Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis presenting with occipital neuralgia

Background: Although occipital neuralgia is usually caused by degenerative arthropathy, nearly 20 other aetiologies may lead to this condition.Methods: We present the first case report of hypertrophic pachymeningitis revealed by isolated occipital neuralgia.Results and conclusions: Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a plausible cause of occipital neuralgia and may present without cranial-nerve palsy. There is no consensus on the treatment for idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis, but the usual approach is to start corticotherapy and then to add immunosuppressants. When occipital neuralgia is not clinically isolated or when a first-line treatment fails, another disease diagnosis should be considered. However, the cost effectiveness of extended investigations needs to be considered.Keywords: neuralgia/pathology, meningitis, neck pain/aetiology, revie

Algorithmic statistics: forty years later

Algorithmic statistics has two different (and almost orthogonal) motivations. From the philosophical point of view, it tries to formalize how the statistics works and why some statistical models are better than others. After this notion of a "good model" is introduced, a natural question arises: it is possible that for some piece of data there is no good model? If yes, how often these bad ("non-stochastic") data appear "in real life"? Another, more technical motivation comes from algorithmic information theory. In this theory a notion of complexity of a finite object (=amount of information in this object) is introduced; it assigns to every object some number, called its algorithmic complexity (or Kolmogorov complexity). Algorithmic statistic provides a more fine-grained classification: for each finite object some curve is defined that characterizes its behavior. It turns out that several different definitions give (approximately) the same curve. In this survey we try to provide an exposition of the main results in the field (including full proofs for the most important ones), as well as some historical comments. We assume that the reader is familiar with the main notions of algorithmic information (Kolmogorov complexity) theory.Comment: Missing proofs adde

On the succinctness of query rewriting over shallow ontologies

We investigate the succinctness problem for conjunctive query rewritings over OWL2QL ontologies of depth 1 and 2 by means of hypergraph programs computing Boolean functions. Both positive and negative results are obtained. We show that, over ontologies of depth 1, conjunctive queries have polynomial-size nonrecursive datalog rewritings; tree-shaped queries have polynomial positive existential rewritings; however, in the worst case, positive existential rewritings can be superpolynomial. Over ontologies of depth 2, positive existential and nonrecursive datalog rewritings of conjunctive queries can suffer an exponential blowup, while first-order rewritings can be superpolynomial unless NP �is included in P/poly. We also analyse rewritings of tree-shaped queries over arbitrary ontologies and note that query entailment for such queries is fixed-parameter tractable

Variability in aerobic methane oxidation over the past 1.2 Myrs recorded in microbial biomarker signatures from Congo fan sediments

Methane (CH4) is a strong greenhouse gas known to have perturbed global climate in the past, especially when released in large quantities over short time periods from continental or marine sources. It is therefore crucial to understand and, if possible, quantify the individual and combined response of these variable methane sources to natural climate variability. However, past changes in the stability of greenhouse gas reservoirs remain uncertain and poorly constrained by geological evidence. Here, we present a record from the Congo fan of a highly specific bacteriohopanepolyol (BHP) biomarker for aerobic methane oxidation (AMO), 35-aminobacteriohopane-30,31,32,33,34-pentol (aminopentol), that identifies discrete periods of increased AMO as far back as 1.2 Ma. Fluctuations in the concentration of aminopentol, and other 35-aminoBHPs, follow a pattern that correlates with late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climate cycles, with highest concentrations during warm periods. We discuss possible sources of aminopentol, and the methane consumed by the precursor methanotrophs, within the context of the Congo River setting, including supply of methane oxidation markers from terrestrial watersheds and/or marine sources (gas hydrate and/or deep subsurface gas reservoir). Compound-specific carbon isotope values of −30‰ to −40‰ for BHPs in ODP 1075 and strong similarities between the BHP signature of the core and surface sediments from the Congo estuary and floodplain wetlands from the interior of the Congo River Basin, support a methanotrophic and likely terrigenous origin of the 35-aminoBHPs found in the fan sediments. This new evidence supports a causal connection between marine sediment BHP records of tropical deep sea fans and wetland settings in the feeding river catchments, and thus tropical continental hydrology. Further research is needed to better constrain the different sources and pathways of methane emission. However, this study identifies the large potential of aminoBHPs, in particular aminopentol, to trace and, once better calibrated and understood, quantify past methane sources and fluxes from terrestrial and potentially also marine sources

Tomophobia, the phobic fear caused by an invasive medical procedure - an emerging anxiety disorder: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Tomophobia refers to fear or anxiety caused by forthcoming surgical procedures and/or medical interventions.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 69-year-old Caucasian man who refused urgently indicated medical intervention because of severe tomophobia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Due to the rising number of surgical interventions in modern medicine, as well as the high number of unrecognised cases of tomophobia, this common but underdiagnosed anxiety disorder should be highlighted.</p

CDKL5 influences RNA splicing activity by its association to the nuclear speckle molecular machinery

Mutations in the human X-linked cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) gene have been shown to cause severe neurodevelopmental disorders including infantile spasms, encephalopathy, West-syndrome and an early-onset variant of Rett syndrome. CDKL5 is a serine/threonine kinase whose involvement in Rett syndrome can be inferred by its ability to directly bind and mediate phosphorylation of MeCP2. However, it remains to be elucidated how CDKL5 exerts its function. Here, we report that CDKL5 localizes to specific nuclear foci referred to as nuclear speckles in both cell lines and tissues. These sub-nuclear structures are traditionally considered as storage/modification sites of pre-mRNA splicing factors. Interestingly, we provide evidence that CDKL5 regulates the dynamic behaviour of nuclear speckles. Indeed, CDKL5 overexpression leads to nuclear speckle disassembly, and this event is strictly dependent on its kinase activity. Conversely, its down-regulation affects nuclear speckle morphology leading to abnormally large and uneven speckles. Similar results were obtained for primary adult fibroblasts isolated from CDKL5-mutated patients. Altogether, these findings indicate that CDKL5 controls nuclear speckle morphology probably by regulating the phosphorylation state of splicing regulatory proteins. Nuclear speckles are dynamic sites that can continuously supply splicing factors to active transcription sites, where splicing occurs. Notably, we proved that CDKL5 influences alternative splicing, at least as proved in heterologous minigene assays. In conclusion, we provide evidence that CDKL5 is involved indirectly in pre-mRNA processing, by controlling splicing factor dynamics. These findings identify a biological process whose disregulation might affect neuronal maturation and activity in CDKL5-related disorders