To report five cases of gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis with severe corneal involvement treated with therapeutic keratoplasty.
Retrospective case series.
Five consecutive cases of gonococcal ...keratoconjunctivitis treated with keratoplasty for corneal perforation, with a mean age of 21.2 years, were analysed by patient's history, surgical approaches, and clinical outcomes, corrected visual acuity at initial visit and last follow-up.
All adult cases were originally diagnosed as epidemic keratoconjunctivitis by elsewhere, and corneal perforation occurred with a mean duration of 11 days after development of conjunctivitis. While laboratory tests revealed Neisseria gonorrhoeae in all five cases, three patients showed resistance to ofloxacin. Intensive medical treatment using penicillins and/or cephems was initiated. Two patients had peripheral corneal perforations, one had a paracentral perforation, and another, a large corneal perforation with stromal melting. One case had a central microcorneal perforation. In all cases, the anterior chamber was flat. Corneal perforations were treated with lamellar or penetrating keratoplasty using cryopreserved or fresh corneal grafts. All grafts remained clear during the mean follow-up period of 34.9 months. Final best-corrected visual acuity ranged from 20/60 to 20/16.
Severe gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis can benefit from intensive surgical and medical intervention resulting in satisfactory visual rehabilitation.
The composition dependence of boson peaks has been studied by inelastic neutron scattering and Raman scattering in lithium borate glasses
xLi
2O–(1
−
x)B
2O
3, where
x is the mole fraction of Li
2O. ...The peak energy markedly increases with the increase of
x, and shows the clear correlation with the shear modulus in the range
x
<
0.28. The composition variation of boson peak intensity is stronger than the Debye level. The boson peak spectra of all compositions are well scaled by the master curve. It indicates that the function of the distribution of VDoS remains the same with the increase of the Li
2O composition.
The present study was performed to elucidate whether the estrogen binding component regarded as a receptor exists in the plasma membrane fraction of neurohypophysis in hens and whether the binding of ...receptor changes with relation to oviposition. The specific binding for estradiol-17β (E₂) in the neurohypophysis of hens was demonstrated by the use of radioligand binding assays on the plasma membrane fraction of the tissue. The binding to ³HE₂ had a binding specificity to E₂ and diethylstilbestrol, reversibility, and saturation. Scatchard analysis revealed that the binding sites are of a single class. The equilibrium dissociation constant obtained by Scatchard analysis and kinetic analysis suggested a high affinity, and the maximum binding capacity obtained by Scatchard analysis suggested a limited capacity. These properties are characteristics of a receptor, which suggests that an estrogen receptor exists in the plasma membrane of hen neurohypophysis. The equilibrium dissociation constant value of estrogen receptor of the neurohypophysis was not significantly different between laying hens and nonlaying hens, but the maximum binding capacity value was statistically smaller (the binding affinity is higher) in laying hens than in nonlaying hens. The specific binding of estrogen receptor showed a decrease at 1 h after an injection of diethylstilbestrol in nonlaying hens. The specific binding also decreased 3 h before oviposition in laying hens and maintained low value until just after oviposition. The present study suggests that estrogen may act directly on the neurohypophysis during 3 h before oviposition in hens.
Maintenance hemodialysis outpatients must limit salt and water intake to maintain electrolyte balance and blood pressure. In Kawashima Hospital, nationally registered dietitians provide hemodialysis ...patients with monthly nutritional counseling. We investigated whether nutritional counseling affects interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) and blood pressure. We investigated 48 hemodialysis patients whose monthly average IDWG ratio to dry weight exceeded 5.1% and who had not had a long-term hospital admittance of > 1 month. After the 48-month nutritional counseling period, the IDWG ratio had improved in 37 of the patients (77.1%), significantly decreasing from 6.0±0.7 to 5.3±0.9%. Estimated salt and water intake decreased significantly from 13.3±2.7 to 11.8±2.4 g/day and 2528±455 to 2332±410 ml/day, respectively. During the intervention period, normalized protein catabolic rate and body mass index did not change substantially. Pre-hemodialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressures had significantly decreased from 149±19 to 134±18 mmHg, and 82±13 to 75±10 mmHg for 48 months after study initiation, respectively. The dosage of antihypertensive drugs had significantly decreased in the group that experienced improvement in the IDWG ratio. Long-term nutritional counseling by nationally registered dietitians may improve the IDWG ratio and blood pressure of hemodialysis patients by decreasing their salt and water intake. J. Med. Invest. 64: 129-135, February, 2017
Butterhead lettuce, rucola, watercress, kale, chicory, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and a spinach substitute (
Tetragonia expansa) are widely consumed in Southern Brazil. Samples were collected five ...times during a year in food markets and analyzed for total potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, and zinc by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and for moisture content. All vegetables can contribute to diet in terms of potassium, calcium and magnesium. Kale offers the highest amounts of calcium (283±43
mg Ca/100
g) and Chinese cabbage, cabbage, and butterhead lettuce the lowest, with values from 33 to 58
mg Ca/100
g. The highest concentrations of magnesium were found in kale and in the spinach substitute and they were 52±4 and 55±16
mg Ca/100
g, respectively. Moisture content varied less among samples of the same vegetable than minerals did. Four of the vegetables (kale, chicory, Chinese cabbage, and cabbage) were cooked briefly during 3
min and analyzed for the same elements. The brief cooking did not cause appreciable losses for any of the minerals.
To elucidate whether the receptor for prostaglandin (PG) F₂α, one of PG, exists in the neurohypophysis in hens and whether the binding of receptor changes with relation to oviposition, the PGF₂α ...binding component in the membrane fraction of the neurohypophysis of laying hens was analyzed by radioligand binding assay using 5,6,8,9,11,12,14,15(n)-³HPGF₂α. The binding component had characteristics of a receptor such as binding specificity, high affinity, and limited capacity for PGF₂α. Scatchard analysis indicated that the binding site was of a single class. The binding capacity of the receptor was smaller in laying hens than in nonlaying hens, whereas the binding affinity was not significantly different between these hens. When non-laying hens received an i.m. injection of estradiol-17β or progesterone (0.5 mg/hen), the specific binding of the PGF₂α receptor in the neurohypophysis was decreased. In laying hens, the specific binding decreased and the blood arginine vasotocin (AVT) concentration increased just after oviposition but did not change during a 24-h day in nonlaying hens. An i.v. injection of PGF₂α (2 μg/hen) induced oviposition and caused an increase in the blood AVT concentration with a decrease in the specific binding of PGF₂α receptor. The present study suggests a possibility that PGF₂α may directly cause the AVT release from the neurohypophysis at oviposition time in hens.
The compositional variations of the fragility of lithium borate binary glasses have been investigated over a wide composition range up to 64 mol% of Li
2O. The frequency dependences of the dynamic ...heat capacity
C
p(
ω) above the dynamic glass transition temperature
T
g have been observed by Temperature-Modulated DSC. The fragility or steepness index
m has been determined. The composition dependence has been discussed on the basis of the fragility model proposed by Vilgis, and it has been revealed that the trends of the fragility and the fluctuation of the coordination number of boron atom have the correlation over a wide composition range. The result indicates the origin of the fragility relates to the degree of the fluctuation of the coordination number. The formation of the 4-coordinated boron atom plays the dominant role in the fragility of the borate glassy system.
The present study was performed to elucidate whether the receptor for calcitonin (CT) exists in the adrenocortical cells of hens and to determine the effect of CT on adrenocorticotropic hormone ...(ACTH)-stimulated corticosterone production in its cell. The binding site of CT in the membrane fraction of the adrenal gland in hens was determined using a ¹²⁵ICT binding assay system. The binding properties in the adrenal gland satisfied the criteria of a receptor-ligand interaction in terms of specificity, reversibility, and saturation. When the cortical cells were incubated in vitro with chicken ACTH in the presence of CT, greater corticosterone production was observed. The result suggested that CT acts directly on the adrenocortical cells via its receptor binding and increases responsiveness of ACTH on corticosterone production in the laying hen.
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