Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with ESLD who underwent liver transplant evaluation at Ochsner Clinic Foundation and had a BMD study as part of initial work up and compared BMD

values of patients diagnosed with NASH to patients with cirrhosis due to other causes. Patients were categorized into 3 groups based on the etiology of their liver disease as NASH, alcoholic cirrhosis, or viral hepatitis C or B (HCV/HBV).

Results: A total of 63 patients met the study inclusion criteria, including 15 with NASH, 17 with alcoholic cirrhosis, and 31 with HCV/HBV. The overall prevalence rates of osteopenia and osteoporosis were 44% and 12%, respectively. BMD values were higher in the NASH group than the HCV/HBV group at lumbar spine, total hip,

and femoral neck (P=.01, .03, and learn more .02, respectively). There were no statistical differences in BMD values between NASH and alcoholic cirrhosis groups at any site.

Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of low BMD among patients with ESLD awaiting liver transplantation. NASH patients had higher BMDs than HCV/HBV patients. The effects of NASH and insulin resistance on bone are complex and should be examined further.”
“A wastewater biofiltration model is used to assess its capacity to reproduce the treatment behaviour of a plant-sized tertiary nitrifying biofilter unit. It is calibrated on two different types of datasets collected at CAL-101 in vivo the Seine-Aval biofiltration plant (AchSres, France): grab samples at several heights inside the media bed and a long-term daily plant monitoring over a 1-year period. The model parameters are first calibrated to fit the dynamics observed in the media bed, after which the model is compared to the second dataset. Further parameter changes are then made if necessary and the model is once again compared to both datasets to ensure its ability to predict the treatment behaviour on both size scales. The calibrated model provides correct

Gamma-secretase inhibitor predictions for most observed nutrient variables for both datasets. An overestimation of the oxygen transfer under a summer, low ammonia load period however leads to a slight underestimation of the nitrifying efficiency of the biofilters. Statistical score computation corroborates the model accuracy as the mean error scores usually remain low. They also point to a certain weakness of the model regarding the suspended solids filtration. Both datasets are overall correctly modelled using a single parameter set. Most of this parameter set is close to or contained in value ranges found in the literature. The parameters related to aeration, however, seem to be slightly higher than what is reported elsewhere.”
“Port-wine stain (PWS) are congenital vascular malformations characterized by ectatic capillaries in the papillary layer of the dermis.