The Electrical-Thermal Switching in Carbon Black-Polymer Composites as a Local Effect

Following the lack of microscopic information about the intriguing well-known electrical-thermal switching mechanism in Carbon Black-Polymer composites, we applied atomic force microscopy in order to reveal the local nature of the process and correlated it with the characteristics of the widely used commercial switches. We conclude that the switching events take place in critical interparticle tunneling junctions that carry most of the current. The macroscopic switched state is then a result of a dynamic-stationary state of fast switching and slow reconnection of the corresponding junctions.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures,Typographic correctio

Hepatic Iron Overload following Liver Transplantation from a C282Y/H63D Compound Heterozygous Donor

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disease associated with progressive iron overload, eventually leading in some cases to damage of parenchymal organs, such as the liver, pancreas, and heart. Although the gene had been identified (HFE), HH pathogenesis remains to be fully elucidated. We report here, for the first time, a case of inadvertent transplantation of a liver from a donor with C282Y/H63D compound heterozygosity into a nonhemochromatotic 19-year-old Caucasian male recipient with primary sclerosing cholangitis. Progressive iron overload occurred over 1.5 years, as observed in liver biopsies and iron studies, after ruling out secondary causes of iron overload. This case strengthens the hypothesis that the liver, rather than the small intestine, plays a primary role in the maintenance of iron homeostasis

Hepatic Iron Overload following Liver Transplantation from a C282Y/H63D Compound Heterozygous Donor

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disease associated with progressive iron overload, eventually leading in some cases to damage of parenchymal organs, such as the liver, pancreas, and heart. Although the gene had been identified (HFE), HH pathogenesis remains to be fully elucidated. We report here, for the first time, a case of inadvertent transplantation of a liver from a donor with C282Y/H63D compound heterozygosity into a nonhemochromatotic 19-year-old Caucasian male recipient with primary sclerosing cholangitis. Progressive iron overload occurred over 1.5 years, as observed in liver biopsies and iron studies, after ruling out secondary causes of iron overload. This case strengthens the hypothesis that the liver, rather than the small intestine, plays a primary role in the maintenance of iron homeostasis

The Fight Against the Slime: Can We Ever Win?

Microorganisms universally attach to surface and produce extracellular matrix of polysaccharidic nature termed slime. This phenomenon is now regularly referred to as biofilm formation. Biofilm-associated infections pose a serious problem for public health because bacteria growing in a biofilm are more recalcitrant to the action of antibiotics and host defenses than cells growing in a planktonic state. In orthopedic surgery, such proprieties of biofilm made prosthesis-associated infection a devastating complication. In such a “war,” the prevention with adequate pharmacological prophylaxis, pathogen-specific treatment, and the combination antimicrobial regimens are of paramount importance. The better knowledge in PJI pathogenesis and biofilm formation, reached in these last years, is a new weapon in the armamentarium of physicians