Contrast enhanced vessel imaging using microCT.

Microscopic computed tomography (microCT) offers high-resolution volumetric imaging of the anatomy of living small animals. However, the contrast between different soft tissues and body fluids is inherently poor in micro-CT images (1). Under these circumstances, visualization of blood vessels becomes a nearly impossible task.

Deriving Hounsfield units using grey levels in cone beam computed tomography.

Objectives: an in vitro study was performed to investigate the relationship between grey levels in dental cone beam CT (CBCT) and Hounsfield units (HU) in CBCT scanners.

Methods: a phantom containing 8 different materials of known composition and density was imaged with 11 different dental CBCT scanners and 2 medical CT scanners. The phantom was scanned under three conditions: phantom alone and phantom in a small and large water container.

Antifungal prophylaxis with voriconazole or itraconazole in lung transplant recipients: hepatotoxicity and effectiveness.

Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are common after lung transplantation and there are limited data for the use of antifungal prophylaxis in these patients. Our aim was to compare the safety and describe the effectiveness of universal prophylaxis with two azole regimens in lung transplant recipients. This is a retrospective study in lung transplant recipients from July 2003 to July 2006 who received antifungal prophylaxis with itraconazole or voriconazole plus inhaled amphotericin B to compare the incidence of hepatotoxicity.

Amygdala hyperactivation in untreated depressed individuals.

The amygdala participates in the detection and control of affective states, and has been proposed to be a site of dysfunction in affective disorders. To assess amygdala processing in individuals with unipolar depression, we applied a functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm previously shown to be sensitive to amygdala function. Fourteen individuals with untreated DSM-IV major depression and 15 healthy subjects were studied using fMRI with a standardized emotion face recognition task.

Temperament and character traits in major depressive disorder: influence of mood state and recurrence of episodes.

Background: The objective of this study was to compare personality traits between major depressive disorder (MDD) patients and healthy comparison subjects (HC) and examine if personality traits in patients are associated with specific clinical characteristics of the disorder.

Methods: Sixty MDD patients (45 depressed, 15 remitted) were compared to 60 HC using the Temperament and Character Inventory. Analysis of covariance, with age and gender as covariates, was used to compare the mean Temperament and Character Inventory scores among the subject groups.

Impulsivity and bipolar disorder.

Impulsivity is frequently associated with bipolar disorder (BD) during manic episodes, but may also be present in euthymic bipolar patients. Aggression is an impulsivity-related behavior also found during manic episodes. The objective of this review is to further clarify the relationship between impulsivity and BD.

A genome-wide scan for schizophrenia and psychosis susceptibility loci in families of Mexican and Central American ancestry.

Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder, likely to be caused in part by multiple genes. In this study, linkage analyses were performed to identify chromosomal regions most likely to be associated with schizophrenia and psychosis in multiplex families of Mexican and Central American origin. Four hundred and fifty-nine individuals from 99 families, containing at least two siblings with hospital diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, were genotyped.

A comparison of animal jaws and bite mark patterns.

The purpose of this study was to compare the jaw shapes and bite mark patterns of wild and domestic animals to assist investigators in their analysis of animal bite marks. The analyses were made on 12 species in the Order Carnivora housed in the Mammalian Collection at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to metric analysis, one skull from each species was photographed as a representative sample with an ABFO No.

A prospective, open-label trial of ondansetron in adolescents with alcohol dependence.

Ondansetron has been shown to be effective in the treatment of early-onset adult alcohol dependence. To date, no studies have been conducted in adolescents with alcohol dependence to assess the feasibility, safety, tolerability, and potential utility of ondansetron treatment. We conducted an 8-week, prospective, open-label study of ondansetron (4 microg/kg b.

Orientational dependence of intermolecular double quantum coherence (iDQC) signal from tendon tissue.

The proton signal changes as the long axis of tendon tissue is rotated with respect to the main magnetic field (B(0)). The orientational changes in the tendon signal obtained using the correlation spectroscopy revamped by asymmetric z-gradient echo detection (CRAZED) sequence, which allows the effects of intermolecular dipolar interactions to be observed, were investigated and compared with the orientational changes of the signals produced using correlation spectroscopy (COSY), spin-echo (SE), and one-pulse sequences. The intermolecular double quantum coherence (iDQC) signal obtained using the CRAZED sequence showed a variation in the signal from tendon tissue, with sharper peaks and greater relative differences between minimum and maximum signal values compared to the variations in the signal obtained from the COSY, SE, and one-pulse sequences.

Bonding to enamel/dentin etched with phosphoric and hydrofluoric acids.

Repairing porcelain intraorally allows clinicians to provide their patients with a conservative means of treating fractured or debonded restorations. This requires, however, the etching of both porcelain and tooth structure with etching solutions. It is thus relevant to understand the effect that different etching procedures have on shear bond strengths of composite resins to both dentin and enamel structures.

Clinical evaluation of demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft and enamel matrix derivative versus enamel matrix derivative alone for the treatment of periodontal osseous defects in humans.

Background: A recent study suggests that the addition of enamel matrix derivative to demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft may enhance osseoinduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) in combination with enamel matrix derivative (EMD + DFDBA) compared to enamel matrix derivative (EMD) alone in the treatment of human intrabony periodontal defects.

Methods: Forty patients with a total of 67 sites (intrabony defect > or = 3 mm deep) were selected to participate in this single-masked, parallel design, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Long-term changes in soft tissue height on the facial surface of dental implants.

The success of osseous healing around dental implants has allowed for an increased emphasis on soft tissue healing and esthetic results. However, there is limited information profiling the long-term healing of the soft tissues following prosthesis placement. The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term changes in the position of the facial soft tissue margins following restoration of a one-stage implant system.

Stability of cytadherence-related proteins P140/P110 in Mycoplasma genitalium requires MG218 and unidentified factors.

Background: Tip-mediated cytadherence in Mycoplasma genitalium requires the structural and functional stability of the P140 adhesin, its operon-related protein P110, and the high molecular weight protein MG218 (190-kDa). Disruption mutants of mg218 unable to express MG218 exhibit both a non-cytadhering phenotype and P140/P110 instability, while disruption mutants that synthesize a truncated MG218 (160 kDa) retain the stability of P140/P110 and are >95% cytadhering. However, the origin of the MG218 truncated protein in these mutants is unclear.

Trichomonas vaginalis has two fibronectin-like iron-regulated genes.

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis, a protozoan parasite of the human urogenital tract, interacts with fibronectin (FN), a glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix. We, therefore, attempted to identify genes of this eukaryote encoding FN-binding proteins.

Methods: A cDNA clone, C1, representing an incomplete gene was obtained from an expression library based on its FN-binding ability and was characterized.

Factors that impact nurses' use of electronic mail (e-mail).

As electronic applications are used increasingly in healthcare, nurses are being challenged to adopt them. Electronic mail (e-mail) is an electronic tool with general as well as healthcare uses. E-mail use may be an opportunity to learn a tool that requires skills similar to those used in other applications.

Translocations of 11q13 in mantle cell lymphoma fail to disrupt the S mu bp-2 gene.

We recently cloned a gene whose protein product binds to the Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 gene promoter. The same gene has been previously cloned by another group who named it S mu bp-2 because its protein product binds to the S mu motif of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene where it is postulated to function in immunoglobulin class switching. In the current study, we confirm that the S mu bp-2 gene is located on chromosome 11q13, a locus known to be altered by translocation in 50-70% of mantle cell lymphomas.

Quantitative analysis of NQO1 gene expression by RT-PCR and CE-LIF.

A capillary electrophoresis-laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) method to quantitate reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (NQO1) derived from whole blood after amplification with a reaction-specific internal standard is reported. The internal standard eliminates variability within the PCR (Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, NJ, U.

Sjögren's syndrome in childhood.

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of juvenile Sjögren's syndrome (JSS) and report 5 new primary cases.

Methods: Patients with SS whose disease began before age 16 were identified from a cohort study on SS. Previous patients with JSS published from 1952 to 1993 were found by literature review.