pectin concentration

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, an increased interest in the identification of valuable possibilities for preserving the antioxidant properties of products obtained by thermal processing of fruits rich in bioactive compounds can be noticed. In this regard, an extensive analysis is necessary in terms of thermal processed products behavior in relation to various factors. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect which processing and storage at 20°C has on the antioxidant properties and color quality of low-sugar bilberry jam with different low-methoxyl pectin (LMP) concentrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For all measured parameters, it should be noted that thermal processing induced significant alterations reported to the values registered for fresh fruit. Most important losses due to thermal processing were recorded for total monomeric anthocyanins (TMA) (81-84%), followed by L-ascorbic acid (L-AsAc) content (53-58%), total phenolics (TP) content (42-51%) and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) values (36-47%). Moreover, depreciation of the investigated compounds occurred during storage at 20°C. Jam storage for 7 months resulted in severe losses in TMA content in the range 58-72% from the value recorded one day after processing. This coincided with marked increases in polymeric color percent of these products after 7 months of storage. Also, bilberry jam storage for 7 months resulted in a decrease in L-AsAc content of 40-53% from the value recorded one day after processing, 41-57% in TP content and 33-46% from the value recorded one day after processing for FRAP values. By decreasing of LMP concentration in the jam recipe from 1 to 0.3% there has been an increase in losses of investigated compounds.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Overall, the results indicated that bilberry jams can also represent a good source of antioxidant compounds, although compared to the fruit, important losses seem to occur. Practical application of this work is that this kind of information will be very useful in optimizing the jam processing technology and storage conditions, in order to improve the quality of these products.</p

Climate Change and the Geographic Distribution of Infectious Diseases

Our ability to predict the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases is in its infancy. Numerous, and in some cases conflicting, predictions have been developed, principally based on models of biological processes or mapping of current and historical disease statistics. Current debates on whether climate change, relative to socioeconomic determinants, will be a major influence on human disease distributions are useful to help identify research needs but are probably artificially polarized. We have at least identified many of the critical geophysical constraints, transport opportunities, biotic requirements for some disease systems, and some of the socioeconomic factors that govern the process of migration and establishment of parasites and pathogens. Furthermore, we are beginning to develop a mechanistic understanding of many of these variables at specific sites. Better predictive understanding will emerge in the coming years from analyses regarding how these variables interact with each other

Double Negative (CD3+4−8−) TCRαβ Splenic Cells from Young NOD Mice Provide Long-Lasting Protection against Type 1 Diabetes

-reactive T-cells. Herein, we analyzed the function and phenotype of DNCD3 splenic cells in young NOD mice predisposed to several autoimmune disorders among which, the human-like autoimmune diabetes. with a predominant Vβ13 gene usage.T-regulatory cells. DNCD3 splenic cells could be potentially manipulated towards the development of autologous cell therapies in autoimmune diabetes

Effect of blood glucose level on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F-18- FDG PET-scan : a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20,807 individual SUV measurements

Objectives To evaluate the effect of pre-scan blood glucose levels (BGL) on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F-18-FDG-PET scan. Methods A literature review was performed in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. Multivariate regression analysis was performed on individual datum to investigate the correlation of BGL with SUVmax and SUVmean adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus diagnosis, F-18-FDG injected dose, and time interval. The ANOVA test was done to evaluate differences in SUVmax or SUVmean among five different BGL groups (200 mg/dl). Results Individual data for a total of 20,807 SUVmax and SUVmean measurements from 29 studies with 8380 patients was included in the analysis. Increased BGL is significantly correlated with decreased SUVmax and SUVmean in brain (p <0.001, p <0.001,) and muscle (p <0.001, p <0.001) and increased SUVmax and SUVmean in liver (p = 0.001, p = 0004) and blood pool (p=0.008, p200 mg/dl had significantly lower SUVmax. Conclusion If BGL is lower than 200mg/dl no interventions are needed for lowering BGL, unless the liver is the organ of interest. Future studies are needed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET scan in diagnosis of malignant lesions in hyperglycemia.Peer reviewe

Estrogen Receptor β-Selective Agonists Stimulate Calcium Oscillations in Human and Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neurons

Estrogens are used extensively to treat hot flashes in menopausal women. Some of the beneficial effects of estrogens in hormone therapy on the brain might be due to nongenomic effects in neurons such as the rapid stimulation of calcium oscillations. Most studies have examined the nongenomic effects of estrogen receptors (ER) in primary neurons or brain slices from the rodent brain. However, these cells can not be maintained continuously in culture because neurons are post-mitotic. Neurons derived from embryonic stem cells could be a potential continuous, cell-based model to study nongenomic actions of estrogens in neurons if they are responsive to estrogens after differentiation. In this study ER-subtype specific estrogens were used to examine the role of ERα and ERβ on calcium oscillations in neurons derived from human (hES) and mouse embryonic stem cells. Unlike the undifferentiated hES cells the differentiated cells expressed neuronal markers, ERβ, but not ERα. The non-selective ER agonist 17β-estradiol (E2) rapidly increased [Ca2+]i oscillations and synchronizations within a few minutes. No change in calcium oscillations was observed with the selective ERα agonist 4,4′,4″-(4-Propyl-[1H]-pyrazole-1,3,5-triyl)trisphenol (PPT). In contrast, the selective ERβ agonists, 2,3-bis(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-propionitrile (DPN), MF101, and 2-(3-fluoro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-vinyl-1,3 benzoxazol-5-ol (ERB-041; WAY-202041) stimulated calcium oscillations similar to E2. The ERβ agonists also increased calcium oscillations and phosphorylated PKC, AKT and ERK1/2 in neurons derived from mouse ES cells, which was inhibited by nifedipine demonstrating that ERβ activates L-type voltage gated calcium channels to regulate neuronal activity. Our results demonstrate that ERβ signaling regulates nongenomic pathways in neurons derived from ES cells, and suggest that these cells might be useful to study the nongenomic mechanisms of estrogenic compounds