Cerebral salt wasting following traumatic brain injury

Hyponatraemia is the most commonly encountered electrolyte disturbance in neurological high dependency and intensive care units. Cerebral salt wasting (CSW) is the most elusive and challenging of the causes of hyponatraemia, and it is vital to distinguish it from the more familiar syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Managing CSW requires correction of the intravascular volume depletion and hyponatraemia, as well as mitigation of on-going substantial sodium losses. Herein we describe a challenging case of CSW requiring large doses of hypertonic saline and the subsequent substantial benefit with the addition of fludrocortisone

Ancient mtDNA from the extinct Indian cheetah supports unexpectedly deep divergence from African cheetahs

Abstract: The Indian cheetah was hunted to extinction by the mid-20th century. While analysis of 139 bp of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has confirmed that the Indian cheetah was part of the Asiatic subspecies (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), the detailed relationships between cheetah populations remains unclear due to limited genetic data. We clarify these relationships by studying larger fragments of cheetah mtDNA, both from an Indian cheetah museum specimen and two African cheetah, one modern and one historic, imported into India at different times. Our results suggest that the most recent common ancestor of cheetah mtDNA is approximately twice as ancient as currently recognised. The Indian and Southeast African (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) cheetah mtDNA diverged approximately 72 kya, while the Southeast and Northeast African (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii) cheetah mtDNA diverged around 139 kya. Additionally, the historic African cheetah sampled from India proved to have an A. j. jubatus haplotype, suggesting a hitherto unrecognised South African route of cheetah importation into India in the 19th century. Together, our results provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between cheetah subspecies, and have important implications for the conservation of A. j. venaticus and potential reintroduction of cheetahs into India

Ancient mtDNA from the extinct Indian cheetah supports unexpectedly deep divergence from African cheetahs

Abstract: The Indian cheetah was hunted to extinction by the mid-20th century. While analysis of 139 bp of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has confirmed that the Indian cheetah was part of the Asiatic subspecies (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), the detailed relationships between cheetah populations remains unclear due to limited genetic data. We clarify these relationships by studying larger fragments of cheetah mtDNA, both from an Indian cheetah museum specimen and two African cheetah, one modern and one historic, imported into India at different times. Our results suggest that the most recent common ancestor of cheetah mtDNA is approximately twice as ancient as currently recognised. The Indian and Southeast African (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) cheetah mtDNA diverged approximately 72 kya, while the Southeast and Northeast African (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii) cheetah mtDNA diverged around 139 kya. Additionally, the historic African cheetah sampled from India proved to have an A. j. jubatus haplotype, suggesting a hitherto unrecognised South African route of cheetah importation into India in the 19th century. Together, our results provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between cheetah subspecies, and have important implications for the conservation of A. j. venaticus and potential reintroduction of cheetahs into India

Maturation in serum thyroid function parameters over childhood and puberty:results of a longitudinal study

Context: Serum thyroid hormone levels differ between children and adults, but have not been studied longitudinally through childhood. Objective: To assess changes in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormone levels over childhood and their interrelationships. Design: Cohort study. Setting: The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a population-based birth cohort. Participants: A total of 4442 children who had thyroid function measured at age 7, and 1263 children who had thyroid function measured at age 15. Eight hundred eighty-four children had measurements at both ages. Main Outcome Measures: Reference ranges for TSH, free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), their longitudinal stability, and interrelationships. Results: Children at age 7 years had a higher FT3 [6.17 pmol/L, standard deviation (SD) 0.62] than children at age 15 (5.83 pmol/L, SD 0.74); P , 0.0001 with 23.2% of children at age 7 having FT3 above the adult reference range. Higher FT3 levels at age 7 in boys (P = 0.0001) and girls (P = 0.04) were associated with attainment of a more advanced pubertal stage at age 13. TSH was positively associated with FT3 at age 7 and age 15 even after adjusting for confounders. In contrast, TSH was negatively associated with FT

Experimental and theoretical studies on sensing adenine by Ag, Au and Ag-Au bimetallic nanoparticles

46-50Experimental and theoretical studies on sensing adenine by silver, gold and silver-gold bimetallic nanoparticles are reported. UV-visible spectroscopy has been used to study the surface plasmon resonance changes. The vibrational frequencies of adenine and silver complexed adenine have been compared with the HF theoretically calculated frequencies. It is demonstrated that adenine is adsorbed on the nanometallic surfaces through chemisorption and this property can be effectively used to sense adenine