No abstract

Patients with type Ia glycogen storage disease (GSD) have been surviving well into adulthood since continuous glucose therapy was introduced in the 1970s, and there have been many documented successful pregnancies in women with this condition. Historically, few individuals with type Ib GSD, however, survived into adulthood prior to the introduction of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in the late 1980s. There are no previously published reports of pregnancies in GSD type Ib. In this case report we describe the course and management of five successful pregnancies in three patients with GSD type Ib. Patient 1 experienced an increase in glucose requirement in all three of her pregnancies, starting from the second trimester onwards. There were no major complications related to neutropenia except for oral ulcers. The infants did well, except for respiratory distress in two of them at birth. Patient 2 used cornstarch to maintain euglycemia, but precise dosing was not part of her regimen, and, hence, an increase in metabolic demands was difficult to demonstrate. She developed a renal calculus and urinary tract infection during her pregnancy and had chronic iron deficiency anemia but no neutropenia. The neonate did well after delivery. Patient 3 had poor follow-up during pregnancy. Increasing glucose requirements, worsening lipid profile, neutropenia associated with multiple infections, and anemia were noted. The newborn infant did well after delivery. In addition to the case reports, the challenges of the usage of G-CSF, the treatment of enterocolitis, and comparisons with the management of GSD Ia are discussed.

The microrheology of cationic micellar solutions has been investigated as a function of added organic salts using quasielastic light scattering (QELS). Two organic salts, sodium p-toluene sulfonate and sodium salicylate, were used to induce microstructural changes in cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles. The mean-squared displacement (MSD) of polystyrene probe particles embedded in CTAB micellar solutions was monitored by QELS in the single-scattering regime. Through the use of the generalized Stokes-Einstein relationship, the frequency-dependent complex shear moduli of each fluid were estimated from the Laplace transform of the corresponding MSD. The salt-induced transition from nearly spherical to elongated wormlike micelles and consequent changes in fluid response from viscous to viscoelastic are clearly captured by microrheology.

The superior adsorbent properties of BaWO 4 nanostructures have been reported for the first time. Flower shaped aggregates ($250 nm) of BaWO 4 nanoparticles, having an average size of $10-15 nm with a high surface area of $148.0 AE 0.2 m 2 g À1 , have been synthesized sonochemically and used for the adsorption of various cationic dyes from aqueous solutions. The sonochemically synthesized BaWO 4 have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The adsorbent capacity of this tungstate is much higher than that reported for other nanomaterials like Fe 2 O 3 , MnO 2 , WO 3 , etc. Complete removal of dyes like rhodamine B and methylene blue was possible within a short time span of 10-15 minutes. The adsorption process was followed using UV-Visible spectroscopy, while the material before and after adsorption has been characterized using physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques. Various isotherms have been used to fit the data, and kinetic parameters were evaluated. Moreover, the adsorbed dyes could be desorbed completely from nanoparticle surfaces by annealing at moderate temperature and were found to be efficient for multicyclic use. Thus this sonochemically synthesized nano BaWO 4 has great significance in treatment of dye industry effluents as a promising adsorbent for cationic dyes from aqueous solution.