An overview of tissue engineering approaches for management of spinal cord injuries

Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to devastating neurological deficits and disabilities, which necessitates spending a great deal of health budget for psychological and healthcare problems of these patients and their relatives. This justifies the cost of research into the new modalities for treatment of spinal cord injuries, even in developing countries. Apart from surgical management and nerve grafting, several other approaches have been adopted for management of this condition including pharmacologic and gene therapy, cell therapy, and use of different cell-free or cell-seeded bioscaffolds. In current paper, the recent developments for therapeutic delivery of stem and non-stem cells to the site of injury, and application of cell-free and cell-seeded natural and synthetic scaffolds have been reviewed

Demodicidosis or rosacea: what did we treat?

We report a 75-year-old man with a fulminant rosacea-like eruption, suggestive of demodicidosis. Multiple Demodex folliculorum mites were found in facial scales and pustules and, on histological examination, in the infundibulum of pilosebaceous follicles and in the dermis. Intradermal mites were surrounded either by polymorphonuclear granulocytes and histiocytes, or by a granulomatous infiltrate containing foreign-body giant cells, which had phagocytosed the parasites. Complete recovery, with disappearance of facial mites, was achieved by treatment with a combination of oral and topical metronidazole, although this drug is not known to be miticida

Fast Authentication Methods for Handovers between

Improving authentication delay is a key issue for achieving seamless handovers across networks and domains. This paper presents an overview of fast authentication methods when roaming within or across IEEE 802.11 Wireless-LANs. Besides this overview, the paper analyses the applicability of IEEE 802.11f and Seamoby solutions to enable fast authentication for inter-domain handovers. The paper proposes a number of possible changes to these solutions (typically in terms of network architectures and/or required trust relationships) for inter-domain operation. In addition, the paper identifies the crucial research issues therein. Possible solutions and directions for future research include: update to security infrastructure, inter-layer communication and discovery of appropriate networks

In cat four times as many lamina I neurons project to parabrachial nuclei and twice as many to the periaqueductal gray as to the thalamus

The spinothalamic tract, and especially its fibers originating in lamina I, is the best known pathway for transmission of nociceptive information. On the other hand, different studies have suggested that more lamina I cells project to the parabrachial nuclei (PBN) and periaqueductal gray (PAG) than to the thalamus. The exact ratio of the number of lamina I projections to PBN, PAG and thalamus is not known, because comprehensive studies examining these three projections from all spinal segments, using the same tracers and counting methods, do not exist. In the present study, the differences in number and distribution of retrogradely labeled lamina I cells in each segment of the cat spinal cord (C1–Coc2) were determined after large wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) injections in either PBN, PAG or thalamus. We estimate that approximately 6000 lamina I cells project to PBN, 3000 to PAG and less than 1500 to the thalamus. Of the lamina I cells projecting to thalamus or PAG more than 80%, and of the lamina I-PBN cells approximately 60%, were located on the contralateral side. In all cases, most labeled lamina I cells were found in the upper two cervical segments and in the cervical and lumbar enlargements.

Botryomycosis in an HIV-positive subject

A 28-year-old male AIDS patient with generalized painful skin ulcers, fever and malaise presented to us. The differential diagnosis included varicella zoster infection, herpes simplex infection, actinomycosis, sporotrichosis and botryomycosis. Histopathology revealed clusters of Gram-positive coccoid bacteria in the deep dermis, surrounded by a mixed dense inflammatory infiltrate. A bacterial culture grew Staphylococcus aureus. Viral cultures remained negative. Based on these findings botryomycosis was diagnosed. Large lesions were excised surgically and with antimicrobial therapy all skin symptoms disappeared. We discuss this case with reference to a short review of the literature on botryomycosis in relation to HIV infectio

Ernstige en soms fatale gevolgen van hoogtelongoedeem

Three women aged 25, 34 and 22 years respectively, experienced high-altitude pulmonary oedema during a climbing holiday. The first patient presented with complaints arising from a fast ascent to high altitude and was treated with acetazolamide and rapid descent. She recovered without any complications. The second patient developed symptoms during the night, which were not recognised as high-altitude pulmonary oedema. The next morning she died while being transported down on a stretcher without having received any medication or oxygen. The third case was not a specific presentation of high-altitude pulmonary oedema but autopsy revealed pulmonary oedema. This woman had already been higher up on the mountain before she developed complications. The cases illustrate the seriousness of this avoidable form of high altitude illness. The current Dutch national guidelines advise against the use of medication by lay people. A revision is warranted: travellers to high altitude should be encouraged to carry acetazolamide, nifedipine and corticosteroids on the trip. Travel guides ought to be trained to use these drugs. In addition climbing travellers should be encouraged to adopt appropriate preventive behaviour and to start descending as soon as signs of high-altitude pulmonary oedema develop