Search

Whiplash injuries, a common sequel of road traffic accidents, may be defined as a musculo-ligamentous sprain resulting from forced acceleration/deceleration and flexion/extension neck injury. We report a non-fatal case of vertebral right artery dissection after a minor rear-lateral collision. The injury was detected twenty-four days after trauma when a computerized tomography (CT) scan and cerebral angiography revealed multiple ischemic lesions of the right cerebellum. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) has been the most sensitive imaging modality to describe the types and degree of vascular injury. The accuracy of such imaging allows linking several injuries with minor car crash avoiding patients seeking litigation for correct financial compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analytically evaluate the gravity anomaly associated with a polyhedral body having an arbitrary geometrical shape and a polynomial density contrast in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The gravity anomaly is evaluated at an arbitrary point that does not necessarily coincide with the origin of the reference frame in which the density function is assigned. Density contrast is assumed to be a third-order polynomial as a maximum but the general approach exploited in the paper can be easily extended to higher-order polynomial functions. Invoking recent results of potential theory, the solution derived in the paper is shown to be singularity-free and is expressed as a sum of algebraic quantities that only depend upon the 3D coordinates of the polyhedron vertices and upon the polynomial density function. The accuracy, robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach are illustrated by numerical comparisons with examples derived from the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the evaluation of the potential and of the gravitational attraction of mass distributions, assigned by means of a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), for terrain correction computations. In particular, we improve a recent analytical formulation based on the approximation of topographic masses by vertical prisms with linear top surfaces and compare the computational features of the enhanced formulation with alternative ones based on polyhedral modeling on bilinear approximation of the surface relief or on numerical approaches. The numerical tests carried out on the DTM of an area near Cassino (Italy) proved that the proposed enhanced analytical formulation, besides providing exact values of the potential and of the gravitational attraction, turns out to be faster than alternative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At most small community hospitals, orthopaedic patients are cared for on general medical-surgical units rather than on dedicated orthopaedic units. The mixed patient population of a typical medical-surgical unit limits the amount of exposure a new graduate nurse has to care for orthopaedic patients during the unit-based orientation. In 2006, a 20-bed medical-surgical unit at a community hospital in the northeast was expecting to orient eight new graduate nurses over the course of the year. The project team recognized a need to enhance the orthopaedic portion of the unit-based orientation to prepare the graduate nurses to provide 'knowledgeable and safe care' (P. ) to orthopaedic patients. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a standardized, evidence-based orthopaedic curriculum piloted in 2006. The project increased the orthopaedic competency of the preceptors, provided the new graduate nurses with a standardized introduction to orthopaedic patient care, and had an unintended benefit of improving overall staff orthopaedic knowledge that improved the consistency and quality of care for orthopaedic patients at this community hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells, such as retinal microglia/macrophages, in the subretinal space contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study aims to explore the functional role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), placental growth factor (PlGF) and VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer in immune homeostasis and activation during pathological laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV)., Methods: To investigate these roles, we utilized the PlGF-DE knockin (KI) mouse model, which is the full functional knockout (KO) of PlGF. In this model, mice express a variant of PlGF, named PlGF-DE, that is unable to bind and activate VEGFR-1 but can still form heterodimer with VEGF-A., Results: Our findings demonstrate that, although there is no difference in healthy conditions, PlGF-DE-KI mice exhibit decreased microglia reactivity and reduced recruitment of both microglia and monocyte-macrophages, compared to wild-type mice during laser-induced CNV. This impairment is associated with a reduction in VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR-1) phosphorylation in the retinae of PlGF-DE-KI mice compared to C57Bl6/J mice. Corroborating these data, intravitreal delivery of PlGF or VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer in PlGF-DE-KI mice rescued the immune cell response at the early phase of CNV compared to VEGF-A delivery., Conclusions: In summary, our study suggests that targeting PlGF and the VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer, thereby preventing VEGFR-1 activation, could represent a potential therapeutic approach for the management of inflammatory processes in diseases such as AMD.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in cancer progression, but the relevance of the inflammasome remains unclear. Alu RNA was the first endogenous nucleic acid shown to activate the NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat containing 3) inflammasome. Here, we showed that Alu RNA can induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL-1β release in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Alu RNA is stored, transported and transferred to CRC cells by exosomes. Exosomal Alu RNA promotes tumorigenesis by inducing invasion, metastasis and EMT via NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Consistent with these data, we found that significantly increased Alu RNA expression correlates with the induction of NLRP3 priming in human CRC patients. Furthermore, the level of Alu RNA in circulating exosomes correlates with CRC progression in a preclinical model. These findings reveal the direct involvement of Alu RNA in cancer pathogenesis, and its presence in CRC cell-derived exosomes could be used as a noninvasive diagnostic biomarker., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Despite being an infrequent crime, parental homicide has been associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in adult perpetrators and a history of child abuse and family violence in adolescent perpetrators. Among severe psychiatric disorders there is initial evidence that delusional misidentification might also play a role in parricide. Parricides are often committed with undue violence and may result in overkill. The authors present the case of an adult male affected by schizoaffective disorder and Capgras syndrome who committed patricide. Forensic pathologists classify such cases as overkill by multiple fatal means comprising stabbing, blunt trauma and choking. Accurate crime scene investigations coupled with psychiatric examinations of perpetrator allow reconstruction of the murder stages. This overkill case is discussed in the context of a broad review of the literature.