Angioleiomyoma of the small intestine – a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Benign tumors are a rare cause of gastrointestinal hemorrhage of which angioleiomyomas constitute a very small minority. They have been reported in literature to present with volvulus, bleeding or intussusceptions.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>An interesting case of a patient presenting with gastrointestinal bleeding from an underlying angioleiomyoma is discussed along with its management options.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Angioleiomyoma though rare can be managed successfully by surgical and/or minimally invasive endovascular procedures.</p

Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of differentially expressed genes in Quercus suber in response to Phytophthora cinnamomi infection

cDNA-AFLP methodology was used to gain insight into gene fragments differentially present in the mRNA profiles of Quercus suber roots infected with zoospores of Phytophthora cinnamomi at different post challenge time points. Fifty-three transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were identified and sequenced. Six candidate genes were selected based on their expression patterns and homology to genes known to play a role in defence. They encode a cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase2 (QsCAD2), a protein disulphide isomerase (QsPDI), a CC-NBS-LRR resistance protein (QsRPc), a thaumatin-like protein (QsTLP), a chitinase (QsCHI) and a 1,3-β-glucanase (QsGlu). Evaluation of the expression of these genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) revealed that transcript levels of QsRPc, QsCHI, QsCAD2 and QsPDI increased during the first 24 h post-inoculation, while those of thaumatin-like protein decreased. No differential expression was observed for 1,3-β-glucanase (QsGlu).Four candidate reference genes, polymerase II (QsRPII), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (QsEIF-5A), β-tubulin (QsTUB) and a medium subunit family protein of clathrin adaptor complexes (QsCACs) were assessed to determine the most stable internal references for qRT-PCR normalization in the Phytophthora-Q. suber pathosystem in root tissues. Those found to be more stable, QsRPII and QsCACs, were used as internal reference in the present work.Knowledge on the Quercus defence mechanisms against biotic stress is scarce. This study provides an insight into the gene profiling of a few important genes of Q. suber in response to P. cinnamomi infection contributing to the knowledge of the molecular interactions involving Quercus and root pathogens that can be useful in the future to understand the mechanisms underlying oak resistance to soil-borne oomycetes.Peer Reviewe

Monkeys and Humans Share a Common Computation for Face/Voice Integration

Speech production involves the movement of the mouth and other regions of the face resulting in visual motion cues. These visual cues enhance intelligibility and detection of auditory speech. As such, face-to-face speech is fundamentally a multisensory phenomenon. If speech is fundamentally multisensory, it should be reflected in the evolution of vocal communication: similar behavioral effects should be observed in other primates. Old World monkeys share with humans vocal production biomechanics and communicate face-to-face with vocalizations. It is unknown, however, if they, too, combine faces and voices to enhance their perception of vocalizations. We show that they do: monkeys combine faces and voices in noisy environments to enhance their detection of vocalizations. Their behavior parallels that of humans performing an identical task. We explored what common computational mechanism(s) could explain the pattern of results we observed across species. Standard explanations or models such as the principle of inverse effectiveness and a “race” model failed to account for their behavior patterns. Conversely, a “superposition model”, positing the linear summation of activity patterns in response to visual and auditory components of vocalizations, served as a straightforward but powerful explanatory mechanism for the observed behaviors in both species. As such, it represents a putative homologous mechanism for integrating faces and voices across primates

Performance measurement and KPIs for remanufacturing

© 2015 Graham et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.The paper provides a brief background to remanufacturing and the general use of Performance Measurement and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) before introducing selected and newly formulated KPIs designed specifically for remanufacturing. Their relationships with the remanufacturing challenges faced by two contrasting remanufacturing businesses and the wider reman industry are described in detail. Subsets of KPIs forming a ‘Balanced Scorecard’ for each of the two remanufacturing cases conclude the paper. They arise through close working with Centro Ricerche FIAT (CRF) and SKF, and are triangulated by literature review and wider expert interviews. The two businesses represent contrasting remanufacturing scenarios: well-established high-volume low-margin automotive engine remanufacturing by the OEM ( >1000 units per year, < €10 k per unit) verses low-volume high-value wind turbine gearbox reman by an independent start-up ( < 100 units per year, > €100 k per unit). The 10 general production engineering KPIs selected for the reman KPI toolbox are as follows: Work In Progress (WIP), Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Lead Time (LT), Cycle Time (CT), Hours Per Unit (HPU), Product Margin (PM), Quotation Accuracy (QA), Number of Concessions (NC), Number of managed mBOMs (BOM), and Personnel Saturation (PS). The Eco KPIs selected are: Material Used (MU), Recycled Material Used (RMU), Direct Energy Consumption (ECD), Indirect Energy Consumption (ECI), Water Withdrawal (WW), Green House Gas emissions (GHG), Total Waste (TW) by weight. The 8 Remanufacturing KPIs compiled and formulated as part of this research are: Core / Product Ratio (CPR), Core / Product Value Ratio (CPV), New Component Costs (NCC), Component Salvage Rate (SRC), Product Salvage Rate (SRP), Core Disposal Rate (CDR), Core Class Accuracy (CCA), and Core Class Distribution (CCD)

A Probabilistic Method for Estimation of Bowel Wall Thickness in MR Colonography

MRI has recently been applied as a tool to quantitatively evaluate the response to therapy in patients with Crohn’s disease, and is the preferred choice for repeated imaging. Bowel wall thickness on MRI is an important biomarker of underlying inflammatory activity, being abnormally increased in the acute phase and reducing in response to successful therapy; however, a poor level of interobserver agreement of measured thickness is reported and therefore a system for accurate, robust and reproducible measurements is desirable. We propose a novel method for estimating bowel wall-thickness to improve the poor interobserver agreement of the manual procedure. We show that the variability of wall thickness measurement between the algorithm and observer measurements (0.25mm ± 0.81mm) has differences which are similar to observer variability (0.16mm ± 0.64mm)