Mice deficient in PKCbeta and apolipoprotein E display decreased atherosclerosis.

Endothelial activation is a central initiating event in atheroma formation. Evidence from our laboratory and others has demonstrated links between activation of early growth response-1 (Egr-1) and atherosclerosis and also has demonstrated that activated protein kinase C (PKC) betaII is a critical upstream regulator of Egr-1 in response to vascular stress. We tested the role of PKCbeta in regulating key events linked to atherosclerosis and show that the aortas of apoE(-/-) mice display an age-dependent increase in PKCbetaII antigen in membranous fractions vs.

Functional computed tomographic quantification of angiogenesis in rabbit VX2 soft-tissue tumor before and after interventional therapy.

Objective: Our purpose was to investigate the applicative value of multislice spiral computed tomography (CT) perfusion imaging on quantitative assessment of tumor angiogenesis before and after transcatheter arterial embolization and monitoring the early interventional therapeutic effect in malignant solid tumors.

Methods: Sixteen New Zealand white rabbits successfully implanted VX2 tumor in the unilateral proximal thigh were divided into 2 groups (8 per group) at random and performed conventional CT plain scan and perfusion scan 14 days after implantation and 3 days after interventional therapy, respectively. The values of blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), mean transit time (MTT), and permeability surface area product (PS) in VX2 tumors and normal muscles were computed after intravenous bolus administration of iodinated contrast medium, and the differences among them were analyzed.

Quantitative investigation of solitary pulmonary nodules: dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and histopathologic analysis.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to analyze the relation between enhancement patterns on dynamic enhanced MRI and histologic microvessel patterns of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) and to address the topic of false-positive findings in differentiating SPNs with dynamic MRI.

Subjects And Methods: Sixty-eight patients with 68 pathologically proven SPNs (diameter View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carboxymethylated-bacterial cellulose for copper and lead ion removal.

Carboxymethylated-bacterial cellulose (CM-BC) was synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum by adding water-soluble carboxymethylated cellulose (CMC) in the culture medium. The CM-BC was examined for the removal of copper and lead ions from aqueous solution compared with BC. The effects of performance parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time on copper and lead ion adsorption were analyzed.

Role of multi-drug resistance-associated protein-1 transporter in statin-induced myopathy.

This study investigated the effects of probenecid to inhibit the multi-drug resistance-associated protein-1 (MRP-1) in mediating the efflux and myotoxicity in rat skeletal muscles, with administration of rosuvastatin. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered daily, for 15 days, with either rosuvastatin (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) or probenecid (100 mg/kg) alone, or with a combination of rosuvastatin (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) and probenecid (100 mg/kg). Skeletal muscle toxicity was elevated with probenecid administered with 200 mg/kg/day of rosuvastatin, with the elevation of creatine kinase by 12-fold, alanine aminotrasferase by 10-fold and creatinine by 9-fold at day 15, with no adverse effects observed when probenecid was given alone.

Oxygen deprivation triggers upregulation of early growth response-1 by the receptor for advanced glycation end products.

Myocardial infarction, stroke, and venous thromboembolism are characterized by oxygen deprivation. In hypoxia, biological responses are activated that evoke tissue damage. Rapid activation of early growth response-1 in hypoxia upregulates fundamental inflammatory and prothrombotic stress genes.

PKCbeta modulates ischemia-reperfusion injury in the heart.

Protein kinase C-betaII (PKCbetaII) is an important modulator of cellular stress responses. To test the hypothesis that PKCbetaII modulates the response to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, we subjected mice to occlusion and reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Homozygous PKCbeta-null (PKCbeta(-/-)) and wild-type mice fed the PKCbeta inhibitor ruboxistaurin displayed significantly decreased infarct size and enhanced recovery of left ventricular (LV) function and reduced markers of cellular necrosis and serum creatine phosphokinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels compared with wild-type or vehicle-treated animals after 30 min of ischemia followed by 48 h of reperfusion.

Data redundancy and reduced-scan reconstruction in reflectivity tomography.

In reflectivity tomography, conventional reconstruction approaches require that measurements be acquired at view angles that span a full angular range of 2pi. It is often, however, advantageous to reduce the angular range over which measurements are acquired, in order, for example, to minimize artifacts due to movements of the imaged object. Moreover, in certain situations, it may not be experimentally possible to collect data over a 2pi angular range.

Noise properties of chord-image reconstruction.

Recently, there has been much progress in algorithm development for image reconstruction in cone-beam computed tomography (CT). Current algorithms, including the chord-based algorithms, now accept minimal data sets for obtaining images on volume regions-of-interest (ROIs) thereby potentially allowing for reduction of X-ray dose in diagnostic CT. As these developments are relatively new, little effort has been directed at investigating the response of the resulting algorithm implementations to physical factors such as data noise.

Species-dependent plasma metabolism of the ester compound daidzein 7,4'di-succinic acid mon-ester-O-ethoxy (DZ5).

Daidzein 7,4'di-succinic acid mon-ester-O-ethoxy (DZ5) is an ester-containing compound, which was recently synthesized. The objective of this study was to determine the hydrolysis rate of DZ5 in blood from the rat and the dog. The data showed that the hydrolysis rate of DZ5 in plasma was much more rapid in rats than in dogs following intravenous administration.

A rebinned backprojection-filtration algorithm for image reconstruction in helical cone-beam CT.

In the last few years, mathematically exact algorithms, including the backprojection-filtration (BPF) algorithm, have been developed for accurate image reconstruction in helical cone-beam CT. The BPF algorithm requires minimum data, and can reconstruct region-of-interest (ROI) images from data containing truncations. However, similar to other existing reconstruction algorithms for helical cone-beam CT, the BPF algorithm involves a backprojection with a spatially varying weighting factor, which is computationally demanding and, more importantly, can lead to undesirable numerical properties in reconstructed images.

One-stage surgery of low-grade malignant intravenous uterine leiomyosarcomatosis with right atrium extension.

Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare and aggressive malignant tumor arising from the smooth muscle cells of the myometrium, which rarely metastasizes to the heart. We report the case of a 49-year-old Chinese woman who underwent a successful one-stage surgical intervention after an initial diagnosis of intravenous uterine leiomyomatosis. However, her postoperative biopsy showed the presence of low-grade malignant uterine leiomyosarcoma with intravenous and right atrium extension.

[The sensory organization in the posture stability with interruption induced by standing foam in normal subjects].

Objective: To investigate the sensory organization in the postural stability under sensory conflict induced by standing foam surface in normal individuals.

Method: One hundred and six normal subjects were tested using the computerized posturography under the firm surface and foam surface with eye open and eye closed for 30 seconds respectively. The standing foam surface was to interrupt the somatosensory and closing eyes was to interrupt the visual input in the postural stability.

Local cone-beam tomography image reconstruction on chords.

We develop reconstruction algorithms for local cone-beam tomography for use with generalized scanning trajectories. The algorithms are grounded theoretically in a recently developed chord-based theory for exact image reconstruction and principles of lambda tomography. Being chord based, they are distinct mathematically and conceptually from conventional local tomography reconstruction algorithms.

An equation-free approach to analyzing heterogeneous cell population dynamics.

We propose a computational approach to modeling the collective dynamics of populations of coupled, heterogeneous biological oscillators. We consider the synchronization of yeast glycolytic oscillators coupled by the membrane exchange of an intracellular metabolite; the heterogeneity consists of a single random parameter, which accounts for glucose influx into each cell. In contrast to Monte Carlo simulations, distributions of intracellular species of these yeast cells are represented by a few leading order generalized Polynomial Chaos (gPC) coefficients, thus reducing the dynamics of an ensemble of oscillators to dynamics of their (typically significantly fewer) representative gPC coefficients.

Determination of misoprostol acid in human plasma by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of misoprostol acid, the active metabolite of misoprostol, was developed and validated. Following liquid-liquid extraction, the analytes were separated using an isocratic mobile phase on a C(18) column. An API 4000 tandem mass spectrometer equipped with Turbo IonSpray ionization source was used as detector and was operated in the negative ion mode.

Chord-based image reconstruction in cone-beam CT with a curved detector.

Modern computed tomography (CT) scanners use cone-beam configurations for increasing volume coverage, improving x-ray-tube utilization, and yielding isotropic spatial resolution. Recently, there have been significant developments in theory and algorithms for exact image reconstruction from cone-beam projections. In particular, algorithms have been proposed for image reconstruction on chords; and advantages over the existing algorithms offered by the chord-based algorithms include the high flexibility of exact image reconstruction for general scanning trajectories and the capability of exact reconstruction of images within a region of interest from truncated data.

Vaccination against IL-17 suppresses autoimmune arthritis and encephalomyelitis.

Interleukin 17 is a T cell-derived cytokine that induces the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in a wide range of cell types. Recently, a subset of IL-17-producing T helper cells (Th17) distinct from Th1 and Th2 cells has been described, which constitutes a new T cell polarization state. Aberrant Th17 responses and overexpression of IL-17 have been implicated in a number of autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Neutralization of IL-17 by active vaccination inhibits IL-23-dependent autoimmune myocarditis.

The most common reason for heart failure in young adults is dilated cardiomyopathy often resulting from myocarditis. Clinical studies and animal models provide evidence that an autoimmune response against heart myosin is the underlying reason for the disease. IL-12 has been suggested to play a key role in development of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM), as IL-12p40 and IL-12Rbeta1 knockouts are protected from disease.

Region of interest reconstruction from truncated data in circular cone-beam CT.

The circular scanning trajectory is one of the most widely adopted data-acquisition configurations in computed tomography (CT). The Feldkamp, Davis, Kress (FDK) algorithm and its various modifications have been developed for reconstructing approximately three-dimensional images from circular cone-beam data. When data contain transverse truncations, however, these algorithms may reconstruct images with significant truncation artifacts.

Validation of an HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of DZ5 and its active metabolite in dog plasma and its pharmacokinetics.

A validated HPLC method is described for the simultaneous determination of daidzein 7,4'-di-succinic acid mon-ester-O-ethoxy (DZ5) and its active metabolite daidzein 7,4'-dioxy-ethoxy (DZ4) in dog plasma. DZ5 and DZ4 were determined by reversed-phase HPLC (column: Hypersil C18 5 microm silica, 200 mm x 4.6 mm i.

Receptor for advanced-glycation end products: key modulator of myocardial ischemic injury.

Background: The beneficial effects of reperfusion therapies have been limited by the amount of ischemic damage that occurs before reperfusion. To enable development of interventions to reduce cell injury, our research has focused on understanding mechanisms involved in cardiac cell death after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. In this context, our laboratory has been investigating the role of the receptor for advanced-glycation end products (RAGE) in myocardial I/R injury.

Equation-free dynamic renormalization: self-similarity in multidimensional particle system dynamics.

We present an equation-free dynamic renormalization approach to the computational study of coarse-grained, self-similar dynamic behavior in multidimensional particle systems. The approach is aimed at problems for which evolution equations for coarse-scale observables (e.g.

Theory and algorithms for image reconstruction on chords and within regions of interest.

We introduce a formula for image reconstruction on a chord of a general source trajectory. We subsequently develop three algorithms for exact image reconstruction on a chord from data acquired with the general trajectory. Interestingly, two of the developed algorithms can accommodate data containing transverse truncations.

PI-line-based image reconstruction in helical cone-beam computed tomography with a variable pitch.

Current applications of helical cone-beam computed tomography (CT) involve primarily a constant pitch where the translating speed of the table and the rotation speed of the source-detector remain constant. However, situations do exist where it may be more desirable to use a helical scan with a variable translating speed of the table, leading a variable pitch. One of such applications could arise in helical cone-beam CT fluoroscopy for the determination of vascular structures through real-time imaging of contrast bolus arrival.