Urine macrophage migration inhibitory factor in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus

We reported a series of ten patients with lupus nephritis (five patients in the relapse phase and five in the remission phase) and measured the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine with probable role in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases, in their urine samples. MIF/creatinine (Cr) ratio directly correlated with disease activity and it does not have any significant difference between inactive disease and normal ones. We found that the urine MIF/Cr ratio not only differentiates active disease from inactive disease and normal ones but also correlates with the activity indices of renal pathology. © Clinical Rheumatology 2007

Design and Validation of Synchronous QCT Calibration Phantom: Practical Methodology

Introduction: Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) can supplement dual x-ray absorptiometry by enabling geometric and compartmental bone assessments. Whole-body spiral CT scanners are widely available and require a short scanning time of seconds, in contrast to peripheral QCT scanners, which require several minutes of scanning time. This study designed and evaluated the accuracy and precision of a homemade QCT calibration phantom using a whole-body spiral CT scanner. Materials and Methods: The QCT calibration phantom consisted of K 2 HPO 4 solutions as reference. The reference material with various concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000, and 1200 mg/cc of K 2 HPO 4 in water were used. For designing the phantom, we used the ABAQUS software. Results: The phantoms were used for performance assessment of QCT method through measurement of accuracy and precision errors, which were generally less than 5.1 for different concentrations. The correlation between CT numbers and concentration were close to one (R 2 = 0.99). Discussion: Because whole-body spiral CT scanners allow central bone densitometry, evaluating the accuracy and precision for the easy to use calibration phantom may improve the QCT bone densitometry test. Conclusion: This study provides practical directions for applying a homemade calibration phantom for bone mineral density quantification in QCT technique. © 201

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations