Rapid Progression of Native Renal Artery Fibromuscular Dysplasia Following Kidney Donation

Fibromuscular dysplasia is the second commonest anatomical abnormality apart from multiple renal arteries in the potential live donors. Pretransplant evaluation of the donors may include an angiography to evaluate the renal arteries, and failure to recognize renal arterial stenosis, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia, by noninvasive methods may eventually lead to hypertension and ischemic renal failure. We report a case of fibromuscular dysplasia that was undetected by computed tomographic angiography prior to donation. One year after kidney donation, it rapidly progressed to severe symptomatic stenosis with hypertension and acute renal failure. Following renal artery angioplasty, her blood pressure normalized over a period of 2 weeks without any need for antihypertensive medications and the serum creatinine returned to her baseline. The acceptability of renal donors with fibromuscular dysplasia depends on the age, race and the availability of the other suitable donors. Mild fibromuscular dysplasia in a normotensive potential renal donor cannot be considered a benign condition. Such donors need regular follow-up postdonation for timely detection and treatment.     

Identification of Histoplasma capsulatum from culture extracts by real-time PCR

We designed and tested a real-time LightCycler PCR assay for Histoplasma capsulatum that correctly identified the 34 H. capsulatum isolates in a battery of 107 fungal isolates tested and also detected H. capsulatum in clinical specimens from three patients that were culture positive for this organism.     

脑室给予不同剂量的Capsazepine对LPS致大鼠发热过程的影响

目的在大鼠侧脑室内给予不同剂量的瞬时受体电位香草酸受体1(transient receptor potential vanilloid 1,TRPV1)拮抗剂Capsazepine,观察对LPS致热过程的影响。方法在侧脑室内预先给与3种剂量Capsazepine,随之腹腔给与LPS致热。在腹腔内埋植发射子遥测体温变化过程,同时应用荧光测定法检测下丘脑细胞内钙离子浓度的变化,Western blot方法检测TRPV1表达水平。结果随着Capsazepine剂量增大,LPS致大鼠发热水平升高,下丘脑细胞内钙离子浓度减少,TRPV1表达水平降低。结论 Capsazepine作用于大鼠下丘脑,可使LPS诱导的发热水平提高,此效应可能与TRPV1的作用有关。     

Laboratory-based Japanese encephalitis surveillance in Nepal and the implications for a national immunization strategy

We report on two years of Japanese encephalitis (JE) surveillance in Nepal and the implications for a national immunization strategy. From May 2004 to April 2006, 4,652 patients with encephalitis were evaluated. A serum or cerebrospinal fluid specimen was collected from 3198 (69%) patients of which 1,035 (32%) were positive by Japanese encephalitis IgM ELISA. Most cases (N = 951, 92%) were from the 24 Terai districts (i.e., southern plains, 12.3 million persons) with the majority (N = 616, 65%) from four western Terai districts (population = 1.8 million). The case fatality ratio was 14.7% and 6.3% and the proportion of cases under 15 years old was 52% and 62% in the four western and 20 non-western Terai districts, respectively. Japanese encephalitis immunization targeting residents one year of age and older in the western districts and one through 14 years old in the non-western Terai districts may have reduced Japanese encephalitis cases by 84% and deaths by 92%, nationally.     

Role of Chemistry and Crystal Structure on the Electronic Defect States in Cs-Based Halide Perovskites

The electronic structure of a series perovskites ABX₃ (A = Cs; B = Ca, Sr, and Ba; X = F, Cl, Br, and I) in the presence and absence of antisite defect X_B were systematically investigated based on density-functional-theory calculations. Both cubic and orthorhombic perovskites were considered. It was observed that for certain perovskite compositions and crystal structure, presence of antisite point defect leads to the formation of electronic defect state(s) within the band gap. We showed that both the type of electronic defect states and their individual energy level location within the bandgap can be predicted based on easily available intrinsic properties of the constituent elements, such as the bond-dissociation energy of the B–X and X–X bond, the X–X covalent bond length, and the atomic size of halide (X) as well as structural characteristic such as B–X–B bond angle. Overall, this work provides a science-based generic principle to design the electronic states within the band structure in Cs-based perovskites in presence of point defects such as antisite defect.