Platysma muscle additionally innervated by a variant anterior branch of the great auricular nerve

Damage to the great auricular nerve, with consequent clinical deficits, is a common surgical complication in facial aesthetic and in head and neck procedures such as parotidectomy, neck dissection, rhytidectomy and platysma flap operations. Hence, a thorough knowledge of nerve anatomy, particularly its potential variations, is critical in reducing the associated operative morbidity. Accordingly, we report an unusual variation of the anterior branch of the great auricular nerve noted in an 81-year-old female cadaver. The nerve was observed to course into the submandibular region anterior and superficial to the internal jugular vein, communicating with the cervical branch of the facial nerve, while independently innervating the platysma muscle. Although several anatomical variations of the branches of the cervical plexus have been documented, our report describes unique innervation of the platysma muscle by the great auricular nerve, which provides a new insight on the motor component of the nerve

Metallic modified (bismuth, antimony, tin and combinations thereof) film carbon electrodes.

In this paper in situ bismuth, antimony, tin modified electrodes and combinations thereof are explored towards the model target analytes cadmium(II) and lead(II), chosen since they are the most widely studied, to explore the role of the underlying electrode substrate with respect to boron-doped diamond, glassy carbon, and screen-printed graphite electrodes. It is found that differing electrochemical responses are observed, dependent upon the underlying electrode substrate. The electrochemical response using the available range of metallic modifications is only ever observed when the underlying electrode substrate exhibits relatively slow electron transfer properties; in the case of fast electron transfer properties, no significant advantages are evident. Furthermore these bismuth modified systems which commonly employ a pH 4 acetate buffer, reported to ensure the bismuth(III) stability upon the electrode surface can create create a problem when sensing at low concentrations of heavy metals due to its high background current. It is demonstrated that a simple change of pH can allow the detection of the target analytes (cadmium(II) and lead(II)) at levels below that set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) using bare graphite screen-printed electrodes

Active p21-Activated Kinase 1 Rescues MCF10A Breast Epithelial Cells from Undergoing Anoikis

The protein kinase, PAK1, is overexpressed in human breast cancer and may contribute to malignancy through induction of proliferation and invasiveness. In this study, we examined the role of PAK1 in the survival of detached MCF10A breast epithelial cells to test whether it may also regulate the early stages of neoplasia. MCF10A cells undergo anoikis, as measured by the cleavage of caspase 3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), after more than 8 hours of detachment. Endogenous Akt, PAK1, and BAD are phosphorylated in attached MCF10A cells, but these phosphorylation events are all lost during the first 8 hours of detachment. Expression of constitutively active PAK1 or Akt suppresses the cleavage of caspase 3 and PARP in detached MCF10A cells. Co-overexpression of active PAK1 with dominant-negative Akt, or of active Akt with dominant-negative PAK1, still suppresses anoikis. Thus, Akt and PAK1 enhance survival through pathways that are at least partially independent. PAK1-dependent regulation of anoikis is likely to occur early in the apoptotic cascade as expression of dominant-negative PAK1 increased the cleavage of the upstream caspase 9, while constitutively active PAK1 inhibited caspase 9 activation. These results support a role for activated PAK1 in the suppression of anoikis in MCF10A epithelial cells