Cat and dog ownership during/after the first year of life and risk for sensitization and reported allergy symptoms at age 13.

Background: Avoidance of pets as a strategy for preventing atopic diseases has been questioned. This study aimed to identify the risk of sensitization and allergic symptoms at age 13 in relation to dog- and cat-keeping during and after the first year of life.

Methods: The study included all children born at Östersund Hospital in Northern Sweden between February 1996 and January 1997 (n = 1231).

Recommendations of the ESSR Arthritis Subcommittee for the Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Musculoskeletal Rheumatic Diseases.

This article presents the recommendations of the European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology Arthritis Subcommittee regarding the standards of the use of MRI in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal rheumatic diseases. The recommendations discuss (1) the role of MRI in current classification criteria of musculoskeletal rheumatic diseases (including early diagnosis of inflammation, disease follow-up, and identification of disease complications); (2) the impact of MRI on the diagnosis of axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile spondyloarthritis; (3) MRI protocols for the axial and peripheral joints; (4) MRI interpretation and reporting for axial and peripheral joints; and finally, (5) methods for assessing MR images including quantitative, semiquantitative, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI studies.

Modeling analyte transport and capture in porous bead sensors.

Porous agarose microbeads, with high surface to volume ratios and high binding densities, are attracting attention as highly sensitive, affordable sensor elements for a variety of high performance bioassays. While such polymer microspheres have been extensively studied and reported on previously and are now moving into real-world clinical practice, very little work has been completed to date to model the convection, diffusion, and binding kinetics of soluble reagents captured within such fibrous networks. Here, we report the development of a three-dimensional computational model and provide the initial evidence for its agreement with experimental outcomes derived from the capture and detection of representative protein and genetic biomolecules in 290 μm porous beads.

Location of biomarkers and reagents within agarose beads of a programmable bio-nano-chip.

The slow development of cost-effective medical microdevices with strong analytical performance characteristics is due to a lack of selective and efficient analyte capture and signaling. The recently developed programmable bio-nano-chip (PBNC) is a flexible detection device with analytical behavior rivaling established macroscopic methods. The PBNC system employs ≈300 μm-diameter bead sensors composed of agarose "nanonets" that populate a microelectromechanical support structure with integrated microfluidic elements.

Claudin 1 and Claudin 7 Gene Polymorphisms and Protein Derangement are Unrelated to the Growth Pattern and Tumor Volume of Colon Carcinoma.

Tight junctions together with adherens junctions are important for preserving tissue integrity. In tumors the normal tissue structure is lost which results in a disorganization and change of phenotype. In this study we assessed the complexity of the invasive front of colon carcinoma using an objective morphometrical technique based on the estimation of fractal dimension and number of free tumor cell clusters.

Lab-on-a-chip methods for point-of-care measurements of salivary biomarkers of periodontitis.

Salivary secretions contain a variety of molecules that reflect important pathophysiological activities. Quantitative changes of specific salivary biomarkers could have significance in the diagnosis and management of both oral and systemic diseases. Modern point-of-care technologies with enhanced detection capabilities are needed to implement a significant advancement in salivary diagnostics.

Flow cytometric analysis of uterine sarcomas.

Eighty-four women with sarcoma uteri were evaluated on the basis of histopathological examination findings. In 45 of the 84 cases, a flow cytometric measure of DNA content and S-phase fraction was performed. Thirty-seven cases of the 45 were available for estimation of S-phase fraction.