Cervical lymph nodes, a diagnostic dilemma.

Cervical lymph nodes could be a starting sign for a complex diagnosis work-up. Depending on co-morbidities, medical unit and physician's previous experience, the differential diagnosis includes thyroid malignancy, lymphoma, chronic infectious disorders, etc.

Electron-Phonon Coupling as the Source of 1/f Noise in Carbon Soot.

Two 1/f noise peaks were found in a carbon soot resistor at voltages characteristic of Kohn anomalies in graphite. The ratio of the electron-phonon coupling matrix elements at the anomalies calculated from the noise peak intensities is the same as the one obtained from the Raman frequencies. This demonstrates that the electron-phonon coupling is the microscopic source of 1/f noise in carbon soot. A new, very general formula was deduced for the frequency exponent, wherein nonlinearity and dispersion are the only ingredients. The interplay between nonlinearity and dispersion in this formula describes the sublinear-supralinear transitions experimentally observed at both anomalies in the voltage dependence of the frequency exponent. A quadratic dependence of the 1/f noise parameter on the matrix element is proposed and applied to explain the M-shape of the 1/f noise in graphene. We found that the frequency exponent mimics the dependence of the noise intensity in the whole voltage range, while both are the image of the graphite phonon spectrum. This implies that the source of nonlinearity is in the electron-phonon coupling which modulates the slope of the spectrum. It requires the presence of 1/f noise in the thermal noise background of the resistor till phonon frequencies.

Post-ERCP acute pancreatitis and its risk factors.

INTRODUCTION: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a complex endoscopic technique that evolved from a diagnostic to a mainly therapeutic procedure. This was due to the identification of post-procedural complications that can follow both simple ERCP and that associated with the instrumentation of the biliary and pancreatic ductals. The identification of post ERCP complications in a proportion of 5 to 10% of cases, with a mortality rate of 0.33%, imposed their analysis and study of risk factors involved in their occurrence. The significance of post ERCP complications reveals the necessity of their avoidance by adopting additional measures if risk factors are identified. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have retrospectively analyzed 900 cases that underwent ERCP in the Surgery Department of "Sf. Ioan" Clinical Hospital in a period of 17 years. The complications of the procedure were studied. Among them, a special attention was given to post-ERCP acute pancreatitis (pERCP-AP), the most common complication that occurred in the study group. We also tried to find out and highlight the risk factors for this complication. RESULTS: ERCP is a relatively safe invasive procedure, yet it has complications (8% of cases), some of them potentially fatal (mortality 0.43%). The most common complications after ERCP are acute pancreatitis (3.7%), papillary bleeding (1.04%), retroperitoneal duodenal perforation (0.69%) and biliary septic complications like acute cholecystitis and cholangitis (1.21%). Acute pancreatitis is by far the most common complication. Risk factors for its occurrence are difficult sphincterotomy with precut use, failure of CBD desobstruction, pancreatic sphincterotomy, repeated injection of contrast in the pancreatic ductal system, dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi and the absence of changes of chronic pancreatitis. When risk factors are identified, the patients' selection must be very strict and diagnostic ERCP should be avoided in favor of non-invasive diagnostic methods (MRI-cholangiography, echo-endoscopy).

[The synthesis and anti-inflammatory properties of 7-theophyllineacetic acid derivatives]. / Cercetari privind sinteza si proprietatile antiinflamatoare ale unor derivati ai acidului 7-teofilinilacetic.

Some esters of 7-theophyllinylacetic acid were synthetized, characterized physicochemically and tested for their anti-inflammatory properties. As compared to indomethacin, reference anti-inflammatory drug, all synthetized compounds were less toxic. The anti-inflammatory properties are influenced by the nature of the ester group radicals, the more active having ramified alchils.

Immune response to experimental infection with bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in domestic and laboratory animals.

The immune response to cell-associated and cell-free BLV inoculation was studied in calves, lambs, rabbits and specific pathogen-free chickens. Inoculation of cell-associated or cell-free BLV failed to induce infection in rabbits and chickens (strain PDRC), but resulted in the infection of Holstein-Frize calves and of lambs, which exhibited a specific immune response over the entire observation period. Specific antibodies to glycoprotein and p24 fractions of BLV were detected in the infected animals. BLV could be recovered from serologically positive animals.

Specific protection against bovine leukemia virus infection conferred on cattle by the Romanian inactivated vaccine BL-VACC-RO.

The Romanian BL-VACC-RO vaccine against bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection was prepared with ethylenimine-inactivated BLV obtained from persistently infected cell lines. Intramuscular administration of two vaccine doses (each containing 0.40 mg virus glycoprotein with adjuvant), 2 weeks apart, conferred protection against challenge infection with BLV on 18 of the 20 vaccinated calves. Two calves were not protected, in spite of their positive serologic response to vaccination. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the BL-VACC-RO vaccine in preventing BLV infection.