Search Results (5)

Background/Objectives: Anemia during acute inflammation is not well described in the literature. We aimed to study whether patients develop a transient hemoglobin decrease during an acute attack of recurrent pericarditis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with recurrent pericarditis. The primary endpoint was the difference in hemoglobin levels during an acute attack and in the following remission. As secondary endpoints, we correlated this variation with laboratory and clinical features; we also evaluated the available baseline hemoglobin values. Results: Sixty-two patients, including thirty females (48.4%), with a median age of 39 years, were observed during an acute attack and remission. The attack indexed was the first in 21 patients and the second or the third in 41, with pre-attack hemoglobin levels available for the latter group. Median hemoglobin levels (IQR) were 13.8 (12.8–15.1) g/dL at baseline, 12.0 (11.2–13.4) during attacks and 13.6 (13.1–14.0) during remission (p < 0.001). The median hemoglobin reduction between an acute attack and remission was 1.4 g/dL. Their mean corpuscular volume remained in the normal range. Hb reduction significantly correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) elevation, neutrophilia and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, but not serosal involvement. Only CRP elevation remained associated with the variation of Hb in a multivariate analysis (p = 0.007). Conclusions: This study is a proof of concept: hemoglobin levels may decline rapidly during acute inflammation in correlation with CRP elevation, with transient normocytic anemia, followed by a rapid rebound. In this regard, idiopathic pericarditis may represent a pathogenetic model of this type of anemia. Full article

Background: Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a disease of mounting interest, continues to pose challenges and cast shadows of doubt on determining the optimal timing for revascularization. The current guidelines on NSTEMI recommend coronary angiography based on the GRACE score, emphasizing the critical need for early invasive assessment (within 24 h); very-high-risk patients have to undergo this intervention even sooner, within 2 h. We believe that a reality check of these assumptions is needed and that we should endeavor to update these strategies using new predictive markers. Materials and methods: Our study included patients hospitalized for NSTEMI over the course of 16 months. Simple blood parameters, namely MCV (mean corpuscular volume), MPV (mean platelet volume), RDW (red blood cell distribution width), and PDW (platelet distribution width), were analyzed in correlation with the extent of the myocardial infarction area and with complications during hospitalization and at 30-day follow-up. Results: The parameters mentioned above have been identified as statistically relevant indicators of prognosis in patients with NSTEMI. Conclusions: In the present day, living in the world of the blue sky concept allows us to search for new diagnostic algorithms. Therefore, the combination of these parameters can constitute the DNA strands of a new and up-to-date score stratification. Full article

Blood cells are constantly exposed to several pollutants, including xenobiotics, and they can be considered a useful target for pollution exposition of the animal. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two xenobiotics (Quaternium-15, a preservative used in personal care products, and Thiacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide) on the haematological profile and erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) of equine and bovine blood samples. Ten blood samples from horses and cows were exposed for 24 h to Quaternium-15 at a concentration of 0.1 and 1 mg/L and to Thiacloprid at a concentration of 30 and 60 µg/mL. A decrease in the values of the red blood cells, white blood cells, haematocrit, haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, and platelets, and an increase of EOF were found in blood samples exposed to xenobiotics compared to the control. According to the results gathered in the current study, the two xenobiotic compounds herein tested negatively affect the haematological indices causing haemolysis both in cattle and horse blood. This study, despite being preliminary, emphasizes the concept that blood cells are an excellent target for evaluating the effects of xenobiotics. Full article

The ideal-gas barometric and pressure laws are derived from the Democritian concept of independent corpuscles moving in vacuum, plus a principle of simplicity, namely that these laws are independent of the kinetic part of the Hamiltonian. A single corpuscle in contact with a heat bath in a cylinder and submitted to a constant force (weight) is considered. The paper importantly supplements a previously published paper: First, the stability of ideal gases is established. Second, we show that when walls separate the cylinder into parts and are later removed, the entropy is unaffected. We obtain full agreement with Landsberg’s and others’ (1994) classical thermodynamic result for the entropy of a column of gas submitted to gravity. Full article

We show that the thermodynamics of ideal gases may be derived solely from the Democritean concept of corpuscles moving in vacuum plus a principle of simplicity, namely that these laws are independent of the laws of motion, aside from the law of energy conservation. Only a single corpuscle in contact with a heat bath submitted to a z and t-invariant force is considered. Most of the end results are known but the method appears to be novel. The mathematics being elementary, the present paper should facilitate the understanding of the ideal gas law and of classical thermodynamics even though not-usually-taught concepts are being introduced. Full article