Clinical Manifestations of Anti-GABA-B Receptor Encephalitis: A Case Series.

Anti γ aminobutyric acid B(GABA B) receptor encephalitis is a rare form of autoimmune encephalitis. Our aim is to study the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of anti GABA B receptor encephalitis. This is a retrospective case series from the Neuroimmunology laboratory of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Kerala, India from 2016 to 2021.

Heart in the Brain.

A 52-year-old man with a 5-year history of diabetes mellitus and chronic renal disease presented with sudden onset left upper limb weakness and numbness at 5 pm, which progressed to quadriplegia by the next day at 2:30 am. He had dysarthria at admission. There were no sensory symptoms in the lower limbs.

Intrathecal Rituximab as a Rescue Therapy in Refractory Pure CSF Positive, Non-Teratomatous Type Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis.

NMDAR antibody encephalitis is the most common autoimmune encephalitis characterized by a myriad of neuropsychiatric symptoms. It predominantly affects females and is associated with ovarian teratoma (58%). Nineteen percent do not respond to treatment and are left with serious neurological deficits.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome following ChAdOx1-S/nCoV-19 Vaccine.

As of April 22, 2021, around 1.5 million individuals in three districts of Kerala, India had been vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines. Over 80% of these individuals (1.

"Venous congestion" as a cause of subcortical white matter T2 hypointensity on magnetic resonance images.

Subcortical T2 hypointensity is an uncommon finding seen in very limited conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Sturge-Weber syndrome, and meningitis. Some of the conditions such as moyamoya disease, severe ischemic-anoxic insults, early cortical ischemia, and infarcts are of "arterial origin." We describe two conditions in which "venous congestion" plays a major role in T2 hypointensity - cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF).

Off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy with a mid-infrared interband cascade laser for real-time breath ethane measurements.

Cavity-enhanced tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy is an attractive method for measuring small concentrations of gaseous species. Ethane is a breath biomarker of lipid peroxidation initiated by reactive oxygen species. A noninvasive means of quickly quantifying oxidative stress status has the potential for broad clinical application.

Highly efficient second-harmonic generation in buried waveguides formed by annealed and reverse proton exchange in periodically poled lithium niobate.

Efficient three-wave mixing devices have numerous applications, including wavelength conversion, dispersion compensation, and all-optical switching. Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a useful diagnostic for near-degenerate operation of these devices. With buried waveguides formed in periodically poled lithium niobate by annealed and reverse proton exchange, we demonstrate what is believed to be the highest normalized conversion efficiency (150%/W cm(2)) for SHG in the 1550-nm communications band reported to date.

Observation of 99% pump depletion in single-pass second-harmonic generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide.

We report 99% pump depletion in single-pass second-harmonic generation. Quasi-cw pulses at 1550 nm were frequency doubled in an annealed proton-exchanged waveguide formed in periodically poled lithium niobate. Measurements of pump depletion and second-harmonic generation agree with results from numerical integration of the coupled-mode equations that describe the process.

Ultrasensitive nonlinear measurements of femtosecond pulses in the telecommunications band by aperiodically poled LiNbO3 waveguides.

We have used aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguides to perform intensity autocorrelation and frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurements for ultraweak femtosecond pulses at 1.5 microm wavelength. The required pulse energies for intensity autocorrelation and FROG are as low as 52 aJ and 124 aJ, respectively.

Ventilation and perfusion lung scintigraphy of allergen-induced airway responses in atopic asthmatic subjects.

Background: Both ventilation (V) and perfusion (Q) of the lungs are altered in asthma, but their relationships with allergen-induced airway responses and gas exchange are not well described.

Methods: The effects of aerosolized allergen provocation of V/Q abnormalities in nonsmoking, male atopic asthmatics (six dual responders and two isolated early responders) were compared with measurements of airflow limitation (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV(1)]), gas exchange (arterial oxygen saturation, arterial oxygen partial pressure and alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient) and airway reactivity (provocative concentration of histamine causing a decrease of 20% in FEV(1)). V and Q lung scans at 30 min and 6 h following allergen challenge and changes in all variables were compared with prechallenge data.

Sputum neutrophilia can mask eosinophilic bronchitis during exacerbations.

Background: Exacerbations of airway disease are eosinophilic, neutrophilic, both or neither. The primary objective of the present study was to identify whether the treatment of a neutrophilic bronchitis can unmask an associated eosinophilia.

Methods: A retrospective survey of 2160 consecutive sputum cell counts from 1343 patients with airway disease was conducted to identify patients with an isolated neutrophilic bronchitis, which was defined as a sputum total cell count of greater than or equal to 12 x 10(6) cells/g of sputum and a proportion of neutrophils of 80% or greater.

Changing pattern of sputum cell counts during successive exacerbations of airway disease.

Background: Exacerbations of airway disease are eosinophilic, neutrophilic, both or neither, and this determines the treatment needed. We examined changes in the cellular nature of airway inflammation between consecutive exacerbations and their predictors in individual patients.

Methods: In a retrospective survey of 1786 consecutive sputum cell counts from 1139 patients with airway disease, we identified 79 patients with two or more exacerbations at an interval of >or=6 weeks.

Modulation of human airway smooth muscle migration by lipid mediators and Th-2 cytokines.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes and the T helper (Th)-2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13 directly modulate human airway smooth muscle functions such as contraction and proliferation. We studied the effects of other lipid mediators involved in asthma pathophysiology such as prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)), lipoxin, and isoprostanes, and the cytokines, IL-5, IL-4, and IL-13 on human airway smooth muscle cell migration. Chemotaxis and chemokinesis of cultured airway smooth muscle cells from humans without asthma (second to fifth passages, n = 6) were studied using collagen-I-coated polycarbonate membranes in Transwell culture plates.

Liver X receptor stimulates cholesterol efflux and inhibits expression of proinflammatory mediators in human airway smooth muscle cells.

Human (h) airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells are important mediators of the inflammatory process observed in asthma and other respiratory diseases. We show here that primary hASM cells express liver X receptor (LXR; alpha and beta subtypes), an oxysterol-activated nuclear receptor that controls expression of genes involved in lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, and inflammation. LXR was functional as determined by transient assays using LXR-responsive reporter genes and by analysis of mRNA and protein expression of endogenous LXR target genes in cells exposed to LXR agonists.

All-optical half adder using an SOA and a PPLN waveguide for signal processing in optical networks.

We demonstrate an all-optical half adder for bit-wise addition of two serial data streams that simultaneously generates Sum and Carry outputs. The module performs the required XOR and AND operations using only two nonlinear optical elements. Difference Frequency Generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide serves as the AND gate and cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier is employed to generate the XOR output.

Pharmacological management of mild or moderate persistent asthma.

Patients with mild persistent asthma rarely see their doctor with symptoms of the disease. Partly as a result of this situation, mild asthma is generally undertreated. Findings of several large randomised clinical trials have shown benefits for this population of regular treatment with low doses of inhaled corticosteroids.

Altered respiratory physiology in obesity.

The major respiratory complications of obesity include a heightened demand for ventilation, elevated work of breathing, respiratory muscle inefficiency and diminished respiratory compliance. The decreased functional residual capacity and expiratory reserve volume, with a high closing volume to functional residual capacity ratio of obesity, are associated with the closure of peripheral lung units, ventilation to perfusion ratio abnormalities and hypoxemia, especially in the supine position. Conventional respiratory function tests are only mildly affected by obesity except in extreme cases.

Eosinophilic bronchitis in asthma: a model for establishing dose-response and relative potency of inhaled corticosteroids.

Background: Newer generations and formulations of inhaled corticosteroids have necessitated the development of a clinically relevant model to compare their clinical potency.

Objective: We evaluated whether sputum eosinophil counts could demonstrate a dose-response to inhaled corticosteroids, and compared the response with other inflammatory markers.

Methods: Fourteen steroid-naive patients with asthma with an initial sputum eosinophilia of > or = 2.

Predictors of loss of asthma control induced by corticosteroid withdrawal.

Background: Asthma guidelines recommend reducing the dose of inhaled corticosteroids after establishing control.

Objective: To identify predictors of loss of control and the kinetics of symptoms, and inflammatory and physiological measurements when inhaled corticosteroids are reduced in patients with stable asthma.

Patients And Methods: In a single-blind study, the daily dose of inhaled corticosteroid was reduced by one-half at intervals of 20+/-2 days in 17 adults with controlled asthma until loss of asthma control occurred or until the corticosteroid was replaced with placebo for 20 days.

Role of extracellular matrix and its regulators in human airway smooth muscle biology.

Altered extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition contributing to airway wall remodeling is an important feature of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The molecular mechanisms of this process are poorly understood. One of the key pathological features of these diseases is thickening of airway walls.

Ultrasensitive second-harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating by aperiodically poled LiNbO3 waveguides at 1.5 microm.

We retrieve intensity and phase profiles of 280 fs, 50 MHz optical pulses with 124 aJ coupled pulse energy (960 photons) by second-harmonic generation (SHG) frequency-resolved optical gating, using aperiodically poled LiNbO3 waveguides. The strong nonlinear interaction that is due to confinement within the micrometer-sized waveguide structure and the linearly chirped poling period contribute, respectively, to high SHG efficiency and broad phase-matching bandwidth. The achieved sensitivity is 2.

400-photon-per-pulse ultrashort pulse autocorrelation measurement with aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguides at 1.55 microm.

We demonstrate ultrasensitive intensity autocorrelation measurements of subpicosecond optical pulses in the telecommunication band by using aperiodically poled lithium niobate (A-PPLN) waveguides. The tightly confined optical beam in the waveguides and the chirped poling period facilitate simultaneous high second-harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency and broad phase-matching (PM) bandwidth. The resulting measurement sensitivity is 3.