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AbstractObjective:In a prospective observational cohort study, the biochemical profile of bariatrically managed diabetes was documented, aiming to assess its association with clinical outcome.Methods:The population (n= 82; age, 50.7 ± 10.3 years; 92.7% women; followed up for 93 ± 34 months) was stratified as responsive diabetes (Group I) (36.6%, 30 of 82) and controls without diabetes (Group II) (57.3%, 47 of 82). A few refractory subjects were identified in this cohort (Group III [refractory diabetes], 6.3%, five of 82). Nonbariatric overweight and obese diabetes subjects with similar follow-up (n= 21) were documented as well. Main outcome measures were diabetes regression, body mass índex (BMI), glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum lipids, and white blood cell count (WBC) count.Results:Preoperative BMI was somewhat discrepant among operated groups but leveled off from 2 years on. Baseline WBC count, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, blood glucose, and HbA1c were higher in responsive subjects, but a downward shift occurred, without differences regarding controls, in the subsequent period. Conservatively managed diabetes displayed favorable changes of some lipid fractions, but not glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, or WBC count.Conclusions:Diabetes regression rate was 94.3% at 5 years and 84.7% at around 8 years. In responsive patients, both BMI and biochemical indices normalized in the first 2 years and followed a stable path thereafter. Nonoperative treatment was unable to reduce HbA1c, glucose, or WBC count, and HbA1c was a clear prognostic marker of persistent disease in surgical cases. Further studies emphasizing the metabolic and inflammatory signature of obesity-related diabetes are worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age-related changes in haematology and serum chemistry values were examined in male and female WeiserMaples guineapigs (Cavia porcellus). Haematological changes that significantly (P < 0.01) correlated with ageing were increased white blood cell and neutrophil counts in both sexes, decreased lymphocyte counts in both sexes, decreased reticulocyte and platelet counts in males, and decreased basophil counts in females. For serum chemistry, increases in total protein, triglycerides, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were seen in both sexes, along with increases in total cholesterol in males and sodium in females. Decreased alkaline phosphatase in both sexes and decreased chloride in males were significantly (P < 0.01) associated with age. These age-related changes are compared with the published literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a series of ab initio studies based upon density functional theory for the behavior of rhenium and osmium atoms in body-centered-cubic tungsten crystal. Contrary to the fast one-dimensional migration of self-interstitial atoms, interstitials of these solute elements in tungsten have three-dimensional motion because they form a mixed dumbbell having a low rotation energy barrier. The migration of these solute elements strongly influences the effects of radiation upon the materials, and our results suggest that the low rotation energy barrier leading to three-dimensional migration is a property that is key to the explanation of the radiation effects experimentally observed in tungsten-rhenium and tungsten-osmium alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-slip process of a screw    dislocation from the basal to the prismatic plane in magnesium was studied using the density functional theory and the molecular dynamics calculations. An atomistic method for calculating the total Peierls energy map has been devised to track the transition path of a dissociated and/or constricted screw    dislocation in the cross-slip process. The barrier of a screw    dislocation from the basal to the prismatic plane is estimated by the density functional theory for the first time to be meV per Burgers vector length. The activation enthalpy for the cross slip is calculated using a line tension model based on the density functional theory to be 1.4–1.7 eV, which is in reasonable agreement with experiments. On the basis of the results, the effect of temperature on the cross-slip process of the dissociated screw    dislocation on the basal plane is studied in detail using the molecular dynamics method with the embedded-atom-method (EAM) interatomic potential, in which the critical resolved shear stress for the cross slip is evaluated. It is confirmed that the bowed-out dislocation line on the prismatic plane consists of slightly dissociated rectilinear segments with connecting jogs at low temperatures and, as the temperature rises, the curved dislocation line becomes smooth with many segments. The motion of an    dislocation on the prismatic plane is jerky in the low temperature region, while it is retarded by the formation of the largely dissociated plateau segment above the room temperature. A large reduction of the critical shear stress for the cross slip is obtained when the    screw dislocation interacts with a hard-sphere particle placed on the basal plane in the low temperature region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several biomarkers indicating poor prognosis have been reassessed in patients receiving rituximab combination chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, few studies have investigated outcome in relation to a combination of these biomarkers. In addition, no large-scale studies have reassessed the outcome of patients with CD5-positive DLBCL treated with rituximab. Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective study and investigated the predictive value of three biomarkers—BCL2, germinal center (GC) phenotype and CD5—in 121 DLBCL patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone. Results: CD5-positive patients showed significantly poorer event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) than CD5-negative patients (2-year EFS, 18% versus 73%, P P = 0.001). However, no significant difference in outcome according to BCL2 or GC phenotype was observed. Multivariate analysis revealed that CD5 expression was a significant prognostic factor for EFS [hazard ratio 14.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.7–43.2] and OS (hazard ratio 20.3, 95% CI 3.6–114.4). Conclusions: CD5 expression was the only significant prognostic factor among the biomarkers examined in this study. Further studies with larger numbers are warranted to confirm the prognostic significance of CD5 expression for patients with DLBCL receiving rituximab-containing chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]