Intrascrotal Collection in an Acute Pancreatitis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Context. An inguinoscrotal swelling occurring during an acute pancreatitis is very rare. Case Report. We report a case of right inguinoscrotal swelling appearing in connection with an interstitial edematous acute pancreatitis. We have noticed a spontaneous complete reduction of the right inguinoscrotal swelling after 10 days. Conclusion. The management of a scrotal swelling should be the least invasive possible method but also the most complete possible method to avoid unnecessary interventions. The exclusion of a pathology that could affect the vital prognosis of the testis remains the absolute priority. An acute scrotum swelling must be carried out by the clinical management by a professional and must be completed with an ultrasonography of the scrotum. Despite all that, if the original etiology of the acute scrotum remains unknown, an abdominopelvic CT scan could provide more details and so could offer a different diagnosis of exclusion, different from the diagnosis of acute idiopathic scrotal edema (AISE). This rare complication of acute pancreatitis reported could be mistaken for a more common pathology. If that complication is identified, it will not require a surgical intervention if there is a correct management of the acute pancreatitis which could justify a broader CT scan

Forecasting Economic and Financial Variables with Global VARs

This paper considers the problem of forecasting real and financial macroeconomic variables across a large number of countries in the global economy. To this end a global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model previously estimated over the 1979Q1-2003Q4 period by Dees, di Mauro, Pesaran, and Smith (2007), is used to generate out-of-sample one quarter and four quarters ahead forecasts of real output, inflation, real equity prices, exchange rates and interest rates over the period 2004Q1-2005Q4. Forecasts are obtained for 134 variables from 26 regions made up of 33 countries covering about 90 % of world output. The forecasts are compared to typical benchmarks: univariate autoregressive and random walk models. Building on the forecast combination literature, the effects of model and estimation uncertainty on forecast outcomes are examined by pooling forecasts obtained from different GVAR models estimated over alternative sample periods. Given the size of the modelling problem, and the heterogeneity of economies considered — industrialised, emerging, and less developed countries — as well as the very real likelihood of possibly multiple structural breaks, averaging forecasts across both models and windows makes a significant difference. Indeed the double-averaged GVAR forecasts perform bette

Money in monetary policy design: monetary cross-checking in the New-Keynesian model

In the New-Keynesian model, optimal interest rate policy under uncertainty is formulated without reference to monetary aggregates as long as certain standard assumptions on the distributions of unobservables are satisfied. The model has been criticized for failing to explain common trends in money growth and inflation, and that therefore money should be used as a cross-check in policy formulation (see Lucas (2007)). We show that the New-Keynesian model can explain such trends if one allows for the possibility of persistent central bank misperceptions. Such misperceptions motivate the search for policies that include additional robustness checks. In earlier work, we proposed an interest rate rule that is near-optimal in normal times but includes a cross-check with monetary information. In case of unusual monetary trends, interest rates are adjusted. In this paper, we show in detail how to derive the appropriate magnitude of the interest rate adjustment following a significant cross-check with monetary information, when the New-Keynesian model is the central bank’s preferred model. The cross-check is shown to be effective in offsetting persistent deviations of inflation due to central bank misperceptions. Keywords: Monetary Policy, New-Keynesian Model, Money, Quantity Theory, European Central Bank, Policy Under Uncertaint

Canine RNF170 Single Base Deletion in a Naturally Occurring Model for Human Neuroaxonal Dystrophy.

BACKGROUND Neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD) is a group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders characterized primarily by the presence of spheroids (swollen axons) throughout the central nervous system. In humans, NAD is heterogeneous, both clinically and genetically. NAD has also been described to naturally occur in large animal models, such as dogs. A newly recognized disorder in Miniature American Shepherd dogs (MAS), consisting of a slowly progressive neurodegenerative syndrome, was diagnosed as NAD via histopathology. OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical and pathological phenotype together with the identification of the underlying genetic cause. METHODS Clinical and postmortem evaluations, together with a genome-wide association study and autozygosity mapping approach, followed by whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS Affected dogs were typically young adults and displayed an abnormal gait characterized by pelvic limb weakness and ataxia. The underlying genetic cause was identified as a 1-bp (base pair) deletion in RNF170 encoding ring finger protein 170, which perfectly segregates in an autosomal recessive pattern. This deletion is predicted to create a frameshift (XM_038559916.1:c.367delG) and early truncation of the RNF170 protein (XP_038415844.1:(p.Ala123Glnfs*11)). The age of this canine RNF170 variant was estimated at ~30 years, before the reproductive isolation of the MAS breed. CONCLUSIONS RNF170 variants were previously identified in human patients with autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia-85 (SPG85); this clinical phenotype shows similarities to the dogs described herein. We therefore propose that this novel MAS NAD could serve as an excellent large animal model for equivalent human diseases, particularly since affected dogs demonstrate a relatively long lifespan, which represents an opportunity for therapeutic trials. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Distinct Properties of Hexameric but Functionally Conserved Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transcription-Repair Coupling Factor

Transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) is involved in correcting UV-induced damage and other road-blocks encountered in the transcribed strand. Mutation frequency decline (Mfd) is a transcription repair coupling factor, involved in repair of template strand during transcription. Mfd from M. tuberculosis (MtbMfd) is 1234 amino-acids long harboring characteristic modules for different activities. Mtbmfd complemented Escherichia coli mfd (Ecomfd) deficient strain, enhanced survival of UV irradiated cells and increased the road-block repression in vivo. The protein exhibited ATPase activity, which was stimulated ∼1.5-fold in the presence of DNA. While the C-terminal domain (CTD) comprising amino acids 630 to 1234 showed ∼2-fold elevated ATPase activity than MtbMfd, the N-terminal domain (NTD) containing the first 433 amino acid residues was able to bind ATP but deficient in hydrolysis. Overexpression of NTD of MtbMfd led to growth defect and hypersensitivity to UV light. Deletion of 184 amino acids from the C-terminal end of MtbMfd (MfdΔC) increased the ATPase activity by ∼10-fold and correspondingly exhibited efficient translocation along DNA as compared to the MtbMfd and CTD. Surprisingly, MtbMfd was found to be distributed in monomer and hexamer forms both in vivo and in vitro and the monomer showed increased susceptibility to proteases compared to the hexamer. MfdΔC, on the other hand, was predominantly monomeric in solution implicating the extreme C-terminal region in oligomerization of the protein. Thus, although the MtbMfd resembles EcoMfd in many of its reaction characteristics, some of its hitherto unknown distinct properties hint at its species specific role in mycobacteria during transcription-coupled repair