No abstract

ANCA vasculitis is associated with end stage renal disease and increased mortality. Our study suggests the possibility of higher regional incidence of pauci-immune GN in Upstate New York. Further studies should investigate the causes of clustering of cases to specific regions.

Amyloidosis is a systemic illness characterized by the extracellular deposition of abnormal proteins in body tissues and organs. In addition to renal involvement, amyloidosis can also present with a variety of skin manifestations, though rarely with alopecia. Sixteen cases of alopecia secondary to systemic amyloidosis are reported. There is one reported case that presented with alopecia universalis. We report a case of a 68-year-old woman presenting with alopecia universalis, rapid decline in kidney function, and nephrotic syndrome who was found to have multiple myeloma-associated AL amyloidosis (immunoglobulin light chain). Her serological workup including serum electrophoresis was negative and she underwent renal biopsy. Pathology revealed eosinophilic material within the mesangium that was Congo-red positive, had apple-green birefringence under polarized light, and ultramicroscopically appeared as fibrillary material. Subsequent bone marrow examination showed a diffuse increase in plasma cells with atypia indicating plasma cell neoplasm. This case underlines several interesting aspects of multiple myeloma and the way it may present with amyloidosis. The lack of monoclonal spike on electrophoresis yet positive light chain analysis deserves special attention by clinicians to avoid a missed diagnosis. The extensive skin involvement also raises several questions regarding the pathologic mechanisms of alopecia in a patient with amyloidosis.

Besides natural sunlight and expensive artificial lights, economical indoor white light can play a significant role in activating a catalyst for photocatalytic removal of organic toxins from contaminated water. In the current effort, CeO2 has been modified with Ni, Cu, and Fe through doping methodology to study the removal of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in the illumination of 70 W indoor LED white light. The absence of additional diffractions due to the dopants and few changes such as reduction in peaks’ height, minor peak shift at 2θ (28.525°) and peaks’ broadening in XRD patterns of modified CeO2 verifies the successful doping of CeO2. The solid-state absorption spectra revealed higher absorbance of Cu-doped CeO2 whereas a lower absorption response was observed for Ni-doped CeO2. An interesting observation regarding the lowering of indirect bandgap energy of Fe-doped CeO2 (∼2.7 eV) and an increase in Ni-doped CeO2 (∼3.0 eV) in comparison to pristine CeO2 (∼2.9 eV) was noticed. The process of e-– h+ recombination in the synthesized photocatalysts was also investigated through photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic studies revealed the greater photocatalytic activity of Fe-doped CeO2 with a higher rate (∼3.9 × 10−3 min-1) among all other materials. Moreover, kinetic studies also revealed the validation of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model (R2 = 0.9839) while removing 2-CP in the exposure of indoor light with a Fe-doped CeO2 photocatalyst. The XPS analysis revealed the existence of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Ni2+ core levels in doped CeO2. Using the agar well-diffusion method, the antifungal activity was assessed against the fungus M. fructicola and F. oxysporum. Compared to CeO2, Ni-doped CeO2, and Cu-doped CeO2 nanoparticles, the Fe-doped CeO2 nanoparticles have outstanding antifungal properties.