Effects of mechanical ventilation on gene expression profiles in renal allografts from brain dead rats.

Pathophysiological changes of brain death (BD) are impairing distal organ function and harming potential renal allografts. Whether ventilation strategies influence the quality of renal allografts from BD donors has not been thoroughly studied. 28 adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups: 1) no brain death (NBD) with low tidal volume/low positive endexpiratory pressure (PEEP) titrated to minimal static elastance of the respiratory system (LVT/OLPEEP); 2) NBD with high tidal volume/low PEEP (HVT/LPEEP); 3) brain death (BD) with LVT/OLPEEP; and 4) BD with HVT/LPEEP.

Use of and Beliefs About Mobile Phone Apps for Diabetes Self-Management: Surveys of People in a Hospital Diabetes Clinic and Diabetes Health Professionals in New Zealand.

Background: People with diabetes mellitus (DM) are using mobile phone apps to support self-management. The numerous apps available to assist with diabetes management have a variety of functions. Some functions, like insulin dose calculators, have significant potential for harm.

Post-traumatic changes in energy expenditure and body composition in patients with acute spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the changes in resting energy expenditure and body composition over time in a cohort of patients with spinal cord injury during acute treatment, rehabilitation, and 2 years after the end of rehabilitation.

Methods: Adult patients admitted for acute treatment and rehabilitation after traumatic spinal cord injury were recruited.

Vulvar lichen sclerosus in women is associated with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Lichen sclerosus (LS) is thought to be primarily a disease of postmenopausal women. Little is reported about lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in association with LS. The aims of this study were to evaluate the odds of having LS-associated LUTS and to identify the predominant type of LS-associated bladder dysfunction.

Cast aluminium single crystals cross the threshold from bulk to size-dependent stochastic plasticity.

Metals are known to exhibit mechanical behaviour at the nanoscale different to bulk samples. This transition typically initiates at the micrometre scale, yet existing techniques to produce micrometre-sized samples often introduce artefacts that can influence deformation mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate the casting of micrometre-scale aluminium single-crystal wires by infiltration of a salt mould.

Computational fluid dynamics evaluation of posterior septectomy as a viable treatment option for large septal perforations.

Background: Numerous surgical techniques exist to treat nasal septal perforation (NSP). The surgical closure of large NSPs (>2 cm) is still challenging. Posterior septectomy has been reported as a simple alternative to treat large NSP, yet its mechanisms for symptom relief are not clear, and if failed, its consequence cannot be easily reversed.

Microfluidic processing of synovial fluid for cytological analysis.

Cytological analysis of synovial fluid is widely used in the clinic to assess joint health and disease. However, in general practice, only the total number of white blood cells (WBCs) are available for cytologic evaluation of the joint. Moreover, sufficient volume of synovial aspirates is critical to run conventional analyses, despite limited volume of aspiration that can normally be obtained from a joint.

[Outpatient multimodal pain therapy : Results of a 1-week intensive outpatient multimodal group program for patients with chronic unspecific back pain - retrospective evaluation after 3 and 12 months].

Background: Interdisciplinary pain therapy is nowadays the state of the art for the treatment of chronic unspecific back pain. The aim of this article is to present the retrospective analysis of the data from a 1-week intensive outpatient multimodal interdisciplinary pain therapy group program for treatment of patients with chronic unspecific back pain.

Design And Methods: The questionnaire-based data from patients who attended the program were evaluated before as well as 3 and 12 months after finishing the program.

The Plasma Membrane Calcium Pump (PMCA): Regulation of Cytosolic Ca, Genetic Diversities and Its Role in Sub-plasma Membrane Microdomains.

In this chapter the four different genes of the mammalian plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA) and their spliced isoforms are discussed with respect to the structural and functional properties of PMCA, the tissue distribution of the different isoforms, including their differences during development. The importance of PMCA for regulating Ca signaling in microdomains under different conditions is also discussed.

Implications of the thyroid hormone on neuronal development with special emphasis on the calmodulin-kinase IV pathway.

Thyroid hormones influence brain development through regulation of gene expression. This is especially true for Ca-dependent regulation since a major pathway is controlled by the Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) which in turn is induced by the thyroid hormone T. In addition, CaMKIV is involved in regulation of alternative splicing of a number of protein isoforms, among them PMCA1a, the neuronal specific isoform of the plasma membrane calcium pump.

Long-term course of sacral anterior root stimulation in spinal cord injured individuals: The fate of the detrusor.

Aims: To investigate the long-term course of the detrusor pressure during sacral anterior root stimulation in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

Methods: Retrospective evaluation of 111 patients who had undergone sacral deafferentation and implantation of an anterior root stimulator at a single SCI rehabilitation center with a minimum follow-up time of 5 years.

Results: The median follow-up time was 11.

Fission-Produced Mo Without a Nuclear Reactor.

Mo, the parent of the widely used medical isotope Tc, is currently produced by irradiation of enriched uranium in nuclear reactors. The supply of this isotope is encumbered by the aging of these reactors and concerns about international transportation and nuclear proliferation. We report results for the production of Mo from the accelerator-driven subcritical fission of an aqueous solution containing low enriched uranium.

Maximum Inspiratory Pressure is a Discriminator of Pneumonia in Individuals With Spinal-Cord Injury.

Background: Respiratory complications remain a major cause of mortality among individuals with spinal-cord injury (SCI). The present study investigated whether respiratory function is a discriminator of pneumonia in individuals with SCI and is aimed to determine the best predictive parameter.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study.

Personalized mitral valve closure computation and uncertainty analysis from 3D echocardiography.

Intervention planning is essential for successful Mitral Valve (MV) repair procedures. Finite-element models (FEM) of the MV could be used to achieve this goal, but the translation to the clinical domain is challenging. Many input parameters for the FEM models, such as tissue properties, are not known.

Why Calcium? How Calcium Became the Best Communicator.

Calcium carries messages to virtually all important functions of cells. Although it was already active in unicellular organisms, its role became universally important after the transition to multicellular life. In this Minireview, we explore how calcium ended up in this privileged position.

Sublingual vitamin B12 compared to intramuscular injection in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin: a randomised trial.

Unlabelled: MAIM: To compare a single 1mg intramuscular hydroxocobalamin injection with a 3-month course of 1mg/day sublingual methylcobalamin supplements on serum vitamin B12 concentrations in participants withtype 2 diabetes treated with metformin.

Method: Participants on metformin treatment with vitamin B12 concentrations below 220pmol/L were recruited through hospital diabetes clinics and primary care practices. They were randomised to receive either the injection or sublingual treatment.

Ranavirus could facilitate local extinction of rare amphibian species.

There is growing evidence that pathogens play a role in population declines and species extinctions. For small populations, disease-induced extinction may be especially probable. We estimated the susceptibility of two amphibian species of conservation concern (the dusky gopher frog [Lithobates sevosus] and boreal toad [Anaxyrus boreas boreas]) to an emerging pathogen (ranavirus) using laboratory challenge experiments, and combined these data with published demographic parameter estimates to simulate the potential effects of ranavirus exposure on extinction risk.

Tetrahydroanthraquinone Derivative (±)-4-Deoxyaustrocortilutein Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Melanoma Cells via Upregulation of p21 and p53 and Downregulation of NF-kappaB.

Background: Malignant melanoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer with high risk for metastasis and chemoresistance. Disruption of tightly regulated processes such as cell cycle, cell adhesion, cell differentiation and cell death are predominant in melanoma development. So far, conventional treatment options have been insufficient to treat metastatic melanoma and survival rates are poor.

Continuous flow electrocoagulation in the treatment of wastewater from dairy industries.

Dairy industry wastewater contains high levels of organic matter, consisting mainly of fat, protein and products of their partial microbial decomposition. In the present study, the use of continuous electrocoagulation is proposed for the primary treatment of dairy wastewater. The electrochemical treatment was carried out in a continuous flow cell with aluminum electrodes.