Intra-articular knee haemangioma originating from the anterior cruciate ligament: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Synovial haemangioma is a rare intra-articular benign tumour, which may arise from any synovium-lined surface, but particularly in the knee joint. Synovial haemangioma originating from the anterior cruciate ligament has not been reported previously.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 34-year-old man presented with a history of intermittent knee pain, locking and swelling.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Knee intra-articular haemangioma, a very rare benign tumour, is often misdiagnosed. Magnetic resonance imaging is effective in detecting this lesion and should be performed in cases of persistent knee swelling and pain.</p

Selective IgA Deficiency

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency is the most common primary immunodeficiency defined as decreased serum level of IgA in the presence of normal levels of other immunoglobulin isotypes. Most individuals with IgA deficiency are asymptomatic and identified coincidentally. However, some patients may present with recurrent infections of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, allergic disorders, and autoimmune manifestations. Although IgA is the most abundant antibody isotype produced in the body, its functions are not clearly understood. Subclass IgA1 in monomeric form is mainly found in the blood circulation, whereas subclass IgA2 in dimeric form is the dominant immunoglobulin in mucosal secretions. Secretory IgA appears to have prime importance in immune exclusion of pathogenic microorganisms and maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Despite this critical role, there may be some compensatory mechanisms that would prevent disease manifestations in some IgA-deficient individuals. In IgA deficiency, a maturation defect in B cells to produce IgA is commonly observed. Alterations in transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor gene appear to act as disease-modifying mutations in both IgA deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency, two diseases which probably lie in the same spectrum. Certain major histocompatibility complex haplotypes have been associated with susceptibility to IgA deficiency. The genetic basis of IgA deficiency remains to be clarified. Better understanding of the production and function of IgA is essential in elucidating the disease mechanism in IgA deficiency

Intraspecies Variation in the Emergence of Hyperinfectious Bacterial Strains in Nature

Salmonella is a principal health concern because of its endemic prevalence in food and water supplies, the rise in incidence of multi-drug resistant strains, and the emergence of new strains associated with increased disease severity. Insights into pathogen emergence have come from animal-passage studies wherein virulence is often increased during infection. However, these studies did not address the prospect that a select subset of strains undergo a pronounced increase in virulence during the infective process- a prospect that has significant implications for human and animal health. Our findings indicate that the capacity to become hypervirulent (100-fold decreased LD50) was much more evident in certain S. enterica strains than others. Hyperinfectious salmonellae were among the most virulent of this species; restricted to certain serotypes; and more capable of killing vaccinated animals. Such strains exhibited rapid (and rapidly reversible) switching to a less-virulent state accompanied by more competitive growth ex vivo that may contribute to maintenance in nature. The hypervirulent phenotype was associated with increased microbial pathogenicity (colonization; cytotoxin production; cytocidal activity), coupled with an altered innate immune cytokine response within infected cells (IFN-β; IL-1β; IL-6; IL-10). Gene expression analysis revealed that hyperinfectious strains display altered transcription of genes within the PhoP/PhoQ, PhoR/PhoB and ArgR regulons, conferring changes in the expression of classical virulence functions (e.g., SPI-1; SPI-2 effectors) and those involved in cellular physiology/metabolism (nutrient/acid stress). As hyperinfectious strains pose a potential risk to human and animal health, efforts toward mitigation of these potential food-borne contaminants may avert negative public health impacts and industry-associated losses

Event deposits associated with tsunamis and their sedimentary structure in Holocene marsh deposits on the east coast of the Shima Peninsula, central Japan

In Japan, many earthquakes have occurred during historic times. Many tsunamis caused by these earthquakes are recorded in ancient documents. Some researchers have studied tsunami deposits in lake and marsh sediments in coastal areas of Japan. However there are only very few st udies on tsunami deposits at the Kii Peninsula. The coastal area of this peninsula faces the Nankai Trough. Tsunamis triggered by great Tokai and/or Tonankai Earthquakes (M ≥ 8), whose source is distributed along the Nankai Trough, have been causing serious damage to this area. We examined some cores related to some eve nt deposits (sand layers) possibly caused by the Tokai and/or Tonankai Earthquakes. Studied cores (A0-6, B1, P1-2) were excavated at the coastal marsh in the east side of the Kii Peninsula. In this marsh deposits, some researchers reported diatom, foraminifera, radiocarbon age and general lithofacies. We summarized these previous studies and carried out detailed lithofacies descriptions and additional radiocarbon dating to elucidate paleoenvironments of the studied area and origin of sand layers. Tempor al changes of Holocene depositional environments of the studied area were elucidated as follow: Around 7,000 cal yr BP, marine (inner bay) environment; ca. 6,500-3,000 cal yr BP, freshwater marsh; ca. 3,000-1,000 cal yr BP, influence of marine water to the marsh; after ca. 1,000 cal yr BP, fresh-water marsh; the Edo Period- the beginning of the Showa Period, the paddy cultivation in studied marsh; After the beginning of the Showa Period, fresh-water marsh (stopping of the paddy cultivation). Lithofacies and distribution of event deposits strongly s uggested that sand layers were formed by tsunamis.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Modified high performance concentric nebulizer for inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

The high performance triple-tube concentric nebulizer (HPCN) was modified and evaluated for sample introduction into inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) at liquid flow rates of 0.25 to 0.8 mL min -1. The acceptable liquid flow rate for the use of HPCN was extended by replacing the tapered center capillary tube of the nebulizer (i.d./o.d.: 50 μm/150 μm) with a large bore tube (i.d./o.d.: 110 μm/170 μm). The nebulization efficiency was much improved by reducing the inner diameter of the nebulizer nozzle from 250 μm to 200 μm. At a liquid flow rate of 0.8 mL min -1 and a nebulizer gas flow rate of 1 L min -1, the Sauter mean diameter (D 3,2) of the primary aerosol generated by the modified HPCN was 3.4 μm, and over 90% (v/v) of the aerosol droplets were below 10 μm in diameter. The D 3,2 value was smaller than those generated by conventional nebulizers, Meinhard nebulizer type C (8.2 μm), Glass Expansion Conikal nebulizer (15.8 μm), SeaSpray (14.8 μm), and MiraMist (5.6 μm). The amount of the tertiary aerosol of the modified HPCN generated through a non-baffled cyclone chamber was approximately 1.8 to 3.1 times higher than those of the other nebulizers, with similar size distributions. The sensitivity in ICP-OES with the modified HPCN was 1.5- to 3.2-fold higher than those with the other nebulizers when the liquid flow rates were the same. The plasma robustness estimated from the commonly used ratio Mg(ii)/Mg(i) was the same or slightly better than that of the conventional nebulizers. The HPCN also showed a good tolerance to high total dissolved solids (TDS) using 20% NaCl solution. Validation of the modified HPCN was performed by a recovery test of spiked seawater and analyzing the NMIJ CRM 7502-a white rice flour. The observed values for the ten elements Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Cd were in good agreement with their certified values. We concluded the modified HPCN is a very useful nebulizer for ICP-OES with good performance at a large range of sample flow rates. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry