New onset of systemic lupus erythematosus during pregnancy

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that frequently affects young women. If SLE is first suspected during pregnancy, the diagnostic criterion is the same as for nonpregnant women and the treatment should be started as soon as the diagnosis is made. This study describes a 31-year-old pregnant woman who was hospitalized with shortness of breath, pain, and stiffness in phalangeal joints. The new onset of SLE was diagnosed. The disease was controlled by medical treatment. The patient had successful pregnancy and a healthy baby was delivered

Vitamin D An Examination of Physician and Patient Management of Health and Uncertainty

Vitamin D has been a topic of much research interest and controversy, and evidence is mixed concerning its preventive effects and health benefits. The purpose of our study was to explore the decision-making strategies used by both primary care providers and community members surrounding vitamin D in relation to uncertainty management theory. We conducted semistructured interviews with primary care providers (n = 7) and focus groups with community members (n = 89), and transcribed and coded using the constant comparative method. Themes for providers included awareness, uncertainty, patient role, responsibility, skepticism, uncertainty management, and evolving perceptions. Community member focus group themes included uncertainty, information sources, awareness/knowledge, barriers, and patient–provider relationship. Both providers and community members expressed uncertainty about vitamin D but used conflicting strategies to manage uncertainty. Awareness of this disconnect might facilitate improved patient–provider communication

Differential disease resistance response in the barley necrotic mutant nec1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although ion fluxes are considered to be an integral part of signal transduction during responses to pathogens, only a few ion channels are known to participate in the plant response to infection. CNGC4 is a disease resistance-related cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel. <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>CNGC4 mutants <it>hlm1 </it>and <it>dnd2 </it>display an impaired hypersensitive response (HR), retarded growth, a constitutively active salicylic acid (SA)-mediated pathogenesis-related response and elevated resistance against bacterial pathogens. Barley CNGC4 shares 67% aa identity with AtCNGC4. The barley mutant <it>nec1 </it>comprising of a frame-shift mutation of CNGC4 displays a necrotic phenotype and constitutively over-expresses <it>PR-1</it>, yet it is not known what effect the <it>nec1 </it>mutation has on barley resistance against different types of pathogens.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>nec1 </it>mutant accumulated high amount of SA and hydrogen peroxide compared to parental cv. Parkland. Experiments investigating <it>nec1 </it>disease resistance demonstrated positive effect of <it>nec1 </it>mutation on non-host resistance against <it>Pseudomonas syringae </it>pv. <it>tomato </it>(<it>Pst</it>) at high inoculum density, whereas at normal <it>Pst </it>inoculum concentration <it>nec1 </it>resistance did not differ from wt. In contrast to augmented <it>P. syringae </it>resistance, penetration resistance against biotrophic fungus <it>Blumeria graminis </it>f. sp. <it>hordei </it>(<it>Bgh</it>), the causal agent of powdery mildew, was not altered in <it>nec1</it>. The <it>nec1 </it>mutant significantly over-expressed race non-specific <it>Bgh </it>resistance-related genes <it>BI-1 </it>and <it>MLO</it>. Induction of <it>BI-1 </it>and <it>MLO </it>suggested putative involvement of <it>nec1 </it>in race non-specific <it>Bgh </it>resistance, therefore the effect of <it>nec1</it>on <it>mlo-5</it>-mediated <it>Bgh </it>resistance was assessed. The <it>nec1</it>/<it>mlo-5 </it>double mutant was as resistant to <it>Bgh </it>as <it>Nec1</it>/<it>mlo-5 </it>plants, suggesting that <it>nec1 </it>did not impair <it>mlo-5 </it>race non-specific <it>Bgh </it>resistance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Together, the results suggest that <it>nec1 </it>mutation alters activation of systemic acquired resistance-related physiological markers and non-host resistance in barley, while not changing rapid localized response during compatible interaction with host pathogen. Increased resistance of <it>nec1 </it>against non-host pathogen <it>Pst </it>suggests that <it>nec1 </it>mutation may affect certain aspects of barley disease resistance, while it remains to be determined, if the effect on disease resistance is a direct response to changes in SA signaling.</p

New onset of systemic lupus erythematosus during pregnancy

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that frequently affects young women. If SLE is first suspected during pregnancy, the diagnostic criterion is the same as for nonpregnant women and the treatment should be started as soon as the diagnosis is made. This study describes a 31-year-old pregnant woman who was hospitalized with shortness of breath, pain, and stiffness in phalangeal joints. The new onset of SLE was diagnosed. The disease was controlled by medical treatment. The patient had successful pregnancy and a healthy baby was delivered. [Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol 2016; 5(4.000): 1221-1224

Impacts of colors and container types on predicted and perceived flavor of non-alcoholic beverages

Although it is documented that vision can impact flavor perception, less known are the interrelations between subsets of cross-modal factors. Within the framework of cross-modal perception three between-group experiments were conducted to determine the impact of color and container type on the flavor perception. Two different containers and 10 colors were tested in two online experiments (n1 = 67, n2 = 63); in the third experiment two non-sweetened colored drinks were tested (n = 32). Hedonic, associative, and emotional measurements were applied. Our results indicate that color can increase the expected sense of flavor. For instance, red, pink, orange (average values 3.7, 3.7, 3.6 on a 5 pt scale) are the strongest examples of sweetness. For some colors (e.g., red and brown) predicted sweetness is also determined by the type of container (bottle vs. glass). Additionally, the sense of freshness as a cross-modal factor increases the likeability of the drink