L’ecografia polmonare per il pediatra

L’ecografia polmonare si sta dimostrando una metodica di grande interesse e negli ultimi anni si è assistito ad un fiorire di pubblicazioni sull’argomento. In particolar modo, la sua semplicità d’uso e d’apprendimento ne stanno garantendo una forte diffusione. Se paragonata poi alla radiografia del torace, la più diffusa indagine di imaging in pneumologia pediatrica, l’ecografia polmonare appare molto promettente. In questo articolo ci prefiggiamo di fornire alcune informazioni basilari sull’ecografia polmonare che possono però diventare un importante spunto per la comprensione di questa innovativa metodica.The lung ultrasound is object of a strong interest and in the lasts years there has been a huge increase in the number of publications on the topic. Its simplicity of use and learning are ensuring it an increasingly widespread use. If compared to the chest radiograph, the most used imaging technique in pediatric pulmonology, lung ultrasound appears very promising. In this article we aim to provide some basic information on lung ultrasound that can become an important start point for understanding this innovative technique

Deregulation of Rab and Rab Effector Genes in Bladder Cancer

Growing evidence indicates that Rab GTPases, key regulators of intracellular transport in eukaryotic cells, play an important role in cancer. We analysed the deregulation at the transcriptional level of the genes encoding Rab proteins and Rab-interacting proteins in bladder cancer pathogenesis, distinguishing between the two main progression pathways so far identified in bladder cancer: the Ta pathway characterized by a high frequency of FGFR3 mutation and the carcinoma in situ pathway where no or infrequent FGFR3 mutations have been identified. A systematic literature search identified 61 genes encoding Rab proteins and 223 genes encoding Rab-interacting proteins. Transcriptomic data were obtained for normal urothelium samples and for two independent bladder cancer data sets corresponding to 152 and 75 tumors. Gene deregulation was analysed with the SAM (significant analysis of microarray) test or the binomial test. Overall, 30 genes were down-regulated, and 13 were up-regulated in the tumor samples. Five of these deregulated genes (LEPRE1, MICAL2, RAB23, STXBP1, SYTL1) were specifically deregulated in FGFR3-non-mutated muscle-invasive tumors. No gene encoding a Rab or Rab-interacting protein was found to be specifically deregulated in FGFR3-mutated tumors. Cluster analysis showed that the RAB27 gene cluster (comprising the genes encoding RAB27 and its interacting partners) was deregulated and that this deregulation was associated with both pathways of bladder cancer pathogenesis. Finally, we found that the expression of KIF20A and ZWINT was associated with that of proliferation markers and that the expression of MLPH, MYO5B, RAB11A, RAB11FIP1, RAB20 and SYTL2 was associated with that of urothelial cell differentiation markers. This systematic analysis of Rab and Rab effector gene deregulation in bladder cancer, taking relevant tumor subgroups into account, provides insight into the possible roles of Rab proteins and their effectors in bladder cancer pathogenesis. This approach is applicable to other group of genes and types of cancer

Influence of disinfectant solutions on test materials used for the determination of masticatory performance

Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecu?ria de Minas Gerais (EPAMIG)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq)Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES)Masticatory function can be evaluated objectively as the capacity of an individual to fragment solid food after a fixed number of chewing cycles, the so-called masticatory performance (MP). The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of four different test materials (Optosil, Optocal, Zetapuls, and Perfil) and five disinfection protocols by aspersion and immersion (no disinfection, 2% glutaraldehyde, 2% chlorhexidine, 5.25% sodium hypochlorite, and 70% alcohol) on the MP, determined at three moments (24 hours, 15 and 60 days) after storing the fragmented blocks. MP was evaluated by calculating X50 through the sieving technique and the Rosim-Ramler equation. The weight and microbiologic count (colony forming units, CFUs) of chewed blocks were measured to identify any variations that would make MP determination unfeasible. Differences in MP were observed among the materials (p 0.05). The time and disinfection type had no influence on MP (p > 0.05). The number of CFUs differed between the nondisinfected group and all other disinfection groups at all time points (p < 0.01). No other significant difference in CFU count between disinfection groups was observed. In conclusion, disinfection did not alter the reliability of the test materials for the MP calculation for up to 60 days

Prolonged fluid shear stress induces a distinct set of endothelial cell genes, most specifically lung Kruppel-like factor (KLF2)

The endothellum expresses a large repertoire of genes under apparent transcriptional control of biomechanical forces, many of which are neither cell-type nor flow specific. We set out to identify genes that are uniquely flow responsive in human vascular endothelial cells. Transcriptional profiling using commercial DNA microarrays identified 12 of 18 000 genes that were modulated at least 5-fold after 24 hours of steady laminar flow (25 dyne/ cm(2)). After a 7-day exposure to unidirectional pulsatile flow (19 +/- 12 dyne/cm(2)), only 3 of 12 remained elevated at least 5-fold. A custom microarray of -300 vascular cell-related gene fragments was constructed, and expression analysis revealed that many flow-induced genes are also induced by at least one of the following agents: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), transforming growth factor-beta, vascular endothelial growth factor, or thrombin, indicating a more general role in adaptive or stress responses. Most flow-induced genes were also induced by TNF-alpha but not IL-1beta, suggesting the involvement of reactive oxygen species. A limited panel of genes that are unique for flow-exposed cultures was identified, including lung Kruppel-like factor (LKLF/KLF2) and cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1). In marked contrast, both these genes were substantially repressed by TNF-alpha. LKLF but not CYP1B1 mRNA was detected exclusively in the vascular endothelium of healthy human aorta by in situ hybridization and appeared to-be flow regulated. To date LKLF is the first endothelial transcription factor that is uniquely induced by flow and might therefore be at the molecular basis of the physiological healthy, flow-exposed state of the endothelial cell. (C) 2002 by The American Society of Hematolog