Objectives
To describe the diagnostic findings, surgical technique and outcomes in seven pugs with thoracolumbar vertebral instability due to articular process anomalies.
Materials and Methods
...Records (2010 to 2019) of pugs with thoracolumbar vertebral instability associated with articular process anomalies that underwent decompressive laminectomy and vertebral stabilisation were reviewed. Data on preoperative and postoperative neurologic status, diagnostic findings, surgical techniques and outcomes were retrieved.
Results
Seven dogs were presented with ambulatory or non‐ambulatory paraparesis. Caudal articular process anomalies (three dogs) and concomitant cranial and caudal articular process anomalies (four dogs) were noted. Myelography (six dogs) or magnetic resonance imaging (one dog) showed none to severe spinal cord compression. Dynamic myelography in six dogs demonstrated nine distinct sites of spinal cord dimension reduction positioned in extension and/or flexion (mean reduction: 16.0%, range: 8.5 to 24.0%). These dynamic compressions were located at sites with articular process anomalies (seven sites) and sites with no articular process anomalies (two sites). Vertebral instability was confirmed by intraoperative spinal manipulation in all dogs. All dogs remained ambulatory with improved (five dogs) or static (two dogs) neurological deficits at the last follow‐up (median: 16 months; range: 1.5 to 66 months).
Clinical Significance
Dynamic myelography and/or intraoperative spinal manipulation demonstrated vertebral instabilities at sites with or without articular process anomalies on imaging. Decompressive laminectomy with vertebral stabilisation resulted in long‐term neurological improvement in most dogs.
Cladosporium cladosporioides is one of the most ubiquitous dematiaceous fungi that seldomly occur human infection. Here, we demonstrate a rare case of pulmonary phaeohyphomycosis with a distinctive ...pulmonary lesion during the nadir period of outpatient chemotherapy against endometrial cancer. In addition to severe neutropenia, excessive exposure to C. cladosporioides at patient's residence was considered as dominant causative factor. More caution is considered necessary for pulmonary phaeohyphomycosis in patients who receive outpatient chemotherapy and are homebound during neutropenic status.
The scattering and absorption of solar radiation by atmospheric aerosols is a key element of the Earth's radiative energy balance and climate. The optical properties of aerosol particles are, ...however, highly variable and not well characterized, especially near newly emerging mega-cities. In this study, aerosol optical properties were measured at a rural site approximately 60 km northwest of the mega-city Guangzhou in southeast China. The measurements were part of the PRIDE-PRD2006 intensive campaign, covering the period of 1–30 July 2006. Scattering and absorption coefficients of dry aerosol particles with diameters up to 10 μm (PM10) were determined with a three-wavelength integrating nephelometer and with a photoacoustic spectrometer, respectively. Averaged over the measurement campaign (arithmetic mean ± standard deviation), the total scattering coefficients were 200±133 Mm−1 (450 nm), 151±103 Mm−1 (550 nm) and 104±72 Mm−1 (700 nm) and the absorption coefficient was 34.3±26.5 Mm−1 (532 nm). The average Ångström exponent was 1.46±0.21 (450 nm/700 nm) and the average single scattering albedo was 0.82±0.07 (532 nm) with minimum values as low as 0.5. The low single scattering albedo values indicate a high abundance, as well as strong sources, of light absorbing carbon (LAC). The ratio of LAC to CO concentration was highly variable throughout the campaign, indicating a complex mix of different combustion sources. The scattering and absorption coefficients, as well as the Ångström exponent and single scattering albedo, exhibited pronounced diurnal cycles, which can be attributed to boundary layer mixing effects and enhanced nighttime emissions of LAC (diesel soot from regulated truck traffic). The daytime average mid-visible single scattering albedo of 0.87 appears to be more suitable for climate modeling purposes than the 24-h average of 0.82, as the latter value is strongly influenced by fresh emissions into a shallow nocturnal boundary layer. In spite of high photochemical activity during daytime, we found no evidence for strong local production of secondary aerosol mass. The average mass scattering efficiencies with respect to PM10 and PM1 concentrations derived from particle size distribution measurements were 2.8 m2 g−1 and 4.1 m2 g−1, respectively. The Ångström exponent exhibited a wavelength dependence (curvature) that was related to the ratio of fine and coarse particle mass (PM1/PM10) as well as the surface mode diameter of the fine particle fraction. The results demonstrate consistency between in situ measurements and a remote sensing formalism with regard to the fine particle fraction and volume mode diameter, but there are also systematic deviations for the larger mode diameters. Thus we suggest that more data sets from in situ measurements of aerosol optical parameters and particle size distributions should be used to evaluate formalisms applied in aerosol remote sensing. Moreover, we observed a negative correlation between single scattering albedo and backscatter fraction, and we found that it affects the impact that these parameters have on aerosol radiative forcing efficiency and should be considered in model studies of the PRD and similarly polluted mega-city regions.
Size-resolved chemical compositions of non-refractory submicron aerosol were measured using an Aerodyne quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS) at the rural site Back Garden (BG), located ~50 km ...northwest of Guangzhou in July 2006. This paper characterized the submicron aerosol particles of regional air pollution in Pearl River Delta (PRD) in the southern China. Organics and sulfate dominated the submicron aerosol compositions, with average mass concentrations of 11.8 ± 8.4 μg m−3 and 13.5 ± 8.7 μg m−3, respectively. Unlike other air masses, the air masses originated from Southeast-South and passing through the PRD urban areas exhibited distinct bimodal size distribution characteristics for both organics and sulfate: the first mode peaked at vacuum aerodynamic diameters (Dva) ∼200 nm and the second mode occurred at Dva from 300–700 nm. With the information from AMS, it was found from this study that the first mode of organics in PRD regional air masses was contributed by both secondary organic aerosol formation and combustion-related emissions, which is different from most findings in other urban areas (first mode of organics primarily from combustion-related emissions). The analysis of AMS mass spectra data by positive matrix factorization (PMF) model identified three sources of submicron organic aerosol including hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA), low volatility oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) and semi-volatile oxygenated organic aerosol (SV-OOA). The strong correlation between HOA and EC indicated primary combustion emissions as the major source of HOA while a close correlation between SV-OOA and semi-volatile secondary species nitrate as well as between LV-OOA and nonvolatile secondary species sulfate suggested secondary aerosol formation as the major source of SV-OOA and LV-OOA at the BG site. However, LV-OOA was more aged than SV-OOA as its spectra was highly correlated with the reference spectra of fulvic acid, an indicator of aged and oxygenated aerosol. The origin of HOA and OOA (the sum of LV-OOA and SV-OOA) has been further confirmed by the statistics that primary organic carbon (POC) and secondary organic carbon (SOC), estimated by the EC tracer method, were closely correlated with HOA and OOA, respectively. The results of the EC tracer method and of the PMF model revealed that primary organic aerosol (POA) constituted ~34–47 % of OA mass and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) constituted ~53–66 % of regional organic aerosol in PRD during summer season. The presence of abundant SOA was consistent with water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) results (accounting for ~60 % of OC on average) by Miyazaki et al. (2009) for the same campaign. OOA correlated well with WSOC at the BG site, indicating that most OOA were water soluble. More specifically, approximately 86 % of LV-OOA and 61 % of SV-OOA were estimated as water soluble species on the basis of carbon content comparison.
Temporal variations of elemental carbon in Tokyo Kondo, Y.; Komazaki, Y.; Miyazaki, Y. ...
Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres,
27 June 2006, Letnik:
111, Številka:
D12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Mass concentrations of elemental carbon (EC) in fine mode and mixing ratios of carbon monoxide (CO) were measured at the University of Tokyo campus in Tokyo in different seasons in 2003–2005. ...Measurements of EC were made using a semicontinuous thermal‐optical analyzer. The mass concentrations of nonvolatile aerosol measured by the calibrated scanning mobility particle sizer combined with a heated inlet agreed with the independent EC measurements with a systematic difference of about 4%, demonstrating that the mass concentrations of nonvolatile aerosol well represent those for EC. A majority of the nonvolatile aerosol and therefore EC mass concentration was in volume equivalent diameters between 50 and 200 nm, peaking at around 130 nm. The correlation of EC and CO was generally compact throughout the measurement period because of the similarity in sources. The slope of the EC‐CO correlation (ΔEC/ΔCO) is therefore a useful parameter in validating EC emission inventories. The EC concentration and ΔEC/ΔCO showed distinct diurnal variation. On weekdays, EC and ΔEC/ΔCO reached maximum values of about 3 μg m−3 and 9 ng m−3/parts per billion by volume, respectively, in the early morning (0400–0800 local time), when the traffic density of heavy‐duty trucks with diesel engines was highest. In addition, these values were lower by a factor of 2 on Sundays. The heavy truck traffic showed similar diurnal and weekday/weekend variations, indicating that exhaust from diesel engines is an important source of EC. Monthly mean ΔEC/ΔCO showed a seasonal variation, reaching broad maximum values in spring‐autumn and reaching minimum values in midwinter, following the seasonal variation in temperature, as observed in Maryland, United States (Chen et al., 2001). This temperature dependence is likely due to the temperature dependence of EC emissions from diesel engines on intake air temperature. More stringent regulation of emissions of particles from diesel cars started in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in October 2003. The ΔEC/ΔCO values did not change, however, exceeding the natural variability (10%) after 1 year from the start of the new regulations, when the temperature dependence is taken into account. This indicates that the regulation of particle emissions in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area was not effective in reducing the EC concentrations after 1 year.
We examined the effect of pioglitazone on abdominal fat distribution to elucidate the mechanisms via which pioglitazone improves insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Thirteen ...type 2 diabetic patients (nine men and four women; age, 52 +/- 3 yr; body mass index, 29.0 +/- 1.1 kg/m(2)), who were being treated with a stable dose of sulfonylurea (n = 7) or with diet alone (n = 6), received pioglitazone (45 mg/d) for 16 wk. Before and after pioglitazone treatment, subjects underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and two-step euglycemic insulin clamp (insulin infusion rates, 40 and 160 mU/m(2).min) with (3)Hglucose. Abdominal fat distribution was evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging at L4-5. After 16 wk of pioglitazone treatment, fasting plasma glucose (179 +/- 10 to 140 +/- 10 mg/dl; P < 0.01), mean plasma glucose during OGTT (295 +/- 13 to 233 +/- 14 mg/dl; P < 0.01), and hemoglobin A(1c) (8.6 +/- 0.4% to 7.2 +/- 0.5%; P < 0.01) decreased without a change in fasting or post-OGTT insulin levels. Fasting plasma FFA (674 +/- 38 to 569 +/- 31 microEq/liter; P < 0.05) and mean plasma FFA (539 +/- 20 to 396 +/- 29 microEq/liter; P < 0.01) during OGTT decreased after pioglitazone. In the postabsorptive state, hepatic insulin resistance basal endogenous glucose production (EGP) x basal plasma insulin concentration decreased from 41 +/- 7 to 25 +/- 3 mg/kg fat-free mass (FFM).min x microU/ml; P < 0.05) and suppression of EGP during the first insulin clamp step (1.1 +/- 0.1 to 0.6 +/- 0.2 mg/kg FFM.min; P < 0.05) improved after pioglitazone treatment. The total body glucose MCR during the first and second insulin clamp steps increased after pioglitazone treatment first MCR, 3.5 +/- 0.5 to 4.4 +/- 0.4 ml/kg FFM.min (P < 0.05); second MCR, 8.7 +/- 1.0 to 11.3 +/- 1.1 ml/kg FFM(.)min (P < 0.01). The improvement in hepatic and peripheral tissue insulin sensitivity occurred despite increases in body weight (82 +/- 4 to 85 +/- 4 kg; P < 0.05) and fat mass (27 +/- 2 to 30 +/- 3 kg; P < 0.05). After pioglitazone treatment, sc fat area at L4-5 (301 +/- 44 to 342 +/- 44 cm(2); P < 0.01) increased, whereas visceral fat area at L4-5 (144 +/- 13 to 131 +/- 16 cm(2); P < 0.05) and the ratio of visceral to sc fat (0.59 +/- 0.08 to 0.44 +/- 0.06; P < 0.01) decreased. In the postabsorptive state hepatic insulin resistance (basal EGP x basal immunoreactive insulin) correlated positively with visceral fat area (r = 0.55; P < 0.01). The glucose MCRs during the first (r = -0.45; P < 0.05) and second (r = -0.44; P < 0.05) insulin clamp steps were negatively correlated with the visceral fat area. These results demonstrate that a shift of fat distribution from visceral to sc adipose depots after pioglitazone treatment is associated with improvements in hepatic and peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin.
Thiazolidinediones are insulin-sensitizing compounds that reduce plasma glucose and improve the lipid profile of type 2 diabetic patients. We determined the effect of rosiglitazone in 15 type 2 ...diabetic patients and compared these results to 14 randomly assigned placebo patients. After 3 months, the urinary albumin to creatinine ratio was significantly decreased, while the glucose metabolic clearance rate, during insulin clamp, was significantly increased by rosiglitazone compared to the placebo group. Fasting free fatty acid and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were significantly decreased, while the adiponectin concentration was significantly increased by rosiglitazone treatment. The percentage decrease in albuminuria correlated with the decrease in fasting plasma glucose, free fatty acids TNF-α and the increase in fat mass, plasma adiponectin, and glucose metabolic clearance rate. Stepwise linear regression analysis showed the decrease in TNF-α and the increase in adiponectin were independently associated with decreased albuminuria. Our study indicates that thiazolidinediones may be useful to prevent nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients.
We measured the specific heat C p of normal (C4H4S) and deuterated (C4D4S) thiophene in the temperature interval of 1 ≤ T, K ≤ 25. C4H4S exhibits a metastable phase II2 and a stable phase V, both ...with frozen orientational disorder (OD), whereas C4D4S exhibits a metastable phase II2, which is analogous to the OD phase II2 of C4H4S and a fully ordered stable phase V. Our measurements demonstrate the existence of a large bump in the heat capacity of both stable and metastable C4D4S and C4H4S phases at temperatures of ∼10 K, which significantly departs from the expected Debye temperature behavior of C p ≈ T 3. This case study demonstrates that the identified low-temperature C p anomaly, typically referred to as a “Boson-peak” in the context of glassy crystals, is not exclusive of disordered materials.
The mixing state of black carbon (BC) aerosols, namely, the degree to which BC particles are coated with other aerosol components, has been recognized as important for evaluating aerosol radiative ...forcing. In order to resolve the BC mixing state explicitly in model simulations, a two‐dimensional aerosol representation, in which aerosols are given for individual particle diameters and BC mass fractions, is introduced. This representation was incorporated into an aerosol module, the Model of Aerosol Dynamics, Reaction, Ionization, and Dissolution (MADRID), and a new box model, MADRID‐BC, was developed. MADRID‐BC can accurately simulate changes in the entire BC mixing state resulting from condensation/evaporation processes. Aircraft observations conducted in March 2004 show that the mass fraction of thickly coated BC particles increased in air horizontally transported out from an urban area in Japan over the ocean. MADRID‐BC generally reproduces this feature well when observed bulk aerosol concentrations are used as constraints. The model simulations in this particular case show that for particles with BC core diameters of 100–200 nm, the particle diameters, including both core and coating materials, had already increased by a factor of 1.6 on average when they left the source region and by as large as a factor of 1.9 of the BC core diameters after their transport over the ocean for a half day. The model simulations also show that 58% of the total condensed mass was partitioned onto BC‐free particles during transport, indicating their importance for the BC mixing state. Although the model simulations are applied to a limited number of the observations in this study, they clearly show the time evolution of the coating thicknesses of BC‐containing particles, which is necessary for calculating aerosol optical properties and cloud condensation nuclei activities.
A risk-adapted treatment strategy is mandatory for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We refined the World Health Organization (WHO)-classification-based Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS) by determining ...the impact of the newer clinical and cytogenetic features, and we compared its prognostic power to that of the revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R). A population of 5326 untreated MDS was considered. We analyzed single WPSS parameters and confirmed that the WHO classification and severe anemia provide important prognostic information in MDS. A strong correlation was found between the WPSS including the new cytogenetic risk stratification and WPSS adopting original criteria. We then compared WPSS with the IPSS-R prognostic system. A highly significant correlation was found between the WPSS and IPSS-R risk classifications. Discrepancies did occur among lower-risk patients in whom the number of dysplastic hematopoietic lineages as assessed by morphology did not reflect the severity of peripheral blood cytopenias and/or increased marrow blast count. Moreover, severe anemia has higher prognostic weight in the WPSS versus IPSS-R model. Overall, both systems well represent the prognostic risk of MDS patients defined by WHO morphologic criteria. This study provides relevant in formation for the implementation of risk-adapted strategies in MDS.
PDF
