A Wormian Bone, Mimicking an Entry Gunshot Wound of the Skull, in an Anthropological Specimen

Wormian bones (WB) are irregular small cranial ossicles found along suture lines and fontanels. In Brazil, gunshot wounds to the skull are quite common in young individuals. Nevertheless, as far as we know, this is the first report of a WB giving an erroneous aspect of gunshot entrance due to its displacement position. The present manuscript describes the case of a Brazilian young man who died due to ballistic trauma, where a gaping bony defect on the right side of the skull was thought to be the exit wound of an injury related to the destruction found on the left side, highly suggestive of firearm injury. Thus, this case study has brought to light similarities between a traumatic lesion and an orifice of a WB, with emphasis on differential diagnosis during routine anthropological examinations

A Case of Malignant Pericardial Mesothelioma With Constrictive Pericarditis Physiology Misdiagnosed as Pericardial Metastatic Cancer

Malignant pericardial mesothelioma is a rare and progressive cardiac tumor. There is no established standard treatment and the prognosis is poor. Most patients were retrospectively diagnosed from surgery or autopsy due to absence of specific clinical manifestation. Most patients with pericardial mesothelioma have demonstrated constrictive physiology on echocardiography or cardiac catheterization. Therefore, pericardial mesothelioma was often misdiagnosed as other causes of constrictive pericarditis. We report a case of primary pericardial mesothelioma misdiagnosed as pericardial metastasis of unknown origin

Two new rapid SNP-typing methods for classifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex into the main phylogenetic lineages

There is increasing evidence that strain variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) might influence the outcome of tuberculosis infection and disease. To assess genotype-phenotype associations, phylogenetically robust molecular markers and appropriate genotyping tools are required. Most current genotyping methods for MTBC are based on mobile or repetitive DNA elements. Because these elements are prone to convergent evolution, the corresponding genotyping techniques are suboptimal for phylogenetic studies and strain classification. By contrast, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) are ideal markers for classifying MTBC into phylogenetic lineages, as they exhibit very low degrees of homoplasy. In this study, we developed two complementary SNP-based genotyping methods to classify strains into the six main human-associated lineages of MTBC, the 'Beijing' sublineage, and the clade comprising Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae. Phylogenetically informative SNPs were obtained from 22 MTBC whole-genome sequences. The first assay, referred to as MOL-PCR, is a ligation-dependent PCR with signal detection by fluorescent microspheres and a Luminex flow cytometer, which simultaneously interrogates eight SNPs. The second assay is based on six individual TaqMan real-time PCR assays for singleplex SNP-typing. We compared MOL-PCR and TaqMan results in two panels of clinical MTBC isolates. Both methods agreed fully when assigning 36 well-characterized strains into the main phylogenetic lineages. The sensitivity in allele-calling was 98.6% and 98.8% for MOL-PCR and TaqMan, respectively. Typing of an additional panel of 78 unknown clinical isolates revealed 99.2% and 100% sensitivity in allele-calling, respectively, and 100% agreement in lineage assignment between both methods. While MOL-PCR and TaqMan are both highly sensitive and specific, MOL-PCR is ideal for classification of isolates with no previous information, whereas TaqMan is faster for confirmation. Furthermore, both methods are rapid, flexible and comparably inexpensive

Enhanced spin-phonon-electronic coupling in a 5d oxide

Enhanced coupling of material properties offers new fundamental insights and routes to multifunctional devices. In this context 5d oxides provide new paradigms of cooperative interactions that drive novel emergent behaviour. This is exemplified in osmates that host metal-insulator transitions where magnetic order appears intimately entwined. Here we consider such a material, the 5d perovskite NaOsO3, and observe a coupling between spin and phonon manifested in a frequency shift of 40 cm(-1), the largest measured in any material. The anomalous modes are shown to involve solely Os-O interactions and magnetism is revealed as the driving microscopic mechanism for the phonon renormalization. The magnitude of the coupling in NaOsO3 is primarily due to a property common to all 5d materials: the large spatial extent of the ion. This allows magnetism to couple to phonons on an unprecedented scale and in general offers multiple new routes to enhanced coupled phenomena in 5d materials.open0

Aortic stiffness as a marker of cardiac function and myocardial strain in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement

Background: Cardiac function and myocardial strain are affected by cardiac afterload, which is in part due to the stiffness of the aortic wall. In this study, we hypothesize that aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) as a marker of aortic stiffness correlates with conventional clinical and biochemical markers of cardiac function and perioperative myocardial strain in aortic valve replacement (AVR). Methods: Patients undergoing AVR for aortic stenosis between June 2010 and August 2012 were recruited for inclusion in this study. PWV, NYHA class and left ventricular (LV) function were assessed pre-operatively. PWV was analysed both as a continuous and dichotomous variable according to age-standardized reference values. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) was measured pre-operatively, and at 3 h and 18-24 h after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). NYHA class, leg edema, and LV function were recorded at follow-up (409 ± 159 days). Results: Fifty-six patients (16 females) with a mean age of 71 ± 8.4 years were included, with 50 (89%) patients completing follow-up. The NYHA class of PWV-norm patients was significantly lower than PWV-high patients both pre- and post-operatively. Multiple logistic regression also highlighted PWV-cut off as an independent predictor of NYHA class pre- and post-operatively (OR 8.3, 95%CI [2.27,33.33] and OR 14.44, 95%CI [1.49,139.31] respectively). No significant relationship was observed between PWV and either LV function or plasma BNP. Conclusion: In patients undergoing AVR for aortic stenosis, PWV is independently related to pre- and post-operative NYHA class but not to LV function or BNP. These findings provisionally support the use of perioperative PWV as a non-invasive marker of clinical functional status, which when used in conjunction with biomarkers of myocardial strain such as BNP, may provide a holistic functional assessment of patients undergoing aortic valve surgery. However, in order for PWV assessment to be translated into clinical practice and utilised as more than simply a research tool, further validation is required in the form of larger prospective studies specifically designed to assess the relationship between PWV and these functional clinical outcomes

Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to +2 °C (SWAIS 2C)

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) presently holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 4.3 m if completely melted. The unknown response of the WAIS to future warming remains a significant challenge for numerical models in quantifying predictions of future sea level rise. Sea level rise is one of the clearest planet-wide signals of human-induced climate change. The Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to a Warming of 2 ∘C (SWAIS 2C) Project aims to understand past and current drivers and thresholds of WAIS dynamics to improve projections of the rate and size of ice sheet changes under a range of elevated greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere as well as the associated average global temperature scenarios to and beyond the +2 ∘C target of the Paris Climate Agreement. Despite efforts through previous land and ship-based drilling on and along the Antarctic margin, unequivocal evidence of major WAIS retreat or collapse and its causes has remained elusive. To evaluate and plan for the interdisciplinary scientific opportunities and engineering challenges that an International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) project along the Siple coast near the grounding zone of the WAIS could offer (Fig. 1), researchers, engineers, and logistics providers representing 10 countries held a virtual workshop in October 2020. This international partnership comprised of geologists, glaciologists, oceanographers, geophysicists, microbiologists, climate and ice sheet modelers, and engineers outlined specific research objectives and logistical challenges associated with the recovery of Neogene and Quaternary geological records from the West Antarctic interior adjacent to the Kamb Ice Stream and at Crary Ice Rise. New geophysical surveys at these locations have identified drilling targets in which new drilling technologies will allow for the recovery of up to 200 m of sediments beneath the ice sheet. Sub-ice-shelf records have so far proven difficult to obtain but are critical to better constrain marine ice sheet sensitivity to past and future increases in global mean surface temperature up to 2 ∘C above pre-industrial levels. Thus, the scientific and technological advances developed through this program will enable us to test whether WAIS collapsed during past intervals of warmth and determine its sensitivity to a +2 ∘C global warming threshold (UNFCCC, 2015)

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT