Aneurysmal Bone Cyst located in the Mandibular Condyle

A rare case of aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) located in the mandibular condyle in a 10-year-old boy is presented. The patient came to our attention for a sudden swelling in the right temporomandibular region, the mouth opening was not reduced

Posterior stability in posterior-stabilized vs medially congruent total knee replacement: A radiological comparison of two polyethylene designs in a single model:

Objective:The purpose of this radiological study was to assess the posterior laxity of a single model of a total knee arthroplasty design (TKA) having a medially constrained (MC) or a Posterior-Stabilized (PS) polyethylene insert using a well-documented stress x-ray. To the authors knowledge, this is the first report evaluating MC TKA outcomes according to the "kneeling view."Materials and Methods:Sixty patients with non-traumatic primary knee osteoarthritis undergoing TKA were first matched by age, sex, BMI and diagnosis and then divided in two groups: group A (37 knees) received a MC TKA and group B (23 knees) a PS implant made by the same manufacturer. In all cases the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) was resected. All patients underwent the same postoperative "kneeling view" and were also clinically evaluated according to the Knee Society Score (KSS) and Oxford Knee Score (OKS). Radiographic measurements were taken by tracing a line along the posterior cortex of the tibia and then measuring the perpendicular distance to a point marked at the posterior corner of Blumensaat's line.Results:At 12 months minimum FU, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in all the clinical scores. There was a statistically significant difference on kneeling view values between the two groups (P = 0.0002): the mean value in the MC group was −1.97 ± 3.8 mm while was −5.6 ± 3.1 mm in the PS group. In both groups, the average position of the posterior cortex of the tibia was anterior to the posterior corner of Blumensaat's line, showing absence of instability in flexion.Conclusion:This study highlighted that the PCL removal, accompanied by a precise surgical technique, did not increase the instability in flexion in two groups of patients having the same TKA design but polyethylene inserts characterized by different levels of constraint

First identification of porcine parvovirus 3 in a wild boar in Italy by viral metagenomics – Short communication

Metagenomic analysis revealed the presence of porcine parvovirus 3 (PPV3) in the pool of the internal organs of a wild boar found dead in Southern Italy. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete coding sequences showed that the newly detected virus is most closely related to those found also in wild boars in Romania during 2010–2011. Even though the death could not be associated with this virus, PPV3 could have contributed to lowering the host’s immunological defences

The polymorphism L412F in TLR3 inhibits autophagy and is a marker of severe COVID-19 in males

The polymorphism L412F in TLR3 has been associated with several infectious diseases. However, the mechanism underlying this association is still unexplored. Here, we show that the L412F polymorphism in TLR3 is a marker of severity in COVID-19. This association increases in the sub-cohort of males. Impaired macroautophagy/autophagy and reduced TNF/TNFα production was demonstrated in HEK293 cells transfected with TLR3L412F-encoding plasmid and stimulated with specific agonist poly(I:C). A statistically significant reduced survival at 28 days was shown in L412F COVID-19 patients treated with the autophagy-inhibitor hydroxychloroquine (p = 0.038). An increased frequency of autoimmune disorders such as co-morbidity was found in L412F COVID-19 males with specific class II HLA haplotypes prone to autoantigen presentation. Our analyses indicate that L412F polymorphism makes males at risk of severe COVID-19 and provides a rationale for reinterpreting clinical trials considering autophagy pathways. Abbreviations: AP: autophagosome; AUC: area under the curve; BafA1: bafilomycin A1; COVID-19: coronavirus disease-2019; HCQ: hydroxychloroquine; RAP: rapamycin; ROC: receiver operating characteristic; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; TLR: toll like receptor; TNF/TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements