Biologic Agents to Promote Periodontal Regeneration and Bone Augmentation

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142088/1/cap0080.pd

NLO QCD corrections to tW' and tZ' production in forward-backward asymmetry models

We consider Z' and W' models recently proposed to explain the top forward-backward asymmetry at the Tevatron. We present the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to associated production of such vector bosons together with top quarks at the Large Hadron Collider, for centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The corrections are significant, modifying the total production cross-section by 30-50%. We consider the effects of the corrections on the top and vector-boson kinematics. The results are directly applicable to current experimental searches, for both the ATLAS and CMS collaborations.Comment: 62 pages, 13 figures, 36 tables. v3 Updated to correspond to Journal version and incorporate supplementary materia

Single-Chip Reduced-Wire Active Catheter System with Programmable Transmit Beamforming and Receive Time-Division Multiplexing for Intracardiac Echocardiography

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) provides real-time ultrasound imaging of the heart anatomy from inside, guiding interventions like valve repair, closure of atrial septal defects (ASD) and catheter-based ablation to treat atrial fibrillation. With its better image quality and ease of use, ICE is becoming the preferred imaging modality over transesophageal echography (TEE) for structural heart interventions. The existing commercial ICE catheters, however, offer a limited 2-D or 3-D field of view despite catheters utilizing large number of wires. In these catheters, each element in the ICE array is connected to the backend data-acquisition channel with a separate wire, which is a critical barrier for improving image quality and widening the field of view. In order to use ICE catheters under MRI instead of the ionizing X-ray radiation-based angiography, the number of interconnect wires in the catheter should be minimized to reduce RF-induced heating. Furthermore, reducing the number of wires improves the flexibility and lowers the cost of the single-use ICE catheters

Pseudo-arthrosis repair of a posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture

A pseudo-arthrosis repair of a 4-year-old bony avulsion fracture of the PCL using a minimally invasive technique, screw fixation, and bone grafting is reported. The case presented seems to be rather unique due to the fragment size and the approach for pseudo-arthrosis repair. There was a good functional result following minimally invasive pseudo-arthrosis repair of a posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture. There are no previous reports of similar pseudo-arthrosis repairs, and other authors report good results of delayed refixation of PCL avulsion fractures. Therefore, refixation and pseudo-arthrosis repair should be considered as a viable treatment

Using LASSO regression to detect predictive aggregate effects in genetic studies

We use least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to select genetic markers and phenotypic features that are most informative with respect to a trait of interest. We compare several strategies for applying LASSO methods in risk prediction models, using the Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 exome simulation data consisting of 697 individuals with information on genotypic and phenotypic features (smoking, age, sex) in 5-fold cross-validated fashion. The cross-validated averages of the area under the receiver operating curve range from 0.45 to 0.63 for different strategies using only genotypic markers. The same values are improved to 0.69–0.87 when both genotypic and phenotypic information are used. The ability of the LASSO method to find true causal markers is limited, but the method was able to discover several common variants (e.g., FLT1) under certain conditions

Grifonin-1: A Small HIV-1 Entry Inhibitor Derived from the Algal Lectin, Griffithsin

Background: Griffithsin, a 121-residue protein isolated from a red algal Griffithsia sp., binds high mannose N-linked glycans of virus surface glycoproteins with extremely high affinity, a property that allows it to prevent the entry of primary isolates and laboratory strains of T- and M-tropic HIV-1. We used the sequence of a portion of griffithsin's sequence as a design template to create smaller peptides with antiviral and carbohydrate-binding properties. Methodology/Results: The new peptides derived from a trio of homologous β-sheet repeats that comprise the motifs responsible for its biological activity. Our most active antiviral peptide, grifonin-1 (GRFN-1), had an EC50 of 190.8±11.0 nM in in vitro TZM-bl assays and an EC50 of 546.6±66.1 nM in p24gag antigen release assays. GRFN-1 showed considerable structural plasticity, assuming different conformations in solvents that differed in polarity and hydrophobicity. Higher concentrations of GRFN-1 formed oligomers, based on intermolecular β-sheet interactions. Like its parent protein, GRFN-1 bound viral glycoproteins gp41 and gp120 via the N-linked glycans on their surface. Conclusion: Its substantial antiviral activity and low toxicity in vitro suggest that GRFN-1 and/or its derivatives may have therapeutic potential as topical and/or systemic agents directed against HIV-1

The Expression and Localization of N-Myc Downstream-Regulated Gene 1 in Human Trophoblasts

The protein N-Myc downstream-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) is implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, and cellular stress response. NDRG1 is expressed in primary human trophoblasts, where it promotes cell viability and resistance to hypoxic injury. The mechanism of action of NDRG1 remains unknown. To gain further insight into the intracellular action of NDRG1, we analyzed the expression pattern and cellular localization of endogenous NDRG1 and transfected Myc-tagged NDRG1 in human trophoblasts exposed to diverse injuries. In standard conditions, NDRG1 was diffusely expressed in the cytoplasm at a low level. Hypoxia or the hypoxia mimetic cobalt chloride, but not serum deprivation, ultraviolet (UV) light, or ionizing radiation, induced the expression of NDRG1 in human trophoblasts and the redistribution of NDRG1 into the nucleus and cytoplasmic membranes associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and microtubules. Mutation of the phosphopantetheine attachment site (PPAS) within NDRG1 abrogated this pattern of redistribution. Our results shed new light on the impact of cell injury on NDRG1 expression patterns, and suggest that the PPAS domain plays a key role in NDRG1's subcellular distribution. © 2013 Shi et al

Chlorhexidine Substantivity on Salivary Flora and Plaque-Like Biofilm: An In Situ Model

This work was supported by project FIS PI11/01383 from Carlos III Institute of Health (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Madrid, Spain

Value of tissue harmonic imaging (THI) and contrast harmonic imaging (CHI) in detection and characterisation of breast tumours

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which tissue harmonic imaging (THI), speckle reduction imaging (SRI), spatial compounding (SC) and contrast can improve detection and differentiation of breast tumours. We examined 38 patients (14 benign, 24 malignant tumours) with different combinations of THI, SRI and SC. The effect on delineation, margin, tissue differentiation and posttumoral phenomena was evaluated with a three-point score. Additionally, 1oo not palpable tumours (diameters: 4–15 mm) were examined by contrast harmonic imaging (CHI) with power Doppler. After bolus injection (0.5 ml Optison), vascularisation and enhancement were observed for 20 min. The best combination for detection of margin, infiltration, echo pattern and posterior lesion boundary was the combination of SRI level 2 with SC low. THI was helpful for lesions OF more than 1 cm depth. In native Power Doppler, vessels were found in 54 of 100 lesions. Within 5 min after contrast medium (CM) injection, marginal and penetrating vessels increased in benign and malignant tumours and central vessels mostly in carcinomas (p<0.05). A diffuse CM accumulation was observed up to 20 min after injection in malignant tumours only (p<0.05). THI, SRI and SC improved delineation and tissue differentiation. Second-generation contrast agent allowed detection of tumour vascularisation with prolonged enhancement

Top quark anomalous tensor couplings in the two-Higgs-doublet models

We compute the one loop right and left anomalous tensor couplings (g(R) and g(L), respectively) for the top quark, in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model. They are the magnetic-like couplings in the most general parameterization of the tbW vertex. We find that the aligned two-Higgs doublet model, that includes as particular cases some of the most studied extensions of the Higgs sector, introduces new electroweak contribution's and provides theoretical predictions that are very sensitive to both new scalar masses and the neutral scalar mixing angle. For a largo area in the parameters space we obtain significant deviations in both the real and the imaginary parts of the couplings gR and gL, compared to the predictions given by the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. The most important ones are those involving the imaginary part of the left coupling g(L) and the real part of the right coupling gR. The real part of g(L), and the imaginary part of gR also show an important sensitivity to new physics scenarios. The model can also account for new CP violation effects via the introduction of complex alignment parameters that have important consequences on the values for the imaginary parts of the couplings. The top anomalous tensor couplings will be measured at the LHC and at future colliders providing a complementary insight on new physics, independent from the bounds in top decays coming from B physics and b -> s gamma