Efficacy of rituximab in refractory polyarteritis nodosa: a case report.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a systemic vasculitis affecting medium and small-sized vessels resulting in multiple organ involvement. Refractory PAN requires a different therapeutic approach. We herein report the case of a 42-year-old male presenting a non-virus-related refractory PAN with a favorable outcome on rituximab.

Association of mental disorders with costs of somatic admissions in France.

Objectives: Mentally ill patients have worse health outcomes when they suffer from somatic conditions compared to other patients. The objective of this study was to assess the association of mental illness with hospital inpatient costs for somatic reasons.

Methods: All adult inpatient stays for somatic reasons in acute care hospitals between 2009 and 2013 were included using French exhaustive hospital discharge databases.

Design and Fabrication of Glucose Biosensors Based on Immobilization of Glucose Oxidase on Titanium Oxide Nanotube Arrays.

An electrochemical biosensor for the detection of glucose is realized by immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) enzyme onto titanium dioxide nanotube arrays by a coupling encapsulation process. We present details of a robust fabrication technique that results in a durable and reproducible sensor characteristics. The TiO₂ nanotube arrays are grown directly on a titanium substrate by a potentiostatic anodization process in a water and ethylene-glycol mixture solution, which contains ammonium fluoride.

Family medicine: attractiveness, constraints and prospects as perceived by residents of the specialty.

Introduction: Medical studies reform in Tunisia was conducted to upgrade general medicine, depreciated by the population and experienced by practitioners as a path of failure, thus elevated to the rank of family medicine (FM).

Aim: To determine the factors of attractiveness of the FM, the prospects and career aspirations of future family physicians.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey by an anonymous questionnaire distributed via an online questionnaire platform from February 11th to April 13th, 2018 that targeted students in the 2nd year of FM at the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis.

Brucellosis, an uncommon cause of acute acalculous cholecystitis: two new cases and concise review.

Acalculous cholecystitis etiologies while numerous, some of them are less-known such as brucellosis. In this report, we elaborate the clinical findings, investigations and management of two female patients presenting acalculous cholecystitis in whom diagnosis of acute brucellosis was retained. Both patients had fever, asthenia and abdominal tenderness.

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a potential paraneoplastic presentation.

While autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) is a well-known paraneoplastic syndrome in haematological malignancies, it has been described far less in solid tumours. We hereby report the case of a 61-year-old male patient presenting AIHA related to pancreatic cancer. Investigations excluded infectious, autoimmune and toxic causes of AIHA.

Deep vein thrombosis of the left arm revealing an asymptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis.

Although not frequent, thromboembolic events occurring in patient presenting tuberculosis may be observed. Frequency of such thromboembolic events seems correlated with the severity of tuberculosis. We herein report a case of venous thrombosis revealing an asymptomatic tuberculosis.

Gelatinous Transformation of Bone Marrow in a Patient with Anorexia Nervosa: An Uncommon but Reversible Etiology.

BACKGROUND Anorexia nervosa is a relatively frequently encountered eating disorder. Beyond its psychiatric significance, it is associated with multiple hematological features such as cytopenia. It can be related to gelatinous transformation of the bone marrow.

Interstitial Cystitis: An uncommon revelation in primitive Sjögren syndrome.

Interstitial cystitis is an exceptional entity during primary Sjögren's syndrome. In this regard, we report the case of a 67-year-old patient in whom initially idiopathic interstitial cystitis revealed primary Sjögren's syndrome after 5 years of evolution in front of xerostomiaa, xerophtalmia and bilateral parotid hypertrophy with histological confirmation at the biopsy of accessory salivary glands.

Three scenarios of nasal obstruction revealing sarcoidosis.

The nasal location of sarcoidosis is rare. In this regard, we report three observations of sarcoidosis observed in three women with an average age of 53.6 years, revealed by annoying nasal manifestations.

A flexible and low power telemetric sensing and monitoring system for chronic wound diagnostics.

Background: Non-healing chronic wounds, such as venous leg ulcers, can be monitored non-invasively by using modern sensing devices and wireless technologies. The development of such a wireless diagnostic tool may improve chronic wound management by providing evidence on efficacy of treatments being provided. This paper presents a low-power portable telemetric system for wound condition sensing and monitoring.

An improved flexible telemetry system to autonomously monitor sub-bandage pressure and wound moisture.

This paper presents the development of an improved mobile-based telemetric dual mode sensing system to monitor pressure and moisture levels in compression bandages and dressings used for chronic wound management. The system is fabricated on a 0.2 mm thick flexible printed circuit material, and is capable of sensing pressure and moisture at two locations simultaneously within a compression bandage and wound dressing.

Functional interactions between NURF and Ctcf regulate gene expression.

Gene expression frequently requires chromatin-remodeling complexes, and it is assumed that these complexes have common gene targets across cell types. Contrary to this belief, we show by genome-wide expression profiling that Bptf, an essential and unique subunit of the nucleosome-remodeling factor (NURF), predominantly regulates the expression of a unique set of genes between diverse cell types. Coincident with its functions in gene expression, we observed that Bptf is also important for regulating nucleosome occupancy at nucleosome-free regions (NFRs), many of which are located at sites occupied by the multivalent factors Ctcf and cohesin.

Temporal localized structures in photonic crystal fibre resonators and their spontaneous symmetry-breaking instability.

We investigate analytically and numerically the formation of temporal localized structures (TLSs) in an all photonic crystal fibre resonator. These dissipative structures consist of isolated or randomly distributed peaks in a uniform background of the intensity profile. The number of peaks and their temporal distribution are determined solely by the initial conditions.