Pericardial tamponade as the first manifestation of dermatopolymyositis

Pericardial involvement in polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) is rare, usually asymptomatic and exceptionally part of the initial presentation. We describe a 37-year-old patient hospitalized for overt acute pericarditis, revealing dermatomyositis, which to our knowledge has not been previously reported. Pericardial puncture relieved the patient. The pericardial fluid was citrine yellow, exsudative, and mainly contained lymphocytes. Search for LE cells and anti-DNA antibodies was negative, whereas the antinuclear antibodies and the rheumatoid factor were present in the pericardial fluid. A biopsy of the pericardium showed a non-specific chronic inflammatory state and the search for an etiology was negative. There was no sign of tuberculosis, systemic lupus, nor neoplasia. Moreover bacteriological cultures and HIV serology were negative. After pericardiostomy associated with corticosteroid therapy at the dose of 1 mg/kg/day, outcome was good with a resolution of the pericarditis confirmed at one-year follow-up. Since pericardial tamponade, even though rare, may be fatal in a patient with dermatomyositis, we emphasize that a two dimensional echocardiographic study should be performed in all patient presenting with dermatopolymyositis.     

Colobomatous orbital cyst associated with microphthalmos. Apropos of a case

The aims of the present study were: (1) to establish the incidence of gingival abrasion as a result of toothbrushing, using a manual and electric toothbrush; (2) to establish the influence of filament end-rounding on the incidence of gingival abrasion and the efficacy of toothbrushing; (3) to assess whether the speed of the electric brush has a feedback-effect on the brushing force used and to correlate the incidence of gingival abrasion with force. 2 experiments were carried out. In the first experiment, 50 subjects brushed for 3 weeks every other day with either a manual (Butler 411) or an electric toothbrush (Braun/Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover-D9). All received brief instructions and were asked to abstain from oral hygiene 24 hrs before their appointment. After disclosing the teeth and gums with Mira-2-Tone solution, plaque and gingival abrasion were assessed. Next, the panelists brushed in a random split-mouth order. After brushing and a second disclosing, plaque and abrasion were re-assessed. The results showed that the incidence of gingival abrasion was comparable for the manual and the D9. Using a similar design as in experiment no. 1, in experiment no. 2 a new group of 47 subjects brushed for 3 weeks alternating between the Braun/Oral-B Plaque Remover-D7 and D9. At the appointment, the subjects first brushed in a split-mouth order with the D9 with 2 different types of endrounding. Plaque and abrasion were assessed. Immediately following this brushing exercise, the subjects re-brushed with the D7 (2800 rot/min) and the D9 (3600 rot/min) during which brushing force was measured. The results of this experiment showed that endrounding has no effect on plaque removal but does effect the incidence of gingival abrasion. Brushing force is not influenced by the speed of the brushhead and no correlation with the incidence of gingival abrasion was observed. In conclusion, the results of this study show that gingival abrasion is not influenced by brushing force, but is affected by filament endrounding.     

Efficient and validated simulation of crowds for an evacuation assistant

To improve safety at mass events, an evacuation assistant that supports security services in case of emergencies is developed. One central aspect is forecasting the emergency egress of large crowds in complex buildings. This requires realistic models of pedestrian dynamics that can be simulated faster than real‐time by using methods applied in high performance computing. We give an overview of the project and present the actual results. We also describe the modeling approaches used thereby focusing on the runtime optimization and parallelization concepts. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diabetic retinopathy prediction based on deep learning and deformable registration

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most dangerous complications of diabetes. It affects the eyes causing damage to the blood vessels of the retina. Eventually,...     

Estimation of tourism-induced electricity consumption: The case study of Balearics Islands, Spain

Tourism has started to be acknowledged as a significant contributor to the increase in environmental externalities, especially to climate change. Various studies have started to estimate and compute the role of the different tourism sectors' contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These estimations have been made from a sectoral perspective, assessing the contribution of air transport, the accommodation sector, or other tourism-related economic sectors. However, in order to evaluate the impact of this sector on energy use the approaches used in the literature consider tourism in its disaggregated way. This paper assesses the electricity demand pattern and investigates the aggregated contribution of tourism to electricity consumption using the case study of the Balearic Islands (Spain). Using a conventional daily electricity demand model, including data for daily stocks of tourists the impact of the different population growth rate scenarios on electricity loads is also investigated. The results show that, in terms of electricity consumption, tourism cannot be considered a very energy-intensive sector.     

Growth and energetics of Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-1299 during metabolism of various sugars and their consequences for dextransucrase production

The metabolic and energetic properties of Leuconostoc mesenteroides have been examined with the goal of better understanding the parameters which affect dextransucrase activity and hence allowing the development of strategies for improved dextransucrase production. Glucose and fructose support equivalent specific growth rates (0.6 h-1) under aerobic conditions, but glucose leads to a better biomass yield in anaerobiosis. Both sugars are phosphorylated by specific hexokinases and catabolized through the heterofermentative phosphoketolase pathway. During sucrose-grown cultures, a large fraction of sucrose is converted outside the cell by dextransucrase into dextran and fructose and does not support growth. The other fraction enters the cell, where it is phosphorylated by an inducible sucrose phosphorylase and converted to glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) by a constitutive phosphoglucomutase and to heterofermentative products (lactate, acetate, and ethanol). Sucrose supports a higher growth rate (0.98 h-1) than the monosaccharides. When fructose is not consumed simultaneously with G-1-P, the biomass yield relative to ATP is high (16.8 mol of ATP.mol of sucrose-1), and dextransucrase production is directly proportional to growth. However, when the fructose moiety is used, a sink of energy is observed, and dextransucrase production is no longer correlated with growth. As a consequence, fructose catabolism must be avoided to improve the amount of dextransucrase synthesized.     

Frequency of improper diagnosis of hypertension

In our protocol to isolate and identify fetal cells in maternal peripheral blood, antibody (Ab)-stained cells are preserved with paraformaldehyde (PF) before batch flow cytometric sorting. However, PF fixation compromises the quality of subsequent interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We therefore examined the effect of PF concentrations and storage time in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) on the quality of FISH signals. Cells were analyzed for changes in light scatter, morphology, and accessibility of target cell DNA. Fixation in 3% PF for 1 hr was ideal for both flow cytometry and subsequent FISH detection. However, beyond 10 days of storage, FISH quality deteriorated. (J Histochem Cytochem 46:971-973, 1998)     

An epithelial serine protease activates the amiloride-sensitive sodium channel

Sodium balance, and ultimately blood pressure and extracellular fluid volume, is maintained by precise regulation of the activity of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). In a Xenopus kidney epithelial cell line (A6), exposure of the apical membrane to the protease inhibitor aprotinin reduces transepithelial sodium transport. Sodium-channel activity can be restored by subsequent exposure to the nonspecific protease trypsin. Using A6 cells and a functional complementation assay to detect increases in ENaC activity, we have cloned a 329-residue protein belonging to the serine protease family. We show that coexpression of this protein with ENaC in Xenopus oocytes increases the activity of the sodium channel by two- to threefold. This channel-activating protease (CAP1) is expressed in kidney, gut, lung, skin and ovary. Sequence analysis predicts that CAP1 is a secreted and/or glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein: ENaC activity would thus be regulated by the activity of a protease expressed at the surface of the same cell. This previously undiscovered mechanism for autocrine regulation may apply to other ion channels, in particular to members of the ENaC family that are present in neurons and epithelial cells.     

Calculating ellipse overlap areas

We present an approach for finding the overlap area between two ellipses that does not rely on proxy curves. The Gauss-Green formula is used to determine a segment area between two points on an ellipse. Overlap between two ellipses is calculated by combining the areas of appropriate segments and polygons in each ellipse. For four of the ten possible orientations of two ellipses, the method requires numerical determination of transverse intersection points. Approximate intersection points can be determined by solving the two implicit ellipse equations simultaneously. Alternative approaches for finding transverse intersection points are available using tools from algebraic geometry, e.g., based on solving an Eigen-problem that is related to companion matrices of the two implicit ellipse curves. Implementations in C of several algorithm options are analyzed for accuracy, precision and robustness with a range of input ellipses.