Cerebellar hemorrhage after resection of frontal meningioma: Case report

Introduction: Remote cerebellar hemorrhage is an infrequent complication, potentially harmful with an unclear etiologic mechanism. There may be incriminated multiple risk factors: arterial hypertension, use of antiplatelet medication (Aspenter), CSF aspiration or drainage associated with intracranial hypotension. Material and methods: We present a 69 year old woman with remote intracerebral hemorrhage that occurred after frontal parasagittal meningioma resection. Results: An inadequate oral hydration was responsible for decreased level of consciousness, cerebellar and parietal-occipital cortical-sub-cortical contra-lateral hemorrhages. Close monitoring of water balance and adequate hydration is related to clinical improvement and resolution of brain imaging. Conclusion: Retraction of the brain due to intracranial hypotension led to some small vessels rupture and development of remote cerebellar hemorrhage

Degradation of earth’s dams under the effect of climate change

The paper presents a summary analysis of the phenomena of the degradation of earth dams by the action of changing climate conditions in the eastern part of Romania. Climate change over the last 30 years has led to hydrological risks in the hydrographic network, represented by rapid, frequent flash floods over short periods of time. The floods are due to the uneven distribution of rainfall over the year. The floods are concentrated in a short time and have a very high intensity. This is a major cause of the degradation of dams. Most damage occurs due to floods associated with structural faults, mechanical faults, or hydraulic faults. This situation is confirmed by the events that have taken place over the last 30 years at a series of earth dams in Suceava county (eg. Crujana, Grănicești, Horodnic etc.). The destructive actions were manifested by structural degradations to the dam body, to the large water drain, to the bottom emptying, to the drainage system, etc. In order to prevent adverse events, the term "safety" of hydrotechnical constructions must be taken into account at all stages of the design, execution and operation work. In order to prevent possible accidents that could occur through a dam failure, tests and models shall be carried out in specialized programs

Design of GNSS networks for monitoring earth dams deformations

The paper presents a series of results regarding the application of GNSS technology for measuring displacements to earth dams. An appropriate horizontal and vertical deformation-tracking network must be established for the rapid monitoring of earthmoving movements. Data obtained from the monitoring network can be used in the earth dam stability analysis program. Periodic tracking of earth dams using GNSS technology provides high accuracy of spatial distortions. The results of the paper show the application of GNSS technology to monitor the deformations of the Podisu earth dam located on the Sheep Valley River in Iasi County. In the first stage of research (2019 and 2020), the local geodetic tracking network was created. To monitor the dam, four control landmarks were placed on the crest of dam and seven landmarks on the downstream slope. In the second stage of the research (year 2021) the measurements of the displacements at the earth dam were performed. The GNSS monitoring method has the advantage of positioning the target quickly, statically, and with high accuracy. The measurements used fixed stations located at two points in the local geodetic network. Four Trimble GNSS receivers were used for the measurements. The resulting data was processed using the Trimble Business Centre program. The obtained results were analysed in comparison with those existing in the design documentation and technical expertise of the dam. The results highlight the presence of displacements on the crest of a dam and slopes of the dam. The final findings highlight the performance of GNSS technology in the monitoring process, where it provides millimetre-accurate accuracy with high spatial and temporal accuracy

Influence of the physical properties on the antibacterial and photocatalytic behavior of Ag-doped indium sulfide film deposited by spray pyrolysis

Spray pyrolysis was used to deposit indium sulfide (In2S3) films, with or without silver doping. The films are polycrystalline, and the inclusion of Ag in the In2S3 structure leads to the formation of a solid solution, with the crystallite size of the order of tens of nanometers. In2S3 films exhibit a semiconductive behavior, and the incorporation of Ag leads to an increase of the charge carrier concentration, enhancing the electrical conductivity of the films. The small polaron hopping mechanism, deduced by the fittings according to the double Jonscher variation, explains the evolution of the direct current (dc) conductivity at high temperature of the Ag-doped indium sulfide. From impedance spectroscopy, it was found that the doped film presents dielectric relaxation, and Nyquist diagrams indicate the importance of the grain and the grain boundaries’ contributions to the transport phenomena. The physical characteristics of the films have an influence on the photocatalytic performance, achieving photodegradation efficiency above 80% (85.5% in the case of Ag doping), and on the antibacterial activity. The obtained results indicate that indium sulfide films are good candidates for environmental and biological applications, confirming a multifunctional nature.Part of this work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UIDB/04650/2020”. D.C. and I.G. acknowledge the structural funds project PRO-DD (POS-CCE, O.2.2.1., ID123, SMIS 2637, ctr. no 11/2009) for providing some of the infrastructure used in this work. Part of this work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1209, within PNCDI III

Tantalum oxynitride thin films: Assessment of the photocatalytic efficiency and antimicrobial capacity

Tantalum oxynitride thin films have been deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering, using a fixed proportion reactive gas mixture (85% N2 + 15% O2). To produce the films, the partial pressure of the mixture in the working atmosphere was varied. The characteristics of the produced films were analyzed from three main perspectives and correspondent correlations: the study of the bonding states in the films, the efficiency of photo-degradation, and the antibacterial/antibiofilm capacity of the coatings against Salmonella. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy results suggest that nitride and oxynitride features agree with a constant behavior relative to the tantalum chemistry. The coatings deposited with a higher reactive gas mixture partial pressure exhibit a significantly better antibiofilm capacity. Favorable antibacterial resistance was correlated with the presence of dominant oxynitride contributions. The photocatalytic ability of the deposited films was assessed by measuring the level of degradation of an aqueous solution containing methyl orange, with or without the addition of H2O2, under UV or VIS irradiation. Degradation efficiencies as high as 82% have been obtained, suggesting that tantalum oxynitride films, obtained in certain configurations, are promising materials for the photodegradation of organic pollutants (dyes).This research was supported by FEDER through the COMPETE Program and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Project PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2011. Daniel Cristea, Camelia Gabor, Ioana Ghiuta, and Catalin Croitoru acknowledge the structural funds project PRO-DD (POSCCE, O.2.2.1., ID 123, SMIS 2637, ctr. no 11/2009) for providing some of the infrastructure used in this work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Falls predict acute hospitalization in Parkinson's disease

Background: There is a need for identifying risk factors for hospitalization in Parkinson's disease (PD) and also interventions to reduce acute hospital admission. Objective: To analyze the frequency, causes, and predictors of acute hospitalization (AH) in PD patients from a Spanish cohort. Methods: PD patients recruited from 35 centers of Spain from the COPPADIS-2015 (COhort of Patients with PArkinson's DIsease in Spain, 2015) cohort from January 2016 to November 2017, were included in the study. In order to identify predictors of AH, Kaplan-Meier estimates of factors considered as potential predictors were obtained and Cox regression performed on time to hospital encounter 1-year after the baseline visit. Results: Thirty-five out of 605 (5.8%) PD patients (62.5±8.9 years old; 59.8% males) presented an AH during the 1-year follow-up after the baseline visit. Traumatic falls represented the most frequent cause of admission, being 23.7% of all acute hospitalizations. To suffer from motor fluctuations (HR [hazard ratio] 2.461; 95% CI, 1.065-5.678; p = 0.035), a very severe non-motor symptoms burden (HR [hazard ratio] 2.828; 95% CI, 1.319-6.063; p = 0.008), falls (HR 3.966; 95% CI 1.757-8.470; p = 0.001), and dysphagia (HR 2.356; 95% CI 1.124-4.941; p = 0.023) was associated with AH after adjustment to age, gender, disease duration, levodopa equivalent daily dose, total number of non-antiparkinsonian drugs, and UPDRS-IIIOFF. Of the previous variables, only falls (HR 2.998; 95% CI 1.080-8.322; p = 0.035) was an independent predictor of AH. Conclusion: Falls is an independent predictor of AH in PD patients

Elevated urine BMP phospholipids in LRRK2 and VPS35 mutation carriers with and without Parkinson's disease

Participant demographic and clinical characteristics, and urine BMP phospholipid levels. For each participant, sample collection site is provided as: BCN (Barcelona), VIE (Vienna), DND (Dundee), or SSB (San Sebastian). Also provided are age at study participation, age at PD diagnosis (where applicable), sex (M, for male, and F, for female), experimental group (control, iPD –idiopathic PD –, LRRK2 G2019S, LRRK2 R1441G/C, VPS35 D620N, GBA, or other), and PD status (NMC for non-manifesting mutation carriers, or PD). Values for all measured BMP species presented as ng of BMP per mg of creatinine are provided. Additionally, urine creatinine (mg/ml) and non-normalized BMP levels are provided. BQL designates BMP levels that were below quantification level and NM designates values that were not measured for a particular individual

R1441G but not G2019S mutation enhances LRRK2 mediated Rab10 phosphorylation in human peripheral blood neutrophils

Heterozygous gain-of-kinase function variants in LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) cause 1–2% of all cases of Parkinson’s disease (PD) albeit with incomplete and age-dependent penetrance. All pathogenic LRRK2 mutations reside within the two catalytic domains of LRRK2—either in its kinase domain (e.g. G2019S) with modest effect or its ROC-COR GTPase domain (e.g. R1441G/H) with large effect on LRRK2 kinase activity. We have previously reported assays to interrogate LRRK2 kinase pathway activity in human bio-samples measuring phosphorylation of its endogenous substrate Rab10, that mirrors LRRK2 kinase activation status. Here, we isolated neutrophils from fresh peripheral blood from 101 participants including 42 LRRK2 mutation carriers (21 with the G2019S and 21 with the R1441G mutations), 27 patients with idiopathic PD, and 32 controls. Using a dual approach, LRRK2 dependent Rab10 phosphorylation at Threonine 73 (pRab10(Thr73)) was measured by quantitative multiplexed immunoblotting for pRab10(Thr73)/total Rab10 as well as targeted mass-spectrometry for absolute pRab10(Thr73) occupancy. We found a significant over fourfold increase in pRab10(Thr73) phosphorylation in carriers of the LRRK2 R1441G mutation irrespective of clinical disease status. The effect of the LRRK2 G2019S mutation did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, we show that LRRK2 phosphorylation at Serine 935 is not a marker for LRRK2 kinase activity in human neutrophils. When analysing pRab10(Thr73) phosphorylation in post-mortem brain samples, we observed overall high variability irrespective of clinical and LRRK2 mutation status and attributed this mainly to the adverse effect of the peri- and post-mortem period on the stability of posttranslational modifications such as protein phosphorylation. Overall, in vivo LRRK2 dependent pRab10(Thr73) phosphorylation in human peripheral blood neutrophils is a specific, robust and promising biomarker for significant LRRK2 kinase hyperactivation, as with the LRRK2 R1441G mutation. Additional readouts and/or assays may be needed to increase sensitivity to detect modest LRRK2 kinase activation, as with the LRRK2 G2019S mutation. Our assays could be useful for patient stratification and target engagement studies for LRRK2 kinase inhibitors. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00401-021-02325-z