Search results for "Anatomy and Physiology"
showing 10 items of 104 documents
Determining the optimal maximal and submaximal voluntary contraction tests for normalizing the erector spinae muscles
2019
Background This study aimed to identify which maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and sub-MVIC tests produce the highest activation of the erector spinae muscles and the greatest reduction in inter-individual variability, to put them forward as reference normalization maneuvers for future studies. Methods Erector spinae EMG activity was recorded in 38 healthy women during five submaximal and three maximal exercises. Results None of the three MVIC tests generated the maximal activation level in all the participants. The maximal activation level was achieved in 68.4% of cases with the test performed on the roman chair in the horizontal position (96.3 ± 7.3; p < 0.01). Of the fi…
Natural history of malignant bone disease in renal cancer: final results of an Italian bone metastasis survey.
2013
BackgroundBone metastasis represents an increasing clinical problem in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) as disease-related survival improves. There are few data on the natural history of bone disease in RCC.Patients and methodsData on clinicopathology, survival, skeletal-related events (SREs), and bone-directed therapies for 398 deceased RCC patients (286 male, 112 female) with evidence of bone metastasis were statistically analyzed.ResultsMedian time to bone metastasis was 25 months for patients without bone metastasis at diagnosis. Median time to diagnosis of bone metastasis by MSKCC risk was 24 months for good, 5 months for intermediate, and 0 months for poor risk. Median number of SR…
Auditory and Cognitive Deficits Associated with Acquired Amusia after Stroke: A Magnetoencephalography and Neuropsychological Follow-Up Study
2010
Acquired amusia is a common disorder after damage to the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory. However, its neurocognitive mechanisms, especially the relative contribution of perceptual and cognitive factors, are still unclear. We studied cognitive and auditory processing in the amusic brain by performing neuropsychological testing as well as magnetoencephalography (MEG) measurements of frequency and duration discrimination using magnetic mismatch negativity (MMNm) recordings. Fifty-three patients with a left (n = 24) or right (n = 29) hemisphere MCA stroke (MRI verified) were investigated 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months after the stroke. Amusia was evaluated using the Montreal Battery of …
Increased Vascularity in Cervicovaginal Mucosa with Schistosoma haematobium Infection
2011
Background Close to 800 million people in the world are at risk of schistosomiasis, 85 per cent of whom live in Africa. Recent studies have indicated that female genital schistosomiasis might increase the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The aim of this study is to quantify and analyse the characteristics of the vasculature surrounding Schistosoma haematobium ova in the female genital mucosa. Methodology/Principal Findings Cervicovaginal biopsies with S. haematobium ova (n = 20) and control biopsies (n = 69) were stained with immunohistochemical blood vessel markers CD31 and von Willebrand Factor (vWF), which stain endothelial cells in capillary buds and established blo…
“Super p53” Mice Display Retinal Astroglial Changes
2013
Tumour-suppressor genes, such as the p53 gene, produce proteins that inhibit cell division under adverse conditions, as in the case of DNA damage, radiation, hypoxia, or oxidative stress (OS). The p53 gene can arrest proliferation and trigger death by apoptosis subsequent to several factors. In astrocytes, p53 promotes cell-cycle arrest and is involved in oxidative stress-mediated astrocyte cell death. Increasingly, astrocytic p53 is proving fundamental in orchestrating neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. In terms of ocular disease, p53 may play a role in hypoxia due to ischaemia and may be involved in the retinal response to oxidative stress (OS). We studied the influence of the p53 ge…
Reconstruction of Endometrium from Human Endometrial Side Population Cell Lines
2011
Endometrial regeneration is mediated, at least in part, by the existence of a specialized somatic stem cell (SSC) population recently identified by several groups using the side population (SP) technique. We previously demonstrated that endometrial SP displays genotypic, phenotypic and the functional capability to develop human endometrium after subcutaneous injection in NOD-SCID mice. We have now established seven human endometrial SP (hESP) cell lines (ICE 1-7): four from the epithelial and three from the stromal fraction, respectively. SP cell lines were generated under hypoxic conditions based on their cloning efficiency ability, cultured for 12-15 passages (20 weeks) and cryopreserved.…
In Vitro Phenotypic, Genomic and Proteomic Characterization of a Cytokine-Resistant Murine β-TC3 Cell Line
2012
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is caused by the selective destruction of insulin-producing β-cells. This process is mediated by cells of the immune system through release of nitric oxide, free radicals and pro-inflammatory cytokines, which induce a complex network of intracellular signalling cascades, eventually affecting the expression of genes involved in β-cell survival. The aim of our study was to investigate possible mechanisms of resistance to cytokine-induced β-cell death. To this purpose, we created a cytokine-resistant β-cell line (β-TC3R) by chronically treating the β-TC3 murine insulinoma cell line with IL-1β + IFN-γ. β-TC3R cells exhibited higher proliferation rate and resistan…
Bi-Level ventilation decreases pulmonary shunt and modulates neuroinflammation in a cardiopulmonary resuscitation model
2020
Background Optimal ventilation strategies during cardiopulmonary resuscitation are still heavily debated and poorly understood. So far, no convincing evidence could be presented in favour of outcome relevance and necessity of specific ventilation patterns. In recent years, alternative models to the guideline-based intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) have been proposed. In this randomized controlled trial, we evaluated a bi-level ventilation approach in a porcine model to assess possible physiological advantages for the pulmonary system as well as resulting changes in neuroinflammation compared to standard measures. Methods Sixteen male German landrace pigs were anesthetized a…
miRNA Signature and Dicer Requirement during Human Endometrial Stromal Decidualization In Vitro
2012
Decidualization is a morphological and biochemical transformation of endometrial stromal fibroblast into differentiated decidual cells, which is critical for embryo implantation and pregnancy establishment. The complex regulatory networks have been elucidated at both the transcriptome and the proteome levels, however very little is known about the post-transcriptional regulation of this process. miRNAs regulate multiple physiological pathways and their de-regulation is associated with human disorders including gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis and preeclampsia. In this study we profile the miRNAs expression throughout human endometrial stromal (hESCs) decidualization and analy…
Caspase-3 contributes to ZO-1 and Cl-5 tight-junction disruption in rapid anoxic neurovascular unit damage.
2011
BACKGROUND: Tight-junction (TJ) protein degradation is a decisive step in hypoxic blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown in stroke. In this study we elucidated the impact of acute cerebral ischemia on TJ protein arrangement and the role of the apoptotic effector protease caspase-3 in this context. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used an in vitro model of the neurovascular unit and the guinea pig whole brain preparation to analyze with immunohistochemical methods the BBB properties and neurovascular integrity. In both methodological approaches we observed rapid TJ protein disruptions after 30 min of oxygen and glucose deprivation or middle cerebral artery occlusion, which were accompanied by…