Symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion after stent-graft coverage of the entire descending aorta

Objective: The study aims to identify risk constellations for symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion in patients undergoing extensive stent-graft coverage of the thoracic aorta. Methods: From 1997 through 2009, 26 patients (mean age 70 years) underwent extensive stent-graft coverage of the thoracic aorta. Indications for stent-graft placement were atherosclerotic aneurysms (n=18) and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers (PAUs) (n=8). In 16 patients, a re-routing procedure was required to gain sufficient proximal landing zone length. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage was not routinely applied owing to the necessity of maintaining continuing anti-platelet therapy due to severe cardiovascular co-morbidities. Results: Technical success was 100%. Five patients developed symptomatic spinal cord malperfusion. All symptomatic patients had impaired spinal cord blood supply by acute or chronic occlusion of at least two major blood-supplying vascular territories of the spinal cord. Secondary CSF drainage improved neurologic symptoms in all patients without causing any anti-platelet therapy-related collateral injury. Conclusions: Extensive stent-graft coverage of the entire thoracic aorta can be performed with a high rate of success. If collateral blood supply to the spinal cord is maintained, occlusion of the intercostal arteries does not cause symptomatic malperfusion. However, if acute or chronic occlusion of the subclavian, lumbar or hypogastric arteries is present, likelihood of symptomatic malperfusion dramatically increase

Longitudinal analysis of the 5'UTR, E2-PePHD and NS5A-PKRBD genomic regions of hepatitis C virus genotype 1a in association with the response to peginterferon and ribavirin therapy in HIV-coinfected patients

Background: The rate of non-response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin (peg-IFN. +. RBV) in HCV/HIV coinfected patients is higher than in HCV-monoinfected patients. In this sense, the contribution of HCV genetic variability is unknown. The 5' untranslated (5'UTR), the nonstructural 5A (NS5A) and the second envelope (E2) HCV genomic regions have been implicated to peg-IFN therapy response. The proteins appear to block interferon (IFN)-induced RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) and the 5'UTR may influence the viral lymphotropism. Methods: We examined comparatively the pretreatment HCV variability between HIV coinfected and HCV monoinfected patients as well as assessed longitudinally the impact of peg-IFN. +. RBV on HCV variability when HIV is co-present. For this purpose, 15 HIV coinfected and 20 HCV monoinfected patients were compared. They were peg-IFN. +. RBV non-responders and infected with HCV 1a. Results: Irrespectively of the HIV-coexistence, at baseline the amino acid variation in the NS5A-related domains was significantly higher than in the E2-PePHD (p<0.001). The number of amino acid variations (mean ± SD) at the NS5A-ISDR domain was higher among HCV/HIV patients than HCV-monoinfected ones (1.80 ± 0.77 vs. 0.95 ± 1.05; p=0.009) but such difference was slightly lower when comparing NS5A-PKRBD sequences (2.47 ± 1.13 vs. 1.60 ± 1.57; p=0.06). No differences were found at the E2-PePHD (0 ± 0 vs. 0.2 ± 0.4). At intra-HIV coinfected patient level, only minor (HCV genetic analysis) or no (HCV substitution rate and quasispecies heterogeneity) changes were observed during therapy (basal, 24. h, 4. weeks, and 12. weeks). Conclusions: Among HCV-1a/HIV coinfected and HCV-monoinfected peg-IFN. +. RBV non-responder patients, the HCV variability at the 5'UTR, E2-PePHD and NS5A-PKRBD/ISDR domains was mostly comparable exhibiting a low number of variations. Four well-defined amino acid substitutions in NS5A-ISDR domain appeared most frequently when HIV coexists. The interferon-based therapy did not exert any effect in the variation, selection or diversity in the above mentioned HCV regions that could influence clinical responsiveness to IFN therapy.Fil: Bolcic, Federico Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Laufer, Natalia Lorna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Carolina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Cassino, Lucila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Reynoso, Rita Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Quarleri, Jorge Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin

Distribución de los genotipos y niveles de carga viral del virus de hepatitis C en pacientes coinfectados con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana

La hepatitis crónica por el virus de la hepatitis C (HCV) es una de las principales causas de morbilidad y mortalidad en los individuos infectados por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (HIV).1 Esta relevancia clínica de la hepatopatía crónica C se debe a la drástica reducción en la incidencia de infecciones oportunistas debido al uso de la terapia antirretroviral de gran actividad (HAART),2,3 a la rápida evolución a cirrosis en los pacientes coinfectados HIV/HCV y al mayor riesgo de toxicidad hepática del tratamiento antirretroviral en pacientes con hepatitis crónica C. Las influencias entre el HIV y el HCV son bidireccionales. Existen todavía múltiples interrogantes sin responder en el tratamiento de los pacientes coinfectados. Aun así, se han realizado grandes esfuerzos para llegar a consensos y establecer recomendaciones para el tratamiento adecuado de estos pacientes.Fil: Bolcic, Federico Martin. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología. Área Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Laufer, Natalia Lorna. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología. Área Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Quarleri, Jorge Fabian. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología. Área Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Dietary Silicon Deficiency Does Not Exacerbate Diet-Induced Fatty Lesions in Female ApoE Knockout Mice.

BACKGROUND: Dietary silicon has been positively linked with vascular health and protection against atherosclerotic plaque formation, but the mechanism of action is unclear. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effect of dietary silicon on 1) serum and aorta silicon concentrations, 2) the development of aortic lesions and serum lipid concentrations, and 3) the structural and biomechanic properties of the aorta. METHODS: Two studies, of the same design, were conducted to address the above objectives. Female mice, lacking the apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene, and therefore susceptible to atherosclerosis, were separated into 3 groups of 10-15 mice, each exposed to a high-fat diet (21% wt milk fat and 1.5% wt cholesterol) but with differing concentrations of dietary silicon, namely: silicon-deprived (-Si; <3-μg silicon/g feed), silicon-replete in feed (+Si-feed; 100-μg silicon/g feed), and silicon-replete in drinking water (+Si-water; 115-μg silicon/mL) for 15-19 wk. Silicon supplementation was in the form of sodium metasilicate (feed) or monomethylsilanetriol (drinking water). RESULTS: The serum silicon concentration in the -Si group was significantly lower than in the +Si-feed (by up to 78%; P < 0.003) and the +Si-water (by up to 84%; P < 0.006) groups. The aorta silicon concentration was also lower in the -Si group than in the +Si-feed group (by 65%; P = 0.025), but not compared with the +Si-water group. There were no differences in serum and aorta silicon concentrations between the silicon-replete groups. Body weights, tissue wet weights at necropsy, and structural, biomechanic, and morphologic properties of the aorta were not affected by dietary silicon; nor were the development of fatty lesions and serum lipid concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that dietary silicon has no effect on atherosclerosis development and vascular health in the apoE mouse model of diet-induced atherosclerosis, contrary to the reported findings in the cholesterol-fed rabbit model

Adhesion between cells, diffusion of growth factors, and elasticity of the AER produce the paddle shape of the chick limb

This paper has been withdrawnComment: This paper has been withdraw

csal1 Is Controlled by a Combination of FGF and Wnt Signals in Developing Limb Buds

While some of the signaling molecules that govern establishment of the limb axis have been characterized, little is known about the downstream effector genes that interpret these signals. In Drosophila, the spalt gene is involved in cell fate determination and pattern formation in different tissues. We have cloned a chick homologue of Drosophila spalt, which we have termed csal1, and this study focuses on the regulation of csal1 expression in the limb bud. csal1 is expressed in limb buds from HH 17 to 26, in both the apical ectodermal ridge and the distal mesenchyme. Signals from the apical ridge are essential for csal1 expression, while the dorsal ectoderm is required for csal1 expression at a distance from the ridge. Our data indicate that both FGF and Wnt signals are required for the regulation of csal1 expression in the limb. Mutations in the human homologue of csal1, termed Hsal1/SALL1, result in a condition known as Townes–Brocks syndrome (TBS), which is characterized by preaxial polydactyly. The developmental expression of csal1 together with the digit phenotype in TBS patients suggests that csal1 may play a role in some aspects of distal patterning

Metrics Pipeline (Codename): An Analytics and Visualization Pipeline for Software Quality Metrics

The Metrics Pipeline (Codename) focuses on metrics indicative of team progress and project health instead of privileging individual metrics, e.g. number of commits, etc. The Metrics Dashboard allows the user to submit the URL of a hosted repository for batch analysis, whose results are then cached. Upon completion, the user can interactively study various metrics over time (at varying granularity), numerically, and visually. The initial version of the system is up and running as a public cloud service (SaaS) and supports project size (KLOC), defect density, defect spoilage, and productivity. While our system is by no means the first to support software metrics, we believe it may be one of the first community-focused extensible resources that can be used by any hosted project

A refutation of Song's (2014) explanation of the 'stop coda problem' in Old Chinese

Song (2014) draws renewed attention to the problem of groups of Chinese words in which the character used to write one of the words has a stop final reading in Middle Chinese but the character used to write another of the words has an open syllable reading in Middle Chinese, although the two seem to have a shared a rime in Old Chinese. She offers a new solution employing the reconstruction of voiced and voiceless stop finals in the shared ancestor of Chinese and Tibetan. Every step in Song's reasoning is faulty and nearly every claim she makes about Tibetan is false. Haudricourt long ago solved the 'stop coda problem' (1954)