Quality of life, clinical outcomes and cost utilization of endoscopic therapy in patients with Barrett's esophagus and early esophageal cancer-an 8-year Canadian experience.

Background And Aims: Endoscopic treatment is a definitive and cost-effective management strategy for early neoplasia in Barrett's oesophagus (BE). However, little is known of its impact on quality of life (QoL). This study reports outcomes of endoscopic eradication treatment (EET), focusing on QoL and costs in a Canadian tertiary referral centre.

A combination of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and FSH promotes proliferation of prepubertal bovine Sertoli cells isolated and cultured in vitro.

Beef and dairy bull calves fed a low-nutrition diet during early life had decreased concentrations of circulating insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), delayed increases in testosterone, smaller testes and delayed puberty compared with those fed high-nutrition diets. Although IGF-1 has important roles in Sertoli cell function in rats and mice, this has not been well documented in bulls. The objectives of this study were to: (1) isolate Sertoli cells from bull calves at 8 weeks of age, (2) culture them in vitro and (3) determine the effects of IGF-I, FSH and a combination of both hormones on cell proliferation.

Vascular structure and function in the medial collateral ligament of anterior cruciate ligament transected rabbit knees.

To determine if decreased vascular responsiveness in the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of anterior cruciate ligament transected (ACL-t) rabbit knees is due to pericyte deficiency associated with angiogenesis. Vascular responses to potassium chloride (KCl), phenylephrine, acetylcholine, and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were evaluated in ACL-t rabbit knees (n = 6) and control knees (n = 5) using laser speckle perfusion imaging. Ligament degeneration was determined by ultrasound imaging.

The Arg473Cys-neuroligin-1 mutation modulates NMDA mediated synaptic transmission and receptor distribution in hippocampal neurons.

Synapses mediate communication between neurons, thus playing a fundamental role in information processing in the CNS. Neuroligins form a family of heterophilic synaptic cell adhesion molecules, and neuroligin 1 (NL1) has been shown to be involved in the formation of excitatory synapses and have been suggested to associate indirectly with NMDA receptors by common binding to PSD95. A mutation in neuroligin 3 (Arg451Cys-NL3, human sequence numbering) identified in autistic patients is associated with altered spine density and has reduced binding capacity for its presynaptic partner beta-neurexin.