Prognostic value of EGF receptor and tumor cell proliferation in bladder cancer: therapeutic implications.

Changes in growth factor receptor expression may confer a growth advantage on tumour cells. Epidermal growth factor-receptor (EGF-R) has been associated with the genesis of bladder tumours. We sought a link between EGF-R expression and MIB-1 cell proliferation and examined their prognostic value in the progression of bladder cancer.

Room-temperature ionic liquids as new solvents for organic electrosynthesis. The first examples of direct or nickel-catalysed electroreductive coupling involving organic halides.

Direct or Ni-catalysed electroreductive homocouplings of organic halides and couplings of organic halides with activated olefins are efficiently conducted by constant current electrolyses in an undivided cell in room-temperature ionic liquids as the solvent-electrolyte media.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 and chemokine receptor CCR2 productions in Guillain-Barré syndrome and experimental autoimmune neuritis.

Infiltration of activated lymphocytes and monocytes is a key phenomenon in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN). To investigate the role of chemokines, we determined the blood and nerve tissue expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), a major chemoattractant of monocytes and activated lymphocytes, and its receptor CCR2 in GBS and EAN. MCP-1 circulating levels (ng/ml) in GBS were increased at the time of progression, peaked at the time of plateau and normalized with recovery.

A cellular tensegrity model to analyse the structural viscoelasticity of the cytoskeleton.

This study describes the viscoelastic properties of a refined cellular-tensegrity model composed of six rigid bars connected to a continuous network of 24 viscoelastic pre-stretched cables (Voigt bodies) in order to analyse the role of the cytoskeleton spatial rearrangement on the viscoelastic response of living adherent cells. This structural contribution was determined from the relationships between the global viscoelastic properties of the tensegrity model, i.e.

Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver in men: is presentation the same in men and women?

Background: Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) of the liver is a benign hepatic lesion relatively common in women. No studies specifically designed to describe the presentation and imaging findings in males have been published.

Aims: The aims of this study were: (a) to describe the clinical and imaging findings in 18 men with FNH, and (b) to compare these data with those observed in 216 women with FNH observed during the same nine year period.

Inhibition of the adhesion step of leukodiapedesis: a critical event in the recovery of Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with accumulation of proteolytically active lymphocytes in blood.

Intraneural inflammation, that reflects emigration of immune cells from blood to nerve tissue, is a critical event in Guillain-Barré syndrome pathogenesis. To investigate the adhesion and transmigration phases of leukodiapedesis, we determined in a series of patients with GBS: (1) circulating levels of soluble forms of adhesion molecules (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1); (2) attachment capacities of circulating lymphocytes to rICAM-1 and rVCAM-1; (3) fibronectin-penetrating capacities of circulating lymphocytes; and (4) lymphocyte intracellular concentrations of MMP-9 at the different phases of GBS and in healthy controls. Circulating levels of sVCAM-1 and sICAM-1 were above normal values at the time of progression, markedly increased at the time of plateau (sVCAM-1: P<0.

Stiffening response of a cellular tensegrity model.

Living cells exhibit, as most biological tissues, a stiffening (strain-hardening) response which reflects the nonlinearity of the stress-strain relationship. Tensegrity structures have been proposed as a comprehensive model of such a cell's mechanical response. Based on a theoretical model of a 30-element tensegrity structure, we propose a quantitative analysis of its nonlinear mechanical behavior under static conditions and large deformations.