High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) may lack sensitivity for the early detection of interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD). Lung ultrasound is an emerging ...technique for the diagnosis of SSc-ILD. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the prevalence of ultrasound interstitial syndrome in SSc patients with normal HRCT and pulmonary function tests (PFT).
Thirty SSc patients with normal HRCT, FVC > 80% predicted and DLCO > 70% predicted were included. Echocardiography and PFT including impulse oscillometry and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed. Lung ultrasound was analyzed by two blinded operators. Patients were classified into two groups, according to the presence or absence of ultrasound interstitial syndrome, defined as the sum of B-lines in all thoracic areas ≥10 and/or pleural line thickness >3 mm on at least one thoracic area and/or a pleural line irregularity score >16%.
Ultrasound interstitial syndrome was present in 12 patients (40%). Inter-reader agreement for the diagnosis of ultrasound interstitial syndrome defined by the Kappa coefficient was 0.93 (95%CI 0.79-1.00). Patients with ultrasound interstitial syndrome were younger (37 years vs. 53 years,
= 0.009), more often had pitting scars (
= 7/12 vs. 3/18,
= 0.045) and had lower FVC (102 vs. 110% pred,
= 0.009), TLC (114 vs. 122% pred,
= 0.042) and low-frequency respiratory system reactance (Xrs5 Z-score 0.16 vs. 1.02,
= 0.018), while pulmonary gas exchange was similar.
Ultrasound interstitial syndrome was detected in 12/30 SSc patients with normal HRCT and PFT. Patients with ultrasound interstitial syndrome had differences in lung function consistent with reduced respiratory compliance, suggesting minimal and/or early suspected SSc-ILD.
Force of Nature Pearson, Arthur Melville; Crane, Peter R
2017
eBook
Efforts to preserve wild places in the United States began with the allure of scenic grandeur: Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon. But what about the many significant natural sites too small or ...fragile to qualify as state or federal parks? George Fell was determined to save these places, too—prairie remnants, upland forests, sedge meadows and fens, ocean beaches, desert canyons, mountain creeks, bogs, caves and gorges, and the full spectrum of other habitats essential to biological diversity.
Force of Nature reveals how a failed civil servant, with few assets apart from his tenacity and vision, initiated the natural areas movement. In the boom years following World War II, as undeveloped lands were being mined, drained, or bulldozed, Fell transformed a loose band of ecologists into The Nature Conservancy, drove the passage of the influential Illinois Nature Preserves Act, and helped spark allied local and national conservation organizations in the United States and beyond.
Background
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to a large spectrum of liver disorders and is the most common cause of metabolic liver disease. The current gold standard for diagnosing ...NAFLD is liver biopsy, which can lead to severe complications.
Purpose
Among the noninvasive diagnostic options, we chose to use a FibroScan and developed an algorithm applying the Voigt rheological model to assess the viscoelastic properties of the liver and evaluate its performance for the diagnosis of steatosis.
Methods
Twenty‐two healthy volunteers and 20 patients with steatosis were included. For each subject, we used a modified FibroScan, whose data had been processed by our algorithm to separate the two viscoelastic components, stiffness μ, and viscosity η. The liver elasticity μFibroscan measured by the FibroScan was also recorded. Mann–Whitney tests and receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) curve analyses were performed to compare the parameters between the two groups, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to assess the correlations between the parameters.
Results
We found a good correlation between η and μFibroscan (r = 0.75), and poor correlations between μ and both η and μFibroscan (r = 0.33 and r = 0.03, respectively). We also showed that η and μFibroscan were higher in patients with steatosis compared to healthy volunteers, with area under the ROCs (AUROC) curve at 0.814 and 0.891, respectively. Conversely, μ was not different between the two groups (AUROC = 0.557).
Conclusions
Our novel method successfully separated the two viscoelastic properties of the liver, of which the parameter η is a sensitive indicator for steatosis.
The aim of this study was to evaluate how chest computed tomography (CT) can predict pejorative evolution in COVID-19 patients.
Data on 349 consecutive patients who underwent a chest CT either for ...severe suspected COVID-19 pneumonia or clinical aggravation and with COVID-19 were retrospectively analysed. In total, 109 had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection by a positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were included. The main outcomes for pejorative evolution were death and the need for invasive endotracheal ventilation (IEV). All the CT images were retrospectively reviewed, to analyse the CT signs and semiologic patterns of pulmonary involvement.
Among the 109 COVID-19 patients, 73 (67%) had severe symptoms of COVID-19, 28 (25.7%) needed an IEV, and 11 (10.1%) died. The following signs were significantly associated with both mortality and need for IEV: traction bronchiectasis and total affected lung volume ≥ 50% (p < 10-3). Other CT signs were only associated with the need of IEV: vascular dilatation, air bubble sign, peribronchovascular thickening, interlobular thickening, and number of involved lobes ≥ 4 (p < 10-3).
On a chest CT performed during the first week of the symptoms, the presence of traction bronchiectasis and high values of affected lung volume are associated with the need for IEV, and with mortality, in COVID-19 patients.
Étude historique de la visualisation des protéines Bruch, Jean-Frédéric; Metairy, Loïc; El Gani, Myriam ...
Revue francophone des laboratoires,
January 2017, 2017-01-00, Volume:
2017, Issue:
488
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
L’histoire de la visualisation des protéines est inséparable de celle de la biologie structurale qui étudie la structure et l’organisation spatiale des macromolécules biologiques. Les anciens avaient ...initialement imaginé les protéines comme des noyaux organiques azotés entourés d’une copule minérale. La détermination à l’échelle atomique de la structure 3D des protéines fait appel à des techniques d’approche biophysiques élaborées dans la première moitié du vingtième siècle. La cristallographie par diffraction des rayons X permet d’obtenir une carte de densité électronique. La spectroscopie par résonance magnétique nucléaire (RMN) définit une carte des distances inter-protons et des angles de torsion du squelette de la protéine. La cryomicroscopie électronique donne une image directe de la molécule saisie dans son milieu aqueux. Ces trois familles de techniques évoluent de manière spectaculaire pour grandir en précision, en définition et en analyse spatiale et temporelle. Aujourd’hui ces méthodes convergent grâce à des bases de données interactives et des outils bioinformatiques de modélisation dynamique vers la définition de modèles de liaisons « protéines-ligands », la découverte d’inhibiteurs pharmacologiques, la prédiction de structure macromoléculaire et une compréhension accrue des maladies du repliement anormal des protéines.
The history of the visualization of proteins is inseparable from that of structural biology that studies the structure and spatial organization of biological macromolecules. The ancients had initially imagined proteins as organic nitrogen nuclei surrounded by a mineral copula. The determination at the atomic scale of the 3D structure of proteins uses biophysical approach techniques developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Crystallography by X-ray diffraction provides an electron density map. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy defines a map inter-proton distances and angles of torsion of the backbone of the protein. Electron cryomicroscopy gives a direct image of the input molecule in its aqueous medium. These three families of techniques are evolving dramatically to grow in accuracy, resolution and spatial and temporal analysis. Today these methods converge with interactive databases and dynamic modeling bioinformatics tools towards defining models of «protein ligands» bounds, the discovery of pharmacological inhibitors, the prediction of macromolecular structure and an increased understanding of folding diseases abnormal proteins.
"We know something about our war dead but almost nothing about our war wounded. Veterans with a Vision provides a vibrant, poignant, and very human history of Canada's war-blinded veterans and of the ...organization they founded in 1922, the Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded. Serge Durflinger details the veterans' process of civil re-establishment, physical and psychological rehabilitation, and social and personal coping and describes their public advocacy for government pension entitlements, job retraining, and other social programs. This book captures the spirit of perseverance that permeated the veterans' community and highlights the accomplishments of the war blinded as advocates for all Canadian veterans and for all blind citizens."--pub. desc.
This study was concerned with analysis of the habitat of beaver (Castor canadensis Kuhl). The hypothesis that an animal's condition reflects the adequacy of its environment was used as a basis for ...the evaluation.;
The growth rates of beaver on two different habitat types in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, are compared and the habitats are classified accordingly.;
Beaver were raised under experimental conditions at the University of British Columbia and the growth rates and feed consumptions were recorded. The bioenergetics of the beaver are calculated and the results, combined with qualitative and quantitative measures of the habitats on the study areas, are used to elucidate the energy relations of the natural colonies of beaver under study.;
The relative growth of some organ weights and body measurements;
are described. Unsuccessful attempts are made to derive a condition index for beaver by using all measurements available and subjecting them to various analyses. Finally, the sequential measurements of beaver on the study areas are compared for both summer and winter seasons.;
These studies indicated that the condition of a beaver, whether measured by growth rate or relative growth, accurately designates the value of its habitat. Differences in condition of beaver occurred most prominently during the winter as a result of the strict limitations in the quality and quantity of available food.;
Fourteen beaver livers were analyzed to determine whether;
;
a chemical change of liver tissue accompanies a change in the condition of the animal. Over the period studied, May 2 to October 15, no progressive change could be found.;
The reproductive rates of beaver from Elk Island National Park, Alberta, and Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, are compared. Beaver from the former park showed a significantly;
higher reproductive rate. This was correlated with habitat differences between the two areas indicating that the reproductive rate is another attribute of the animal which will reflect the adequacy of the environment.
Science, Faculty of
Zoology, Department of
Graduate
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