The Diurnal Variation on Cardiovascular Endurance Performance of Secondary School Athlete Student

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Multi-modal hydrogel-based platform to deliver and monitor cardiac progenitor/stem cell engraftment

Retention and survival of transplanted cells are major limitations to the efficacy of regenerative medicine, with short-term paracrine signals being the principal mechanism underlying current cell therapies for heart repair. Consequently, even improvements in short-term durability may have a potential impact on cardiac cell grafting. We have developed a multimodal hydrogel-based platform comprised of a poly(ethylene glycol) network cross-linked with bioactive peptides functionalized with Gd(III) in order to monitor the localization and retention of the hydrogel in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging. In this study, we have tailored the material for cardiac applications through the inclusion of a heparin-binding peptide (HBP) sequence in the cross-linker design and formulated the gel to display mechanical properties resembling those of cardiac tissue. Luciferase-expressing cardiac stem cells (CSC-Luc2) encapsulated within these gels maintained their metabolic activity for up to 14 days in vitro. Encapsulation in the HBP hydrogels improved CSC-Luc2 retention in the mouse myocardium and hind limbs at 3 days by 6.5- and 12- fold, respectively. Thus, this novel heparin-binding based, Gd(III)-tagged hydrogel and CSC-Luc2 platform system demonstrates a tailored, in vivo detectable theranostic cell delivery system that can be implemented to monitor and assess the transplanted material and cell retention

Exponential dichotomies of evolution operators in Banach spaces

This paper considers three dichotomy concepts (exponential dichotomy, uniform exponential dichotomy and strong exponential dichotomy) in the general context of non-invertible evolution operators in Banach spaces. Connections between these concepts are illustrated. Using the notion of Green function, we give necessary conditions and sufficient ones for strong exponential dichotomy. Some illustrative examples are presented to prove that the converse of some implication type theorems are not valid

Co-expression of RON and MET is a prognostic indicator for patients with transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder

Recepteur d'Origine Nantais (RON) is a distinct receptor tyrosine kinase in the c-met proto-oncogene family. We examined the mutational and expression patterns of RON in eight human uroepithelial cell lines. Biological effects of RON overexpression on cancer cells were investigated in vitro, and the prognostic significance of RON and/or c-met protein (MET) expression was analysed in a bladder cancer cohort (n=183). There was no evidence of mutation in the kinase domain of RON. Overexpression of RON using an inducible Tet-off system induced increased cell proliferation, motility, and antiapoptosis. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that RON was overexpressed in 60 cases (32.8%) of primary tumours, with 14 (23.3%) showing a high level of expression. Recepteur d'Origine Nantais expression was positively associated with histological grading, larger size, nonpapillary contour, and tumour stage (all P<0.01). In addition, MET was overexpressed in 82 cases (44.8%). Co-expressed RON and MET was significantly associated with decreased overall survival (P=0.005) or metastasis-free survival (P=0.01) in 35 cases (19.1%). Recepteur d'Origine Nantais-associated signalling may play an important role in the progression of human bladder cancer. Evaluation of RON and MET expression status may identify a subset of bladder-cancer patients who require more intensive treatment

Relation between myocardial edema and myocardial mass during the acute and convalescent phase of myocarditis – a CMR study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Myocardial edema is a substantial feature of the inflammatory response in human myocarditis. The relation between myocardial edema and myocardial mass in the course of healing myocarditis has not been systematically investigated. We hypothesised that the resolution of myocardial edema as visualised by T2-weighted cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is associated with a decrease of myocardial mass in steady state free precession (SSFP)-cine imaging.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>21 patients with acute myocarditis underwent CMR shortly after onset of symptoms and 1 year later. For visualization of edema, a T2-weighted breath-hold black-blood triple-inversion fast spin echo technique was applied and the ratio of signal intensity of myocardium/skeletal muscle was assessed. Left ventricular (LV) mass, volumes and function were quantified from biplane cine steady state free precession images.</p> <p>11 healthy volunteers served as a control group for interstudy reproducibility of LV mass.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In patients with myocarditis, a significant decrease in LV mass was observed during follow-up compared to the acute phase (156.7 ± 30.6 g vs. 140.3 ± 28.3 g, p < 0.0001). The reduction of LV mass paralleled the normalization of initially increased myocardial signal intensity on T2-weighted images (2.4 ± 0.4 vs. 1.68 ± 0.3, p < 0.0001).</p> <p>In controls, the interstudy difference of LV mass was lower than in patients (5.1 ± 2.9 g vs. 16.3 ± 14.2 g, p = 0.02) resulting in a lower coefficient of variability (2.1 vs 8.9%, p = 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Reversible abnormalities in T2-weighted CMR are paralleled by a transient increase in left ventricular mass during the course of myocarditis. Myocardial edema may be a common pathway explaining these findings.</p

Motion style acupuncture treatment (MSAT) for acute low back pain with severe disability: a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acupuncture is widely-used to treat patients with low back pain, despite insufficient evidence of the technique's efficacy for acute back pain. Motion style acupuncture treatment (MSAT) is a non-traditional acupuncture treatment requiring a patient to exercise while receiving acupuncture. In Korea, MSAT is used to reduce musculoskeletal pain and improve functional status. The study aims to evaluate the effect of MSAT on acute low back pain with severe disability.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study is a multicenter, randomized, active-controlled trial with two parallel arms. Participants with acute low back pain and severe functional disability, defined as an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) value > 60%, will be randomly allocated to the acupuncture group and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) injection group. The acupuncture group will receive MSAT and the NSAID injection group will receive an intramuscular injection of diclofenac. All procedures will be limited to one session and the symptoms before and after treatment will be measured by assessors blinded to treatment allocation. The primary outcome will be measured at 30 minutes after treatment using the numerical rating scale (NRS) of low back pain while the patient is moving. Secondary outcomes will be measured at 30 minutes after treatment using the NRS of leg pain, ODI, patient global impression of change, range of motion (ROM) of the lumbar spine, and degrees of straight leg raising (SLR). Post-treatment follow-up will be performed to measure primary and secondary outcomes with the exception of ROM and SLR at 2, 4, and 24 weeks after treatment.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The results of this trial will be discussed.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrial.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01315561">NCT01315561</a></p

Resveratrol: A Multifunctional Compound Improving Endothelial Function: Editorial to: “Resveratrol Supplementation Gender Independently Improves Endothelial Reactivity and Suppresses Superoxide Production in Healthy Rats” by S. Soylemez et al.

The red wine polyphenol resveratrol boosts endothelium-dependent and -independent vasorelaxations. The improvement of endothelial function by resveratrol is largely attributable to nitric oxide (NO) derived from endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). By stimulating eNOS expression, eNOS phosphorylation and eNOS deacetylation, resveratrol enhances endothelial NO production. By upregulating antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) and suppressing the expression and activity of NADPH oxidases, resveratrol inhibits superoxide-mediated NO inactivation. Some resveratrol effects are mediated by sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) or estrogen receptors, respectively

Accuracy of cardiovascular magnetic resonance in myocarditis: comparison of MR and histological findings in an animal model

Background: Because Endomyocardial Biopsy has low sensitivity of about 20%, it can be performed near to myocardium that presented as Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE) in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). However the important issue of comparing topography of CMR and histological findings has not yet been investigated. Thus the current study was performed using an animal model of myocarditis. Results: In 10 male Lewis rats Experimental Autoimmune myocarditis was induced, 10 rats served as control. On day 21 animals were examined by CMR to compare topographic distribution of LGE to histological inflammation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for LGE in diagnosing myocarditis were determined for each segment of myocardium. Latter diagnostic values varied widely depending on topographic distribution of LGE and inflammation as well as on the used CMR sequence. Sensitivity of LGE was up to 76% (left lateral myocardium) and positive predictive values were up to 85% (left lateral myocardium), whereas sensitivity and positive predictive value dropped to 0 - 33% (left inferior myocardium). Conclusions: Topographic distribution of LGE and histological inflammation seem to influence sensitivity, specifity, positive and negative predictive values. Nevertheless, positive predictive value for LGE of up to 85% indicates that Endomyocardial Biopsy should be performed "MR-guided". LGE seems to have greater sensitivity than Endomyocardial Biopsy for the diagnosis of myocarditis

f(R) theories

Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations, and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom