Reduced Phagocytic Capacity of Blood Monocyte/Macrophages in Tuberculosis Patients Is Further Reduced by Smoking.

Tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco use are two major alarming global health issues posing immense threats to human populations. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) by activation of macrophages could induce the sequences of cells activation and releases of inflammatory cytokines such as CXCL-8, Il-12 and TNF-α which in turn induces the immune system network. However no information is available on other activity of cells by MTB and smoking. In the current study we aimed to investigate the serum levels TNF-a, CXCL-8 and phagocytosis capacity in tuberculosis patients with and without smoking. 103 subjects entered the study including 61 new diagnosed pulmonary TB patients (23 smokers and 38 nonsmokers) and 42 control healthy subjects. The phagocytosis of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) in blood monocytes/macrophages through flowcytometry was assessed. Serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 were analyzed by ELISA methods. A lower percentage of cells from TB patients who smoked [50.29% (43.4-57.2), p<0.01] took up FITC-dextran after 2h compared to non-smoking TB subjects [71.62% (69.2-74.1)] and healthy cases [97.45% (95.9-99.1). Phagocytic capacity was inversely correlated with cigarette smoking as measured by pack years (r=-0.73, p<0.001). The serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 were significantly higher in the TB patients who smoked compared to the TB non-smoker group (p<0.001, p<0.01 respectively). Blood monocytes/macrophages from TB patients have reduced phagocytic capacity which is further reduced in TB patients who smoke. Smoking enhanced serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 suggesting a greater imbalance between the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors in these patients

Comparison of gait biomechanics in patients with and without knee osteoarthritis during different phases of gait

Background: This study aimed to characterise knee adduction angles (KAA) and knee adduction moments (KAM) and compare this with foot centre of pressure (COP) in volunteers with and without knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A total of 108 participants were recruited; 84 had no known pathology, 18 had medial knee OA, and six had lateral knee OA. Linear regression was used to determine correlations between the normalised COP, KAM, and KAA during each phase of gait for all participants. Results: The first phase of gait demonstrated significant differences between groups for all measures: KAA in all phases, COP in phases one and two, and KAM in phase one only. Conclusion: The largest mechanical changes are seen in the first phase of gait in osteoarthritic patients. Although COP is an easy to measure tool, it is not as sensitive as KAA and did not demonstrate a significant difference between healthy and medial OA patient

Large deflection of functionally graded porous beams based on a geometrically exact theory with a fully intrinsic formulation

Peer reviewedPostprin

The Baryon Content of Extremely Low Mass Dwarf Galaxies

We investigate the gas content and baryonic Tully-Fisher relationship for extremely low luminosity dwarf galaxies in the absolute magnitude range -13.5 > Mr > -16. The sample is selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and consists of 101 galaxies for which we have obtained follow-up HI observations using the Arecibo Observatory and Green Bank Telescope. This represents the largest homogeneous sample of dwarfs at low luminosities with well-measured HI and optical properties. The sample spans a range of environments, from dense groups to truly isolated galaxies. The average neutral gas fraction is f_gas=0.6, significantly exceeding that of typical gas-rich galaxies at higher luminosities. Dwarf galaxies are therefore less efficient at turning gas into stars over their lifetimes. The strong environmental dependence of the gas fraction distribution demonstrates that while internal processes can reduce the gas fractions to roughly f_gas=0.4, external processes are required to fully remove gas from a dwarf galaxy. The average rotational velocity of our sample is vrot=50 km/s. Including more massive galaxies from the literature, we fit a baryonic Tully-Fisher slope of M_baryon \propto vrot^(3.70+/- 0.15). This slope compares well with CDM models that assume an equal baryon to dark matter ratio at all masses. While gas stripping or other processes may modify the baryon to dark matter ratio for dwarfs in the densest environments, the majority of dwarf galaxies in our sample have not preferentially lost significant baryonic mass relative to more massive galaxies.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Data available at http://www.ociw.edu/~mgeha/researc

Birmingham Mid-Head Resection Periprosthetic Fracture.

Total hip arthroplasty in the young leads to difficult choices in implant selection. Until recently bone conserving options were not available for younger patients with deficient femoral head bone stock. The novel Birmingham Mid-Head Resection (BMHR) device offers the option of bone conserving arthroplasty in spite of deficient femoral head bone stock. Femoral neck fracture is a known complication of standard resurfacing arthroplasty and is the most common reason for revision. It is unknown whether this remains to be the case for the BMHR neck preserving implants. We report a case of a 57-year-old male, who sustained a periprosthetic fracture following surgery with a BMHR arthroplasty. This paper illustrates the first reported case of a BMHR periprosthetic fracture. The fracture pattern is spiral in nature and reaches to the subtrochanteric area. This fracture pattern is different from published cadaveric studies, and clinicians using this implant should be aware of this as revision is likely to require a distally fitting, rather than a metaphyseal fitting stem. We have illustrated the surgical technique to manage this rare complication

What triggers galaxy transformations? The environments of post-starburst galaxies

(abridged) There are good observational reasons to believe that the progenitors of red galaxies have undergone starbursts, followed by a post-starburst phase. We investigate the environments of post-starburst galaxies by measuring \textsl{(1)} number densities in $8 h^{-1} \mathrm{Mpc}$ radius comoving spheres, \textsl{(2)} transverse distances to nearest Virgo-like galaxy clusters, and \textsl{(3)} transverse distances to nearest luminous-galaxy neighbors. We compare the post-starburst galaxies to currently star-forming galaxies identified solely by A-star excess or \Halpha emission. We find that post-starburst galaxies are in the same kinds of environments as star-forming galaxies; this is our ``null hypothesis''. More importantly, we find that at each value of the A-star excess, the star-forming and post-starburst galaxies lie in very similar distributions of environment. The only deviations from our null hypothesis are barely significant: a slight deficit of post-starburst galaxies (relative to the star-forming population) in very low-density regions, a small excess inside the virial radii of clusters, and a slight excess with nearby neighbors. None of these effects is strong enough to make the post-starburst galaxies a high-density phenomenon, or to argue that the starburst events are primarily triggered by external tidal impulses (e.g., from close passages of massive galaxies). The small excess inside cluster virial radii suggests that some post-starbursts are triggered by interactions with the intracluster medium, but this represents a very small fraction of all post-starburst galaxies.Comment: ApJ in pres

Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Scorpion Stings in Ahwaz, Southwest Iran (2006-2010)

Background: Scorpion sting is a health problem in the world including tropical regions of Iran as in rural region of Khuzestan province. Therefore appropriate diagnosis and treatment has a special aspect. The aim of present study was to evaluation of demographic status and clinical aspect of scorpion sting patient due to better prevention and treatment and diagnosis.Methods: This survey done by analyzing medical records of patients suffered from scorpion sting, hospitalize in Razi hospital in Khuzestan province (southwest of Iran) among 2006-2010. Patient information have been extracted and inserted in the inquiry form and data were analyzed by SPSS software.Results: In the present study 1922 patients have been studied. Proportion of females stung by scorpion to male was 1.29 to 1. Place of sting were mostly trunk (693 cases =36.05%) and remains were on other part of body. About 419 persons (21.8 %) have come to hospital about 6-24 hours after being stung and 708 people (36.83 %) came there in less than 6 hours. Most sting (41.2 %) were at night time and other were at daylight. 1308 persons were stung by an unknown black and yellow scorpion and 614 cases (31.94%) by scorpion known as Hemiscorpius lepturus. 708 persons of patients (39.83%) have been suffered from hemoglobinoria , 709 persons (39.88%) were suffered from coagulation dysfunction. Totally 508 persons of patients (26.43%) received blood products. 36 of patients were died, of which 24 cases (1.24%) were female and 12 patients (0.62%) were male. most of patients (1842 cases  95.83%) were hospitalized 1-2 days.Conclusion: In this survey, Patients at the emergency units showed signs of local and systemic effects, 36 patients were died. We propose that public awareness and physician readiness combined with the availability of effective antivenom has potential value in reducing complications and lethality in scorpion envenomation

First insight into the drug resistance pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Dohuk, Iraq: Using spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR to characterize multidrug resistant strains

SummaryThe objectives of this study were to determine drug resistance pattern in new and previously treated tuberculosis (TB) patients, to assess function of TB control program, and to characterize multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) by molecular fingerprinting methods. Anti-micorbial susceptibility testing (AST) to the first line anti-TB drugs was performed on Löwenstein–Jensen (middlebrook 7H10) medium according to the proportion method. Molecular fingerprinting of all MDR strains was performed by spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR. Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were isolated from 53 Iraqi patients with pulmonary TB. Thirty eight patients (71.7%) tested cases, and 15 (28.3%) were previously treated. Four of the 38 new cases (10.5%) had resistant, of which 3 (7.9%) were MDR. Eight (53.3%) of the 15 previously treated patients had resistant strains, of which 7 (46.7%) were MDR. Spoligotyping of MDR strains showed CAS family (40%) as the predominant genotype. Using MIRU-VNTR typing, all isolates had a unique profile. MDR-TB prevalence is higher among previously treated patients than among the new cases. The many drug resistant strains, in absence of evidence of recent transmission and in combination with the many previously treated cases, highlight the need for an improved control program, coupled with a need to improve detection rate and early diagnosis of MDR-TB

Cross-correlation Weak Lensing of SDSS Galaxy Clusters III: Mass-to-light Ratios

We present measurements of the excess mass-to-light ratio measured aroundMaxBCG galaxy clusters observed in the SDSS. This red sequence cluster sample includes objects from small groups with masses ranging from ~5x10^{12} to ~10^{15} M_{sun}/h. Using cross-correlation weak lensing, we measure the excess mass density profile above the universal mean \Delta \rho(r) = \rho(r) - \bar{\rho} for clusters in bins of richness and optical luminosity. We also measure the excess luminosity density \Delta l(r) = l(r) - \bar{l} measured in the z=0.25 i-band. For both mass and light, we de-project the profiles to produce 3D mass and light profiles over scales from 25 kpc/ to 22 Mpc/h. From these profiles we calculate the cumulative excess mass M(r) and excess light L(r) as a function of separation from the BCG. On small scales, where \rho(r) >> \bar{\rho}, the integrated mass-to-light profile may be interpreted as the cluster mass-to-light ratio. We find the M/L_{200}, the mass-to-light ratio within r_{200}, scales with cluster mass as a power law with index 0.33+/-0.02. On large scales, where \rho(r) ~ \bar{\rho}, the M/L approaches an asymptotic value independent of cluster richness. For small groups, the mean M/L_{200} is much smaller than the asymptotic value, while for large clusters it is consistent with the asymptotic value. This asymptotic value should be proportional to the mean mass-to-light ratio of the universe . We find /b^2_{ml} = 362+/-54 h (statistical). There is additional uncertainty in the overall calibration at the ~10% level. The parameter b_{ml} is primarily a function of the bias of the L <~ L_* galaxies used as light tracers, and should be of order unity. Multiplying by the luminosity density in the same bandpass we find \Omega_m/b^2_{ml} = 0.02+/-0.03, independent of the Hubble parameter.Comment: Third paper in a series; v2.0 incorporates ApJ referee's suggestion