Search

Long-term physical inactivity can cause the atrophy of skeletal muscle. The aim of this study is to explore the underlying mechanisms of physical inactivity-induced atrophy of skeletal muscle.14 Sprague- Dawley (SD) male rats were divided into 2 groups including normal control (NC) and hindlimb suspension (HS) groups. After two weeks of HS stimulation, the ratio between skeletal muscle weight and body weight, and cross-sectional area (CSA) of skeletal muscle fibers, were measured. Western blot was applied to evaluate the expression of proteins associated with atrophy and autophagy. The transmission electron microscope was used to observe the ultra-microstructure and the mitochondrial quality of skeletal muscle.The rats subjected to 2-week HS treatment presented an evident atrophy of the skeletal muscle with a significantly reduced ratio between skeletal muscle weight and body weight, and smaller cross-sectional area (CSA) of skeletal muscle fibers when compared with control rats. Meanwhile, HS stimulation resulted in the damage of mitochondria, the increased expression of MuRF1 and Atrogin-1/MAFbx, and enhanced apoptosis, as well as dysfunctional autophagy in skeletal muscle.HS-induced skeletal muscle atrophy involves the activation of AMPK/FoxO3 signal pathway, evidenced as AMPK phosphorylation, FoxO3 activation, and Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 up-regulation. FoxO3-mediated autophagy plays an important regulatory role in HS-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

Herein we report the first example of an isoDGR–drug conjugate (2), designed to release paclitaxel selectively within cancer cells expressing integrin αVβ3. Conjugate 2 was synthesized by connecting the isoDGR peptidomimetic 5 with paclitaxel via the lysosomally cleavable Val–Ala dipeptide linker. Conjugate 2 displayed a low nanomolar affinity for the purified integrin αVβ3 receptor (IC50=11.0 nm). The tumor targeting ability of conjugate 2 was assessed in vitro in anti‐proliferative assays on two isogenic cancer cell lines characterized by different integrin αVβ3 expression: human glioblastoma U87 (αVβ3+) and U87 β3‐KO (αVβ3−). The isoDGR‐PTX conjugate 2 displayed a remarkable targeting index (TI=9.9), especially when compared to the strictly related RGD‐PTX conjugate 4 (TI=2.4).

Context Pancreatic pseudocysts are relatively common complications of pancreatitis. A pseudocyst can result from an episode of acute pancreatitis, exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis, or trauma. Treatment is indicated for persistent, symptomatic pseudocysts and in the case of related complications. Case report We describe the case of a 66-year-old man who referred to our department for bowel obstruction caused by a necrotic pancreatic bezoar occurring 16 days after the patient underwent a jejunal-pseudocyst anastomosis performed to treat a post-pancreatitis voluminous pseudocyst obstructing the gastric outlet. Conclusion In case of intestinal obstruction after a jejunal-pseudocyst anastomosis, pancreatic bezoar should be considered in the armamentarium of the differential diagnosis. Image: Bezoar removed through an enterotomy., JOP. Journal of the Pancreas, Vol 15, No 4 (2014): July - p. 280-412

This work investigates wood dynamics in braided streams through physical modelling in a mobile bed laboratory flume, with the specific objective to characterize wood storage and turnover as a function of wood input rate and of wood element type. Three parallel channels (1.7 m wide, 10 m long) filled with uniform sand were used to reproduce braided networks with constant water discharge and sediment feeding. Wood dowels with and without simplified root wads were regularly added at the upstream end of each flume at different input rates, with a 1:2:3 ratio between the three flumes. Temporal evolution of wood deposition patterns and remobilization rates were monitored by a series of vertical images that permitted the recognition of individual logs. Results show that wood tends to disperse in generally small accumulations (< 5 logs), with higher spatial density on top of sediment bars, and is frequently remobilized due to the intense morphological changes. The amount of wood stored in the channel depends on log input rate through a non‐linear relationship, and input rates exceeding approximately 100 logs/hour determine a sharp change in wood dynamics, with higher storage volume and augmented formation of large jams (> 10 elements) that are less prone to remobilization. Presence of root wads seems to play a minor role in wood deposition, but it reduces the average travel distance of logs. Turnover rates of logs were similar in the three flumes, independently of wood input rate and largely resembling the turnover rate of exposed bars. For the simulated conditions, significant effects of wood on bed morphology were not observed, suggesting that interactions with fine sediments and living vegetation are crucial to form large, stable wood jams able to bring about relevant morphological changes

In this paper, TiO

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is currently the suggested axillary staging procedure in patients with early-stage breast cancer (BC) and usually requires intraoperative frozen-section (FS) examination of the removed nodes. However, other techniques, such as touch imprint cytology (IC), real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and rapid cytokeratin immunostaining on FS may be used. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess the usefulness of intraoperative IC and FS section analysis together in improving the accuracy of sentinel lymph node evaluation in patients with early BC, who underwent SLNB. A series of 126 consecutive women (median age 52, range 34-71 years) with T1 (≤20 mm) BC, were prospectively enrolled in the study. A total of 221 axillary nodes were processed for both IC and FS intraoperative evaluation. Final pathology revealed 74 out of 221 (33.5%) nodes with metastasis, out of which 51 (68.9%) had macrometastases. Overall, 31 out of 126 (24.6%) patients were staged as having pN1mi or pN1a. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in detecting metastases were 75.7%, 100% and 91.9% for FS, 70.3%, 98.6% and 89.1% for IC, and 89.2%, 100% and 96.0% for IC+FS together, respectively. The sensitivity of FS and IC did not differ significantly (p=0.46), while the combination of FS+IC showed a higher sensitivity (p=0.03), and similar accuracy. Our preliminary data confirm that IC is a simple and rapid technique with good sensitivity, suggesting that the combination of FS and IC may be useful in all patients requiring intraoperative SLNB evaluation.

In patients with parathyroid tumors and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), the relationship between arterial blood pressure (BP) and both serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a correlation exists between BP and the main biochemical parameters in men with confirmed sporadic PHPT due to a solitary parathyroid adenoma. A series of 38 elderly (64 years) men (median age 69 years, range 65-78 years) were enrolled in the study. Twenty-nine (76.3%) were asymptomatic, while 9 (23.7%) had renal diseases (i.e. renal stones, impaired renal function). The main preoperative biochemical parameters were the following: serum calcium=2.77±0.25 mmol/l, PTH=166.5±157.0 ng/l, alkaline phosphatase (ALP)=107.6±37.0 U/l, and creatinine=82.5±8.1 μmol/l. In each patient, the BP was recorded three times at 2-3 min intervals using an automatic device, and the mean values were recorded. All patients successfully underwent parathyroidectomy. As expected, there was a significant relationship between age and both systolic and diastolic BP (β=0.39, p=0.018; β=0.41, p=0.014, respectively). There was also a correlation between systolic and diastolic BP (β=0.39, p=0.01) and between serum calcium and PTH (β=0.51, p=0.008). A weak relationship (β=0.28, p=0.04) between serum calcium and creatinine was also found. However, no significant relationship between systolic or diastolic BP and serum calcium (β=0.012, p=0.94; β=0.065, p=0.71) or PTH (β=0.08, p=0.65; β=0.17, p=0.32), respectively, was observed. In conclusion, our study confirms that in men with parathyroid tumors and PHPT, the BP values are independent of both serum calcium and PTH levels.

International audience

We report on the in situ growth and characterisation of c-axis oriented superconducting YBa Cu O /CeO structures deposited on biaxially textured Ni–Cr alloy tapes by respectively thermal and e-beam evaporation. We have studied the effect of growth temperature on the degree of texturing of both CeO and YBCO layers. We find that the highest degree of texture of both layers and best superconducting properties with sharp transitions and zero resistance in excess of 85 K are obtained for substrate temperatures during deposition above 700 C.