Acute osteomyelitis of the acetabulum induced by Staphylococcus capitis in a young athlete

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHOM) of the acetabulum is a rare condition in children and usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus. We present an 11-year-old soccer athlete who suffered from acute osteomyelitis involving the acetabulum caused by S. capitis, a normal flora of the human skin but never reported in this condition. The disease was associated with repetitive skin injuries of the knee and potential osseous microtrauma of the hip joint by frequent rigorous exercise. This unusual case suggests that osseous microtrauma of the acetabulum, in addition to repetitive skin injuries, allowed normal skin flora to colonize to the ipsilateral acetabulum, which served as a favorable niche and subsequently led to AHOM

Formation of micro-diamond by heat treatment of quenched carbonaceous composite (QCC)

In order to clarify the correlation between the structure and peak position in quenched carbonaceous composite (QCC), which shows an absorbance peak similar to the 217.5nm feature seen in the interstellar extinction curve, structural changes induced by heating were studied in situ using high resolution electron microscopy. As-prepared QCC particles composed of onion-like spherules changed into a structure with well ordered (002) fringes following heating in vacuum. In addition, formation of microdiamond of about 1 nm in diameter took place by heating at 100℃. The metamorphism is discussed based on a specific configuration of sp^3 hybridization existing on the surface of QCC particles

Far-infrared phonon-polariton dispersion probed by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

We report observations of the intensity and phase transmission spectra related to phonon-polariton propagation using coherent far-infrared radiation for a high-quality ferroelectric bismuth titanate crystal plate. In order to determine the polariton-dispersion relation, the phase delay was determined minutely as a function of the THz radiation frequency in the region between 3 and 100 cm-1. The anisotropy of polariton dispersion relation was also successfully determined on the c plate simply by switching the polarization direction of an incident beam from E∥a to E∥b. The observed polariton dispersion relations are consistently reproduced by the calculation using Kurosawa’s formula

Initial Stage of Molecular Adsorption on Si(100) and H-terminated Si(100) Investigated by UHV-STM(STM-Si(001))

We have investigated the initial stage of adsorption of a conjugated aromatic compound, 1, 4-bis[β-pyridyl-(2)-vinyl]benzene (P2VB), on the clean Si(100)-2×1 surface and the hydrogen terminated Si(100)-2×1-H surface by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We found adsorbed molecules cannot migrate on the chemically active Si(100)-2×1 surface, while they can migrate on the chemically inactive hydrogen terminated Si(100)-2×1-H surface until they are trapped to hydrogen-missing dangling bonds. On the clean Si(100)-2×1, we observed four different adsorption directions. An individual molecule appears as two or three bright spots, the brightness and distance between bright spots varying for different cases. Through structural analysis and bias-voltage-dependent STM images, we conclude that the electronic states of Si dimers modulated by the adsorbed molecules are observed instead of the molecules themselves. A simple estimation by considering only the molecular size and shape reproduces the distribution of four different kinds of adsorption structures we observed

Factors influencing the Effectiveness of Hemodilution Therapy for Patients with Ruptured Cerebral Aneurysm

We operated on 621 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to ruptured intracranial aneurysm from 1979 to 1987. All the patients were operated on within 72 hours after the rupture of aneurysm. From 1979 to 1983, 312 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysm were treated without postoperative hemodilution therapy (No-Hemodilution). From 1984 to 1987, 309 patients were treated with hemodilution therapy (Hemodilution). We have performed the hemodilution therapy for the prevention of cerebral ischemia due to vasospasm following SAH since January, 1984. Indication for the hemodilution therapy was the hematocrit value of above 30.0-33.0 % at Day 7 after onset. In the No-Hemodilution period (1979-1983), the mean value of hematocrit of 253 patients was 36.7 % and in the Hemodilution period (1984-1987) , the value of 150 patients was 31.9 %. The difference in these values is statistically significant. From the viewpoint of over-all outcome, the rate of Good Recovery was higher and that of Death was lower in the Hemodilution period (p < 0.001). 1. The correlation of the age and outcome: The mortality was higher with increasing age especially in patients over 60 years (p < 0.001). This result seemed to be due to the vulnerability of the brain by cerebral ischemia in the old age. 2. The correlation of the sites of ruptured aneurysm and outcome: In the ruptured aneurysm of the anterior cerebral artery, the mortality was higher than that of other sites (p < 0.001). Generally, the symptoms of ischemia in the anterior cerebral artery terri tory are more severe than those of other sites. By the hemodilution therapy the symptoms of ische mia in the anterior cerbral artery territory seemed to be prevented. 3. The correlation of the preoperative grade and outcome: The mortality and morbidity were higher especially in the preoperative grade (p < 0.001). In the preoperative grade Id the outcome has a tendency to be determined by the severity of cerebral vasospasm. By the hemodilution therapy the occurrence of ischemia is decreased. We conclude that the hemodilution therapy is effective for the prevention and treatment of cerebral ischemia due to vasognasm

Distinct Effects of Ketone Bodies on Down-Regulation of Cell Surface Insulin Receptor and Insulin Receptor Substrate-1 Phosphorylation in Adrenal Chromaffin Cells

ABSTRACT Treatment (м24 h) of cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells with ketoacidosis-related concentrations (м3 mM) of acetoacetate (but not ␤-hydroxybutyrate, acetone, and acidic medium) caused a time-and concentration-dependent reduction of cell surface 125 I-insulin binding by ϳ38%, with no change in the K d value. The reduction of 125 I-insulin binding returned to control nontreated level at 24 h after the washout of acetoacetate-treated cells. Acetoacetate did not increase the internalization rate of cell surface insulin receptor (IR), as measured in the presence of brefeldin A, an inhibitor of cell surface vesicular exit from the trans-Golgi network. Acetoacetate (10 mM for 24 h) lowered cellular levels of the immunoreactive IR precursor molecule (ϳ190 kDa) and IR by 22 and 28%, respectively. Acetoacetate decreased IR mRNA levels by ϳ23% as early as 6 h, producing their maximum plateau reduction at 12 and 24 h. The half-life of IR mRNA was shortened by acetoacetate from 13.6 to 9.5 h. Immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblot analysis revealed that insulin-induced (100 nM for 10 min) tyrosine-phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) was attenuated by 56% in acetoacetate-treated cells, with no change in IRS-1 level. These results suggest that chronic treatment with acetoacetate selectively down-regulated the density of cell surface functional IR via lowering IR mRNA levels and IR synthesis, thereby retarding insulin-induced activation of IRS-1

Clinical characteristics and risk factors for septic shock in patients receiving emergency drainage for acute pyelonephritis with upper urinary tract calculi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a common complication of ureteral obstruction caused by urolithiasis, and it can be lethal if it progresses to septic shock. We investigated the clinical characteristics of patients undergoing emergency drainage and assessed risk factors for septic shock.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective study was performed of 98 patients (101 events) requiring emergency drainage at our urology department for obstructive APN associated with upper urinary tract calculi from January 2003 to January 2011. Clinical characteristics were summarized, and risk factors for septic shock were assessed by logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Objective evidence of sepsis was found in 64 (63.4%) events, and 21 events (20.8%) were categorized as septic shock. Ninety-six patients recovered, but 2 patients died of septic shock. Multivariate analysis revealed that age and the presence of paralysis were independent risk factors for septic shock.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>APN associated with upper urinary tract calculi is a severe disease that should be treated with caution, particularly when risk factors are present.</p