The current study indicated that both endovascular and coventional AAA repair induced significant inflammatory responses. Our findings showed that there were no large differences between the procedures with respect to circulating cell adhesion molecule and cytokine release. Moreover, the endoluminal approach produced a limited response in terms of acute phase reaction, T lymphocyte activation, and complement product liberation. This might support the concept that endovascular AAA repair represents an attractive alternative to open surgery. Given the relatively small sample size, further larger studies are required for confirmation of our observations.

The relation between the diffusion coefficient of reactants and the wavelength of Turing patterns is examined in experiments on the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid ͑CIMA͒ reaction in gel media. The diffusion coefficients in polyacrylamide and agarose gels are varied by varying the gel densities. The diffusion coefficient D of NaCl is found to vary from 0.5ϫ10 Ϫ5 to 1.8ϫ10 Ϫ5 cm 2 /s for the gel conditions considered. The CIMA reactants are assumed to have diffusion coefficients that are directly proportional to that of NaCl. The wavelength of the observed hexagonal patterns ͑0.13-0.28 mm͒ varies in accord with the predicted relation for Turing patterns, ϳD 1/2 . Moreover, the predicted relationship to a characteristic period of oscillation , ϭ(2D) 1/2 , is supported by measurements of just beyond a Hopf bifurcation in a stirred flow reactor.

Plasmablastic microlymphoma (PML) is defined as the accumulation of monotypic but polyclonal plasmablasts in lymphoid tissues involved in human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8)-positive multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). So far, the nature of this very rare condition remains poorly determined. In this study, we describe a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive patient who developed a PML in the setting of HHV-8-positive MCD. In contrast to the cases previously reported, most of the plasmablasts in our patient were localized within the germinal center (GC) of lymphoid follicles. These plasmablasts expressed the multiple myeloma-1/interferon regulatory factor-4 (MUM1/IRF4) protein as well as IgMlambda in a monotypic fashion. They did not show any immunoreactivity with antibodies directed against Pax-5, CD20, CD79a, CD10, CD30, CD23, CD138, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) or BCL-6. These cells exhibited a high proliferation rate, expressed the HHV-8 latent nuclear antigen-1, and secreted the HHV-8 viral homologue of human interleukin-6. Polymerase chain reaction analysis did not demonstrate any clonal rearrangement of the genes coding for the heavy chain of the immunoglobulin. Moreover, no Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) RNA transcript could be found, using in situ hybridization. The present case illustrates that PML may arise within the GC of lymphoid follicles in the absence of EBV coinfection. In our opinion, PML occurring in MCD likely represents a variant of HHV-8-positive MCD in which lytic HHV-8 replication is particularly prominent, due to a local or systemic immune imbalance.

Reported here is a case of Bacillus cereus pneumonia that occurred in a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The presentation was severe, essentially marked by respiratory distress and pleuritic chest pain. Classic empirical treatment initiated for febrile neutropenia did not cover this rare pathogen and appropriate therapy was therefore delayed. B. cereus is most often a culture contaminant, but it can also be responsible for self-limited gastrointestinal intoxication and, more rarely, severe systemic diseases. Virulence in the case of systemic disease is attributed to tissue necrosis mediated by toxin release. B. cereus pneumonia, as described in the English-language literature, mainly affects immunocompromised patients and most often has a fatal outcome. Thus, the identification of B. cereus in clinical specimens of severely ill immunocompromised patients should lead physicians to question its clinical significance.

The condition of occurrence of the thermodynamic coupling of chemical reactions is analysed from kinetics. It is found that the thermodynamic coupling is impossible for those reactions which obey kinetically the mass action law. The thermodynamic coupling of chemical reactions is further analysed in the case with catalyst. It is found that the thermodynamic coupling which is impossible without catalyst may become possible by introducing proper catalyst into the system. This implies that the catalysts can change not only the rates of chemical reactions, but also the behaviors of thermodynamic coupling of chemical reactions, including the direction of some reactions. Such role of catalysts comes into play not by changing the total free energy of the system, but by changing the reaction mechanism.

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