Quantitative Understanding of Probabilistic Behavior of Living Cells Operated by Vibrant Intracellular Networks

For quantitative understanding of probabilistic behaviors of living cells, it is essential to construct a correct mathematical description of intracellular networks interacting with complex cell environments, which has been a formidable task. Here, we present a novel model and stochastic kinetics for an intracellular network interacting with hidden cell environments, employing a complete description of cell state dynamics and its coupling to the system network. Our analysis reveals that various environmental effects on the product number fluctuation of intracellular reaction networks can be collectively characterized by Laplace transform of the time-correlation function of the product creation rate fluctuation with the Laplace variable being the product decay rate. On the basis of the latter result, we propose an efficient method for quantitative analysis of the chemical fluctuation produced by intracellular networks coupled to hidden cell environments. By applying the present approach to the gene expression network, we obtain simple analytic results for the gene expression variability and the environment-induced correlations between the expression levels of mutually noninteracting genes. The theoretical results compose a unified framework for quantitative understanding of various gene expression statistics observed across a number of different systems with a small number of adjustable parameters with clear physical meanings.National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant 2011-0016412)National Research Foundation of Korea (Priority Research Center Program 2009-0093817

Postoperative occlusion of visual axis with fibrous membrane in the presence of anterior capsular phimosis in a patient with pseudoexfoliation syndrome: a case report

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background To report a case of postoperative fibrous membrane formation occluding the visual axis in the presence of anterior capsular phimosis in a patient with pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Case presentation A 79-year-old Asian woman with pseudoexfoliation syndrome underwent uneventful phacoemulsification and implantation of one-piece hydrophilic acrylic square-edged intraocular lens (Cristalens) in the right eye. Two months later, she had blurred vision in the right eye with the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/40. Formation of fibrous membrane occluding the capsulorhexis opening with contraction of anterior capsule was observed, which was confirmed by anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Clear visual axis was achieved by lysis of the membrane using Nd:YAG laser. The BCVA improved to 20/20. Conclusions Occlusion of the visual axis with fibrous membrane can develop in the presence of anterior capsular phimosis in a patient with pseudoexfoliation syndrome

Mid-term results in patients having tricuspidization of the quadricuspid aortic valve

BACKGROUND: Quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare congenital anomaly. We investigate the mid-term results of aortic valve reconstruction by tricuspidization in patients with QAV. METHODS: We analyzed the outcome of eight consecutive patients who underwent aortic valve reconstruction surgery (AVRS) with pericardial leaflets with symptomatic quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) disease between December 2007 and May 2012. AVRS consists of leaflet reconstruction and fixation of the sino-tubular junction in order to maintain coaptation of the new valve. RESULTS: Six males and two females were included; ages ranged from 19 to 63 years (mean age, 51 years). According to Hurwitz and Roberts’s classification, three patients had type A, three patients had type B, one patient had type C, and one patient had type E. All patients had significant aortic regurgitation (AR): moderate in three patients, moderate to severe in one patient, and severe in four patients. Concomitant ascending aorta wrapping with an artificial vascular graft was performed in one case. There was no occurrence of mortality during the follow-up period (42.4 ± 18.0 months). No redo-operation was required. The NYHA functional class showed improvement from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 1.1 ± 0.2 (p = 0.008). The latest echocardiograms showed AR absent or trivial in seven patients, and mild in one patient. The aortic valve orifice area index (AVAI) was 1.03 ± 0.49 cm(2)/m(2). Compared with preoperative echocardiograms, the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction showed improvement from 57.6 ± 17.0 to 63.7 ± 13.2% (p = 0.036); the end-diastolic and end-systolic LV dimensions showed a significant decrease, from 63.5 ± 9.6 to 49.5 ± 3.1 mm (p = 0.012) and 43.6 ± 11.8 to 32.1 ± 5.4 mm (p = 0.012), respectively. CONCLUSION: In patients with QAV, AVRS with tricuspidization showed satisfactory early and mid-term results. Long-term follow-up will be necessary in order to study the durability of AVRS; however, it can be considered as a potential standard procedure

Bone-targeting AAV-mediated silencing of Schnurri-3 prevents bone loss in osteoporosis

RNAi-based bone anabolic gene therapy has demonstrated initial success, but many practical challenges are still unmet. Here, we demonstrate that a recombinant adeno-associated virus 9 (rAAV9) is highly effective for transducing osteoblast lineage cells in the bone. The adaptor protein Schnurri-3 (SHN3) is a promising therapeutic target for osteoporosis, as deletion of shn3 prevents bone loss in osteoporotic mice and short-term inhibition of shn3 in adult mice increases bone mass. Accordingly, systemic and direct joint administration of an rAAV9 vector carrying an artificial-microRNA that targets shn3 (rAAV9-amiR-shn3) in mice markedly enhanced bone formation via augmented osteoblast activity. Additionally, systemic delivery of rAAV9-amiR-shn3 in osteoporotic mice counteracted bone loss and enhanced bone mechanical properties. Finally, we rationally designed a capsid that exhibits improved specificity to bone by grafting the bone-targeting peptide motif (AspSerSer)6 onto the AAV9-VP2 capsid protein. Collectively, our results identify a bone-targeting rAAV-mediated gene therapy for osteoporosis

Stent Fracture at the Proximal Shaft of the Left Main Stem

Stent fracture is likely to be caused due to mechanical stress at the hinge point or kinking movement at the point of aneurysm formation with stent malapposition. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of stent fracture at the proximal shaft of the left main stem in a patient with acute myocardial infarction

On the Nature of Propagating Intensity Disturbances in Polar Plumes during the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

The propagating intensity disturbances (PIDs) in plumes are still poorly understood and their identity (magnetoacoustic waves or flows) remains an open question. We investigate PIDs in five plumes located in the northern polar coronal hole observed during the 2017 total solar eclipse. Three plumes are associated with coronal bright points, jets and macrospicules at their base (active plumes) and the other two plumes are not (quiet plumes). The electron temperature at the base of the plumes is obtained from the filter ratio of images taken with the X-ray Telescope on board Hinode and the passband ratio around 400 nm from an eclipse instrument, the Diagnostic Coronagraph Experiment (DICE). The phase speed (v_r), frequency (omega), and wavenumber (k) of the PIDs in the plumes are obtained by applying a Fourier transformation to the space-time (r-t plane) plots in images taken with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) in three different wavelength channels (171 A, 193 A, and 211 A). We found that the PIDs in the higher temperature AIA channels, 193 and 211 A, are faster than that of the cooler AIA 171 A channel. This tendency is more significant for the active plumes than the quiet ones. The observed speed ratio (~1.3) between the AIA 171 and 193 A channels is similar to the theoretical value (1.25) of a slow magnetoacoustic wave. Our results support the idea that PIDs in plumes represent a superposition of slow magnetoacoustic waves and plasma outflows that consist of dense cool flows and hot coronal jets.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Retroperitoneal Giant Liposarcoma

Retroperitoneal liposarcoma is an infrequent, locally aggressive malignancy. We report two cases of huge retroperitoneal liposarcomas. The presence of a palpable abdominal mass was a common symptom of the two patients. Preoperative imaging study showed huge retroperitoneal tumors. Both patients underwent complete surgical resections, and a negative microscopic margin was achieved in both cases. The histopathologic diagnosis was a well-differentiated retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Neither of the two patients developed a recurring tumor during the 1.5 years of follow-up

Rapidly Aggravated Dissecting Flap by Angiography during Percutaneous Stent Placement for Acute Isolated Superior Mesenteric Artery Dissection

Acutely aggravated dissecting flap and consequent occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) by simple contrast passage during initial angiography for percutaneous stent placement is a uncommon event, which usually is not reported. After analysis of many factors that underlie development of such complications, we present herein one case of successful treatment of isolated SMA dissection and its complications with favorable outcomes during 25 months follow-up after percutaneous stent placement