Unclassified autoimmune pancreatitis mimicking pancreatic cancer

A 24-year-old black male presented with a 1-week obstructive jaundice and intermittent abdominal pain, with no significant weight loss and an unsuspicious abdominal exam. Blood chemistry showed a cholestatic pattern but a complete immunological and tumoral panel (anti-smooth muscle antibody, anti-mitochondrial antibody, anti-nuclear antibody, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody, anti-Smith, anti-double-stranded-DNA antibody (anti-dsDNA), complement C3/C4, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 19-9 and IgG4) were all within normal limits. Abdominal ultrasound revealed dilatation of the intra and extra-hepatic bile ducts. CT scan showed an abnormal dilatation of the distal bile duct but no focal enlargement of the head of the pancreas. Endoscopic ultrasound suggested an inflammatory process but the magnetic resonance cholangio-pancreatography favored a neoplastic obstruction of the distal common bile duct. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was insufficient for definitive diagnosis and the patient underwent major surgery. Follow-up with mild exocrine pancreatic insufficiency treated with enzyme replacement.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis and properties of Co-doped titanate nanotubes and their optical sensitization with methylene blue

Here we report on a novel chemical route to synthesize homogenous cobalt doped titanate nanotubes (CoTNT), using an amorphous Co-doped precursor. The influence of the synthesis temperature, autoclave dwell time and metal doping on the structural and microstructural as well as on the optical properties of the synthesized titanate nanotubes is studied and discussed. The optical band gaps of the CoTNT samples are red shifted in comparison with the values determined for the undoped samples, such red shifts bringing the absorption edge of the CoTNT samples into the visible region. CoTNT materials also demonstrate particular high adsorption ability for methylene blue, the amount of the adsorbed dye being higher than the one predictable for a monolayer formation. This suggests the possibility of intercalation of the dye molecule between the TiO6 layers of the TNT structure. It is also shown that the methylene blue sensitized Co-doped nanostructures are highly stable under UV radiation and present a strong and broad absorption in the visible region.Comment: 31 pages, 3 tables, 7 figure

Temperature effects on dislocation core energies in silicon and germanium

Temperature effects on the energetics of the 90-degree partial dislocation in silicon and germanium are investigated, using non-equilibrium methods to estimate free energies, coupled with Monte Carlo simulations. Atomic interactions are described by Tersoff and EDIP interatomic potentials. Our results indicate that the vibrational entropy has the effect of increasing the difference in free energy between the two possible reconstructions of the 90-degree partial, namely, the single-period and the double-period geometries. This effect further increases the energetic stability of the double-period reconstruction at high temperatures. The results also indicate that anharmonic effects may play an important role in determining the structural properties of these defects in the high-temperature regime.Comment: 8 pages in two-column physical-review format with six figure

Reheating induced by competing decay modes

We address the problem of studying the decay of the inflaton field $\phi$ to another scalar field $\chi$ through parametric resonance in the case of a coupling that involves several decay modes. This amounts to the presence of extra harmonic terms in the perturbation of the $\chi$ field dynamics. For the case of two frequencies we compute the geometry of the resonance regions, which is significantly altered due to the presence of non-cuspidal resonance regions associated to higher harmonics and to the emergence of instability `pockets'. We discuss the effect of this change in the efficiency of the energy transfer process for the simplest case of a coupling given by a combination of the two interaction terms of homogeneous degree usually considered in the literature. We find that the presence of higher harmonics has limited cosmological implications.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures Added references. Corrected typo

Qualitative Approach to Semi-Classical Loop Quantum Cosmology

Recently the mechanism was found which allows avoidance of the cosmological singularity within the semi-classical formulation of Loop Quantum Gravity. Numerical studies show that the presence of self-interaction potential of the scalar field allows generation of initial conditions for successful slow-roll inflation. In this paper qualitative analysis of dynamical system, corresponding to cosmological equations of Loop Quantum Gravity is performed. The conclusion on singularity avoidance in positively curved cosmological models is confirmed. Two cases are considered, the massless (with flat potential) and massive scalar field. Explanation of initial conditions generation for inflation in models with massive scalar field is given. The bounce is discussed in models with zero spatial curvature and negative potentials.Comment: Online at http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1475-7516/2004/07/01

Classificação multi-temporal de imagens orbitais de média resolução espacial para o município de Simão Dias (SE).

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi a elaboração de uma análise exploratória de dados espectrais e tabulares, a partir da classificação supervisionada e não-supervisionada de imagens orbitais advindas do Programa Landsat (L5, L7 e L8), da USGS, e de dados tabulares referente à produção agropecuária municipal, por meio de métodos e técnicas vinculadas às geotecnologias. A área de estudo compreendeu o município de Simão Dias (SE), em função de sua posição de destaque quanto à produção de grãos no estado e, portanto área de interesse para avaliação das modificações da cobertura da terra. Também foram utilizados dados vetoriais provindos do IBGE e da Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Hídricos de Sergipe (SEMARH). No processo de classificação das cenas orbitais foram empregados os algoritmos: Iterative Self-Organizing Data analysisTechnique e Redes Neurais, com o intuito de identificar os padrões dos dados espectrais, por meio da classificação percebeu-se que para o período analisado (2002 à 2013), houve uma redução de vegetação natural em relação ao solo exposto, foi observado ainda que a classificação por redes neurais para o tipo de dado espectral utilizado apresenta melhores resultados

Rendimento de grãos e fatores de produção de trigo em função da ocorrência de precipitação pluviométrica na fase reprodutiva.

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