Cotton-derived oxidized cellulose in minimally invasive thoracic surgery: a clinicopathological study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify resorption, clinical performance, and safety of cotton-derived oxidized cellulose gauze applied as a hemostat in minimally invasive oncologic thoracic surgery.

Methods: This is a pilot prospective noncomparative observational human in vivo study. A piece of cotton-derived oxidized cellulose gauze measuring 5 × 20 cm was inserted into the subcarinal space of patients with potentially resectable lung carcinoma at the time of video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy and reexamined several days later for macroscopic and histologic evaluation at the time of subsequent lung resection.

Additional multifocal sulcus-based intraocular lens: alternative to multifocal intraocular lens in the capsular bag.

Purpose: To compare the visual outcomes of additional multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) for sulcus fixation with those of standard multifocal IOLs in the capsular bag.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Rudolf-Virchow-Klinikum Glauchau, Glauchau, Germany.

Design: Prospective controlled clinical trial.

Enforced expression of protein kinase C in skeletal muscle causes physical inactivity, fatty liver and insulin resistance in the brain.

Among the multitude of dysregulated signalling mechanisms that comprise insulin resistance in divergent organs, the primary events in the development of type 2 diabetes are not well established. As protein kinase C (PKC) activation is consistently present in skeletal muscle of obese and insulin resistant subjects, we generated a transgenic mouse model that overexpresses constitutively active PKC-beta(2) in skeletal muscle to test whether activation of PKC is sufficient to cause an aversive whole-body phenotype. Upon this genetic modification, increased serine phosphorylation in Irs1 was observed and followed by impaired (3)H-deoxy-glucose uptake and muscle glycogen content, and transgenic mice exhibited insulin and glucose intolerance as they age.

Large proportion of low frequency microsatellite-instability and loss of heterozygosity in pheochromocytoma and endocrine tumors detected with an extended marker panel.

Purpose: Pheochromocytoma (PCC) is a usually benign tumor originated in the majority of patients from the adrenal medulla. Regarding sporadic forms of PCC, mechanisms of pathogenesis are largely unknown. Recently, microsatellite-instability (MSI) was discussed as genetic factor contributing to PCC development.

Challenges in the treatment of patients with essential thrombocythemia and acute coronary syndrome.

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is an acquired clonal hematological stem-cell disorder that is characterized by a persistent increase in platelet count over 600,000/microl and elevated megakaryocyte levels in the bone marrow. Patients with ET are on the one hand at risk of thrombosis and on the other hand of hemorrhagic events especially in patients with very high platelet accounts. We report two illustrative cases with ET and acute coronary syndrome from our recent clinical experience illustrating the challenges in the antithrombotic treatment of these patients.

Cancer immunoediting by GITR (glucocorticoid-induced TNF-related protein) ligand in humans: NK cell/tumor cell interactions.

Glucocorticoid-induced TNF-related protein (GITR) has been shown to stimulate T cell-mediated antitumor immunity in mice. However, the functional relevance of GITR and its ligand (GITRL) for non-T cells has yet to be fully explored. In addition, recent evidence suggests that GITR plays different roles in mice and humans.

Influence of NaCl concentrations on coagulation, temperature, and electrical conductivity using a perfusion radiofrequency ablation system: an ex vivo experimental study.

Purpose: To determine, by means of an ex vivo study, the effect of different NaCl concentrations on the extent of coagulation obtained during radiofrequency (RF) ablation performed using a digitally controlled perfusion device.

Method: Twenty-eight RF ablations were performed with 40 W for 10 min using continuous NaCl infusion in fresh excised bovine liver. For perfusion, NaCl concentrations ranging from 0 (demineralized water) to 25% were used.

A new case of Carney triad: gastrointestinal stromal tumours and leiomyoma of the oesophagus do not show activating mutations of KIT and platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha.

The Carney triad is a rare syndrome of unknown aetiology, with synchronous or metachronous appearance of rare neoplasms: gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), pulmonary chondromas and extra-adrenal paragangliomas. In most cases, the Carney triad is incomplete. The combination encountered typically, GISTs and pulmonary chondromas, was also seen in our patient, a 22-year-old woman.

Anesthetic management of patients with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency.

Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) is the most common inborn error of the urea cycle. Several specific factors require care during anesthesia in patients with this condition to avoid metabolic decompensation with acute hyperammonemia and encephalopathy. We report monozygous twins with severe neonatal-onset OTCD undergoing general anesthesia twice each, with midazolam, s-ketamine, fentanyl and isoflurane in combination with surgical field infiltration with ropivacaine.

The ABNORMAL GAMETOPHYTES (AGM) gene product of Arabidopsis demonstrates a role in mitosis during gamete development.

Screening a T-DNA mutagenized population of Arabidopsis thaliana for reduced seed set and segregation distortion led to the isolation of the ABNORMAL GAMETOPHYTES (AGM) mutant. Homozygous plants were never recovered, but heterozygous plants showed mitotic defects during gametogenesis resulting in approximately 50% abortion of both the male and female gametes. Isolation of the genomic sequence flanking the co-segregating T-DNA element led to the identification of a gene located on chromosome 5, predicted to encode a transmembrane protein.

Radiofrequency ablation: in vivo comparison of four commercially available devices in pig livers.

Purpose: To compare in vivo coagulation necrosis obtained with four radiofrequency (RF) ablation devices, to determine shape and reproducibility of induced coagulation by means of three-dimensional measurements of the ablation zone, and to achieve representations of the coagulated areas in three-dimensional spaces.

Materials And Methods: Four commercially available RF devices (perfusion, internally cooled cluster, and nine- and 12-tine expandable electrodes) that represent the most widely used systems on the market were tested. Sixteen in vivo ablation procedures were performed in porcine livers (four ablations for each RF system).

Fatal immune-mediated pancytopenia and a TRALI-like syndrome associated with high titers of recipient-type antibodies against donor-derived peripheral blood cells after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation following dose reduced conditioning.

Pancytopenia occurring after bone marrow transplantation is a rare complication. A 47 year old patient with progression of multiple myeloma after standard therapy received an allogeneic marrow graft from a matched unrelated donor. The non-myeloablative conditioning regimen consisted of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin and total body irradiation.

False alarm rates of three third-generation pulse oximeters in PACU, ICU and IABP patients.

The objective of this clinical study was to determine alarm rates--in particular the frequency of false positive alarms--of three third-generation pulse oximeters in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), the intensive care unit (ICU), and in patients with an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP): Nellcor Symphony N-3000, a Masimo IVY 2000, and Agilent Viridia CMS 2000. All alarms were classified into technical/physiological and false/correct. 235 consecutive ASA physical status I-IV patients after surgery were included into the study.

Analyses of signal transduction cascades reveal an essential role of calcium ions for regulation of melatonin biosynthesis in the light-sensitive pineal organ of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Signal transduction processes regulating melatonin production in the light-sensitive trout pineal organ were investigated by immunocytochemical and immunochemical demonstration of phosphorylated cyclic AMP-responsive element-binding protein (pCREB) and measurements of cyclic AMP, melatonin, and calcium levels. Melatonin levels were tightly controlled by light and darkness. Elevation of cyclic AMP levels by 8-bromo-cyclic AMP, forskolin, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine increased the levels of pCREB and melatonin in light- or dark-adapted pineal organs in vitro.

Signal transduction in the rodent pineal organ. From the membrane to the nucleus.

The rodent pineal organ transduces a photoneural input into a hormonal output. This photoneuroendocrine transduction leads to highly elevated levels of the hormone melatonin at night-time which serves as a message for darkness. The melatonin rhythm depends on transcriptional, translational and posttranslational regulation of the arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase, the key enzyme of melatonin biosynthesis.

Lymph node micrometastases of cutaneous melanoma: increased sensitivity of molecular diagnosis in comparison to immunohistochemistry.

The presence of regional lymph node metastases is one of the most significant prognostic factors for predicting survival in patients with clinical stage I or II cutaneous melanoma. For accurate staging of the primary tumor a sensitive technique is required to detect occult nodal micrometastases. This prospective diagnostic study was designed to evaluate the incidence of nodal micrometastases using nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for tyrosinase in comparison to immunohistochemical examination.

A specific and sensitive double-immunofluorescence method for the demonstration of S-antigen and serotonin in trout and rat pinealocytes by means of primary antibodies from the same donor species.

Immunocytochemical double-labeling methods are important tools in cell and neurobiology. Here we describe a method which is based on double immunofluorescence and allows specific detection of two different antigens located in the same cell compartment by two primary antibodies raised in the same species. As an example, we present the double-immunolabeling method for the S-antigen (SAg), a photoreceptor-specific protein, and the indoleamine serotonin (5HT) in dissociated trout and rat pineal cells immobilized on coverslipped and in frozen sections of the trout pineal organ.

Regulation of the intracellular concentration of free calcium ions in pinealocytes of the rainbow trout and the rat.

Together with cAMP, calcium ions play an important role in the regulation of melatonin synthesis in the pineal organ of all vertebrate species, irrespective of the conspicuous phylogenetic transformation of the melatonin-producing cell, the pinealocyte. Here we address the question how the intracellular concentration of free calcium ions [Ca2+]i is regulated in directly light-sensitive trout pinealocytes and in rat pinealocytes which have lost the direct light sensitivity and respond to norepinephrine. Isolated pinealocytes identified by the S-antigen immunoreaction were investigated by means of the fura-2 technique, image analysis and patch clamp recordings.

Calcium oscillations in a subpopulation of S-antigen-immunoreactive pinealocytes of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

By means of the fura-2 technique and image analysis the intracellular concentration of free calcium ions [Ca2+]i was examined in isolated rainbow trout pinealocytes identified by S-antigen immunocytochemistry. Approximately 30% of the pinealocytes exhibited spontaneous [Ca2+]i oscillations whose frequency differed from cell to cell. Neither illumination with bright light nor dark adaptation of the cells had an apparent effect on the oscillations.

Regulation of melatonin production and intracellular calcium concentrations in the trout pineal organ.

The present in vitro study correlates measurements of the melatonin production from trout pineal organs with those of the intracellular calcium concentration in pinealocytes. Melatonin production increases with decreasing irradiance and shows maximal values in darkness. Some pinealocytes exhibit spontaneous calcium oscillations, although most of them have a stable basal calcium concentration.