Modelling the risk of Japanese encephalitis virus in Victoria, Australia, using an expert-systems approach.

Predictive models for vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are instrumental to understanding the potential geographic spread of VBDs and therefore serve as useful tools for public health decision-making. However, predicting the emergence of VBDs at the micro-, local, and regional levels presents challenges, as the importance of risk factors can vary spatially and temporally depending on climatic factors and vector and host abundance and preferences. We propose an expert-systems-based approach that uses an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) deployed within a geographic information system (GIS), to predict areas susceptible to the risk of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) emergence.

[Acute Renal Failure, Lactic Acidosis, and Metformin: Two Case Reports and Literature Review].

Lactic acidosis is a potential adverse event related to metformin therapy. Although metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA) is a rare condition (about 10 cases / 100,000 patients / year), new cases continue to be reported, with a mortality of 40-50%. We describe two clinical cases characterized by severe metabolic acidosis, hyperlactacidemia, and acute renal injury.

[Alström syndrome, a rare cause of renal failure: case report and review of the literature].

We describe the case of a 26-year-old male patient with a previous diagnosis of Alström Syndrome who presented drowsiness, dyspnea, tremors, and a dull abdominal pain, without signs of peritoneal irritation. The patient also presented sensorineural hearing loss, decreased vision, due to chorioretinal dystrophy, difficulty walking with back-lumbar double curve scoliosis, impaired glycemic homeostasis, and a significant deterioration of renal function. Alström syndrome is a multisystem disease characterized by rod-cone dystrophy, hearing loss, obesity, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dilated cardiomyopathy, and progressive renal and hepatic dysfunction.

[Lithium sulfate poisoning treated with hemodialysis in a patient with normal renal function: a case report].

Lithium is the milestone of psychiatric patients' therapy, in particular in bipolar disorder. Despite its high therapeutic efficacy, there are several side effects (renal, thyroid, parathyroid, dermatological) and management problems linked to its narrow therapeutic range, which exposes patients to a high risk of toxicity. We describe the case of a male patient with bipolar disorder in therapy with lithium sulfate who developed a severe acute-on-chronic intoxication.

Analysis of global host gene expression during the primary phase of the Arabidopsis thaliana-Plasmodiophora brassicae interaction.

Microarray analysis was used to investigate changes in host gene expression during the primary stages of the interaction between the susceptible plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh ecotype Col-0 and the biotrophic pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin. Analyses were conducted at 4, 7 and 10 days after inoculation (DAI) and revealed significant induction or suppression of a relatively low number of genes in a range of functional categories.