Effect of balloon angioplasty in femoropopliteal arteries assessed by intravascular ultrasound

Objective:To study the effects of balloon angioplasty (PTA) of the femoropopliteal artery with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).Materials and methods:Corresponding IVUS cross-sections (n = 1033) obtained before and after PTA from 115 procedures were analysed. Vascular damage including plaque rupture, dissection and media rupture was assessed. Free lumen area (FLA), media-bounded area (MBA) and plaque area (PLA) were measured.Results:After PTA vascular damage was seen at the target site in 83 (72%) arteries: plaque rupture in 30 (26%), dissection in 66 (57%) and media rupture in 20 (17%) arteries. The FLA increased from 5.4 ± 3.4 mm2 to 14.1 ± 5.0 mm2 (p<0.001), MBA increased from 26.9 ± 10.0 mm2 to 32.9 ± 10.7 mm2 (p<0.001) and PLA decreased from 21.6 ± 8.5 mm2 to 18.8 ± 8.0 mm2 (p<0.001). The increase in MBA accounted for 68% of lumen gain. The frequency of vascular damage and the relative contribution of MBA increase and PLA decrease to luminal gain were not different in procedures with balloon diameter ≤ 5 mm and ≥ 6 mm.Conclusions:Vascular damage is common following PTA. Lumen gain is mainly due to vessel expansion and, to a lesser extent, to a decrease in plaque area

Importance of nuclear localization of apoptin for tumor-specific induction of apoptosis

Biofysische structuurchemi

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L−1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature

Comparison of isotachophoresis, capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of salbutamol, terbutaline sulfate and fenoterol hydrobromide in pharmaceutical dosage forms

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), isotachophoresis (ITP) and capillary zone clectrophoresis (CZE) were applied to the determination of salbutamol, terbutaline sulphate and fenoterol hydrobromide in commercially available pharmaceutical dosage forms. The comparison showed that especially with the use of ITP, high concentrations of other charged sample components can disturb the separation process. If special attention is paid to ensure a complete separation, all methods give comparable results. For the regression lines of the calibration graphs, regression coefficients of at least ca. 0.999 and nearly zero intercepts are obtained with relative standard deviations of ca. 1–2% for peak area or zone lengths. By applying the different techniques, often different components of the sample matrix can be detected, i.e., a more complete impression of the sample composition can be obtained by using all the three techniques

Effects of self-discrepancies on activity-related behaviour: Explaining disability and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain

In chronic low back pain (CLBP) research, the self-discrepancy model has been applied to explain dysfunctional avoidance and persistence behaviour. The main aim of this study was to evaluate whether specific self-discrepancies in patients with CLBP are associated with the abovementioned types of activity-related behaviour and whether changes in self-discrepancies over time are associated with changes in activity-related behaviour. Furthermore, the aim was to evaluate whether avoidance and persistence behaviour are associated with a higher level of disability and a diminished quality of life and whether changes over time in avoidance and persistence behaviour result in changes in disability and quality of life. A longitudinal cohort study in a sample of patients with CLBP (N = 116), in which self-discrepancies, disability, quality of life, and objectively registered characteristics of activity-related behaviour were measured, was performed to evaluate the pathways in the aforementioned self-discrepancy model. Results indicate that patients with CLBP who feel closer to their ideal-other show more characteristics of persistence behaviour. Patients who move further away from their ideal-own also show more characteristics of persistence behaviour. Furthermore, in patients characterized as avoider, a decrease in a patient's daily uptime was associated with a decrease of mental health-related quality of life. (C) 2011 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved

Lectin complement pathway gene profile of the donor and recipient does not influence graft outcome after kidney transplantation.

Contains fulltext : 108497.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)In kidney transplantation, complement activation was found to be induced by donor brain death, renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and allograft rejection. There are three known pathways of complement activation: the classical, lectin and the alternative pathway. The lectin complement pathway can be activated upon pattern recognition by mannan binding lectin (MBL) or ficolins (FCN). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes encoding the lectin pathway proteins determine their functional activity and serum levels. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the lectin gene profile of the donor and recipient on post-transplant outcome. A total of 12 functional SNPs in the MBL2, FCN2 and MBL-associated serine proteases 2 (MASP2) genes of 1271 donor-recipient pairs were determined. Lectin genotypic variants were analyzed for association with primary non-function (PNF), delayed graft function (DGF), biopsy proven acute rejection, death-censored graft survival and patient survival. Multivariate analyses found no association of donor and recipient MBL2 and MASP2 genotype with allograft outcome. Analysis of separate functional SNPs and haplotypes in the FCN2 gene of the donor and recipient did not reveal an association with transplant outcome. Also, the joint effect of the MBL2 and FCN2 genotype was not associated with allograft outcome.This study shows that the genetic profile of the lectin pathway of complement activation of the donor and recipient is not associated with allograft outcome after kidney transplantation.01 februari 201

Association of complement C3 gene variants with renal transplant outcome of deceased cardiac dead donor kidneys

Local renal complement activation by the donor kidney plays an important role in the pathogenesis of renal injury inherent to kidney transplantation. Contradictory results were reported about the protective effects of the donor C3F allotype on renal allograft outcome. We investigated the influence of the donor C3F allotype on renal transplant outcome, taking all different donor types into account. C3 allotypes of 1265 donorrecipient pairs were determined and divided into four genotypic groups according to the C3F allotype of the donor and the recipient. The four genotypic groups were analyzed for association with primary nonfunction (PNF), delayed graft function, acute rejection, death-censored graft survival and patient survival. Considering all donor types, multivariable analysis found no association of the donor C3F allotype with renal allograft outcome. Also, for living and deceased brain-dead donors, no association with allograft outcome was found. Post hoc subgroup analysis within deceased cardiac dead (DCD) donors revealed an independent protective association of donor C3F allotype with PNF. This study shows that the donor C3F allotype is not associated with renal allograft outcome after kidney transplantation. Subgroup analysis within DCD donors revealed an independent protective association of the donor C3F allotype with PNF, which is preliminary and warrants further validation

A functional role for complement receptor C5L2 in the pathogenesis of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury

Nephrolog