322 research outputs found
Follow-up study of over three years of patients with uveitis after cataract phacoemulsification: outcomes and complications
Purpose: To evaluate the rate and onset of intraoperative and postoperative complications post-phacoemulsification.
Methods: One hundred sixty-two eyes of 145 patients with uveitis who underwent phacoemulsification
between 2006 and 2009 were identified through surgical record review. Fifty-nine eyes of 46 patients met
the inclusion criteria. Hazard ratio (HR) and Kaplan-Meier survival probability were calculated for each class
of uveitis. Results: Macular edema (ME) resulted to be associated to chronic postoperative inflammation
(r = 0.6; p = 0.00) and mostly related to patients who presented more than one postoperative relapse/year (r = 0.2;
p = 0.02). Fuchs uveitis resulted to be a risk factor for posterior capsule opacification (PCO) (HR 3.36
IC95%1.0-10.5; p = 0.03). Hypotony and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) were detected in the anterior uveitis
group (0.02 EY). Conclusion: The HR to develop ME was significantly related to chronic anterior uveitis. PCO
and elevated IOP are
Enhancement of Jc by Hf -Doping in the Superconductor MgB2: A Hyperfine Interaction Study
Measurements of the critical current density (Jc) by magnetization and the
upper critical field (Hc2) by magnetoresistance have been performed for
hafnium-doped MgB2. There has been a remarkable enhancement of Jc as compared
to that by ion irradiation without any appreciable decrease in Tc, which is
beneficial from the point of view of applications. The irreversibility line
extracted from Jc shows an upward shift. In addition, there has been an
increase in the upper critical field which indicates that Hf partially
substitutes for Mg. Hyperfine interaction parameters obtained from time
differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) measurements revealed the
formation of HfB and HfB2 phases along with the substitution of Hf. A possible
explanation is given for the role of these species in the enhancement of Jc in
MgB2 superconductor
Macro-moth (Lepidoptera) Diversity of a Newly Shaped Ecological Corridor and the Surrounding Forest Area in the Western Italian Alps
Orthotopic induction of CH157MN convexity and skull base meningiomas into nude mice using stereotactic surgery and MRI characterization.
Clinical and Epidemiological Study on Tubercular Uveitis in a Tertiary Eye Care Centre in Italy
PURPOSE:
To describe frequency, clinical characteristics, and visual prognosis of tubercular uveitis (TBU) in a nonendemic country.
METHODS:
We retrospectively reviewed 3743 charts of patients with endogenous uveitis visited from 2008 to 2018 at a tertiary referral centre in Rome, Italy. We included immunocompetent patients with diagnosis of TBU. Patients were divided in two groups: patients with history of uveitis without a previous diagnosis of TBU (group A) and patients at their first episode of TB uveitis (group B).
RESULTS:
TBU was diagnosed in 28 (0.75%) out of 3743 patients. Twelve (42.9%) patients came from tuberculosis endemic areas. All patients received specific antitubercular treatment (ATT) and were evaluated for a mean follow-up of 3.2 ± 2.9 years. Group A showed a greater number of ocular complications when compared with group B. ATT was effective in reducing the frequency of recurrences of uveitis in patients of group B.
CONCLUSION:
Intraocular inflammation can be the first manifestation of tuberculosis. Our data highlight that early diagnosis and specific treatment of TBU may allow to decrease recurrences and to improve visual outcomes
High-density neutrophils in MGUS and multiple myeloma are dysfunctional and immune-suppressive due to increased STAT3 downstream signaling
To understand neutrophil impairment in the progression from MGUS through active MM, we investigated the function of mature, high-density neutrophils (HDNs), isolated from peripheral blood. In 7 MM, 3 MGUS and 3 healthy subjects by gene expression profile, we identified a total of 551 upregulated and 343 downregulated genes in MM-HDN, involved in chemokine signaling pathway and FC-gamma receptor mediated phagocytosis conveying in the activation of STAT proteins. In a series of 60 newly diagnosed MM and 30 MGUS patients, by flow-cytometry we found that HDN from MM, and to a lesser extend MGUS, had an up-regulation of the inducible FcγRI (also known as CD64) and a down-regulation of the constitutive FcγRIIIa (also known as CD16) together with a reduced phagocytic activity and oxidative burst, associated to increased immune-suppression that could be reverted by arginase inhibitors in co-culture with lymphocytes. In 43 consecutive newly-diagnosed MM patients, who received first-line treatment based on bortezomib, thalidomide and dexamethasone, high CD64 could identify at diagnosis patients with inferior median overall survival (39.5 versus 86.7 months, p = 0.04). Thus, HDNs are significantly different among healthy, MGUS and MM subjects. In both MGUS and MM neutrophils may play a role in supporting both the increased susceptibility to infection and the immunological dysfunction that leads to tumor progression
A topological insulator surface under strong Coulomb, magnetic and disorder perturbations
Three dimensional topological insulators embody a newly discovered state of
matter characterized by conducting spin-momentum locked surface states that
span the bulk band gap as demonstrated via spin-resolved ARPES measurements .
This highly unusual surface environment provides a rich ground for the
discovery of novel physical phenomena. Here we present the first controlled
study of the topological insulator surfaces under strong Coulomb, magnetic and
disorder perturbations. We have used interaction of iron, with a large Coulomb
state and significant magnetic moment as a probe to \textit{systematically test
the robustness} of the topological surface states of the model topological
insulator BiSe. We observe that strong perturbation leads to the
creation of odd multiples of Dirac fermions and that magnetic interactions
break time reversal symmetry in the presence of band hybridization. We also
present a theoretical model to account for the altered surface of BiSe.
Taken collectively, these results are a critical guide in manipulating
topological surfaces for probing fundamental physics or developing device
applications.Comment: 14 pages, 4 Figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1009.621
Interferon-inducible gene 202b controls CD8+ T cell-mediated suppression in anti-DNA Ig peptide-treated (NZB × NZW) F1 lupus mice
Administration of an artificial peptide (pConsensus) based on anti-DNA IgG sequences that contain major histocompatibility complex class I and class II T-cell determinants, induces immune tolerance in NZB/NZW F1 female (BWF1) mice. To understand the molecular basis of CD8+ Ti-mediated suppression, we previously performed microarray analysis to identify genes that were differentially expressed following tolerance induction with pCons. CD8+ T cells from mice tolerized with pCons showed more than two-fold increase in Ifi202b mRNA, an interferon inducible gene, versus cells from untolerized mice. Ifi202b expression increased through weeks 1–4 after tolerization and then decreased, reapproaching baseline levels at 6 weeks. In vitro polyclonal activation of tolerized CD8+ T cells significantly increased Ifi202b mRNA expression. Importantly, silencing of Ifi202b abrogated the suppressive capacity of CD8+ Ti cells. This was associated with decreased expression of Foxp3, and decreased gene and protein expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)β and interleukin-2 (IL-2), but not of interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-10, or IL-17. Silencing of another IFN-induced gene upregulated in tolerized CD8+ T cells, IFNAR1, had no effect on the ability of CD8+ T cells to suppress autoantibody production. Our findings indicate a potential role for Ifi202b in the suppressive capacity of peptide-induced regulatory CD8+ Ti cells through effects on the expression of Foxp3 and the synthesis of TGFβ
The prognostic value of the myeloid-mediated immunosuppression marker Arginase-1 in classic Hodgkin Lymphoma
Neutrophilia is hallmark of classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), but its precise characterization remains elusive. We aimed at investigating the immunosuppressive role of high-density neutrophils in HL
- …