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Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-related disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria that affects 3-10% of all pregnancies. Although its pathophysiology remains obscure, placental hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and alterations in vascular function, morphology, and endothelial barrier integrity are considered to play a key role in the development of preeclampsia. In this study, placental villous explants of noncomplicated placentae and BeWo cells were subjected to hypoxia. The effect of placental hypoxic-conditioned medium (HCM) on intraluminal-induced contraction and endothelial barrier integrity in chorionic arteries was investigated using pressure myography. The impact of BeWo cell HCM on endothelial cell viability, reactive oxygen species formation and inflammation was also determined. Alterations in arterial morphology and contractile responsiveness to the thromboxane A2 analog (U46619) after exposure to placental HCM were examined immunohistochemically and by wire myography, respectively. Intraluminal administration of placental HCM induced vasoconstriction and increased the endothelial permeability for KCl, which was concentration-dependently prevented by quercetin. Placental and BeWo cell HCMs decreased endothelial cell viability, increased the production of reactive oxygen species and enhanced the secretion of IL-6 and IL-8. The cross-sectional area of the arterial media was increased upon exposure to placental HCM, which was associated with increased vascular proliferation and contractile responsiveness to U46619, and all of these effects were prevented by the antioxidants quercetin and RRR-alpha-tocopherol. This study is the first to comprehensively demonstrate the link between factors secreted by placental cells in response to hypoxia and vascular abnormalities and paves the way for new diagnostic approaches and therapies to better protect the maternal vasculature during and after a preeclampsia-complicated pregnancy.

The School of Speculative DocumentaryOctober 2018Dear Gentleperson,It is our great pleasure to extend to you an invitation to join us as a visiting artist, researcher, scholar, dramaturge, critic, ...

Ancien professeur de theologie et ancien secretaire general de la C.I.P.L., Gh. Pinckers a accepte le difficile exercice d'evoquer de «nouveaux defis pour la liturgie de demain». Dans un monde en voie de secularisation, monde de l'immediatete et de la multiplicite des images ephemeres qui semble se passer de Dieu, que devient l'eucharistie dominicale concurrencee par le week-end marque par la multiplicite des offres et une mobilite toujours plus grande? Quel est l'avenir du chant liturgique des assemblees dans les eglises urbaines ou semi-urbaines, face au savoir-faire et aux richesses culturelles de bien des chorales parfois peu sensibles a la dimension communautaire de la liturgie? Le bapteme des petits enfants demande par les parents n'est-il pas surtout un rite de la naissance, voire un rite de passage plutot que le sacrement de la foi confessee? Les pretres ploient sous le fardeau en raison de leur petit nombre et de l'âge: l'Eglise aura-t-elle la force de creer des voies d'acces nouvelles vers le ministere ordonne; verrons-nous des hommes maries accedant a l'ordination presbyterale et les femmes partageront-elles un jour la responsabilite pastorale? Enfin, les langues liturgiques vehiculaires pourront-elles soutenir l'epreuve des traductions «litterales», telles que le Saint-Siege les exige aujourd'hui?

ummary Experimental transmission of a virus, considered to be the cause of a severe dermatitis and stomatitis in cattle under field conditions in the Belgian Congo, was carried out on calves, sheep and goats. Extensive generalized skin lesions could not be reproduced experimentally, but a severe ulcerative stomatitis developed in the inoculated animals; some of them showed also cutaneous reactions on the muzzle and legs. Sheep and goats reacted more severely to the infection than calves and some of them died. Calves of pure native origin withstood the infection better than crossbred animals and one of the latter succumbed to the disease, developing severe lesions in the anterior portion of the digestive tract. Zusammenfassung Ubertragungsversuche mit einem Virus, das eine Dermatitis und ulzerative Stomatitis bei Rindern in Ruanda-Urundi verursacht Es wurden Ubertragungsversuche bei Kalbern, Schafen und Ziegen mit einem Virus durchgefuhrt, von dem man annimmt, das es unter naturlichen Bedingungen schwere Dermatitiden und Stomatitiden bei Rindern in Belgisch Congo verursacht. Umfangreiche generalisierte Hautlasionen konnten experimentell nicht hervorgerufen werden, jedoch entwickelte sich eine schwere ulzerative Stomatitis bei den infizierten Tieren. Einige von ihnen wiesen Hautreaktionen am Maul und an den Beinen auf. Schafe und Ziegen reagierten heftiger auf die Infektion als Kalber. Von den ersteren starben auch einige. Bei den Kalbern, die eingeborenen Rassen angehorten, konnte eine erhohtere Widerstandskraft gegenuber der Infektion beobachtet werden als bei den Kreuzungstieren, von denen auch ein Tier an dieser Krankheit starb. Bei diesem Tier entwickelten sich mehrere schwere Lasionen in den vorderen Gebieten des Verdauungstraktus. Resume Essais de transmission d'un virus qui provoque une dermatite et une stomatite ulcerative chez les bovides a Ruanda-Urundi Des essais de transmission furent effectues chez des veaux, des moutons et des chevres avec un virus dont on admet qu'il provoque dans des conditions naturelles des dermatites et stomatites graves chez les bovins au Congo Belge. Des lesions cutanees etendues ou generalisees ne purent etre reproduites dans l'infection experimentale. Cependant une stomatite ulcerative grave apparut chez les animaux infectes. Quelques animaux presenterent des reactions cutanees dans la region de la bouche et sur les membres. Les moutons et les chevres reagirent plus vivement a l'infection que les veaux. Il y eu meme chez les premiers des cas mortels. Chez les veaux qui appartenaient a des races indigenes on put constater une resistance plus grande a l'infection que chez les animaux de croisement. Parmi ceux-ci, un veau mourut de la maladie et l'on constata chez cet animal plusieurs lesions graves dans les parties anterieures du tube digestif. Resumen Ensayos de transmision con un virus que ocasiona la dermatitis y estomatitis ulcerativa de los bovidos en Ruanda-Urundi En terneras, ovejas y cabras se realizaron ensayos de transmision con un virus, del que supone que bajo condiciones naturales da lugar a graves dermatitis y estomatitis en el ganado vacuno en el Congo Belga. Por via experimental no se pudieron producir extensas lesiones cutaneas generalizadas, desarrollandose no obstante una grave estomatitis ulcerative en los animales infectados. Algunos de ellos mostraron reacciones cutaneas en el hocico y en las patas. Las ovejas y cabras reaccionaron con mayor intensidad frente a la infeccion que las terneras. De las primeras tambien murieron algunas. En las terneras pertenecientes a razas autoctonas se pudo observar una mayor resistencia frente a la infeccion que en los animales cruzados, uno de los cuales tambien murio de esta enfermedad. En este animal se desarrollaron varias lesiones graves en los primeros tramos del tracto digestivo.

The derivation of the contralateral effect from EOG data is presented. The mathematical procedure can be adapted to special experimental conditions, such as unilateral occlusion, and asymmetric fixation, or for instance to a group of patients with unilateral enucleation. The contralateral spread of the standing potential of the eye is significantly shown by the experimental results, and is expressed by a factor f. This factor is of the order of 15% and represents the fraction of the ipsilateral potential that is measured contralaterally. A method is given to correct the EOG data in case of unilateral impairment.

We examined 69 members of two caucasian families with an autosomal dominant form of central areolar choroidal dystrophy using ophthalmoscopy and fundus photography. In five members who had a good visual acuity macular lesions were found. In three of them retinal function tests were performed, which turned out to be normal. These 5 patients underwent fluorescein angiography. Early symptoms of central areolar choroidal dystrophy are small parafoveal hyperfluorescent areas due to retinal pigmentepithelium loss and areas of pigment mottling in the macula. Until now the early lesions of central areolar choroidal dystrophy in patients with a good visual acuity in both eyes have not been described clearly.

The EOG is influenced by the corneo-retinal potential of the contralateral eye. This contralateral influence results in polarity reversal in severely destructed eyes which do not have their own corneo-retinal potential. In eyes with a decreased corneo-retinal potential the contralateral effect can cause polarity reversal only during the light adapted period. Contralateral influence on eyes with abolished light sensitive component but a relatively well preserved light-insensitive component results in a paradoxical curve. Deterioration of the light-sensitive part of the EOG concerns primarily the positive component. In severely impaired eyes the EOG value should be corrected to allow for the influence of the contralateral sound eye; a formula, devised for calculating the corrected values, is given in a second paper.

The authors examined a patient presenting with congenital sensory neuropathy with selective loss of small myelinated nerve fibres. The appearance of (bilaterial) keratitis or corneal ulceration in early childhood is strongly suggestive of congenital corneal anaesthesia. Concomitant symptoms such as anisocoria, abnormal pupillary reaction, diminished tear production and disturbed sensibility to pain and temperature point to a generalized disease: one of the hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies. In order to establish a definite diagnosis, elaborate neurological examination, including ultrastructural study of a muscle-nerve biopsy, is required. Tarsorrhaphy, therapeutic flushfitting PMMA scleral lenses and hydrophilic HEMA contact lenses are advocated, in order to protect the cornea. The results with high-water-content hydrophilic contact lenses are promising, those of keratoplasty limited.

Purpose: To investigate whether the pattern reversal visual evoked potential can be useful in the diagnosis and management of macular hole patients. Methods: The pattern reversal visual evoked potential was measured in 66 patients with a macular hole and in 43 healthy control subjects. Check sizes of 34′, 17′ and 10′ were applied. Results: Results showed that, for the check sizes of 34′, 17′ and 10′, eyes with a macular hole had significantly prolonged N80 and P100 latencies and a significantly reduced P100 amplitude as compared to their fellow eyes. Furthermore, for the 10′ check size, the fellow eyes appeared to have a significantly reduced P100 amplitude in comparison with the control eyes, whereas N80 and P100 latencies of the fellow eyes of the macular hole patients were not prolonged. Conclusion: Significant pattern reversal visual evoked potential alterations were shown in eyes with macular holes and fellow eyes for small check sizes.

With a routine clinical colour vision test battery we found scotopization in 32% of retinal diseases presenting with pseudoprotanomaly as sign of an acquired type III blue-yellow colour vision defect. In blue-yellow colour vision defects of retinal origin scotopization is a transient phenomenon, present in early stages of the disease, but it is not an obligatory finding. There is no evident relationship between visual acuity and scotopization.

We report the clinical history of 2 patients affected with reticular dystrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium and central choroidal neovascularization. With time, spontaneous reduction of the subretinal fluid associated with consequent improvement of the visual acuity has been noted in our first case. The second patient showed a stable fibrotic subfoveal choroidal neovascularization. Conventional fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green videoangiography findings are illustrated. The differential diagnosis between other reticular pigmented lesions often associated with choroidal neovascularization is discussed.

Dominant cystoid macular dystrophy (DCMD) occurred in 28 members of 5 unrelated families. The disease is characterized by cystoid macular oedema and leakage from retinal capillaries in the posterior pole. Colour vision examination reveals a type I red-green defect with concomitant blue-yellow defectiveness; the latter may be caused by the leaking capillaries. The ERG is normal. The EOG is subnormal. Darkadaptation curves are often slightly disturbed. There are frequently also aspecific pigmentary alterations in the peripheral fundus.