Perfusion in ENT imaging

AbstractPerfusion MRI is an essential part of characterizing salivary gland tumors. The shape of the curves can provide a guide as to the type of lesion: benign (ascending plateau) or malignant (descending plateau), and can also occasionally strongly suggest a histological type such as a Warthin tumor (intense, rapid contrast enhancement with washout>30%). Perfusion imaging (CT or MRI) for other head and neck tumors is currently being developed and is being assessed. It should be a tool to assist in choosing the most appropriate initial treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery) and should also allow poor responders to conservative treatment to be identified and recurrences to be detected in post-treatment damaged tissues. Aims: (a) to determine when to perform perfusion MRI; (b) to determine the type of perfusion to carry out: CT, T1-weighted MRI; (c) to determine how to position the region of interest to plot the perfusion curve; (d) to know how to interpret MRI curves for salivary gland tumors; (e) to know how to interpret the information obtained from perfusion CT or MRI for the upper aerodigestive tract

Development of Acid-Soil Tolerant Corn (Zea Mays L.) with High-Quality Protein

Corn is an important food crop in Indonesia. Plant expansion has been hampered by soilacidity problem and the protein content of many corn varieties was low. This research initiates development of soil-acid-tolerant corn with highquality- protein content. Research was done on 12 factorial treatments and 3 replications as blocks in RCBD. The first factor was corn populations: Toray-1(G1), Toray-2(G2), GS- 5(G3) and GS-10(G4). The second factor was fertilizations: P1(69 kg N+36 kg P2O5+15 kg K2O per ha)); P2(115 kg N+54 kg P2O5+30 kg K2O per ha); and P3(161 kg N+72 kg P2O5+45 kg K2O per ha). The observed variables consisted of several agronomic traits, including the protein content. Results indicated that the corn populations, in general, showed good agronomic traits. The differences were mostly between populations, not between fertilizations, and no interaction was observed. The yield potential ranged from 4.25 to 6.47 ton dry seeds per ha. The protein content of seed resulted from cross ranged from 9.84% to 11.30%, as compared to the parents of 9.11% and 12.62%. This research concludes that genetic factors play an important role as confirmed by heritability estimate (h2)=0.75

Measurement of Salivary Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I in Acromegaly: Comparison with Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I and Growth Hormone Concentrations

Peer Reviewe

Integration of Osteopathic Manual Treatments in Management of Cervical Dystonia with Tremor: A Case Series

Background: Cervical dystonia, also known as spasmodic torticollis, is a chronic disorder in which patients exhibit involuntary repetitive contractions of neck muscles resulting in abnormal postures or movements. Occasionally, there is also a dystonic head tremor. The underlying mechanisms for cervical dystonia and dystonic tremor are not clear, and treatments are limited. Case Report: In the present cases, two females with head tremor starting in adolescence developed worsening symptoms of cervical dystonia with dystonic tremor in their 60s. On osteopathic physical examination, both had a vertical type strain to the sphenobasilar synchondrosis. Discussion: Vertical strains are more frequently found in patients after head trauma, congenital or later in life, than in healthy patients, and head trauma may have been a precipitating factor in these patients. There were improvements in cervical dystonia symptoms, including tremor, in both patients after osteopathic manual treatment

A novel chromogenic medium for isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the sputa of cystic fibrosis patients

AbstractBackgroundA novel chromogenic medium for isolation and identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from sputa of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients was evaluated and compared with standard laboratory methods.MethodsOne hundred sputum samples from distinct CF patients were cultured onto blood agar (BA), Pseudomonas CN selective agar (CN) and a Pseudomonas chromogenic medium (PS-ID). All Gram-negative morphological variants from each medium were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and identification using a combination of biochemical and molecular methods.ResultsP. aeruginosa was isolated from 62 samples after 72 h incubation. Blood agar recovered P. aeruginosa from 56 samples (90.3%) compared with 59 samples (95.2%) using either CN or PS-ID. The positive predictive value of PS-ID (98.3%) was significantly higher than growth on CN (88.5%) for identification of P. aeruginosa (P<0.05).ConclusionsPS-ID is a promising medium allowing for the isolation and simultaneous identification of P. aeruginosa from sputa of CF patients

Sex differences in the association between plasma copeptin and incident type 2 diabetes: the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Vasopressin plays a role in osmoregulation, glucose homeostasis and inflammation. Therefore, plasma copeptin, the stable C-terminal portion of the precursor of vasopressin, has strong potential as a biomarker for the cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes. Previous results were contradictory, which may be explained by differences between men and women in responsiveness of the vasopressin system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of copeptin for prediction of future type 2 diabetes in men and women separately. METHODS: From the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study, 4,063 women and 3,909 men without diabetes at baseline were included. A total of 208 women and 288 men developed diabetes during a median follow-up of 7.7 years. RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted models, we observed a stronger association of copeptin with risk of future diabetes in women (OR 1.49 [95% CI 1.24, 1.79]) than in men (OR 1.01 [95% CI 0.85, 1.19]) (p (interaction) < 0.01). The addition of copeptin to the Data from the Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR) clinical model improved the discriminative value (C-statistic,+0.007, p = 0.02) and reclassification (integrated discrimination improvement [IDI] = 0.004, p < 0.01) in women. However, we observed no improvement in men. The additive value of copeptin in women was maintained when other independent predictors, such as glucose, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 24 h urinary albumin excretion (UAE), were included in the model. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The association of plasma copeptin with the risk of developing diabetes was stronger in women than in men. Plasma copeptin alone, and along with existing biomarkers (glucose, hs-CRP and UAE), significantly improved the risk prediction for diabetes in women