Optical biodetection of cadmium and lead ions in water

A three layer waveguiding silicon dioxide (SiO₂)/silicon nitride (Si₃N₄)/SiO₂ structure on silicon substrate was proposed as an optically efficient biosensor for calibration of heavy metal ions in drinking water. The catalytic activities of urease and acetylcholine esterase (AchE) were inhibited by the presence of cadmium (Cd²⁺) and lead (Pb²⁺) ions. The detection limit as low as 1 ppb was achieved by employing the technique of total reflection at the interface between the Si₃N₄ core and composite polyelectrolyte self-assembled (PESA) membranes containing cyclotetrachromotropylene (CTCT) as an indicator.     

Diagnosis and treatment planning of acute aortic emergencies using a handheld DICOM viewer

Acute aortic syndromes and traumatic aortic injury are often diagnosed on CT angiography, possibly requiring emergent intervention. Advances in handheld computing have created the possibility of viewing full DICOM datasets from a remote location. We evaluated the ability to diagnose and characterize acute aortic pathologies on CT angiograms of the thorax using an iPhone-based DICOM viewer. This study was performed after Institutional Review Board approval. Fifteen CT angiograms of the thorax in suspected acute aortic syndromes were evaluated by three blinded radiologists on a handheld device using a DICOM viewer. Studies were evaluated for the ability to identify and classify aortic dissection, transection, or intramural hematoma, measure aortic dimensions, and identify mediastinal hematoma, arch variants, and pulmonary pathology. Studies were compared to blinded interpretations on a dedicated PACS workstation. The aortic pathology was correctly identified as aortic transection/pseudoaneurysm (n?=?5), type A dissection (n?=?2), and type A intramural hematoma (n?=?1) by all reviewers, with no false-positive interpretations. This represents a sensitivity and specificity of 100 %. Mediastinal hematoma (n?=?6), pneumothorax (five right, three left), and arch vessel involvement (n?=?2) were identified in all cases. There was 88.5 % accuracy in identifying arch variants. Measurement of the size of the involved aortic segment was similar on handheld device and PACS workstation; however the adjacent normal aorta was 1.2?±?1.0 mm larger on the handheld device (p?=?0.03). Handheld DICOM viewers may be useful for emergent consultations and triage, and may expedite preprocedure planning to reduce the time interval between diagnostic scan and therapeutic intervention.     

The clinical utility of prostate cancer heterogeneity using texture analysis of multiparametric MRI

International Urology and Nephrology - To determine if multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) derived filtration-histogram based texture analysis (TA) can differentiate between different Gleason scores (GS)...     

Effects of tomato extract on human platelet aggregation in vitro

Among all fruits tested in vitro for their anti-platelet property, tomato had the highest activity followed by grapefruit, melon, and strawberry, whereas pear and apple had little or no activity. Tomato extract (20-50 w l of 100% juice) inhibited both ADP- and collagen-induced aggregation by up to 70% but could not inhibit arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation and concomitant thromboxane synthesis under similar experimental conditions. The anti-platelet components (MW <1000 Da) in tomatoes are water soluble, heat stable and are concentrated in the yellow fluid around the seeds. The active fractions were separated using gel filtration and HPLC. The aqueous fraction (110 000 2 g supernatant) of tomatoes containing anti-platelet activity was subjected to gel filtration column chromatography (Biogel P2 column). The activity was fractionated into two peaks, peak-3 and peak-4 (major peak). Subsequently, peak-4 was further purified by HPLC using a reversed-phase column. NMR and mass spectroscopy studies indicated that peak F2 (obtained from peak 4) contained adenosine and cytidine. Deamination of peak F2 with adenosine deaminase almost completely abolished its anti-platelet activity, confirming the presence of adenosine in this fraction. In comparison, deamination of peak-4 resulted in only partial loss of inhibitory activity while the activity of peak-3 remained unaffected. These results indicate that tomatoes contain anti-platelet compounds in addition to adenosine. Unlike aspirin, the tomato-derived compounds inhibit thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. All these data indicate that tomato contains very potent anti-platelet components, and consuming tomatoes might be beneficial both as a preventive and therapeutic regime for cardiovascular disease.     

Giant pyogenic granuloma in a renal transplant patient

Pyogenic granuloma is a common benign skin tumor. However, pyogenic granulomas with immunodeficient patients, especially transplant patients, are infrequent. We present a case report of a renal transplant patient with giant pyogenic granuloma. To the best of our knowledge, there are a few reports of pyogenic granuloma in renal transplant patients. This case report explores clinical and treatment elements for pyogenic granulomas as well as a review of the literature.