Pseudoacromegaly

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Individuals with acromegaloid physical appearance or tall stature may be referred to endocrinologists to exclude growth hormone (GH) excess. While some of these subjects could be healthy individuals with normal variants of growth or physical traits, others will have acromegaly or pituitary gigantism, which are, in general, straightforward diagnoses upon assessment of the GH/IGF-1 axis. However, some patients with physical features resembling acromegaly – usually affecting the face and extremities –, or gigantism – accelerated growth/tall stature – will have no abnormalities in the GH axis. This scenario is termed pseudoacromegaly, and its correct diagnosis can be challenging due to the rarity and variability of these conditions, as well as due to significant overlap in their characteristics. In this review we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of pseudoacromegaly conditions, highlighting their similarities and differences with acromegaly and pituitary gigantism, to aid physicians with the diagnosis of patients with pseudoacromegaly.PM is supported by a clinical fellowship by Barts and the London Charity. Our studies on pituitary adenomas and related conditions received support from the Medical Research Council, Rosetrees Trust and the Wellcome Trust

Control of Self-Assembly Patterns Formed in Liquid Crystal-Polymer Mixture(Poster session 2, New Frontiers in Colloidal Physics : A Bridge between Micro- and Macroscopic Concepts in Soft Matter)

この論文は国立情報学研究所の電子図書館事業により電子化されました。液晶と高分子の混合系は近年研究が盛んに行われており、例えば、数μmサイズのネマチック液晶のdropletを高分子中に分散させた高分子分散液晶は、偏光板を必要としない光シャッターとして実用化されている。一方、ネマチック液晶に少量の高分子を添加した系では、相分離により高分子のdropletが鎖状構造を自発的に形成することが報告されている。本発表では、ネマチック液晶とシリコンオイルの混合系において、相分離により形成される高次構造(パターン)の電場やセル厚による制御について報告する