Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis - a rare type of a rare disease

Introduction: Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare disease (0.4 in 100,000) with a still highly debated aetiology - either a reactive or a neoplastic process. It is most commonly divided into single-system and multisystem disease. The pulmonary form is part of the former group and occurs mostly in adolescent and adult smokers (2nd through 4th decade of life).Aim: The aim of this report is to provide more clinical data of one rarely documented disorder.Materials and Methods: We present a 42-year-old male patient with a respiration-associated pain of unknown origin. His physical examination was unremarkable. A CT scan was indicated, revealing multiple thin-walled cystic lesions and multiple small nodules in the pulmonary parenchyma, predominantly in the middle and upper lung segments, which was suggestive of pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Through a video assisted thoracoscopy, several of the nodules were resected and sent for biopsy.Results: The patient was discharged on the day after the operation. The biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Since systemic corticosteroids were contraindicated in this particular case, the patient was counseled to cease smoking. On the follow-up CT a tendency for a reversal of the condition was observed.Conclusion: The pulmonary form of Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare disease, most commonly seen in relatively young smokers with non-specific presentation. The biopsy is the only definitive diagnostic procedure. The disease may resolve spontaneously or after smoking cessation. In more severe cases corticosteroids, chemotherapy or lung transplantation may be considered

Clinical cases of pulmonary tuberculosis as a result of TNF antagonist therapy

През последните 12 години антагонистите на TNF са били успешно използвани за лечение на много пациенти страдащи от хронични възпалителни заболявания. Това лечение увеличава риска от туберкулоза до 25 пъти. Дължи се на факта, че TNF и TNF-рецепторите играят важна роля в медиирането на имунния отговор при остри и хронични възпаления. Ето защо всички пациенти, на които предстои подобно лечение трябва да бъдат подложени на стриктна оценка за изключване на активна и латентна туберкулозна инфекция. През 2010 г. беше публикуван консенсус на TBNET, озаглавен „Рискът от туберкулоза, свързан с лечение с TNF антагонисти`.В изложението са представени два случая на белодробна туберкулоза, които са наблюдавани в хода на провеждано лечение с TNF антагонисти при болни с доказани възпалителни заболявания на червата.During the past 12 years TNF antagonists have been successfully used for the treatment of many patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases. This treatment increases the risk of tuberculosis up to 25 times. This is due to the fact that TNF and TNF-receptors play an important role in mediating the immune response in acute and chronic inflammation. Therefore all patients undergoing such treatment should be subject to rigorous assessment to exclude active and latent tuberculosis infection. In 2010 a TBNET consensus was published entitled "The risk of tuberculosis related to TNF therapies." In this article we present two cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, which were observed in the course of an ongoing treatment with TNF antagonists in patients with proven inflammatory bowel disease

Soil Contamination in Forest and Industrial Regions of Bulgaria

Based on systematic data from 1988 to 2015, the main sources of soil contamination in forest and industrial areas of Bulgaria were presented. The processes of soil acidification and eutrophication as well as accumulation of heavy metals in forest and industrial soils were analysed. The content of heavy metals in soils, pasture grasses and medicinal plants from two National Parks—Central Balkan and Pirin, as well as from two Natural Parks—Bulgarka and Strandzha was also reported. Data on heavy metals accumulation in leaves of tree species in some industrial areas of the country were presented as well. Soil and plant contamination with heavy metals were estimated according to the applied criteria of ICP Forests

Pretensioned BFRP reinforced concrete beams : flexural behaviour and estimation of initial prestress losses

Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) are becoming a popular reinforcement option for RC elements mainly due to good strength to weight ratio and resistance to corrosion. The main limitation for their wider application is their relatively low Young’s modulus, which results in unfavourable serviceability performance, in terms of early development of deflections and cracks. Among others, prestressing has been suggested as one of the possible approaches to addressing this issue, with encouraging results from research conducted so far. This experimental study aimed to explore prestress losses of basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) reinforced pretensioned concrete beams. Five beams were produced, three of them internally reinforced with 6mm diameter BFRP bars, pretensioned to 20%, 30% and 40% of the ultimate load level of prestress. Additionally, two beams, acting as control samples, were reinforced with unprestressed BFRP and steel bars of same cross-sectional area, respectively. The dimensions of all samples were 125x200x1900 mm. Prestress losses were monitored with the aid of strain gauges attached to the reinforcing bars, as well as load cells. The strain readings were continuously taken during the pretensioning process, from initial application of the prestressing force, during casting and curing of concrete, until releasing of the beams from prestressing devices after curing. Ultimately, all samples were subjected to a quasi-static, load-controlled, four-point bending test until destruction. The results provide the information about the flexural behaviour of pretensioned BFRP reinforced beams, along with insight into some of the initial prestress losses of these elements

Bioorthogonal labeling reveals different expression of glycans in mouse hippocampal neuron cultures during their development

The following are available online. Scheme S1: Synthesis of peracetylated azidomannose (Ac4ManNAz); Scheme S2: Alternative synthesis of GlcNAz using chloroacetic anhydride and NaOH as a base; Scheme S3: Synthesis of peracetylated azidofucose (Ac4FucAz); Figure S1: 1H-NMR spectra of ManNAz (D2O, 300 MHz); Figure S2: 1H-NMR spectra of Ac4ManNAz (CDCl3 , 300 MHz), mixture of anomers; Figure S3: HPLC chromatogram of purified Ac4ManNAz showing the two anomers; Figure S4: 1H-NMR spectra of GlcNAz (D2O, 300MHz); Figure S5: 1H-NMR spectra of Ac4GlcNAz (CDCl3 , 300 MHz), mixture of anomers; Figure S6: HPLC chromatogram of purified Ac4GlcNAz showing the two anomers; Figure S7: 1H-NMR spectra of 6-azido-1,2,3,4-tetra-O-acetyl-6-deoxy-α,β-L-galactopyranose Ac4FucAz (CDCl3 , 300 MHz): mixture of anomers; Table S1: Primer sequences used in qRT-PCR.The expression of different glycans at the cell surface dictates cell interactions with their environment and other cells, being crucial for the cell fate. The development of the central nervous system is associated with tremendous changes in the cell glycome that is tightly regulated. Herein, we have employed biorthogonal Cu-free click chemistry to image temporal distribution of different glycans in live mouse hippocampal neurons during their maturation in vitro. We show development-dependent glycan patterns with increased fucose and decreased mannose expression at the end of the maturation process. We also demonstrate that this approach is biocompatible and does not affect glycan transport although it relies on an administration of modified glycans. The applicability of this strategy to tissue sections unlocks new opportunities to study the glycan dynamics under more complex physiological conditions.This research was funded by the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under grant agreement n.º 668983—FoReCaST, by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, under the Grant Agreement number 739572–The Discoveries CTR, and the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

Turning I into me: Imagining your future self.

A widely endorsed belief is that perceivers imagine their present selves using a different representational format than imagining their future selves (i.e., near future=first-person; distant future=third-person). But is this really the case? Responding to the paucity of work on this topic, here we considered how temporal distance influences the extent to which individuals direct their attention outward or inward during a brief imaginary episode. Using a non-verbal measure of visual perspective taking (i.e., letter-drawing task) our results confirmed the hypothesized relation between temporal distance and conceptions of the self. Whereas simulations of an event in the near future were dominated by a first-person representation of the self, this switched to a third-person depiction when the event was located in the distant future. Critically, this switch in vantage point was restricted to self-related simulations. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered