Distinguishing inflammation from tumor and peritumoral edema by myeloperoxidase magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: Inflammation occurs routinely when managing gliomas and is not easily distinguishable from tumor regrowth by current MRI methods. The lack of noninvasive technologies that monitor inflammation prevents us to understand whether it is beneficial or detrimental for the patient, and current therapies do not take this host response in consideration. We aim to establish whether a gadolinium (Gd)-based agent targeting the inflammatory enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) can selectively detect intra- and peritumoral inflammation as well as glioma response to treatment by MRI.

Neuroanatomy of childhood disruptive behavior disorders.

Our aims were to (1) examine possible neuroanatomical abnormalities associated with the Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs) as a group and (2) assess neuroanatomical anomalies specific to each DBD (i.e., conduct disorder [CD] and oppositional defiant disorder).

Elevated expression of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is associated with human breast carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) belongs to the serine protease inhibitor (Serpin) family of proteins. Elevated expression of SCCA has been used as a biomarker for aggressive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in cancers of the cervix, lung, head and neck, and liver. However, SCCA expression in breast cancer has not been investigated.

The relationship between body iron stores and blood and urine cadmium concentrations in US never-smoking, non-pregnant women aged 20-49 years.

Background: Cadmium is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant associated with increased risk of leading causes of mortality and morbidity in women, including breast cancer and osteoporosis. Iron deficiency increases absorption of dietary cadmium, rendering women, who tend to have lower iron stores than men, more susceptible to cadmium uptake. We used body iron, a measure that incorporates both serum ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor, as recommended by the World Health Organization, to evaluate the relationships between iron status and urine and blood cadmium.

Screening mammography use in Medicare beneficiaries reflects 4-year mortality risk.

Objective: Breast cancer screening guidelines recommend that women and physicians consider life expectancy when making screening decisions in older women. However, prior studies suggest that screening mammography patterns are dependent on age rather than health status or mortality risk of women. Our objective is to determine the association between 4-year mortality risk and use of screening mammography in women aged ≥ 65 years using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data.

BRAF exon 15 T1799A mutation is common in melanocytic nevi, but less prevalent in cutaneous malignant melanoma, in Chinese Han.

Frequent somatic mutations of BRAF (v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B) exon T1799A, which are implicated in the initial events of promutagenic cellular proliferation, are detected in both malignant melanomas (MM) and melanocytic nevi (MN). Most of the data regarding BRAF exon T1799A mutation have been from Caucasian cohorts, and a comprehensive screening of a homogeneous population is lacking. A total of 379 cases of MN and 195 cases of MM were collected from Chinese Han living in three geographical regions in China, i.

The Behavioral and Pharmacological Actions of NMDA Receptor Antagonism are Conserved in Zebrafish Larvae.

Dizocilpine maleate (MK-801) is one of several NMDA receptor antagonists that is widely used to pharmacologically model the symptoms of psychosis and schizophrenia in animals. MK-801 elicits behaviors in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) that are phenotypically consistent with behaviors observed in humans and rodents exposed to tbhe drug. However, the molecular and cellular processes that mediate the psychotomimetic, cognitive and locomotive behaviors of MK-801 are unclear.

Effectiveness of AFP and ultrasound tests on hepatocellular carcinoma mortality in HCV-infected patients in the USA.

Background And Aims: The effectiveness of surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the USA is largely unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of HCC surveillance in a national Veterans Administration (VA) practice setting, using the national VA hepatitis C virus (HCV) Clinical Case Registry.

Method: The cohort consisted of 1480 HCV-infected patients who developed HCC during 1998-2007.

Enhanced in vivo imaging of metabolically biotinylated cell surface reporters.

Metabolic biotinylation of intracellular and secreted proteins as well as surface receptors in mammalian cells provides a versatile way to monitor gene expression; to purify and target viral vectors; to monitor cell and tumor distribution in real time in vivo; to label cells for isolation; and to tag proteins for purification, localization, and trafficking. Here, we show that metabolic biotinylation of proteins fused to the bacterial biotin acceptor peptides (BAP) varies among different mammalian cell types and can be enhanced by over 10-fold upon overexpression of the bacterial biotin ligase directed to the same cellular compartment as the fusion protein. We also show that in vivo imaging of metabolically biotinylated cell surface receptors using streptavidin conjugates is significantly enhanced upon coexpression of bacterial biotin ligase in the secretory pathway.

Minimally invasive surgery is underutilized for colon cancer.

Background: The Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Therapy Group (COST) trial published in 2004 demonstrated that minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for colorectal cancer provided equivalent oncologic results and better short-term outcomes when compared to open surgery. Before this, MIS comprised approximately 3% of colorectal cancer cases. We hypothesized that there would be a dramatic increase in the use of MIS for colon cancer after this publication.

A Chinese experience of fractional ultrapulsed CO₂laser for skin rejuvenation.

Background And Objectives: The ablative fractional CO₂ laser has been successfully used in treating photoaged skin in the Caucasian population. However, its application in Asian skin has not been widely reported. The purpose of this study is to observe the efficacy and safety of the protocol 'ActiveFX' for photodamaged facial skin in Chinese patients.

Determination of eniluracil and 5-fluorouracil in human plasma by LC-MS/MS.

Background: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic agents to treat various tumors, and eniluracil (5-ethynyluracil or EU) is being developed as a novel modulator of 5-FU.

Results: A simple and sensitive LC-MS/MS method was developed for reliably quantifying both EU and 5-FU in human plasma. The method was validated for EU over a dynamic concentration range from 4.

Environmental cadmium and breast cancer risk.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent women's cancer, with an age-adjusted incidence of 122.9 per 100,000 US women. Cadmium, a ubiquitous carcinogenic pollutant with multiple biological effects, has been reported to be associated with breast cancer in one US regional case-control study.

Establishment of a minimally invasive surgery program leads to decreased inpatient cost of care in veterans with colon cancer.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the establishment of a minimally invasive surgery program on the cost of care at the investigators' institution. It was hypothesized that a minimally invasive surgery program would decrease overall inpatient treatment costs for veterans with colon cancer.

Methods: All patients who were admitted for colon cancer surgery in fiscal year 2009 were included in this study.

Arsenic in drinking water and stroke hospitalizations in Michigan.

Background And Purpose: Mechanistic and human studies suggest a role for arsenic in ischemic stroke; however, risks from chronic, low-level exposures are uncertain and US studies are lacking. The objective was to investigate the association between low-level arsenic exposure in drinking water and ischemic stroke hospital admissions in Michigan.

Methods: Ischemic stroke hospital admissions among those aged ≥ 45 years were identified (1994 to 2006).

New-onset asthma among soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since June 4, 2004, asthma diagnosed and symptomatic after the age of 12 years has been an exclusion criterion for military enlistment unless exempted via medical waiver. The Department of Defense determined that 13% of U.S.

Intermediate Results of the Prestige LP Cervical Disc Replacement: Clinical and Radiological Analysis With Minimum Two-Year Follow-up.

Study Design: prospective study.

Objective: present results of Prestige LP artificial cervical disc replacement (ADR).

Summary Of Background Data: motion preservation with ADR can potentially reduce adjacent segment degeneration.

Effects of C5 complement inhibitor pexelizumab on outcome in high-risk coronary artery bypass grafting: combined results from the PRIMO-CABG I and II trials.

Objective: The previous Pexelizumab for Reduction of Infarction and Mortality in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery I (PRIMO-CABG I) trial (n = 3099) indicated that C5 complement inhibition with pexelizumab might reduce myocardial infarction (MI) and postoperative mortality. PRIMO-CABG II was designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of terminal complement inhibition in reducing perioperative MI and mortality in patients undergoing CABG surgery who have 2 or more predefined preoperative risk factors.

Methods: PRIMO-CABG II, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, enrolled 4254 patients undergoing CABG with or without valve surgery at 249 hospitals in North America and Western Europe from June 2004 to July 2005.

Predictors of outcome following hip fracture rehabilitation.

Objective: To determine the potential predictors of functional outcome after hip fracture rehabilitation in a large acute inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Design: Retrospective chart review study.

Setting: Large acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

Surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma: development and validation of an algorithm to classify tests in administrative and laboratory data.

Background: The purpose of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and abdominal ultrasound (US) cannot be discerned in administrative data.

Aim: We developed an algorithm to identify AFP and US used as surveillance tests for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: We evaluated 300 AFP and 301 US tests from a VA database.

Anti-breast cancer potential of SS5020, a novel benzopyran antiestrogen.

Treatment with tamoxifen (TAM) increases the risk of developing endometrial cancer in women. The carcinogenic effect is thought to involve initiation and/or promotion resulting from DNA damage induced by TAM as well as its estrogenic action. To minimize this serious side-effect while increasing the anti-breast cancer potential, a new benzopyran antiestrogen, 2E-3-{4-[(7-hydroxy-2-oxo-3-phenyl-2H-chromen-4-yl)-methyl]-phenyl}-acrylic acid (SS5020), was synthesized.

Quinacridone-based molecular donors for solution processed bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells.

New soluble quinacridone-based molecules have been developed as electron donor materials for solution-processed organic solar cells. By functionalizing the pristine pigment core of quinacridone with solubilizing alkyl chains and light absorbing/charge transporting thiophene units, i.e.

Rate and associations of epididymal cysts on pediatric scrotal ultrasound.

Purpose: We established the baseline occurrence of epididymal cysts, and the correlation between epididymal cysts and testicular size.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all pediatric scrotal ultrasounds done at our institution in 8 years. We analyzed the proportion of cysts by patient age and compared testicular size in boys with vs without epididymal cysts.