Acute Longus Colli Calcific Tendinitis: A Rare Cause of Neck Pain

A 48-year-old man presented to our emergency department with neck pain without sensorimotor deficit and with a sore throat without signs of infection. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed because the patient had not responded to regular treatment and a blood test had showed inflammation. The images revealed cervical prevertebral fluid collection and calcification, compatible with acute calcific tendinitis of the longus colli muscle. Prednisolone 50 mg with pantoprazol 40 mg was administered for 5 days with rapid resolution of symptoms. Acute calcific tendinitis of the longus colli muscle is a rare and possibly underdiagnosed cause of atypical neck pain and sore throat

Role of complement in in vitro and in vivo lung inflammatory reactions

Complement is one of the integral buttresses of the inflammatory response. In addition to host defense activities, proinflammatory properties of several complement components are described. This overview elucidates the role of complement in inflammatory reactions in vitro and in vivo, focusing on the complement activation products, C5a, and the membrane attack complex, C5b‐9. Using several approaches, the impact of these complement components in mechanisms relevant to neutrophil recruitment is emphasized. In addition, the participation of complement in endothelial superoxide generation and its essential requirement for full expression of lung injury is demonstrated, as are the involved intracellular signal transduction pathways. Understanding the mechanisms of complement‐induced proinflammatory effects may provide a basis for future therapeutic blockade of complement and/or its activation products. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 40–48; 1998.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142061/1/jlb0040.pd

Correlates of hallucinatory experiences in the general population: an international multi-site replication study

Hallucinatory experiences can occur in both clinical and nonclinical groups. However, in previous studies of the general population, investigations of the cognitive mechanisms underlying hallucinatory experiences have yielded inconsistent results. We ran a large-scale preregistered multisite study, in which general-population participants (N = 1,394 across 11 data-collection sites and online) completed assessments of hallucinatory experiences, a measure of adverse childhood experiences, and four tasks: source memory, dichotic listening, backward digit span, and auditory signal detection. We found that hallucinatory experiences were associated with a higher false-alarm rate on the signal detection task and a greater number of reported adverse childhood experiences but not with any of the other cognitive measures employed. These findings are an important step in improving reproducibility in hallucinations research and suggest that the replicability of some findings regarding cognition in clinical samples needs to be investigated

Item-specific overlap between hallucinatory experiences and cognition in the general population: A three-step multivariate analysis of international multi-site data

Hallucinatory experiences (HEs) can be pronounced in psychosis, but similar experiences also occur in nonclinical populations. Cognitive mechanisms hypothesized to underpin HEs include dysfunctional source monitoring, heightened signal detection, and impaired attentional processes. Using data from an international multisite study on non-clinical participants (N = 419), we described the overlap between two sets of variables - one measuring cognition and the other HEs - at the level of individual items. We used a three-step method to extract and examine item-specific signal, which is typically obscured when summary scores are analyzed using traditional methodologies. The three-step method involved: (1) constraining variance in cognition variables to that which is predictable from HE variables, followed by dimension reduction, (2) determining reliable HE items using split-halves and permutation tests, and (3) selecting cognition items for interpretation using a leave-one-out procedure followed by repetition of Steps 1 and 2. The results showed that the overlap between HEs and cognition variables can be conceptualized as bi-dimensional, with two distinct mechanisms emerging as candidates for separate pathways to the development of HEs: HEs involving perceptual distortions on one hand (including voices), underpinned by a low threshold for signal detection in cognition, and HEs involving sensory overload on the other hand, underpinned by reduced laterality in cognition. We propose that these two dimensions of HEs involving distortions/liberal signal detection, and sensation overload/reduced laterality may map onto psychosis-spectrum and dissociation-spectrum anomalous experiences, respectively

Landscape evolution and agricultural land salinization in coastal area: A conceptual model

International audienceSoil salinization is a major threat to agricultural lands. Among salt-affected lands, coastal areas could be considered as highly complex systems, where salinization degradation due to anthropogenic pressure and climate-induced changes could significantly alter system functioning. For such complex systems, conceptual models can be used as evaluation tools in a preliminary step to identify the main evolutionary processes responsible for soil and water salinization. This study aimed to propose a conceptual model for water fluxes in a coastal area affected by salinity, which can help to identify the relationships between agricultural landscape evolution and actual salinity. First, we conducted field investigations from 2012 to 2016, mainly based on both soil (EC1/5) and water (ECw) electrical conductivity survey. This allowed us to characterize spatial structures for EC1/5 and ECw and to identify the river as a preponderant factor in land salinization. Subsequently, we proposed and used a conceptual model for water fluxes and conducted a time analysis (1962-2012) for three of its main constitutive elements, namely climate, river, and land systems. When integrated within the conceptual model framework, it appeared that the evolution of all constitutive elements since 1962 was responsible for the disruption of system equilibrium, favoring overall salt accumulation in the soil root zone

Synergistic Enhancement of Chemokine Generation and Lung Injury by C5a or the Membrane Attack Complex of Complement

Complement plays an important role in many acute inflammatory responses. In the current studies it was demonstrated that, in the presence of either C5a or sublytic forms of the complement-derived membrane attack complex (MAC), rat alveolar macrophages costimulated with IgG immune complexes demonstrated synergistic production of C-X-C (macrophage inflammatory protein-2 and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant) and C-C (macrophage inflammatory protein-1α and monocyte chemoattractant-1) chemokines. In the absence of the costimulus, C5a or MAC did not induce chemokine generation. In in vivo studies, C5a and MAC alone caused limited or no intrapulmonary generation of chemokines, but in the presence of a costimulus (IgG immune complexes) C5a and MAC caused synergistic intrapulmonary generation of C-X-C and C-C chemokines but not of tumor necrosis factor α. Under these conditions increased neutrophil accumulation occurred, as did lung injury. These observations suggest that C5a and MAC function synergistically with a costimulus to enhance chemokine generation and the intensity of the lung inflammatory response

Minimally invasive anterior muscle-sparing versus a transgluteal approach for hemiarthroplasty in femoral neck fractures-a prospective randomised controlled trial including 190 elderly patients

Abstract Background The relevance of femoral neck fractures (FNFs) increases with the ageing of numerous societies, injury-related decline is observed in many patients. Treatment strategies have evolved towards primary joint replacement, but the impact of different approaches remains a matter of debate. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the benefit of an anterior minimally-invasive (AMIS) compared to a lateral Hardinge (LAT) approach for hemiarthroplasty in these oftentimes frail patients. Methods Four hundred thirty-nine patients were screened during the 44-months trial, aiming at the evaluation of 150 patients > 60 yrs. of age. Eligible patients were randomised using an online-tool with completely random assignment. As primary endpoint, early mobility, a predictor for long-term outcomes, was evaluated at 3 weeks via the “Timed up and go” test (TUG). Secondary endpoints included the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), pain, complications, one-year mobility and mortality. Results A total of 190 patients were randomised; both groups were comparable at baseline, with a predominance for frailty-associated factors in the AMIS-group. At 3 weeks, 146 patients were assessed for the primary outcome. There was a reduction in the median duration of TUG performance of 21.5% (CI [− 41.2,4.7], p = 0.104) in the AMIS-arm (i.e., improved mobility). This reduction was more pronounced in patients with signs of frailty or cognitive impairment. FIM scores increased on average by 6.7 points (CI [0.5–12.8], p = 0.037), pain measured on a 10-point visual analogue scale decreased on average by 0.7 points (CI: [− 1.4,0.0], p = 0.064). The requirement for blood transfusion was lower in the AMIS- group, the rate of complications comparable, with a higher rate of soft tissue complications in the LAT-group. The mortality was higher in the AMIS-group. Conclusion These results, similar to previous reports, support the concept that in elderly patients at risk of frailty, the AMIS approach for hemiarthroplasty can be beneficial, since early mobilisation and pain reduction potentially reduce deconditioning, morbidity and loss of independence. The results are, however, influenced by a plethora of factors. Only improvements in every aspect of the therapeutic chain can lead to optimisation of treatment and improve outcomes in this growing patient population. Trial registration www.clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01408693 (registered August 3rd 2011)

Mechanisms of Enhanced Lung Injury during Sepsis

A major complication in sepsis is progressively impaired lung function and susceptibility to intrapulmonary infection. Why sepsis predisposes the lung to injury is not clear. In the current studies, rats were rendered septic by cecal ligation/puncture and evaluated for increased susceptibility to injury after a direct pulmonary insult (deposition of IgG immune complexes or airway instillation of lipopolysaccharide). By itself, cecal ligation/puncture did not produce evidence of lung injury. However, after a direct pulmonary insult, lung injury in septic animals was significantly enhanced. Enhanced lung injury was associated with increased accumulation of neutrophils in lung, enhanced production of CXC chemokines (but not tumor necrosis factor-α) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, and increased expression of lung vascular intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Complement depletion or treatment with anti-C5a abolished all evidence of enhanced lung injury in septic animals. When stimulated in vitro, bronchoalveolar lavage macrophages from septic animals had greatly enhanced CXC chemokine responses as compared with macrophages from sham-operated animals or from septic animals that had been complement depleted. These data indicate that the septic state causes priming of lung macrophages and suggest that enhanced lung injury in the septic state is complement dependent and related to increased production of CXC chemokines