Transplantation of macroencapsulated human islets within the bioartificial pancreas βAir to patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Macroencapsulation devices provide the dual possibility of immunoprotecting transplanted cells while also being retrievable, the latter bearing importance for safety in future trials with stem cell-derived cells. However, macroencapsulation entails a problem with oxygen supply to the encapsulated cells. The βAir device solves this with an incorporated refillable oxygen tank.

Report of a Large Brazilian Family With a Very Attenuated Form of Hunter Syndrome (MPS II).

Hunter syndrome, or Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), is a rare X-linked recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS). The phenotypic spectrum varies from severe to attenuated clinical forms. We report a large Brazilian family with 16 affected individuals exhibiting a very attenuated form of MPS II.

The first cardiac transplant experience in a patient with mucopolysaccharidosis.

Hunter syndrome (MPSII) is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder that can affect multiple systems but primarily affects the heart. We report the case of a previously asymptomatic 23-year-old patient who had an attenuated form of MPSII and presented with refractory heart failure that required a heart transplant. The diagnosis was confirmed by detection of an increase in urinary excretion of glycosaminoglycans, a deficiency in enzymatic activity, and molecular analysis.

Nonclassical effects of a two-level spin system interacting with a two-mode cavity field via two-photon transition.

The interaction of a two-level cyclic XY n-spin model with a two-mode cavity field involving two-photon transitions is investigated through a generalized Jaynes-Cummings model in the rotating-wave approximation. The two-photon interacting Hamiltonian becomes from the replacement of each single-mode field in the one-photon interacting Hamiltonian with the second-harmonic generation. It was assumed that initially the correlated field modes are in disentangled coherent states having the same photon distribution and that the spin system is in an excited state.