412 research outputs found
Twin Pregnancy with Gastroschisis in Both Twins
SUMMARYObjectiveGastroschisis is a congenital malformation characterized by an abdominal wall defect located laterally to a normal umbilicus. The cause of gastroschisis is unknown, but most authors consider it exogenous. We describe the case of a woman with a twin pregnancy in which both twins had gastroschisis.Case ReportA 17-year-old primiparous female was referred to our institution because of a twin pregnancy, with one twin diagnosed with gastroschisis at 34 weeks of gestation. Unfortunately, gastroschisis was noted in both twins, but no other anomalies were observed under level II sonographic evaluation. The twins were delivered by cesarean section at 36+weeks of gestation because of preterm labor and breech presentation of one fetus. Both twins presented with a 3-cm abdominal wall defect located to the right side of the umbilicus and a large portion of the bowel protruding that was not covered by membrane. Histopathology of the placenta revealed that the twins were diamniotic monochorionic. Chromosomal analysis of cord blood showed normal karyotype (46, XX) in both newborns.ConclusionThe cause of gastroschisis is unknown, although possible exogenous causes have been studied. The diagnosis of gastroschisis in twin pregnancy is always in late gestation. Therefore, maternal serum alpha feto-protein screening and a detailed prenatal ultrasound evaluation are recommended in multifetal pregnancies
Tunneling conductance of graphene ferromagnet-insulator-superconductor junctions
We study the transport properties of a graphene ferromagnet-insulator
superconductor (FIS) junction within the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism by
solving spin-polarized Dirac-Bogoliubov-de-Gennes equation. We find that the
retro and specular Andreev reflections in the graphene FIS junction are
drastically modified in the presence of exchange interaction and that the
spin-polarization () of tunneling current can be tuned from the positive
to negative value by bias voltage (). In the thin-barrier limit, the
conductance of a graphene FIS junction oscillates as a function of barrier
strength . Both the amplitude and phase of the conductance oscillation
varies with the exchange energy . For (Fermi energy), the
amplitude of oscillation decreases with . For ,
the amplitude of oscillation increases with , where
( is the applied electrostatic potential on
the superconducting segment of the junction). For , the
amplitude of oscillation decreases with again. Interestingly, a
universal phase difference of in exists between the
curves for and . Finally, we find that the transitions
between retro and specular Andreev reflections occur at and
, and hence the singular behavior of the conductance near
these bias voltages results from the difference in transport properties between
specular and retro Andreev reflections.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Elevated plasma level of visfatin/pre-b cell colony-enhancing factor in male oral squamous cell carcinoma patients
Objectives: Visfatin, also known as nicotiamide phosphoribosyltransferase or pre-B cell colony enhancing factor,
is a pro-inflammatory cytokine whose serum level is increased in various cancers. In this study, we investigated
whether plasma visfatin levels were altered in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The relation
ship between plasma visfatin levels and the pretreatment hematologic profile was also explored.
Study
Design: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub-
D
esign: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub-
esign: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub
jects. A total of 51 patients with OSCC and 57 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched control subjects were
studied. All study subjects were male.
Results: Plasma visfatin was found to be elevated in patients with OSCC (7.0 ± 4.5 vs. 4.8 ± 1.9 ng/ml, p = 0.002).
Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed visfatin as an independent association factor for OSCC, even after
full adjustment of known biomarkers. Visfatin level was significantly correlated with white blood cell (WBC)
count, neutrophil count, and hematocrit (all p < 0.05). In addition, WBC count, neutrophil count, and visfatin
gradually increased with stage progression, and hematocrit gradually decreased with stage progression (all p <
0.05).
Conclusion: Increased plasma visfatin levels were associated with OSCC, independent of risk factors, and were cor
related with inflammatory biomarkers. These data suggest that visfatin may act through inflammatory reactions to
play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSC
Ginsenoside-Rg1 Protects the Liver against Exhaustive Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress in Rats
Despite regular exercise benefits, acute exhaustive exercise elicits oxidative damage in liver. The present study determined the hepatoprotective properties of ginsenoside-Rg1 against exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative stress in rats. Forty rats were assigned into vehicle and ginsenoside-Rg1 groups (0.1 mg/kg bodyweight). After 10-week treatment, ten rats from each group performed exhaustive swimming. Estimated oxidative damage markers, including thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) (67%) and protein carbonyls (56%), were significantly (P < 0.01) elevated after exhaustive exercise but alleviated in ginsenoside-Rg1 pretreated rats. Furthermore, exhaustive exercise drastically decreased glutathione (GSH) content (∼79%) with concurrent decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities. However, these changes were attenuated in Rg1 group. Additionally, increased xanthine oxidase (XO) activity and nitric oxide (NO) levels after exercise were also inhibited by Rg1 pretreatment. For the first time, our findings provide strong evidence that ginsenoside-Rg1 can protect the liver against exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative damage
Oral Rg1 supplementation strengthens antioxidant defense system against exercise-induced oxidative stress in rat skeletal muscles
BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported divergent results on nutraceutical actions and free radical scavenging capability of ginseng extracts. Variations in ginsenoside profile of ginseng due to different soil and cultivating season may contribute to the inconsistency. To circumvent this drawback, we assessed the effect of major ginsenoside-Rg1 (Rg1) on skeletal muscle antioxidant defense system against exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative stress. METHODS: Forty weight-matched rats were evenly divided into control (N = 20) and Rg1 (N = 20) groups. Rg1 was orally administered at the dose of 0.1 mg/kg bodyweight per day for 10-week. After this long-term Rg1 administration, ten rats from each group performed an exhaustive swimming, and remaining rats considered as non-exercise control. Tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were surgically collected immediately after exercise along with non-exercise rats. RESULTS: Exhaustive exercise significantly (p<0.05) increased the lipid peroxidation of control group, as evidenced by elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. The increased oxidative stress after exercise was also confirmed by decreased reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG ratio) in control rats. However, these changes were completely eliminated in Rg1 group. Catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were significantly (p<0.05) increased by Rg1 in non-exercise rats, while no significant change after exercise. Nevertheless, glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities were significantly increased after exercise in Rg1 group. CONCLUSIONS: This study provide compelling evidences that Rg1 supplementation can strengthen antioxidant defense system in skeletal muscle and completely attenuate the membrane lipid peroxidation induced by exhaustive exercise. Our findings suggest that Rg1 can use as a nutraceutical supplement to buffer the exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative stress
Dynamic Transcript Profiling of Candida Albicans Infection in Zebrafish: a Pathogen-Host Interaction Study
Candida albicans is responsible for a number of life-threatening infections
and causes considerable morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients.
Previous studies of C. albicans pathogenesis have suggested several steps must
occur before virulent infection, including early adhesion, invasion, and late
tissue damage. However, the mechanism that triggers C. albicans transformation
from yeast to hyphae form during infection has yet to be fully elucidated. This
study used a systems biology approach to investigate C. albicans infection in
zebrafish. The surviving fish were sampled at different post-infection time
points to obtain time-lapsed, genome-wide transcriptomic data from both
organisms, which were accompanied with in sync histological analyses. Principal
component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the dynamic gene expression
profiles of significant variations in both C. albicans and zebrafish. The
results categorized C. albicans infection into three progressing phases:
adhesion, invasion, and damage. Such findings were highly supported by the
corresponding histological analysis. Furthermore, the dynamic interspecies
transcript profiling revealed that C. albicans activated its filamentous
formation during invasion and the iron scavenging functions during the damage
phases, whereas zebrafish ceased its iron homeostasis function following
massive hemorrhage during the later stages of infection. This was followed by
massive hemorrhaging toward the end stage of infection. Most of the immune
related genes were expressed as the infection progressed from invasion to the
damage phase. Such global, inter-species evidence of virulence-immune and iron
competition dynamics during C. albicans infection could be crucial in
understanding control fungal pathogenesis
Outcomes of patients with rodenticide poisoning at a far east poison center
BACKGROUND: Rodenticide poisoning remains a major public health problem in Asian countries. Nevertheless, very few data are available in world literature regarding the outcomes of these patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of rodenticide poisonings in our hospital and to compare these data with published reports from other international poison centers. FINDINGS: We retrospectively examined the records of 20 patients with rodenticide poisoning (8 brodifacoum, 12 bromadiolone) who were referred to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 2000 and 2011. It was found that most of the rodenticide patients were middle-aged adults. Both genders were equally affected and many patients had a past history of major depressive disorder or schizophrenia. Nevertheless, patients with bromadiolone were referred significantly sooner than patients with brodifacoum poisoning (0.1 ± 0.1 versus 5.5 ± 10.5, P < 0.001). Furthermore, it was found that patients with brodifacoum suffered higher incidences of ecchymosis (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) and hematuria (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. Laboratory analysis also demonstrated a poorer hemostatic profile of patients with brodifacoum [prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), 4.3 ± 4.8 versus 1.0 ± 0.1, P = 0.032; PT prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006; activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006] than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. At the end of analysis, no patient died of the poisoning. CONCLUSION: The favorable outcome (zero mortality rate) is comparable to the published reports from other international poison centers. Further studies are warranted
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