Giant cell myocarditis. Report of a case

The authors report a case of giant cell myocarditis leading to rapidly progressive cardiac failure despite immuno-suppressor treatment in a 20 year old woman. The cardiac failure was successfully managed by implantation of a left ventricular assist device and then cardiac transplantation. The problems encountered underline the importance of accurate diagnosis by endomyocardial biopsy before undertaking treatment and the difficulties in the choice of appropriate method of assistance in this indication. Giant cell myocarditis is a rare cause of cardiac failure and should be considered in the differential diagnosis in view of its clinical features and risk of progression. The literature and the therapeutic implications are discussed.     

Oral malodor in dogs: measurement using a sulfide monitor

In 28 dogs, oral malodor was assessed organoleptically (0-3 scale) and by measurement of volatile sulfur components (VSC), using two positions ('intraoral' and 'tooth surface') for sampling VSC. Significant correlations were found between: intraoral and tooth surface VSC collection positions (p < 0.0001) and between organoleptic and tooth surface VSC data (p < 0.0001). VSC measurement is a sensitive, repeatable and non-subjective method of assessing oral malodor in dogs.     

A method for improving classification reliability of multilayerperceptrons

Criteria for evaluating the classification reliability of a neural classifier and for accordingly making a reject option are proposed. Such an option, implemented by means of two rules which can be applied independently of topology, size, and training algorithms of the neural classifier, allows one to improve the classification reliability. It is assumed that a performance function P is defined which, taking into account the requirements of the particular application, evaluates the quality of the classification in terms of recognition, misclassification, and reject rates. Under this assumption the optimal reject threshold value, determining the best trade-off between reject rate and misclassification rate, is the one for which the function P reaches its absolute maximum. No constraints are imposed on the form of P, but the ones necessary in order that P actually measures the quality of the classification process. The reject threshold is evaluated on the basis of some statistical distributions characterizing the behavior of the classifier when operating without reject option; these distributions are computed once the training phase of the net has been completed. The method has been tested with a neural classifier devised for handprinted and multifont printed characters, by using a database of about 300000 samples. Experimental results are discussed.     

Peritoneal healing after fibrin glue application: a comparative study in a rat model

The influence of fibrin glue on adhesion formation and peritoneal healing is evaluated in a prospective, randomized, controlled study. In all, 20 Wistar rats underwent microsurgical suturing of two silicone sheets, one covered with a fibrin glue barrier, to the anterior peritoneum. Each animal thus served as its own control. After 10 days, adhesions and peritoneal healing were evaluated by a blinded observer through a second-look laparotomy. Adhesions were scored using a modification of the classification of Diamond. Tissue around the silicone sheet was examined histologically and by scanning electron microscopy to evaluate the inflammatory reaction and peritoneal healing (ingrowth of blood vessels and quality of peritoneal cells). Adhesion scores for treated and control sides were (mean +/- SD) 2.89 +/- 4.68 and 6.79 +/- 9.09 (P = 0.181) respectively, and the percentage of the sheet covered by peritoneum was 26.25 +/- 31.50 and 29.21 +/- 40.21 (P = 0.226) respectively. Using the paired Wilcoxon rank test, the P values for the ingrowth of blood vessels and peritoneal healing evaluated by histology and scanning electron microscopy were 0.842, 0.692 and 0.695 respectively. We conclude that although the mean adhesion score was reduced by > 50% by fibrin glue, there is no statistically significant difference concerning adhesion formation or peritoneal healing with the use of fibrin glue.     

Primary cell culture of human type II pneumonocytes: maintenance of a differentiated phenotype and transfection with recombinant adenoviruses

Studies of the regulation of surfactant lipoprotein metabolism and secretion and surfactant protein gene expression have been hampered by the lack of a cell culture system in which the phenotypic properties of type II cells are maintained. We have developed a primary culture system that facilitates the maintenance of a number of morphologic and biochemical properties of type II pneumonocytes for up to 2 wk. Cells were isolated by collagenase digestion of midgestation human fetal lung tissue that had been maintained in organ culture in the presence of dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP) for 5 days. The isolated cells were enriched for epithelial components by treatment with DEAE-dextran, plated on an extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, and incubated at an air/liquid interface in a minimal amount of culture medium containing Bt2cAMP. The cell cultures were comprised of islands of round epithelial-like cells containing numerous dense osmiophilic granules, surrounded by sparse spindle-shaped cells with the appearance of fibroblasts. Ultrastructural examination revealed that the osmiophilic granules had the appearance of lamellar bodies, the distinguishing feature of type II pneumonocytes. Additionally, the cultures maintained elevated levels of SP-A gene expression for up to 2 wk. The expression of mRNAs encoding SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C were regulated in the cultured cells by glucocorticoids and cyclic AMP in a manner similar to that observed in fetal lung tissue in organ culture. The differentiated phenotype was most apparent when the cells were cultured at an air/liquid interface. In order to utilize the cultured type II cells for study of the effects of overexpression of various proteins and for promoter analysis, it is of essence to transfect DNA constructs into these cells with high efficiency. Unfortunately, we found the cells to be refractory to efficient transfer of DNA using conventional methods (i.e., lipofection, electroporation, or calcium phosphate-mediated transfection). However, replication-defective recombinant human adenoviruses were found to provide a highly efficient means of introducing DNA into the type II pneumonocytes. Furthermore, we observed in type II cell-enriched cultures infected with recombinant adenoviruses containing the lacZ gene under control of a cytomegalovirus promoter, that beta-galactosidase was expressed uniformly in the islands of type II cells and surrounding fibroblasts. By contrast, in cultures infected with recombinant adenoviruses containing the human growth hormone (hGH) gene under control of the SP-A gene promoter and 5'-flanking region, hGH was expressed only in the type II cells. Thus, this culture system provides an excellent means for identifying genomic elements that mediate type II cell-specific gene expression.     

The effects of retinol on in vitro immunoglobulin synthesis by cord blood and adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells

In this study we examined the effects of retinol (ROH), a metabolic precursor of retinoic acid (RA), on Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC)-induced immunoglobulin synthesis of cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) and adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). ROH augmented SAC-induced IgM synthesis of CBMC by 5.9 +/- 1.5-fold (n = 7, mean +/- s.d.), and IgG synthesis of adult PBMC by 16.3 +/- 5.1-fold (n = 3) at optimal concentrations of 10(-6) M and 10(-11) M, respectively. No augmenting effects could be demonstrated for the other immunoglobulin isotypes. Time-course studies showed that the synthesis of IgM by CBMC was accelerated with detectable immunoglobulin in supernatant fluids starting on day 3. ROH augmented immunoglobulin synthesis of CBMC stimulated by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a T cell-independent polyclonal activator, and of EBV-transformed B cell clones (2.5 +/- 0.2 and 4.1 +/- 1.5-fold increase, respectively), which suggests that ROH can act directly on B cells to enhance immunoglobulin synthesis. In contrast, when ROH was preincubated with cord blood T cells, washed and added to the B cell-enriched fraction with SAC, no increase (0.9-1.8-fold) in IgM synthesis was obtained. Thus, the principal mechanism(s) by which ROH augments immunoglobulin synthesis is by acting on B cells. This is in contrast to the immunoglobulin-enhancing effects of RA which is mediated by T cells, or T cell products, e.g. cytokine. Our studies suggest that RA and ROH may have different pathways of immunoglobulin-enhancing effects, perhaps mediated by different retinoid binding proteins resulting in gene activation and immunoglobulin synthesis.     

Loudness balance between acoustic and electric stimulation by a patient with a multichannel cochlear implant

Estimates of loudness balance were obtained for acoustically and electrically presented 250 Hz sine signals from a patient who uses the Ineraid multichannel cochlear implant. Acoustic and electric loudness matching was possible because the patient evidenced a 25 dB HL threshold at 250 Hz in his nonimplanted ear. The level of the electrical stimulus in microamperes required for a balance of loudness grew linearly with equal increments in decibels for the acoustic stimulus. These data, in concert with the very limited data from previous studies, provide a rationale for using a logarithmic transformation of acoustic to electric intensity in signal processors for cochlear implants.     

Determining the core of journals of a research centre: The example of researchers from the Department of Rural Economy and Sociology of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique,France

This paper analyses the determination of visibility of journals in which researchers of INRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) publish. The corpus is comprised of 671 articles published over a period of four years in 258 journals. The advantage of the method applied for determining the visibility of journals is that it combines two approaches: a) bibliometric indicators (coverage by the ISI-publications and by two specific French databases) and b) experts' opinions (10 economists and sociologists). The main results are: a) There is a convergence between the opinion of the experts and «visibility» in the databases, b) The impact factor confirms the main opinions of the experts. The first journals ranked by the experts and JCR Social Sciences are the same but represent only 40 per cent of the total journals analysed. The other journals were revealed by the experts and French databases.«Whoever seeks to pass a balanced but lucid judgement on the general trends of the activity carried out by the profession to which he belongs, is liable to say either banalities or to hurt his colleagues»The notion which we retain of core is that which is successively and conjointly validated by the experts and by the major databases representative of the field.This study was financed by the Department of Rural Economy and Sociology of INRA.     

Real-time algorithms for active power measurements on PWM-basedelectric drives

Two real-time algorithms for active power measurements on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) electric drives are proposed. The former is an off-line algorithm reducing truncation error through an accurate signal period estimation and a proper window. The second is an on-line algorithm based on a low-pass IIR digital filter with an optimized transient phase. Numerical results of the metrological characterization of such algorithms, aimed to suggest criteria for their use, are presented. The experimental results of tests carried out on an actual drive confirm numerical simulations and are in perfect agreement with those of a well-acclaimed algorithm