Multifocal Castleman disease in pediatrics: case report.

Multicentric Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown cause. It is especially rare in children. The authors describe a 4-year-old girl that presented with protracted fever, hypoalbuminemia, thrombocytopenia, anasarca, and disseminated lymphadenopathy.

Four-dimensional fetal echocardiography with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC): a systematic study of standard cardiac views assessed by different observers.

Objective: To test the agreement between observers and reproducibility of a technique to display standard cardiac views of the left and right ventricular outflow tracts from four-dimensional volume datasets acquired with Spatiotemporal Image Correlation (STIC).

Methods: A technique was developed to obtain dynamic multiplanar images of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) and right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) from volume datasets acquired with STIC. Volume datasets were acquired from fetuses with normal cardiac anatomy.

Phase behavior and local structure of a binary mixture in pores: mean-field lattice model calculations for analyzing neutron scattering data.

We investigate the phase behavior of an asymmetric binary liquid A-W mixture confined between two planar homogenous substrates (slit pore). Molecules of species W interact preferentially with the solid walls via a long-range potential. Assuming nearest-neighbor attractions between the liquid molecules, we employ a lattice-gas model and a mean-field approximation for the grand potential.

Phenotypic characteristics of absent and hypoplastic nasal bones in fetuses with Down syndrome: description by 3-dimensional ultrasonography and clinical significance.

Objective: To determine the frequency and clinical significance of bilateral and unilateral hypoplastic nasal bones for the detection of Down syndrome by 3-dimensional ultrasonography.

Methods: Thirty-seven volumes of the fetal skull from fetuses with Down syndrome and 37 from fetuses without abnormalities were analyzed by 1 investigator blinded to fetal karyotype. The maximum intensity projection algorithm was used to reconstruct nasal bones.

Prenatal diagnosis of membranous ventricular septal aneurysms and their association with absence of atrioventricular valve 'offsetting'.

Congenital aneurysm of the membranous portion of the ventricular septum in association with absence of atrioventricular valve 'offsetting' was diagnosed in two fetuses at 29 and 34 weeks. In the first case the fetus had a normal karyotype and no other structural heart defects, whereas in the second case there was a partial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5 and an absent pulmonary valve syndrome. The association of absence of 'offsetting' with aneurysms of the membranous ventricular septum may represent spontaneous closure of ventricular septal defects initially extended to the inlet.

Torsion-induced phase transitions in fluids confined between chemically decorated substrates.

In this paper we investigate the phase behavior of a "simple" fluid confined to a chemically heterogeneous slit pore of nanoscopic width s(z) by means of Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. The fluid-substrate interaction is purely repulsive except for elliptic regions of semiaxes A and B attracting fluid molecules. On account of the interplay between confinement (i.

The use of the minimum projection mode in 4-dimensional examination of the fetal heart with spatiotemporal image correlation.

Objective: The minimum projection mode (MPM) is a rendering algorithm available in some 3- and 4-dimensional ultrasonography systems that, in 1 image, allows the visualization of vessels and cystic anatomic structures located in different scanning planes. The objective of this study was to compare the information displayed in images obtained with the MPM with their corresponding 2-dimensional ultrasonographic images from fetuses with and without structural heart defects.

Methods: Thirty-two volume data sets acquired with the spatiotemporal image correlation technique from fetuses with (n = 15) and without (n = 17) structural heart defects were analyzed.

Confinement effect on the adsorption from a binary liquid system near liquid/liquid phase separation.

The preferential adsorption of one component of a binary system at the inner surfaces of mesoporous silica glasses was studied in a wide composition range at temperatures close to liquid/liquid phase separation. Confinement effects on the adsorption were investigated by using three controlled-pore glass (CPG-10) materials of different mean pore size (10 to 50 nm). For the experimental system (2-butoxyethanol+water), which exhibits an upper miscibility gap, strong preferential adsorption of water occurs, as the coexistence curve is approached at bulk compositions, at which water is the minority component.

Aspects of prewetting at nonplanar surfaces.

We employ Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble (GCEMC) to investigate the impact of nonplanarity of a solid substrate on the locus of the prewetting phase transition. The substrate is modelled as a periodic sequence of furrows of depth D and periodicity sx in the x direction; the furrows are infinitely long in the y direction. Our results indicate that a necessary prerequisite for a prewetting transition is the formation of a(n approximately) planar interface between molecularly thin films and an adjacent (bulk) gas.

Adaptation of human pineal melatonin suppression by recent photic history.

The human circadian pacemaker controls the timing of the release of the pineal hormone melatonin, which promotes sleep, decreases body temperature, and diminishes cognitive performance. Abnormal melatonin secretion has been observed in psychiatric and circadian disorders. Although melatonin secretion is directly suppressed by exposure to light in a nonlinear intensity-dependent fashion, little research has focused on the effect of prior photic history on this response.

Phase behavior of liquid crystals confined by smooth walls.

Monte Carlo simulations for a simple model liquid crystal are presented. The influence of flat walls on the phase behavior is analyzed for two different anchoring mechanisms, one favoring homeotropic alignment and one simulating a twisted nematic cell without external fields, e.g.

Wetting of a selective solid surface by an asymmetric binary mixture.

We consider a lattice-gas model of an asymmetric binary mixture in which the attraction between a pair of molecules of species A exceeds that between a pair of molecules of species B. The interaction between two molecules of species A and B is chosen to promote the formation of demixed A-rich liquid bulk phases. Molecules interact with a selective solid wall, preferentially adsorbing molecules of species B.

Collective dynamics near a phase transition in confined fluids.

We performed molecular dynamics simulations in the microcanonical ensemble (MEMD) for a "simple" fluid confined between two solid substrates. From the calculation of the intermediate scattering function F(k( parallel ),t) and through the memory function formalism, we extract material ( i.e.

Nanoscopic liquid bridges exposed to a torsional strain.

In this paper we investigate the response to a torsional strain of a molecularly thin film of spherically symmetric molecules confined to a chemically heterogeneous slit pore by means of Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. The slit pore comprises two identical plane-parallel solid substrates, the fluid-substrate interaction is purely repulsive except for elliptic regions attracting fluid molecules. Under favorable thermodynamic conditions the confined film consists of fluid bridges where the molecules are preferentially adsorbed by the attractive elliptic regions, and span the gap between the opposite substrate surfaces.

Four-dimensional ultrasonography of the fetal heart with spatiotemporal image correlation.

Objective: This study was undertaken to describe a new technique for the examination of the fetal heart using four-dimensional ultrasonography with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC).

Study Design: Volume data sets of the fetal heart were acquired with a new cardiac gating technique (STIC), which uses automated transverse and longitudinal sweeps of the anterior chest wall. These volumes were obtained from 69 fetuses: 35 normal, 16 with congenital anomalies not affecting the cardiovascular system, and 18 with cardiac abnormalities.

Three-dimensional color power imaging of the fetal hepatic circulation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the use of three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography to identify vascular congenital anomalies of fetal portosystemic and umbilical venous systems.

Study Design: In a prospective study, the hepatic and umbilical venous systems were examined in 390 fetuses with two-dimensional ultrasonography, color, and spectral Doppler imaging. Fetuses suspected to have anomalies of the portal system and ductus venosus were additionally examined with three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography.

Collective dynamics near fluid phase transitions.

By means of molecular dynamics simulations, we calculate the intermediate scattering function F(k(axially),t) where k(||) is the wave number and t is the time. We focus on thermodynamic states in the vicinity of a fluid phase transition in bulk and confined systems which we locate in parallel Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. As one approaches the limit of stability of the fluid (i.

Phase behavior of confined symmetric binary mixtures.

We employ mean-field lattice density functional theory to investigate the phase behavior of a binary (A-B) mixture confined to nanoscopic slit pores with chemically homogeneous walls. We consider only nearest-neighbor interactions in symmetric mixtures, where epsilon(AA)=epsilon(BB) not equal epsilon(AB) and epsilon is a measure of attraction between molecules of like (subscripts AA and BB) and unlike species (subscript AB), respectively. In addition, molecules are exposed to short-range attraction by the substrates separated by z lattice planes where epsilon(W) is the relevant coupling parameter.

Three-dimensional ultrasound fetal lung volume measurement: a systematic study comparing the multiplanar method with the rotational (VOCAL) technique.

Objectives: This study was designed to compare a conventional multiplanar technique for three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound measurement of fetal lung volume with a rotational method using VOCAL trade mark (Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis).

Methods: Thirty-two fetuses with a variety of conditions at risk for pulmonary hypoplasia were studied. 3D volume data sets of the fetal lungs were acquired using a commercially available ultrasound system.

Propagating hydrodynamic modes in confined fluids.

In molecular dynamics simulations in the microcanonical ensemble (MEMD) we calculate the intermediate scattering function F(k(||),t) for a "simple" fluid confined to nanoscopic slit pores with chemically homogeneous, planar substrate surfaces. Since system properties are translationally invariant in the x-y plane, we focus on the propagation of density modes parallel with the confining substrates by choosing a two-dimensional wave vector |k(||)|=k(||)=(k(x),k(y)) for our analysis. Within the framework of classical hydrodynamics, we develop conservation laws for z-averaged fluxes of heat and momentum.

Migration of Salmonella typhimurium --harboring bone marrow--derived dendritic cells towards the chemokines CCL19 and CCL21.

Macrophages are considered as main cellular target encountered by the facultative intracellular bacterium Salmonella typhimurium. However, in orally infected mice these pathogens are first internalized by dendritic cells (DCs) that are located in the subepithelial dome of Peyer's patches. Moreover, DCs can penetrate the intestinal epithelium to sample bacteria.

Absence of simulation evidence for critical depletion in slit pores.

Recent Monte Carlo simulation studies of a Lennard-Jones fluid confined to a mesoscopic slit pore have reported evidence of "critical depletion" in the pore local number density near the liquid-vapor critical point. In this Brief Report we demonstrate that the observed depletion effect is in fact a simulation artifact arising from small systematic errors associated with the use of long range corrections for the potential truncation. Owing to the large near-critical compressibility, these errors lead to significant changes in the pore local number density.

Impact of the cost of prescription drugs on clinical outcomes in indigent patients with heart disease.

Study Objective: To measure the impact that economic relief for prescription drugs to indigent patients with cardiovascular disease has on indicators of disease control.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: University inner-city outpatient clinic.