Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Serology in Immune Thrombocytopenia: A Retrospective Analysis in 101 Patients.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), an RNA virus, is known to be the major cause of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. HCV can induce several expressions of autoimmunity, including both serological abnormalities and clinical disorders. The relationship between the HCV infection and anti-platelet autoimmunity has been occasionally described, but is still far from well-defined. We retrospectively analysed 101 serum specimens, collected between 1988 and 1994, from patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies. Eighty-seven patients were classified as having idiopathic, and 14 secondary ITP (4 systemic lupus erythematosus, 9 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 1 Evan's syndrome). Anti-HCV antibodies were determined by second generation tests (ELISA + RIBA). A specimen was considered positive for HCV antibodies in the presence of ELISA reactivity (sample optical density/cut-off > 1.00) accompanied by RIBA reactivity to at least one HCV specific antigen. 20 sera (20%) were positive, with a prevalence higher in secondary than in idiopathic ITP (43% vs. 16%, p < 0.05). No differences were found between anti-HCV positive and negative patients regarding gender, platelet count, platelet associated immunoglobulins, hepatitis B virus serology and liver enzyme profile. On the contrary, mean age was higher in the HCV positive vs HCV negative ones (58±18SD vs. 44±20yrs, p < 0.01), in keeping with the increasing prevalence of HCV infection with ageing. HCV positive patients, showed a poor response to treatment (platelet count lower than 50,000/μl after conventional medical therapy for immune thrombocytopenia) compared to anti-HCV negative ones, (50% versus 7.3%, p < 0.001). When we excluded patients who were exposed to risk factors for HCV infection after ITP diagnosis and before the serum collection, the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was not very different (17.6%) from that found in the series as a whole (19.8%). Our results seem to indicate that HCV infection may play a role in triggering several cases ITP, and moreover might constitute a negative prognostic factor for therapy response

Gravity, Geoid, Isostasy and Moho Depth in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

In the framework of several international research projects performed in Ross Sea (Antarctica) in the last years marine gravity data, high resolution reflection seismic line sand deep seismic sounding profiles have been acquired. The gravity data set has been used to compute maps of Bouguer anomaly, isostatic anomaly, isostatic correction and local geoid undulations. Forward modelling of seismic and gravity data has been also used to compute the depths of the Crust-Mantle discontinuity

Qualidade de silagens de bagaço úmido de laranja e cama de frango e desempenho de novilhos Canchim.

A qualidade de silagens de bagaço de laranja e cama-de-frango com diferentes proporções (80:20; 60:40; 40:60 e 20:80) e de silagem pura de cama-de-frango com diferentes teores de matéria seca, obtidos pela utilização de diferentes proporções de água e cama-de-frango (0:100; 15:85; 30:70 e 45:55) foram avaliadas em silos de laboratório. Uma silagem com 45:55 de cama-de-frango e bagaço de laranja foi utilizada para teste de ganho de peso com animais Canchim. Houve incremento (P<0,05) na porcentagem de MS, PB, pH, FDN, , cinzas, amônia, Ca e P com o aumento da proporções de cama-de-frango em relação ao bagaço de laranja. A silagem com 15:85 apresentou maior teor de PB e menor teor de amônia que as silagens com 30:70 e 45:55. A dieta com silagem de bagaço de laranja e cama-de-frango, cana-de-açúcar e concentrado (44:36:20), na base seca, permitiu consumo adequado para ganho de peso de 1,39 kg por dia

The evaluation of vesicoureteral reflux among children using contrast-enhanced ultrasound : a literature review

Q2Artículo de revisión1Introduction Voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) with fluoroscopy remains the gold standard for detection and evaluation of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) among children. However, the ionizing radiation exposure remains a concern for this diagnostic modality. Recent studies have proposed using contrast-enhanced ultrasound as an alternative option for VUR screening and follow-up in children. The aim of the study was to review the literature of comparative studies that assessed the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound compared with VCUG. Methodology A systematic literature search was performed on electronic medical literature databases in July 2017. Literature identification, screening, and assessment of eligibility were performed by five reviewers with a pediatric radiologist. Literature was summarized for the study population, contrast used, and ultrasound mode as well as the timing of comparative reference study being performed. The studies were clustered according to the kind of contrast used. Reported diagnostic accuracy was extracted from individual studies and summarized across the included studies using descriptive statistics of median and interquartile range (IQR). Result A total of 45 comparative studies were identified as eligible for the summary of the literature. Two generations of ultrasound contrast were identified in the available studies (first generation, Levovist and second generation, SonoVue). For the ultrasound studies using the first-generation contrast, the median sensitivity, regardless of the ultrasound mode, was 90.25 (IQR 83.25–97), and the median specificity was 93 (IQR 91.3–95.25). Among studies using the second-generation contrast, the median sensitivity was 86.26 (IQR 81.13–97), and the median specificity was 90.99 (IQR 84–98). No serious adverse events were reported in any of the studies. Conclusion Overall, this review highlights the application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for its advantage of no exposure to ionizing radiation and diagnostic accuracy relatively comparable to VCUG in the evaluation of VUR. In addition to the functional evaluation of the VUR, it also provides an anatomic evaluation of the kidneys and bladder with ultrasound imaging. However, one should also note that this alternate procedure is highly operator dependent where diagnostic accuracy is excellent when the expertise is available.Revista Internacional - Indexad

Electronic submission and the movement towards a paperless law office in a modern university

The Government’s target of 50% of all under 30 year olds studying at higher education institutions by 2010, coupled with the National Committee Inquiry into Higher Education’ (1997) concluding that further expansion of higher education could not be afforded under the existing funding arrangements, may have serious ramifications for higher education in the UK. Alongside this increase in numbers, students are increasingly seen as educational consumers with increased choice in a demand-led market which universities must recognise. To compete in this academic environment these institutions are having to be ever more consumer aware in the services they offer and are having to increase choice to attract customers from rival enterprises. Information technology is playing an increasing role in the learning experience as noted by institutional commentators such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Joint Information Systems Committee, the Electronic Books ON-screen Interface group and Lord Dearing’s Report. Technology’s use is further evidenced through institutions’ employment of the internet, e-mail and web-based learning to harness the power of this medium. This paper focuses on the concept of commercialism in the university sector and how a movement to a paperless office may be one way in which a university could gain an early competitive advantage over its rivals. The paper takes a student perspective to demonstrate whether students would wish to move towards electronic methods of submission of assessed work and considers the current problems that are encountered in physical submission of documents. This is the first paper in an on-going research project investigating the benefits and viability of a paperless law office, and the results demonstrate both that the students desire more flexibility in submission of university work and that their acceptance may be the easy first step on the road to the paperless law school

Stromboli: a natural laboratory of environmental science

The science of environment is per se multi- and inter-disciplinary. It is not possible to separate the role of the physical, chemical, biological, and anthropic factors, respectively. Research must therefore rely on suitable natural laboratories, where all different effects can be simultaneously monitored and investigated. Stromboli is a volcanic island slightly North of Sicily, within a tectonic setting characterised by a Benioff zone, curved like a Greek theatre, opened towards the Tyrrhenian Sea, with deep earthquakes. Moreover, it is a unique volcano in the world in that since at least ~ 3000 years ago, it has exploded very regularly, about every 15^20 min. Hence, it is possible to monitor statistically phenomena occurring prior, during, and after every explosion. The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) has recently established a permanent Laboratory and an extensive interdisciplinary programme is being planned. A few main classes of items are to be considered including: (1) matter exchange (solid, liquid, gas, chemistry); (2) thermal and/or radiative coupling; (3) electromagnetic coupling; (4) deformation; (5) biospheric implications; and (6) anthropic relations since either the times of the Neolithic Revolution. Such an entire multidisciplinary perspective is discussed, being much beyond a mere volcanological concern. We present here the great heuristic potential of such a unique facility, much like a natural laboratory devoted to the investigation of the environment and climate.Published429-442JCR Journalreserve

Observing the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA): Fast-Scan Single-Dish Mapping

The Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has commenced science observations of the Sun starting in late 2016. Since the Sun is much larger than the field of view of individual ALMA dishes, the ALMA interferometer is unable to measure the background level of solar emission when observing the solar disk. The absolute temperature scale is a critical measurement for much of ALMA solar science, including the understanding of energy transfer through the solar atmosphere, the properties of prominences, and the study of shock heating in the chromosphere. In order to provide an absolute temperature scale, ALMA solar observing will take advantage of the remarkable fast-scanning capabilities of the ALMA 12m dishes to make single-dish maps of the full Sun. This article reports on the results of an extensive commissioning effort to optimize the mapping procedure, and it describes the nature of the resulting data. Amplitude calibration is discussed in detail: a path that utilizes the two loads in the ALMA calibration system as well as sky measurements is described and applied to commissioning data. Inspection of a large number of single-dish datasets shows significant variation in the resulting temperatures, and based on the temperature distributions we derive quiet-Sun values at disk center of 7300 K at lambda=3 mm and 5900 K at lambda=1.3 mm. These values have statistical uncertainties of order 100 K, but systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale that may be significantly larger. Example images are presented from two periods with very different levels of solar activity. At a resolution of order 25 arcsec, the 1.3 mm wavelength images show temperatures on the disk that vary over about a 2000 K range.Comment: Solar Physics, accepted: 24 pages, 13 figure

Multiple treatment comparisons in epilepsy monotherapy trials

© 2007 Smith et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Rnf12—A Jack of All Trades in X Inactivation?

International audiencePlacental mammals compensate the dosage imbalance of X-linked genes between males (XY) and females (XX) by silencing one randomly chosen X chromosome in females. This process is initiated during early embryonic development and can be recapitulated during differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells (mESCs). X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is initiated by up-regulation of a non-coding RNA on the future inactive X chromosome, named Xist, which lies within a large complex locus, called the X inactivation center (Xic). Subsequently, Xist RNA induces silencing of the entire chromosome in cis. Although central to the XCI process, the molecular mechanisms underlying Xist's regulation still remain to be deciphered. In particular, it is unclear (1) how the up-regulation of Xist is triggered at the onset of differentiation, (2) why this is restricted to female cells, and (3) why one allele and not the other is affected? Although each aspect could in principle be controlled by distinct factors and sequence elements, one protein has recently been proposed to regulate Xist at all three levels: the E3 ubiquitin ligase Rnf12/Rlim. The X-linked Rnf12 gene acts as a dose-dependent activator of Xist, which is expressed at elevated levels in female relative to male cells and is up-regulated during differentiation. Two recent studies shed further light on the precise role of Rnf12 in XCI