Search for new particles in two-jet final states in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.

A search for new heavy particles manifested as resonances in two-jet final states is presented. The data were produced in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions by the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 315  nb⁻¹ collected by the ATLAS detector. No resonances were observed.

Outcome of patients following hepatic resection for metastatic cutaneous and ocular melanoma.

Background/purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the outcome of patients undergoing hepatic resection for melanoma liver metastases.

Methods: Patients undergoing liver resection for melanoma metastases at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron and Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, were reviewed. Selection criteria were: good performance status, feasibly complete and safe resection, and absence of visceral extrahepatic metastases.

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR): a new distinctive variety of pediatric PNET: a case-based update.

Background: Embryonal central nervous system (CNS) tumors are currently classified into three types: medulloblastoma, atypical rhabdoid/teratoid tumors, and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET). A distinctive subtype of PNET called "embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes" (ETANTR) was reported in 2000.

Discussion: ETANTR is a recently described variety of PNET that combines microscopic features of neuroblastoma and ependymoblastoma, demonstrating areas of fine fibrillary neuropil intermingled with cellular zones and ependymoblastic rosettes.

Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with colorectal liver metastases: preliminary results of an exploratory prospective study.

Purpose: To quantify preoperative serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels in patients undergoing curative resection of colorectal liver metastases and to assess the relationship between NGAL levels and prognostic features in these patients.

Methods: From April 2005 to August 2007, 32 patients operated on for first curative resection of colorectal liver metastases underwent determination of preoperative serum NGAL. Patients were divided into four homogeneous clinical groups and into two risk groups based on their clinical risk scores.

Tumor suppressor p27(Kip1) undergoes endolysosomal degradation through its interaction with sorting nexin 6.

A large body of evidence supports the hypothesis that proteasomal degradation of the growth suppressor p27(Kip1) (p27) facilitates mammalian cell cycle progression. However, very few studies have addressed the possibility of proteasome-independent mechanisms of p27 proteolysis. Here we provide evidence for a novel pathway of p27 degradation via the lysosome that is mediated by its interaction with the endosomal protein sorting nexin 6 (SNX6), a member of the sorting nexin family of vesicular trafficking regulators.

Portal hyperperfusion: mechanism of injury and stimulus for regeneration in porcine small-for-size transplantation.

Understanding the pathogenesis of small-for-size (SFS) syndrome is critical to expanding the applicability of partial liver transplantation. We aimed to characterize its acute presentation and association with alterations in hepatic hemodynamics, microstructure, and regeneration in a porcine model. Eighteen SFS liver transplants were performed.

[The reticular paradigm of cortical memory].

Introduction: Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience oblige us to change radically the traditional model of representation of memory in the cerebral cortex. The old -modular- model postulates a separate area for each form of memory (working memory, episodic memory, visual memory, auditory memory, tactile memory, etc.).

Combined liver-kidney transplantation in patients with cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease.

The outcome of patients with cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease treated with combined liver-kidney transplantation (CLKT) is not well known because most series of patients treated with CLKT include not only patients with cirrhosis but also patients with inherited diseases without cirrhosis. To evaluate to what extent the combined kidney transplantation impairs posttransplantation outcome compared to liver transplantation (LT) alone, the outcome of patients with cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease treated with CLKT (n = 20) was compared to that of a group of patients with cirrhosis without chronic kidney disease treated with LT alone matched by age, sex, year of transplantation and severity of cirrhosis (n = 60). The primary end point of the study was survival, and secondary end points were outcome of renal function and complications within 6 months of transplantation.

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.

Treatment of Liver Trauma: Operative or Conservative Management.

Background: The liver is one of the most frequently damaged organs when abdominal trauma occurs. Currently, a conservative management constitutes the treatment of choice in patients with hemodynamic stability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of an operative and conservative management of 143 patients with liver injury treated in a single institution.

Control of cell proliferation in atherosclerosis: insights from animal models and human studies.

Excessive hyperplastic cell growth within occlusive vascular lesions has been recognized as a key component of the inflammatory response associated with atherosclerosis, restenosis post-angioplasty, and graft atherosclerosis after coronary artery bypass. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate arterial cell proliferation is therefore essential for the development of new tools for the treatment of these diseases. Mammalian cell proliferation is controlled by a large number of proteins that modulate the mitotic cell cycle, including cyclin-dependent kinases, cyclins, and tumour suppressors.

Donor mannose-binding lectin gene polymorphisms influence the outcome of liver transplantation.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a C-type lectin produced mainly by the liver that binds to a wide range of pathogens. Polymorphisms at the promoter and exon 1 of the MBL2 gene are responsible for low serum levels of MBL and have been associated with an increased risk of infections. We prospectively analyzed 95 liver transplant recipients.

Working memory cells' behavior may be explained by cross-regional networks with synaptic facilitation.

Neurons in the cortex exhibit a number of patterns that correlate with working memory. Specifically, averaged across trials of working memory tasks, neurons exhibit different firing rate patterns during the delay of those tasks. These patterns include: 1) persistent fixed-frequency elevated rates above baseline, 2) elevated rates that decay throughout the tasks memory period, 3) rates that accelerate throughout the delay, and 4) patterns of inhibited firing (below baseline) analogous to each of the preceding excitatory patterns.

[Adult living-donor liver transplantation].

Living donor liver transplantation in adults continues to be controversial. Viewed as an alternative to prevent deaths on the waiting list, this type of transplant is the only possibility in Asian countries (Japan, Korea, China, etc) but is not widely applied in the west. This intervention is associated with significant donor morbidity (depending on the scale of the intervention) and mortality which, although sporadic, reduces its acceptance, especially in a context with high cadaveric donation.

[Controversies in living donor liver transplants].

Adult liver transplants from a living donor are a valid and effective alternative as a treatment in terminal liver disease. However, in the context of a donation from a brain dead donor, as in western countries (Spain), it is very high, and there are still controversial aspects that should be continuously assessed in order to ensure good results. Live donations are currently stable and represent about 5% of the total liver transplants performed in Europe.

Prognostic factors and time-related changes influence results of colorectal liver metastases surgical treatment: a single-center analysis.

Aim: To analyze the prognostic factors involved in survival and cancer recurrence in patients undergoing surgical treatment for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) and to describe the effects of time-related changes on survival and recurrence in these patients.

Methods: From January 1994 to January 2006, 236 patients with CLM underwent surgery with the aim of performing curative resection of neoplastic disease at our institution and 189 (80%) of these patients underwent resection of CLM with curative intention. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data, including primary tumor and CLM pathology results, were retrospectively reviewed.

Cortex and memory: emergence of a new paradigm.

Converging evidence from humans and nonhuman primates is obliging us to abandon conventional models in favor of a radically different, distributed-network paradigm of cortical memory. Central to the new paradigm is the concept of memory network or cognit--that is, a memory or an item of knowledge defined by a pattern of connections between neuron populations associated by experience. Cognits are hierarchically organized in terms of semantic abstraction and complexity.

Optimization of liver grafts in liver retransplantation: a European single-center experience.

Background: Liver retransplantation (ReLT) is the only therapeutic option that offers a chance at long-term survival when a liver graft fails. Careful analysis of the results and potential benefits is needed to justify its role in the current era of donor shortage and economical concerns. We reviewed all retransplants performed in our hospital and tried to determine if there is a high risk group of patients in whom its use would be contraindicated.

Association of monoclonal expansion of Epstein-Barr virus-negative CD158a+ NK cells secreting large amounts of gamma interferon with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

We report the first case of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) induced by the monoclonal expansion of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative NK cells. Consanguinity of the patient's parents made it necessary to discard familial HLH in the patient and her sister with identical HLA markers and demonstrate that no cause other than the expansion of NK cells, which secrete high levels of gamma interferon, was inducing HLH in this patient.

Cavernomas in children with brain tumors: a late complication of radiotherapy.

Background: Delayed complications of radiation therapy comprise cerebral atrophy, radionecrosis and induction of tumors. Recent reports indicate the possibility of the "de-novo" formation of intracranial cavernomas in patients submitted to radiation therapy to the brain.

Objectives: To report three children, two with medulloblastomas and one with a pineal germinoma, treated with radiotherapy that developed intracerebral cavernous hemangiomas some years after treatment.

Imatinib mesylate in combination with chemotherapy in four children with de novo and advanced stage Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The role of imatinib in childhood Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph(+)) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has not been established. We treated four children with imatinib in combination with conventional chemotherapy (CT) before stem cell transplantation (SCT). Response evaluation consisted of fluorocytometric analysis of minimal residual disease (MRD) and standard qualitative RT-PCR follow-up.

Telomere dysfunction in hypertension.

Aging is a major risk factor for hypertension and associated cardiovascular disease. In most proliferative tissues, aging is characterized by shortening of the DNA component of telomeres, the specialized genetic segments that cap the end of eukaryotic chromosomes and protect them from end-to-end fusions. By inducing genomic instability, replicative senescence and apoptosis, telomere shortening is thought to contribute to organismal aging and to the development of age-related diseases.

Ischemic pre-conditioning in deceased donor liver transplantation: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

To assess the immediate and long-term effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in deceased donor. liver transplantation (LT), we designed a prospective, randomized controlled trial involving 60 donors: control group (CTL, n = 30) or study group (IPC, n = 30). IPC was induced by 10-min hiliar clamping immediately before recovery of organs.