Computed tomographic findings in dogs with suspected aspiration pneumonia: 38 cases (2014-2019).

OBJECTIVES: To describe computed tomographic (CT) findings in dogs diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia and to assess for any correlation with patient outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 38 cases with a presumptive diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia at two UK referral centres. Medical records were reviewed for signalment, history, physical examination and clinicopathologic data. CT examinations of the thorax were reviewed by the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging board-certified radiologist for all dogs to describe the characteristics and distribution of the pulmonary lesions. RESULTS: The most common CT findings were lung lobe consolidation associated with air bronchograms (100%) followed by ground-glass attenuation (89.4%), bronchial wall thickening (36.8%), bronchiolectasis (31.5%) and bronchiectasis (15.7%). Large-breed dogs were overrepresented. Duration of hospitalisation ranged between 0 and 8 days (mean 3 days). Overall, 89.4% of dogs survived the aspiration event and were discharged from the hospital. The four dogs that did not survive to discharge had five or more lobes affected on CT. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: CT findings in dogs with aspiration pneumonia are described. CT is a useful imaging modality to diagnose aspiration pneumonia.

Risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus following acute pancreatitis: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is increasingly recognized as a major cause of diabetes, however, the frequency and risk factors associated with new-onset diabetes are not well established. We aimed to assess the frequency and risk factors associated with new-onset diabetes, the time of diabetes occurrence, and the difference between early and late-onset diabetes following an AP episode. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study included adult patients with AP admitted to a tertiary referral center, followed-up for one year to assess the occurrence of postpancreatitis diabetes. Diabetes was defined in accordance with World Health Organization criteria and the severity of AP was assessed based on the 2012 revised Atlanta classification. RESULTS: Of 329 patients with AP, 29 (8.8%) were diagnosed with diabetes secondary to AP. Of these, 21 (6.37%) had early-onset diabetes (within one month after the acute episode) whereas 8 (2.42%) had late-onset diabetes (more than one month after the AP episode). Obesity and acute necrosis were more frequent in patients with new-onset diabetes compared to those without (55.2% vs. 33.4%, p=0.040 and 31% vs. 7.7%, p<0.01), and remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis. No statistically significant differences were found between these groups regarding sex, age, etiology and severity of AP. The patients with early-onset diabetes were older than those with late-onset (61 vs. 45 years old), in univariate and multivariate analysis (p=0.018 and p=0.038, OR=0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Less than 10% of patients with AP developed diabetes within 1 year, particularly obese patients and those with acute pancreatic necrosis of more than 50%. Patients aged over 61 years old developed diabetes in the first month after the acute episode of AP.

Comprehensive survey on radon mitigation and indoor air quality in energy efficient buildings from Romania.

Over the last 10 years applied scientific research has been carried out in Romania to tacked the residential radon issues. The increased interest to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings has lead to the implementation and use of new architectural solutions aimed to save energy in houses and other buildings. As a consequence, the degree of retrofit in existing buildings and energy efficiency of new buildings promoted the need to not only mitigate indoor radon, but improve indoor air quality overall. The present study found that the while the best performance in radon reduction was confirmed to be based on sub-slab depressurization (61% - 95% reduction), centralized and decentralized mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation with heat recovery yielded a good efficiency in overall improvement of indoor air quality (CO2, VOC, RH, temperature). The outcome of our research, as well as future perspectives, take into account the recommended harmonization of energy efficiency programs with those of public health by finding and applying the best technologies in compliance with energy saving and indoor environmental quality.

X-ray structure of a lectin-bound DNA duplex containing an unnatural phenanthrenyl pair.

DNA duplexes containing unnatural base-pair surrogates are attractive biomolecular nanomaterials with potentially beneficial photophysical or electronic properties. Herein we report the first X-ray structure of a duplex containing a phen-pair in the center of the double helix in a zipper like stacking arrangement.

The English (H6R) familial Alzheimer's disease mutation facilitates zinc-induced dimerization of the amyloid-ß metal-binding domain.

Interaction of Zn(2+) with the metal-binding domain of the English (H6R) amyloid-ß mutant results in the formation of peptide dimers. The mutation causes the exclusion of His6 from the zinc chelation pattern observed in the intact domain and triggers the assembly of the dimers via zinc ions coordinated by (11)EVHH(14) fragments.

Giant fibrovascular esophageal polyp misdiagnosed as achalasia.

A 59 years old woman was admitted in our unit accusing longtime dysphagia and regurgitation. On admission, the patient was wearing a 3 month old definitive feeding gastrostomy tube. The contrast swallow, endoscopy and esophageal manometry established the diagnostic--achalasia. We removed the gastrostomy tube and we performed an open Heller myotomy. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged one week later with affirmatively unimpaired deglutition. One month later, the patient was admitted via emergency with a giant fibrous tumor arising from her mouth after an episode of strong coughing and vomiting. The repeated endoscopy showed a giant esophageal polyp that was missed by the previous investigations, originating from pharingoesophageal junction. The esophageal polyp was resected by cervical approach with good postoperative outcome. The polyp's particular extreme dimensions (27 cm) prevented the acute asphyxia by blockage at the laryngeal level, possibly provoked by smaller tumors. As postoperative one month barium swallow showed a normal esophageal aspect, a final question remains--was achalasia real or an erroneous diagnosis was established the second time too?

[Optimization of the methods for small peptide solution structure determination by NMR spectroscopy].

NMR spectroscopy was recognized as a method of protein structure determination in solution. However, determination of the conformation of small peptides, which undergo fast molecular motions, remains a challenge. This is mainly caused by impossibility to collect required quantity of the distance and dihedral angle restraints from NMR spectra. At the same time, short charged peptides play an important role in a number of biological processes, in particular in pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. Therefore development of a method for structure calculation of small peptides in a water environment using the most realistic force fields seems to be of current importance. Such algorithm has been developed using the Amber-03 force field and software package Gromacs after updating its program code. The algorithm of calculation has been verified on a model peptide for which the solution structure is known, and on the metal binding fragment of rat beta-amyloid for which structure has been determined by alternative methods. The developed algorithm substantially increases quality of structures, in particular Ramachandran plot statistics, and decreases RMSD of coordinates of atoms inside calculated family. The described protocol of calculation can be used for determination of conformation of short peptides, and also for structure optimization of larger proteins containing poorly structured fragments.