Theoretical and experimental study of the orientational ordering in the field-induced intermediaite phase from the SmC*FI2 phase in chiral smectic liquid crystals

Under an electric field, chiral smectic liquid crystals transit usually to the unwound SmC* phase where the helical structure is completely unrolled. Sometimes the sample transits initially towards an intermediate polar state before the total destruction of the helix. Based on the extension of the H-T model, a theoretical study of these field-induced phase transitions was carried out. Two hypotheses of the dynamics that give rise to the appearance of the intermediate phase have been discussed. The results of a numerical analysis confirm the known experimental results; the intermediate phase has a three-layer periodicity structure

Screening of antioxidant potentials and bioactive properties of the extracts obtained from two Centaurea L. species (C. kroumirensis coss. and C. sicula L. subsp sicula)

Herbal medicines, dietary supplements, or infusions with health promoting effects can note strong consumer demand. Hence, researchers and scientists have been increasingly focusing on the promotion of medicinal plants. In this respect, the present study has the evaluation of the biological properties of different extracts (hexane, chloroform, methanol, ultrasonic, essential oil, and supercritical) obtained from two Centaurea species (C. kroumirensis (Coss.) and C. sicula L. subsp sicula) as purpose. Antioxidative activities were assessed by in vitro assays including total phenolic content, free radical scavenging assay and ferric ion reducing power. Among the fourteen extracts examined, the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant abilities were recorded in ultrasonic ethanol extracts of both Centaurea species. Additionally, these extracts exhibited a noticeable strong protective effect of the human skin fibroblast cell line (HS-68) that was exposed to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. According to our results, the sonication with ethanol might be an ideal, rapid, and eco-friendly extraction method for obtaining a polyphenol-rich extract that exhibited high antioxidant activity. The results presented herein suggest that Centaurea species could be promoted as an antioxidant resource that could be exploited for the development of nutraceuticals or in pharmacology industry

Diagnostic et prise en charge de l’hyperparathyroïdie primaire

Objectif : L’hyperparathyroïdie primaire (hPTP) est définie par la production excessive et inappropriée de parathormone (PTh). Les formes asymptomatiques et modérées sont devenues de plus en plus fréquentes. Le but de ce travail est d’étudier les caractéristiques cliniques et paracliniques de l’hPTP, de préciser les indications thérapeutiques et de les discuter en comparant nos résultats avec ceux de la littérature.Matériel et méthodes: Il s’agit d’une étude rétrospective à propos de 86 patients colligés entre Janvier 2005 et Décembre 2010. Tous les patients ont bénéficié d’un examen ORL et d’un bilan biologique comportant une calcémie et un dosage de la PTh. Le bilan radiologique comportait une échographie cervicale, une scintigraphie au MIBI et/ou une IRM cervicale.Tous les patients ont été opérés sous anesthésie générale et ont eu une cervicotomie par approche classique. La surveillance a été clinique et biologique avec un recul moyen de 16 mois (4-36 mois).Résultats : La calcémie était élevée chez 77 patients (89,5%) et la PTh chez tous les patients. Une échographie cervicale a été réalisée chez 79 patients et a montré une image en faveur d’un adénome parathyroïdien chez 37 d’entre eux (46,8%). La scintigraphie au MIBI, pratiquée chez 46 patients, a montré une hyperfixation dans 31 cas (67,4%). L’IRM aété pratiquée chez 5 patients et a révélé un adénome dans 3 cas.L’exploration chirurgicale avec examen extemporané a révélé un adénome unique chez 65 patients deux adénomes chez 12 patients, et une hypertrophie des 4 PTh chez 9 autres. Une exérèse des adénomes a été ainsi réalisée chez 77 patients et une parathyroïdectomie subtotale dans 9 cas. en post-opératoire, 12 patients (14%) ont présenté une hypocalcémietransitoire. Aucune hypocalcémie définitive ni paralysie récurrentielle n’ont été notées. L’examen anatomopathologique définitif a révélé un adénome unique, un adénome double, une hyperplasie et PTh normale respectivement chez 58, 3, 24 et 1 patients. L’évolution à long terme a été marquée par l’amélioration clinique et biologique chez 81 patients  (94,2%). Une non-amélioration clinique et biologique a été notée chez 5 patients. Ils ont été réopérés et ont eu une parathyroïdectomie subtotale. L’anatomopathologie confirmait l’hyperplasie dans tous les cas.Conclusion : Le traitement de l’hPTP symptomatique est chirurgical. L’approche classique a fait preuve de son efficacité. Les progrès récents des explorations préopératoires et le dosage peropératoire de la PTh ont rendu possible une approche mini-invasive. Des controverses persistent quant à la prise en charge de l’hPTP asymptomatique dont l’indicationthérapeutique doit être bien étudiée.Mots-clés : hyperparathyroïdie primaire, adénome, glande parathyroïde, parathormone, scintigraphie, parathyroïdectomi

L’ectopie des glandes parathyroides dans la chirurgie de l’hyperparathyroidie

Introduction : L’ectopie parathyroïdienne est la cause d’échec la plus fréquente de la chirurgie de l’hyperparathyroïdie, entrainant le plus souvent des reprises chirurgicales. Son diagnostic topographique pré-opératoire reste difficile malgré le progrès dans les différentes explorations radiologiques. Le diagnostic per-opératoire doit être guidé par une stratégie de dissection de référence. Le but de travail est d’étudier la stratégie de recherche des parathyroides lors de leur chirurgie.Matériels et méthodes : Il s’agit d’une étude rétrospective à propos de 137 patients (162 glandes parathyroïdes ectopiques) parmi 572 patients opérés d’une hyperparathyroïdie, colligés sur une période de 11 ans (Janvier 2001-Décembre 2011). Tous les patients ont bénéficié d’une imagerie pré-opératoire et ont été opérés sous anesthésie générale.Résultats : L’âge moyen était de 49 ans (11-71 ans) et le sex-ratio de 1,04. Une hyperparathyroïdie primaire était présente chez 26 patients (18,98%) et une hyperparathyroïdie secondaire à une insuffisance rénale chronique chez 111 patients (81,02%).Une cervicotomie par voie classique avec exploration des 2 loges thyroïdiennes a été réalisée dans 136 cas. Dans les cas où la parathyroïde n’a pas été retrouvée, un geste opératoire a été associé. Ce geste consistait en un curage médiastino-récurrentiel (15 cas), une thymectomie (12 cas) et une lobectomie thyroïdienne (9 cas). Un seul patient a eu une thoracotomie en chirurgie thoracique, sans abord cervical classique. Sur les 162 glandes parathyroïdes ectopiques retenues dans l’étude, 68 étaient des glandes parathyroïdes inférieures. Les localisations de celles-ci étaient par ordre de fréquence le thymus (26 cas), le ligament thyro-thymique (14 cas), le médiastin antéro-supérieur (5 cas) et la gaine carotidienne (3 cas). Vingt glandes parathyroïdes inférieures n’ont pas été retrouvées sur les 68 (29,41%). Le nombre des glandes parathyroïdes supérieures ectopiques était de 94 sur 162. Leurs localisations étaient par ordre de fréquence le pôle supérieur (33 cas), le pédicule supérieur (20 cas), la région rétro-oesophagienne (15 cas), la gaine carotidienne (11 cas), intra-thyroïdienne (5 cas) et le médiastin postéro-supérieur (2 cas). Huit glandes parathyroïdes supérieures n’ont pas été trouvées sur les 94 (8,51%). Au total, sur les 162 glandes parathyroïdes ectopiques, 28 n’ont pas été retrouvées (17,28%).Conclusion : L’imagerie est un moyen incontournable à la recherche d’une glande parathyroïde ectopique. Lorsqu’elle n’est pas retrouvée dans sa localisation habituelle, la stratégie de dissection chirurgicale doit être méthodique.Mots-clés : glande parathyroïde, ectopie, hyperparathyroïdie, imagerie, parathyroïdectomieIntroduction: The ectopic parathyroid is the most common cause of failure of hyperparathyroidism surgery, resulting often in reoperations. Its preoperative topographic diagnosis remains difficult despite advances in various imaging studies. The intraoperative diagnosis should be guided by a reference strategy of dissection.Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of 137 patients (162 ectopic parathyroid glands) among 572 patients undergoing hyperparathyroidism surgery, collected over a 11-year period (January 2001-December 2011). All patients underwent preoperative imaging and were operated under general anesthesia.Results: The mean age was 49 years (11-71 years) and the sex-ratio 1.04. Primary hyperparathyroidism was present in 26 patients (18.98%) and hyperparathyroidism secondary to chronic renal failure in 111 patients (81.02%). Cervicotomy through traditional approach with bilateral exploration was performed in 136 cases. In cases where the parathyroid was not found, a surgical procedure was performed. This act consisted in mediastinal-recurrential lymphadenectomy (15 cases), thymectomy (12 cases) and thyroid lobectomy (9 cases). One patient had a thoracotomy in thoracic surgery department without conventional cervical approach. Among the 162 ectopic parathyroid glands included in the study, 68 were inferior parathyroid glands. The locations of these were in order of frequency the thymus (26 cases), the thyro-thymic ligament (14 cases), the antero-superior mediastinum (5 cases) and the carotid sheath (3 cases). Twenty inferior parathyroid glands were not found among the 68 (29,41%). The number of ectopic superior parathyroid glands was 94 of 162. Their locations were in order of frequency the upper pole (33 cases), the superior pedicle (20 cases), the retro-esophageal region (15 cases), the carotid sheath (11 cases), intra-thyroid (5 cases) and the postero-superior mediastinum (2 cases). Eight superior parathyroid glands were not found among the 94 (8.51%). In total, among 162 ectopic parathyroid glands, 28 were not found (17,28%).Conclusion: Imaging is essential to search an ectopic parathyroid gland. When not found in its usual location, the strategy of surgical dissection should be methodical.Keywords: parathyroid gland, ectopia, hyperparathyroidism, imaging, parathyroidectom

Jellyfish stings trigger gill disorders and increased mortality in farmed sparus aurata (linnaeus, 1758) in the mediterranean sea

Jellyfish are of particular concern for marine finfish aquaculture. In recent years repeated mass mortality episodes of farmed fish were caused by blooms of gelatinous cnidarian stingers, as a consequence of a wide range of hemolytic, cytotoxic, and neurotoxic properties of associated cnidocytes venoms. The mauve stinger jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca (Scyphozoa) has been identified as direct causative agent for several documented fish mortality events both in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea aquaculture farms. We investigated the effects of P. noctiluca envenomations on the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata by in vivo laboratory assays. Fish were incubated for 8 hours with jellyfish at 3 different densities in 300 l experimental tanks. Gill disorders were assessed by histological analyses and histopathological scoring of samples collected at time intervals from 3 hours to 4 weeks after initial exposure. Fish gills showed different extent and severity of gill lesions according to jellyfish density and incubation time, and long after the removal of jellyfish from tanks. Jellyfish envenomation elicits local and systemic inflammation reactions, histopathology and gill cell toxicity, with severe impacts on fish health. Altogether, these results shows P. noctiluca swarms may represent a high risk for Mediterranean finfish aquaculture farms, generating significant gill damage after only a few hours of contact with farmed S. aurata. Due to the growth of the aquaculture sector and the increased frequency of jellyfish blooms in the coastal waters, negative interactions between stinging jellyfish and farmed fish are likely to increase with the potential for significant economic losses

Implementation of a multilayer statistical physics model to interpret the adsorption of food dyes on a chitosan film

This paper reports the application of an advanced multilayer model to study the adsorption of food dyes FD&C blue No. 2, acid red 18, FD&C red No. 2, and FD&C yellow 5 from aqueous solutions with a chitosan film. These dyes' adsorption mechanisms were discussed and analyzed at 298–328 K and pH 4–7 via statistical physics calculations. Physicochemical parameters were utilized to explain the dye adsorption at the molecular scale. Modeling results showed dye aggregation phenomena where each functional group of chitosan film adsorbed several dye molecules simultaneously at different tested temperatures. Aqueous solution temperature reduced the dye adsorption capacities, attributed to the exothermic nature of dye removal. The chitosan film was more effective for the adsorption of dye FD&C yellow 5. The estimated adsorption energies for dye-chitosan film and dye-dye interactions confirmed an exothermic physisorption associated with van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding. This study's results contributed to expanding the knowledge on the adsorption mechanisms of dye molecules using biopolymers like chitosan

Comparative Study of Human and Automated Screening for Antinuclear Antibodies by Immunofluorescence on HEp-2 Cells

Background: Several automated systems had been developed in order to reduce inter-observer variability in indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) interpretation. We aimed to evaluate the performance of a processing system in antinuclear antibodies (ANA) screening on HEp-2 cells. Patients and Methods: This study included 64 ANA-positive sera and 107 ANA-negative sera that underwent IIF on two commercial kits of HEp-2 cells (BioSystems® and Euroimmun®). IIF results were compared with a novel automated interpretation system, the “CyclopusCADImmuno®” (CAD). Results: All ANA-positive sera images were recognized as positive by CAD (sensitivity = 100%), while 17 (15.9%) of the ANA-negative sera images were interpreted as positive (specificity = 84.1%), =0.799 (SD=0.045). Comparison of IIF pattern determination between human and CAD system revealed on HEp-2 (BioSystems®), a complete concordance in 6 (9.37%) sera, a partial concordance (sharing of at least 1 pattern) in 42 (65.6%) cases and in 16 (25%) sera the pattern interpretation was discordant. Similarly, on HEp-2 (Euroimmun®) the concordance in pattern interpretation was total in 5 (7.8%) sera, partial in 39 (60.9%) and absent in 20 (31.25%). For both tested HEp-2 cells kits agreement was enhanced for the most common patterns, homogenous, fine speckled and coarse speckled. While there was an issue in identification of nucleolar, dots and nuclear membranous patterns by CAD. Conclusion: Assessment of ANA by IIF on HEp-2 cells using the automated interpretation system, the “CyclopusCADImmuno®” is a reliable method for positive/negative differentiation. Continuous integration of IIF images would improve the pattern identification by the CAD

A MAFG-lncRNA axis links systemic nutrient abundance to hepatic glucose metabolism

Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are global emergencies and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory transcripts with elusive functions in metabolism. Here we show that a high fraction of lncRNAs, but not protein-coding mRNAs, are repressed during diet-induced obesity (DIO) and refeeding, whilst nutrient deprivation induced lncRNAs in mouse liver. Similarly, lncRNAs are lost in diabetic humans. LncRNA promoter analyses, global cistrome and gain-of-function analyses confirm that increased MAFG signaling during DIO curbs lncRNA expression. Silencing Mafg in mouse hepatocytes and obese mice elicits a fasting-like gene expression profile, improves glucose metabolism, de-represses lncRNAs and impairs mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation. We find that obesity-repressed LincIRS2 is controlled by MAFG and observe that genetic and RNAi-mediated LincIRS2 loss causes elevated blood glucose, insulin resistance and aberrant glucose output in lean mice. Taken together, we identify a MAFG-lncRNA axis controlling hepatic glucose metabolism in health and metabolic disease

A MAFG-lncRNA axis links systemic nutrient abundance to hepatic glucose metabolism

Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are global emergencies and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory transcripts with elusive functions in metabolism. Here we show that a high fraction of lncRNAs, but not protein-coding mRNAs, are repressed during diet-induced obesity (DIO) and refeeding, whilst nutrient deprivation induced lncRNAs in mouse liver. Similarly, lncRNAs are lost in diabetic humans. LncRNA promoter analyses, global cistrome and gain-of-function analyses confirm that increased MAFG signaling during DIO curbs lncRNA expression. Silencing Mafg in mouse hepatocytes and obese mice elicits a fasting-like gene expression profile, improves glucose metabolism, de-represses lncRNAs and impairs mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation. We find that obesity-repressed LincIRS2 is controlled by MAFG and observe that genetic and RNAi-mediated LincIRS2 loss causes elevated blood glucose, insulin resistance and aberrant glucose output in lean mice. Taken together, we identify a MAFG-lncRNA axis controlling hepatic glucose metabolism in health and metabolic disease

Chemical characterisation and the anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antibacterial properties of date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Date fruit, Phoenix dactylifera L. has traditionally been used as a medicine in many cultures for the treatment of a range of ailments such as stomach and intestinal disorders, fever, oedema, bronchitis and wound healing. Aim of the review: The present review aims to summarise the traditional use and application of Phoenix dactylifera date fruit in different ethnomedical systems, additionally the botany and phytochemistry are identified. Critical evaluation of in vitro and in vitro studies examining date fruit in relation to anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antimicrobial activities are outlined. Key Findings: The ethnomedical use of Phoenix dactylifera in the treatment of inflammatory disease has been previously identified and reported. Furthermore, date fruit and date fruit co-products such as date syrup are rich sources of polyphenols, anthocyanins, sterols and carotenoids. In vitro studies have demonstrated that date fruit exhibits antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic activity. The recent interest in the identification of the numerous health benefits of dates using in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed that date fruit and date syrup have beneficial health effects that can be attributed to the presence of natural bioactive compounds. Conclusions: Date fruit and date syrup have therapeutic properties, which have the potential to be beneficial to health. However, more investigations are needed to quantify and validate these effects