In vivo biocompatibility of porous silicon biomaterials for drug delivery to the heart

Myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is the irreversible necrosis of heart muscle secondary to prolonged ischemia, which is an increasing problem in terms of morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs worldwide. Along with the idea to develop nanocarriers that efficiently deliver therapeutic agents to target the heart, in this study, we aimed to test the in vivo biocompatibility of different sizes of thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon (THCPSi) microparticles and thermally oxidized porous silicon (TOPSi) micro and nanoparticles in the heart tissue. Despite the absence or low cytotoxicity, both particle types showed good in vivo biocompatibility, with no influence on hematological parameters and no considerable changes in cardiac function before and after MI. The local injection of THCPSi microparticles into the myocardium led to significant higher activation of inflammatory cytokine and fibrosis promoting genes compared to TOPSi micro and nanoparticles; however, both particles showed no significant effect on myocardial fibrosis at one week post-injection. Our results suggest that THCPSi and TOPSi micro and nanoparticles could be applied for cardiac delivery of therapeutic agents in the future, and the PSi biomaterials might serve as a promising platform for the specific treatment of heart diseases.     

Heterogeneity of executive functions among preschool children with psychiatric symptoms

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between internalizing and externalizing symptoms and deficits in executive functions (EF)...     

心血管内科护士综合能力考核评估及分析

目的：了解心血管内科护士综合能力现状,以便对护士的岗位管理与合理培训提供参考。方法：通过理论考核、操作考核、医生和护士评价及工作实绩四大项进行评估。结果：工作年限较高的护师及主管护师并没有全部进入相应的较高层级,部分主管护师及护师人员综合能力评估分值较低。结论：通过综合能力考核评估及分层,可使护士明确自己的临床护理能力,有利于护理人员分层使用,优化心内科护理人员的能力结构,充分调动各层次护理人员的工作积极性,提高护士的整体素质,进而提高护理质量及患者对护理服务的满意度。     

钇-90微球的特性、放射栓塞的操作技术及安全防护——钇-90微球放射栓塞系列回顾(一)

钇-90(90Y)微球放射栓塞是一种局部治疗方法,它将载有发射β射线的90Y树脂或玻璃微球选择性地注射到肝动脉.90Y微球随血流被阻塞在肿瘤血管床,其发出的射线对靶肿瘤具有细胞毒性作用.该方法的安全性和有效性已经在不可切除的肝脏恶性肿瘤患者中得到证实.本文作为90Y微球放射栓塞系列综述的第一部分,将讨论90Y和90Y微球的基本特性,90Y微球放射栓塞的基本操作方法,以及放射性安全与防护.     

Chromosomal abnormalities and microsatellite instability in sporadic endometrial cancer

Defective DNA mismatch repair and nonfunctional mechanisms controlling the proper progression of the cell cycle have been proposed as being responsible for the genomic instability and accumulation of karyotypic alterations in endometrial cancer (EC). To assess whether numerical chromosomal anomalies (aneuploidy) and microsatellite instability (MSI) might be representative of distinctive tumour behaviour, paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 86 patients with sporadic EC were evaluated by both fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and microsatellite analysis, using free nuclei and genomic DNAs (respectively). Approximately one-third of the tumours analysed (24/74; 32%) exhibited MSI, whereas 38/86 (44%) of the EC samples displayed aneuploidy. The majority of the unstable cases (15/24; 63%) were from advanced-stage patients. Conversely, 23 (61%) out of the 38 tumours with aneuploidy were from early-stage patients. No apparent correlation was found between MSI and aneuploidy, whereas the immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis revealed that inactivation of the MLH1 mismatch repair gene may be involved in the majority of the MSI+ sporadic ECs. No genetic or cytogenetic alteration analysed here seems to add any significant predictive value to the stage of disease.     

Mutation analysis of candidate genes in melanoma-prone families: evidence of different pathogenetic mechanisms at chromosome 9P21

Putative tumour suppressor genes CDKN2A and CDKN2B (on chromosome 9p21) and CDKN2A-interacting cell growth regulatory genes CDK4 and Id-1 have been demonstrated to be involved in the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma (MM). Mutation analysis of these candidate genes was performed in MM families from southern Italy with three or more affected members or two affected members and one or more relative with histologically diagnosed atypical naevus. Two CDKN2A mutations, Arg24Pro and 1-292 G>A, were observed in two (15%) families; except for CDKN2A and Id-1 polymorphisms, no sequence variations were detected in the remaining genes. Screening among 119 sporadic MM cases revealed two additional CDKN2A mutations at very low prevalences. Identification of a large shared haplotype at 9p21 in some MM families negative for CDKN germline mutations suggests that other CDKN-inactivating mechanisms may be responsible for MM predisposition or, alternatively, additional susceptibility gene(s) may be present on chromosome 9p21. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of a subset of MM tissue sections seemed to indicate that the D9S171 locus may be involved in MM pathogenesis.