Winter thermohaline evolution along and below the Ross Ice Shelf.

The Ross Ice Shelf floats above the southern sector of the Ross Sea and creates a cavity where critical ocean-ice interactions take place. Crucial processes occurring in this cavity include the formation of Ice Shelf Water, the coldest ocean water, and the intrusion of Antarctic Surface Water, the main driver of frontal and basal melting. During the winter, a polynya forms along the Ross Ice Shelf edge, producing a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water known as High Salinity Shelf Water.

Rossby waves driven by the Mid Mediterranean Jet impact the Eastern Mediterranean mesoscale dynamics.

The most prominent and persistent feature of the eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin (LB) is the warm anticyclonic Cyprus Eddy (CE) located above the Eratosthenes Seamount (ESM). This eddy periodically couples with two smaller cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, the South Shikmona Eddy (SSE) and North Shikmona Eddy (NSE), which form downstream. The reason for the zonal drift of the CE center and the formation mechanism of the CE, SSE and NSE is largely debated today, yet the upwelling and biological productivity of the LB can be strongly impacted by the local dynamics.

Post-ROSC peripheral perfusion index discriminates 30-day survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background: Prognostication after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a challenge. The peripheral-derived perfusion index (PI) is a simple and non-invasive way to assess perfusion. We sought to assess whether the PI was able to discriminate the prognosis of patients resuscitated from an OHCA.

Positioning issues of spinal surgery during pregnancy.

Background: Albeit rarely, different spinal pathologies may require surgical treatment during pregnancy. The management of such cases poses a series of challenges, starting with adequate body positioning.

Objective: To illustrate limits and indications of the different surgical positioning strategies for pregnant women undergoing spine surgery.

EA-DIVA score (Enhanced Adult DIVA score): A new scale to predict difficult preoperative venous cannulation in adult surgical patients.

Introduction: Providing peripheral intravenous access is one of the most commonly performed technical procedures in hospitals and it is mandatory for all patients undergoing surgery. Obtaining peripheral intravenous access may be difficult and this may cause delays in patient management, increased risk of adverse events and hospitalization costs. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a scale to identify patients at risk of peripheral difficult intravenous access, applicable to any adult patient undergoing surgery.

Expression and activation of platelet-derived growth factor β receptor, mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in canine mammary tumours.

Canine mammary tumours are frequent neoplasms mostly affecting intact female dogs, for which no 100% efficient therapy is available. Platelet derived growth factor β receptor (PDGFβR) is a tyrosine kinase receptor (TKR) with a potential role in human breast cancer and a series of canine tumours. In this study we demonstrated, for the first time, expression of PDGFβR and its downstream transduction molecules, mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), as well as their activated forms in canine mammary tumours by both biochemical analysis and immunohistochemistry.

Skin and hair follicle integrity is crucially dependent on beta 1 integrin expression on keratinocytes.

beta 1 integrins are ubiquitously expressed receptors that mediate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. To analyze the function of beta1 integrin in skin we generated mice with a keratinocyte-restricted deletion of the beta 1 integrin gene using the cre-loxP system. Mutant mice developed severe hair loss due to a reduced proliferation of hair matrix cells and severe hair follicle abnormalities.

The parathyroid hormone (PTH)/PTH-related peptide receptor mediates actions of both ligands in murine bone.

PTH and PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) have been shown to bind to and activate the same PTH/PTHrP receptor. Recent studies have demonstrated, however, the presence of additional receptors specific for each ligand. We used the PTHrP and PTH/PTHrP receptor gene knock-out models to investigate whether this receptor mediates the actions of both ligands in bone.

Normalization of mineral ion homeostasis by dietary means prevents hyperparathyroidism, rickets, and osteomalacia, but not alopecia in vitamin D receptor-ablated mice.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 plays a major role in intestinal calcium transport. To determine what phenotypic abnormalities observed in vitamin D receptor (VDR)-ablated mice are secondary to impaired intestinal calcium absorption rather than receptor deficiency, mineral ion levels were normalized by dietary means. VDR-ablated mice and control littermates were fed a diet that has been shown to prevent secondary hyperparathyroidism in vitamin D-deficient rats.

Analysis of vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein messenger ribonucleic acid expression in mice lacking the vitamin D receptor.

To investigate the roles of the receptor-dependent actions of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3] in the regulation of vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding proteins (calbindin-D), the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of calbindin-D9k and -28k were examined in vitamin D receptor (VDR)-ablated mice and control littermates. In VDR-ablated mice, calbindin-D9k mRNA was dramatically reduced in the intestine, kidneys, lungs, and brain; however, calbindin-D28k mRNA was only moderately decreased in the kidney. After 1,25-(OH)2D3 injection, calbindin-D9k mRNA levels and renal and alveolar calbindin-D28k mRNA levels were induced in control animals, but not in the homozygous mice.

Targeted expression of constitutively active receptors for parathyroid hormone and parathyroid hormone-related peptide delays endochondral bone formation and rescues mice that lack parathyroid hormone-related peptide.

Mice in which the genes encoding the parathyroid hormone (PTH)-related peptide (PTHrP) or the PTH/PTHrP receptor have been ablated by homologous recombination show skeletal dysplasia due to accelerated endochondral bone formation, and die at birth or in utero, respectively. Skeletal abnormalities due to decelerated chondrocyte maturation are observed in transgenic mice where PTHrP expression is targeted to the growth plate, and in patients with Jansen metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, a rare genetic disorder caused by constitutively active PTH/PTHrP receptors. These and other findings thus indicate that PTHrP and its receptor are essential for chondrocyte differentiation.

Targeted ablation of the vitamin D receptor: an animal model of vitamin D-dependent rickets type II with alopecia.

Vitamin D, the major steroid hormone that controls mineral ion homeostasis, exerts its actions through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The VDR is expressed in many tissues, including several tissues not thought to play a role in mineral metabolism. Studies in kindreds with VDR mutations (vitamin D-dependent rickets type II, VDDR II) have demonstrated hypocalcemia, hyperparathyroidism, rickets, and osteomalacia.

PTH/PTHrP receptor in early development and Indian hedgehog-regulated bone growth.

The PTH/PTHrP receptor binds to two ligands with distinct functions: the calcium-regulating hormone, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and the paracrine factor, PTH-related protein (PTHrP). Each ligand, in turn, is likely to activate more than one receptor. The functions of the PTH/PTHrP receptor were investigated by deletion of the murine gene by homologous recombination.