Reston, Va.—For a patient with heart failure, checking whether the heart could benefit from bypass surgery or a stent is critical to ensuring survival. One imaging technique, positron emission tomography (PET) with the imaging agent fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), may provide doctors with the information they need to make more informed treatment decisions, according to research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM).
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More than half of donor kidneys in the United State infected with hepatitis C are thrown away, despite the need among hepatitis C patients who may die waiting for an infection-free organ, Johns Hopkins research suggests.
In a study of national data published online in the American Journal of Transplantation, the researchers say that while outcomes are slightly worse when hepatitis C-positive patients receive hepatitis C-positive organs, the advantages of more timely transplants may outweigh the risk of waiting — perhaps more than year — for a hepatitis C-negative kidney.
Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one's ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels. The discovery, published in the Feb.
Plants respond to attacks by herbivores or pathogens by activating defense programs that drive off or even kill the attackers. These defense responses require a great deal of the plant's energy and reserves, which would otherwise be invested in growth and reproduction. So, it's very important to strictly control the activity of defense genes. Hormones, such as the jasmonates, are crucial in this process – and the plant produces these hormones when subjected to stress conditions.
Two major transplant centers in Hong Kong and South Korea released results from their paired donor exchange programs for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). A single paired exchange, performed by the Hong Kong team under emergency circumstances, was a success. The Korean team reported 16 donor exchanges conducted over a 6-year period were successful.
The ATG16L1 gene is located on chromosome 2 and encodes a protein involved in the formation of autophagosomes during autophagy. Autophagy is a cytoplasmic process that keeps a cell stable. Hampe et al first identified ATG16L1 as a Crohn's disease (CD) susceptibility gene in 2007, and many other studies have arisen since then. However, the definite relationship of variants of ATG16L1 with IBD remains unclear.
Solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm with a low malignant potential, usually affecting young women in the second or third decade of life. With widespread availability of high-quality imaging systems and a better understanding of its pathology, the number of cases reported in the literature has been steadily increased in recent years.
Islet transplantation is a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The promotion of angiogenesis is an important endeavor to prevent islet graft failure. Endothelial precursor cells (EPCs), a heterogeneous group originating in the hematopoietic compartment of bone marrow, have an important role in the angiogenesis of adult tissues. Transplanted EPCs induce hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) under hypoxic conditions which leads to upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and promotes vascularization.
Gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are two very common disorders affecting the gastrointestinal tract. About 10% of the population experience daily discomfort from reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. More than 10% of the population experience abdominal pain and disturbed bowel movement because of irritable bowel syndrome. Until recently, the dominant view in clinical practice was that GERD and IBS are two different diseases with no link.
Research published in the April edition of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology sought to compare the outcomes of a sleeve lobectomy and a pneumonectomy procedure, in order to determine which is a more acceptable standard treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. A pneumonectomy treatment involves removing one entire lung, whereas a sleeve lobectomy removes only a section of the lung that contains the tumor. The sleeve lobectomy was first introduced for patients with lung cancer who were unable to tolerate a pneumonectomy due to compromised lung function.
Anti-sense reagents have been developed for C. Elegans micro RNA. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Silence have created the first class of reagents to potently and selectively inhibit miRNAs in this widely used model organism.
Drought can take a serious toll on plants and animals alike. When cells are deprived of water, they shrink, collapsing in upon themselves and, without water as a medium, chemicals and enzymes inside the cells may malfunction. However, some plants, like the aptly named "resurrection fern" (Polypodium polypodioides), can survive extreme measures of water loss, even as much as 95% of their water content. How do the cells in these desiccation-tolerant plants remain viable?
Scientists at the University of Delaware have developed a new method for producing proteins critical to research on cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases.
Developed by Zhihao Zhuang, UD assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and his research group, the chemical method yields hundredsfold more ubiquitylated proteins than current approaches. Such proteins may hold the key to revealing such mysteries as how cancer cells gain resistance to cancer drugs.
New research led by physician-scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that the test most commonly used to screen pediatric patients for chronic liver disease is often incorrectly interpreted in many children's hospitals throughout the United States.
The SAFETY study (Screening ALT For Elevation in Today's Youth) will be published in the April issue of Gastroenterology and is available online now at www.gastrojournal.org.
In a world first study of its kind, 161 postnatal women with no previous depressive symptoms were divided in two separate groups to test the effect of a physiotherapist-led exercise and education program on wellbeing.
The experimental group received an eight-week "Mother and Baby" program, including specialized exercises provided by a women's health physiotherapist combined with parenting education.
In the second group, "Education Only" participants only received the written educational material.