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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostics for Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) from the respiratory tract has become widely available, but the interpretation of the results remains unclear. M. pneumoniae has been suggested to cause mainly mild and self-limiting infections or asymptomatic carriage. However, systematic analyses of the association between PCR results and clinical findings are scarce. This study aimed to clarify the clinical features of PCR-positive M. pneumoniae infections in a hospital setting. We reviewed 103 PCR-positive patients cared for in a university hospital during a 3-year period. Data on age, sex, health condition, acute symptoms, other pathogens found, laboratory and X-ray results and treatments were collected. Over 85% of the patients had a triad of typical symptoms fever, cough and shortness of breath. Symptoms in the upper respiratory tract were rare. In 91% of the cases, M. pneumoniae was the only pathogen found. The highest incidence was found in the age group of 30-40 years, and 68% of the patients did not have any underlying diseases. Most patients were initially empirically treated with beta-lactam antibiotics and needed 2-4 changes in their treatment. Only 6% were discharged without an antibiotic effective against M. pneumoniae. This study shows that M. pneumoniae often led to hospitalisation and that patients needed appropriate antimicrobial treatment to recover. Mixed infections were rare, and situations that could be interpreted as carriage did not occur.A new series of corannulene derivatives with two mixed π-conjugated bridge have been theoretically designed and investigated by means of density functional theory. It is found that all molecules exhibit large energy gaps. The holes and electrons analysis show that charge transfer from long-chain connected with NH2 to long-chain connected with NO2. The small transition energy brings corannulene derivatives larger first hyperpolarizabilities. Furthermore, the polarization scan of the hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) intensity indicates that all studied compounds belong to dipolar characteristic. The results indicate that employing two mixed π-conjugated bridge can significantly increase the first hyperpolarizability."A quick glance at selected topics in this issue" aims to highlight contents of the Journal and provide a quick review to the readers.Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the key atmospheric gas that controls the earth's greenhouse effect, and forests play a major role in abating the atmospheric CO2 by storing carbon as biomass. Therefore, it is vital to understand the role of different forests in regulating the spatiotemporal dynamics of atmospheric CO2 concentration. In this study, we have used eddy covariance (EC) tower-based atmospheric CO2 concentration measurements and satellite-retrieved column average CO2 concentration of 2018 to understand the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of atmospheric CO2 concentration over the sub-tropical forest in the foothills of northwest Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. EC study revealed that the CO2 concentration over the forest canopy peaks during mid-night to early morning and drop to a minimum during the afternoon. On a monthly scale, peak atmospheric CO2 concentration was observed during July in both the sites, which was a result of more release of CO2 by the forest ecosystem through ecosystem respiration and microbial decomposition. Enhanced photosynthetic activities during the late monsoon and post-monsoon resulted in the decrease of atmospheric CO2 concentration over the forest ecosystem. Among the meteorological variables, rainfall was found to have the highest control over the seasonal variability of the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite-retrieved column average CO2 (XCO2) was also examined to comprehend its reliability on an ecosystem scale. The OCO-2 retrieved XCO2 value was higher than the EC carbon flux tower-measured atmospheric CO2 concentration, which might be due to differences in the vertical resolution of the CO2 column and scale difference. However, the monthly atmospheric XCO2 retrieved from OCO-2 strongly adheres with the ground-measured monthly pattern. Our study highlights that forests with varying functional traits within the same climatic conditions show variability in the regulation of atmospheric CO2 concentration.Between 1966 to 1969, Bernhard Grzimek (Frankfurt Zoological Society, FZS) introduced chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) previously held in European institutions to Rubondo Island in Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Earlier publications report various numbers of released animals and that all founders originated from West Africa. We revise these assumptions through consultation of archived FZS records and genetic analyses of surviving descendants. Accordingly, 17 chimpanzees were transported to Africa in four waves, with male-female ratios of 38, 10, 10 and 22; one female died in transit. Thus, 16 chimpanzees were released in total. FZS and studbook records allocate a West African provenance to only 19% of the founders and a generic "Africa" origin to 56%. Still, studbook records render it unlikely that any of the founders were captive-born. In addition, our genetic analyses based on biological samples from the current descendants trace the geographical origin of their ancestors back to West Africa (P. t. verus) and Central Africa (P. t. troglodytes). Based on counts of individuals and night nests, we estimate that the population, since 1969, grew to around 35 individuals in 2014 (annual increase 3.3%). Thus, chimpanzees released onto a large forested island free from predators or hunting pressure, habitat destruction and conspecific competition can form a self-sustaining island population without human support.

Stem anteversion in total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been measured using two different distal references, the posterior condyle (PC) or the transepicondylar axis (TEA). The reliability, the difference in value between these two techniques, and the possible confounding factors are scarcely known. Aims of this work were to assess (1) the intraclass correlation and the difference between the two measurement techniques and (2) the possible influence of condylar dysmorphisms on the anteversion value discrepancy.

A consecutive series of post-THA CT scans were selected, excluding hip dysplasia, end-stage knee osteoarthritis, and replaced knees. Using a surgical planning software, stem anteversion was measured using the PC or the TEA reference. selleck kinase inhibitor The intraclass reliability was assessed. The anteroposterior femoral condyle diameters were measured the difference and the ratio were measured and correlated with the stem anteversion values.

91 CT scans were included. Inter/intra-observer TEA measurements were more relm anteversion.

To investigate the diagnostic value of conventional ultrasound (US) and strain elastography (SE) in malignant soft tissue tumors.

A total of 83 soft tissue masses were included prospectively. US and SE imaging were performed at the same time. Two observers assessed the B mode, color Doppler, elastic scores (ES), strain ratio (SR), and SE size to B mode size (EI/B) ratio and compared the consistency of the data between the observers. According to the pathological diagnosis of resection, the cases were divided into malignant and nonmalignant groups. The diagnostic value of conventional US and SE in the prediction of malignant soft tissue tumors was assessed.

The pathology results divided cases into 36 malignant lesions and 47 nonmalignant lesions. There was no statistically significant difference in gender, location, maximum diameter, echo, tail sign, cystic component, Doppler scores, or SR between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, significant differences between the two groups were found in age, depth, heterogeneity, edge, ES, and EI/B (p < 0.05). The biggest area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (0.934) was the combination model of age, heterogeneity, edge, ES, and EI/B, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.861 and 0.957, respectively.

Conventional US and SE are significant for the diagnosis of malignant soft tissue tumors, and SE can be used as a complementary technique to the characterization of STTs using conventional US.

Conventional US and SE are significant for the diagnosis of malignant soft tissue tumors, and SE can be used as a complementary technique to the characterization of STTs using conventional US.

Dual-energy CT (DECT) detection of monosodium urate (MSU) crystal deposition has demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity in patients with established gout. However, limitations have been reported with early disease and with low urate burden. We aimed to study the performance of DECT in the detection and quantification of MSU deposition in solid and liquid tophi.

Patient-derived solid and liquid tophi, suspensions of commercial synthetic, and in-house synthetic MSU crystals were prepared at varying concentrations.DECT was performed at 80 kVp and 150 kVp, and post-processed using Syngo Via gout software (Siemens) that color-coded urate and cortical bone as green and purple, respectively.DECT findings were correlated with ultrasound and microscopic findings. The protocol was reviewed by IRB and considered a non-human subject research.

DECT did not detect urate deposition in either patient-derived liquid tophi or in-house synthetic crystals at any concentration. Lowering the post-processing minimum threshold increased the detection of in-house synthetic crystals but did not change the detection of patient-derived liquid tophi. Areas of calcium-rich purple color-coded regions, masking detection of urate, within the solid tophi and surrounding liquid tophi were noted on DECT. Histology showed co-presence of calcium along with MSU deposition in these.

This study illustrates important limitations of DECT for liquid tophi due to subthreshold CT attenuation and for calcified tophi due to the obscuration of urate by calcium. Urate may be either undetectable or underestimated by DECT when these conditions are present.

This study illustrates important limitations of DECT for liquid tophi due to subthreshold CT attenuation and for calcified tophi due to the obscuration of urate by calcium. Urate may be either undetectable or underestimated by DECT when these conditions are present.After a brief review of the relationship between science and value, this paper introduces the value of 'traditionality' as a value in the pure and applied sciences. Along with other recognized values, this value can also contribute to formulating hypotheses and determining theories. There are three reasons for legitimizing the internal role of this value in science first, this value can contribute to scientific progress by presenting more diverse hypotheses; second, the value of external consistency in science entails this value; and third, this value helps to eliminate some of the adverse social and cultural effects of Western science in non-Western societies. 'Traditionality' is an extrinsic epistemic value, according to the first two reasons, and at the same time, is an ethical value, according to the last reason. Also, the ethics of belief is adopted to further confirm the ethical role of this value. Finally, this paper discusses three potential criticisms that can be levelled against this idea and responds to each of them.