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ABSTRACT Patient stress and anxiety are common preoperatively and during dermatologic procedures and surgeries. Stress and anxiety can occasionally interfere with performance of procedures or surgery and can induce hemodynamic [...]

ABSTRACT Background: Ablative laser resurfacing of the neck has been tested with the ultrapulsed [CO.sub.2], ablative Er: YAG and short pulse duration [CO.sub.2] laser with mixed results in terms of [...]

Hepatic injury can lead to systemic and pulmonary inflammation through activation of NF-[kappa]B-dependent pathways and production of various proinflammatory cytokines. The exact mechanism remains unknown, although prior research suggests interleukin-1[beta] (IL-1[beta]) plays an integral role. Cultured murine alveolar macrophages were used to identify an optimized IL-1[beta]-specific short interfering RNA (siRNA) sequence, which then was encapsulated in liposomes and administered intraperitoneally to transgenic HLL mice (5'-HIV-LTR-Luciferase). A 35% hepatic mass cryoablation in HLL and IL-1 receptor 1 knockout mice (IL1R1KO) was performed as a model for liver-induced pulmonary inflammation. IL-1[beta] siRNA pretreatment effectively and significantly reduced circulating IL-1[beta] levels at 4 h post-hepatic injury. IL-6 also was suppressed in mice with impaired IL-1 signaling pathways. NF-[kappa]B activation in the noninjured liver of HLL reporter mice pretreated with IL-1[beta] siRNA was found to be reduced compared with controls. Pulmonary NF-[kappa]B activity in this group also was diminished relative to controls. C-X-C chemokine levels in the lung remained significantly lower in IL-1 pathway-deficient mice. Similarly, lung myeloperoxidase content was unchanged from baseline at 24 h post-liver injury in IL-1[beta] siRNA-treated animals, whereas all other control groups demonstrated marked pulmonary neutrophilic infiltration. In conclusion, liver injury-induced lung inflammation in this model is mediated predominantly by IL-1[beta]. Knockdown of IL-1[beta] expression before hepatic injury led to significant reductions in both cytokine production and NF-[kappa]B activation. This translated to reduced pulmonary neutrophil accumulation. Pretreatment with IL-1[beta] siRNA may represent a novel intervention for preventing liver-mediated pulmonary inflammation. systemic inflammatory response; cytokines; NF-[kappa]B; cryoablation

We measured tissue temperature changes during ex vivo microwave ablation (MWA) procedures for bovine liver tissue. Tissue temperature increased rapidly at the beginning of the MW power application. It came to a plateau at 100 [degrees]C to 104 [degrees]C before it increased again. We split the changes of tissue temperature versus time into four phases. This suggests that tissue temperature changes may be directly related to tissue water related phenomena during MWA, including evaporation, diffusion, condensation and tissue water composition. An additional analysis indicated the lesion boundary at ~ 50 [degrees]C to 60 [degrees]C temperature. We also measured the water content of ablated tissue lesions and examined the relationship of tissue water content and tissue temperature by mapping temperature to remaining tissue water after ablation. The results demonstrate significant tissue water content changes and lead to a better understanding of tissue water movement. Index Terms--Microwave liver ablation, temperature monitoring, water content.

Genetic ablation of connexin37 (Cx37) or connexin43 (Cx43), the two gap junction proteins expressed by mouse ovarian granulosa cells, has been shown to result in impaired follicle development. We used patch-clamp techniques to evaluate quantitatively the contribution of these connexins to gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) among granulosa cells. The coupling conductance derived from a voltage step-induced capacitive current transient was used as a measure of GJIC in cultured granulosa cells. Using this method, we determined that the conductance of wild-type (84.1 [+ or -] 28.6 nS; n = 6) and Cx37-deficient granulosa cells (83.7 [+ or -] 6.4 nS; n = 11) does not differ significantly (P = 0.35), suggesting a limited contribution, if any, of Cx37 to granulosa cell coupling. In contrast, the conductance between granulosa cells of Cx43-deficient mice (2.6 [+ or -] 0.8 nS; n = 5) was not significantly different from that of single, isolated wild-type granulosa cells (2.5 [+ or -] 0.7 nS, n = 5; P = 0.83), indicating that Cx43-deficient granulosa cells were not electrically coupled. A direct measurement of transjunctional conductance between isolated granulosa cell pairs using a dual patch-clamp technique confirmed this conclusion. Interestingly, a partial rescue of folliculogenesis was observed when the Cx43-null mutation in C57BL/6 mice was crossed into the CD1 strain, and capacitive current measurement demonstrated that this rescue was not due to reestablishment of GJIC. These results demonstrate that folliculogenesis is impaired in the absence of GJIC between granulosa cells, but they also indicate that the severity is dependent on genetic background, a phenomenon that cannot be attributed to the expression of additional connexins. ovarian follicle; oogenesis; connexin37; intercellular communication

In refractive surgery, especially wavefront-guided refractive surgery, correct registration of the treatment to the cornea is of paramount importance. The specificity of the custom ablation formula requires that the ablation be applied to the cornea only when it has been precisely aligned with the mapped area. If, however, the eye has rotated between measurement and ablation, and this cyclotorsion is not compensated for, the rotational misalignment could impair the effectiveness of the refractive surgery. To achieve precise registration, a noninvasive method for torsional rotational alignment of the captured wavefront image to the patient's eyes at surgery has been developed. This method applies a common coordinate system to the wavefront and the eye. Video cameras on the laser and wavefront devices precisely establish the spatial relationship between the optics of the eye and the natural features of the iris, enabling the surgeon to identify and compensate for cyclotorsional eye motion, whatever its cause. Index Terms--Biomedical image processing, image orientation analysis, image registration, motion compensation.

Established ablative therapies for the treatment of primary and secondary liver tumours, including percutaneous ethanol injection, cryotherapy, and radiofrequency ablation, are discussed. Newer techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging guided [...]