p53 codon 72 polymorphism in Taiwanese lung cancer patients: association with lung cancer susceptibility and prognosis

Previous studies have indicated that milrinone, a specific type III phosphodiesterase inhibitor, may be able to induce chloride secretion in cystic fibrosis (CF) tissues. We have now assessed the effect of this agent in vivo on the nasal epithelium of CF mutant mice and also in the nose and lungs of human subjects with CF. Wild-type mice showed a small hyperpolarization of the nasal potential difference (PD) in response to milrinone (100 microM, 1.6 +/- 0.6 mV, n = 8, P < 0.05). In contrast, CF mice carrying either the most common human mutation of the gene for the CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR), DeltaF508 (protein mislocalized), or the G551D mutation (protein normally localized) failed to demonstrate this response. Milrinone perfused alone had no significant effect on the baseline nasal PD of human subjects without CF (14.7 +/- 4.0 mV preperfusion; 15.3 +/- 4.6 mV postperfusion), but significantly (P < 0.05) augmented the hyperpolarization induced by a subsequently perfused low-chloride solution (with milrinone, 36.8 +/- 3.0 mV, n = 6; without milrinone, 18.1 +/- 2.2 mV, n = 19). In contrast, in human subjects with CF (n = 6), milrinone alone significantly (P < 0. 05) altered the nasal baseline PD (52.2 +/- 3.3 mV preperfusion; 57. 4 +/- 4.2 mV, postperfusion) but not the subsequent responses to the low-chloride solution (with milrinone, 1.1 +/- 2.2 mV, n = 4; without milrinone, 0.6 +/- 0.5 mV, n = 28) or to isoproterenol (100 microM). In a separate study in subjects (n = 6) with the DeltaF508 mutation, nasal coadministration of milrinone with isoproterenol produced no effect in the presence of amiloride and a low-chloride solution (-0.8 +/- 0.5 mV). This was also the case in the nasal epithelium of CF subjects (n = 4) carrying at least one G551D allele (-0.3 +/- 0.8 mV). Similarly, milrinone did not hyperpolarize the PD of either the tracheal (n = 6) or segmental (n = 6) airways of CF subjects (DeltaF508) when applied topically in vivo in the presence of amiloride, isoproterenol, or adenosine triphosphate (all 100 microM) in a low-chloride solution. These data do not support the use of milrinone to induce chloride secretion in CF airways in vivo.     

Incorporation of nitric oxide-releasing crosslinked polyethyleneimine microspheres into vascular grafts

Over the years, many attempts have been made to increase the patency of small- to medium-sized prosthetic vascular grafts. However, none of them has greatly affected long-term rates. Recently, nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to inhibit thrombus formation in such grafts, suggesting that local delivery of NO may help to increase graft patency. This study describes the site-specific delivery of NO by entrapping NO-releasing microspheres in the pores of a vascular graft. NO-releasing polyethyleneimine microspheres (PEIX) were developed using a novel water-in-oil emulsion technique involving chemical crosslinking with a bis-epoxide. The PEIX microspheres were then derivatized with NO forming the [N(O)NO]- moiety of the diazeniumdiolates formerly known as NONOates. These polymeric NO-releasing particles were found to spontaneously release 194 nmol NO/mg with a half-life of over 66 h under physiologic conditions. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled microspheres were then embedded into the pores of a 60-micron nonreinforced Gore-tex vascular graft using a simple evacuation technique and evaluated for microsphere placement and NO release. Scanning electron microscopic analysis showed the microspheres entrapped in the pores of the vascular graft releasing 10 nmol NO/mg with a half-life of 51 h. The microspheres remained entrapped in the graft even after immersion and NO release, as confirmed by fluorescence of the medium. These results suggest that NO-releasing particles can be incorporated into the pores of a vascular graft to deliver therapeutic amounts of NO for the prevention of thrombosis in small-diameter prosthetic grafts.     

Morphological, thermal and annealed microhardness characterization of gelatin based interpenetrating networks of polyacrylonitrile: A hard biopolymer

The present paper reports the preparation of full IPNs of gelatin and polyacrylonitrile. Various compositions of gluteraldehyde crosslinked gelatin and N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide crosslinked PAN were characterized by SEM and DSC techniques. The IPNs were also thermally pretreated by the annealing process. The effects of annealing temperature on the microhardness of IPNs were studied using the Vickers method. SEM indicates the homogeneous morphological features for IPN. The role of gelatin, AN and crosslinker on the developed hard biopolymer has been described with the help of DSC thermograms and microhardness measurements of annealed specimens and good correlation is observed.     

In vitro release dynamics of an anticancer drug from swellable gelatin nanoparticles

Gelatin (Type A) nanoparticles were prepared by a single W/O emulsion technique and characterized by infrared (IR) spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and particle size analysis. The IR spectra clearly confirmed the presence of gelatin and cytarabine in the loaded nanoparticles while the scanning electron micrograph (SEM) image depicts smooth surface, spherical shape and uneven size of nanoparticles (100–300 nm). The prepared nanoparticles were loaded with cytarabine, a well‐known anticancer drug, and the release dynamics of entrapped drug was investigated as a function of various experimental factors, such as percent loading of the drug, chemical architecture of the nanocarriers, and pH, temperature, ionic strength, and nature of the release medium. The nanoparticles were also studied for their water sorption capacity by optical microscopic method taking advantage of the aggregation of nanoparticles. The drug release process was analyzed kinetically using Ficks power law, and a correlation was established between the quantity of released drug and swelling of the nanoparticles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 2320–2332, 2006     

Epidemiology of cataract in India: combating plans and strategies

Blindness due to cataract presents an enormous problem in India not only in terms of human morbidity but also in terms of economic loss and social burden. The WHO/NPCB (National Programme for Control of Blindness) survey has shown that there is a backlog of over 22 million blind eyes (12 million blind people) in India, and 80.1% of these are blind due to cataract. The annual incidence of cataract blindness is about 3.8 million. The present annual level of performance is in the order of about 1.6-1.9 million cataract operations. To clear the backlog of cataract cases by the year 2000 and to tackle the rising incidence, 5-6 million cataract operations annually will have to be performed as against the present rate of 1. 7 million per year. India is undertaking a new long-term initiative to expand the capability of cataract surgery and service levels with financial assistance from the World Bank. An important feature of this initiative is the attention given to spread the cataract blindness programme in rural and tribal areas. The second feature is the emphasis placed on modern extracapsular cataract extraction with intra-ocular lens implantation as the preferred surgical technique. Another noteworthy feature is developing institutional capacity and appropriate co-ordination mechanisms for collaboration between the non-government organization and the public sector to expand coverage to the most disadvantaged populations. The fourth and the most important strategy is to carry out intensive campaigns at the state and national levels against cataract blindness in order to substantially increase the demand for cataract services. A country like India has more significance for such a plan in view of the fact that various social, economic and environmental factors contribute to cataract blindness in populations at a much younger age.     

Cover Picture: Length‐Dependent Uptake of DNA‐Wrapped Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes (Adv. Mater. 7/2007)

Well‐defined length fractions of DNA‐wrapped single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) of below 200 nm are taken up preferentially by IMR‐90 human lung fibroblasts, while longer DNA wrapped SWNTs are excluded from the cell interior (inset), report Matt Becker and coworkers on p. 939. The cover image construct includes overlaid images of the labeled cell membrane, the nuclei (blue), and the fluorescently labeled DNA wrapped SWNTs (red) that have gained access to the cell interior.     

Anti-CD40 ligand antibody treatment of SNF1 mice with established nephritis: preservation of kidney function

Prior studies have demonstrated that treatment of young, prenephritic lupus-prone mice with Ab directed against CD40 ligand (CD40L) prolongs survival and decreases the incidence of severe nephritis. In this report, we show that for (SWR x NZB)F1 (SNF1) animals with established lupus nephritis, long-term treatment with anti-CD40L beginning at either 5.5 or 7 mo of age prolonged survival and decreased the incidence of severe nephritis. "Older" mice were chosen for these studies to more closely resemble the clinical presentation of patients with established renal disease. We show that age at the start of treatment, which typically correlates with severity of disease, is an important factor when determining an efficacious therapeutic protocol since animals that began treatment at 7 mo of age required a more aggressive treatment protocol than animals at 5.5 mo of age. Remarkably, several anti-CD40L-treated animals beginning treatment at age 5.5 mo demonstrated a decline in proteinuria, as opposed to increasing proteinuria levels seen in hamster IgG (HIg)-treated controls, and histologic examination of kidneys from anti-CD40L-treated mice revealed dramatically diminished inflammation, sclerosis/fibrosis, and vasculitis, in marked contrast to the massive inflammation and kidney destruction observed in control animals that received hamster IgG. Spleens from anti-CD40L-treated mice also exhibited markedly reduced inflammation and fibrosis compared with controls. Together, these results show that treatment of older, nephritic SNF1 animals with long-term anti-CD40L immunotherapy significantly prolongs survival, reduces the severity of nephritis, and diminishes associated inflammation, vasculitis, and fibrosis.     

Low complexity block tree coding for hyperspectral image sensors

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Complexity of any onboard hyperspectral image sensor is a challenging issue. The existing hyperspectral image compression algorithm plays a great role in...     

Low memory block tree coding for hyperspectral images

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Hyperspectral image sensors are resource constrained and have limited on-board memory. Processing of high volume hyperspectral images pose a challenge to the...