Secreted phosphoprotein 1, also known as Osteopontin (Opn), is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in the TH1 response and is highly expressed in the islets and pancreatic lymph nodes of non-obese diabetic mice before the onset of diabetes. In humans, typing of the +1239A/C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 3'UTR of the Opn gene (SPP1) showed that +1239C carriers displayed higher Opn serum levels than +1239A homozygotes and a higher risk of developing autoimmune/lymphoproliferative syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim of this work is to evaluate whether +1239A/C is also associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). We typed +1239A/C in an initial cohort of 184 T1DM patients and 361 controls, and confirmed our data in a second cohort of 513 patients and 857 controls. In both cohorts, +1239C carriers displayed a significantly higher risk of T1DM than +1239A homozygotes (combined cohorts: OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.34–1.97). Clinical analysis did not detect any differences between patients carrying or not +1239C in terms of gender distribution and age at T1DM diagnosis. These data suggest that SPP1 variants marked by +1239C are associated with T1DM development in the Italian population. The predisposing effect may depend on its effect on Opn levels.

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In a 46 year old patient periorbital pain, miosis and ptosis, i.e. Raeder paratrigeminal neuralgia, were caused by a temporal lobe glioblastoma. This is the fifth case in the literature in which this syndrome was due to a neoplasm.

Titanium Matrix Composites (TMCs) are envisioned for use in the next generation of advanced aircraft and their engines. To ensure a smooth transition to industry, fatigue life prediction methodologies, which can account for random variations in mechanical and thermal loads, must be developed. To facilitate the development of such a model, fatigue testing has been conducted at Georgia Tech. on [0/ ± 45/90]s and [90/ ± 45/0]s laminates of SCS‐6/Timetal 21S. The tests were done at temperatures of 400, 500 and 650 °C, with hold times of 1, 10 and 100 s superimposed at the maximum stress. The purpose of the tests was to separate the effect of time‐dependent deformation from the effect of environmental degradation. Using the results of these tests, and results generated at NASA–Lewis Research Center (LeRC) and the US Air Force’s Wright Laboratory, a model has been developed which is based on the stress in the load‐carrying fibres. The stress is modified by an effective stress concentration factor that is due to matrix cracking and a factor that includes the effect of hold times. It is a single term model that is intended for treating any variations in mechanical and thermal loads. Verification of this model is achieved by predicting fatigue lives for specimens subjected to spectrum loads performed at NASA–Langley Research Center (LaRC) and vacuum tests completed at Georgia Tech. The model is compared to five methodologies previously developed for life prediction, and is shown to have significantly better predictive power while reducing the number of empirical constants and curve fitting parameters necessary to collapse the data.