The fate of an inhaled cigarette puff in the human respiratory tract.

Objective: Cigarette smoking can lead to a host of adverse health effects such as lung and heart disease. Increased lung cancer risk is associated with inhalation of carcinogens present in a puff of smoke. These carcinogenic compounds deposit in the lung at different sites and trigger a cascade of events leading to adverse outcomes.

The Impact of Ultrashort Pulse Laser Structuring of Metals on In-Vitro Cell Adhesion of Keratinocytes.

Besides the need for biomaterial surface modification to improve cellular attachment, laser-structuring is favorable for designing a new surface topography for external bone fixator pins or implants. The principle of this study was to observe how bioinspired (deer antler) laser-induced nano-microstructures influenced the adhesion and growth of skin cells. The goal was to create pins that allow the skin to attach to the biomaterial surface in a bacteria-proof manner.

Tau accumulation is associated with dopamine deficiency in vivo in four-repeat tauopathies.

Purpose: We hypothesized that severe tau burden in brain regions involved in direct or indirect pathways of the basal ganglia correlate with more severe striatal dopamine deficiency in four-repeat (4R) tauopathies. Therefore, we correlated [F]PI-2620 tau-positron-emission-tomography (PET) imaging with [I]-Ioflupane single-photon-emission-computed tomography (SPECT) for dopamine transporter (DaT) availability.

Methods: Thirty-eight patients with clinically diagnosed 4R-tauopathies (21 male; 69.

Applying Automated MR-Based Diagnostic Methods to the Memory Clinic: A Prospective Study.

Several studies have demonstrated that fully automated pattern recognition methods applied to structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) aid in the diagnosis of dementia, but these conclusions are based on highly preselected samples that significantly differ from that seen in a dementia clinic. At a single dementia clinic, we evaluated the ability of a linear support vector machine trained with completely unrelated data to differentiate between Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Lewy body dementia, and healthy aging based on 3D-T1 weighted MRI data sets. Furthermore, we predicted progression to AD in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and automatically quantified white matter hyperintensities from FLAIR-images.

Reprogramming of the ERRα and ERα target gene landscape triggers tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer.

Endocrine treatment regimens for breast cancer that target the estrogen receptor-α (ERα) are effective, but acquired resistance remains a limiting drawback. One mechanism of acquired resistance that has been hypothesized is functional substitution of the orphan receptor estrogen-related receptor-α (ERRα) for ERα. To examine this hypothesis, we analyzed ERRα and ERα in recurrent tamoxifen-resistant breast tumors and conducted a genome-wide target gene profiling analysis of MCF-7 breast cancer cell populations that were sensitive or resistant to tamoxifen treatment.

Antibody capture of soluble Abeta does not reduce cortical Abeta amyloidosis in the PDAPP mouse.

Background: In vivo administration of antibodies against the amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide has been shown to reduce and reverse the progressive amyloidosis that develops in a variety of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This work has been extended to clinical trials where subsequent autopsy cases of AD subjects immunized against Abeta showed similar reductions in parenchymal amyloid plaques, suggesting this approach to reduce neuropathology in man is feasible.

Objective: Multiple hypotheses have been advanced to explain how anti-Abeta antibodies may lower amyloid burden.

The influence of the dopaminergic system on cognitive functioning: A molecular genetic approach.

Many pharmacological and clinical studies have demonstrated the importance of the dopaminergic (DA) system for cognitive functioning but little is known about the genetic basis of general cognitive ability that has been demonstrated to be highly heritable. Attempts to detect associations between certain gene loci and endophenotypes of general cognitive ability have turned out to be more promising. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate two dopaminergic candidate genes (COMT VAL158MET and DRD2 TAQ IA) for endophenotypes of cognitive functioning i.

Cortical spreading depression induces proinflammatory cytokine gene expression in the rat brain.

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is characterized by reversible neuronal dysfunction in the absence of cell death. Preconditioning by CSD induces tolerance against subsequent lethal ischemia. In this study, we used quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemistry to analyze proinflammatory cytokine expression after CSD induced by topical application of potassium chloride (KCl) to the cortical surface of rat brains.

Pacemaker contact sensitivity.

In a patient who had 4 cardiac pacemakers implanted and removed, pruritus, redness, and swelling of the skin overlying the pacemaker developed at intervals of 6 weeks to 17 months after insertion. Patch testing showed a 2+ reaction to titanium. The positive result of this test, the titanium case of the generator, and the history of multiple local reactions around the generator site pointed toward contact sensitivity to the pacemaker.

Bronopol allergic contact dermatitis.

Bronopol (2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol) is an antimicrobial compound widely used as a preservative, primarily in cosmetic formulations. Analysis of patch tests performed on our patients revealed an incidence of 12.5% relevant positive results to 0.

Immunofluorescence identification of eosinophil granule major basic protein in the flame figures of Wells' syndrome.

An indirect immunofluorescence assay using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded skin was performed on six biopsies from four patients with eosinophilic cellulitis (Wells' syndrome) to determine the extracellular localization of eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP). Serial sections from each biopsy were treated with either affinity chromatography-purified antihuman-MBP or staphylococcal protein A purified rabbit IgG (control material). There was striking extracellular fluorescence localized to flame figures, and intracellular staining of eosinophils in all sections treated with anti-MBP as compared with controls.

Localization of eosinophil granule major basic protein in chronic urticaria.

The role of the eosinophil in the pathogenesis of cutaneous diseases is not known. The eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP), constituting the core and accounting for greater than 50% of the eosinophil granule, is toxic to helminths and mammalian cells. To determine whether eosinophil degranulation occurs in lesions of chronic urticaria, we performed an indirect immunofluorescence assay on sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue, utilizing affinity chromatography-purified antibody to MBP.

Tests for treponemal antibody in CSF.

We studied the potential usefulness of CSF treponemal tests in the diagnosis of neurosyphillis. The CSF was tested with the microhemagglutination test for Treponema pallidum (CSF-MHA-TP test) and with the CSF-FTA test by using undiluted CSF and CSF diluted in saline and in sorbent. In a prospective evaluation, of 177 nonsyphilitics, none had reactive CSF-MHA-TP tests and only one had a reactive CSF-FTA test.