Thyroid carcinoma with discharging sinus – a rarity: a case report

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An instability criterion for nonlinear standing waves on nonzero backgrounds

A nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with repulsive (defocusing) nonlinearity is considered. As an example, a system with a spatially varying coefficient of the nonlinear term is studied. The nonlinearity is chosen to be repelling except on a finite interval. Localized standing wave solutions on a non-zero background, e.g., dark solitons trapped by the inhomogeneity, are identified and studied. A novel instability criterion for such states is established through a topological argument. This allows instability to be determined quickly in many cases by considering simple geometric properties of the standing waves as viewed in the composite phase plane. Numerical calculations accompany the analytical results.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure

Employment Is Associated with the Health-Related Quality of Life of Morbidly Obese Persons

Published version of an article in the journal: Obesity Surgery. The original publication is available at Springerlink. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11695-010-0289-6. Open AccessBackground  We aimed to investigate whether employment status was associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a population of morbidly obese subjects. Methods  A total of 143 treatment-seeking morbidly obese patients completed the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Obesity and Weight-Loss Quality of Life (OWLQOL) questionnaires. The former (SF-36) is a generic measure of physical and mental health status and the latter (OWLQOL) an obesity-specific measure of emotional status. Multiple linear regression analyses included various measures of the HRQoL as dependent variables and employment status, education, marital status, gender, age, body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and treatment choice as independent variables. Results  The patients (74% women, 56% employed) had a mean (SD, range) age of 44 (11, 19–66) years and a mean BMI of 44.3 (5.4) kg/m2. The employed patients reported significantly higher HRQoL scores within all eight subscales of SF-36, while the OWLQOL scores were comparable between the two groups. Multiple linear regression confirmed that employment was a strong independent predictor of HRQoL according to the SF-36. Based on part correlation coefficients, employment explained 16% of the variation in the physical and 9% in the mental component summaries of SF-36, while gender explained 22% of the variation in the OWLQOL scores. Conclusion  Employment is associated with the physical and mental HRQoL of morbidly obese subjects, but is not associated with the emotional aspects of quality of life

Reliability of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Diagnosing Pregnancy-Associated Malaria in North-Eastern Tanzania.

Accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) are key aspects in averting adverse pregnancy outcomes. Microscopy is the gold standard in malaria diagnosis, but it has limited detection and availability. When used appropriately, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) could be an ideal diagnostic complement to microscopy, due to their ease of use and adequate sensitivity in detecting even sub-microscopic infections. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is even more sensitive, but it is mainly used for research purposes. The accuracy and reliability of RDTs in diagnosing PAM was evaluated using microscopy and PCR. A cohort of pregnant women in north-eastern Tanzania was followed throughout pregnancy for detection of plasmodial infection using venous and placental blood samples evaluated by histidine rich protein 2 (HRP-2) and parasite lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) based RDTs (Parascreen™) or HRP-2 only (Paracheck Pf® and ParaHIT®f), microscopy and nested Plasmodium species diagnostic PCR. From a cohort of 924 pregnant women who completed the follow up, complete RDT and microscopy data was available for 5,555 blood samples and of these 442 samples were analysed by PCR. Of the 5,555 blood samples, 49 ((proportion and 95% confidence interval) 0.9% [0.7 -1.1]) samples were positive by microscopy and 91 (1.6% [1.3-2.0]) by RDT. Forty-six (50.5% [40.5 - 60.6]) and 45 (49.5% [39.4 - 59.5]) of the RDT positive samples were positive and negative by microscopy, respectively, whereas nineteen (42.2% [29.0 - 56.7]) of the microscopy negative, but RDT positive, samples were positive by PCR. Three (0.05% [0.02 - 0.2]) samples were positive by microscopy but negative by RDT. 351 of the 5,461 samples negative by both RDT and microscopy were tested by PCR and found negative. There was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the different RDTs. Microscopy underestimated the real burden of malaria during pregnancy and RDTs performed better than microscopy in diagnosing PAM. In areas where intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy may be abandoned due to low and decreasing malaria risk and instead replaced with active case management, screening with RDT is likely to identify most infections in pregnant women and out-performs microscopy as a diagnostic tool

Competition between Replicative and Translesion Polymerases during Homologous Recombination Repair in Drosophila

In metazoans, the mechanism by which DNA is synthesized during homologous recombination repair of double-strand breaks is poorly understood. Specifically, the identities of the polymerase(s) that carry out repair synthesis and how they are recruited to repair sites are unclear. Here, we have investigated the roles of several different polymerases during homologous recombination repair in Drosophila melanogaster. Using a gap repair assay, we found that homologous recombination is impaired in Drosophila lacking DNA polymerase zeta and, to a lesser extent, polymerase eta. In addition, the Pol32 protein, part of the polymerase delta complex, is needed for repair requiring extensive synthesis. Loss of Rev1, which interacts with multiple translesion polymerases, results in increased synthesis during gap repair. Together, our findings support a model in which translesion polymerases and the polymerase delta complex compete during homologous recombination repair. In addition, they establish Rev1 as a crucial factor that regulates the extent of repair synthesis

Impaired Growth and Force Production in Skeletal Muscles of Young Partially Pancreatectomized Rats: A Model of Adolescent Type 1 Diabetic Myopathy?

This present study investigated the temporal effects of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on adolescent skeletal muscle growth, morphology and contractile properties using a 90% partial pancreatecomy (Px) model of the disease. Four week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to Px (n = 25) or Sham (n = 24) surgery groups and euthanized at 4 or 8 weeks following an in situ assessment of muscle force production. Compared to Shams, Px were hyperglycemic (>15 mM) and displayed attenuated body mass gains by days 2 and 4, respectively (both P<0.05). Absolute maximal force production of the gastrocnemius plantaris soleus complex (GPS) was 30% and 50% lower in Px vs. Shams at 4 and 8 weeks, respectively (P<0.01). GP mass was 35% lower in Px vs Shams at 4 weeks (1.24±0.06 g vs. 1.93±0.03 g, P<0.05) and 45% lower at 8 weeks (1.57±0.12 vs. 2.80±0.06, P<0.05). GP fiber area was 15–20% lower in Px vs. Shams at 4 weeks in all fiber types. At 8 weeks, GP type I and II fiber areas were ∼25% and 40% less, respectively, in Px vs. Shams (group by fiber type interactions, P<0.05). Phosphorylation states of 4E-BP1 and S6K1 following leucine gavage increased 2.0- and 3.5-fold, respectively, in Shams but not in Px. Px rats also had impaired rates of muscle protein synthesis in the basal state and in response to gavage. Taken together, these data indicate that exposure of growing skeletal muscle to uncontrolled T1DM significantly impairs muscle growth and function largely as a result of impaired protein synthesis in type II fibers

Asteroseismology and Interferometry

Asteroseismology provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Recent developments, including the first systematic studies of solar-like pulsators, have boosted the impact of this field of research within Astrophysics and have led to a significant increase in the size of the research community. In the present paper we start by reviewing the basic observational and theoretical properties of classical and solar-like pulsators and present results from some of the most recent and outstanding studies of these stars. We centre our review on those classes of pulsators for which interferometric studies are expected to provide a significant input. We discuss current limitations to asteroseismic studies, including difficulties in mode identification and in the accurate determination of global parameters of pulsating stars, and, after a brief review of those aspects of interferometry that are most relevant in this context, anticipate how interferometric observations may contribute to overcome these limitations. Moreover, we present results of recent pilot studies of pulsating stars involving both asteroseismic and interferometric constraints and look into the future, summarizing ongoing efforts concerning the development of future instruments and satellite missions which are expected to have an impact in this field of research.Comment: Version as published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Volume 14, Issue 3-4, pp. 217-36

Vitamin D deficiency causes inward hypertrophic remodeling and alters vascular reactivity of rat cerebral arterioles

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a global health problem, which can lead to several pathophysiological consequences including cardiovascular diseases. Its impact on the cerebrovascular system is not well understood. The goal of the present work was to examine the effects of VDD on the morphological, biomechanical and functional properties of cerebral arterioles. METHODS: Four-week-old male Wistar rats (n = 11 per group) were either fed with vitamin D deficient diet or received conventional rat chow with per os vitamin D supplementation. Cardiovascular parameters and hormone levels (testosterone, androstenedione, progesterone and 25-hydroxyvitamin D) were measured during the study. After 8 weeks of treatment anterior cerebral artery segments were prepared and their morphological, biomechanical and functional properties were examined using pressure microangiometry. Resorcin-fuchsin and smooth muscle actin staining were used to detect elastic fiber density and smooth muscle cell counts in the vessel wall, respectively. Sections were immunostained for eNOS and COX-2 as well. RESULTS: VDD markedly increased the wall thickness, the wall-to-lumen ratio and the wall cross-sectional area of arterioles as well as the number of smooth muscle cells in the tunica media. As a consequence, tangential wall stress was significantly lower in the VDD group. In addition, VDD increased the myogenic as well as the uridine 5'-triphosphate-induced tone and impaired bradykinin-induced relaxation. Decreased eNOS and increased COX-2 expression were also observed in the endothelium of VDD animals. CONCLUSIONS: VDD causes inward hypertrophic remodeling due to vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and enhances the vessel tone probably because of increased vasoconstrictor prostanoid levels in young adult rats. In addition, the decreased eNOS expression results in endothelial dysfunction. These morphological and functional alterations can potentially compromise the cerebral circulation and lead to cerebrovascular disorders in VDD