A smartphone-smartcard platform for contingency management in an inner-city substance use disorder outpatient program.

Contingency management (CM) is an efficacious incentive-based intervention for promoting drug abstinence, but treatment providers have not widely adopted it. Smartphone and smart debit card technologies can deliver automated, patient-centered, high-fidelity CM and related services, including cognitive behavioral therapy and appointment reminders. This study evaluated clinical outcomes associated with an integrated smartphone-smartcard platform in an inner-city outpatient clinic.

Platelet hyperactivation, apoptosis and hypercoagulability in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

Changes in systemic redox balance can alter platelet activation and aggregation. Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a systematic inflammatory disease associated with mechanical shear stress, increased thrombin, catecholamines, serotonin and hemolysis, which cumulatively can hyperactivate platelets and accelerate their turnover. We tested the hypothesis that platelets from patients with moderately severe PE will show hyperstimulation and a pre-apoptotic phenotype associated with microparticles (MPs) in plasma.

Chronic Embolic Pulmonary Hypertension Caused by Pulmonary Embolism and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibition.

Our understanding of the pathophysiological basis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) will be accelerated by an animal model that replicates the phenotype of human CTEPH. Sprague-Dawley rats were administered a combination of a single dose each of plastic microspheres and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor antagonist in polystyrene microspheres (PE) + tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU5416 (SU) group. Shams received volume-matched saline; PE and SU groups received only microspheres or SU5416, respectively.

Structural and functional characterization of endothelial microparticles released by cigarette smoke.

Circulating endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are emerging as biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in individuals exposed to cigarette smoke (CS), but their mechanism of release and function remain unknown. We assessed biochemical and functional characteristics of EMPs and circulating microparticles (cMPs) released by CS. CS exposure was sufficient to increase microparticle levels in plasma of humans and mice, and in supernatants of primary human lung microvascular endothelial cells.

Topical application of a platelet activating factor receptor agonist suppresses phorbol ester-induced acute and chronic inflammation and has cancer chemopreventive activity in mouse skin.

Platelet activating factor (PAF) has long been associated with acute edema and inflammatory responses. PAF acts by binding to a specific G-protein coupled receptor (PAF-R, Ptafr). However, the role of chronic PAF-R activation on sustained inflammatory responses has been largely ignored.

Mice lacking epidermal PPARγ exhibit a marked augmentation in photocarcinogenesis associated with increased UVB-induced apoptosis, inflammation and barrier dysfunction.

Recent studies suggest that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonists may have cancer chemopreventive activity. Other studies have shown that loss of epidermal PPARγ results in enhanced chemical carcinogenesis in mice via unknown mechanisms. However, ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure represents the primary etiological agent for skin cancer formation and the role of PPARγ in photobiology and photocarcinogenesis is unknown.

Platelet-activating factor receptor agonists mediate xeroderma pigmentosum A photosensitivity.

To date, oxidized glycerophosphocholines (Ox-GPCs) with platelet-activating factor (PAF) activity produced non-enzymatically have not been definitively demonstrated to mediate any known disease processes. Here we provide evidence that these Ox-GPCs play a pivotal role in the photosensitivity associated with the deficiency of the DNA repair protein xeroderma pigmentosum type A (XPA). It should be noted that XPA-deficient cells are known to have decreased antioxidant defenses.

Loss of the platelet activating factor receptor in mice augments PMA-induced inflammation and cutaneous chemical carcinogenesis.

Although platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a well-known acute inflammatory mediator, little is known regarding the role of PAF in chronic inflammation. Phorbol esters are known to stimulate PAF production. Moreover, the ability of repeated applications of phorbol esters to induce a sustained inflammatory response is crucial to their tumorigenic activity.

Enzymatic saccharification and viscosity of sawdust slurries following ultrasonic particle size reduction.

Results in a previous study showed up to a 55% increase in saccharification rates when the initial particle size range decreased from 590 < x < 850 microm down to 33 < x < 75 microm. The smaller particle sizes also lowered the viscosity of the slurry 50-fold (for an equivalent initial solids concentration). In this study, ultrasonic irradiation was employed to further reduce the particle size of sawdust slurries below the ranges in the previous study in an attempt to further increase enzymatic saccharification rates and lower the slurry viscosity.

Biosensor for diagnosing Factor V Leiden, a single amino acid mutated abnormality of Factor V.

Factor V Leiden (FVL) is an abnormality with a single amino acid mutation of Factor V (FV) and is the most common, hereditary blood coagulation disorder. FVL is currently diagnosed by DNA analysis, which takes a long assay time, high cost, and a specially trained person. We are developing a rapid, accurate, and cost-effective biosensing system to quantify both FV and FVL in blood plasma, to diagnose FVL and also to evaluate the seriousness of the disease status.

Separation of protein C from Cohn Fraction IV-1 by mini-antibody.

Human protein C (PC) is a natural anticoagulant, antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic in the bloodstream. PC deficiency can lead to abnormal blood clot formation inside blood vessels, possibly causing heart attack, stroke, skin necrosis, or even death. PC can be, therefore, a valuable therapeutic with little side effect, unlike the currently used anti-coagulants.