Stent-Graft Treatment of Patients with Acute Bleeding from Hepatic Artery Branches

To present a new treatment option in patients with acute bleeding from the hepatic artery branches.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41326/1/270_2004_Article_56.pd

Glenohumeral joint injection: a comparative study of ultrasound and fluoroscopically guided techniques before MR arthrography

To assess the variability in accuracy of contrast media introduction, leakage, required time and patient discomfort in four different centres, each using a different image-guided glenohumeral injection technique. Each centre included 25 consecutive patients. The ultrasound-guided anterior (USa) and posterior approach (USp), fluoroscopic-guided anterior (FLa) and posterior (FLp) approach were used. Number of injection attempts, effect of contrast leakage on diagnostic quality, and total room, radiologist and procedure times were measured. Pain was documented with a visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score. Access to the joint was achieved in all patients. A successful first attempt significantly occurred more often with US (94%) than with fluoroscopic guidance (72%). Leakage of contrast medium did not cause interpretative difficulties. With US guidance mean room, procedure and radiologist times were significantly shorter (p < 0.001). The USa approach was rated with the lowest pre- and post-injection VAS scores. The four image-guided injection techniques are successful in injection of contrast material into the glenohumeral joint. US-guided injections and especially the anterior approach are significantly less time consuming, more successful on the first attempt, cause less patient discomfort and obviate the need for radiation and iodine contrast

Lack of Chemokine Signaling through CXCR5 Causes Increased Mortality, Ventricular Dilatation and Deranged Matrix during Cardiac Pressure Overload

RATIONALE: Inflammatory mechanisms have been suggested to play a role in the development of heart failure (HF), but a role for chemokines is largely unknown. Based on their role in inflammation and matrix remodeling in other tissues, we hypothesized that CXCL13 and CXCR5 could be involved in cardiac remodeling during HF. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze the role of the chemokine CXCL13 and its receptor CXCR5 in cardiac pathophysiology leading to HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mice harboring a systemic knockout of the CXCR5 (CXCR5(-/-)) displayed increased mortality during a follow-up of 80 days after aortic banding (AB). Following three weeks of AB, CXCR5(-/-) developed significant left ventricular (LV) dilatation compared to wild type (WT) mice. Microarray analysis revealed altered expression of several small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) that bind to collagen and modulate fibril assembly. Protein levels of fibromodulin, decorin and lumican (all SLRPs) were significantly reduced in AB CXCR5(-/-) compared to AB WT mice. Electron microscopy revealed loosely packed extracellular matrix with individual collagen fibers and small networks of proteoglycans in AB CXCR5(-/-) mice. Addition of CXCL13 to cultured cardiac fibroblasts enhanced the expression of SLRPs. In patients with HF, we observed increased myocardial levels of CXCR5 and SLRPs, which was reversed following LV assist device treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of CXCR5 leads to LV dilatation and increased mortality during pressure overload, possibly via lack of an increase in SLRPs. This study demonstrates a critical role of the chemokine CXCL13 and CXCR5 in survival and maintaining of cardiac structure upon pressure overload, by regulating proteoglycans essential for correct collagen assembly

Progress and prospects toward our understanding of the evolution of dosage compensation

In many eukaryotic organisms, gender is determined by a pair of heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Degeneration of the non-recombining Y chromosome is a general facet of sex chromosome evolution. Selective pressure to restore expression levels of X-linked genes relative to autosomes accompanies Y-chromosome degeneration, thus driving the evolution of dosage compensation mechanisms. This review focuses on evolutionary aspects of dosage compensation, in light of recent advances in comparative and functional genomics that have substantially increased our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of dosage compensation and how it evolved. We review processes involved in sex chromosome evolution, and discuss the dynamic interaction between Y degeneration and the acquisition of dosage compensation. We compare mechanisms of dosage compensation and the origin of dosage compensation genes between different taxa and comment on sex chromosomes that apparently lack compensation mechanisms. Finally, we discuss how dosage compensation systems can also influence the evolution of well-established sex chromosomes

MRI and CT in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease: indications and applications

In recent years, technical advances and improvements in cardiac computed tomography (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provoked increasing interest in the potential clinical role of these techniques in the non-invasive work-up of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and correct patient selection for these emerging imaging techniques. In the primary detection or exclusion of significant CAD, e.g. in the patient with unspecific thoracic complaints, and also in patients with known CAD or advanced stages of CAD, both CT and MRI yield specific advantages. In this review, the major aspects of non-invasive MR and CT imaging in the diagnosis of CAD will be discussed. The first part describes the clinical value of contrast-enhanced non-invasive CT coronary angiography (CTCA), including the diagnostic accuracy of CTCA for the exclusion or detection of significant CAD with coronary artery stenoses that may require angioplastic intervention, as well as potentially valuable information on the coronary artery vessel wall. In the second section, the potential of CT for the imaging of myocardial viability and perfusion will be highlighted. In the third and final part, the range of applications of cardiac MRI in CAD patients will be outlined

X chromosomal regulation in flies: when less is more

In Drosophila, dosage compensation of the single male X chromosome involves upregulation of expression of X linked genes. Dosage compensation complex or the male specific lethal (MSL) complex is intimately involved in this regulation. The MSL complex members decorate the male X chromosome by binding on hundreds of sites along the X chromosome. Recent genome wide analysis has brought new light into X chromosomal regulation. It is becoming increasingly clear that although the X chromosome achieves male specific regulation via the MSL complex members, a number of general factors also impinge on this regulation. Future studies integrating these aspects promise to shed more light into this epigenetic phenomenon

Best practice for motor imagery: a systematic literature review on motor imagery training elements in five different disciplines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The literature suggests a beneficial effect of motor imagery (MI) if combined with physical practice, but detailed descriptions of MI training session (MITS) elements and temporal parameters are lacking. The aim of this review was to identify the characteristics of a successful MITS and compare these for different disciplines, MI session types, task focus, age, gender and MI modification during intervention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An extended systematic literature search using 24 databases was performed for five disciplines: Education, Medicine, Music, Psychology and Sports. References that described an MI intervention that focused on motor skills, performance or strength improvement were included. Information describing 17 MITS elements was extracted based on the PETTLEP (physical, environment, timing, task, learning, emotion, perspective) approach. Seven elements describing the MITS temporal parameters were calculated: study duration, intervention duration, MITS duration, total MITS count, MITS per week, MI trials per MITS and total MI training time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both independent reviewers found 96% congruity, which was tested on a random sample of 20% of all references. After selection, 133 studies reporting 141 MI interventions were included. The locations of the MITS and position of the participants during MI were task-specific. Participants received acoustic detailed MI instructions, which were mostly standardised and live. During MI practice, participants kept their eyes closed. MI training was performed from an internal perspective with a kinaesthetic mode. Changes in MI content, duration and dosage were reported in 31 MI interventions. Familiarisation sessions before the start of the MI intervention were mentioned in 17 reports. MI interventions focused with decreasing relevance on motor-, cognitive- and strength-focused tasks. Average study intervention lasted 34 days, with participants practicing MI on average three times per week for 17 minutes, with 34 MI trials. Average total MI time was 178 minutes including 13 MITS. Reporting rate varied between 25.5% and 95.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MITS elements of successful interventions were individual, supervised and non-directed sessions, added after physical practice. Successful design characteristics were dominant in the Psychology literature, in interventions focusing on motor and strength-related tasks, in interventions with participants aged 20 to 29 years old, and in MI interventions including participants of both genders. Systematic searching of the MI literature was constrained by the lack of a defined MeSH term.</p

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field