Minimal change prion retinopathy: Morphometric comparison of retinal and brain prion deposits in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most commonly diagnosed human prion disease caused by the abnormal misfolding of the \u27cellular\u27 prion protein (Pr

A new Aculodes species (Prostigmata: Eriophyoidea: Eriophyidae) associated with medusahead, Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski (Poaceae)

A new species of plant mite (Acari: Eriophyidae) was discovered on medusahead (Taeniatherum caputmedusae), an annual grass that is native to central Asia and the Mediterranean Basin. It is invasive in western North America. Aculodes altamurgiensis sp. nov., is described here and differentiated from other Aculodes spp., on the basis of morphology. Its DNA fingerprinting was reported and compared with Aculodes mckenziei collected from Elymus repens and Bromus inermis. Pairwise comparison of MT-001 sequences between A. altamurgiensis sp. nov., and A. mckenziei revealed 20.2-21.5% genetic divergence between these congeneric species. First collected in Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia in Apulia, Italy in 2014,A. altamurgiensis sp. nov., has been subsequently collected from medusahead in Serbia, Bulgaria, Iran and Turkey. Based on these data and on preliminary observations on the effects of the mite on plant growth, A. altamurgiensis sp. nov., is currently being investigated as a candidate biological control agent of medusahead

Approach to leg edema

Edema is defined as a palpable swelling caused by an increase in interstitial fluid volume. Leg edema is a common problem with a wide range of possible causes and is the result of an imbalance in the filtration system between the capillary and interstitial spaces. Major causes of edema include venous obstruction, increased capillary permeability and increased plasma volume secondary to sodium and water retention. In both hospital and general practice, the patient with a swollen leg presents a common dilemma in diagnosis and treatment. The cause may be trivial or life-threatening and it is often difficult to determine the clinical pathway. The diagnosis can be narrowed by categorizing the edema according to its duration, distribution (unilateral or bilateral) and accompanying symptoms. This work provides clinically oriented recommendations for the management of leg edema in adults

Comparative analysis of right ventricular strain in Fabry cardiomyopathy and sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Aims To perform a comparative analysis of right ventricle (RV) myocardial mechanics, assessed by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE), between patients with Fabry disease and patients with sarcomeric disease.Methods and results Patients with Fabry cardiomyopathy (FC) (n = 28) were compared with patients with sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), matched for degree of left ventricle hypertrophy (LVH) and demographic characteristics (n = 112). In addition, patients with Fabry disease and no LVH [phenotype-negative carriers of pathogenic alpha-galactosidase gene mutations (GLA LVH-)] (n = 28) were compared with age and sex-matched carriers of sarcomeric gene mutations without LVH [Phenotype-negative carriers of pathogenic sarcomeric gene mutations (Sarc LVH-)] (n = 56). Standard echocardiography and 2D-STE were performed in all participants. Despite a subtle impairment of RV global longitudinal strain (RV-GLS) was common in both groups, patients with FC showed a more prominent reduction of RV free wall longitudinal strain (RV-FWS) and lower values of difference between RV-FWS and RV-GLS (Delta RV strain), in comparison to individuals with HCM (P Conclusion Patients with FC show a specific pattern of RV myocardial mechanics, characterized by a larger impairment of RV-FWS and lower Delta RV strain in comparison to patients with HCM, which may be helpful in the differential diagnosis between these two diseases.[GRAPHICS].</p

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M&gt;70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0&lt;e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

The Influence of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth in Digestive and Extra-Intestinal Disorders

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition hallmarked by an increase in the concentration of colonic-type bacteria in the small bowel. Watery diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain and distension are the most common clinical manifestations. Additionally, malnutrition and vitamin (B12, D, A, and E) as well as minerals (iron and calcium) deficiency may be present. SIBO may mask or worsen the history of some diseases (celiac disease, irritable bowel disease), may be more common in some extra-intestinal disorders (scleroderma, obesity), or could even represent a pathogenetic link with some diseases, in which a perturbation of intestinal microbiota may be involved. On these bases, we performed a review to explore the multiple links between SIBO and digestive and extra-intestinal diseases