Asparagine availability controls germinal center B cell homeostasis.

The rapid proliferation of germinal center (GC) B cells requires metabolic reprogramming to meet energy demands, yet these metabolic processes are poorly understood. By integrating metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling of GC B cells, we identified that asparagine (Asn) metabolism was highly up-regulated and essential for B cell function. Asparagine synthetase (ASNS) was up-regulated after B cell activation through the integrated stress response sensor GCN2.

[Therapeutic monitoring of itraconazole in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: a possible solution to a frequent problem].

Introduction: Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis is a fungal disease that, without specific treatment, generates a slow and progressive destruction of the lung parenchyma. The recommended pharmacological therapy is long-term oral antifungal administration. The efficacy of the treatment (especially with itraconazole) is around 65% and the frequency of recurrences 10-15%.

Delayed FLAIR-enhancement of benign notochordal remnant (ecchordosis physaliphora).

Ecchordosis physaliphora (EP) is a benign notochordal remnant most commonly encountered in the skull base. In opposition to typical cases of its invasive counterpart, that is, chordoma, EP does not show T1-enhancement. Now, we describe three patients with EP, discovered on delayed contrast-enhanced 3D FLAIR performed for endolymphatic hydrops imaging in suspected Menière's disease.

Biological Activity of Silicon Nitride Ceramics: A Critical Review.

The commercial use of SiN ceramics in the biomedical field dates back to the early 1980s and, initially, did not show promising results, which is why their biocompatibility was not then investigated further until about 10 years later. Over the years, a change in trend has been observed; more and more studies have shown that this material could possess high biocompatibility and antibacterial properties. However, the relevant literature struggles to find mechanisms that can incontrovertibly explain the reasons behind the biological activity of SiN.