Rare case of gout manifesting as bilateral eyelid lesions

Gout is a systemic disease characterized by monosodium urate crystal deposition triggering inflammation throughout the body. The authors present a case of a 37-year-old female who presented with bilateral eyelid and canthal lesions. The patient had a tan spherical lesion on her left upper lid, a circumscribed flesh-colored nodule at her left medial canthus, and a more pigmented lesion at her right lateral canthus. Following complete excisional biopsy of all lesions, histopathologic analysis revealed pink fibrillary material with histiocytic reaction in all 3 lesions consistent with gout. Only 6 prior cases of eyelid or canthal tophi have been reported, and this study adds a new case to the few existing reports. The authors emphasize that gouty tophi should remain on the differential for eyelid lesions.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2020caserpt/1085/thumbnail.jp

Photoemission of a doped Mott insulator: spectral weight transfer and qualitative Mott-Hubbard description

The spectral weight evolution of the low-dimensional Mott insulator TiOCl upon alkali-metal dosing has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy. We observe a spectral weight transfer between the lower Hubbard band and an additional peak upon electron-doping, in line with quantitative expectations in the atomic limit for changing the number of singly and doubly occupied sites. This observation is an unconditional hallmark of correlated bands and has not been reported before. In contrast, the absence of a metallic quasiparticle peak can be traced back to a simple one-particle effect.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, related theoretical work can be found in arXiv:0905.1276; shortene

K-shell x-ray spectroscopy of atomic nitrogen

Absolute {\it K}-shell photoionization cross sections for atomic nitrogen have been obtained from both experiment and state-of-the-art theoretical techniques. Due to the difficulty of creating a target of neutral atomic nitrogen, no high-resolution {\it K}-edge spectroscopy measurements have been reported for this important atom. Interplay between theory and experiment enabled identification and characterization of the strong $1s$ $\rightarrow$ $np$ resonance features throughout the threshold region. An experimental value of 409.64 $\pm$ 0.02 eV was determined for the {\it K}-shell binding energy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 graphs, 1 tabl

Synthesis and biodistribution of immunoconjugates of a human IgM and polymeric drug carriers

The synthesis and purification of radiolabelled immunoconjugates, composed of a human IgM monoclonal antibody directed against an intracellular tumour-associated antigen and either poly (alpha-L-glutamic acid) (PGA) or poly[N5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-L-glutamine] (PHEG) is described. Coupling of polymers to the antibody was performed through disulfide bond formation involving a single thiol group at the C-terminus of the polymer chain and 2-pyridyldisulfide groups introduced onto the antibody. The antibody was iodinated with 131I before conjugation. The polymers contained tyrosinamide in a low degree of substitution and were radiolabelled with 125I. 125I-labelled PGA and PHEG were found to be stable for at least 3 days in murine and human plasma. The biodistribution in mice of the doubly labelled immunoconjugates was studied and was compared with the pharmacokinetics of the individual components.\ud \ud PHEG showed a relatively slow blood clearance, the half-life being approximately 10 h with low uptake in liver, kidneys and spleen. PGA was rapidly cleared from the circulation and was significantly taken up in liver, kidneys and spleen. The biodistribution of both immunoconjugates was indistinguishable from that of the IgM proper, with plasma half-lives of approximately 6 h, indicating that the pharmacokinetic properties of the immunoconjugates are largely determined by the antibody part

Sex differences in time to task failure and blood flow for an intermittent isometric fatiguing contraction

The purpose of this study was to compare the time to task failure, postcontraction hyperemia, and vascular conductance of young men and women for a submaximal intermittent fatiguing contraction performed with the handgrip muscles. Twenty men and 20 women (mean SD: 22 4 years) performed an isometric contraction at 50% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) (6-s contraction, 4-s rest) until task failure. Forearm venous occlusion plethysmography was used to estimate the peak blood flow (after 10-min occlusion) and blood flow at rest after 6-s submaximal contractions of varying intensities, and during an intermittent fatiguing contraction at 1-min intervals and task failure. The time to task failure was longer for the women compared with the men (408 205 s vs. 297 57 s, P 0.05). Postcontraction hyperemia and vascular conductance were greater for men than for women after nonfatiguing 6-s submaximal contractions performed at 20%, 40%, 50%, 60%, and 80% of MVC force (P 0.05). In contrast, hyperemia and vascular conductance were similar for both genders when measured at 50 s into the fatiguing contraction, at each minute thereafter, and at task failure. Regression analysis indicated that the rate of electromyographic activity and perceived exertion were the significant predictors of the time to task failure. The longer time to task failure for women compared with men for an intermittent fatiguing contraction with handgrip muscles was not explained by postcontraction hyperemia or vascular conductance with fatigue