Case report: A Stauffer’s syndrome variant associated with renal cell carcinoma and thrombocytopenia

Stauffer’s syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic manifestation of renal cell carcinoma which is characterized by elevated alkaline phosphatase, erythrocyte  sedimentation rate, -2-globulin, -glutamyl transferase,  thrombocytosis, prolongation of prothrombin time and hepatosplenomegaly, in the absence of hepatic  metastasis and jaundice. In this case report, we report a patient who was admitted with fever, fatigue,  abdominal pain, weight loss and pruritus in whom renal cell carcinoma was incidentally found in the right kidney during an initial workup.KEYWORDS: Cholestasis; Paraneoplastic syndrome; RCC; Stauffer’s syndrome; Thrombocytopeni

Concentration and localization of zinc during seed development and germination in wheat

In a field experiment, the effect of foliar Zn applications on the concentration of Zn in seeds of a bread wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Balatilla) was studied during different stages of seed development. In addition, a staining method using dithizone (DTZ: diphenyl thiocarbazone) was applied to (1) study the localization of Zn in seeds, (2) follow the remobilization of Zn during germination, and (3) develop a rapid visual Zn screening method for seed and flour samples. In all seed development stages, foliar Zn treatments were effective in increasing seed Zn concentration. The highest Zn concentration in the seeds was found in the first stage of seed development (around the early milk stage); after this, seed Zn concentration gradually decreased until maturity. When reacting with Zn, DTZ forms a redcolored complex. The DTZ staining of seed samples revealed that Zn is predominantly located in the embryo and aleurone parts of the seeds. After 36 h of germination, the coleoptile and roots that emerged from seeds showed very intensive red color formation and had Zn concentrations up to 200 mg kg1, indicating a substantial remobilization of Zn from seed pools into the developing roots (radicle) and coleoptile. The DTZ staining method seems to be useful in ranking flour samples for their Zn concentrations. There was a close relationship between the seed Zn concentrations and spectral absorbance of the methanol extracts of the flour samples stained with DTZ. The results suggest that (1) accumulation of Zn in seeds is particularly high during early seed development, (2) Zn is concentrated in the embryo and aleurone parts, and (3) the DTZ staining method can be used as a rapid, semiquantitative method to estimate Zn concentrations of flour and seed samples and to screen genotypes for their Zn concentrations in seeds

Temperature dependence of the Raman-active phonon frequencies in indium sulfide

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The temperature dependence of the Raman-active mode frequencies in indium sulfide was measured in the range from 10 to 300 K. The analysis of the temperature dependence of the A(g) intralayer optical modes show that Raman frequency shift results from the change of harmonic frequency with volume expansion and anharmonic coupling to phonons of other branches. The pure-temperature contribution (phonon-phonon coupling) is due to three- and four-phonon processes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Low temperature photoluminescence spectra of layered semiconductor TlGaS2

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of TlGaS2 layered single crystals were studied in the wavelength region 500-860 nm and in the temperature range 9.5-293 K. We observed a total of three PL bands centered at 568 nm (2.183 eV, A-band), 718 nm (1.727 eV, B-band) and 780 nm (1.590 eV, C-band) at various temperatures. We have also studied the variations of the A- and B-band intensities vs excitation laser density in the range from 7 × 10-2 to 9 W cm-2. The A- and B-bands were found to be due to radiative transitions from the deep donor levels located at 0.362 and 0.738 eV below the bottom of the conduction band to the shallow acceptor levels at 0.005 and 0.085 eV located above the top of the valence band, respectively. The proposed energy-level diagram permits us to interpret the recombination processes in TlGaS2 layered single crystals. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

Photometric, Spectroscopic and Orbital Period Study of Three Early Type Semi-detached Systems: XZ Aql, UX Her and AT Peg

In this paper we present a combined photometric, spectroscopic and orbital period study of three early-type eclipsing binary systems: XZ Aql, UX Her, and AT Peg. As a result, we have derived the absolute parameters of their components and, on that basis, we discuss their evolutionary states. Furthermore, we compare their parameters with those of other binary systems and with the theoretical models. An analysis of all available up-to-date times of minima indicated that all three systems studied here show cyclic orbital changes, their origin is discussed in detail. Finally, we performed a frequency analysis for possible pulsational behavior and as a result we suggest that XZ Aql hosts a {\delta} Scuti component.Comment: 40 pages, 16 figure

Donor-acceptor pair recombination in AgIn5S8 single crystals

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of AgIn5S8 single crystals were investigated in the 1.44-1.91 eV energy region and in the 10-170 K temperature range. The PL band was observed to be centered at 1.65 eV at 10 K and an excitation intensity of 0.97 W cm(-2). The redshift of this band with increasing temperature and with decreasing excitation intensity was observed. To explain the observed PL behavior, we propose that the emission is due to radiative recombination of a donor-acceptor pair, with an electron occupying a donor level located at 0.06 eV below the conduction band, and a hole occupying an acceptor level located at 0.32 eV above the valence band. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics

Septal perforators stemming from a very long left main coronary artery

We report a case of a very long left main coronary artery, 58mm,  with septal perforators before bifurcation. The coronary arteries were seen clear of plaques. To the best of our knowledge this case is a very rare case because of the existance of the first and the second septal perforator arteries originating from a very long left main coronary artery

Reliability and validity of the Turkish translation of the beliefs about medicines questionnaire (BMQ-T) in patients with Behçet’s disease

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish translation of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ-T, ©Prof. Rob Horne) for patients with Behçet's disease. METHODS: This methodological study enrolled a sample of 125 patients. The scale was adapted to Turkish through a process including translation, comparison with versions in other languages, back translation, and pretesting. Construct validity was evaluated by factor analysis. Medication adherence evaluated as poor, moderate and good according to the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). BMQ-T scores compared along medication adherence status groups. RESULTS: In our study, as in the original scale, the factor analysis confirmed that the BMQ-T had a four-factor structure explaining 54.73% of the total variance. The BMQ-T had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: Specific Necessity=.812; Specific Concerns=.672; General Harm=.677; General Overuse=.656), adequate test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients: Specific Necessity=.715; Specific Concerns=.680; General Harm=.678; General Overuse=.327). Specific Necessity and Specific Concerns scores were significantly different between medication adherence status groups. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties of the BMQ-T were consistent with those reported in the original study. The BMQ-T was found to be a valid and reliable tool for evaluating beliefs about medicines in patients with Behçet's disease

Infrared renormalons and single meson production in proton-proton collisions

In this article, we investigate the contribution of the higher twist Feynman diagrams to the large-$p_T$ inclusive pion production cross section in proton-proton collisions and present the general formulae for the higher twist differential cross sections in the case of the running coupling and frozen coupling approaches. The structure of infrared renormalon singularities of the higher twist subprocess cross section and the resummed expression (the Borel sum) for it are found. We compared the resummed higher twist cross sections with the ones obtained in the framework of the frozen coupling approximation and leading twist cross section. We obtain, that ratio $R$ for all values of the transverse momentum $p_{T}$ of the pion identical equivalent to ratio $r$. It is shown that the resummed result depends on the choice of the meson wave functions used in calculation. Phenomenological effects of the obtained results are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure