The use of beta-adrenergic drugs improves hepatic oxygen metabolism in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver resection.

Background & Aims: Hepatic resection is associated with hemodynamic and oxygen metabolism disturbances of the residual liver resulting from liver regeneration. In underlying liver disease, the remnant liver responds inadequately to increased energy demands leading to a less efficient recovery process. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of vasoactive drugs on hepatic oxygen metabolism and hemodynamics in cirrhotic patients that have undergone liver resection.

Prognostic role of beta-catenin and p53 expression in the metastatic progression of sporadic colorectal cancer.

Beta-catenin and p53 play key roles in tumorigenesis. The relationships between these 2 signaling pathways and their contribution to colorectal cancer metastatic progression have not been completely elucidated. We analyzed 141 cases of primary sporadic colorectal cancer, 45 matched metastases, and 80 samples of normal mucosa by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded specimens.

Acquired abducens nerve palsy secondary to tuberculosis.

Background: Tuberculosis is a serious, and unfortunately common, infectious disease caused by the organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The incidence, mortality, and physical/ophthalmologic effects are well documented. Although most common ophthalmologic findings include optic neuropathy and uveitis, cranial nerve palsies may also present secondary to intracranial inflammation.

Dimensional ridge alterations following immediate implant placement in molar extraction sites: a six-month prospective cohort study with surgical re-entry.

Aim: To assess dimensional ridge alterations following immediate implant placement in molar extraction sites.

Material And Methods: Twelve subjects received 12 immediate transmucosal implants in molar extraction sites. Peri-implant defects were treated according to the principles of Guided Bone Regeneration by means of a deproteinized bone substitute and a bioresorbable collagen membrane.

Illuminating the developing brain: the past, present and future of functional near infrared spectroscopy.

A decade has passed since near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was first applied to functional brain imaging in infants. As part of the team that published the first functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) infant study in 1998, we have continued to develop and refine both the technology and methods associated with these measurements. The increasing international interest that this technology is generating among neurodevelopmental researchers and the recent technical developments in biomedical optics have prompted us to compile this review of the challenges that have been overcome in this field, and the practicalities of performing fNIRS in infants.

Social perception in infancy: a near infrared spectroscopy study.

The capacity to engage and communicate in a social world is one of the defining characteristics of the human species. While the network of regions that compose the social brain have been the subject of extensive research in adults, there are limited techniques available for monitoring young infants. This study used near infrared spectroscopy to investigate functional activation in the social brain network of 36 five-month-old infants.

A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of 5-Fluorouracil degradation rate by intact peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a major chemotherapy drug used for the treatment of tumors. It is catabolized mainly by dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, and patients with a complete or partial deficiency of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase activity are at risk of developing severe 5-FU-associated toxicity. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that intact peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) can be an effective model to evaluate the degradation rate of 5-FU.

The influence of clinical information in the histopathologic diagnosis of melanocytic skin neoplasms.

Background: We tested the relevance of clinical information in the histopathologic evaluation of melanocytic skin neoplasm (MSN).

Methods: Histopathologic specimens from 99 clinically atypical MSN were circulated among ten histopathologists; each case had clinical information available in a database with a five-step procedure (no information; age/sex/location; clinical diagnosis; clinical image; dermoscopic image); each step had a histopathologic diagnosis (D1 through D5); each diagnostic step had a level of diagnostic confidence (LDC) ranging from 1 (no diagnostic certainty) to 5 (absolute diagnostic certainty). The comparison of the LDC was employed with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures.

Tina wooden vat biofilm: a safe and highly efficient lactic acid bacteria delivering system in PDO Ragusano cheese making.

In the Sicilian PDO Ragusano cheese making, raw milk is placed in a wooden vat called a Tina. As no starter is added, lactic acid is produced by milk flora and flora released from the Tina biofilm. The aim of this work was to assess the safety and efficiency of this natural inoculation system.

Soft tissues healing at immediate transmucosal implants placed into molar extraction sites with buccal self-contained dehiscences. A 12-month controlled clinical trial.

Aim: To assess soft tissues healing at immediate transmucosal implants placed into molar extraction sites with buccal self-contained dehiscences.

Material And Methods: For this 12-month controlled clinical trial, 15 subjects received immediate transmucosal tapered-effect (TE) implants placed in molar extraction sockets displaying a buccal bone dehiscence (test sites) with a height and a width of > or =3 mm, respectively. Peri-implant marginal defects were treated according to the principles of Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) by means of deproteinized bovine bone mineral particles in conjunction with a bioresorbable collagen membrane.

Regulation of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors by G protein-coupled receptor kinases: mGlu2 receptors are resistant to homologous desensitization.

We examined the regulation of mGlu2 and mGlu3 metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling prompted by the emerging role of these receptor subtypes as therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and schizophrenia. In transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells, G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) 2 and GRK3 fully desensitized the agonist-dependent inhibition of cAMP formation mediated by mGlu3 receptors. In contrast, GRK2 or other GRKs did not desensitize the cAMP response to mGlu2 receptor activation.

A case of mistaken identity of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia in a 75-year-old patient.

We present an uncommon case of a 75-year-old woman who was admitted to our department for the evaluation of her double valvular disease that hid a diagnosis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). In the course of preoperative workup, a mass of tissue substituting the right ventricular free wall was identified and documented with transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography scanning, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. This pathology was not identified as ARVD.

Dysfunctional DC subsets in RCC patients: ex vivo correction to yield an effective anti-cancer vaccine.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells responsible for the activation and functional polarization of specific T cells. In patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and other cancers, coordinate DC and T cell defects have been reported. In particular, DC and T cell functional subsets that are not conducive to tumor clearance are hypothesized to predominate in patients with advanced-stage disease.

[Clear cell adenomyoepithelioma of the ceruminous gland].

Ceruminous gland tumours are rare neoplasms. We describe a case of a ceruminous tumour with complex morphology characterised by fibrous hyaline stroma bilayered epithelial ductal structures and nodules of tightly arranged clear cells with abundant Pas-positive cytoplasm. Within nodules among clear cells delicate apocrine ducts were found.

Giant cystic intraventricular cerebral cavernous malformation: MRI with pathologic correlation. A case report.

The purpose of this case report is to increase awareness of the spectrum of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). We report the MRI findings and histological features of an uncommon case of a single giant (maximum diameter: >6 cm) cystic CCM of the left lateral ventricle occurring in a 26-year-old man who had undergone 30 Gy cranial irradiation for acute leukemia at the age of six years. Large cystic CCMs must be included in the neuroradiological differential diagnosis of intraventricular hemorrhagic cystic lesions.

Expression of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 4 is associated with breast cancer tumourigenesis.

G-protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) comprise a family of seven mammalian serine/threonine protein kinases that phosphorylate and regulate agonist-bound, activated, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GRKs and beta-arrestins are key participants in the canonical pathways leading to phosphorylation-dependent GPCR desensitization, endocytosis, intracellular trafficking and resensitization. Here we show that GRK4 isoforms are expressed in human breast cancer but not in normal epithelia.

Early cortical specialization for face-to-face communication in human infants.

This study examined the brain bases of early human social cognitive abilities. Specifically, we investigated whether cortical regions implicated in adults' perception of facial communication signals are functionally active in early human development. Four-month-old infants watched two kinds of dynamic scenarios in which a face either established mutual gaze or averted its gaze, both of which were followed by an eyebrow raise with accompanying smile.

Intracranial involvement in plasmacytomas and multiple myeloma: a pictorial essay.

Introduction: The purpose of this pictorial essay is to increase awareness of the clinical presentation, neuroradiological findings, treatment options, and neuroradiological follow-up of plasmacytomas and multiple myeloma with intracranial growth.

Methods: This pictorial essay reviews the clinical features and neuroradiological findings in seven patients (four women, three men; age range at diagnosis 62-82 years) followed in two institutions. Six patients, one with IgG-kappa plasmacytoma, and five with IgG-kappa (n = 3), IgG-lambda (n = 1), and nonsecretory (n = 1) multiple myeloma, had been seen over a period of 9 years in one institution, and the other patient with IgG-kappa plasmacytoma had been seen over a period of 3.

MA-NOS radical sigmoidectomy: report of a transvaginal resection in the human.

Background: With available laparoscopic and endoscopic instruments/technology a standard radical sigmoid resection is feasible and safe using transvaginal minilaparoscopic-assisted natural orifice surgery (MA-NOS).

Methods: The intervention was a transvaginal MA-NOS sigmoidectomy in a 78-year-old woman with a sigmoid adenocarcinoma. Maintaining triangulation the surgeon positioned himself at the right side of the patient and used the transvaginal trocar for dissection and stapling of both the inferior mesenteric vessels and the upper rectum.

Involvement of dopamine receptors and beta-arrestin in metamphetamine-induced inclusions formation in PC12 cells.

Exposure of PC12 cells to metamphetamine (MA) induces the formation of multilamellar structures (whorls) resembling autophagic granules that subsequently develop as intracellular inclusions. These inclusions stain for a variety of antigens belonging to the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Since MA-induced intracellular bodies require the presence of dopamine in the present study we analyzed the role of dopamine (DA) receptors in producing neuronal inclusions.

Regarding the algorithm for the diagnosis of early mycosis fungoides proposed by the International Society for Cutaneous Lymphomas: suggestions from routine histopathology practice.

Background: Routine clinicopathologic practice is expected to refine/validate the scoring system proposed in 2005 by the International Society for Cutaneous Lymphomas (ISCL) for the diagnosing early mycosis fungoides (eMF), classical type.

Methods: An evaluation of 72 cases of erythematous and scaling dermatoses was employed with a partial implementation of the ISCL algorithm.

Results: The selected cases fulfilled the clinical criteria proposed by the ISCL; routine histopathology allowed to reach the ISCL minimum score for a diagnosis of eMF in 45 cases.

Investigation of depth dependent changes in cerebral haemodynamics during face perception in infants.

Near-infrared spectroscopy has been used to record oxygenation changes in the visual cortex of 4 month old infants. Our in-house topography system, with 30 channels and 3 different source-detector separations, recorded changes in the concentration of oxy-, deoxy- and total haemoglobin (HbO2, HHb and HbT) in response to visual stimuli (face, scrambled visual noise and cartoons as rest). The aim of this work was to demonstrate the capability of the system to spatially localize functional activation and study the possibility of depth discrimination in the haemodynamic response.

Reduced insulin-induced phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase activation in peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes from patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The epidemiological finding of an increased risk of dementia in patients with diabetes mellitus has raised the hypothesis that a dysfunction of the insulin receptors plays a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A possible link is suggested by the evidence that the insulin-stimulated phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3-K)/phospho-Akt pathway negatively controls the glycogen synthase kinase-3beta. The activation of this enzyme mediates the hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein, a relevant step in the formation of the neurofibrillary tangles associated with AD.

Immature myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells infiltrate renal tubulointerstitium in patients with lupus nephritis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease involving several organs. SLE patients developing lupus nephritis (LN) frequently have the worst outcome. Recent data have shown that dendritic cells (DCs) may have a central role in SLE pathogenesis directing the immune response against auto-antigens.