Kristiansensauer2935

DISCUSSION This case of PG is unique due to the excessive extra-cutaneous presentation, which contributed to delayed diagnosis. Several surgical interventions in the active stage of disease resulted in expansion of PG and substantial morbidity for the patient. CONCLUSION Post-operative PG can mimic infectious diseases, but treatment is substantially different. This case of extensive PG highlights the importance of timely recognition and treatment of the disease to reduce iatrogenic morbidity. INTRODUCTION Congenital sensorineural hearing loss is a heterogeneous disorder; its etiological profile varies between populations. Pathogenic variants of GJB2 gene are the major cause of non-syndromic hearing loss. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) is the most important prenatal etiological factor causing hearing loss and other disorders. Perinatal events, syndromes, postnatal infections or traumas are less common. Causes of the remaining one third of hearing loss cases are unknown. OBJECTIVES To determine the etiological profile of hearing loss in pediatric cochlear implant users in Lithuanian population. METHODS The data of 122 children (70 male/52 female; aged 7.6 ± 3.3 years) cochlear implant users were analysed. Medical records of all children recruited in Santaros Clinics (Vilnius, Lithuania) were analysed to identify prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal risk factors based on the adapted list proposed by the Joint Committee of Infant Hearing. Genetic counselling and testing according to the scheme were performed to 101 children. DNA of 117 children was extracted from the DBS on Guthrie cards and CMV DNA detected using real time PCR. RESULTS Non-syndromic hearing loss was diagnosed in 65 cases (53.3%), 58 of which were GJB2 gene-associated; syndromic hearing loss was diagnosed to 8 children (6.6%). Perinatal (prematurity, low birth weight, hypoxia, hyperbilirubinemia, sepsis, ototoxicity, and meningitis) and postnatal (meningitis) risk factors were associated with hearing loss in 16 (13.1%) and 4 (3.3%) study participants respectively. CMV DNA was detected in 12 samples (9.8%). The cause of hearing loss remained unknown only for 17 (13.9%) children. CONCLUSIONS The major cause of HL in the current study was GJB2 gene alterations. Only 14% of the cohort had congenital hearing loss of unknown origin. Cues that predict the future location of emotional stimuli may evoke an anticipatory form of automatic attentional bias. The reliability of this bias towards threat is uncertain experimental design may need to be optimized or individual differences may simply be relatively noisy in the general population. The current study therefore aimed to determine the split-half reliability of the bias, in a design with fewer factors and more trials than in previous work. A sample of 63 participants was used for analysis, who performed the cued Visual Probe Task online, which aims to measure an anticipatory attentional bias. CyclosporineA The overall bias towards threat was tested and split-half reliability was calculated over even and odd blocks. Results showed a significant bias towards threat and a reliability of around 0.7. The results support systematic individual differences in anticipatory attentional bias and demonstrate that RT-based bias scores, with online data collection, can be reliable. Prospective memory (PM) consists of remembering to perform an action that was previously planned. The recovery and execution of these actions require attentional resources. Mindfulness, as a state or a dispositional trait, has been associated with better attentional abilities while mind wandering is linked with attentional failures. In this study, we investigated the impact of mindfulness on PM. Eighty participants learned 15 cue-action associations. They were, then, asked to recall the actions at certain moments (time-based items) or places (event-based items) during a walk in a virtual town. Before the PM task, participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness or mind wandering (control condition) session. Dispositional mindfulness was measured via the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Although considered as two opposite states, we did not report any difference between the two groups on PM abilities. Nevertheless, the natural tendency to describe one's own sensations (the Describing facet of the FFMQ) predicted time-based performance in both groups. We discuss different hypotheses to explain this finding in light of recent findings on the impact of mind wandering on future oriented cognition. Our main observation is a positive link between the Describing facet and time-based PM performances. We propose that this link could be due to the common association of this mindfulness facets and PM with attentional and interoceptive abilities. Additional studies are needed to explore this hypothesis. OBJECTIVES Although it is known that high fructose intake causes salt-sensitive hypertension, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether chronic intake of high fructose coupled with salt (HFS) might alter the structure of the gut microbiota, which contributes to elevated blood pressure. METHODS For 8 wk, Sprague-Dawley rats were given 20% fructose in drinking water and 4% sodium chloride in their diet to induce hypertension. A non-absorbable antibiotic vancomycin was used to modify gut microbiota. The 16 S rRNA sequencing for fecal samples was assessed and blood pressure was recorded. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the renin-angiotensin system in serum, urine, and the kidney. RESULTS Compared with the control group, HFS feeding resulted in gut dysbiosis by altering the diversity and richness of gut microbiota and decreased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. Vancomycin reshaped dramatically the HFS-induced dysbiosis. And vancomycin (van) attenuated HFS-increased blood pressure (HFS 121.3 ± 2.8 mm Hg; HFS-van 111.1 ± 1.7 mm Hg) and heart rate (HFS 360.5 ± 9.0 bpm; HFS-van 318.7 ± 5.6 bpm) as well as the content of angiotensinogen, renin, and angiotensin II in the urine and the angiotensinogen mRNA level in renal cortical tissues. However, HFS-increased triacylglycerol, renin, and angiotensin II in serum were not decreased by vancomycin. CONCLUSION The present results demonstrated that gut dysbiosis develops after chronic fructose plus salt intake and contributes to the increase of blood pressure and the activation of intrarenal renin-angiotensin system. Therefore, targeting gut microbiota provides a helpful therapy method to improve HFS-induced hypertension. link2 OBJECTIVES Atherosclerosis is an underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, and obesity is one of the risk factors for atherogenesis. Although a gluten-free diet (GFD) has gained popularity as a strategy for weight loss, little is known about the effects of gluten on obesity. We have previously shown a negative effect of gluten on obesity in mice. However, its effects on atherogenesis are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of gluten on atherosclerosis progression during obesity. METHODS Atherosclerosis-susceptible ApoE knockout mice were subjected to an obesogenic GFD or a diet with 4.5% gluten (GD) for 10 wk. RESULTS Results from the study found that food intake and lipid profile were similar between the groups. However, GD promoted an increase in weight gain, adiposity, and plasma glucose. Pro-inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-6, chemokine ligand-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 also were increased in the adipose tissue of gluten-fed mice. link3 This inflammatory profile was associated with reduced phosphorylation of Akt, and consequently with the intensification of insulin resistance. The GD-enhanced vascular inflammation contributed to the worsening of atherosclerosis in the aorta and aortic root. Inflammatory cells, such as monocyte/macrophage and natural killer cells, and oxidative stress markers, such as superoxide and nitrotyrosine, were increased in atherosclerotic lesions of the GD group. Furthermore, the lesions presented higher necrotic core and lower collagen content, characterizing the less stable plaques. CONCLUSION The gluten-containing high-fat diet was associated with a more severe proatherogenic profile than the gluten-free high-fat diet owing to increased inflammatory and oxidative status at atherosclerotic lesions in obese mice. Icephobic surfaces, used as passive anti-icing materials, are in high demand due to the costs, damage, and loss of equipment and lives related to ice formation on outdoor surfaces. The proper design of icephobic surfaces is intertwined with the need for a profound understanding of ice formation processes and how ice propagates over a surface. Ice formation (ice nucleation) and interdroplet freezing propagation are processes that determine the onset of freezing and complete ice coverage on a surface, respectively. Evaluating the nature of these phenomena, along with their interactions with substrate and environmental factors, can offer a step toward designing surfaces having an improved icephobic performance. This review paper is organized to discuss ice nucleation and rate, preferable locations of nucleation, and favorable pathways of freezing (desublimation and condensation-freezing) on superhydrophobic surfaces. Furthermore, as the propagation of ice over a substrate plays a more deterministic role for the complete freezing coverage of a surface than that of ice formation, this review also elucidates possible mechanisms of ice propagation, theoretical backgrounds, and strategies to control this propagation using surface characteristics. Perifolliculitis capitis abscedens et suffodiens (PCAS) is a kind of rare, chronic, suppurative and inflammatory scalp disease with aetiology and pathogenesis not completely understood. The treatment of PCAS usually represents a challenging problem with frustrating outcome (1). Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new approach and is considered to be useful to treat tumors, bacterial and fungal infections (2-4). We report 9 cases of patients who suffered from PCAS in varying degrees. Photodynamic therapy combined with surgery were used in these cases and the results were satisfactory. In conclusion, photodynamic therapy may provide a new way to treat PCAS. V.Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative progressive disorder for which there is currently no cure. Recently, there has been a robust correlation between type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the development of MCI and AD, which is now referred to as type-3 diabetes. This is extremely important in recognizing both AD and T2DM as metabolic pathologies, which can be traced to the level of mitochondrial function. Although glucose is known to be the deferred source of fuel for cells, ketone bodies have been observed to be able to provide metabolically compromised brain cells with an alternative fuel source, bypassing deficiencies in GLUT transport due to increased insulin resistance. By keeping glucose and insulin levels low to allow for the production of ketones, there is evidence that mitochondrial function will be restored, which treats the underlying problems of T2DM and MCI. Further, visible red or near-infrared (NIR) light has been shown to heal and stimulate damaged tissue by interacting with the mitochondria to restore function.