2,374 research outputs found
Diffusion tensor imaging of renal ischemia/reperfusion injury
Session 67: Functional MRI of the Abdomen - Oral presentationRenal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major cause of acute renal failure in native and in transplanted kidneys. IRI in kidney associated with transplantation may also influence early graft function and late changes. Recently, anisotropy measurement with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been found to provide additional information about functional and structural status of kidney. In this study, we aim at characterizing diffusion properties of kidney with mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in an experimental rat model of renal IRI. The experimental results demonstrated that DTI is useful in identifying renal IRI by characterizing the changes in MD and FA.published_or_final_versionThe 17th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Honolulu, HI., 18-24 April 2009. In Proceedings of ISMRM 17th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition, 2009, p. 66
Review of contraceptive use among women seeking for repeat termination of pregnancy in Hong Kong
Termination of pregnancy (TOP) is one of the commonly performed gynaecological procedures. We carried out this retrospective review to study the contraceptive practice among women seeking for first-time versus repeat TOPs. We analysed the data of 596 women attending the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong for TOP during January to March 2005. Among them, 340 (57.0%) of cases were seeking first-time TOP, 161 (27.0%) were undergoing second TOP, and 95 (15.9%) undergoing TOP for the third or more times. Overall, 43% of the cases under review were having repeat …postprin
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Association of proinflammatory cytokines and chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients: a multi-centered, prospective, cohort study.
BackgroundExisting evidence suggests that proinflammatory cytokines play an intermediary role in postchemotherapy cognitive impairment. This is one of the largest multicentered, cohort studies conducted in Singapore to evaluate the prevalence and proinflammatory biomarkers associated with cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients.Patients and methodsChemotherapy-receiving breast cancer patients (stages I-III) were recruited. Proinflammatory plasma cytokines concentrations [interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α] were evaluated at 3 time points (before chemotherapy, 6 and 12 weeks after chemotherapy initiation). The FACT-Cog (version 3) was utilized to evaluate patients' self-perceived cognitive disturbances and a computerized neuropsychological assessment (Headminder) was administered to evaluate patients' memory, attention, response speed and processing speed. Changes of cognition throughout chemotherapy treatment were compared against the baseline. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to test the relationships of clinical variables and cytokine concentrations on self-perceived cognitive disturbances and each objective cognitive domain.ResultsNinety-nine patients were included (age 50.5 ± 8.4 years; 81.8% Chinese; mean duration of education = 10.8 ± 3.3 years). Higher plasma IL-1β was associated with poorer response speed performance (estimate: -0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.34 to -0.03; P = 0.023), and a higher concentration of IL-4 was associated with better response speed performance (P = 0.022). Higher concentrations of IL-1β and IL-6 were associated with more severe self-perceived cognitive disturbances (P = 0.018 and 0.001, respectively). Patients with higher concentrations of IL-4 also reported less severe cognitive disturbances (P = 0.022).ConclusionsWhile elevated concentrations of IL-6 and IL-1β were observed in patients with poorer response speed performance and perceived cognitive disturbances, IL-4 may be protective against chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment. This study is important because cytokines would potentially be mechanistic mediators of chemotherapy-associated cognitive changes
Identification of Novel Rosavirus Species That Infects Diverse Rodent Species and Causes Multisystemic Dissemination in Mouse Model
published_or_final_versio
Cascaded two-photon nonlinearity in a one-dimensional waveguide with multiple two-level emitters
We propose and theoretically investigate a model to realize cascaded optical
nonlinearity with few atoms and photons in one-dimension (1D). The optical
nonlinearity in our system is mediated by resonant interactions of photons with
two-level emitters, such as atoms or quantum dots in a 1D photonic waveguide.
Multi-photon transmission in the waveguide is nonreciprocal when the emitters
have different transition energies. Our theory provides a clear physical
understanding of the origin of nonreciprocity in the presence of cascaded
nonlinearity. We show how various two-photon nonlinear effects including
spatial attraction and repulsion between photons, background fluorescence can
be tuned by changing the number of emitters and the coupling between emitters
(controlled by the separation).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
Evidence shows that massive black holes reside in most local galaxies.
Studies have also established a number of relations between the MBH mass and
properties of the host galaxy such as bulge mass and velocity dispersion. These
results suggest that central MBHs, while much less massive than the host (~
0.1%), are linked to the evolution of galactic structure. In hierarchical
cosmologies, a single big galaxy today can be traced back to the stage when it
was split up in hundreds of smaller components. Did MBH seeds form with the
same efficiency in small proto-galaxies, or did their formation had to await
the buildup of substantial galaxies with deeper potential wells? I briefly
review here some of the physical processes that are conducive to the evolution
of the massive black hole population. I will discuss black hole formation
processes for `seed' black holes that are likely to place at early cosmic
epochs, and possible observational tests of these scenarios.Comment: To appear in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. The final
publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co
Two highly divergent alcohol dehydrogenases of melon exhibit fruit ripening-specific expression and distinct biochemical characteristics
Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) participate in
the biosynthetic pathway of aroma volatiles in fruit by
interconverting aldehydes to alcohols and providing substrates
for the formation of esters. Two highly divergent
ADH genes (15% identity at the amino acid level) of
Cantaloupe Charentais melon (Cucumis melo var. Cantalupensis)
have been isolated. Cm-ADH1 belongs to the
medium-chain zinc-binding type of ADHs and is highly
similar to all ADH genes expressed in fruit isolated so far.
Cm-ADH2 belongs to the short-chain type of ADHs. The
two encoded proteins are enzymatically active upon
expression in yeast. Cm-ADH1 has strong preference for
NAPDH as a co-factor, whereas Cm-ADH2 preferentially
uses NADH. Both Cm-ADH proteins are much more active
as reductases with Kms 10–20 times lower for the conversion
of aldehydes to alcohols than for the dehydrogenation
of alcohols to aldehydes. They both show strong preference
for aliphatic aldehydes but Cm-ADH1 is capable of
reducing branched aldehydes such as 3-methylbutyraldehyde,
whereas Cm-ADH2 cannot. Both Cm-ADH genes are
expressed specifically in fruit and up-regulated during
ripening. Gene expression as well as total ADH activity are
strongly inhibited in antisense ACC oxidase melons and in
melon fruit treated with the ethylene antagonist 1-methylcyclopropene
(1-MCP), indicating a positive regulation by
ethylene. These data suggest that each of the Cm-ADH
protein plays a specific role in the regulation of aroma
biosynthesis in melon fruit
Antimetastatic Effects of Norcantharidin on Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Transcriptional Inhibition of MMP-9 through Modulation of NF-kB Activity
The rate of morbidity and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Taiwan has not lessened because of difficulty in treating tumor metastasis. Norcantharidin (NCTD) is currently used as an anticancer drug for hepatoma, breast cancer, and colorectal adenocarcinoma. NCTD possesses various biological anticancer activities, including apoptosis. However, detailed effects and molecular mechanisms of NCTD on metastasis are unclear. Thus, HCC cells were subjected to treatment with NCTD and then analyzed to determine the effects of NCTD on cell metastasis.Modified Boyden chamber assays revealed that NCTD treatment inhibited cell migration and invasion capacities of HCC cells substantially. Results of zymography and western blotting showed that activities and protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) were inhibited by NCTD. Western blot analysis showed that NCTD inhibits phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Testing of mRNA level, quantitative real-time PCR, and promoter assays evaluated the inhibitory effects of NCTD on MMP-9 and u-PA expression in HCC cells. The chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay for analyzing the genomic DNA sequences bound to these proteins was reactive to the transcription protein nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, which was inhibited by NCTD. The expression of NF-kappa B was measured by western blot analysis, which revealed decreased nuclear-factor DNA-binding activity after NCTD treatment.NCTD inhibited MMP-9 and u-PA expression through the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and NF-kappaB signaling pathway which serves as a powerful chemopreventive agent in HCC cell metastasis
The role of specific biomarkers, as predictors of post-operative complications following flexible ureterorenoscopy (FURS), for the treatment of kidney stones: a single-centre observational clinical pilot-study in 37 patients
Abstract: Background: The number of patients diagnosed and subsequently treated for kidney stones is increasing, and as such the number of post-operative complications is likely to increase. At present, little is known about the role of specific biomarkers, following flexible ureterorenoscopy (FURS) for the surgical treatment of kidney stones. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the role of kidney and infection biomarkers, in patients undergoing FURS. Methods: Included were 37 patients (24 males, 13 females), who underwent elective FURS, for the treatment of kidney stones. Venous blood samples were collected from each patient: pre-operatively, and at 30 min, 2 and 4 h post-operatively. Changes to kidney (NGAL, Cystatin-C) and infection (MPO, PCT) biomarkers was quantified by means of ELISA, Biomerieux mini-vidas and Konelab 20 analysers. Results: Four patients developed post-operative complications (3 - UTIs with urinary retention, 1 - urosepsis. NGAL concentration increased significantly following FURS (p = 0.034). Although no significant changes were seen in Cystatin C, MPO and PCT (p ≥ 0.05) some key clinical observation were noted. Limiting factors for this study were the small number of patients recruited and restriction in blood sampling beyond 4 h. Conclusions: Although not confirmative, changes seen to biomarkers such as Cystatin C, NGAL and MPO in our observational clinical pilot-study may warrant further investigation, involving larger cohorts, to fully understand the role of these biomarkers and their potential association with post-operative complications which can develop following FURS
Human Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors-X1 induce chemokine receptor 2 expression in rat dorsal root ganglia neurons and release of chemokine ligand 2 from the human LAD-2 mast cell line
Primate-specific Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors-X1 (MRGPR-X1) are highly enriched in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and induce acute pain. Herein, we analyzed effects of MRGPR-X1 on serum response factors (SRF) or nuclear factors of activated T cells (NFAT), which control expression of various markers of chronic pain. Using HEK293, DRG neuron-derived F11 cells and cultured rat DRG neurons recombinantly expressing human MRGPR-X1, we found activation of a SRF reporter gene construct and induction of the early growth response protein-1 via extracellular signal-regulated kinases-1/2 known to play a significant role in the development of inflammatory pain. Furthermore, we observed MRGPR-X1-induced up-regulation of the chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) via NFAT, which is considered as a key event in the onset of neuropathic pain and, so far, has not yet been described for any endogenous neuropeptide. Up-regulation of CCR2 is often associated with increased release of its endogenous agonist chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2). We also found MRGPR-X1-promoted release of CCL2 in a human connective tissue mast cell line endogenously expressing MRGPR-X1. Thus, we provide first evidence to suggest that MRGPR-X1 induce expression of chronic pain markers in DRG neurons and propose a so far unidentified signaling circuit that enhances chemokine signaling by acting on two distinct yet functionally co-operating cell types. Given the important role of chemokine signaling in pain chronification, we propose that interruption of this signaling circuit might be a promising new strategy to alleviate chemokine-promoted pain
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