A 3-year-old spayed female domestic short-haired cat presented with a head turning to the left, circling to the right, seizures, and opisthotonos for approximately one month. Neurological examination ...revealed a deficit in the postural reaction of the left limbs and visual abnormalities. Forensic computed tomography revealed a hyperattenuating round mass of 1.3 cm diameter with a hypoattenuating center in the right hemisphere. Histopathology showed multifocal granuloma lesions with the major mass mostly affecting the right basal ganglia. Cryptococcus neoformans variety grubii molecular type VNI/ST31 was isolated from the cryptococcal granulomas. This report highlights the epidemiological distribution and differential diagnosis of a feline central nervous system cryptococcosis caused by C. neoformans that occurred in an Asian country.
The Ag2S crystallites–decorated ZnS composite sheets were synthesized by combinational methodology. Two types of ZnS sheet templates were obtained through the vulcanization of ZnO sheets with sulfur ...precursors of thiourea and Na2S, and then ZnS–Ag2S heterogeneous sheets were obtained with sputtering Ag crystallites and post‐annealing procedures. The ZnS sheets have rugged and smooth surfaces formed with sulfur precursors of thiourea and Na2S, respectively. Both the initial microstructures of ZnS sheet templates and Ag2S decoration content affect the photoactivity of the ZnS–Ag2S composite sheets. Compared with the pristine ZnS, the ZnS–Ag2S composite sheets with a suitable Ag2S loading content (Ag at% = 3.6–3.8) are beneficial to improve the photoactivity, which could be explained by the combination of narrow bandgap; Ag2S crystallites would enhance photon absorption and separation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers. The scavenger tests and photodegradation mechanism show that hydroxyl radicals and holes were the main active species for the ZnS–Ag2S composite sheets to photodegrade methyl orange solution. The experimental results herein provide a novel synthesis approach to decorate Ag2S crystallites onto ZnS with tunable contents and present important design guidelines for the resultant ZnS–Ag2S composite sheets to demonstrate marked improvement in photoactivity.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides, which negatively regulate the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. This study describes an update of the ...miRTarBase (http://miRTarBase.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/) that provides information about experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions (MTIs). The latest update of the miRTarBase expanded it to identify systematically Argonaute-miRNA-RNA interactions from 138 crosslinking and immunoprecipitation sequencing (CLIP-seq) data sets that were generated by 21 independent studies. The database contains 4966 articles, 7439 strongly validated MTIs (using reporter assays or western blots) and 348 007 MTIs from CLIP-seq. The number of MTIs in the miRTarBase has increased around 7-fold since the 2014 miRTarBase update. The miRNA and gene expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) are integrated to provide an effective overview of this exponential growth in the miRNA experimental data. These improvements make the miRTarBase one of the more comprehensively annotated, experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions databases and motivate additional miRNA research efforts.
Objective
We aimed to evaluate computed tomography (CT) images of patients with empty nose syndrome (ENS), investigate the impact of reconstruction surgery on sinus inflammation, and identify the ...optimal airspace diameter after surgery.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective case series analysis, identifying and enrolling patients with ENS with perioperative CT findings. The clinical characteristics of the participants were collected, and the modified Lund‐Mackay (mLM) CT scores were determined. The anterior airspace diameter was evaluated by measuring the distance between the septum and the lateral nasal wall on the coronal plane at the level of the nasolacrimal duct.
Results
Twenty patients with ENS and perioperative CT images were enrolled. The mean total mLM CT score and all subsite scores showed no significant changes after surgery. The Empty Nose Syndrome 6‐item Questionnaire (ENS6Q) score, Sino‐nasal Outcome Test‐25 (SNOT‐25) score, sleep symptoms domain, psychological domain, and empty nose symptoms domain were significantly associated with anterior airspace diameter in the regression analysis.
Conclusion
There was no significant difference in sinus inflammation between preoperative and postoperative CT evaluations. The anterior airspace diameters were significantly associated with ENS6Q and SNOT‐25 scores.
Level of Evidence
4 Laryngoscope, 134:2105–2110, 2024
Our results showed no significant difference in sinus opacification according to the mLM CT score between the preoperative and postoperative evaluations. In addition, the anterior airspace diameters were significantly associated with the ENS6Q score, SNOT‐25 scores, sleep symptom domain, psychological domain, and empty nose symptom domain of the SNOT‐25.
Coexistence of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with asthma appears to impair asthma control. Type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) respond to the cytokines of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), ...interleukin (IL)-25 and IL-33, thus contributing to airway diseases such as CRS and asthma. We investigate whether the augmented Th2-cytokines in CRS might be related to sinonasal tract ILC2s corresponding to enhanced IL-25, IL-33 and TSLP release in severe asthmatics, and be involved in asthma control. Twenty-eight asthmatics (12 non-severe and 16 severe) with CRS receiving nasal surgery were enrolled. The predicted FEV1 inversely associated with CRS severity of CT or endoscopy scores. Higher expression of Th2-driven cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13), TSLP, IL-25 and IL-33 in nasal tissues was observed in severe asthma. Severe asthmatics had higher ILC2 cell counts in their nasal tissues. ILC2 counts were positively correlated with Th2-cytokines. Nasal surgery significantly improved asthma control and lung function decline in severe asthma and CRS. The higher expression of IL-33/ILC2 axis-directed type 2 immune responses in nasal tissue of CRS brought the greater decline of lung function in severe asthma. ILC2-induced the upregulated activity of Th2-related cytokines in asthmatics with CRS may contribute to a recalcitrant status of asthma control.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To enhance the cost effectiveness of the distribution automation system (DAS), this paper proposes the immune algorithm (IA) to derive the optimal placement of switching devices by minimizing the ...total cost of customer service outage and investment cost of line switches. The reliability index of each service zone defined by the boundary switches is derived to solve the expected energy not served due to fault contingency, and the customer interruption cost is then determined according to the customer type and power consumption within the service zone. To demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed IA methodology to solve the optimal placement of line switches, a practical distribution system of Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) is selected for computer simulation to explore the cost benefit of line switch placement for DAS
This work proposes a quick measurement of the refractive index of dielectric nanofilm via a fabricated topological grating that comprises indium tin oxide (ITO) strips and nanowalls with an extremely ...high aspect ratio of 25. As the topological grating is capped with a dielectric nanofilm, the parabolic fields of the nanowalls destructively interfere with those of the ITO strips. This destructive interference weakens the photonic jets of the topological grating, decreasing its diffraction efficiency. The decrease in the diffraction efficiency determines the refractive index of the nanofilm without measuring its thickness in advance because the efficiency decrease is independent of the thickness. In other words, the photonic jets of the topological grating are manipulated by the refractive index of the nanofilm. The experimental results verify that refractive indices of titanium‐dioxide, silicon‐dioxide, and bovine‐serum‐albumin nanofilms with a thickness much smaller than the visible wavelengths can be measured by using the proposed topological grating. Therefore, topological gratings have great potential to develop advanced materials, fascinating devices, and innovative instruments.
A novel grating is fabricated by merging indium tin oxide strips and nanowalls with a 25‐fold aspect ratio. The photonic jets of the grating capped with a dielectric nanofilm dominate its diffraction efficiency, determining the nanofilm's refractive index without requiring the prior knowledge of the nanofilm thickness. Therefore, the grating facilitates the development of optical detection and biomedical sensing.
We present a first report on the detection of three different C6 conformers of cellulose in spruce, as revealed by solid-state
1
H-
13
C correlation spectra. The breakthrough in
1
H resolution is ...achieved by magic-angle spinning in the regime of 150 kHz. The suppression of dense dipolar network of
1
H provides inverse detected
13
C spectra at a good sensitivity even in natural samples. We find that the glycosidic linkages are initially more ordered in spruce than maple, but a thermal treatment of spruce leads to a more heterogeneous packing order of the remaining cellulose fibrils.
Magic angle spinning in the regime of 150 kHz provides an unprecedented opportunity to characterize wood structure by
1
H-detected NMR. The map of
1
H -
13
C chemical shift correlations allows a clear distinction of the tg, gt, and gg conformers of C6 in spruce.
Hepatitis A virus(HAV)is one of the most common infectious etiologies of acute hepatitis worldwide.The virus is known to be transmitted fecal-orally,resulting in symptoms ranging from asymptomatic ...infection to fulminant hepatitis.HAV can also be transmitted through oral-anal sex.Residents from regions of low endemicity for HAV infection often remain susceptible in their adulthood.Therefore,clustered HAV infections or outbreaks of acute hepatitis A among men who have sex with men and injecting drug users have been reported in countries of low endemicity for HAV infection.The duration of HAV viremia and stool shedding of HAV may be longer in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-positive individuals compared to HIV-negative individuals with acute hepatitis A.Current guidelines recommend HAV vaccination for individuals with increased risks of exposure to HAV(such as from injecting drug use,oral-anal sex,travel to or residence in endemic areas,frequent clotting factor or blood transfusions)or with increased risks of fulminant disease(such as those with chronic hepatitis).The seroconversion rates following the recommended standard adult dosing schedule(2doses of HAVRIX 1440 U or VAQTA 50 U administered6-12 mo apart)are lower among HIV-positive individuals compared to HIV-negative individuals.While the response rates may be augmented by adding a booster dose at week 4 sandwiched between the first dose and the 6-mo dose,the need of booster vaccination remain less clear among HIV-positive individuals who have lost anti-HAV antibodies.
PDF
