Dual kidney transplantation using midline extraperitoneal approach: description of a technique.

Dual kidney transplantation is performed using organs from marginal donors that are considered unsuitable for single kidney transplantation. In this report, we describe a simple technique of transplanting these organs extraperitoneally through a lower midline incision.

Right trisectionectomy of the liver for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with bile duct invasion in a Jehovah's Witness.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is well known to have a very poor prognosis. Aggressive surgical strategies in the treatment of ICC, including major hepatectomy, have been reported to afford patients the best chance for significant survival. Recent advancements in surgical techniques concerning live donor liver transplantation have dramatically improved the results of major hepatectomy.

How to investigate insight: a proposal.

One of the most challenging issues in the field of creativity is finding an approach conducent to understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying insight. We propose investigating the process of insight within the context of implicit learning paradigms. The training tasks in implicit learning paradigms are regularly constructed and, although participants are not informed about the existence of such a regularity, some of them gain insight into this regular pattern during training.

Directing endothelial differentiation of human embryonic stem cells via transduction with an adenoviral vector expressing the VEGF(165) gene.

Endothelial progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold much promise in clinical therapy. Conventionally, lineage-specific differentiation of hESCs is achieved through supplementation of various cytokines and chemical factors within the culture milieu. Nevertheless, this is a highly inefficient approach that is often limited by poor replicability.

Ex vivo delivered stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha promotes stem cell homing and induces angiomyogenesis in the infarcted myocardium.

We aimed to optimize non-viral transfection of human stromal cell derived factor (SDF-1alpha) gene into skeletal myoblasts (SkM) and, transplant these cells to establish transient SDF-1alpha gradient to favor extra-cardiac stem cell translocation into infarcted heart. Optimized conditions for transfection of SDF-1alpha gene into syngenic SkM were achieved using FuGene6/phSDF-1alpha (3:2v/w, 4 h transfection) with 125 microM ZnCl(2) (p<0.001).

Anterior plate supplementation increases ankle arthrodesis construct rigidity.

Background: The success of ankle arthrodesis for the treatment of post-traumatic ankle arthritis depends on achieving and maintaining rigid fixation of the prepared tibiotalar interface. The purpose of this study was to examine the biomechanical effect of anterior plate supplementation of a popular three-screw fusion construct.

Methods: Six fresh-frozen cadaver ankles were prepared and instrumented with three partially threaded screws compressing the tibiotalar interface.

Bezoar-related pancreatitis in enterically drained pancreas transplant.

Simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplantation is currently the treatment of choice for type 1 diabetes mellitus with end-stage renal disease. As a result of improvements in surgical techniques and the efficacy of immunosuppression, patient and graft survival rates have improved dramatically over the last two decades. Despite this, it remains a challenging surgical procedure with many potential complications and occasional controversies.

Pharmacologically preconditioned skeletal myoblasts are resistant to oxidative stress and promote angiomyogenesis via release of paracrine factors in the infarcted heart.

Strategies to enhance skeletal myoblast (SkM) survival after transplantation in the ischemic heart have achieved little success. We posit that preconditioned (PC) SkMs show improved survival and promote repair of the infarcted myocardium via paracrine signaling after transplantation. SkMs from male Fischer-344 rats (rSkMs) were PC for 30 minutes with 200 micromol/L diazoxide.

Angiopoietin-1 for myocardial angiogenesis: a comparison between delivery strategies.

Unlabelled: We compare the effectiveness of direct adenoviral angiopoietin-1 (Ad-Ang-1) injection with transplantation of skeletal myoblasts (SkMs) over-expressing angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) for angiogenic response and improvement of heart function in an experimental porcine model of myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: Ad-Ang-1 was used for intramyocardial injection or transduction of SkMs. Three weeks after coronary artery ligation in 32 female pigs, animals were grouped to receive multiple intramyocardial injections of DMEM without cells (group-1; n=7), or containing 3 x 10(8)Lac-z labelled SkMs transduced with Ad-Null vector carrying no gene (group-2; n=7), or 1 x 10(10) PFU Ad-Ang-1 (group-3; n=9), or 3 x 10(8)Lac-z labelled SkMs transduced with Ad-Ang-1 (group-4; n=9).

Precursors of insight in event-related brain potentials.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were investigated to find precursors of insightful behavior. Participants had to process successive pairs in strings of digits to obtain a final response in each trial. Within the sequence of five responses required in each trial, the last two responses mirrored the two preceding ones.

Implicit task sets in task switching?

In 2 experiments, the authors compare stimulus-based versus task-rule-based task performance. Participants practiced 8 stimulus-response mappings either with or without knowledge about 2 underlying task sets. After practice, 2 transfer blocks with 8 new stimuli were presented.

Comparison of long-term numerical and experimental total knee replacement wear during simulated gait loading.

Pre-clinical experimental wear testing of total knee replacement (TKR) components is an invaluable tool for evaluating new implant designs and materials. However, wear testing can be a lengthy and expensive process, and hence parametric studies evaluating the effects of geometric, loading, or alignment perturbations may at times be cost-prohibitive. The objectives of this study were to develop an adaptive FE method capable of simulating wear of a polyethylene tibial insert and to compare predicted kinematics, weight loss due to wear, and wear depth contours to results from a force-controlled experimental knee simulator.

Successful percutaneous pulse spray thrombolysis of extensive acute portocaval hemitransposition thrombosis.

We report a case of extensive acute thrombosis of portal vein and cava in a portocaval hemitransposition liver graft that was treated successfully with percutaneous pulse spray thrombolysis through a femoral vein access. The patient subsequently developed descending and sigmoid colon ischemic necrosis because of the venous thrombosis necessitating emergency colon resection. The patient had prolonged postoperative intensive care stay, but was eventually discharged in a good condition with normal liver function.

Supportive interaction between cell survival signaling and angiocompetent factors enhances donor cell survival and promotes angiomyogenesis for cardiac repair.

Akt is a major cell survival and angiogenic mediator downstream of angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1)/Tie-2 signaling pathway. We hypothesize that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) co-overexpressing Ang-1 and Akt lead to better prognosis. Ang-1 and Akt genes were adenovirally transduced into MSCs from male Fischer rats.

Evidence for ischemia induced host-derived bone marrow cell mobilization into cardiac allografts.

Mobilized bone marrow stem cells (BMSC) exhibit high degree of plasticity and participate in the repair process in the event of myocardial damage. In this study, we verified the proportional contribution of recipient BMSC in the repair process and identified their specific surface markers. Wild-type (WT) donor female heart was transplanted into abdominal cavity of male rat (Group I).

Bone marrow cells for cardiac regeneration and repair: current status and issues.

Extensive studies in experimental animal heart models and patients have shown the promise of bone marrow cell (BMC) transplantation as an alternative strategy to the conventional treatment modalities for cardiac repair. 'Stemness' of BMC to adopt cardiac phenotype, their potential as carriers of exogenous therapeutic genes and an inherent ability to express growth factors and cytokines to exert paracrine effects have been especially focused until recently. These findings suggest that locally delivered BMCs are capable of regenerating de novo myocardium.

Preparatory adjustment of cognitive control in the task switching paradigm.

In this article, the authors investigate the assumption that preparation while switching between cognitive tasks is dynamically adjusted to the current task demands. Performance in high-shift blocks (75% shifts) was compared with performance in high-repetition blocks (75% repetitions). This probability information was given either at the beginning of a block (global condition) or by specific probability cues before every trial (local condition).

Ureteral reconstruction and bladder augmentation using intestinal allograft in a modified multivisceral transplant patient.

Segments of ileum are used as conduits following ureteral resection and for bladder augmentation to achieve adequate bladder capacity. We herein report the use of a segment of transplanted ileum for this purpose in a patient with Gardner's syndrome who underwent multivisceral transplantation. To our knowledge this is the first such case report.

Improved angiogenic response in pig heart following ischaemic injury using human skeletal myoblast simultaneously expressing VEGF165 and angiopoietin-1.

Objective: To achieve angiogenic interaction between VEGF(165) and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) using a novel adenoviral bicistronic vector (Ad-Bic) encoding the two factors and delivered ex vivo using sex-mismatched human skeletal myoblasts.

Methods And Results: A myocardial infarction model was developed in 29 female pigs; randomised into four groups: DMEM (group-1, n=6); Adenovirus null (Ad-null) vector-myoblast (group-2, n=5); Ad-Ang-1 myoblast (group 3, n=7) and Ad-Bic-myoblast (group-4, n=11). Three weeks later, 5 ml DMEM without myoblasts or containing 3 x 10(8) myoblasts carrying lac-z gene and transduced with Ad-null, Ad-Ang-1 or Ad-Bic were injected intra-myocardially in and around the infarct.