917 research outputs found
An improved method of supercharged transposed latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle for the management of a complicated lumbosacral defect
OBJECTIVE: Treatment of nonhealing wounds of lower back often poses a powerful challenge. We present one of the first
report of treatment of a lumbosacral defect with a supercharged latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle.
CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 59 yearold man with myeloma of the sacral spine who underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy and subsequently, laminectomies and placement of hardware for ongoing paresis and spine instability. Then, he developed an open wound and osteomyelitis of the spine with culture positive tuberculous granulomas. After multiple surgical debridement, he presented to our service and was treated with a single stage debridement followed by the performance of a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap based on paraspinal perforators and supercharged.
RESULTS: This solution, allowed for augmentation of blood flow to the muscle with the inferior gluteal artery, provided coverage of the defect resistant to the pressure, and simplified post-operative management of the patient.
CONCLUSIONS: Alternative treatment options, including free tissue transfer, posed difficulties in finding suitable recipient vessels near the defect, in inserting the flap so as to restore its original length without compromising blood flow, and in postoperative care of the patient. Treatment of a lumbosacral defect with a supercharged latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle may represent a milestone procedure for complicated lower spine wounds
Astrocyte function is affected by aging and not Alzheimer's disease: A preliminary investigation in hippocampi of 3xTg-AD mice
Old age is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by hippocampal impairment together with substantial changes in glial cell functions. Are these alterations due to the disease progression or are they a consequence of aging? To start addressing this issue, we studied the expression of specific astrocytic and microglial structural and functional proteins in a validated transgenic model of AD (3ĂTg-AD). These mice develop both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and initial signs of the AD-like pathology have been documented as early as three months of age. We compared male 3ĂTg-AD mice at 6 and 12 months of age with their wild-type age-matched counterparts. We also investigated neurons by examining the expression of both the microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), a neuronal structural protein, and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The latter is indeed a crucial indicator for synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis/ neurodegeneration. Our results show that astrocytes are more susceptible to aging than microglia, regardless of mouse genotype. Moreover, we discovered significant agedependent alterations in the expression of proteins responsible for astrocyte-astrocyte and astrocyte-neuron communication, as well as a significant age-dependent decline in BDNF expression. Our data promote further research on the unexplored role of astroglia in both physiological and pathological aging
Installazione di un radiometro nell'area sommitale del vulcano Etna
Le tecniche di telerilevamento satellitare e da terra per la stima della temperatura di anomalie termiche
delle superfici vulcaniche, della loro variazione nel tempo e per individuare attivitĂ parossistiche o lâinizio di
una fase di colate di lava, sono ormai entrate a far parte della sorveglianza e del monitoraggio vulcanologico
[es. Francis, 1979; Geraci et al., 1985; Lombardo et al., 2011; Spampinato et al., 2011]. I sensori in una
banda spettrale dellâinfrarosso quali radiometri e telecamere termiche, utilizzati in prossimitĂ di bocche
eruttive, hanno fornito cospicue quantitĂ di dati di temperatura della superficie di corpi magmatici (colate
laviche, laghi di lava, duomi lavici), plume vulcanici, fumarole, registrati a distanza di totale sicurezza
[Spampinato et al., 2011]. In particolare, i radiometri, sia portatili che installati in stazioni permanenti, oltre
che fornire dati da confrontare con misure geochimiche, permettono lâacquisizione di dati di temperatura ad
elevata frequenza, tali da essere messi in relazione con le misure derivate da osservazioni geofisiche quali ad
esempio il tremore sismico [es. Harris e Ripepe, 2007; Branan et al., 2008].In questo lavoro si descrivono i dettagli dellâinstallazione di una stazione radiometrica collocata
nellâarea sommitale dellâEtna in zona Belvedere, nel sito giĂ utilizzato da una stazione multiparametrica (con
sensori sismici e infrasonici) e denominato EBEL. Si descrivono anche la metodologia di trasmissione dati in
continuo, il trattamento del dato convertito in temperatura apparente nel campo di vista del radiometro, la
visualizzazione in tempo quasi reale del dato e la sua diffusione tramite WEB
A Novel Liver-targeted Testosterone Therapy for Sarcopenia in Androgen Deprived Men With Prostate Cancer.
Objective: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) reduces muscle and bone mass, increasing frailty in men with prostate cancer. The liver mediates the whole body anabolic effects of testosterone. Based on first-pass metabolism, liver-targeted testosterone treatment (LTTT) entails oral delivery of a small dose of testosterone that does not raise peripheral blood testosterone levels. LTTT reduces blood urea and stimulates protein anabolism in hypogonadal men and postmenopausal women. We investigated whether LTTT prevents loss of lean and bone mass during ADT. Method: A 6-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of testosterone 40 mg/day in 50 men. Primary outcome measures were lean mass and bone mineral content (BMC). Testosterone, urea and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were monitored. Patients were withdrawn if PSA exceeded 4 ng/mL. Results: 42 patients completed the study. Mean (95% CI) testosterone rose during LTTT but not placebo treatment [â 2.2 (1.3-3.0) vs -0.7 (-1.5 to 0.2) nmol/L; Pâ
<â
0.01]. Mean PSA level did not change significantly during either treatment. Blood urea fell [â -0.4 (-0.9 to -0.1) mmol/L] during LTTT but not placebo [â 0.05 (-0.8 to 0.9) mmol/L]. BMC [â 49 (5 to 93) g; Pâ
<â
0.02] and lean mass [â 0.8 (-0.1 to 1.7) kg; Pâ
=â
0.04) increased compared to placebo. Five patients on LTTT withdrew from increased PSA levels, all returning to baseline levels. Conclusion: LTTT shows promise as a simple therapy for preventing sarcopenia and bone loss during ADT. LTTT may induce reversible PSA rise in some patients. Further studies are required to optimize LTTT dose in ADT. LTTT has potential application in other catabolic states in men and women
The Discordance of Mass-Loss Estimates for Galactic O-Type Stars
We have determined accurate values of the product of the mass-loss rate and
the ion fraction of P^{4+}, Mdot q(P^{4+}), for a sample of 40 Galactic O-type
stars by fitting stellar-wind profiles to observations of the P V resonance
doublet obtained with FUSE, ORFEUS/BEFS, and Copernicus. When P^{4+} is the
dominant ion in the wind, Mdot q(P^{4+}) approximates the mass-loss rate to
within a factor of 2. Theory predicts that P^{4+} is the dominant ion in the
winds of O7-O9.7 stars, though an empirical estimator suggests that the range
from O4-O7 may be more appropriate. However, we find that the mass-loss rates
obtained from P V wind profiles are systematically smaller than those obtained
from fits to Halpha emission profiles or radio free-free emission by median
factors of about 130 (if P^{4+} is dominant between O7 and O9.7) or about 20
(if P^{4+} is dominant between O4 and O7). These discordant measurements can be
reconciled if the winds of O stars in the relevant temperature range are
strongly clumped on small spatial scales. We use a simplified two-component
model to investigate the volume filling factors of the denser regions. This
clumping implies that mass-loss rates determined from "density squared"
diagnostics have been systematically over-estimated by factors of 10 or more,
at least for a subset of O stars. Reductions in the mass-loss rates of this
size have important implications for the evolution of massive stars and
quantitative estimates of the feedback that hot-star winds provide to their
interstellar environments.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Photochemical R2PI study of chirality and intermolecular forces in supersonic beam
One and two-color, mass selected R2PI spectra of theS1âS0transitions in the bare(+)-(R)- 1-phenyl-1-ethanol(ER) and its complexes with different solvent molecules (solv) (-)-(R)-2-butanol(BR) or(+)-(S)-2-butanol(BS), (â)-(R)-2-pentanol (TR) or(+)-(S)-2-pentanol(TS) and(-)-(R)-2-butylamine(AR) or(+)-(S)-2-butylamine(AS), have been recorded after a supersonic molecular beam expansion. The one-color R2PI excitation spectra of the diastereomeric complexes are characterized by significant shifts of their band origin relative to that of bareER. The extent and the direction of these spectral shifts are found to depend upon the structure and the configuration ofsolvand are attributed to different short-range interactions in the ground and excited states of the complexes. In analogy with other diastereomeric complexes, the phenomenological binding energy of the homochiral cluster is found to be greater than that of the heterochiral one. Preliminary measurements of excitation spectrum of(+)-(R)-1-Indanol(IR) is also reported
Laser production of gas phase complexes of metal α-aminophosphonic acid mixtures and their role in chiral recognition
Clusters between first-group metal ions and chiralα-aminophosphonic acids have been readily generated by Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) and by Electrospray Ionization (ESI) and their fragmentation investigated by mass spectrometry. The complexes studied have the general formula[Me(I)Cl2]+, where Me(I) is H, Li, Na, or K, C is (R)-(â)-(1-aminoethyl) phosphonic acid(ER)and (S)-(+)-(1-aminoethyl) phosphonic acid(ES),(1R)-(+)-(1-amino-2-methylpropyl) phosphonic acid(PR)and (1S)-(â)-(1-amino-2-methylpropyl) phosphonic acid(PS),(1R)-(-)-(1-amino-hexyl) phosphonic acid (HR) and (1S)-(+)-(1-amino-hexyl) phosphonic acid (HS), o-phospho-L-serine (SS)ando-phospho-D-serine(SR), and L is a referenceα-aminophosphonic acid (E, P, H or S) of defined configuration. Collision induced dissociation (CID) of diastereomeric[Me(I)Cl2]+complexes leads to fragmentation patterns characterized by[Me(I)Cl]+/[Me(I)L2]+abundance ratios which depend upon the configuration of solute C. These different spectral features were correlated to the different stability of the diastereomeric[Me(I)CRL]+and[Me(I)CSL]+complexes in the gas phase
An improved method of supercharged transposed latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle for the management of a complicated lumbosacral defect
OBJECTIVE:
Treatment of non-healing wounds of lower back often poses a powerful challenge. We present one of the first report of treatment of a lumbosacral defect with a supercharged latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle.
CASE REPORT:
We report a case of a 59 year-old man with myeloma of the sacral spine who underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy and subsequently, laminectomies and placement of hardware for ongoing paresis and spine instability. Then, he developed an open wound and osteomyelitis of the spine with culture positive tuberculous granulomas. After multiple surgical debridement, he presented to our service and was treated with a single stage debridement followed by the performance of a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap based on paraspinal perforators and supercharged.
RESULTS:
This solution, allowed for augmentation of blood flow to the muscle with the inferior gluteal artery, provided coverage of the defect resistant to the pressure, and simplified post-operative management of the patient.
CONCLUSIONS:
Alternative treatment options, including free tissue transfer, posed difficulties in finding suitable recipient vessels near the defect, in inserting the flap so as to restore its original length without compromising blood flow, and in postoperative care of the patient. Treatment of a lumbosacral defect with a supercharged latissimus dorsi flap with the skin paddle may represent a milestone procedure for complicated lower spine wounds
Fine-mapping the wheat Snn1 locus conferring sensitivity to the Parastagonospora nodorum necrotrophic effector SnTox1 using an eight founder multiparent advanced generation inter-cross population
The necrotrophic fungus Parastagonospora nodorum is an important pathogen of one of the worldâs most economically important cereal crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). P. nodorum produces necrotrophic protein effectors that mediate host cell death, providing nutrients for continuation of the infection process. The recent discovery of pathogen effectors has revolutionized disease resistance breeding for necrotrophic diseases in crop species, allowing often complex genetic resistance mechanisms to be broken down into constituent parts. To date, three effectors have been identified in P. nodorum. Here we use the effector, SnTox1, to screen 642 progeny from an eight-parent multiparent advanced generation inter-cross (i.e., MAGIC) population, genotyped with a 90,000-feature single-nucleotide polymorphism array. The MAGIC founders showed a range of sensitivity to SnTox1, with transgressive segregation evident in the progeny. SnTox1 sensitivity showed high heritability, with quantitative trait locus analyses fine-mapping the Snn1 locus to the short arm of chromosome 1B. In addition, a previously undescribed SnTox1 sensitivity locus was identified on the long arm of chromosome 5A, termed here QSnn.niab-5A.1. The peak single-nucleotide polymorphism for the Snn1 locus was converted to the KASP genotyping platform, providing breeders and researchers a simple and cheap diagnostic marker for allelic state at Snn1
Low mass loss rates in O-type stars: Spectral signatures of dense clumps in the wind of two Galactic O4 stars
We have analyzed the far-UV spectrum of two Galactic O4 stars, the O4If+
supergiant HD190429A and the O4V((f)) dwarf HD96715, using archival FUSE and
IUE data. We have conducted a quantitative analysis based on the two NLTE model
atmosphere and wind codes, TLUSTY and CMFGEN. We have derived the stellar and
wind parameters and the surface composition of the two stars. The surface of
HD190429A has a composition typical of an evolved O supergiant (N-rich, C and
O-poor), while HD96715 exhibits surface N enhancement similar to the enrichment
found in SMC O dwarfs and attributed to rotationally-induced mixing. We find
that homogeneous wind models could not match the observed profile of O V1371
and require very low phosphorus abundance to fit the P V1118-1128 resonance
lines. However, we are able to match the O V and P V lines using clumped wind
models. We find that N IV1718 is also sensitive to wind clumping. For both
stars, we have calculated clumped wind models that match well all these lines
from different species and that remain consistent with Halpha data. These fits
therefore provide a coherent and thus much stronger evidence of wind clumping
in O stars than earlier claims. We find that the wind of these two stars is
highly clumped, as expressed by very small volume filling factors, namely
f=0.04 for HD190429A and f=0.02 for HD96715. In agreement with our analysis of
SMC stars, clumping starts deep in the wind, just above the sonic point. The
most crucial consequence of our analysis is that the mass loss rates of O stars
need to be revised downward significantly, by a factor of 3 and more.
Accounting for wind clumping is essential when determining the wind properties
of O stars. Our study therefore calls for a fundamental revision in our
understanding of mass loss and of O-type star winds. (abridged)Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics; 16 pages; accepted version
after minor revisio
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