1,304 research outputs found
Quality of life in patients with Cushing's disease
Cushing's disease (and by extension, Cushing's syndrome) is a rare disease due to a chronic cortisol excess, which usually has an important impact on quality of life (QoL). It can lead to numerous comorbidities that can interfere with daily life, as fatigability, myopathy, bone loss and fragility, increased cardiovascular risk, depression, and cognitive alterations. Of note, psychological alterations (including depression and anxiety) occur often, and are an important determinant of impaired quality QoL. QoL scores using different questionnaires are poorer in comparison to healthy controls, other pituitary adenomas and some chronic diseases. Even if some improvements can be observed after successful treatment, recovery does not seem to be complete, and comorbidities persist. This persistent QoL impairment has been found using both generic and disease-specific QoL questionnaires, and is also reported by the patients themselves, when asked directly. Multidisciplinary teams are essential to improve patients' well-being. Clinicians should take into account the whole scope of clinical problems and address the different comorbidites associated with the disease. Screening in the psychological sphere, with further intervention if necessary, can be helpful in the management of these patients. Interventions and programs have shown promising results, although there is a need for further development of new strategies for the benefit of these patients
Tri-Bimaximal Neutrino Mixing from Discrete Symmetry in Extra Dimensions
We discuss a particularly symmetric model of neutrino mixings where, with
good accuracy, the atmospheric mixing angle theta_{23} is maximal, theta_{13}=0
and the solar angle satisfies sin^2(theta_{12})=1/3 (Harrison-Perkins-Scott
(HPS) matrix). The discrete symmetry A_4 is a suitable symmetry group for the
realization of this type of model. We construct a model where the HPS matrix is
exactly obtained in a first approximation without imposing ad hoc relations
among parameters. The crucial issue of the required VEV alignment in the scalar
sector is discussed and we present a natural solution of this problem based on
a formulation with extra dimensions. We study the corrections from higher
dimensionality operators allowed by the symmetries of the model and discuss the
conditions on the cut-off scales and the VEVs in order for these corrections to
be completely under control. Finally, the observed hierarchy of charged lepton
masses is obtained by assuming a larger flavour symmetry. We also show that,
under general conditions, a maximal theta_{23} can never arise from an exact
flavour symmetry.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, misprints corrected and references adde
Improving quality of life in patients with pituitary tumours
Evaluation of health-related quality of life (QoL) in people with pituitary tumours has received much attention over the last 10-15 years. Most of them show impaired QoL, but little is known about how to prevent impairment or how to improve QoL. Our aim is to review what is known about QoL in pituitary tumours patients and to highlight the areas worth improving, for the patient's well being. The article has four sections: acromegaly, Cushing's syndrome, prolactinomas and non-functioning adenomas. Control of comorbidities is usually an important factor to prevent QoL impairment; however, each disease has specific characteristics that should be properly addressed in order to obtain full patient recovery after successful therapy
Quality of life in Cushing's disease: a long term issue?
The purpose of this review is to describe how quality of life (QoL) is impaired in patients with hypercortisolism due to Cushing's syndrome of any aetiology, including pituitary-dependent Cushing's disease. It is worse in active disease, but improvement after successful therapy is often incomplete, due to persistent physical and psychological co-morbidities, even years after endocrine "cure". Physical symptoms like extreme fatigability, central obesity with limb atrophy, hypertension, fractures, and different skin abnormalities severely impair the affected patients' everyday life. Psychological and cognitive problems like bad memory, difficulties to concentrate and emotional distress, often associated with anxiety and depression, make it difficult for many patients to overcome the aftermath of treated Cushing's syndrome. Recent studies have shown diffuse structural abnormalities in the central nervous system during active hyper-cortisolism, thought to be related to the wide distribution of glucocorticoid receptors throughout the brain. Even though they improve after treatment, normalization is often not complete. Shortening the exposure to active Cushing's syndrome by reducing the often long delay to diagnosis and promptly receiving effective treatment is highly desirable, together with preparing the patient for the difficult periods, especially after surgery. In this way they are prepared for the impairments they perceive in every day life, and live with the hope of later improvement, which can be therapeutic in many instances
Nucleotide sequence and genome organization of Dweet mottle virus and its relationship to members of the family Betaflexiviridae
The nucleotide sequence of Dweet mottle virus (DMV) was determined and compared to sequences of members of the families Alphaflexiviridae and Betaflexiviridae. The DMV genome has 8,747 nucleotides (nt) excluding the 3′ poly-(A) tail. DMV genomic RNA contains three putative open reading frames (ORFs) and untranslated regions of 73 nt at the 5′ and 541 nt at 3′ termini. ORF1 potentially encoding a 227.48-kDa polyprotein, which has methyltransferase, oxygenase, endopeptidase, helicase, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) domains. ORF2 encodes a movement protein of 40.25 kDa, while ORF3 encodes a coat protein of 40.69 kDa. Protein database searches showed 98–99% matches of DMV ORFs with citrus leaf blotch virus (CLBV) sequences. Phylogenetic analysis based on the RdRP core domain revealed that DMV is closely related to CLBV as a member of the genus Citrivirus. DMV did not satisfy the molecular criteria for demarcation of an independent species within the genus Citrivirus, family Betaflexiviridae, and hence, DMV can be considered a CLBV isolate
Interrogatives absolutes al barceloní i al tarragoní (estudi contrastiu)
En el marc del projecte internacional AMPER (Atles Multimèdia de Prosòdia de l'Espai Romànic) aquest article busca reflectir el comportament dels dos tipus de frases interrogatives absolutes que es produeixen habitualment en barceloní i en tarragoní, dos dels subdialectes del bloc oriental del català. Els resultats mostren que, tot i que la línia melòdica general és força comuna, ambdós subdialectes es diferencien bastant, especialment en les interrogatives encapçalades amb la partícula "que" i acabades pel subjecte dislocat. Les dades no indiquen diferències rellevants en l'estudi de la durada i la intensitat de les vocals que componen les oracions objecte d'estudi
On the full Boltzmann equations for Leptogenesis
We consider the full Boltzmann equations for standard and soft leptogenesis,
instead of the usual integrated Boltzmann equations which assume kinetic
equilibrium for all species. Decays and inverse decays may be inefficient for
thermalising the heavy-(s)neutrino distribution function, leading to
significant deviations from kinetic equilibrium. We analyse the impact of using
the full kinetic equations in the case of a previously generated lepton
asymmetry, and find that the washout of this initial asymmetry due to the
interactions of the right-handed neutrino is larger than when calculated via
the integrated equations. We also solve the full Boltzmann equations for soft
leptogenesis, where the lepton asymmetry induced by the soft SUSY-breaking
terms in sneutrino decays is a purely thermal effect, since at T=0 the
asymmetry in leptons cancels the one in sleptons. In this case, we obtain that
in the weak washout regime (K ~< 1) the final lepton asymmetry can change up to
a factor four with respect to previous estimates.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures, to be published in JCA
Repurposing Disulfiram as an Antimicrobial Agent in Topical Infections
Antimicrobial drugs applied topically offer several advantages. However, the widespread use of antibiotics has led to increasing antimicrobial resistance. One interesting approach in the drug discovery process is drug repurposing. Disulfiram, which was originally approved as an anti-alcoholism drug, offers an attractive alternative to treat topical multidrug resistance bacteria in skin human infections. This study aimed to evaluate the biopharmaceutical characteristics of the drug and the effects arising from its topical application in detail. Microdilution susceptibility testing showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Dermal absorption revealed no permeation in pig skin. The quantification of the drug retained in pig skin demonstrated concentrations in the stratum corneum and epidermis, enough to treat skin infections. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxicity and micro-array analyses were performed to better understand the mechanism of action and revealed the importance of the drug as a metal ion chelator. Together, our findings suggest that disulfiram has the potential to be repurposed as an effective antibiotic to treat superficial human skin infections
La llicenciatura en Física: Perfil de la professió. Estudi d’inserció professional
Les oportunitats professionals dels llicenciats i llicenciades en Física han evolucionat
molt en el passat immediat, i també s’ha ampliat els tipus de sectors
laborals que enrolen físics. Fa just trenta anys, la major part dels titulats era
absorbida pel sector de l’ensenyament secundari i superior. Una minoria aconseguia
fer carrera de recerca, principalment en centres acadèmics. En l’actualitat
el panorama ha canviat força ja que, com revelen algunes enquestes a graduats
recents de mitjan els anys noranta, la sortida professional de l’ensenyament
només representava un 50 % del total
Neutrino Mixing and Leptogenesis in Type-II Seesaw Scenarios with Left-Right Symmetry
We propose two Type-II seesaw scenarios for the neutrino mass matrix in the
left-right symmetric model, in which the Higgs triplet Yukawa coupling matrix
takes the appealing Friedberg-Lee texture. We show that the nearly
tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing pattern, which is especially favored by current
neutrino oscillation data, can be obtained from both scenarios. We also show
that the cosmological baryon number asymmetry can naturally be interpreted in
these two scenarios via the flavor-independent leptogenesis mechanism.Comment: RevTex 14 pages, 2 PS figures. Slight modifications made for the
text. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
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