An Examination of Donor Factors That Impact the Results of the Glucagon Stimulation Test as an Assessment of the Pancreatic Graft Endocrine Function.

Objectives: Delta C-peptide derived by the glucagon stimulation test is a reliable value for the evaluation of the pancreatic endocrine function after pancreas transplantation. We examined the associations between delta C-peptide as pancreatic graft endocrine function and donor background factors.

Methods: Sixty-five cases of pancreatic transplantation from brain-dead donors, which were performed in our facility, were enrolled in this study.

Automated Measurement of Tear Meniscus Height with the Kowa DR-1α Tear Interferometer in Both Healthy Subjects and Dry Eye Patients.

Purpose: To develop and assess a method for quantitation of lower tear meniscus height (TMH) with the Kowa DR-1α tear interferometer.

Methods: Sixty-nine eyes of 49 men and 20 women (36 healthy volunteers, 33 patients with aqueous-deficient dry eye [ADDE]; mean age ± SD, 50.0 ± 14.

Quantification of Calcified Particles in Human Valve Tissue Reveals Asymmetry of Calcific Aortic Valve Disease Development.

Recent studies indicated that small calcified particles observable by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) may initiate calcification in cardiovascular tissues. We hypothesized that if the calcified particles precede gross calcification observed in calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), they would exhibit a regional asymmetric distribution associated with CAVD development, which always initiates at the base of aortic valve leaflets adjacent to the aortic outflow in a region known as the fibrosa. Testing this hypothesis required counting the calcified particles in histological sections of aortic valve leaflets.

Genesis and growth of extracellular-vesicle-derived microcalcification in atherosclerotic plaques.

Clinical evidence links arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk. Finite-element modelling of the stress distribution within atherosclerotic plaques has suggested that subcellular microcalcifications in the fibrous cap may promote material failure of the plaque, but that large calcifications can stabilize it. Yet the physicochemical mechanisms underlying such mineral formation and growth in atheromata remain unknown.

mIMT-visHTS: A novel method for multiplexing isobaric mass tagged datasets with an accompanying visualization high throughput screening tool for protein profiling.

Isobaric mass tagging (IMT) methods enable the analysis of thousands of proteins simultaneously. We used tandem mass tagging reagents (TMT™) to monitor the relative changes in the proteome of the mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 at the same six time points after no stimulation (baseline phenotype), stimulation with interferon gamma (pro-inflammatory phenotype) or stimulation with interleukin-4 (anti-inflammatory phenotype).