Does open space increase development?

Land-use change, spatial modeling, Land Economics/Use,

Buttressing staples with cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix (CEM) reinforces staple lines in an ex vivo peristaltic inflation model

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008Background - Staple line leakage and bleeding are the most common problems associated with the use of surgical staplers for gastrointestinal resection and anastomotic procedures. These complications can be reduced by reinforcing the staple lines with buttressing materials. The current study reports the potential use of cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix (CEM) in non-crosslinked (NCEM) and crosslinked (XCEM) forms, and compares their mechanical performance with clinically available buttress materials [small intestinal submucosa (SIS) and bovine pericardium (BP)] in an ex vivo small intestine model. Methods - Three crosslinked CEM variants (XCEM0005, XCEM001, and XCEM0033) with different degree of crosslinking were produced. An ex vivo peristaltic inflation model was established. Porcine small intestine segments were stapled on one end, using buttressed or non-buttressed surgical staplers. The opened, non-stapled ends were connected to a peristaltic pump and pressure transducer and sealed. The staple lines were then exposed to increased intraluminal pressure in a peristaltic manner. Both the leak and burst pressures of the test specimens were recorded. Results - The leak pressures observed for non-crosslinked NCEM (137.8 ± 22.3 mmHg), crosslinked XCEM0005 (109.1 ± 14.1 mmHg), XCEM001 (150.1 ± 16.0 mmHg), XCEM0033 (98.8 ± 10.5 mmHg) reinforced staple lines were significantly higher when compared to non-buttressed control (28.3 ± 10.8 mmHg) and SIS (one and four layers) (62.6 ± 11.8 and 57.6 ± 12.3 mmHg, respectively) buttressed staple lines. NCEM and XCEM were comparable to that observed for BP buttressed staple lines (138.8 ± 3.6 mmHg). Only specimens with reinforced staple lines were able to achieve high intraluminal pressures (ruptured at the intestinal mesentery), indicating that buttress reinforcements were able to withstand pressure higher than that of natural tissue (physiological failure). Conclusions - These findings suggest that the use of CEM and XCEM as buttressing materials is associated with reinforced staple lines and increased leak pressures when compared to non-buttressed staple lines. CEM and XCEM were found to perform comparably with clinically available buttress materials in this ex vivo model.Enterprise Irelan

Snapping hip caused by a venous hemangioma of the gluteus maximus muscle: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Snapping hip, or coxa saltans, is defined as a clinical condition where a usually painful, audible snap occurs during hip flexion and extension. Its causes can be divided into external, internal or intra-articular origin. Accurate diagnosis is a prerequisite to successful treatment. We report a rare cause of snapping hip which is different from any previously reported cases.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 23-year-old man presented to us with right hip pain of more than 10 years duration. Atrophy of the right gluteus maximus with snapping and tenderness were also noted. The imaging study revealed a focal intramuscular lesion in the lateral portion of the right gluteus maximus muscle. Surgery was performed and pathological examination concluded this mass to be a venous hemangioma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Intramuscular hemangioma, though rare, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a snapping hip even though muscle fibrosis is most frequently encountered.</p

Influence of monolayer, spheroid, and tumor growth conditions on chromosome 3 gene expression in tumorigenic epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Expression microarray analyses of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cell lines may be exploited to elucidate genetic and epigenetic events important in this disease. A possible variable is the influence of growth conditions on discerning candidates. The present study examined the influence of growth conditions on the expression of chromosome 3 genes in the tumorigenic EOC cell lines, OV-90, TOV-21G and TOV-112D using Affymetrix GeneChip^®HG-U133A expression microarray analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Chromosome 3 gene expression profiles (n = 1147 probe sets, representing 735 genes) were extracted from U133A expression microarray analyses of the EOC cell lines OV-90, TOV-21G and TOV-112D that were grown as monolayers, spheroids or nude mouse xenografts and monolayers derived from these tumors. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to compare chromosome 3 transcriptome patterns of each growth condition. Differentially expressed genes were identified and characterized by two-way comparative analyses of fold-differences in gene expression between monolayer cultures and each of the other growth conditions, and between the maximum and minimum values of expression of all growth conditions for each EOC cell line.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An overall high degree of similarity (> 90%) in gene expression was observed when expression values of alternative growth conditions were compared within each EOC cell line group. Two-way comparative analysis of each EOC cell line grown in an alternative condition relative to the monolayer culture showed that overall less than 15% of probe sets exhibited at least a 3-fold difference in expression profile. Less than 23% of probe sets exhibited greater than 3-fold differences in gene expression in comparisons of the maximum and minimum value of expression of all growth conditions within each EOC cell line group. The majority of these differences were less than 5-fold. There were 17 genes in common which were differentially expressed in all EOC cell lines. However, the patterns of expression of these genes were not necessarily the same for each growth condition when one cell line was compared with another.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The various alternative <it>in vivo </it>and <it>in vitro </it>growth conditions of tumorigenic EOC cell lines appeared to modestly influence the global chromosome 3 transcriptome supporting the notion that the <it>in vitro </it>cell line models are a viable option for testing gene candidates.</p

A thermostable salmonella phage endolysin, Lys68, with broad bactericidal properties against gram-negative pathogens in presence of weak acids

Resistance rates are increasing among several problematic Gram-negative pathogens, a fact that has encouraged the development of new antimicrobial agents. This paper characterizes a Salmonella phage endolysin (Lys68) and demonstrates its potential antimicrobial effectiveness when combined with organic acids towards Gram-negative pathogens. Biochemical characterization reveals that Lys68 is more active at pH 7.0, maintaining 76.7% of its activity when stored at 4°C for two months. Thermostability tests showed that Lys68 is only completely inactivated upon exposure to 100°C for 30 min, and circular dichroism analysis demonstrated the ability to refold into its original conformation upon thermal denaturation. It was shown that Lys68 is able to lyse a wide panel of Gram-negative bacteria (13 different species) in combination with the outer membrane permeabilizers EDTA, citric and malic acid. While the EDTA/Lys68 combination only inactivated Pseudomonas strains, the use of citric or malic acid broadened Lys68 antibacterial effect to other Gram-negative pathogens (lytic activity against 9 and 11 species, respectively). Particularly against Salmonella Typhimurium LT2, the combinatory effect of malic or citric acid with Lys68 led to approximately 3 to 5 log reductions in bacterial load/CFUs after 2 hours, respectively, and was also able to reduce stationary-phase cells and bacterial biofilms by approximately 1 log. The broad killing capacity of malic/citric acid-Lys68 is explained by the destabilization and major disruptions of the cell outer membrane integrity due to the acidity caused by the organic acids and a relatively high muralytic activity of Lys68 at low pH. Lys68 demonstrates good (thermo)stability properties that combined with different outer membrane permeabilizers, could become useful to combat Gram-negative pathogens in agricultural, food and medical industry.This work was supported by the projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-019446, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462 and PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 from "Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia" (FCT), Portugal. The authors thank the Project "BioHealth - Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality", Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON. 2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. Hugo Oliveira acknowledges the FCT grant SFRH/BD/63734/2009. Maarten Walmagh held a PhD scholarship of the IWT Vlaanderen. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Neurogenesis Drives Stimulus Decorrelation in a Model of the Olfactory Bulb

The reshaping and decorrelation of similar activity patterns by neuronal networks can enhance their discriminability, storage, and retrieval. How can such networks learn to decorrelate new complex patterns, as they arise in the olfactory system? Using a computational network model for the dominant neural populations of the olfactory bulb we show that fundamental aspects of the adult neurogenesis observed in the olfactory bulb -- the persistent addition of new inhibitory granule cells to the network, their activity-dependent survival, and the reciprocal character of their synapses with the principal mitral cells -- are sufficient to restructure the network and to alter its encoding of odor stimuli adaptively so as to reduce the correlations between the bulbar representations of similar stimuli. The decorrelation is quite robust with respect to various types of perturbations of the reciprocity. The model parsimoniously captures the experimentally observed role of neurogenesis in perceptual learning and the enhanced response of young granule cells to novel stimuli. Moreover, it makes specific predictions for the type of odor enrichment that should be effective in enhancing the ability of animals to discriminate similar odor mixtures

Elevated Pontine and Putamenal GABA Levels in Mild-Moderate Parkinson Disease Detected by 7 Tesla Proton MRS

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. However, postmortem evidence indicates that the pathology of lower brainstem regions, such as the pons and medulla, precedes nigral involvement. Consistently, pontomedullary damage was implicated by structural and PET imaging in early PD. Neurochemical correlates of this early pathological involvement in PD are unknown. Methodology/Principal Finding: To map biochemical alterations in the brains of individuals with mild-moderate PD we quantified neurochemical profiles of the pons, putamen and substantia nigra by 7 tesla (T) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thirteen individuals with idiopathic PD (Hoehn &amp; Yahr stage 2) and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers participated in the study. c-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations in the pons and putamen were significantly higher in patients (N = 11, off medications) than controls (N = 11, p,0.001 for pons and p,0.05 for putamen). The GABA elevation was more pronounced in the pons (64%) than in the putamen (32%). No other neurochemical differences were observed between patients and controls. Conclusion/Significance: The GABA elevation in the putamen is consistent with prior postmortem findings in patients with PD, as well as with in vivo observations in a rodent model of PD, while the GABA finding in the pons is novel. The more significant GABA elevation in the pons relative to the putamen is consistent with earlier pathological involvement of th

Rucaparib maintenance treatment for recurrent ovarian carcinoma after response to platinum therapy (ARIEL3): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial

Background: Rucaparib, a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, has anticancer activity in recurrent ovarian carcinoma harbouring a BRCA mutation or high percentage of genome-wide loss of heterozygosity. In this trial we assessed rucaparib versus placebo after response to second-line or later platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with high-grade, recurrent, platinum-sensitive ovarian carcinoma. Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial, we recruited patients from 87 hospitals and cancer centres across 11 countries. Eligible patients were aged 18 years or older, had a platinum-sensitive, high-grade serous or endometrioid ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube carcinoma, had received at least two previous platinum-based chemotherapy regimens, had achieved complete or partial response to their last platinum-based regimen, had a cancer antigen 125 concentration of less than the upper limit of normal, had a performance status of 0–1, and had adequate organ function. Patients were ineligible if they had symptomatic or untreated central nervous system metastases, had received anticancer therapy 14 days or fewer before starting the study, or had received previous treatment with a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor. We randomly allocated patients 2:1 to receive oral rucaparib 600 mg twice daily or placebo in 28 day cycles using a computer-generated sequence (block size of six, stratified by homologous recombination repair gene mutation status, progression-free interval after the penultimate platinum-based regimen, and best response to the most recent platinum-based regimen). Patients, investigators, site staff, assessors, and the funder were masked to assignments. The primary outcome was investigator-assessed progression-free survival evaluated with use of an ordered step-down procedure for three nested cohorts: patients with BRCA mutations (carcinoma associated with deleterious germline or somatic BRCA mutations), patients with homologous recombination deficiencies (BRCA mutant or BRCA wild-type and high loss of heterozygosity), and the intention-to-treat population, assessed at screening and every 12 weeks thereafter. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01968213; enrolment is complete. Findings: Between April 7, 2014, and July 19, 2016, we randomly allocated 564 patients: 375 (66%) to rucaparib and 189 (34%) to placebo. Median progression-free survival in patients with a BRCA-mutant carcinoma was 16·6 months (95% CI 13·4–22·9; 130 [35%] patients) in the rucaparib group versus 5·4 months (3·4–6·7; 66 [35%] patients) in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·23 [95% CI 0·16–0·34]; p&lt;0·0001). In patients with a homologous recombination deficient carcinoma (236 [63%] vs 118 [62%]), it was 13·6 months (10·9–16·2) versus 5·4 months (5·1–5·6; 0·32 [0·24–0·42]; p&lt;0·0001). In the intention-to-treat population, it was 10·8 months (8·3–11·4) versus 5·4 months (5·3–5·5; 0·36 [0·30–0·45]; p&lt;0·0001). Treatment-emergent adverse events of grade 3 or higher in the safety population (372 [99%] patients in the rucaparib group vs 189 [100%] in the placebo group) were reported in 209 (56%) patients in the rucaparib group versus 28 (15%) in the placebo group, the most common of which were anaemia or decreased haemoglobin concentration (70 [19%] vs one [1%]) and increased alanine or aspartate aminotransferase concentration (39 [10%] vs none). Interpretation: Across all primary analysis groups, rucaparib significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer who had achieved a response to platinum-based chemotherapy. ARIEL3 provides further evidence that use of a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor in the maintenance treatment setting versus placebo could be considered a new standard of care for women with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer following a complete or partial response to second-line or later platinum-based chemotherapy. Funding: Clovis Oncology

Evaporation kinetics in swollen porous polymeric networks

Ponencia presentada en el Congreso Euromar 2014.Fil: Velasco, Manuel Isaac. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Silletta, Emilia Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Monti, Gustavo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Acosta, Rodolfo Héctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Velasco, Manuel Isaac. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Silletta, Emilia Victoria. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Monti, Gustavo Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Acosta, Rodolfo Héctor. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Polymer matrices with well defined structure and pore sizes are widely used in several areas of chemistry such as catalysis, enzyme immobilization, HPLC, adsorbents or controlled drug release. These polymers have pores in its structure both in the dry and swollen state. Although it is well known that the structures and properties greatly differ between these two states, only few methods provide information about the swollen one, even though most of the applications involve the matrices in this situation. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a suitable tool for the study of the molecular dynamics of different liquids spatially confined in macro, meso and nanopores, through changes in the relaxation times. In transverse relaxation experiments, either diffusion inside the pore, or relaxation induced by mobility restriction of the liquid near the wall, are additional sources of relaxation, which are extremely useful in the determination of structural and functional properties.Fil: Velasco, Manuel Isaac. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Silletta, Emilia Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Monti, Gustavo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Acosta, Rodolfo Héctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Velasco, Manuel Isaac. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Silletta, Emilia Victoria. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Monti, Gustavo Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Acosta, Rodolfo Héctor. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Gomez, Cesar Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Fil: Strumia, Miriam Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina.Física de los Materiales Condensado