Symptoms and Mucosal Changes Stable During Rapid Increase of Pediatric Celiac Disease in Norway.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study whether the incidence of pediatric celiac disease (CD) in South-Eastern Norway changed from 2000 to 2010. We also examined whether there was a change in symptoms and histopathological morphology in the duodenal biopsies during the same period. METHODS: In 3 hospitals in South-Eastern Norway, records from pediatric patients (0-14.9 years) diagnosed with CD during two 3-year periods (2000-2002 and 2008-2010) were reviewed. Only cases with a duodenal biopsy diagnosis of CD classified as Marsh grade 2 and 3a-c were included. Frequencies of symptoms, anthropometric data, and laboratory results were compared, in addition to re-examinations of histological sections from one of the hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 400 cases were diagnosed with a female to male ratio of 1.5:1. The incidence rate for 2000 to 2002 was 15.9 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval 12.8-19.4), compared with 45.5 cases per 100,000 person-years during 2008 to 2010 (95% confidence interval 40.5-50.9), P < 0.001. The relative frequencies of symptoms and the distribution of histopathological changes were similar in the 2 periods, whereas weight z scores and hemoglobin levels were significantly lower in the first period. CONCLUSIONS: We found a 3-fold increase in the incidence rate for CD in the Norwegian pediatric population during the decade 2000 to 2010. Slightly higher weight and hemoglobin levels at diagnosis in the latter period may be due to improved CD awareness. Unaltered relative frequencies of symptoms and histopathological changes in the gut, however, suggest a true increase of CD in Norwegian children.

Specifications for hard condensed matter specimens for three-dimensional high-resolution tomographies.

Tomography is a standard and invaluable technique that covers a large range of length scales. It gives access to the inner morphology of specimens and to the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of physical quantities such as elemental composition, crystalline phases, oxidation state, or strain. These data are necessary to determine the effective properties of investigated heterogeneous media. However, each tomographic technique relies on severe sampling conditions and physical principles that require the sample to be adequately shaped. For that purpose, a wide range of sample preparation techniques is used, including mechanical machining, polishing, sawing, ion milling, or chemical techniques. Here, we focus on the basics of tomography that justify such advanced sample preparation, before reviewing and illustrating the main techniques. Performances and limits are highlighted, and we identify the best preparation technique for a particular tomographic scale and application. The targeted tomography techniques include hard X-ray micro- and nanotomography, electron nanotomography, and atom probe tomography. The article mainly focuses on hard condensed matter, including porous materials, alloys, and microelectronics applications, but also includes, to a lesser extent, biological considerations.

Hipertrigliceridemia y terapia anti-retroviral en pacientes VIH: casos clínicos / Hypertrigliceridaemia and antiretroviral therapy in HIV patients: clinical cases

En los últimos años, la terapia anti-retroviral ha reducido significativamente la morbimortalidad en pacientes VIH (+). Esto ha permitido evidenciar la existencia de distintos efectos metabólicos adversos relacionados con ella. Uno de estos efectos es la hipertrigliceridemia, trastorno del metabolismo lipídico que es factor predisponente para el desarrollo de la pancreatitis aguda y de cardiopatía coronaria y que se asocia con mayor frecuencia con el uso de inhibidores de la proteasa. El manejo de estos paciente incluye la modificación de hábitos de vida y el uso de drogas hipoglicemiantes. Algunos autores consideran la modificación de la terapia antiretroviral como manejo alternativo. Se presentandos casos clínicos y una revisión del tema

Comparison of two methods for one-step in-straw thawing and direct transfer of cattle blastocysts.

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the feasibility of dilution of the cryoprotectant by a sucrose solution in the straw followed by direct transfer without any selection of the embryos. A comparison was made between the method described by Renard et al. (7) and a method slightly modified from that published by Leibo (8). The feasibility is proved by a mean pregnancy rate of 41.4%. Although the difference was not statistically significant, the method described by Renard et al. (7) led to a higher pregnancy rate (44.7%) than that of Leibo (8) (38.5%).