Biomechanical responses due to discitis infection of a juvenile thoracolumbar spine using finite element modeling.

Growth modulation changes occur in pediatric spines and lead to kyphotic deformity during discitis infection from mechanical forces. The present study was done to understand the consequences of discitis by simulating inflammatory puss at the T12/L1 disc space using a validated eight-year-old thoracolumbar spine finite element model. Changes in the biomechanical responses of the bone, disc and ligaments were determined under physiological compression and flexion loads in the intact and discitis models.

Sensitivity studies of pediatric material properties on juvenile lumbar spine responses using finite element analysis.

The objective of the study was to determine the sensitivity of material properties of the juvenile spine to its external and internal responses using a finite element model under compression, and flexion-extension bending moments. The methodology included exercising the 8-year-old juvenile lumbar spine using parametric procedures. The model included the vertebral centrum, growth plates, laminae, pedicles, transverse processes and spinous processes; disc annulus and nucleus; and various ligaments.

Molecular Diversity of Fungi from Marine Oxygen-Deficient Environments (ODEs).

Molecular diversity surveys of marine fungi have demonstrated that the species richness known to date is just the tip of the iceberg and that there is a large extent of unknown fungal diversity in marine habitats. Reports of novel fungal lineages at higher taxonomic levels are documented from a large number of marine habitats, including the various marine oxygen-deficient environments (ODEs). In the past few years, a strong focus of eukaryote diversity research has been on a variety of ODEs, as these environments are considered to harbor a large number of organisms, which are highly divergent to known diversity and could provide insights into the early eukaryotic evolution.

Validation efforts and flexibilities of an eight-year-old human juvenile lumbar spine using a three-dimensional finite element model.

The objective of this study was to develop a finite element model of the lumbar spinal column of an eight-year-old human spine and compare flexibilities under pure moments, adult, and pediatric loading with different material models. The geometry was extracted from computed tomography scans. The model included the cortical and cancellous bones, growth plates, ligaments, and discs.

Fungal diversity in oxygen-depleted regions of the Arabian Sea revealed by targeted environmental sequencing combined with cultivation.

In order to study fungal diversity in oxygen minimum zones of the Arabian Sea, we analyzed 1440 cloned small subunit rRNA gene (18S rRNA gene) sequences obtained from environmental samples using three different PCR primer sets. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses yielded 549 distinct RFLP patterns, 268 of which could be assigned to fungi (Dikarya and zygomycetes) after sequence analyses. The remaining 281 RFLP patterns represented a variety of nonfungal taxa, even when using putatively fungal-specific primers.

Efficacy of DL-alpha lipoic acid against systemic inflammation-induced mice: antioxidant defense system.

Inflammation can activate macrophages or monocytes and sequentially release several inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxidative stress-induced acute inflammatory response plays an important role in several diseases. This study was designed to investigate the prophylactic effect of the antioxidant lipoic acid (LA) during inflammation-induced mice.

Molecular chaperone alpha-crystallin prevents detrimental effects of neuroinflammation.

Silver nitrate administration stimulates immune activation, inflammation and deterioration in cell function. It is well established that hippocampal and cortical tissue are susceptible to degeneration in responses to insult such as oxidative stress or infection. This study was designed to investigate the prophylactic effect of alpha-crystallin, a major chaperone lens protein comprising of alpha-A and alpha-B subunits in inflammation induced mice.

Chicken egg yolk anti-asialoGM1 immunoglobulin (IgY): an inexpensive glycohistochemical probe for localization of T-antigen in human colorectal adenocarcinomas.

A egg yolk polyclonal IgY has been prepared by immunization of white leghorn chickens with small unilamellar liposomal asialoGM1. The newly prepared anti-asialoGM1 IgY has been characterized to be specific toward the terminal carbohydrate moiety of asialoGM1, and has no cross reactivity to its sialylated counterpart (ganglioside, GM1) as evidenced by immunochromatographic studies. General glycohistochemical methods along with antigen specific lectin and immunohistochemical staining using anti-asialoGM1 IgY were used to study the expression of Thomsen-Friedenreich (T-) disaccharide antigen in human colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues.

Comparative evaluation of ultramicro-and macro-chemo enzyme based assays of glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides.

A comparison of the absorbance, enzyme/substrate concentration, reaction efficiency and sensitivity has been made for enzyme-based clinical chemistry assays, using a conventional colorimeter versus a strip-microwell reader, in order to establish the value of ultra-microchemical procedure, with reaction volume 87 μl (light path length=0.25 cm). By utilizing commercial kits available for the quantitation of serum glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides, it has been established that the micro method is highly cost effective (9-30 fold), reproducible and sensitive.