Concomitant hypokalemia and hypocalcemia: a very rare but life-threating combination of reversible causes of cardiac arrest - an unusual first manifestation of coeliac disease.

The causes of cardiac arrest are extremely heterogeneous. Among these, both hypokalemia and hypocalcemia are known reversible factors that can lead to cardiac arrest. In this report, we present a unique case report of a patient with previously undiagnosed coeliac disease who experienced cardiac arrest due a combination of hypokalemia and hypocalcemia resulting from malabsorption.

Density, heterogeneity and deformability of red cells as markers of clinical severity in hereditary spherocytosis.

Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) originates from defective anchoring of the cytoskeletal network to the transmembrane protein complexes of the red blood cell (RBC). Red cells in HS are characterized by membrane instability and reduced deformability and there is marked heterogeneity in disease severity among patients. To unravel this variability in disease severity, we analyzed blood samples from 21 HS patients with defects in ankyrin, band 3, α-spectrin or β-spectrin using red cell indices, eosin-5-maleimide binding, microscopy, the osmotic fragility test, Percoll density gradients, vesiculation and ektacytometry to assess cell membrane stability, cellular density and deformability.

Nanomechanics of Extracellular Vesicles Reveals Vesiculation Pathways.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as important mediators of cell-cell communication as well as potential disease biomarkers and drug delivery vehicles. However, the mechanical properties of these vesicles are largely unknown, and processes leading to microvesicle-shedding from the plasma membrane are not well understood. Here an in depth atomic force microscopy force spectroscopy study of the mechanical properties of natural EVs is presented.

Live-cell Imaging of Platelet Degranulation and Secretion Under Flow.

Blood platelets are essential players in hemostasis, the formation of thrombi to seal vascular breaches. They are also involved in thrombosis, the formation of thrombi that occlude the vasculature and injure organs, with life-threatening consequences. This motivates scientific research on platelet function and the development of methods to track cell-biological processes as they occur under flow conditions.

Testing a ratio of photosynthesis to O uptake as an index for assessing O-induced foliar visible injury in poplar trees.

Visible foliar injury by ozone (ozone visible injury) is known as a biomarker to assess potential phytotoxicity of ozone. We investigated ozone visible injury in an ozone-sensitive poplar (Oxford clone) under a 2-year free-air controlled exposure (FACE) experiment and calculated three ozone indices (i.e.