Parametric diffusion tensor imaging of the breast.

Objectives: To investigate the ability of parametric diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), applied at 3 Tesla, to dissect breast tissue architecture and evaluate breast lesions.

Materials And Methods: All protocols were approved and a signed informed consent was obtained from all subjects. The study included 21 healthy women, 26 women with 33 malignant lesions, and 14 women with 20 benign lesions.

Takayasu arteritis: intravascular contrast medium for MR angiography in the evaluation of disease activity.

Objective: Takayasu arteritis is difficult to diagnose, and the evaluation of disease activity is even more challenging. Laboratory, clinical, and radiologic criteria are limited indicators of disease activity. Gadofosveset trisodium is a recently introduced intravascular contrast agent.

Directional limits on persistent gravitational waves using LIGO S5 science data.

The gravitational-wave (GW) sky may include nearby pointlike sources as well as stochastic backgrounds. We perform two directional searches for persistent GWs using data from the LIGO S5 science run: one optimized for pointlike sources and one for arbitrary extended sources. Finding no evidence to support the detection of GWs, we present 90% confidence level (C.

Genetic and functional characterization of a yet-unclassified rhizobial Dtr (DNA-transfer-and-replication) region from a ubiquitous plasmid conjugal system present in Sinorhizobium meliloti, in Sinorhizobium medicae, and in other nonrhizobial Gram-negative bacteria.

Rhizobia are Gram-negative bacteria that live in soils and associate with leguminous plants to establish nitrogen-fixing symbioses. The ability of these bacteria to undergo horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is thought to be one of the main features to explain both the origin of their symbiotic life-style and the plasticity and dynamics of their genomes. In our laboratory we have previously characterized at the species level the non-pSym plasmid mobilome in Sinorhizobium meliloti, the symbiont of Medicago spp.

Security risks associated with radio frequency identification in medical environments.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a form of wireless communication that is used to identify assets and people. RFID has significant benefits to the medical environment. However, serious security threats are present in RFID systems that must be addressed in a medical environment.

Bradykinin enhances Sindbis virus infection in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Sindbis virus (SINV) induces inflammatory and vasoactive responses that are associated with rash and arthritis in human infections. The mechanisms underlying infection-associated microvasculopathy are still unknown. We investigated whether endothelial cells infected by SINV are differentially responsive to bradykinin (BK), a potent inducer of inflammatory edema in a broad range of infectious diseases.

Multimodal neuroimaging in patients with disorders of consciousness showing "functional hemispherectomy".

Beside behavioral assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness, neuroimaging modalities may offer objective paraclinical markers important for diagnosis and prognosis. They provide information on the structural location and extent of brain lesions (e.g.

Targeting reactive astrogliosis by novel biotechnological strategies.

Neuroglial cells are fundamental for control of brain homeostasis and synaptic plasticity. Decades of pathological and physiological studies have focused on neurons in neurodegenerative disorders, but it is becoming increasingly evident that glial cells play an irreplaceable part in brain homeostasis and synaptic plasticity. Animal models of brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases have largely contributed to current understanding of astrocyte-specific mechanisms participating in brain function and neurodegeneration.

Appendiceal carcinoid at a large tertiary center: pathologic findings and long-term follow-up evaluation.

Background: Appendiceal carcinoid tumor is the most common type of primary appendiceal malignant lesion. Nonetheless; it is an exceedingly rare diagnosis; found in only about .3% to .

Development of new positive-selection RIVET tools: detection of induced promoters by the excision-based transcriptional activation of an aacCI (GmR)-gfp fusion.

RIVET (Recombination Based in vivo Expression Technology) is a powerful genetic tool originally conceived for the identification of genes induced in complex biological niches where conventional transcriptomics is difficult to use. With a broader application, genetic recombination-based technologies have also been used, in combination with regulatory proteins and specific transcriptional regulators, for the development of highly sensitive biosensor systems. RIVET systems generally comprise two modules: a promoter-trap cassette generating genomic transcriptional fusions to the tnpR gene encoding the Tn-γδ TnpR resolvase, and a reporter cassette carrying res-flanked selection markers that are excised upon expression of tnpR to produce an irreversible, inheritable phenotypic change.

Post-anoxic vegetative state: imaging and prognostic perspectives.

Prognostic determination of patients in coma after resuscitation from cardiac arrest is a common and difficult requirement with significant ethical, social and legal implications. We set out to seek markers that can be used for the early detection of patients with a poor prognosis, so as to reduce uncertainty over treatment and non-treatment decisions, and to improve relationships with families. We reviewed the medical literature from 1991 to 2010, using key words such as post-anoxic coma, post-anoxic vegetative state, vegetative state prognosis, recovery after cardiac arrest.

Resting state activity in patients with disorders of consciousness.

Recent advances in the study of spontaneous brain activity have demonstrated activity patterns that emerge with no task performance or sensory stimulation; these discoveries hold promise for the study of higher-order associative network functionality. Additionally, such advances are argued to be relevant in pathological states, such as disorders of consciousness (DOC), i.e.

BB14, a Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)-like peptide shown to be effective in reducing reactive astrogliosis and restoring synaptic homeostasis in a rat model of peripheral nerve injury.

Peptidomimetics hold a great promise as therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative disorders. We previously described a Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)-like peptide, now named BB14, which was found to act as a strong TrkA agonist and to be effective in the sciatic nerve injury model of neuropathic pain. In this report we present the effects of BB14 in reducing reactive astrocytosis and reverting neuroplastic changes of the glutamate/GABAergic circuitry in the lumbar spinal cord following spared nerve injury (SNI) of the sciatic nerve.

[Characteristics of women victims of sexual violence and their compliance with outpatient follow-up: time trends at a referral center in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil].

Sexual violence is a crime against individual integrity and sexual freedom. It affects women of all socioeconomic levels, and the perpetrator does not choose the victim's color or age. It is a source of high financial cost and a serious public health problem in Brazil.

Cross-talk between cell cycle induction and mitochondrial dysfunction during oxidative stress and nerve growth factor withdrawal in differentiated PC12 cells.

Neuronal death has been reported to involve mitochondrial dysfunction and cell cycle reentry. In this report, we used Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)-differentiated PC12 cells to investigate mechanisms linking mitochondrial dysfunction and cell cycle activation during neuronal death induced by NGF withdrawal and/or oxidative stress. We found that loss of survival following H(2) O(2) -induced oxidative stress or NGF deprivation was preceded by a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), and up-regulation of cyclin D1 and phosphorylation (Ser-780) of protein retinoblastoma (P-pRb), without an increase of proliferation rates.

Methylphenidate administration determines enduring changes in neuroglial network in rats.

Repeated exposure to psychostimulant drugs induces complex molecular and structural modifications in discrete brain regions of the meso-cortico-limbic system. This structural remodeling is thought to underlie neurobehavioral adaptive responses. Administration to adolescent rats of methylphenidate (MPH), commonly used in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), triggers alterations of reward-based behavior paralleled by persistent and plastic synaptic changes of neuronal and glial markers within key areas of the reward circuits.

Identifying the default-mode component in spatial IC analyses of patients with disorders of consciousness.

Objectives: Recent fMRI studies have shown that it is possible to reliably identify the default-mode network (DMN) in the absence of any task, by resting-state connectivity analyses in healthy volunteers. We here aimed to identify the DMN in the challenging patient population of disorders of consciousness encountered following coma.

Experimental Design: A spatial independent component analysis-based methodology permitted DMN assessment, decomposing connectivity in all its different sources either neuronal or artifactual.

Effect of biological and chemical oxidation on the removal of estrogenic compounds (NP and BPA) from wastewater: an integrated assessment procedure.

A major source of the wide presence of EDCs (Endocrine Disrupting Compounds) in water bodies is represented by direct/indirect discharge of sewage. Recent scientific literature reports data about their trace concentration in water, sediments and aquatic organisms, as well as removal efficiencies of different wastewater treatment schemes. Despite the availability of a huge amount of data, some doubts still persist due to the difficulty in evaluating synergistic effects of trace pollutants in complex matrices.

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as a revisional option after gastric band failure.

Background: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is an effective bariatric procedure with low morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, it is fraught with high failure rates in long-term follow-up. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an emerging procedure, quickly gaining momentum in the arsenal of bariatric practice as a first step toward gastric bypass/biliopancreatic diversion or as a stand-alone operation.

A/ASP/VAL allele combination of IGF1R, IRS2, and UCP2 genes is associated with better metabolic profile, preserved energy expenditure parameters, and low mortality rate in longevity.

A large array of gene involved in human longevity seems to be in relationship with insulin/IGF1 pathway. However, if such genes interact each other, or with other genes, to reduce the age-related metabolic derangement and determine the long-lived phenotype has been poorly investigated. Thus, we tested the role of interchromosomal interactions among IGF1R, IRS2, and UCP2 genes on the probability to reach extreme old age in 722 unrelated Italian subjects (401 women and 321 men; mean age, 62.

First genomic analysis of the broad-host-range Rhizobium sp. LPU83 strain, a member of the low-genetic diversity Oregon-like Rhizobium sp. group.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is the most cultivated forage legume for cattle and animal feeding, occupying about 32 million hectares over the world. Management of the N₂-fixing symbiosis of this plant to maximize crop production is therefore an important objective. A fundamental constraint to this aim emerges when a moderately low soil pH hampers the establishment of an effective symbiosis with indigenous and/or inoculated rhizobia.

Enterococcus faecalis virulence regulator FsrA binding to target promoters.

The FsrABDC signal transduction system is a major virulence regulator in Enterococcus faecalis. The FsrC sensor histidine kinase, upon activation by the gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone (GBAP) peptide encoded by the fsrBD genes, phosphorylates the FsrA response regulator required for the transcription of the fsrBDC and the gelE-sprE genes from the fsrB promoter and the gelE promoter, respectively. FsrA belongs to the LytTR family of proteins, which includes other virulence regulators, such as AgrA of Staphylococcus aureus, AlgR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and VirR of Clostridium perfringens.