Very-late-antigen-4 (VLA-4)-mediated brain invasion by neutrophils leads to interactions with microglia, increased ischemic injury and impaired behavior in experimental stroke.

Neuronal injury from ischemic stroke is aggravated by invading peripheral immune cells. Early infiltrates of neutrophil granulocytes and T-cells influence the outcome of stroke. So far, however, neither the timing nor the cellular dynamics of neutrophil entry, its consequences for the invaded brain area, or the relative importance of T-cells has been extensively studied in an intravital setting.

Sustained remission of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm after unrelated allogeneic stem cell transplantation--a single center experience.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematodermic neoplasm which typically presents with skin infiltrates with or without lymphadenopathy and bone marrow involvement. No standard of care exists for this aggressive disease and prognosis is particularly poor. Here, we present our experience with nine BPDCN patients diagnosed at our institution between 2005 and 2012.

Curcumin blocks interleukin-1 signaling in chondrosarcoma cells.

Interleukin (IL)-1 signaling plays an important role in inflammatory processes, but also in malignant processes. The essential downstream event in IL-1 signaling is the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, which leads to the expression of several genes that are involved in cell proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis, among them VEGF-A. As microenvironment-derived IL-1β is required for invasion and angiogenesis in malignant tumors, also in chondrosarcomas, we investigated IL-1β-induced signal transduction and VEGF-A expression in C3842 and SW1353 chondrosarcoma cells.

[Adequate supportive treatment in therapeutic use of "biologicals" for GI tumours in oncosurgery--what does the surgeon need to know?].

Background: Along with the increasing use and inauguration of novel antineoplastic substances (inhibitors, antibodies [Ab]) at various levels of the tumour cell-specific intracellular signalling (transduction cascade) on the cell surface and within the cell as well as messengers ["biologicals", "targeted therapy"]), a new quality, intensity and complexity of adverse effects was simultaneously developed, which have become more and more relevant even to oncosurgeons.

Aim: A summary is given of clinically obtained expertise including recommendations for a competent approach, management and use of biologicals for targeted therapy in case of abnormal or adverse effects as well as toxic reactions, which are compared with available data from the literature and provided as systematic short review on the clinically used substances and drugs in GI tumour lesions.

Methods: The compact overview is based on the authors' daily clinical experiences including a selective and comparative literature search in PubMed (searching strategy using the following terms: "supportive treatment/therapy", "biological[s]").

Synergistic immunosuppressive effects of the mTOR inhibitor sirolimus and the phytochemical curcumin.

The immunosuppressant sirolimus and curcumin, the main principle of the turmeric spice, have shown antiproliferative effects on many human and not-human cell lines. Whereas the antiproliferative effect of sirolimus is mainly mediated by inhibition of mTOR, curcumin is described to affect many molecular targets which makes it unpredictable to appraise if the effects of these both substances on cell proliferation and especially on immunosuppression are additive or synergistic. To answer this question we investigated the interaction of both these substances on OKT3-induced human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation.

Sonothrombolysis is effective with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, but not with Abciximab. Results from an in vitro study with whole blood clots and platelet-rich clots.

Transcranial "diagnostic" ultrasound (US) has been shown to accelerate thrombolysis related to recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA). In this in vitro study, we evaluated the potential of US to increase clot dissolution mediated by Abciximab (Abc) compared to rt-PA. The effect of 1.

Ventricular intramyocardial electrograms and their expected potential for cardiac risk surveillance, telemonitoring, and therapy management.

Ventricular intramyocardial electrograms are recorded with electrodes directly from the heart either in intraventricular or epimyocardial position and may be acquired either from the spontaneously beating or from the paced heart. The morphology of these signals differs significantly from that of body surface ECG recordings. Although the morphology shows general characteristics, it additionally depends on different individual impacts.

KISS--a new approach to self-controlled e-learning of selected chapters in Medical Engineering and other fields at bachelor and master course level.

Modern life style requires new methods for individual lifelong learning, based on access at every time and from every place. This fundamental requirement is provided by the Internet. The Internet technology promises an increasing potential in the future for e-learning or tele-learning.

Geometric multigrid to accelerate the solution of the quasi-static electric field problem by tetrahedral finite elements.

The acceleration of the solution of the quasi-static electric field problem considering anisotropic complex conductivity simulated by tetrahedral finite elements of first order is investigated by geometric multigrid.

Ventricular evoked response as clinical marker for hemodynamic changes in dilative cardiomyopathy.

The potential value of ventricular evoked response (VER) evaluation by implantable pacemakers as clinical marker for disease induced hemodynamic changes in the heart, has so far not been explicitly evaluated. We conducted a study to evaluate the reproducibility of the R spike and T wave measurements (R(VER) and T(VER)) under controlled clinical conditions and examine the correlation between VER parameters and standard echocardiographic measurements in the left ventricle. Additionally, the utility of the VER as a marker for NYHA classification and the presence of cardiomyopathy was investigated.

Direct estimation of Cole parameters in multifrequency EIT using a regularized Gauss-Newton method.

A major drawback of electrical impedance tomography is the poor quality of the conductivity images, i.e., the low spatial resolution as well as large errors in the reconstructed conductivity values.

Assessing abdominal fatness with local bioimpedance analysis: basics and experimental findings.

Objective: Abdominal fat is of major importance in terms of body fat distribution but is poorly reflected in conventional body impedance measurements. We developed a new technique for assessing the abdominal subcutaneous fat layer thickness (SFL) with single-frequency determination of the electrical impedance across the waist (SAI).

Subjects And Measurements: The method uses a tetrapolar arrangement of surface electrodes which are placed symmetrically to the umbilicus in a plane perpendicular to the body axis.

Ventricular evoked response in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy treated with DDD pacing.

Objective: To assess the changes in ventricular evoked responses (VER) produced by the decrease in left ventricular outflow tract gradient (LVOTG) in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) treated with dual-chamber (DDD) pacing.

Methods: A pulse generator Physios CTM (Biotronik, Germany) was implanted in 9 patients with severe drug-refractory HOCM. After implantation, the following conditions were assessed: 1) Baseline evaluation: different AV delay (ranging from 150 ms to 50 ms) were sequentially programmed during 5 to 10 minutes, and the LVOTG (as determined by Doppler echocardiography) and VER recorded; 2) standard evaluation, when the best AV delay (resulting in the lowest LVOTG) programmed at the initial evaluation was maintained so that its effect on VER and LVOTG could be assessed during each chronic pacing evaluation.

[Multi-channel data collection and visualization system for intramyocardial electrograms].

The aim of the project was to develop a multichannel data acquisition system for the recording and visualisation of intramyocardial electrograms (IEGM) from both the spontaneously beating and the artificially paced heart. Signal processing comprises multi-step amplification, filtering (0.05-800 Hz), and AD conversion (12 Bit max.

[New methods for noninvasive and continuous determination of dynamic compliance of the carotid artery].

A new method for the noninvasive, continuous determination of the compliance of the carotid artery wall has been developed and, in an initial study, validated. Measurements of pulsatile changes in the diameter of the carotid artery are accomplished with the 4-electrode impedance method, and the intravascular blood pressure is measured using an applanation tonometer developed during this project. The method has been employed for measurements in 12 individuals with no vascular disease, and in one patient with carotid artery stenosis before, during and after successful dilatation.

In vivo determination of tumor optical parameters in esophageal carcinoma.

Background And Objective: Dose dependence of light cannot be discussed on the basis of dose alone. On a more fundamental scientific level, the propagation of light in tissue depends on optical parameters of treated tumor tissue. In a prospective, nonrandomized study, in vivo optical parameters of esophageal carcinoma were studied.

Non-invasive cardiac allograft monitoring: the graz experience.

Based on previous reports by our group, initial studies on non-invasive cardiac graft monitoring have been presented recently. In this study we define new parameters to monitor rejection and infection after heart transplantation (HTX) the ventricular evoked response (VER) T-slew rate parameter is defined as the maximum negative slope in the descending part of the repolarization phase of the VER. We calculated the VER duration parameter in milliseconds and defined it as the time between the pacemaker spike and the cross-over of the baseline, with the slope line used to calculate the VER T-slew rate.

[Measurement and evaluation of three-dimensional acceleration signals for rate adaptation of cardiac pacemakers].

The aim of this study was to determine which of the one-dimensional acceleration signals best correlates with the heart rate under the conditions of daily activities, or whether such correlation is shown by three-dimensional acceleration signals. A commercially available biosignal system (ZAK, Germany) was used to record electrographic data and acceleration caused by body movements in the three directions vertical, sagittal and lateral. The evaluation was performed on 12 young healthy volunteers and 4 elderly volunteers with cardiovascular disorders but adequate chronotropic function.

Inductively coupled wideband transceiver for bioimpedance spectroscopy (IBIS).

Most measurement devices for bioimpedance spectroscopy are coupled to the measured object (tissue) via electrodes. At frequencies > 500 kHz, they suffer from artifacts due to stray capacitances between electrode leads as well as between the ground and object. The noninvasive measurement of the brain conductivity is hardly possible with surface electrodes.