Associations of serum EBV DNA and gammopathy with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease.

BACKGROUND: Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) is a life-threatening complication of immunosuppression following transplantation. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and gammopathy in serum are associated with PTLD, but these two parameters have not been evaluated in parallel for their association with PTLD. METHODS: We evaluated the incidence of EBV load positivity, gammopathy, and protein expression in sera from all PTLD patients diagnosed at our hospital during the past seven yr. Results were compared with those of a control group including matched transplanted patients who did not develop PTLD. RESULTS: Seven of 10 PTLD patients presented EBV(+) PTLD, for which five patients had detectable serum EBV DNA levels compared with none of 38 controls (RR between two groups =121, p < 0.0001). Five out of 10 patients had gammopathy at PTLD diagnosis compared with 5/38 controls (RR between two groups = 6.6, p = 0.022). Additionally, protein serum analysis by high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and image examination failed to evidence specific abnormality in patients with PTLD compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm an association between EBV in sera and gammopathy with PTLD, and highlight the high specificity of the former analysis. Whether a combination of both analyses will improve the clinical detection of PTLD remains to be evaluated in a larger prospective cohort study.

Harvest managements and cultural practices in sugarcane

The presence of trash from the mechanical harvest of green cane on sugarcane plantations promotes changes in the agricultural management, for example, in the mechanical cultural practices of ratoon cane in-between the rows and nitrogen (N) fertilization. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of sugarcane in different harvest systems, associated to the mechanical cultural practices in interrows and N rates. The study was carried out on a sugarcane plantation in Sales Oliveira, São Paulo, Brazil, with the sugarcane variety SP81-3250, on soil classified as Acrudox, in a randomized block design with split-split plots and four replications. The main treatments consisted of harvest systems (harvesting green cane or burnt cane), the secondary treatment consisted of the mechanical cultural practices in the interrows and the tertiary treatments were N rates (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 160 kg ha-1), using ammonium nitrate (33 % N) as N source. The harvest systems did not differ in sugarcane yield (tons of cane per hectare - TCH), but in burnt cane, the pol percent and total sugar recovery (TSR) were higher. This could be explained by the higher quantity of plant impurities in the harvested raw material in the system without burning, which reduces the processing quality. Mechanical cultural practices in the interrows after harvest had no effect on cane yield and sugar quality, indicating that this operation can be omitted in areas with mechanical harvesting. The application of N fertilizer at rates of 88 and 144 kg ha-1 N, respectively, increased stalk height and TCH quadratically to the highest values for these variables. For the sugar yield per hectare (in pol %), N fertilization induced a linear increase.

Evaluation pré-post d'une intervention de prévention du VIH auprès des hommes qui ont des rapports sexuels avec des hommes, Suisse 2012

Contexte: L'intervention "Break The Chains" 2012 de l'OFSP a l'intention des gays visait à informer sur la primo-infection et a inciter a un test de dépistage VIH. Design: L'évaluation a recouru a un design Pre-Post avec 2 dispositifs: A) enquête par questionnaire Internet avec une vague avant la campagne et une après (transversal repete); B) 1) relevé centré sur le canton de Zurich du nombre de test effectues par des gays durant le premier semestre 2012 utilisant des données récoltées par Sentinella, par les centres de test utilisant l'application BerDa et auprès des praticiens de HIV-Prakt; et 2) recueil d'information par le questionnaire internet post-intervention des intentions d'effectuer un test VIH. Résultats: 366 HSH ont répondu au questionnaire de la phase pré-, et 964 à la phase post-intervention. 69.8% ont entendu parler de la campagne. Parmi les répondants ayant identifie le message, 48.6% se sont sentis concernes. Avant la campagne, 34.2% des répondants identifiaient les 4 symptômes de la primo-infection, 46.4% se sentaient bien informes et 79.2% connaissaient le délai minimum pour qu'un test informe sur une absence d'infection; après la campagne, ces proportions étaient 39.6%, 62.0% et 85.2%. 17.1% des répondants ont déclaré avoir fait/avoir l'intention de faire, un test VIH suite à la campagne. Le nombre de tests effectues par les répondants Internet montre effectivement un pic dans le 2e trimestre 2012; les données BerDa montrent une stabilité du nombre total de tests. Les données épidémiologiques montrent une augmentation de la proportion et du nombre d'infections récentes détectées durant ce 2e trimestre, mais une diminution des infections anciennes. Conclusions: L'intervention BTC a amélioré légèrement les connaissances relatives à la phase de primo-infection du VIH et a la nécessité d'effectuer un test VIH. Elle semble avoir incite le public cible à effectuer un test VIH qui n'aurait pas été réalisé autrement et a peut-être ainsi contribuer a la détection d'infections récentes.

Advances in post-mortem CT-angiography.

Performing a post-mortem multidetector CT (MDCT) scan has already become routine in some institutes of forensic medicine. To better visualize the vascular system, different techniques of post-mortem CT-angiography have been explored, which can essentially be divided into partial- and whole-body angiography techniques. Probably the most frequently applied technique today is the so-called multiphase post-mortem CT-angiography (MPMCTA) a standardized method for investigating the vessels of the head, thorax and abdomen. Different studies exist, describing its use for medicolegal investigations, and its advantages as well as its artefacts and pitfalls. With the aim to investigate the performance of PMCTA and to develop and validate techniques, an international working group was created in 2012 called the "Technical Working Group Post-mortem Angiography Methods" (TWGPAM). Beyond its primary perspective, the goals of this group include creating recommendations for the indication of the investigation and for the interpretation of the images and to distribute knowledge about PMCTA. This article provides an overview about the different approaches that have been developed and tested in recent years and an update about ongoing research in this field. It will explain the technique of MPMCTA in detail and give an outline of its indications, application, advantages and limitations.

A post-processing pipeline to reconstruct the developing fetal brain using low-resolution MRI

Introduction. Development of the fetal brain surfacewith concomitant gyrification is one of the majormaturational processes of the human brain. Firstdelineated by postmortem studies or by ultrasound, MRIhas recently become a powerful tool for studying in vivothe structural correlates of brain maturation. However,the quantitative measurement of fetal brain developmentis a major challenge because of the movement of the fetusinside the amniotic cavity, the poor spatial resolution,the partial volume effect and the changing appearance ofthe developing brain. Today extensive efforts are made todeal with the âeurooepost-acquisitionâeuro reconstruction ofhigh-resolution 3D fetal volumes based on severalacquisitions with lower resolution (Rousseau, F., 2006;Jiang, S., 2007). We here propose a framework devoted tothe segmentation of the basal ganglia, the gray-whitetissue segmentation, and in turn the 3D corticalreconstruction of the fetal brain. Method. Prenatal MRimaging was performed with a 1-T system (GE MedicalSystems, Milwaukee) using single shot fast spin echo(ssFSE) sequences in fetuses aged from 29 to 32gestational weeks (slice thickness 5.4mm, in planespatial resolution 1.09mm). For each fetus, 6 axialvolumes shifted by 1 mm were acquired (about 1 min pervolume). First, each volume is manually segmented toextract fetal brain from surrounding fetal and maternaltissues. Inhomogeneity intensity correction and linearintensity normalization are then performed. A highspatial resolution image of isotropic voxel size of 1.09mm is created for each fetus as previously published byothers (Rousseau, F., 2006). B-splines are used for thescattered data interpolation (Lee, 1997). Then, basalganglia segmentation is performed on this superreconstructed volume using active contour framework witha Level Set implementation (Bach Cuadra, M., 2010). Oncebasal ganglia are removed from the image, brain tissuesegmentation is performed (Bach Cuadra, M., 2009). Theresulting white matter image is then binarized andfurther given as an input in the Freesurfer software(http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/) to provide accuratethree-dimensional reconstructions of the fetal brain.Results. High-resolution images of the cerebral fetalbrain, as obtained from the low-resolution acquired MRI,are presented for 4 subjects of age ranging from 29 to 32GA. An example is depicted in Figure 1. Accuracy in theautomated basal ganglia segmentation is compared withmanual segmentation using measurement of Dice similarity(DSI), with values above 0.7 considering to be a verygood agreement. In our sample we observed DSI valuesbetween 0.785 and 0.856. We further show the results ofgray-white matter segmentation overlaid on thehigh-resolution gray-scale images. The results arevisually checked for accuracy using the same principlesas commonly accepted in adult neuroimaging. Preliminary3D cortical reconstructions of the fetal brain are shownin Figure 2. Conclusion. We hereby present a completepipeline for the automated extraction of accuratethree-dimensional cortical surface of the fetal brain.These results are preliminary but promising, with theultimate goal to provide âeurooemovieâeuro of the normal gyraldevelopment. In turn, a precise knowledge of the normalfetal brain development will allow the quantification ofsubtle and early but clinically relevant deviations.Moreover, a precise understanding of the gyraldevelopment process may help to build hypotheses tounderstand the pathogenesis of several neurodevelopmentalconditions in which gyrification have been shown to bealtered (e.g. schizophrenia, autismâeuro¦). References.Rousseau, F. (2006), 'Registration-Based Approach forReconstruction of High-Resolution In Utero Fetal MR Brainimages', IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, vol. 13,no. 9, pp. 1072-1081. Jiang, S. (2007), 'MRI of MovingSubjects Using Multislice Snapshot Images With VolumeReconstruction (SVR): Application to Fetal, Neonatal, andAdult Brain Studies', IEEE Transactions on MedicalImaging, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 967-980. Lee, S. (1997),'Scattered data interpolation with multilevel B-splines',IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics,vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 228-244. Bach Cuadra, M. (2010),'Central and Cortical Gray Mater Segmentation of MagneticResonance Images of the Fetal Brain', ISMRM Conference.Bach Cuadra, M. (2009), 'Brain tissue segmentation offetal MR images', MICCAI.

Alkali-calcic and alkaline post-orogenic (PO) granite magmatism: petrologic constraints and geodynamic settings

The end of an orogenic Wilson cycle corresponds to amalgamation of terranes into a Pangaea and is marked by widespread magmatism dominated by granitoids. The post-collision event starts with magmatic processes still influenced by subducted crustal materials. The dominantly calc-alkaline suites show a shift from normal to high-K to very high-K associations. Source regions are composed of depleted and later enriched orogenic subcontinental lithospheric mantle, affected by dehydration melting and generating more and more K- and LILE-rich magmas. In the vicinity of intra-crustal magma chambers, anatexis by incongruent melting of hydrous minerals may generate peraluminous granitoids bearing mafic enclaves. The post-collision event ends with emplacement of bimodal post-orogenic (PO) suites along transcurrent fault zones. Two suites are defined, (i) the alkali-calcic monzonite-monzogranite-syenogranite-alkali feldspar granite association characterised by [biotite + plagioclase] fractionation and moderate [LILE + HFSE] enrichments and (ii) the alkaline monzonite-syenite-alkali feldspar granite association characterised by [amphibole + alkali feldspar] fractionation and displaying two evolutionary trends, one peralkaline with sodic mafic mineralogy and higher enrichments in HFSE than in LILE, and the other aluminous biotite-bearing marked by HFSE depletion relative to LILE due to accessory mineral precipitation. Alkali-calcic and alkaline suites differ essentially in the amounts of water present within intra-crustal magma chambers, promoting crystallisation of various mineral assemblages. The ultimate enriched and not depleted mantle source is identical for the two PO suites. The more primitive LILE and HFSE-rich source rapidly replaces the older orogenic mantle source during lithosphere delamination and becomes progressively the thermal boundary layer of the new lithosphere. Present rock compositions are a mixture of major mantle contribution and various crustal components carried by F-rich aqueous fluids circulating within convective cells created around magma chambers. In favourable areas, PO suites pre-date a new orogenic Wilson cycle. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Early Changes in Soil Metabolic Diversity and Bacterial Community Structure in Sugarcane under Two Harvest Management Systems

Preharvest burning is widely used in Brazil for sugarcane cropping. However, due to environmental restrictions, harvest without burning is becoming the predominant option. Consequently, changes in the microbial community are expected from crop residue accumulation on the soil surface, as well as alterations in soil metabolic diversity as of the first harvest. Because biological properties respond quickly and can be used to monitor environmental changes, we evaluated soil metabolic diversity and bacterial community structure after the first harvest under sugarcane management without burning compared to management with preharvest burning. Soil samples were collected under three sugarcane varieties (SP813250, SP801842 and RB72454) and two harvest management systems (without and with preharvest burning). Microbial biomass C (MBC), carbon (C) substrate utilization profiles, bacterial community structure (based on profiles of 16S rRNA gene amplicons), and soil chemical properties were determined. MBC was not different among the treatments. C-substrate utilization and metabolic diversity were lower in soil without burning, except for the evenness index of C-substrate utilization. Soil samples under the variety SP801842 showed the greatest changes in substrate utilization and metabolic diversity, but showed no differences in bacterial community structure, regardless of the harvest management system. In conclusion, combined analysis of soil chemical and microbiological data can detect early changes in microbial metabolic capacity and diversity, with lower values in management without burning. However, after the first harvest, there were no changes in the soil bacterial community structure detected by PCR-DGGE under the sugarcane variety SP801842. Therefore, the metabolic profile is a more sensitive indicator of early changes in the soil microbial community caused by the harvest management system.

Your Iowa ... and nation : class room guide post,1963.

Contains information to be used by teachers in classrooms including history of the the United States flag, the government of Iowa, the Constitution of Iowa, the birth of Americanism, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

16-OR: Investigation of Sharp Trauma and Gunshot Cases Using Post-mortem CT-Angiography

Investigation of violent death, especially cases of sharp trauma and gunshot, is an important part of medico-legal investigations. Beside the execution of a conventional autopsy, the performance of a post-mortem Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT)-scan has become a highly appreciated tool. In order to investigate also the vascular system, post-mortem CT-angiography has been introduced. The most studied and widespread technique is the Multi-phase post-mortem CT-angiography (MPMCTA). Its sensitivity to detect vascular lesions is even superior to conventional autopsy. The application of MPMCTA for cases of gunshot and sharp-trauma is therefore an obvious choice, as vascular lesions are common in such victims. In most cases of sharp trauma and in several cases of gunshots, death can be attributed to exsanguinations. MPMCTA is able to detect the exact source of bleeding and also to visualize trajectories, which are of most importance in these cases. The reconstructed images allow to clearly visualizing the trajectory in a way that is easily comprehensible for not medically trained legal professionals. The sensitivity of MPMCTA for soft tissue and organ lesions approximately matches the sensitivity of conventional autopsy. However, special care, experience and effective use of the imaging software is necessary for performing the reconstructions of the trajectory. Large volume consuming haemorrhages and shift of inner organs are sources of errors and misinterpretations. This presentation shall give an overview about the advantages and limitations of the use of MPMCTA for investigating cases of gunshot and sharp-trauma.