Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia: Case Report and Review of Literature

A 69-year-old female complaining of fever, cough and dyspnea was admitted to our hospital. Chest X-ray examination showed bilateral infiltration shadows that increased in spite of antibiotics therapy. Broncho-alveolar lavage fluid analysis demonstrated an increased lymphocytes with an inverted CD4/CD8 ratio. Histopathology of lung biopsy specimens showed organizing granulation tissue in the lumens of bronchioles, alveolar ducts, and alveoli, along with mononuclear cell infiltration in the interstitium. A diagnosis of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) was thus made. The patient completely recovered by cortico steroid therapy, and is now without any indication of disease

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Simulating Future Forest Cover Changes in Pakxeng District, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR): Implications for Sustainable Forest Management

Future forest cover changes were simulated under the business-as-usual (BAU), pessimistic and optimistic scenarios using the Markov-cellular automata (MCA) model in Pakxeng district, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). The Markov chain analysis was used to compute transition probabilities from satellite-derived forest cover maps (1993, 1996, 2000 and 2004), while the “weights of evidence” procedure was used to generate transition potential (suitability) maps. Dynamic adjustments of transition probabilities and transition potential maps were implemented in a cellular automata (CA) model in order to simulate forest cover changes. The validation results revealed that unstocked forest and current forest classes were relatively well simulated, while the non-forest class was slightly underpredicted. The MCA simulations under the BAU and pessimistic scenarios indicated that current forest areas would decrease, whereas unstocked forest areas would increase in the future. In contrast, the MCA model projected that current forest areas would increase under the optimistic scenario if forestry laws are strictly enforced in the study area. The simulation scenarios observed in this study can be possibly used to understand implications of future forest cover changes on sustainable forest management in Pakxeng district

Bioluminescent Probes to Analyze Ligand-Induced Phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-Trisphosphate Production with Split Luciferase Complementation

A lipid second messenger, phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PIP₃), is a signaling molecule that mediates central cellular events, such as growth, motility, and development by activating downstream proteins. Although functions of various PIP₃ binding partners have been unveiled, the various roles of PIP₃ have not been resolved thoroughly because of limitations of PIP₃ analysis. Herein, we describe a novel method for the analysis of relative PIP₃ amount based on spontaneous complementation of split luciferase fragments. An N-terminal fragment of a luciferase was located on the plasma membrane (LucN-pm). A C-terminal fragment of a luciferase fused with PIP₃ binding units, pleckstrin homology domains (PHDs) of the general receptor for phosphoinositides 1 (GRP1), was expressed in cytosol (PP-LucC). In response to PIP₃ production, PP-LucC was brought to the plasma membrane and colocalized with LucN-pm. The LucN-pm and PP-LucC reconstituted spontaneously to form an active luciferase, producing bioluminescence recovery. We obtained bioluminescence signals corresponding to relative PIP₃ amounts successfully upon stimulation with an agonist. We also demonstrated that the probes were applied for a high-throughput screening format and for monitoring of PIP₃ production on the plasma membrane by bioluminescence. This method enables further study of PIP₃ and supports versatile applications related to the PIP₃ amount