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BACKGROUND: Lung Ultrasound (LUS)-guided Lung Recruitment Maneuver (LRM) has been shown to possibly reduce ventilator-induced lung injury in preterm infants. However, to avoid potential hemodynamic and pulmonary side effects, the indication to perform the maneuver needs to be supported by early signs of lung recruitability. Recently, a new LUS pattern (S-pattern), obtained during the reopening of collapsed parenchyma, has been described. This study aims to evaluate if this novel LUS pattern is associated with a higher clinical impact of the LUS-guided LRMs. METHODS: All the LUS-guided rescue LRMs performed on infants with oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen (S/F) ratio below 200, were included in this cohort study. The primary outcome was to determine if the presence of the S-pattern is associated with the success of LUS-guided recruitment, in terms of the difference between the final and initial S/F ratio (Delta S/F). RESULTS: We reported twenty-two LUS-guided recruitments, performed in nine patients with a median gestational age of 34 weeks, interquartile range (IQR) 28–35 weeks. The S-pattern could be obtained in 14 recruitments (64%) and appeared early during the procedure, after a median of 2 cmH2O (IQR 1–3) pressure increase. The presence of the S-pattern was significantly associated with the effectiveness of the maneuver as opposed to the cases in which the S-pattern could not be obtained (Delta S/F 110 +/- 47 vs 44 +/- 39, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the presence of the S-pattern may be an early sign of lung recruitability, predicting LUS-guided recruitment appropriateness and efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the technique and findings of the 'veterinary focused assessment with sonography for trauma‐airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure' protocol in dogs suffering from trauma. Materials and Methods: Prospective observational study on a new point‐of‐care ultrasound protocol on 64 dogs suffering from trauma and comparison of findings with radiology. Results: Comparison of the results of this new ultrasound protocol for trauma patients with radiography findings for pneumothorax, pleural effusion, alveolar‐interstitial syndrome and abdominal effusion revealed positive agreement of 89, 83, 100 and 87% and negative agreement of 76, 83, 76 and 92%, respectively. Novel findings of the 'veterinary focused assessment with sonography for trauma‐airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure' exam, which were not previously reported for dogs undergoing focused assessment with sonography for trauma, included alveolar‐interstitial syndrome (suggestive of pulmonary contusions), diaphragmatic hernia, retroperitoneal effusion and tracheal injury. Our new technique may also help identify increased intracranial pressure via changes in optic nerve sheath diameter and haemodynamic instability through the evaluation of the caudal vena cava and cardiac function. Clinical Significance: The described ultrasound examination protocol can be rapidly performed on dogs suffering from trauma during resuscitation and it may detect injuries previously undetectable using other veterinary point‐of‐care ultrasound protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose The term hereditary spastic paraplegia ( HSP) covers a spectrum of genetically heterogeneous disorders in which lower limb spasticity is the common clinical feature. Many patients with childhood-onset HSP are mistakenly diagnosed with cerebral palsy ( CP). Methods A group of as yet molecularly undiagnosed HSP patients were analyzed using SpastoPlex , a customized target re-sequencing panel able to investigate the coding regions of 72 genes linked to HSP, spastic ataxias or related motor diseases. Results Our investigations identified loss-of-function mutations in AP4S1/ SPG52 in four children (three families) who had previously received a diagnosis of diplegic/quadriplegic CP. The patients presented spastic paraparesis, mild facial dysmorphisms, moderate-to-severe intellectual disability and severe speech delay. Two patients manifested febrile seizures and childhood-onset focal seizures. In all the patients, brain magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) showed a peculiar hypoplastic posterior corpus callosum, often associated with ventriculomegaly, white matter loss and cerebral atrophy. Conclusion Adaptor protein 4 (AP-4) deficiency disorders should be suspected in children with spastic paraparesis, cognitive deficit and absent speech accompanied by suggestive MRI features. Seizures might be amongst the clinical manifestations of the syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose The hereditary spastic paraplegias ( HSP) are characterized by progressive spasticity of the lower limbs, mostly inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Analyses of large HSP pedigrees could help to better characterize the phenotype due to a single causative mutation. Patients in a seven-generation kindred carrying a large deletion in SPAST/ SPG4 are described. Methods Individuals originating from Sardinia were clinically and genetically studied. Results Sixty-seven subjects carried a heterozygous deletion encompassing exons 2-17 of SPAST. Fifty patients (53.2 ± 15.4 years) presented a pure form of spastic paraparesis characterized by mild impairment and slow progression. Most patients showed spasticity, increased tendon reflexes in the lower limbs and Babinski sign, whilst weakness was rarely detected and urinary disturbances occasionally reported. Amongst the 17 asymptomatic carriers of the mutation, minimal neurological signs were detected in 11 cases. Conclusions A focus on spasticity, increased tendon reflexes and Babinski sign, more than on weakness, could help clinicians to promote early diagnosis in asymptomatic carriers of SPAST deletions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the effect of a change in the endogenous hormone equilibria on the competence of tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum) cells to defend themselves against the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Calluses from cvs 'Davis' and 'Red River', respectively resistant and susceptible to Fusarium and transgenic for an auxin- or cytokinin-synthesizing gene from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, were used. The integration of Agrobacterium hormone-related genes into susceptible cv 'Red River' can bring the activation of defense processes to a stable competence as assessed by the inhibition of mycelial growth in dual culture and gem-tube elongation of Fusarium conidia, the determination of callose contents, peroxidase induction and ion leakage in the presence of fusaric acid. This is particularly true when the transformation results in a change of phytohormone equilibria towards an higher cytokin in concentration. On the contrary, in resistant cv 'Davis' the inhibition of both fungal growth in dual culture and conidia germination is higher when the hormone balance is modified in favour of the auxins. No significant effect was observed for ion leakage and peroxidase induction, probably because of a constitutive overproduction of cytokinins in 'Davis' cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant cell walls play a major role in the outcome of host-parasite interactions. Wall fragments released from the plant, and/or the fungal pathogen, can act respectively as endogenous and exogenous elicitors of the defence response, and other wall components, such as callose, lignin, or hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, can inhibit pathogen penetration and/or spreading. We have previously demonstrated that calli from tomato cultivars resistant in vivo to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici show a high amount of polysaccharides in vitro. The aim of the present work was to assess the possible role of polysaccharide content and/or synthetic capacity in determining the competence of plant cells for active defence. For this purpose, tomato cell clones with increased and decreased polysaccharide (FL, FL) and callose (A, A) content have been selected by means of specific stains as visual markers and tested for the effect of these changes on the extent of response to Fusarium. The analysis of several parameters known to be indicative of active defence (cell browning after elicitor treatment, peroxidase and β-glucanase induction and inhibition of fungal growth in dual culture) clearly shows that FL and A clones have acquired an increased competence for the activation of defence response. The results are thoroughly discussed in terms of an evaluation of the relative importance of constitutive and/or inducible polysaccharide synthetic capacity for plant response to pathogens, and their possible regulation by plant physiological backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of dissecting host-parasite interaction processes in the system Lycopersicon aesculentum-Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici we have isolated plant cell mutants having single-step alterations in their defense response. A previous analysis of the physiological phenotypes of mutant cell clones suggested that recognition is the crucial event for active defence, and that polysaccharide content, fungal growth inhibition, peroxidase induction in in vitro dual culture and ion leakage induced by cultural filtrates of the pathogen can be markers of resistance. In this paper we present the results of a similar analysis carried out on cell cultures from one susceptible ('Red River'), one tolerant ('UC 105') and three resistant ('Davis UC 82', 'Heinz', 'UC 90') tomato cultivars. Our data confirm that the differences in the parameters considered are correlated with resistance versus susceptibility in vivo. Therefore, these parameters can be used for early screening in selection programmes. These data, together with those obtained on isolated cell mutants, suggest that the selection in vitro for altered fungal recognition and/or polysaccharide or callose content may lead to in vivo - resistant genotypes. The data are thoroughly discussed with particular attention paid to the importance of polysaccharides in active defense initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of better understanding in vitro host-parasite interactions, tomato cell lines selected for altered response to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici cell wall components were further characterized. Particularly, their behaviour in dual culture in regard to both fungal inhibition and peroxidase activation was analysed and selected, and control cell clones were screened for esopolysaccharide content and toxin tolerance. Interclonal differences in growth response to 2,4-D and DMSO and the capacity to grow on a medium devoid of hormones (habituation) were taken as parameters representative of physiological variability not directly correlated with the response to pathogens. Significant differences between clones selected for increased (F+) and decreased (F−) response to fungal elicitors were found for pathogen inhibition, peroxidase and esopolysaccharide content, toxin tolerance being reduced in F but not significantly different from the control in F+. As expected, clonal variability for the response to 2,4-D and DMSO, although significant, was not connected with hostparasite interactions. The data reported thus show that selection for a character (response to elicitors), probably critical for the response to pathogens, may lead to the recovery of genotypes showing a set of modifications suggestive of a cascade of events leading to active defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a preliminary study on the interaction between an Alternaria alternata pathotype and Solatium tuberosum a series of parameters, indicative of active and passive defense processes, was investigated in vitro using tolerant (Chiquita) and susceptible (Superior) cultivars. Ion leakage experiments along with growth of suspension cultures and plating efficiencies in the presence of fungal culture filtrates suggest that toxin tolerance is a valuable character in distinguishing between resistant and susceptible genotypes. As far as active defense was concerned, although TLC patterns suggested the synthesis of different fluorescent compounds, probably phenolic acid, when fungal elicitors were applied to Chiquita or susceptible tissue cultures, no consistent pattern suggesting a relationship with defence could be observed. On the other hand, peroxidase isozyme analysis after different dual culture periods showed the activation of ionically and covalently bound peroxidases in the presence of the pathogen only in cv. Chiquita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypersensitive browning, host cell death and phytoalexins (rishitin) synthesis in both callus cultures and cotyledons have been observed in a susceptible tomato cultivar following treatment with high molecular weight cell wall components from Phytophthora infestans race IB. The growth of the pathogen was restricted on both elicited differentiated and undifferentiated tomato tissues. Substance(s) released by germinating sporangia, but not by the mycelium, suppressed the hypersensitive reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Blut: Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Blutforschung is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Blut: Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Blutforschung is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift Für Die Gesamte Experimentelle Medizin is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 3 female patients with Raynaud's disease affecting the upper extremities, the skin temperature and plethysmographic measurements of the fingers were taken before and after the i.v. injection of 250 mg heparin (Liquemin 'Roche'). The vasomotor effect thus observed was expressed by increase in skin temperature, pulse frequency and arterial supply, and also by decrease in duration and severity of experimentally induced ischemic attacks. After prolonged treatment with 250 mg heparin i.v. daily, the skin temperature increased and the attacks decreased in frequency, duration and severity. These favorable results in functional arterial disorders are attributed to the established vasodilating action of heparin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Experientia is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)