Exosomes and their role in CNS viral infections

Exosomes are small membrane-bound vesicles that carry biological macromolecules from the site of production to target sites either in the microenvironment or at distant sites away from the origin. Exosomal content of cells varies with the cell type that produces them as well as environmental factors that alter the normal state of the cell such as viral infection. Human DNA and RNA viruses alter the composition of host proteins as well as incorporate their own viral proteins and other cargo into the secreted exosomes. While numerous viruses can infect various cell types of the CNS and elicit damaging neuropathologies, few have been studied for their exosomal composition, content, and function on recipient cells. Therefore, there is a pressing need to understand how DNA and RNA viral infections in CNS control exosomal release. Some of the more recent studies including HIV-1, HTLV-1, and EBV-infected B cells indicate that exosomes from these infections contain viral miRNAs, viral transactivators, and a host of cytokines that can control the course of infection. Finally, because exosomes can serve as vehicles for the cellular delivery of proteins and RNA and given that the blood-brain barrier is a formidable challenge in delivering therapeutics to the brain, exosomes may be able to serve as ideal vehicles to deliver protein or RNA-based therapeutics to the brain.     

Implementation of electronic Patient Reported Outcomes in pediatric daily clinical practice: the KLIK experience

Tijdschrift voor Kindergeneeskunde -     

CARP基因重组腺病毒载体的构建

目的：利用Adeasy-1系统，构建并鉴定CARP基因重组腺病毒载体。方法：PCR扩增含有CARP全长cDNA的片段，经测序验证无误后，亚克隆至pAdTrack-CMV穿梭质粒，再与pAdEasy．1质粒在大肠杆菌BJ5 183中进行同源重组产生腺病毒载体质粒。经过抗性筛选以及酶切鉴定得到阳性的重组质粒，再在293细胞中进行包装扩增，利用Adeasy系统上的绿色荧光蛋白标签鉴定病毒表达。结果：测序证实PCR产物为CARP全长cDNA；抗性筛选及酶切鉴定均表明重组腺病毒载体构建成功；转染293细胞3天后可见绿色荧光，回收病毒可以重复感染293细胞，证明病毒包装成功。     

Localization of gastrinomas by selective intra-arterial calcium injection in patients on proton pump inhibitor or H2 receptor antagonist therapy

Preoperative localization is important for the successful treatment of gastrinomas. The aim of this study was to investigate whether selective intra-arterial calcium injection and hepatic venous sampling was able to localize gastrinomas in four patients who remained on proton pump inhibitor or H2 antagonist therapy. Calcium gluconate was injected directly into the arteries supplying the pancreas and liver after standard selective angiography. Gastrin levels were then measured in samples taken from the right hepatic vein. Calcium gluconate produced a diagnostic rise (at least 2-fold) in serum gastrin and unequivocally localized the tumour to a specific vascular territory in each case. One patient did not undergo surgery. In the remaining three patients, surgery confirmed the position and histology of the tumour. This study shows that in four patients with a confirmed gastrinoma we were able to localize the gastrinoma by selective intra-arterial calcium injection and hepatic venous sampling, whilst the patients remained on proton pump inhibitor or H2 antagonist therapy, thereby reducing their risk of gastrointestinal perforation.     

Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement With the Melody Valve in Small Diameter Expandable Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Conduits

Objectives

This study sought to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and outcomes of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) in conduits ≤16 mm in diameter.

Solution Processed PVB/Mica Flake Coatings for the Encapsulation of Organic Solar Cells

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) die due to their interactions with environmental gases, i.e., moisture and oxygen, the latter being the most dangerous, especially under illumination, due to the fact that most of the active layers used in OPVs are extremely sensitive to oxygen. In this work we demonstrate solution-based effective barrier coatings based on composite of poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) and mica flakes for the protection of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-based organic solar cells (OSCs) against photobleaching under illumination conditions. In the first step we developed a protective layer with cost effective and environmentally friendly methods and optimized its properties in terms of transparency, barrier improvement factor, and bendability. The developed protective layer maintained a high transparency in the visible region and improved oxygen and moisture barrier quality by the factor of ~7. The resultant protective layers showed ultra-flexibility, as no significant degradation in protective characteristics were observed after 10 K bending cycles. In the second step, a PVB/mica composite layer was applied on top of the P3HT film and subjected to photo-degradation. The P3HT films coated with PVB/mica composite showed improved stability under constant light irradiation and exhibited a loss of <20% of the initial optical density over the period of 150 h. Finally, optimized barrier layers were used as encapsulation for organic solar cell (OSC) devices. The lifetime results confirmed that the stability of the OSCs was extended from few hours to over 240 h in a sun test (65 °C, ambient RH%) which corresponds to an enhanced lifetime by a factor of 9 compared to devices encapsulated with pristine PVB.     

How useful is capsule endoscopy for the selection of patients for double-balloon enteroscopy?

Although double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is useful for the diagnosis and management of patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, the technique is fairly invasive, has several limitations, and can be associated with complications. It is, therefore, important to identify those patients who will benefit most from DBE, and those in whom the procedure should be avoided. In this Practice Point commentary, we discuss the findings and limitations of a retrospective study conducted by Hendel and colleagues that evaluated the utility of capsule endoscopy screening for the selection of patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding who would benefit from DBE. The results suggest that capsule endoscopy screening is useful to predict the diagnostic yield of DBE, guide the route of DBE, influence sedation choices, and avoid the performance of unnecessary procedures. This commentary highlights the issues to consider when interpreting and generalizing these results in clinical practice.     

Effect of cardiac rehabilitation on cardiovascular risk factors in chronic heart failure patients

Introduction

Cardiac rehabilitation improves disease-related symptoms, quality of life, and clinical outcomes. This study was done to evaluate the effect of cardiac rehabilitation program on cardiovascular risk factors in chronic heart failure patients as well as functional capacity and health related quality of life.