Left renal Ewing's sarcoma: A case study and a review of imaging literature

Extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma is among the rarest tumors in adults. The primary sites of the tumor dictates symptoms and signs, thus early treatments are compromised when more common tumors are lined up as differentials by the location. We present a case of a 35-year-old pregnant female who developed a renal Ewing sarcoma during pregnancy. A prior simple left kidney cyst in an ultrasound with no tumor signs was spotted. A month after her cesarean section she visited a doctor when she was sent and admitted for surgery with renal cell carcinoma as the primary diagnosis to the Firoozgar hospital. Histology confirmed the final diagnosis. To this end, she completed the standard chemotherapy for the renal Ewing sarcoma with pulmonary metastasis when she was re-evaluated for the general bone pain, diagnosed with multiple bone metastases, and ultimately approached her palliative care. She expired after 2 months. This study demonstrates: a gently progressive mass; palpable in late stages; introduced rise in mean corpuscular volume and lactate dehydrogenase with no drop in the hematocrit. In conclusion, any random parenchymal and/or cortical thickening in primary ultrasound and/or computed tomography demonstrating a cyst�whether displaying internal echo or not� with suggested signs should be furtherly evaluated. © 202

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Production from Natural Gas by a Methanotroph Native Bacterium in a Bubble Column Bioreactor

Reducing the total cost of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production as an attractive substitute for conventional petrochemical plastics still remains an unsolved problem. The aim of this research was the screening of PHB-producing microorganisms and selection of the best suitable medium for microbial growth and PHB production from methane. A new isolated methanotroph for PHB production from natural gas was studied in different media. After selection of the suitable medium, the effect of five process variables (content of nitrogen source, disodium hydrogen phosphate, methane to air ratio, seed age, and pH) on PHB production was investigated in a bubble column bioreactor. Also, hydrodynamic and mass transfer factors (flow regime, mixing time, gas hold up, and kLa) were considered. At optimum operating conditions and engineering parameters in a bubble column, PHB content in the dried biomass reached 25 % w/w. The results showed that pH is the most important variable in the selected conditions

Plasma proteome profiling identifies changes associated to AD but not to FTD

Background Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is caused by frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), characterized mainly by inclusions of Tau (FTLD-Tau) or TAR DNA binding43 (FTLD-TDP) proteins. Plasma biomarkers are strongly needed for specific diagnosis and potential treatment monitoring of FTD. We aimed to identify specific FTD plasma biomarker profiles discriminating FTD from AD and controls, and between FTD pathological subtypes. In addition, we compared plasma results with results in post-mortem frontal cortex of FTD cases to understand the underlying process. Methods Plasma proteins (n = 1303) from pathologically and/or genetically confirmed FTD patients (n = 56; FTLD-Tau n = 16; age = 58.2 +/- 6.2; 44% female, FTLD-TDP n = 40; age = 59.8 +/- 7.9; 45% female), AD patients (n = 57; age = 65.5 +/- 8.0; 39% female), and non-demented controls (n = 148; 61.3 +/- 7.9; 41% female) were measured using an aptamer-based proteomic technology (SomaScan). In addition, exploratory analysis in post-mortem frontal brain cortex of FTD (n = 10; FTLD-Tau n = 5; age = 56.2 +/- 6.9, 60% female, and FTLD-TDP n = 5; age = 64.0 +/- 7.7, 60% female) and non-demented controls (n = 4; age = 61.3 +/- 8.1; 75% female) were also performed. Differentially regulated plasma and tissue proteins were identified by global testing adjusting for demographic variables and multiple testing. Logistic lasso regression was used to identify plasma protein panels discriminating FTD from non-demented controls and AD, or FTLD-Tau from FTLD-TDP. Performance of the discriminatory plasma protein panels was based on predictions obtained from bootstrapping with 1000 resampled analysis. Results Overall plasma protein expression profiles differed between FTD, AD and controls (6 proteins; p = 0.005), but none of the plasma proteins was specifically associated to FTD. The overall tissue protein expression profile differed between FTD and controls (7-proteins; p = 0.003). There was no difference in overall plasma or tissue expression profile between FTD subtypes. Regression analysis revealed a panel of 12-plasma proteins discriminating FTD from AD with high accuracy (AUC: 0.99). No plasma protein panels discriminating FTD from controls or FTD pathological subtypes were identified. Conclusions We identified a promising plasma protein panel as a minimally-invasive tool to aid in the differential diagnosis of FTD from AD, which was primarily associated to AD pathophysiology. The lack of plasma profiles specifically associated to FTD or its pathological subtypes might be explained by FTD heterogeneity, calling for FTD studies using large and well-characterize cohorts

Plasma amyloid-β oligomerization assay as a pre-screening test for amyloid status

Objective We assessed the performance of plasma amyloid oligomerization tendency (OAβ) as a marker for abnormal amyloid status. Additionally, we examined long-term storage effects on plasma OAβ. Methods We included 399 subjects regardless of clinical diagnosis from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort and European Medical Information Framework for AD project (age, 63.8 ± 6.6; 44% female). Amyloid status was determined by visual read on positron emission tomography (PET; nabnormal = 206). Plasma OAβ was measured using the multimer detection system (MDS). Long-term storage effects on MDS-OAβ were assessed using general linear models. Associations between plasma MDS-OAβ and Aβ-PET status were assessed using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics analyses. Correlations between plasma MDS-OAβ and CSF biomarker levels were evaluated using Pearson correlation analyses. Results MDS-OAβ was higher in individuals with abnormal amyloid, and it identified abnormal Aβ-PET with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.74 (95% CI, 0.67–0.81), especially in samples with a storage duration < 4 years. Combining APOEe4 and age with plasma MDS-OAβ revealed an AUC of 81% for abnormal amyloid PET status (95% CI, 74–87%). Plasma MDS-OAβ correlated negatively with MMSE (r = − 0.29, p < .01) and CSF Aβ42 (r = − 0.20, p < 0.05) and positively with CSF Tau (r = 0.20, p = 0.01). Conclusions Plasma MDS-OAβ combined with APOEe4 and age accurately identifies brain amyloidosis in a large Aβ-confirmed population. Using plasma MDS-OAβ as a screener reduced the costs and number of PET scans needed to screen for amyloidosis, which is relevant for clinical trials. Additionally, plasma MDS-OAβ levels appeared affected by long-term storage duration, which could be of interest for others measuring plasma Aβ biomarkers.The Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is supported by Stichting Alzheimer Nederland and Stichting VUmc fonds. Research of the Alzheimer center Amsterdam is part of the neurodegeneration research program of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The clinical database structure was developed with funding from Stichting Dioraphte. The VUmc Biobank is supported by VUmc. The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under EMIF grant agreement no. 115372, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies in kind contribution

Antimicrobial Effect of aqueous extract of saffron petals on some of food-borne bacterial pathogen

Ever-increasing public debates over the adverse effects that may result from exposure to the chemical preservatives have enhanced the interests for the consuming of preservative-free foods or at least the product containing natural preservatives. In this laboratory experiment, the antimicrobial effect of aqueous extracts of Saffron petals against Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated using the disk diffusion method. Moreover, the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the extract was assessed by agar dilution and broth microdilution method. According to the results, S. typhimurium was found asthe most sensitive, while, S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7asthe most resistant species. MICs of the extract by microdilution method were estimated at 40 mg/ml for all of the 4 bacterial species. The results also revealed that the extract of Saffron petals could be used as a natural preservative against the aforementioned bacteria

Investigating predictor factors of echocardiographic data in renal failure in patients with acute heart failure

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the predictor factors of echocardiographic data in renal failure in patients with acute heart failure. Acute heart failure was defined as the development of HF symptoms gradually or suddenly either in the form of a new onset or as a recurence that require emergency treatment and lead to the hospitalization. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study. 255 patients with diagnosis of acute heart failure were entered this study. Patients were under echocardiography after hospitalization. Creatinine was also measured daily and recorded, and the relationship between the echocardiography data obtained with its prediction was studied. Results: In this study, no significant correlation was found between echocardiographic data and intensity of renal dysfunction. Conclusion: Finally, considering the importance of renal dysfunction in determining the prognosis of patients with acute heart failure, further studies are necessary to determine the effective factors in predicting the incidence of renal dysfunction. © 2019, Advanced Scientific Research. All rights reserved