锌酞菁脂质体光动力作用引起小鼠肿瘤的细胞程序性死亡

电镜观察了锌酞菁脂质体光动力作用引起小鼠ＭＳ－２纤维肉瘤的形态学变化。发现其作用很强，并对肿瘤细胞有明显的直接影响。肿瘤细胞的结构表现出明显的程序性细胞死亡（ａｐｏｐｔｏｓｉｓ，ｐｒｏｇｒａｍｍｅｄｃｅｌｄｅａｔｈ）的特点：胞核染色质凝聚边集、核固缩、核破裂、染色质凝块流失、胞质内吞噬现象、胞膜表面肿胀粗钝的胞突形成、细胞碎裂等。加深了对锌酞菁脂质体光敏作用机理的认识，但其详细的发生机制和调节途径有待阐明。     

Changes in nerve growth factor level and symptom severity following antibiotic treatment for refractory overactive bladder

Introduction and hypothesis

Overactive bladder (OAB) has a multifactorial aetiology, and for some women symptoms may be associated with chronic urothelial inflammation secondary to bacterial colonisation. One marker of such inflammation may be urinary nerve growth factor (NGF). We hypothesised that for women with OAB and urothelial inflammation, urinary NGF would be reduced following antibiotic therapy.

Methods

Women with overactive bladder and urodynamic diagnosis of detrusor overactivity who were refractory to anticholinergics, and had histological evidence of urothelial inflammation were treated with a 6-week course of rotating antibiotics. Urinary NGF was measured by ELISA before and after treatment. Three-day bladder diaries, the Patients’ Perception of Intensity of Urgency Scale, the King’s Health Questionnaire and the Patients’ Perception of Bladder Condition questionnaire were used to assess subjective and objective outcomes of therapy.

Results

Thirty-nine women with refractory DO were recruited. The NGF levels decreased significantly after antibiotic therapy (Wilcoxon signed rank test; p?=?0.015). There were significant improvements in daytime frequency, nocturia and urgency (p?<?0.05), and 74 % of women reported improvement in perception of their bladder condition.

Conclusions

Urinary NGF is responsive to antibiotic therapy. Women with refractory overactive bladder and elevated NGF may benefit from antibiotic treatment.     

Every heart beat is under neural command: an hypothesis relating to the cardiac rhythm

In the human heart there is a sequential contraction of the systemic veins, systemic venous sinus and the pectinated right atrium, 'the systemic waltz', and sequential contraction of the pulmonary veins, pulmonary venous sinus and pectinated left atrium, 'the pulmonary waltz'. The systemic veins contract earlier than the pulmonary veins creating a 'duet. We hypothesise that this waltz and duet point to a complex extracardiac control of the cardiac rhythm on a beat-to-beat neural basis.     

Ecomorphological variation in artiodactyl calcanei using 3D geometric morphometrics

Artiodactyl postcrania are commonly used as paleoecological indicators but these studies are usually limited to artiodactyls within a single family. Here, we use 3D geometric morphometrics to analyze the morphology of calcanei from five artiodactyl families (Antilocapridae, Bovidae, Cervidae, Giraffidae, and Tragulidae) and identify common ecological trends among these families using principal component analysis. Our results indicate that antilocaprid and some bovid calcanei show convergent evolution of cursorial morphology and that other bovids have independently evolved less cursorial morphology that is more similar to cervids. This study shows that parallel ecomorphological trends can be identified in multiple families of artiodactyls, as well as within artiodactyl groups. This further suggests that the calcaneus may be a good indicator of ecology and function in fossil groups that are taxonomically ambiguous or not closely related to living taxa.     

Factors associated with encephalopathy in patients with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi bacteremia presenting to a diarrheal hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh

To characterize clinical correlates of typhoid fever-associated encephalopathy, we performed a retrospective chart review of patients with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi bacteremia who were hospitalized at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, from February of 2009 to June of 2011. Of 207 patients bacteremic with Salmonella Typhi who were ≥ 5 years of age, we identified 43 (21%) patients with encephalopathy. Univariate analysis revealed that patients with encephalopathy more often presented at ages of 10-24 years and had severe dehydration, low oxygen saturation, high respiratory rate, low leukocyte count, low platelet count, and Widal flagellar H agglutinin (TH) titer ≥ 1:640 compared with typhoid patients without encephalopathy. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression showed that age, dehydration, leukocyte count, and Widal TH titer were independently associated with encephalopathy. Our findings suggest that age, severity of disease, and immune responses are associated with encephalopathy during Salmonella Typhi bacteremia, perhaps reflecting the impact of prominent inflammatory responses.