Intraosseous territory of the facial artery in the maxilla and anterior mandible: implications for allotransplantation.

Aim: The aim of this anatomical study was to define the intraosseous vascular territory of the facial artery. The clinical issue is whether ipsilateral facial artery anastomosis will guarantee blood supply to the ipsi- and contralateral mandibular symphyses and maxillae in allotransplantation.

Material And Methods: Of 10 human cadaveric heads, the left facial artery was injected with a positive contrast agent.

Resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity, reduces oxidative stress and activates the Akt pathway in type 2 diabetic patients.

Although resveratrol has widely been studied for its potential health benefits, little is known about its metabolic effects in humans. Our aims were to determine whether the polyphenol resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients and to gain some insight into the mechanism of its action. After an initial general examination (including blood chemistry), nineteen patients enrolled in the 4-week-long double-blind study were randomly assigned into two groups: a resveratrol group receiving oral 2 × 5 mg resveratrol and a control group receiving placebo.

Effects of mono- and dual blockade of the renin-angiotensin system on markers of cardiovascular status in hypertensive patients with mild and moderate renal failure.

Background/aims: Dual renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade has no more efficiency to decrease cardiovascular mortality than mono-blockade. Our goal was to explore differences between other cardiovascular markers in patients with RAS blockade.

Methods: We analyzed two groups of patients treated with a long-term ACE inhibitor (MONO-group, n = 20) and an ACE inhibitor and angiotensin II receptor blocker (DUAL-group, n = 15).

Thin films of Prussian blue: sequential assembly, patterning and electron transport properties at the nanometric scale.

We present a new approach for patterning thin films of Prussian blue at the micro- and nano-metric scales. In a first step, a resist was deposited on a gold surface and patterns were generated by photolithography or electron beam lithography. The Prussian blue with idealized formula of KFe(III)[Fe(II)(CN)6] was deposited through the sequential exposure of the patterned surface to a series of solutions containing alternately absorbable Fe3+ cations and [Fe(CN)6]4- anions.

Cigarette smoke elicits relaxation of renal arteries.

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that cigarette smoking - probably by eliciting hyperperfusion - increases glomerular filtration rate; thus, we hypothesized that cigarette smoke affects the vasomotor tone of renal arteries.

Materials And Methods: Acute changes in the resistance index of a segmental renal artery were measured in healthy individuals during smoking. In addition, the effects of water-soluble components of cigarette smoke on the isometric tension of isolated rat renal arteries were investigated in various conditions.

Spotlight on measles 2010: An ongoing measles outbreak in the district of Neamt, Romania, August - September 2010.

We report an outbreak of measles that has been ongoing in the district of Neamt, Romania, since 22 August 2010. As of 21 September, 17 of 21 suspected cases have been laboratory-confirmed and there was one measles-related fatality.

Cooperative spin crossover phenomena in [Fe(NH2trz)3](tosylate)2 nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles of the [Fe(NH(2)trz)(3)](tosylate)(2) spin crossover complex of 3-4 nm size were synthesized and dispersed in a nonionic surfactant. This colloidal system exhibits thermal spin crossover phenomena associated with a virtually first order transition. By thermal treatment the colloidal suspension can be transformed into a fibrous structure forming a gel.

[The role of diagnostic laparoscopy in periampullary and pancreatic cancers. A study based on 27 cases].

Background: Starting from the premise that abdominal tumours require very accurate assessment and staging, the study "DIASTAL" (laparoscopic diagnosis and staging of abdominal tumours) proposed to establish the effectiveness of laparoscopy in the diagnosis and resectability of these neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic laparoscopy for periampullary and pancreatic neoplasms.

Methods: The clinical study was based on the analysis two different groups including 27 patients in total, in whom we used also diagnostic laparoscopy as a staging method.

Divalent Mn in calcium hydroxyapatite by pulse laser deposition.

Pulse laser deposition (PLD) was used to deposit Mn containing calcium hydroxyapatite (HAMn). The PLD process ensures that the composition of the target and the deposited layer is the same. In some cases additional effort should be made to preserve some volatile components, namely OH.

Potential urinary biomarkers of disease activity in Crohn's disease.

Objective: Measurement of the immunoreactive urinary albumin (ir-uAlb) concentration by immunological methods was found to be an effective method to identify disease activity in Crohn's disease (CD). Recently a size-exclusion (SE) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to measure both ir-uAlb and non-immunoreactive urinary albumin (total, t-uAlb). We aimed to follow-up one of our CD patients with frequent remissions and exacerbation phases comparing the changes of disease activity parameters and the concentration of ir-uAlb and t-uAlb.

Novel approach for the assembly of highly efficient SERS substrates.

In this paper we present the properties of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates elaborated by a low-cost approach. Our methodology relying on capillary assembly and soft lithography allows us to generate periodic two-dimensional (2D) matrixes of 100 nm gold nanoparticle patterns in a very precise, cost-efficient, and large-scale manner. For this study, we assembled nanoparticle aggregates of different sizes (one to six particles) in order to determine the influence of the aggregation on the local electric field enhancement.

Factors affecting residence time of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) injected into the myocardium.

The therapeutic mechanism of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction is not well understood. Our goal was to get insights into this mechanism by analyzing the survival kinetics of allogeneic and syngeneic cell transplants under different tissue conditions. Two MSC cell banks, stably and equally expressing the luciferase reporter construct, were developed for these studies and injected directly to the myocardium of Lewis rat recipients under syngeneic or allogeneic transplantation conditions.

Donor face reconstruction in a case of facial allotransplantation: technical note.

Families of organ donors are much more reluctant to approve donation of the corneas, face, and hands than of internal organs. The idea to "sacrifice" the face of a dead loved one is shocking to many. Moreover, most national laws, including Belgian laws, demand respect for the corpse.

Maintained geometry, elasticity and contractility of human saphenous vein segments stored in a complex tissue culture medium.

Objective: Improved maintenance of endothelial function and higher viability of saphenous vein grafts stored in a complex tissue culture medium (TCM) have been demonstrated. This article studies the biomechanical properties of saphenous vein segments.

Design: Biomechanical properties of 72 saphenous vein segments remaining from coronary bypass grafting of 32 patients have been studied after different storage procedures.

Microalbuminuria in inflammatory bowel diseases using immunoturbidimetry and high-performance liquid chromatography.

Background And Study Aims: To measure urinary albumin excretion using immunoturbidimetry (IT) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 60 selected patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 57 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 22 healthy volunteers, as controls. Urinary albumin excretion was measured by IT and HPLC, and albumin-creatinine ratio was calculated.

Staging laparoscopy in digestive cancers.

BACKGROUND. Laparoscopy and laparoscopic ultrasonography may assist in the more accurate staging of digestive cancers. We assessed the diagnostic value of staging laparoscopy in patients with cancers of lower esophagus, stomach, liver, biliary tract, pancreas and colon.

An implantable bi-directional brain-machine interface system for chronic neuroprosthesis research.

An implantable bi-directional brain-machine interface (BMI) prototype is presented. With sensing, algorithm, wireless telemetry, and stimulation therapy capabilities, the system is designed for chronic studies exploring closed-loop and diagnostic opportunities for neuroprosthetics. In particular, we hope to enable fundamental chronic research into the physiology of neurological disorders, define key electrical biomarkers related to disease, and apply this learning to patient-specific algorithms for therapeutic stimulation and diagnostics.

Soft lithographic patterning of spin crossover nanoparticles.

Microtransfer molding has been used to fabricate homogeneous micropatterns and nanopatterns of spin crossover nanoparticles of [Fe(NH(2)trz)](tos)(2) over a large area. We show that the use of an aprotic solvent (n-octane) may lead to successful results. Very well organized micropatterns are obtained, showing spin crossover phenomenon.

Bioinspired artificial photonic nanoarchitecture using the elytron of the beetle Trigonophorus rothschildi varians as a 'blueprint'.

An unusual, intercalated photonic nanoarchitecture was discovered in the elytra of Taiwanese Trigonophorus rothschildi varians beetles. It consists of a multilayer structure intercalated with a random distribution of cylindrical holes normal to the plane of the multilayer. The nanoarchitectures were characterized structurally by scanning electron microscopy and optically by normal incidence, integrated and goniometric reflectance measurements.

Half-magnitude extensions of resolution and field of view in digital holography by scanning and magnification.

Digital holography replaces the permanent recording material of analog holography with an electronic light sensitive matrix detector, but besides the many unique advantages, this brings serious limitations with it as well. The limited resolution of matrix detectors restricts the field of view, and their limited size restricts the resolution in the reconstructed holographic image. Scanning the larger aerial hologram (the interference light field of the object and reference waves in the hologram plane) with the small matrix detector or using magnification for the coarse matrix detector at the readout of the fine-structured aerial hologram, these are straightforward solutions but have been exploited only partially until now.

Real-time measurements of coagulation on bacterial cellulose and conventional vascular graft materials.

The search for a functional, small diameter (<5mm) vascular graft has been ongoing for over 30 years, but yet there is no consistently reliable synthetic graft. The primary mechanisms of graft failure are intimal hyperplasia, poor blood flow and surface thrombogenicity. Bacterial cellulose (BC) became therefore a proposed new biosynthetic vascular graft material.

Electric-field-induced charge-transfer phase transition: a promising approach toward electrically switchable devices.

Much research has been directed toward the development of electrically switchable optical materials for applications in memory and display devices. Here we present experimental evidence for an electric-field-induced charge-transfer phase transition in two cyanometalate complexes: Rb(0.8)Mn[Fe(CN)(6)](0.

Measurement of the modification and interference rate of urinary albumin detected by size-exclusion HPLC.

The measurement of the excretion of urinary albumin (albuminuria) is an important and well-established method to assess clinical outcomes. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been introduced to measure albuminuria. Using this method, it was found that commonly used immunological methods do not measure a fraction of urinary albumin.

Nonspecific inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis evokes endothelin-dependent increases in myocardial contractility.

The role of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) in modulating myocardial contractility is still unclear, in part because of unknown, secondary effects of blocking NO release. We hypothesized that the nonspecific inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enhances endothelin-1 (ET-1) effects, which can play a role in ET-A receptor-dependent myocardial contractile responses. The myocardial contractility was estimated from the slope of the left ventricular end-systolic pressure-diameter relationship in closed-chest, pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs.