29 research outputs found
Primary extrahepatic alveolar echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) of human being caused by Echinococcus multilocularis is a rare but important zoonosis especially in tempered zones of middle Europe and Northern America with endemic character in many countries. Due to the long incubation period, various clinical manifestations, critical prognosis, and outcome AE presents a serious and severe disease. The primary focus of infection is usually the liver. Although secondary affection of visceral organs is possible extrahepatic AE is highly uncommon. Moreover, the involvement of bone and muscle presents with an even lower incidence. In the literature numerous cases on hepatic AE have been reported. However, extrahepatic AE involving bones and/or muscles was described very rarely. We report a case of an 80-year-old man with primary extrahepatic alveolar Echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle. The etiology, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, treatment options and outcome of this rare disease are discussed in context with the current literature
Slow dynamics, aging, and glassy rheology in soft and living matter
We explore the origins of slow dynamics, aging and glassy rheology in soft
and living matter. Non-diffusive slow dynamics and aging in materials
characterised by crowding of the constituents can be explained in terms of
structural rearrangement or remodelling events that occur within the jammed
state. In this context, we introduce the jamming phase diagram proposed by Liu
and Nagel to understand the ergodic-nonergodic transition in these systems, and
discuss recent theoretical attempts to explain the unusual,
faster-than-exponential dynamical structure factors observed in jammed soft
materials. We next focus on the anomalous rheology (flow and deformation
behaviour) ubiquitous in soft matter characterised by metastability and
structural disorder, and refer to the Soft Glassy Rheology (SGR) model that
quantifies the mechanical response of these systems and predicts aging under
suitable conditions. As part of a survey of experimental work related to these
issues, we present x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) results of the
aging of laponite clay suspensions following rejuvenation. We conclude by
exploring the scientific literature for recent theoretical advances in the
understanding of these models and for experimental investigations aimed at
testing their predictions.Comment: 22 pages, 5 postscript figures; invited review aricle, to appear in
special issue on soft matter in Solid State Communication
Reexamination of Quantum Bit Commitment: the Possible and the Impossible
Bit commitment protocols whose security is based on the laws of quantum
mechanics alone are generally held to be impossible. In this paper we give a
strengthened and explicit proof of this result. We extend its scope to a much
larger variety of protocols, which may have an arbitrary number of rounds, in
which both classical and quantum information is exchanged, and which may
include aborts and resets. Moreover, we do not consider the receiver to be
bound to a fixed "honest" strategy, so that "anonymous state protocols", which
were recently suggested as a possible way to beat the known no-go results are
also covered. We show that any concealing protocol allows the sender to find a
cheating strategy, which is universal in the sense that it works against any
strategy of the receiver. Moreover, if the concealing property holds only
approximately, the cheat goes undetected with a high probability, which we
explicitly estimate. The proof uses an explicit formalization of general two
party protocols, which is applicable to more general situations, and a new
estimate about the continuity of the Stinespring dilation of a general quantum
channel. The result also provides a natural characterization of protocols that
fall outside the standard setting of unlimited available technology, and thus
may allow secure bit commitment. We present a new such protocol whose security,
perhaps surprisingly, relies on decoherence in the receiver's lab.Comment: v1: 26 pages, 4 eps figures. v2: 31 pages, 5 eps figures; replaced
with published version; title changed to comply with puzzling Phys. Rev.
regulations; impossibility proof extended to protocols with infinitely many
rounds or a continuous communication tree; security proof of decoherence
monster protocol expanded; presentation clarifie
Choque cardiogénico secundario a taquicardia supraventricular en embarazo: reporte de caso
Physiological control of muscle mass in humans during resistance exercise, disuse and rehabilitation
Immune Function and Muscle Adaptations to Resistance exercise in Older Adults: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Nutritional Supplement
BACKGROUND: Immune function may influence the ability of older adults to maintain or improve muscle mass, strength, and function during aging. Thus, nutritional supplementation that supports the immune system could complement resistance exercise as an intervention for age-associated muscle loss. The current study will determine the relationship between immune function and exercise training outcomes for older adults who consume a nutritional supplement or placebo during resistance training and post-training follow-up. The supplement was chosen due to evidence suggesting its ingredients [arginine (Arg), glutamine (Gln), and β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB)] can improve immune function, promote muscle growth, and counteract muscle loss. METHODS/DESIGN: Veterans (age 60 to 80 yrs, N = 50) of the United States military will participate in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of consumption of a nutritional supplement or placebo during completion of three study objectives: 1) determine if 2 weeks of supplementation improve immune function measured as the response to vaccination and systemic and cellular responses to acute resistance exercise; 2) determine if supplementation during 36 sessions of resistance training boosts gains in muscle size, strength, and function; and 3) determine if continued supplementation for 26 weeks post-training promotes retention of training-induced gains in muscle size, strength, and function. Analyses of the results for these objectives will determine the relationship between immune function and the training outcomes. Participants will undergo nine blood draws and five muscle (vastus lateralis) biopsies so that the effects of the supplement on immune function and the systemic and cellular responses to exercise can be measured. DISCUSSION: Exercise has known effects on immune function. However, the study will attempt to modulate immune function using a nutritional supplement and determine the effects on training outcomes. The study will also examine post-training benefit retention, an important issue for older adults, usually omitted from exercise studies. The study will potentially advance our understanding of the mechanisms of muscle gain and loss in older adults, but more importantly, a nutritional intervention will be evaluated as a complement to exercise for supporting muscle health during aging. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02261961, registration date 10 June 2014, recruitment active