Thymulin (facteur thymique sérique) and zinc contents of the thymus glands of malnourished children

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) leads to an immune deficiency, which is now well documented. Some investigators have suggested that the associated zinc deficiency is important in thymic involution and changes in cellular immunity. To evaluate the respective roles of nutritional deficiency, infection, and zinc in the alteration of thymic function, we measured the amounts of thymulin (facteur thymique sérique, or FTS) and of Zn in the thymus glands of 58 Senegalese children who died in various stages of malnutrition. In the severe forms (marasmus, kwashiorkor, and marasmic kwashiorkor) the thymus was tiny and contained very little thymulin. The Zn content of the thymus was high whatever the nutritional state of the subject and was related significantly only to the presence of infections. In Senegalese children thymic atrophy and depleted thymulin content are associated with severe PEM but not systemic infection or depleted thymic Zn content. (Résumé d'auteur

Quantum gauge models without classical Higgs mechanism

We examine the status of massive gauge theories, such as those usually obtained by spontaneous symmetry breakdown, from the viewpoint of causal (Epstein-Glaser) renormalization. The BRS formulation of gauge invariance in this framework, starting from canonical quantization of massive (as well as massless) vector bosons as fundamental entities, and proceeding perturbatively, allows one to rederive the reductive group symmetry of interactions, the need for scalar fields in gauge theory, and the covariant derivative. Thus the presence of higgs particles is explained without recourse to a Higgs(-Englert-Brout-Guralnik-Hagen-Kibble) mechanism. Along the way, we dispel doubts about the compatibility of causal gauge invariance with grand unified theories.Comment: 20 pages in two-column EPJC format, shortened version accepted for publication. For more details, consult version

Hydrodynamic Long-Time tails From Anti de Sitter Space

For generic field theories at finite temperature, a power-law falloff of correlation functions of conserved currents at long times is a prediction of non-linear hydrodynamics. We demonstrate, through a one-loop computation in Einstein gravity in Anti de Sitter space, that this effect is reproduced by the dynamics of black hole horizons. The result is in agreement with the gauge-gravity correspondence.Comment: 31 pages, references adde

La gangrène du ligament rond du foie : une pathologie méconnue

AimsThe effects of a single dose of oxymetazoline nasal spray on nasal patency have been compared with placebo using three separate measuring systems in normal subjects.MethodsThe study was a placebo-controlled, randomised double-blind crossover trial. Subjects without ear, nose or throat disease and with resting nasal airways resistance >0.15 Pa s cm-3 were selected so that a fall in airways resistance could be detected. Nasal airways resistance (NAR) was measured by NR6-2 rhinomanometer. Acoustic rhinometry (SR-2000 rhinometer) provided the sum of the minimum cross-sectional areas (tMCA) and volume (tVOL) of the left and right nasal cavities. Symptoms of congestion were assessed on a visual analogue scale (CON, range 0-100). Measurements were made for 60 min before and for 120 min after bilateral administration of oxymetazoline nasal spray (0.9 mg) or placebo (0.9% saline). Crossover occurred 7-21 days later. Results for all measures were analysed as change from average baseline value by trapezoidal AUC, and statistical significance was tested by 2-way anova.ResultsNAR, tMCA, tVOL and CON did not change after placebo, but NAR and CON fell and tMCA and tVOL increased significantly at all timepoints after oxymetazoline. NAR_AUC, tVOL_AUC, tMCA_AUC were significantly different between placebo and oxymetazoline (PConclusionsNormal subjects can be used to detect the effects of nasally vasoactive drugs with a variety of complementary systems, with the advantages of easy subject recruitment and low variability.Bickford, Larissa ; Shakib, Sepehr ; Taverner, Davi

Désinsertion proximale et rupture complète du semi-tendineux : étude d'un cas et synthèse de la littérature

Les désinsertions proximales des muscles ischio-jambiers lors de la pratique du ski nautique : étude d'un ca

Effet d'une intoxication aluminique par intubation gastrique chez le Rat adulte : Etude comparative avec le Rat en développement

Adulte male rats were treated by gastric intubation by aluminum chloride (0, 100 mg Al/kg/day) and aluminum lactate (0, 100 and 200 mg Al/kg/day) during 10 days. The results indicated a decreased food consumption, a reduction in body weight, a significant decrease of the plasma concentration of total proteins and a significant increase of the aluminum concentration in hepatic homogenates at 100 mg Al chloride and 200mg Al lactate. On the contrary, the aluminum concentrations in the plasma and cérébral homogenates did not significantly differ between the various groupsL'aluminium administré par intubation gastrique à des rats mâles adultes durant 10 jours entraîne un ralentissement de la prise alimentaire et de la croissance à la dose de 100 mg Al/kg/j (chlorure d'aluminium), et à celle de 200 mg Al/kg/j (lactate d'aluminium). Une chute du taux des protéines plasmatiques totales et une élévation de la concentration en aluminium dans le foie sont également observées. Par contre, les teneurs en aluminium plasmatique et cérébrale ne varient pas. Les effets des intoxications chez les rats adultes sont beaucoup moins importants que ceux constatés chez de jeunes rats intoxiqués dans les mêmes condition

Thymulin (facteur thymique sérique) and zinc contents of the thymus glands of malnourished children

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) leads to an immune deficiency, which is now well documented. Some investigators have suggested that the associated zinc deficiency is important in thymic involution and changes in cellular immunity. To evaluate the respective roles of nutritional deficiency, infection, and zinc in the alteration of thymic function, we measured the amounts of thymulin (facteur thymique sérique, or FTS) and of Zn in the thymus glands of 58 Senegalese children who died in various stages of malnutrition. In the severe forms (marasmus, kwashiorkor, and marasmic kwashiorkor) the thymus was tiny and contained very little thymulin. The Zn content of the thymus was high whatever the nutritional state of the subject and was related significantly only to the presence of infections. In Senegalese children thymic atrophy and depleted thymulin content are associated with severe PEM but not systemic infection or depleted thymic Zn content. (Résumé d'auteur