Cancer mortality in East and Southeast Asian migrants to New South Wales, Australia, 1975–1995

Routinely collected data for New South Wales were used to analyse cancer mortality in migrants born in East or Southeast Asia according to duration of residence in Australia. A case-control approach compared deaths from cancer at particular sites with deaths from all other cancers, adjusting for age, sex and calendar period. Compared with the Australian-born, these Asian migrants had a 30-fold higher risk of dying from nasopharyngeal cancer in the first 2 decades of residence, falling to ninefold after 30 years, and for deaths from liver cancer, a 12-fold risk in the first 2 decades, falling to threefold after 30 years. The initial lower risk from colorectal, breast or prostate cancers later converged towards the Australian-born level, the change being apparent in the third decade after migration. The relative risk of dying from lung cancer among these Asian migrants was above unity for each category of duration of stay for women, but at or below unity for men, with no trend in risk over time. An environmental or lifestyle influence for nasopharyngeal and liver cancers is suggested as well as for cancers of colon/rectum, breast and prostate. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Relating the Chondrocyte Gene Network to Growth Plate Morphology: From Genes to Phenotype

During endochondral ossification, chondrocyte growth and differentiation is controlled by many local signalling pathways. Due to crosstalks and feedback mechanisms, these interwoven pathways display a network like structure. In this study, a large-scale literature based logical model of the growth plate network was developed. The network is able to capture the different states (resting, proliferating and hypertrophic) that chondrocytes go through as they progress within the growth plate. In a first corroboration step, the effect of mutations in various signalling pathways of the growth plate network was investigated

An Overview of Three Promising Mechanical, Optical, and Biochemical Engineering Approaches to Improve Selective Photothermolysis of Refractory Port Wine Stains

During the last three decades, several laser systems, ancillary technologies, and treatment modalities have been developed for the treatment of port wine stains (PWSs). However, approximately half of the PWS patient population responds suboptimally to laser treatment. Consequently, novel treatment modalities and therapeutic techniques/strategies are required to improve PWS treatment efficacy. This overview therefore focuses on three distinct experimental approaches for the optimization of PWS laser treatment. The approaches are addressed from the perspective of mechanical engineering (the use of local hypobaric pressure to induce vasodilation in the laser-irradiated dermal microcirculation), optical engineering (laser-speckle imaging of post-treatment flow in laser-treated PWS skin), and biochemical engineering (light- and heat-activatable liposomal drug delivery systems to enhance the extent of post-irradiation vascular occlusion)

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

The proNGF-p75NTR-sortilin signalling complex as new target for the therapeutic treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Growing evidence has shown that the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) may play important roles in controlling neuronal survival or cell apoptosis within the central nervous system in development, and in pathological or neural injury. Recent studies have further revealed that p75NTR acts as a "molecular signal switch" that determines cell death or survival by three processes. First, pro-nerve growth factor (proNGF) triggers cell apoptosis by its high affinity binding to p75NTR, while NGF induces neuronal survival with low-affinity binding. Second, p75NTR mediates cell death by combining with co-receptor sortilin, whereas it promotes neuronal survival through combination with proNGF. Third, release of the intracellular domain chopper or cleavaged "short p75NTR" can independently initiate neuronal apoptosis. We have identified the cell self-destructive proNGF-p75NTR-sortilin signalling apparatus assembled in ventral tier dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta, suggesting that p75NTR signalling might be involved in selective cell death mechanisms of substantia nigra neurons or disease progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). In addition, experimental manipulation of p75NTR benefited cell survival of cholinergic or motor neurons and improved disease progression of the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The proNGF-p75NTR-sortilin signalling complex may thus provide new target for neuroprotection of substantia nigra neurons and the therapeutic treatment of PD

The impact of indocyanine-green fluorescence imaging on left-sided colonic resection: A prospective study

Digital Poster, Lower GI 'Neoplasia 3': Poster no. DP-0510 / Paper no. 2045Perfusion is one of the most important factors in colonic anastomotic healing. The near-infrared light (NIR) technology and intravenous injection of fluorescent dye with indocyanine-green (ICG) allow intraoperative assessment of colonic microvascular perfusion. Aim: The objective is to assess the impact of using NIR+ICG in left-sided colonic resections. Method: A prospective study was carried out for patients who had colonic or rectal resections that involve ligation of the inferior mesenteric artery. The primary endpoint was whether there was a change in operative decision: transection site, decision for splenic flexure mobilization and decision for stoma. The secondary endpoint was the anastomotic leakage rate. Results: Thirty patients were recruited. The mean age was 64.5 ± 11.7 years. Approximately 66.7% were male and 33.3% were female. They had either cancer of the descending colon (3.3%), sigmoid colon (26.7%) or rectum (70.0%). Total mesorectal excision was performed in 63.3% of the cases. For the site of transection, there was a change in decision in 53.3% of the cases, in which 50.0% had a more proximal transection, and 3.3% had a more distal transection. When there was a change of transection site, the mean distance between the intended and eventual transection site was 3.90 ± 3.34 cm (range 1-12 cm). In 10.0% of the cases, there was a change in the decision on whether to mobilize the splenic flexure of the colon or not. Defunctioning stoma was performed in 70.0% of the cases. There was no change in the decision in terms of stoma fashioning. There was no clinical anastomotic leak observed. Conclusion: The use of NIR+ICG to assess bowel perfusion in left-sided colonic resection has a major impact on intraoperative decision. There is a role for further studies to evaluate whether it has a positive impact on reducing anastomotic leakage rate

Neural stem cells harvested from live brains by antibody-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles.

It stems from the magnetism: The extraction of stem/progenitor cells from the brain of live animals is possible using antibodies conjugated to magnetic nanoparticles (Ab-MNPs). The Ab-MNPs are introduced to a rat's brain with a superfine micro-syringe. The stem cells attach to the Ab-MNPs and are magnetically isolated and removed. They can develop into neurospheres and differentiate into different types of cells outside the subject body. The rat remains alive and healthy

Neural stem cells harvested from live brains by antibody-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles.

It stems from the magnetism: The extraction of stem/progenitor cells from the brain of live animals is possible using antibodies conjugated to magnetic nanoparticles (Ab-MNPs). The Ab-MNPs are introduced to a rat's brain with a superfine micro-syringe. The stem cells attach to the Ab-MNPs and are magnetically isolated and removed. They can develop into neurospheres and differentiate into different types of cells outside the subject body. The rat remains alive and healthy