Recombinant human interferon alpha 2b prevents and reverses experimental pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive and fatal disease with no cure. Vascular remodeling in PH involves intraluminal growth of endothelial and smooth muscle cells, leading to obliterative vascular lesions. Cell growth in these lesions is quasi-neoplastic, with evidence of monoclonality, apoptosis resistance and cancer-like metabolic derangements. Herein we tested the effect of human interferon alpha 2b (IFNα), a pleiotropic cytokine and anti-cancer therapeutic, on the development and progression of PH in the rat SU5416/hypoxia (SUH) model and mouse hypoxia model of the disease. In both models IFNα attenuated the development of PH and reversed established PH as assessed by measuring right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy. The effect of IFNα was dependent on the type I interferon receptor (IFNAR) since mice lacking a subunit of the IFNAR were not protected by IFNα. Morphometric analysis of pulmonary aterioles from hypoxic mice or SUH rats showed that IFNα inhibited pulmonary vascular remodeling in both models and that IFNα reversed remodeling in SUH rats with established disease. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that IFNα decreased the number of PCNA and Tunel positive cells in the wall of pulmonary arterioles. In vitro, IFNα inhibited proliferation of human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and as well as human pulmonary artery endothelial cell proliferation and apoptosis. Together these findings demonstrate that IFNα reverses established experimental PH and provide a rationale for further exploration of the use of IFNα and other immunotherpies in PH. © 2014 Bauer et al

Variation and merger of the rising tones in Hong Kong Cantonese

2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Histopathological changes in the human larynx following expanded polytetrafluroethylene (Gore-Tex(®)) implantation

BACKGROUND: Expanded polytetrafluroethelyne (e PTFE, Gore-Tex(®)) has been advocated as an implant material for medialization of the vocal fold. Animal studies involving rabbits and a porcine model have demonstrated host tolerance of the implant. There have been no reports describing the histological changes in a human laryngectomy specimen with a Gore-Tex implant. CASE PRESENTATION: The histological findings in a laryngectomy specimen of a patient previously implanted with e PTFE for medialization of a paralyzed vocal fold following excision of a vagal neurofibroma were studied. Histopathology revealed a mild foreign-body giant cell granulomatous reaction with some associated fibrosis. The granulomatous response was limited to the periphery of the Gore-Tex and although it closely followed the profile of the material it did not encroach into or significantly break up the material. There was no significant neutrophilic or lymphocytic inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with the animal models confirming that Gore-Tex implantation does not result in a significant granulomatous reaction in the human larynx over a 13-month period. Moreover, there is no evidence of resorption or infection. Further, the lack of lymphocytes in association with the granulomas indicates that there is no significant immunological hypersensitivity. Histologically, the slight permeation by connective tissue is similar to that seen in Gore-Tex vascular and cardiac implants. The degree of the slight giant cell response appears to be dependent on the profile of the material; a sharp edge incited more of a response than a flat surface

The Relation Between Cognitive Development and Anxiety Phenomena in Children

We examined the relation between cognitive development and fear, anxiety, and behavioral inhibition in a non-clinical sample of 226 Dutch children aged 4–9 years. To assess cognitive development, children were tested with Piagetian conservation tasks and a Theory-of-Mind (TOM) test. Fears were measured by means of a self-report scale completed by the children, while anxiety symptoms and behavioral inhibition were indexed by rating scales that were filled out by parents. Significant age trends were observed for some anxiety phenomena. For example, younger children displayed higher fear scores, whereas older children exhibited higher levels of generalized anxiety. Most importantly, results of regression analyses (in which we controlled for age) indicated that cognitive development, and in particular TOM ability, made a unique and significant contribution to various domains of behavioral inhibition. In all cases, higher levels of TOM were associated with lower levels of behavioral inhibition. In general, percentages of explained variance were rather small (i.e., <6%), indicating that the role of cognitive development in various anxiety phenomena is limited

Exact exchange-correlation potential of a ionic Hubbard model with a free surface

We use Lanczos exact diagonalization to compute the exact exchange-correlation (xc) potential of a Hubbard chain with large binding energy ("the bulk") followed by a chain with zero binding energy ("the vacuum"). Several results of density functional theory in the continuum (sometimes controversial) are verified in the lattice. In particular we show explicitly that the fundamental gap is given by the gap in the Kohn-Sham spectrum plus a contribution due to the jump of the xc-potential when a particle is added. The presence of a staggered potential and a nearest-neighbor interaction V allows to simulate a ionic solid. We show that in the ionic regime in the small hopping amplitude limit the xc-contribution to the gap equals V, while in the Mott regime it is determined by the Hubbard U interaction. In addition we show that correlations generates a new potential barrier at the surface

Seminal plasma as a source of prostate cancer peptide biomarker candidates for detection of indolent and advanced disease

Background:Extensive prostate specific antigen screening for prostate cancer generates a high number of unnecessary biopsies and over-treatment due to insufficient differentiation between indolent and aggressive tumours. We hypothesized that seminal plasma is a robust source of novel prostate cancer (PCa) biomarkers with the potential to improve primary diagnosis of and to distinguish advanced from indolent disease. &lt;br&gt;Methodology/Principal Findings: In an open-label case/control study 125 patients (70 PCa, 21 benign prostate hyperplasia, 25 chronic prostatitis, 9 healthy controls) were enrolled in 3 centres. Biomarker panels a) for PCa diagnosis (comparison of PCa patients versus benign controls) and b) for advanced disease (comparison of patients with post surgery Gleason score &#60;7 versus Gleason score &#62;&gt;7) were sought. Independent cohorts were used for proteomic biomarker discovery and testing the performance of the identified biomarker profiles. Seminal plasma was profiled using capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry. Pre-analytical stability and analytical precision of the proteome analysis were determined. Support vector machine learning was used for classification. Stepwise application of two biomarker signatures with 21 and 5 biomarkers provided 83% sensitivity and 67% specificity for PCa detection in a test set of samples. A panel of 11 biomarkers for advanced disease discriminated between patients with Gleason score 7 and organ-confined (&#60;pT3a) or advanced (&#8805;pT3a) disease with 80% sensitivity and 82% specificity in a preliminary validation setting. Seminal profiles showed excellent pre-analytical stability. Eight biomarkers were identified as fragments of N-acetyllactosaminide beta-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase​,prostatic acid phosphatase, stabilin-2, GTPase IMAP family member 6, semenogelin-1 and -2. Restricted sample size was the major limitation of the study.&lt;/br&gt; &lt;br&gt;Conclusions/Significance: Seminal plasma represents a robust source of potential peptide makers for primary PCa diagnosis. Our findings warrant further prospective validation to confirm the diagnostic potential of identified seminal biomarker candidates.&lt;/br&gt

The effect of prior statin use on 30-day mortality for patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors ("statins") may have beneficial effects for patients at risk for some types of infections. We examined the effect of prior outpatient use of statins on mortality for patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study conducted at two tertiary teaching hospitals. Eligible subjects were admitted with a diagnosis of, had a chest x-ray consistent with, and had a discharge ICD-9 diagnosis of pneumonia. Subjects were excluded if they were "comfort measures only" or transferred from another acute care hospital. Subjects were considered to be on a medication if they were taking it at the time of presentation. RESULTS: Data was abstracted on 787 subjects at the two hospitals. Mortality was 9.2% at 30-days and 13.6% at 90-days. At presentation 52% of subjects were low risk, 34% were moderate risk, and 14% were high risk based on the pneumonia severity index. In the multivariable regression analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders including a propensity score, the use of statins at presentation (odds ratio 0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.14–0.92) was associated with decreased 30-day mortality. DISCUSSION: Prior outpatient statin use was associated with decreased mortality in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia despite their use being associated with comorbid illnesses likely to contribute to increased mortality. Confirmatory studies are needed, as well as research to determine the mechanism(s) of this protective effect

Oncogenic GNAQ mutations are not correlated with disease-free survival in uveal melanoma

BackgroundRecently, oncogenic G protein alpha subunit q (GNAQ) mutations have been described in about 50% of uveal melanomas and in the blue nevi of the skin.MethodsGNAQ exon 5 was amplified from 75 ciliary body and choroidal melanoma DNAs and sequenced directly. GNAQ mutation status was correlated with disease-free survival (DFS), as well as other clinical and histopathological factors, and with chromosomal variations detected by FISH and CGH.ResultsOf the 75 tumour DNA samples analysed, 40 (53.3%) harboured oncogenic mutations in GNAQ codon 209. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that GNAQ mutation status was not significantly correlated with DFS.ConclusionThe GNAQ mutation status is not suitable to predict DFS. However, the high frequency of GNAQ mutations may render it a promising target for therapeutic intervention

Longitudinal impact of a youth tobacco education program

BACKGROUND: Information on the effectiveness of elementary school level, tobacco-use prevention programs is generally limited. This study assessed the impact of a structured, one-time intervention that was designed to modify attitudes and knowledge about tobacco. Participants were fifth-grade students from schools in western New York State. METHODS: Twenty-eight schools, which were in relatively close geographic proximity, were randomized into three groups; Group 1 was used to assess whether attitudes/knowledge were changed in the hypothesized direction by the intervention, and if those changes were retained four months later. Groups 2 and 3, were used as comparison groups to assess possible test-retest bias and historical effects. Groups 1 and 3 were pooled to assess whether attitudes/knowledge were changed by the intervention as measured by an immediate post-test. The non-parametric analytical techniques of Wilcoxon-Matched Pairs/Sign Ranks and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon Rank Sums Tests were used to compare proportions of correct responses at each of the schools. RESULTS: Pooled analyses showed that short-term retention on most items was achieved. It was also found that retention on two knowledge items 'recognition that smokers have yellow teeth and fingers' and 'smoking one pack of cigarettes a day costs several hundred dollars per year' was maintained for four months. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that inexpensive, one-time interventions for tobacco-use prevention can be of value. Changes in attitudes and knowledge conducive to the goal of tobacco-use prevention can be achieved for short-term retention and some relevant knowledge items can be retained for several months