Discovery of os cordis in the cardiac skeleton of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Cardiovascular diseases, especially idiopathic myocardial fibrosis, is one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in captive great apes. This study compared the structure and morphology of 16 hearts from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) which were either healthy or affected by myocardial fibrosis using X-ray microtomography. In four hearts, a single, hyperdense structure was detected within the right fibrous trigone of the cardiac skeleton. High resolution scans and histopathology revealed trabecular bones in two cases, hyaline cartilage in another case and a focus of mineralised fibro-cartilaginous metaplasia with endochondral ossification in the last case. Four other animals presented with multiple foci of ectopic calcification within the walls of the great vessels. All hearts affected by marked myocardial fibrosis presented with bone or cartilage formation, and increased collagen levels in tissues adjacent to the bone/cartilage, while unaffected hearts did not present with os cordis or cartilago cordis. The presence of an os cordis has been described in some ruminants, camelids, and otters, but never in great apes. This novel research indicates that an os cordis and cartilago cordis is present in some chimpanzees, particularly those affected by myocardial fibrosis, and could influence the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death

An atypic case of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis; Presenting with prolonged depressive symptoms

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an inflammatory, immune-mediated disease of central nervous system. Typically, various degrees of mental state alterations and multifocal neurological deficits can be observed in these cases. The disease usually progresses in a few hours to days. Presentation with psychiatric symptoms is not often. Recently there are a few cases reported to have psychotic symptoms as the initial signs. Here we report on an unusual case of ADEM who had presented with depressive symptoms and whose psychiatric symptoms continued for 3 weeks before multifocal neurological deficits occurred. © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Prevalence of cerebrovascular disease: A door-to-door survey in West Anatolia

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and its relation to age, education, gender, and other risk factors in the city of Denizli, Turkey. The study was performed between 2010 and 2011 in the city center, where 138,000 inhabitants >45 years were included in the research. 2,441 inhabitants were selected by cluster sampling method. A specific questionnaire about CVD was employed during the interview. We inquired about patient's age, gender, and educational history. If there was suspicion of CVD, cranial imaging was performed, and recent medical records were re-evaluated. The mean age was 58 ± 10.1 (45-100) among 2,441 in this study. Of those, 1,257 (51.5 %) participants were female and 1,184 (48.5 %) were male. We found the prevalence of CVD to be 0.9 % with 0.68 % among males and 1.21 % among females (p = 0.023). The mean age of subjects with CVD was 72.4 ± 8.1 (56-86) years. CVD was found to increase with age (p = 0.001), but was lower than reported rates in other European countries; however, it was similar to that of Mediterranean countries. CVD was detected more frequently in women than men. This finding differed from other studies, but was first to evaluate the prevalence of CVD in Turkey. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Italia

Relation between 3435C>T multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphism with high dose methylprednisolone treatment of childhood acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

The current study was conducted to assess 3435C>T multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphism and the efficacy of high dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) in childhood acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura patients. Methods: A total of 31 childhood acute Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura patients (17 females, 14 males) between the ages of 2 and 16 years of age were included in the study. High-dose methylprednisolone was given at a dose of 30 mg/kg/day for 3 days and 20 mg/kg/day for 4 days, consecutively and intravenously. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used for the detection of C3435T single nucleotide polymorphism. Fragments obtained were 238 bp to T/T genotype, 172 bp and 60 bp fragments to the C/C genotype, and 238 bp, 172 bp and 60 bp to the C/T genotype. Results: The distribution of CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 19.0%, 61.3%, and 19.4%, respectively. Both allele frequencies of C and T were the same - 50%. There was no significant difference in genotype and allele distribution between the patients with ITP and the control group (Χ 2=0.84 p=0.65, Χ 2=0.2 p=0.63, respectively). There were no significant differences in age, gender, and pre- and post-treatment platelet counts between CC, CT, and TT genotypes of the MDR gene. Response to treatment shows no significant difference between genotype and allele groups. Conclusion: In our study, there was no difference in the HDMP treatment response between MDR1 gene genotypes. However, it should be noted that this study includes a small group of patients. Our data should therefore be considered preliminary, awaiting further confirmatory studies on an expanded patient base. © 2011 Elsevier B.V

Study of the microstructure and oxidation behavior of YSZ and YSZ/Al 2O 3 TBCs with HVOF bond coatings

A significant improvement in efficiency has been achieved by using thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) in gas turbines and diesel engines. A typical TBC is a multilayered coating system that comprises an oxidation-resistant metallic bond coating (BC) and a thermally insulating ceramic top coating (TC). Under service conditions an Al 2O 3 inter-layer, the thermally grown oxide (TGO), forms in the interface between the bond and the top coating, by a chemical reaction between the metallic aluminum from the BC material and the oxygen that comes from the environment through the pore channels of the TC. The aim of the present study is to describe the TGO formation on metallic bond coats deposited using the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying technique. Therefore, TBCs that consist of a YSZ top (ZrO 2 + 8 % Y 2O 3) and YSZ-AI 2O 3 double-layer systems with CoNiCrAlY bond coats were deposited on Inconel 718 super-alloy substrates. The bond coats were applied via HVOF, with the ceramic top coats being applied by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) as well. The oxidation behaviors of the TBC systems were investigated. The oxidation tests were performed at 1000 °C in an air atmosphere for (8, 24, 50) h. The formation and growth of the TGO layers and the microstructural changes during the oxidation tests were scrutinized systematically. The results indicate that the TBC coating with the YSZ-AI2O3 double layer had a higher oxidation resistance and a lower TGO layer growth than that of the traditional TBC system. Likewise, the initial state of the porosity plays a critical role in enhancing or limiting the growth of the TGO scale in the TBC

Effects of stem cells applications on oxidative stress and apoptosis during implantation

Objective: To investigate the effects of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) application into the rat endometrium on oxidative stress, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Methods: The female rats selected in estrous cycle were divided into three groups (saline, media and BMSC group). The intrauterine and intraperitoneal injections were performed using the saline (200 μL), culture media (200 μL) and 1×106 BMSCs/200 μL culture media, and then they were mated with male rats. On the 7th day of the pregnancy, uterine samples were harvested and dyed with heamatoxylin-eosin histochemically, anti-endothelial nitric oxide synthase and anti-inducible nitric oxide synthase, and anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunohistochemically, with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferas dUTP nick end labeling for apoptosis. The stainings were evaluated by H-score and the results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA test statistically. Results: It was found that BMSCs increased the endometrial thickness, endometrial epithelium thickness and number of endometrial glands compared to control and sham groups. The intrauterine BMSC application decreased both anti-endothelial nitric oxide synthase and anti-inducible nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivities and the number of apoptotic cells compared to the intraperitoneal applications whereas the immunoreactivity of proliferating cell nuclear antigen was increased. Conclusions: In current study, we define that stem cells do not cause any structural damages. Also they change the distribution of oxidative stress and cell proliferation marker. These findings support the reliability of stem cells in clinical use in the case of infertility. © 2018 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction. All rights reserved

Environmental stressors influencing hormones and systems physiology in cattle

Environmental stressors undoubtedly influence organismal biology, specifically the endocrine system that, in turn, impact cattle at the systems physiology level. Despite the significant advances in understanding the genetic determinants of the ideal dairy or beef cow, there is a grave lack of understanding of the systems physiology and effects of the environmental stressors that interfere with the endocrine system. This is a major problem because the lack of such knowledge is preventing advances in understanding gene-environment interactions and developing science-based solutions to these challenges. In this review, we synthesize the current knowledge on the nature of the major environmental stressors, such as climate (heat, cold, wind, and humidity), nutrition (feeds, feeding systems, and endocrine disruptors) and management (housing density and conditions, transportation, weaning practices). We summarize the impact of each one of these factors on cattle at the systems level, and provide solutions for the challenges. © 2014 Bova et al