Laser-mediated activation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells and concomitant release of matrix metalloproteinases.

Purpose: To investigate cellular dynamics and associated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) release patterns of human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells subsequent to irradiation by nanosecond pulsed laser at energy levels below visual threshold.

Methods: Following a stabilization period, human RPE-Bruch's-choroid explants were irradiated with a nanosecond laser system (Q-switched, frequency doubled YAG laser, 532 nm), using a 400 μm spot size with a discontinuous energy distribution and total irradiance of 240 mJ/cm², and returned to the incubator for a further 14 days. RPE cellular dynamics were assessed using confocal laser scanning, conventional microscopy, cell viability, and proliferation assays.

Nano- and microparticulate drug carriers for targeting of the inflamed intestinal mucosa.

Conventional treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is based on the daily administration of high doses of immune-suppressant or anti-inflammatory drugs, often complicated by serious adverse effects. Thus, a carrier system that delivers the drug specifically to the inflamed intestinal regions and shows prolonged drug release would be desirable. The advent of TNF-α antibodies and other biopharmaceuticals as potent and specific immune modulators in recent years has broadened the treatment options in IBD, but further increases the necessity for adequate drug delivery, as integrity and bioactivity of the biological active have to be ensured.

Spurious progression in pediatric brain tumors.

In this study, we sought to characterize post-therapy MRI changes mimicking progression, which we refer to as "spurious progression" (SP) in children with brain tumors. We analyzed whether SP is associated with particular tumor types or therapeutic modalities. Between 2000 and 2009, we identified 181 consecutive children <21 years of age at our center who were treated for brain tumors and had at least three MRI scans within a year after completing therapy.

Transscleral albumin diffusion and suprachoroidal albumin concentration in uveal effusion syndrome.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that uveal effusion syndrome is caused by reduced transscleral albumin permeability.

Methods: Surgical scleral specimens were obtained from a 55-year-old patient with nanophthalmic uveal effusion syndrome. Specimens were clamped in a modified Ussing chamber, and the rate of transscleral diffusion of fluorescein isothiocyanate-albumin was measured over 12 hours, using a spectrophotometer and predetermined standard curves.

Disturbed matrix metalloproteinase activity of Bruch's membrane in age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential role of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) system of Bruch's membrane in the pathology of age-related macular degeneration.

Methods: Free and bound pools of gelatinase activity in Bruch's membrane-choroid preparations were isolated by phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) extraction, respectively. Individual MMP species were separated by gelatin-substrate zymography and the levels were quantified by densitometric techniques.

Discovery of novel orally bioavailable oxaborole 6-carboxamides that demonstrate cure in a murine model of late-stage central nervous system african trypanosomiasis.

We report the discovery of novel boron-containing molecules, exemplified by N-(1-hydroxy-1,3-dihydrobenzo[c][1,2]oxaborol-6-yl)-2-trifluoromethylbenzamide (AN3520) and 4-fluoro-N-(1-hydroxy-1,3-dihydrobenzo[c][1,2]oxaborol-6-yl)-2-trifluoromethylbenzamide (SCYX-6759), as potent compounds against Trypanosoma brucei in vitro, including the two subspecies responsible for human disease T. b. rhodesiense and T.

Increased sequestration of matrix metalloproteinases in ageing human Bruch's membrane: implications for ECM turnover.

Purpose: The ageing of Bruch's membrane is associated with progressive reduction in the degradation of the capacity for ECM turnover mediated by the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) system. In this study, the free and bound pools of all gelatinase species were quantified to aid in assessing the likelihood of reduced availability of pro-MMPs for activation in ageing Bruch's membrane.

Methods: Bruch's membrane from macular locations (10 eyes; donor age range, 21-84 years) was mounted in Ussing chambers and eluted with phosphate-buffered saline to release the free pool of MMPs.

High molecular-weight gelatinase species of human Bruch's membrane: compositional analyses and age-related changes.

Purpose: The structural and functional demise of aging Bruch's membrane is associated with a reduction in the activity of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) degradation system. The gelatinase component of the MMP system consists of MMP2 and MMP9 and two high molecular-weight (HMW1, HMW2) species that are yet to be characterized and whose roles in the aging process are yet to be elucidated. The purpose of this study was to determine the age-related changes in levels of expression and subunit characterization of the HMW gelatinase species of Bruch's membrane.

A review of the effect of pharmaceutical firm drug announcements on stock option pricing.

Since the Black and Sholes published their work in option pricing in 1973, there have been a great number of dissertations, theses, and articles published on options pricing. Several articles discussed American options and European options. Many articles where empirical in nature.

Parotid tumor presenting with hemifacial spasm.

A 47-year-old man presented with right parotid swelling and a history of frequent attacks of hemifacial spasm. MRI of the brain and neck showed a mass in the right parotid gland. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of the mass revealed a pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland, which was confirmed after total right parotidectomy.

Medicare Part D in 2008: rising prices and growing confusion.

Medicare Part D, implemented in January 2006, has failed in the promise of inexpensive medications for all recipients, including those US citizens aged 65 years or older and the disabled. Conceived as a privatization program for a prescription drug benefit tied to Medicare, the program has brought increased costs to middle- and upper-class seniors. Seniors who are continuing users of expensive brand name or specialty drugs face significantly higher prices.

Scleral hydraulic conductivity and macromolecular diffusion in patients with uveal effusion syndrome.

Purpose: To determine whether uveal effusion syndrome (UES) is caused by altered scleral permeability to water and large molecules.

Methods: Transscleral water movement was measured using surgically removed sclera clamped in a modified Ussing chamber and connected to a water column set at intraocular pressure. Sclera was also clamped between two hemichambers, and transscleral diffusion of FITC-dextrans (4.

Human transscleral albumin permeability and the effect of topographical location and donor age.

Purpose: To quantify the permeability coefficient of albumin across human sclera and to assess topographical and age-related variation.

Methods: Equatorial superotemporal scleral tissue from 15 donor eyes (mean age 60 years; range 39-84) was mounted in a modified Ussing chamber. Additional tissue was taken from the anterior and posterior superotemporal regions of six eyes, and equatorial superonasal, and inferotemporal regions of a further six eyes.

Treatment outcomes in squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary alveolus and palate: a population-based study.

Objective: This population-based historical cohort study evaluates the treatment outcomes of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary alveolus and hard palate.

Methods: A historical cohort of 37 cases of previously untreated biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw registered in the Province of Manitoba from January 1975 to January 2004 was analyzed.

Results: The tumor epicenter involved the maxillary alveolus in 26 patients and the hard palate in 11 patients.

Long-term follow-up of hydroxyapatite-coated dental implants--a clinical trial.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the long-term (8- to 10-year) results of hydroxyapatite (HA) -coated dental implants and compare them to the 5-year results as well as to long-term results of both HA and titanium dental implants reported in the literature.

Materials And Methods: Patients were recruited, screened, and accepted or rejected sequentially based on specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Implant placement was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions, followed by prosthetic reconstruction.

Relationship of the maxillary artery and lateral pterygoid muscle in a caucasian sample.

Objective: Several studies have investigated the relationship between the maxillary artery and the lateral pterygoid muscle, yet controversy still exists regarding this relationship. The purpose of this study was to re-examine this relationship in a sample of caucasian cadavers in Canada.

Study Design: All soft tissues were removed from the mandibles of 44 caucasian cadavers.

Primary superior oblique muscle-levator muscle synkinesis.

Congenital ocular aberrant innervations can involve oculomotor, trigeminal, abducens, facial, and glossopharyngeal nerves.(1) Involvement of the trochlear nerve is considered rare or nonexistent.(1) In this report we present a case of upper eyelid retraction while looking in the field of action of the superior oblique muscle, indicating a primary superior oblique-levator muscle synkinesis.

Chronic blockade or constitutive deletion of the serotonin transporter reduces operant responding for food reward.

The therapeutic effects of chronic selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are well documented, yet the elementary behavioral processes that are affected by such treatment have not been fully investigated. We report here the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment and genetic deletion of the serotonin transporter (SERT) on food reinforced behavior in three paradigms: the progressive ratio operant task, the concurrent choice operant task, and the Pavlovian-to-Instrumental transfer task. We consistently find that chronic pharmacological blockade or genetic deletion of SERT result in similar behavioral consequences: reduced operant responding for natural reward.

Human scleral hydraulic conductivity: age-related changes, topographical variation, and potential scleral outflow facility.

Purpose: To measure the specific hydraulic conductivity (K) of human sclera over a range of ages, to assess topographical variation, and to provide a theoretical estimate of potential scleral outflow facility.

Methods: Human donor sclera (n = 18; mean age 56.7 +/- 25.

Effect of taurine and apical potassium concentration on electrophysiologic parameters of bovine retinal pigment epithelium.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of taurine and apical potassium concentration modelling in vivo light evoked changes on the transepithelial potential (TEP) and the transepithelial resistance (TER) of isolated bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Isolated specimens of bovine non-tapetal RPE-Bruch's-choroid (RPE-BC) were mounted in modified Ussing chambers. The apical and the basolateral side of the preparations were exposed to 10 mm and 10 microm concentrations of taurine in Krebs' medium with either 6.

Taurine uptake by human retinal pigment epithelium: implications for the transport of small solutes between the choroid and the outer retina.

Purpose: To characterize the Michaelis-Menten kinetics of the taurine transporter (TT) in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) freshly isolated from human donor eyes. To identify the rate limiting compartment in the pathway of taurine delivery from the choroidal blood supply to the outer retina composed by Bruch's-choroid (BC) and the RPE in the human older age group.

Methods: In human donor samples (4 melanoma-affected eyes, and 14 control eyes; age range, 62-93 years), radiochemical techniques were used to determine the RPE taurine accumulation at various exogenous concentrations.

Compartmental analysis of taurine transport to the outer retina in the bovine eye.

Purpose: To assess the relative resistance presented individually by Bruch's membrane-choroid (BC) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to movement of taurine between the choroidal circulation and the outer retina. To quantify the effect of light-evoked changes in subretinal potassium concentration on the transepithelial transport of taurine across bovine RPE.

Methods: Transport studies were performed in Ussing chambers with intact and RPE-denuded specimens of BC.

Comparative morphology of rodent vestibular periphery. II. Cristae ampullares.

We made flattened neuroepithelial preparations of horizontal and vertical (anterior and posterior) cristae from mouse, rat, gerbil, guinea pig, chinchilla, and tree squirrel. Calretinin immunohistochemistry was used to label the calyx class of afferents. Because these afferents are restricted to the central zone of the crista, their distribution allowed us to delineate this zone.