Renal involvement in mitochondrial cytopathies

Mitochondrial cytopathies constitute a group of rare diseases that are characterized by their frequent multisystemic involvement, extreme variability of phenotype and complex genetics. In children, renal involvement is frequent and probably underestimated. The most frequent renal symptom is a tubular defect that, in most severe forms, corresponds to a complete De Toni-Debré-Fanconi syndrome. Incomplete proximal tubular defects and other tubular diseases have also been reported. In rare cases, patients present with chronic tubulo-interstitial nephritis or cystic renal diseases. Finally, a group of patients develop primarily a glomerular disease. These patients correspond to sporadic case reports or can be classified into two major defects, namely 3243 A>G tRNALEU mutations and coenzyme Q10 biosynthesis defects. The latter group is particularly important because it represents the only treatable renal mitochondrial defect. In this Educational Review, the principal characteristics of these diseases and the main diagnostic approaches are summarized

Kinetics of swelling assisted grafting of 4-vinyl pyridine onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers using a benzoyl peroxide initiator

Arslan, Metin/0000-0001-9432-6877WOS: 000187196800009Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers were grafted with 4-vinyl pyridine (4-VP) using benzoyl peroxide (Bz(2)O(2)) as initiator. Fibers were swelled in dichloroethane (DCE) for 2 h at 90degreesC to promote the incorporation and the subsequent polymerization of 4-VP onto PET fibers. Variations of graft yield with time, temperature, initiator and monomer concentrations were investigated. Percent grafting was enhanced significantly by increasing Bz(2)O(2) concentration up to 2x 10(-3) mol/L and then decreased upon further increase in initiator concentration. Increasing the 4-VP concentration up to 0.6 mol/L improves the graft yield significantly. The optimum temperature and polymerization time was found to be 50degreesC and 2 h respectively. Further changes in properties of grafted PET fibers such as moisture absorption capacity and intrinsic viscosity were determined. Grafted PET fibers were charactarized by thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Molar mass of the grafted chains was also determined

Graft copolymerization of n-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone on dimethyl sulfoxide pretreated poly(ethylene terephthalate) films using azobisisobutyronitrile initiator

WOS: A1997WU62200023Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films were grafted with n-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (n-VP) using an azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) initiator. Films were pretreated in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for 1 h at 140 degrees C before the polymerization reaction was carried out. Variations of graft yield with time, temperature, initiator, and monomer concentrations were investigated. The optimum temperature and polymerization time was found to be 70 degrees C and 4 h, respectively. Increasing monomer concentration from 0.28 to 1.22M and initiator concentration from 1.77 x 10(-3) to 4.20 x 10(-3)M enhanced the percent grafting. The effects of monomer and initiator diffusion on PET films were also studied. The overall activation energy for grafting was calculated as 11.5 kcal/mol. Further changes in properties of PET films such as water-absorption capacity and intrinsic viscosity mere determined. The grafted films were characterized with FTIR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Adsorption of copper(II), cobalt(II), and iron(III) ions from aqueous solutions on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers

Ersoz, Mustafa/0000-0002-9409-9157WOS: 000073313100006The adsorption behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers towards copper(II), cobalt(II), and iron(III) ions in aqueous solutions was studied by a batch equilibriation technique. Influence of treatment time, temperature, pH of the solution, and metal ion concentration on the adsorption were investigated. Adsorption values for metal ion intake followed the following order: Co(II) > Cu(II) > Fe(III). One hour of adsorption time was found sufficient to reach adsorption equilibrium for all the ions. The rate of adsorption was found to decrease with the increase in the temperature. Langmuir adsorption isoterm curves were found to be significant for all the ions studied. The heat of adsorption values were calculated as -5, -2.8, and -3.6 kcal/mol for Cu(II), Co(II), and Fe(III) ions, respectively. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Diffusion weighted imaging in differentiating malignant and benign neuroblastic tumors

Our aim was to assess diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) of neuroblastic tumors and whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value may have a role in discrimination among neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma

Staphylococcal Endocarditis Presenting with a Renal Infarct in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

We present here a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and who developed infective endocarditis during induction chemotherapy with prednisolone, L-asparaginase (Leunase®), vincristine and adriamycin. The patient did not have a history of a central venous catheter. Sharp flank pain and fever occurred on the 25th day of induction chemotherapy. In addition, a renal infarct and movable vegetations on the mitral valve were detected on the abdominal computed tomography (CT) and echocardiography. S. aureus was identified in the cultured blood. While the patient achieved remission, follow-up echocardiography revealed the vegetation had increased in size and an abscess pocket had developed despite the antibiotics and heparin therapy. Consequently, ten days after the diagnosis of infective endocarditis, a successful mitral valvuloplasty was performed without complications. The patient is currently on maintenance chemotherapy while in remission