Unexpected Hypertensive Pneumothorax after Digestive Upper Endoscopy: A Case Report

We report an unexpected massive left pneumothorax at the end of a digestive upper endoscopy without evidences of perforation or airway over-pressure. The possible air passage through a diaphragmatic failing is discussed

URBANIZAÇÃO, CHUVAS DE VERÃO E INUNDAÇÕES: UMA ANÁLISE EPISÓDICA

This article shows that the atmospheric circulation in the summer months causes torrential rains in tropical latitudes of the Brazilian territory. Adding to this fact are the rapid expansion of cities, the sealing and the misuse of the soil, the topographical characteristics and the absence of areas occupied by vegetation favoring the floods. In Rio Claro - SP, January 2005, heavy rains generated flood occurrence in several areas of the city and caused material damage, which could be diminished with corrective and preventive measures aiming to increase infiltration. Key words: Climate. Surface Runoff. Floods. Tropical Latitudes. Urban Areas. Rio Claro (SP). CLIMEP – Climatologia e Estudos da Paisagem Rio Claro – Vol.3 – n.1 – janeiro/junho/2008 – RESUMO/ABSTRACTEste artigo mostra que a circulação atmosférica, nos meses de verão, propicia a ocorrência de tipos de tempo com chuvas torrenciais nas latitudes tropicais do território brasileiro. Com isso, a rápida expansão das cidades, associada à impermeabilização e ao uso do solo, às características topográficas e à ausência de áreas ocupadas por vegetação, favorece a ocorrência de inundações. Em Rio Claro – SP, durante o mês de janeiro de 2005, fortes chuvas alagaram várias áreas da cidade e causaram prejuízos materiais, que poderiam ser amenizados com medidas corretivas e preventivas visando o aumento da infiltração. Palavras-chave: Clima. Escoamento Superficial. Inundações. Latitudes Tropicais. Áreas Urbanas. Rio Claro (SP). This article shows that the atmospheric circulation in the summer months causes torrential rains in tropical latitudes of the Brazilian territory. Adding to this fact are the rapid expansion of cities, the sealing and the misuse of the soil, the topographical characteristics and the absence of areas occupied by vegetation favoring the floods. In Rio Claro - SP, January 2005, heavy rains generated flood occurrence in several areas of the city and caused material damage, which could be diminished with corrective and preventive measures aiming to increase infiltration. Key words: Climate. Surface Runoff. Floods. Tropical Latitudes. Urban Areas. Rio Claro (SP). CLIMEP – Climatologia e Estudos da Paisagem Rio Claro – Vol.3 – n.1 – janeiro/junho/2008 – RESUMO/ABSTRAC

Fibrinogen: a novel predictor of responsiveness in metastatic melanoma patients treated with bio-chemotherapy: IMI (italian melanoma inter-group) trial

PURPOSE: To evaluate a panel of pretreatment clinical and laboratory parameters in metastatic melanoma (MM) in order to verify their impact on response and survival in a single prospective multi-institutional phase III study comparing out-patient chemotherapy (CT) vs bioCT. METHODS: A total of 176 patients were randomised to receive CT (cisplatin, dacarbazine, optional carmustine) or bioCT (the same CT followed by subcutaneous IL-2 plus intramuscular α-IFN-2b). Pretreatment total leucocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophyls, C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), erytrosedimentation rate (ESR), and fibrinogen were analyzed. Some clinical parameters (performance status, age, sex, and disease site) were also considered. As we found a positive trend for bio-CT with no statistical significance in OR (25.3% vs 20.2%) and OS (11 Mo vs 9.5 Mo), all analyses are stratified by treatment arm. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, higher value of lymphocytes percentage (P < .0001), lower value of total leucocytes (P=.005), CRP (P=.003), LHD (P < .0001), ESR (P < .027), fibrinogen (P < .0001), and no liver disease were strongly related to a better survival. In a multivariate analysis, using the Cox proportional hazards model, only fibrinogen (P=.004), LDH (P=.009) and liver disease (P=.04) were found to have an independent role on clinical outcome in metastatic melanoma patients. CONCLUSION: Liver disease and higher LDH and fibrinogen levels had an important impact on survival in MM patients. In particular, fibrinogen has been recently reconsidered both for its determinant role in the host hemostatic system, and for its capability to provide protection against NK and LAK-cell-induced lysis. These observations could have some important implications for therapeutic approaches, in particular when immunological strategies are used

ISMuLT Guidelines for muscle injuries

Muscle injuries are frequent in high demand sports. No guidelines are available in the scientific literature. ISMuLT, the "Italian Society of Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons", in line with its multidisciplinary mission, is proud to cover this gap

Recurrent water deficit causes epigenetic and hormonal changes in citrus plants

The present study evaluated the physiological, molecular and hormonal parameters from scion/rootstock interaction of citrus plants during recurrent water deficit. Responses of the Valencia (VO) scion variety grafted on two rootstocks with different soil water extraction capacities, Rangpur Lime (RL) and Sunki Maravilha (SM), during three successive periods of water deficit: plants exposed to a single episode of water deficit (WD1) and plants exposed to two (WD2) and three (WD3) recurrent periods of WD were compared. The combinations VO/RL and VO/SM presented polymorphic alterations of epigenetic marks and hormonal (i.e. abscisic acid, auxins and salicylicacid) profiles, which were particularly prominent when VO/SM plantswere exposed toWD3 treatment. Upon successive drought events, the VO/SM combination presented acclimatization characteristics that enable higher tolerance to water deficit by increasing transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (g s ) and photosynthetic rate (A), which in turn may have facilitated the whole plant survival. Besides providing comprehensive data on the scion/rootstock interactions upon successive stress events, this study brings the first dataset suggesting that epigenetic alterations in citrus plants triggered by recurrent water deficit lead to improved drought tolerance in this crop species. (Résumé d'auteur