Increased neuronal nitric oxide synthase dimerisation is involved in rat and human pancreatic beta cell hyperactivity in obesity.

Aims/hypothesis: Pancreatic beta cell hyperactivity is known to occur in obesity, particularly in insulin-resistant states. Our aim was to investigate whether changes in neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) function affect beta cell compensation in two relevant models: the Zucker fa/fa rats and pancreatic islets from obese humans.

Methods: Glucose-induced insulin response was evaluated in the isolated perfused rat pancreas and in human pancreatic islets from obese individuals.

[Diagnosis and management of vascular anomalies].

Vascular anomalies are a complex pathological group. They are especially difficult to study because of confusion in the terminology used. The classification developed by the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) in 1996 allows using a common scientific language.

[Radiology as seen by medical students].

Purpose: To determine the impact of exposing medical students to medical imaging during the first year of the second cycle of medical school (DCEM1) on their perception of this medical specialty and the acquisition of its basic concepts.

Materials And Methods: All students in the 2007-2008 graduation class entering into the first year of the second cycle of medical school were anonymously enrolled into this project that included pre-rotation and post-rotation questionnaires, theory classes followed by clinical rotations with clearly predetermined objectives.

Results: A total of 108 students were enrolled, with 70% being females.

Structure and activity of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae dUTP pyrophosphatase DUT1, an essential housekeeping enzyme.

Genomes of all free-living organisms encode the enzyme dUTPase (dUTP pyrophosphatase), which plays a key role in preventing uracil incorporation into DNA. In the present paper, we describe the biochemical and structural characterization of DUT1 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae dUTPase). The hydrolysis of dUTP by DUT1 was strictly dependent on a bivalent metal cation with significant activity observed in the presence of Mg2+, Co2+, Mn2+, Ni2+ or Zn2+.

What is the contribution of elastography to thyroid nodules evaluation?

The determination of elasticity index by elastography has been recently proposed in the evaluation of thyroid nodules, since malignancy is correlated with stiffness of the nodules. The aim of this report is to give an overview on different techniques and results reported by eleven groups active on the field. Advantages and limitations of elastography are also discussed.

Treatment of venous malformations: first experience with a new sclerosing agent--a multicenter study.

Purpose: To study the efficacy and safety of a new sclerosing gel of absolute ethanol in the percutaneous treatment of venous malformations (VM).

Materials And Methods: In this prospective, non-randomized multicenter study patients with clinically and by magnetic resonance imaging diagnosed VM were treated. Efficacy and safety of the gel was evaluated.

[Management of fetal mediastinal shift: a practical approach].

The purpose of this article is to review the technique of fetal chest ultrasound screening evaluation, the diagnostic work-up in the presence of fetal mediastinal shift and which ultrasound imaging features to look for. The first step in evaluating the fetal thorax is to confirm situs. Then, a median sagittal line is drawn from a four-chamber view to assist in spatial orientation followed by echotexture analysis of the structures of the thorax in the presence of mediastinal shift.

Analysis of mechanisms involved in reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhi and Paratyphi A isolates from travellers to Southeast Asia.

Owing to multidrug resistance, quinolones and third-generation cephalosporins are currently used as key antibiotics to combat Salmonella organisms. Therapy failure due to reduced ciprofloxacin susceptibility has been reported in endemic areas, but also in imported disease. Different bacterial resistance mechanisms may result in reduced ciprofloxacin susceptibility.

1H, 13C and 15N assignment of the GNA1946 outer membrane lipoprotein from Neisseria meningitidis.

GNA1946 (Genome-derived Neisseria Antigen 1946) is a highly conserved exposed outer membrane lipoprotein from Neisseria meningitidis bacteria of 287 amino acid length (31 kDa). Although the structure of NMB1946 has been solved recently by X-Ray crystallography, understanding the behaviour of GNA1946 in aqueuos solution is highly relevant for the discovery of the antigenic determinants of the protein that will possibly lead to a more efficient vaccine development against virulent serogroup B strain of N. meningitidis.

Shear wave elastography: a new ultrasound imaging mode for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

Context: Elastography uses ultrasound (US) to assess elasticity. Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a new technique that estimates tissue stiffness in real time and is quantitative and user independent.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the efficiency of SWE in predicting malignancy and to compare SWE with US.

Quercetin potentiates insulin secretion and protects INS-1 pancreatic β-cells against oxidative damage via the ERK1/2 pathway.

Background And Purpose: Quercetin lowers plasma glucose, normalizes glucose tolerance tests and preserves pancreatic β-cell integrity in diabetic rats. However, its mechanism of action has never been explored in insulin-secreting β-cells. Using the INS-1 β-cell line, the effects of quercetin were determined on glucose- or glibenclamide-induced insulin secretion and on β-cell dysfunctions induced by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)).

Neopterin and procalcitonin are suitable biomarkers for exclusion of severe Plasmodium falciparum disease at the initial clinical assessment of travellers with imported malaria.

Background: Most clinicians in developed, non-malaria endemic countries have limited or no experience in making clinical assessments of malaria disease severity and subsequent decisions regarding the need for parenteral therapy or high-level monitoring in febrile patients with imported malaria. In the present study, the diagnostic accuracy of plasma soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1), neopterin and procalcitonin levels as biomarkers for severe Plasmodium falciparum disease was evaluated in 104 travellers with imported malaria (26 patients with non-P. falciparum malaria, 64 patients with uncomplicated P.

[Infrapatellar fat pad: anterior crossroads of the knee].

The infrapatellar fat pad or Hoffa's fat pad is a cylindrical extrasynovial collection of fat located in the infrapatellar region. Anatomical, biomechanical and imaging data show that the infrapatellar fat pad constitutes a true crossroads between patella, femur and tibia and helps in understanding if not describing regional pathology. Intrinsic lesions (with abnormal signal on MRI) such as hoffitis, anterolateral impingement, plica syndrome, post-arthroscopic changes, trauma, patellar dislocation and extrasynovial tumors are less frequent.

Optimal whole-body vibration settings for muscle strength and power enhancement in human knee extensors.

This study compared the effects of 6-week whole-body vibration (WBV) training programs with different frequency and peak-to-peak displacement settings on knee extensor muscle strength and power. The underlying mechanisms of the expected gains were also investigated. Thirty-two physically active male subjects were randomly assigned to a high-frequency/high peak-to-peak displacement group (HH; n=12), a low-frequency/low peak-to-peak displacement group (LL; n=10) or a sham training group (SHAM; n=10).

[Non-observance and therapeutic inertia in obstetrics].

Observance around pregnancy includes two parts: what can be done before conception and what must be done during pregnancy. Preconception care, if efficaciously performed, offerss real benefits for foetal and child development. Its efficacy will depends on the involvement and motivation of physicians and particularly also on the patient's observance.

[Vascular anomalies: information documents].

Vascular anomalies are a complex pathological group. They are composed of hemangiomas and other vascular tumors and congenital vascular malformations: venous, lymphatic, arteriovenous and capillary malformations. The management of these anomalies is difficult and must involve an interdisciplinary approach.

Exploiting antigenic diversity for vaccine design: the chlamydia ArtJ paradigm.

We present an interdisciplinary approach that, by incorporating a range of experimental and computational techniques, allows the identification and characterization of functional/immunogenic domains. This approach has been applied to ArtJ, an arginine-binding protein whose orthologs in Chlamydiae trachomatis (CT ArtJ) and pneumoniae (CPn ArtJ) are shown to have different immunogenic properties despite a high sequence similarity (60% identity). We have solved the crystallographic structures of CT ArtJ and CPn ArtJ, which are found to display a type II transporter fold organized in two α-β domains with the arginine-binding region at their interface.

Impregnation of bone chips with antibiotics and storage of antibiotics at different temperatures: an in vitro study.

Background: Allograft bone used in joint replacement surgery can additionally serve as a carrier for antibiotics and serve as a prophylaxis against infections. However, in vitro dose-response curves for bone chips impregnated with different kinds of antibiotics are not available. In addition, while it would be desirable to add the antibiotics to allograft bone chips before these are stored in a bone bank, the effects of different storage temperatures on antibiotics are unknown.

Chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel: diagnosis and follow-up.

Approximately one fourth of cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) occur during childhood and children are more prone than their adult counterparts to have severe disease at presentation. To investigate these diseases MR imaging is no longer an emerging tool. Numerous reviews and articles have been published on this topic underlying the advances of imaging but also the complexity and the financial impact on management of such diseases.

Mechanistic issues of the interaction of the hairpin-forming domain of tBid with mitochondrial cardiolipin.

Background: The pro-apoptotic effector Bid induces mitochondrial apoptosis in synergy with Bax and Bak. In response to death receptors activation, Bid is cleaved by caspase-8 into its active form, tBid (truncated Bid), which then translocates to the mitochondria to trigger cytochrome c release and subsequent apoptosis. Accumulating evidence now indicate that the binding of tBid initiates an ordered sequences of events that prime mitochondria from the action of Bax and Bak: (1) tBid interacts with mitochondria via a specific binding to cardiolipin (CL) and immediately disturbs mitochondrial structure and function idependently of its BH3 domain; (2) Then, tBid activates through its BH3 domain Bax and/or Bak and induces their subsequent oligomerization in mitochondrial membranes.

[Treatment of severe preeclampsia: until when and for what risks/benefits?].

The four major hypertensive disorders related to pregnancy are preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, preeclampsia superimposed upon chronic hypertension, and gestational hypertension. The development of hypertension and proteinuria in pregnancy is usually due to preeclampsia, particularly in a primigravida. These findings typically become apparent in the latter part of the third trimester and progress until delivery, but some women develop symptoms in the latter half of the second trimester, or intrapartum, or the early postpartum period.