A difficult diagnosis of coeliac disease: Repeat duodenal histology increases diagnostic yield in patients with concomitant causes of villous atrophy

Villous atrophy in absence of coeliac disease (CD)-specific antibodies represents a diagnostic dilemma. We report a case of a woman with anaemia, weight loss and diarrhoea with an initial diagnosis of seronegative CD and a histological documented villous atrophy who did not improve on gluten-free diet due to the concomitant presence of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) and Giardia lamblia infection. This case report confirms that CD diagnosis in CVID patients is difficult; the combination of anti-endomysial antibodies (EmA-IgA), anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG-IgAb) antibodies and total IgA is obligatory in basic diagnostic of CD but in CVID are negative. Furthermore, the typical histological aspects of the intestinal mucosa in CVID (absence of plasma cells and switch to the IgD immunoglobulins), cannot rule out a concomitant CD diagnosis. HLA typing in this setting has a low positive predictive value but should be considered. Histological response to a gluten-free diet on repeat biopsy and the concomitant treatment of other causes of villous atrophy leads to a definite diagnosis of CD

Splenic littoral cell hemangioendothelioma in a patient with crohn's disease previously treated with immunomodulators and anti-TNF agents: A rare tumor linked to deep immunosuppression

Th e risk of malignancy in Crohn ’ s disease (CD) has been well described. Moreover, immunomodulators, uch as azathioprine (AZA) and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), and biological agents, such as infl iximab and adalimumab, may promote carcinogenesis ( 1 – 3 ). Splenic littoral cell tumors are recently described tumors of vascular origin composed of endothelial cells, with typical microscopic and immunohistochemical features of splenic sinus lining cells ( 4 ). Clinical findings are not specific, and outcome is unpredictable but usually benign, although a few cases with a malignant behavior have been reported ( 5,6 ). We report a 58-year-old Caucasian man with a long history of ileocolonic CD

The magazine brasília in building of the New Capital: Brasília (1957-1962)

Esse texto apresenta a revista brasília, publicação mensal da Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital do Brasil (Novacap), como fonte de pesquisa da história da construção, inauguração e consolidação de Brasília. Trataremos dos números 1 a 64 de brasília, editados entre janeiro de 1957 a abril de 1962, com seus relatos dos anos da construção da capital - voltados para a arquitetura e urbanismo de Oscar Niemeyer e Lucio Costa -, sua inauguração e os dois primeiros anos após a inauguração até o golpe militar de 1964. Destacaremos alguns textos sobre arquitetura e urbanismo que tiveram importância no debate em torno da construção de Brasília.Este texto presenta la revista brasília, con publicación una vez al mes de la Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital (Novacap), como fuente de investigación de la historia de la construcción, la inauguración y la consolidación de Brasília. Trataremos de los números 1 al 64 de la revista brasília que han sido editadas entre enero de 1957 a abril de 1962 con los relatos de los años de la construcción de la capital del país - dedicados a la arquitectura y urbanismo de Oscar Niemeyer y Lucio Costa -, su inauguración y los dos primeros años después de su inauguración hasta el golpe militar de 1964. Destacaremos algunos textos sobre la arquitectura y urbanismo que tuvieron gran importancia en el debate en el ámbito de la construcción de Brasília.This text presents the magazine brasília, a monthly publication by the Urbanizing Company of the New Capital of Brasil (Novacap), as a source for research on the history of building, inauguration and consolidation of Brasília. We are dealing with the issues 1 to 64, published from January 1957 to April 1962, with their reports of the building years of the Capital - focused on the architecture and urban planning by Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa - its inauguration and the two first years before the military coup d'etat in 1964. We will highlight texts about architecture and urbanism that had a key role in the debate around the construction of Brasilia

A crítica à abstração e à representação no imaterialismo de Berkeley

O presente texto tem por objetivo examinar as relações existentes entre a crítica às idéias abstratas, apresentada por Berkeley na Introdução ao Tratado sobre os princípios do entendimento humano, e a argumentação desenvolvida nos primeiros parágrafos da Parte I do mesmo texto, em que o autor propõe seu imaterialismo. A hipótese levantada a partir de tal exame defende uma relação direta entre o nominalismo de Berkeley e o caráter inaceitável, para o autor, da distinção entre o ser e o aparecer da matéria postulada pelas teorias da representação. Critique of abstration and representation in Berkeleys immaterialism Abstract The objective of this essay is to examine the relations that exist between the critique of abstract ideas, presented by Berkeley in the Introduction to the A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge and the arguments developed in the first paragraphs of its Part I, in which Berkeley proposes his immaterialism. The hypothesis advanced, based on our analysis, is that there is a direct relation between Berkeleys nominalism and the unacceptable character, according to Berkeley, of the distinction between the appearance and the matter postulated by the theories of representation

Da liberdade e da necessidade, ou das ações voluntárias em Hume

O texto examina a concepção humiana de vontade no quadro da teoria das paixões delineada na segunda parte do Tratado da natureza humana, com o objetivo de mostrar como ela responde às exigências da doutrina da liberdade e necessidade tal comos se encontra na Investigação sobre o entendimento humano

Comentário a “Bergson y El acontecimiento: el caso de la democracia”

Commented Article: RUIZ STULL, Bergson and the event the case of democracy. Trans/Form/Ação: Unesp journal of philosophy, v. 45, n. 1, p. 171-188 2022.Referência do artigo comentado: RUIZ STULL, M. Bergson y el acontecimiento el caso de la democracia. Trans/form/ação: revista de Filosofia da Unesp, v. 45, n. 1, p. 171-188 2022

Molecular and Physiological Properties of Indigenous Strains of Oenococcus oeni Selected from Nero di Troia Wine (Apulia, Italy)

: The characterization of Oenococcus oeni strains isolated from Nero di Troia wine (Apulia, Italy) sampled in two distinct production areas was carried out. The two indigenous populations, consisting of 95 and 97 isolates, displayed high genetic diversity when analyzed by amplified fragments length polymorphisms (AFLP). Based on the UPGMA dendrogram obtained by AFLP analysis, the two populations displayed similar genotypes that grouped in the same clusters with a high level of similarity (>95%). One genotype was found in only one of the two areas. Representative strains of each cluster were analyzed for their enzymatic activities (esterase, β-glucosidase, and protease), assayed in whole cells, and tested for their metabolic properties (consumption of L-malic acid, citric acid, acetaldehyde, and arginine) and growth parameters. Significant differences among strains, including the reference strain ATCC BAA-1163, were observed for all of these properties. Principal component analysis evidenced phenotypic differences among strains, and well separated some of them belonging to different genotypes. Strains exhibiting the best performances in most of these traits could be further investigated in order to select possible candidates as malolactic starters for Nero di Troia wine. This study provided insights on the population structure of O. oeni of a local winemaking area useful to the understanding of the regional diversity of this bacterium, an issue not yet completely resolve

A miniaturized silicon based device for nucleic acids electrochemical detection

In this paper we describe a novel portable system for nucleic acids electrochemical detection. The core of the system is a miniaturized silicon chip composed by planar microelectrodes. The chip is embedded on PCB board for the electrical driving and reading. The counter, reference and work microelectrodes are manufactured using the VLSI technology, the material is gold for reference and counter electrodes and platinum for working electrode. The device contains also a resistor to control and measuring the temperature for PCR thermal cycling. The reaction chamber has a total volume of 20 μL. It is made in hybrid silicon–plastic technology. Each device contains four independent electrochemical cells.Results show HBV Hepatitis-B virus detection using an unspecific DNA intercalating redox probe based on metal–organic compounds. The recognition event is sensitively detected by square wave voltammetry monitoring the redox signals of the intercalator that strongly binds to the double-stranded DNA. Two approaches were here evaluated: (a) intercalation of electrochemical unspecific probe on ds-DNA on homogeneous solution (homogeneous phase); (b) grafting of DNA probes on electrode surface (solid phase).The system and the method here reported offer better advantages in term of analytical performances compared to the standard commercial optical-based real-time PCR systems, with the additional incomes of being potentially cheaper and easier to integrate in a miniaturized device. Keywords: Electrochemical detection, Real time PCR, Unspecific DNA intercalato

Haemolytic activity and characterization of nematocyst venom from Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)

We investigated the haemolytic capacity of the crude venom extracted from isolated nematocysts of Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa), and evidenced the proteic fractions responsible for this activity. The nematocyst venom was used at various concentrations to evaluate the haemolytic activity and the lysosomal membrane stability of red blood cells of two teleostean species treated with the extract. The nematocyst extract was assayed against erythrocytes of the two teleostean species living in different environments, Carassius auratus as a common freshwater species, and Liza aurata as a representative of seawater species. Experiments on the haemolytic activity of P. noctiluca in the presence of lipid components of erythrocyte membranes showed that sphyngomyelin strongly inhibited this activity. The crude venom was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis SDS-PAGE and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to detect the proteic composition, and it was found that the active haemolytic components of this venom are distributed in at least four protein fractions. The results of our experiments indicated that Pelagia noctiluca venom induces haemolysis and lysosomal membrane destabilisation in both species and that Carassius auratus was more susceptible to jellyfish venom than was Liza aurata. No significant differences in glutathione (GSH) levels were observed between control and treatments; consequently the toxins do not cause the oxidative stress but likely recognize specific targets (i.e. sphyngomyelin) in the plasmatic membrane of red blood cells