Blue Electroluminescence in SRO-HFCVD Films.

In this work, electroluminescence in Metal-Insulator-Semiconductors (MIS) and Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM)-type structures was studied. These structures were fabricated with single- and double-layer silicon-rich-oxide (SRO) films by means of Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition (HFCVD), gold and indium tin oxide (ITO) were used on silicon and quartz substrates as a back and front contact, respectively. The thickness, refractive indices, and excess silicon of the SRO films were analyzed. The behavior of the MIS and MIM-type structures and the effects of the pristine current-voltage (I-V) curves with high and low conduction states are presented. The structures exhibit different conduction mechanisms as the Ohmic, Poole-Frenkel, Fowler-Nordheim, and Hopping that contribute to carrier transport in the SRO films. These conduction mechanisms are related to the electroluminescence spectra obtained from the MIS and MIM-like structures with SRO films. The electroluminescence present in these structures has shown bright dots in the low current of 36 uA with a voltage of -20 V to -50 V. However, when applied voltages greater than -67 V with 270 uA, a full area with uniform blue light emission is shown.

Factores asociados con hipertensión arterial no controlada en pacientes tratados en el Hospital Escuela Universitario (HEU) / Factors associated with uncontrolled high blood pressure in patients treated at HEU

Introducción. La hipertensión arterial es la patología más vista en atención primaria, se ha descrito que la presión arterial no está controlada en el 40% de aquellos que reciben tratamiento. Objetivo. Determinar las características clínico-epidemiológicas de pacientes con diagnóstico de hipertensión arterial. Métodos. Estudio descriptivo; El criterio para la clasiicación de la HTA fue la Guía de la Sociedad Europea de Cardiología 2013. Resultados. Se incluyeron 4634 individuos (63% mujeres y 37% hombres) con promedio de 7.5 años de tener diagnóstico. La media de edad fue 56 años. Un 51% y 55% no tenían la presión arterial sistólica y dias-tólica controlada respectivamente, a pesar de que 73% airmaron tomar regularmente sus antihipertensivos. Los hombres tuvieron un porcentaje mayor de presión arterial no controlada. La PA no controlada (diastólica o sistólica) aumentó desde valores de 0.4% - 2.7% en el grupo de menor edad hasta cifras de 63.2% - 67.8% en el grupo ≥ 50 años. El análisis multivariado se realizó en dos grupos de participantes: los que no se tomaban los medicamentos antihipertensivos al momento del estudio (1258) y los que airmaron estar tomando sus medicamentos (3376). El sobrepeso y la obesidad fueron factores contribuyentes de forma signiicativa a la PA no con-trolada y fueron comunes en ambos grupos. Conclusión. Los niveles de control de la hipertensión son insatisfactorios. La presencia de múltiples factores de riesgo modiicables requiere de un abordaje interdisciplinario de este problema prioritario de la salud públic...(AU)

RNA sensing by conventional dendritic cells is central to the development of lupus nephritis.

Glomerulonephritis is a common and debilitating feature of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The precise immune mechanisms that drive the progression from benign autoimmunity to glomerulonephritis are largely unknown. Previous investigations have shown that a moderate increase of the innate Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is sufficient for the development of nephritis. In these systems normalization of B-cell TLR7 expression or temporal depletion of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) slow progression; however, the critical cell that is responsible for driving full immunopathology remains unidentified. In this investigation we have shown that conventional DC expression of TLR7 is essential for severe autoimmunity in the Sle1Tg7 model of SLE. We show that a novel expanding CD11b(+) conventional DC subpopulation dominates the infiltrating renal inflammatory milieu, localizing to the glomeruli. Moreover, exposure of human myeloid DCs to IFN-α or Flu increases TLR7 expression, suggesting they may have a role in self-RNA recognition pathways in clinical disease. To our knowledge, this study is the first to highlight the importance of conventional DC-TLR7 expression for kidney pathogenesis in a murine model of SLE.

Yaa autoimmune phenotypes are conferred by overexpression of TLR7.

The Y-linked autoimmune accelerating (Yaa) locus drives the transition to fatal lupus nephritis when combined with B6.Sle1 in our C57BL/6J (B6)-congenic model of systemic autoimmunity. We and others recently demonstrated that the translocation of a cluster of X-linked genes onto the Y chromosome is the genetic lesion underlying Yaa (Subramanian, S. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006. 103: 9970-9975; Pisitkun, P. et al., Science 2006. 312: 1669-1672). In male mice carrying Yaa, the transcription of several genes within the translocated segment is increased roughly twofold. Although the translocated X chromosome segment in Yaa may contain as many as 16 genes, the major candidate gene for causation of the Yaa-associated autoimmune phenotypes has been TLR7. To confirm the role of TLR7 in Yaa-mediated autoimmune phenotypes, we introgressed a targeted disruption of TLR7 (TLR7(-)) onto B6.Sle1Yaa to produce B6.Sle1YaaTLR7(-) and examined evidence of disease at 6 and 9 months of age. Our results demonstrate that the up-regulation of TLR7 in the B6.Sle1Yaa strain is responsible for splenomegaly, glomerular nephritis and the majority of the cellular abnormalities of B, T and myeloid cells. The up-regulation of TLR7 was also responsible for driving the infiltration and activation of leukocytes in the kidney, in which activated T cells were a primary component. However, the resolution of TLR7 up-regulation did not eliminate the enhanced humoral autoimmunity observed in B6.SleYaa, suggesting that additional elements in the translocation may contribute to the disease phenotype.

Aterectomia coronária percutânea pela técnica de simpson / Percutaneous coronary atherectomy by the simpson's technique

A aterectomia coronária é um procedimento percutâneo que visa a excisäo e remoçäo de placas de ateroma das artérias coronárias. Três pacientes com reestenose de ACTP prévia no segmento proximal da descendente anterior esquerda foram submetidos ao procedimento com sucesso no Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, utilizando-se a técnica de Simpson. Os critérios de sucesso foram assim definidos: remoçäo de material de placa que foi armazenado num receptáculo na extremidade distal do cateter e enviado para o exame anátomo-patológico; estenose residual inferior a 30%; bordas da lesäo lisas no final do procedimento e ausência de complicaçöes. Esta experiência inicial é encorajadora, sendo a aterectomia um método alternativo à angioplastia convencional em casos selecionados