In vivo evaluation of calcium sulfate as a bone graft substitute for lumbar spinal fusion.

Background Context: Posterolateral fusions of the lumbar spine have nonunion rates as high as 35%. The availability of autologous bone to promote fusion is limited, particularly for multilevel fusions. Bone substitutes have been proposed to augment or replace autologous bone for spinal surgery.

Pertussis toxin treatment alters manganese superoxide dismutase activity in lung. Evidence for lung oxygen toxicity in air-breathing rats.

Exposure of rats to hyperoxia or to treatment with endotoxin, increases lung manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) gene expression. However, the paths by which these environmental signals are transduced into enhanced MnSOD gene expression are unknown. We now provide evidence that heterotrimeric G proteins are involved in the hyperoxia-induced increase in lung MnSOD gene expression but that pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins are not involved in the endotoxin-induced elevation of lung MnSOD gene expression.

Anisotropy of water diffusion in the myocardium of the rat.

Pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance methods combined with nuclear magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine the water diffusion anisotropy in perfused rat hearts at 37 degrees C. It was found that the observed diffusion coefficient D(app) (apparent diffusion coefficient) depends on the orientation of the applied gradient g. When g is parallel to the epicardial surface, the observed diffusivity is D(app) parallel = 1.