Intensity-Based Registration of Freehand 3D Ultrasound and CT-scan Images of the Kidney

This paper presents a method to register a pre-operative Computed-Tomography (CT) volume to a sparse set of intra-operative Ultra-Sound (US) slices. In the context of percutaneous renal puncture, the aim is to transfer planning information to an intra-operative coordinate system. The spatial position of the US slices is measured by optically localizing a calibrated probe. Assuming the reproducibility of kidney motion during breathing, and no deformation of the organ, the method consists in optimizing a rigid 6 Degree Of Freedom (DOF) transform by evaluating at each step the similarity between the set of US images and the CT volume. The correlation between CT and US images being naturally rather poor, the images have been preprocessed in order to increase their similarity. Among the similarity measures formerly studied in the context of medical image registration, Correlation Ratio (CR) turned out to be one of the most accurate and appropriate, particularly with the chosen non-derivative minimization scheme, namely Powell-Brent's. The resulting matching transforms are compared to a standard rigid surface registration involving segmentation, regarding both accuracy and repeatability. The obtained results are presented and discussed

Disease proteomics

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62680/1/nature01514.pd

Butyrate Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation in Intestinal Cells and Crohn's Mucosa through Modulation of Antioxidant Defense Machinery

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CrD). High levels of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) induce the activation of the redox-sensitive nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-κB), which in turn triggers the inflammatory mediators. Butyrate decreases pro-inflammatory cytokine expression by the lamina propria mononuclear cells in CrD patients via inhibition of NF-κB activation, but how it reduces inflammation is still unclear. We suggest that butyrate controls ROS mediated NF-κB activation and thus mucosal inflammation in intestinal epithelial cells and in CrD colonic mucosa by triggering intracellular antioxidant defense systems. Intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells and colonic mucosa from 14 patients with CrD and 12 controls were challenged with or without lipopolysaccaride from Escherichia Coli (EC-LPS) in presence or absence of butyrate for 4 and 24 h. The effects of butyrate on oxidative stress, p42/44 MAP kinase phosphorylation, p65-NF-κB activation and mucosal inflammation were investigated by real time PCR, western blot and confocal microscopy. Our results suggest that EC-LPS challenge induces a decrease in Gluthation-S-Transferase-alpha (GSTA1/A2) mRNA levels, protein expression and catalytic activity; enhanced levels of ROS induced by EC-LPS challenge mediates p65-NF-κB activation and inflammatory response in Caco-2 cells and in CrD colonic mucosa. Furthermore butyrate treatment was seen to restore GSTA1/A2 mRNA levels, protein expression and catalytic activity and to control NF-κB activation, COX-2, ICAM-1 and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokine. In conclusion, butyrate rescues the redox machinery and controls the intracellular ROS balance thus switching off EC-LPS induced inflammatory response in intestinal epithelial cells and in CrD colonic mucosa

Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this report is to provide a succinct but comprehensive summary of the scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of manual treatment for the management of a variety of musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The conclusions are based on the results of systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), widely accepted and primarily UK and United States evidence-based clinical guidelines, plus the results of all RCTs not yet included in the first three categories. The strength/quality of the evidence regarding effectiveness was based on an adapted version of the grading system developed by the US Preventive Services Task Force and a study risk of bias assessment tool for the recent RCTs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By September 2009, 26 categories of conditions were located containing RCT evidence for the use of manual therapy: 13 musculoskeletal conditions, four types of chronic headache and nine non-musculoskeletal conditions. We identified 49 recent relevant systematic reviews and 16 evidence-based clinical guidelines plus an additional 46 RCTs not yet included in systematic reviews and guidelines.</p> <p>Additionally, brief references are made to other effective non-pharmacological, non-invasive physical treatments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Spinal manipulation/mobilization is effective in adults for: acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain; migraine and cervicogenic headache; cervicogenic dizziness; manipulation/mobilization is effective for several extremity joint conditions; and thoracic manipulation/mobilization is effective for acute/subacute neck pain. The evidence is inconclusive for cervical manipulation/mobilization alone for neck pain of any duration, and for manipulation/mobilization for mid back pain, sciatica, tension-type headache, coccydynia, temporomandibular joint disorders, fibromyalgia, premenstrual syndrome, and pneumonia in older adults. Spinal manipulation is not effective for asthma and dysmenorrhea when compared to sham manipulation, or for Stage 1 hypertension when added to an antihypertensive diet. In children, the evidence is inconclusive regarding the effectiveness for otitis media and enuresis, and it is not effective for infantile colic and asthma when compared to sham manipulation.</p> <p>Massage is effective in adults for chronic low back pain and chronic neck pain. The evidence is inconclusive for knee osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, migraine headache, and premenstrual syndrome. In children, the evidence is inconclusive for asthma and infantile colic.</p

Beneficial effects of bradykinin on porcine ischemic myocardium

Exogenous bradykinin was administered to pigs in which an experimental infarction was evoked by ischemia and reperfusion. Ischemia (45 min) was induced in a closed-chest model with a balloon catheter in the left anterior descending artery, reperfusion by deflating and removing the balloon. The pigs were treated with saline (n = 11) or bradykinin (0.1 mg/kg in 30 min) infusion (n = 10) during the last 15 min of the ischemic period and the first 15 min of reperfusion. During ischemia, heart rate increased in the saline group to 120 +/- 9% of the initial value (p <0.05) and in the bradykinin group to 155 +/- 13% (p <0.05). After reperfusion, the rate-pressure product was increased in both groups. The increase of arterial creatine kinase levels was significantly less in the bradykinin-treated group. However, the catecholamine and purine levels were increased, as was the plasma renin activity when compared with the saline group. Two weeks after the infarction, six pigs had died in each group. In three out of five surviving saline-treated pigs and one out of four surviving bradykinin-treated pigs, a sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia was inducible after programmed electrical stimulation. In conclusion, although systemically administered bradykinin caused a temporary increase in myocardial ischemia, it did reduce the (enzymatic indices of) infarct size. Therefore, the beneficial effects, previously found for ACE-inhibitors might at least partially be related to the potentiation of endogenous bradykinin