An ex vivo model of interactions between extracellular vesicles and peripheral mononuclear blood cells in whole blood.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be loaded with therapeutic cargo and engineered for retention by specific body sites; therefore, they have great potential for targeted delivery of biomolecules to treat diseases. However, the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of EVs in large animals remain relatively unknown, especially in primates. We recently reported that when cell culture-derived EVs are administered intravenously to Macaca nemestrina (pig-tailed macaques), they differentially associate with specific subsets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). More than 60% of CD20+ B cells were observed to associate with EVs for up to 1 h post-intravenous administration. To investigate these associations further, we developed an ex vivo model of whole blood collected from healthy pig-tailed macaques. Using this ex vivo system, we found that labelled EVs preferentially associate with B cells in whole blood at levels similar to those detected in vivo. This study demonstrates that ex vivo blood can be used to study EV-blood cell interactions.

Cryptosporidium baileyi infection associated with an outbreak of ocular and respiratory disease in otus owls (Otus scops) in a rehabilitation centre.

Cryptosporidiosis has been reported in more than 30 avian species worldwide. Although some cases of cryptosporidiosis have been described in captive birds of prey in the order Falconiformes, to date there have been no reports of the disease in wild raptors. Here we describe for first time an ocular and respiratory disease associated with Cryptosporidium baileyi in wild scops owl (Otus scops, order: Strigiformes). Sixteen otus owl fledglings born in the wild during the summer of 2008 were admitted to the Torreferrussa Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (Catalonia, northern Spain) in July and August of the same year. In the middle of September, blepharoedema, conjunctival hyperaemia and mucopurulent ocular discharge were diagnosed unilaterally in 75% (12/16) of the birds and bilaterally in 25% (4/16). Moreover, five birds (31%) developed diffuse epithelial corneal oedema, one owl (6%) displayed mild anterior exudative uveitis and another developed rhinitis (6%). Two birds were euthanized because of the severity of disease. The histopathology demonstrated cryptosporidia-like structures in the conjunctival cells and in the nasal respiratory epithelium of one owl. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts (6.5 to 7.0 x 5.0 to 5.5 microm) were identified by immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) in histological sections from eyelids, trachea and respiratory sinuses and in swab samples from the glottis, choanal slit and conjunctival sac. Polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequence analysis confirmed the presence of C. baileyi. Birds were treated orally with azithromycin (40 mg/kg) once a day for 15 days, and by the end of the treatment all owls tested negative for the parasites, by IFAT, and did not display further signs of disease.

[Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and hypertension. Evidence of their relationship]. / Apnea obstructiva del sueño e hipertensión arterial. Las evidencias de su relación.

The purpose of this review is to analyze the relation between obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension. We present epidemiological data of the respiratory disorder and its association with high blood pressure, as well as physiopathological interactions between both conditions, the diagnostic methods, and the impact of treatment on pathophysiology and prognosis.

En esta revisión se analiza la relación entre la apnea obstructiva del sueño y la hipertensión arterial sistémica. Se exponen las evidencias epidemiológicas de la alteración respiratoria y de su asociación con la hipertensión arterial, las interacciones fisiopatológicas entre ambas condiciones, los métodos diagnósticos y el impacto del tratamiento sobre la fisiopatología y el pronóstico.

Perturbation theory in a pure-exchange nonequilibrium economy.

We develop a formalism to study linearized perturbations around the equilibria of a pure-exchange economy. With the use of mean-field theory techniques, we derive equations for the flow of products in an economy driven by heterogeneous preferences and probabilistic interaction between agents. We are able to show that if the economic agents have static preferences, which are also homogeneous in any of the steady states, the final wealth distribution is independent of the dynamics of the nonequilibrium theory. In particular, it is completely determined in terms of the initial conditions and it is independent of the probability, and the network of interaction between agents. We show that the main effect of the network is to determine the relaxation time via the usual eigenvalue gap as in random walks on graphs.

Consistent holographic description of boost-invariant plasma.

Prior attempts to construct the gravity dual of boost-invariant flow of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills gauge theory plasma suffered from apparent curvature singularities in the late-time expansion. This Letter shows how these problems can be resolved by a different choice of expansion parameter. The calculations presented correctly reproduce the plasma energy-momentum tensor within the framework of second-order viscous hydrodynamics.

Quantizing open spin chains with variable length and giant gravitons in the anti-de Sitter-space/conformal field-theory correspondence.

We study an XXX open spin chain with variable number of sites, where the variability is introduced only at the boundaries. This model arises naturally in the study of giant gravitons in the anti-de Sitter-space/conformal field-theory correspondence. We show how to quantize the spin chain by mapping its states to a bosonic lattice of finite length with sources and sinks of particles at the boundaries. Using coherent states, we show how the Hamiltonian for the bosonic lattice gives the correct description of semiclassical open strings ending on giant gravitons.

Tracheal papilloma simulating asthma in a child

Las tumefacciones de la traquea son raras en los niños; es poco probable que el pediatra general tenga que enfrentarse con este diagnóstico y podría encontrar dificuldades para establecerlo. La presentación es solapada y se confunde con otras afecciones obstructivas de las vías aéreas. Se presenta el caso de un niño de tres años de edad con un papiloma de la traquea cuyos síntomas se confundieron con los de asma bronquial y fue tratado con broncodilatadores durante varios meses antes de que se estableciera el diagnóstico correcto

Exercise-induced asthma: preliminary report

Una adolescente puertorriqueña de 16 años de edad manifestaba empeoramiento del asma con el ejercicio. La prueba de broncoprovocación mediante los métodos y estándares recomendados por la Academia Americana de Alergia e Inmunología demostró claramente una notable broncoconstricción después de 8 minutos de ejercicio. Aunque clínicamente hemos sospechado la existencia de esta afección en Puerto Rico, hasta donde sabemos, éste es el primer caso confirmado de asma inducida por el ejercicio que se publica en nuestra literatura médica. Recalcamos la importancia de realizar más estudios para esclarecer la naturaleza y magnitud del problema en Puerto Rico y a la vez despertar el interés de nuestros profesionales de la salud en proveerle atención óptima a estos pacientes, orientada hacia las medidas preventivas, los medicamentos profilácticos y el máximo disfrute de las actividades deportivas de su preferencia