Clinical Behavior and Molecular Insights of Secretory Carcinoma of Salivary Glands, a Single Center Experience.

Objective: the study aimed to characterize the novel entity referred to as secretory carcinoma of the salivary glands.

Methods: we comprehensively evaluated 150 patients afflicted by malignant salivary gland tumors who had been under treatment at the University of Verona. Inclusion criteria primarily focused on the availability of paraffin block materials and adequate follow-up data.

Effect of maternal periodontitis on GLUT4 and inflammatory pathway in adult offspring.

Background: Maternal periodontal disease leads to low birth weight (LBW), insulin resistance (IR), increased TNF-α levels, and alterations in insulin signaling in adult offspring. TNF-α has been associated with the stimulation of IKKβ/NF-κB, resulting in the decreased expression of GLUT4. Another mechanism that may be involved in decreasing GLUT4 expression is DNA methylation.

Melatonin promotes reduction in TNF levels and improves the lipid profile and insulin sensitivity in pinealectomized rats with periodontal disease.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effects of melatonin (ME) on insulin resistance (IR) and signaling (IS), proinflammatory cytokine levels, and lipid profiles in pinealectomyzed (PNX) rats with periodontal disease (PD).

Main Methods: One hundred and forty-four rats (age = 40 days) were distributed into 8 groups: 1) control (CN); 2) PD only; 3) PNX only; 4) PNX and PD (PNXPD); 5) CN treated with ME (CNM); 6) PD treated with ME (PDM); 7) PNX treated with ME(PNXM); 8) PNX and PD treated with ME(PNXPDM). The PNX groups were subjected to pinealectomy at 40 and at 60 days of age.

Uniting board to bedside: the use of driver diagrams in quality monitoring and improvement at Trillium Health Centre.

Boards of directors of healthcare organizations are increasingly being urged to extend their governance activities beyond financial matters to include the quality of patient care. Recently, Trillium Health Centre identified four big dot indicators and generated corollary driver diagrams aimed at helping its board understand and measure the organization's quality improvement plans, efforts and results. In addition to keeping board members up to date on these developments, the driver diagrams have supported quality improvements in their own right--for example, with hospital-acquired pressure ulcers--and have helped staff to focus and become more deeply engaged in Trillium's patient-centred quality improvement initiatives.

Improved method for polyamine determination in TMV, a rod-shaped virus.

Polyamines were measured in viruses using different techniques. An improved method of polyamine analysis is reported for tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a rod-shaped virus (95% protein and 5% RNA), based on HPLC of sonicated PCA-treated highly purified virus suspensions. This method allowed higher and more reliable recovery of TMV polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) when compared to the HPLC of non-sonicated samples and to thin layer chromatography.

Amniotic membrane diffusion chambers: a new possibility for pancreatic islet transplantation.

In order to avoid the host foreign-body reaction which is probably responsible for the long-term failure of the artificial membrane diffusion chambers currently used for protecting the implanted islet tissue from rejection, we tested the human amniotic membrane as a possible new tool for enclosing transplanted islets of Langerhans. Bag-shaped chambers were made with human amniotic membranes and the diffusion of 125 I-Insulin out and of D-glucose into the chambers was measured. The diffusion patterns of insulin and glucose were shown to be better than those described for the best artificial membranes, the 50% diffusion being reached at min 42 for 125 I-Insulin and at min 11 for D-glucose.