Investigating the Possibility of Intervertebral Disc Regeneration Induced by Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor-Stimulated Stem Cells in Rats

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a multifactorial process that is influenced by contributions from genetic predisposition, the aging phenomenon, lifestyle conditions, biomechanical loading and activities, and other health factors (such as diabetes). Attempts to decelerate disc degeneration using various techniques have been reported. However, to date, there has been no proven technique effective for broad clinical application. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) is a growth factor cytokine that has been shown to enhance the availability of circulating hematopoietic stem cells to the brain and heart as well as their capacity for mobilization of mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells. GCSF also exerts significant increases in circulating neutrophils as well as potent anti-inflammatory effects. In our study, we hypothesize that GCSF can induce bone marrow stem cells differentiation and mobilization to regenerate the degenerated IVD. We found that GCSF had no contribution in disc regeneration or maintenance; however, there were cell proliferation within end plates. The effects of GCSF treatment on end plates might deserve further investigation

Coronary Artery Ectasia Presenting With Recurrent Inferior Wall Myocardial Infarction

AbstractCoronary ectasia presenting as a recurrent inferior myocardial infarction has rarely been reported in the literature. Herein, we report a 61-year-old man who presented with persistent chest pain accompanied by ST segment elevation in the inferior ECG leads. Coronary angiography showed ectasia of the right coronary artery (RCA) and total occlusion from the middle RCA. Two stents were implanted separately in the middle and distal RCA. The patient was readmitted due to recurrent inferior wall infarction 15 months after discharge. He underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention again, and coronary angiography showed massive thrombosis and in-stent re-stenosis. The thrombosis and re-stenosis were successfully treated using balloon angioplasty. The patient was discharged under medical therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel. There were no anginal symptoms during the 3 years of follow up

THE EFFECT OF EIGHT WEEKS TRAINING WITH EXTRA WEIGHT ON STANDING LONG JUMP PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks training with extra weight in the hands on standing long jump performance. Fifteen junior high school male students participated in the study. Vicon motion system (10 cameras, 200Hz) and two Kistler force plates (1000 Hz) were used to collect the kinematics and kinetic data of pretraining and post-training tests. The results found the jumping distance increased 18 % after extra weight training. The horizontal velocity of center of mass (CM) at takeoff, flight distance, landing distance, the CM difference at takeoff, the horizontal positive impulse and the peak horizontal ground reaction force were all significantly enhanced. It was concluded that eight weeks of extra weight in the hands jump training increased the high school male standing long jump performance

Demand scenario analysis and planned capacity expansion: A system dynamics framework

This paper establishes an approach to develop models for forecasting demand and evaluating policy scenarios related to planned capacity expansion for meeting optimistic and pessimistic future demand projections. A system dynamics framework is used to model and to generate scenarios because of their capability of representing physical and information flows, which will enable us to understand the nonlinear dynamics behavior in uncertain conditions. These models can provide important inputs such as construction growth, GDP growth, and investment growth to specific business decisions such as planned capacity expansion policies that will improve the system performance

Early Detection of Tumor Response by FLT/MicroPET Imaging in a C26 Murine Colon Carcinoma Solid Tumor Animal Model

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging demonstrated the change of glucose consumption of tumor cells, but problems with specificity and difficulties in early detection of tumor response to chemotherapy have led to the development of new PET tracers. Fluorine-18-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) images cellular proliferation by entering the salvage pathway of DNA synthesis. In this study, we evaluate the early response of colon carcinoma to the chemotherapeutic drug, lipo-Dox, in C26 murine colorectal carcinoma-bearing mice by 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT. The male BALB/c mice were bilaterally inoculated with 1 × 105 and 1 × 106 C26 tumor cells per flank. Mice were intravenously treated with 10 mg/kg lipo-Dox at day 8 after 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT imaging. The biodistribution of 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT were followed by the microPET imaging at day 9. For the quantitative measurement of microPET imaging at day 9, 18F-FLT was superior to 18F-FDG for early detection of tumor response to Lipo-DOX at various tumor sizes (P < 0.05). The data of biodistribution showed similar results with those from the quantification of SUV (standard uptake value) by microPET imaging. The study indicates that 18F-FLT/microPET is a useful imaging modality for early detection of chemotherapy in the colorectal mouse model