Wettability characteristics of carbon steel modified with CO2, Nd:YAG, Excimer and high power diode lasers

Interaction of CO2, Nd:YAG, excimer and high power diode laser (HPDL) radiation with the surface of a common mild steel (EN8) was found to effect changes in the wettability characteristics of the steel, namely changes in the measured contact angle. These modifications are related to changes in the surface roughness, changes in the surface oxygen content and changes in the surface energy of the mild steel. The wettability characteristics of the selected mild steel could be controlled and/or modified by laser surface treatment. A correlation between the change of the wetting properties of the mild steel and the laser wavelength was found

Recurrent longitudinally extensive transversal myelitis in a patient with Sjögren’s syndrome

Introduction. Longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) is a transversal myelitis that extends through three or more vertebral segments in length. Case report. A 52- year-old woman was hospitalized due to pain in the lumbar region, difficulty in walking, hypoesthesia of the anogenital area and urinary retention. In the past medical history, two years earlier, the patient had been diagnosed with transversal myelitis confirmed by MRI of the cervical spine and six months earlier, the patient was diagnosed with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). During the current hospitalization MRI of the spinal cord revealed extensive inflammatory lesions of almost the whole spinal cord. Lumbar puncture (LP) revealed mild pleocytosis and slightly increased protein level. Isoelectric focusing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum proteins was normal. Visual evoked potentials were normal. Serological testing excluded acute viral infections. Corticosteroid therapy was applied with good therapeutic response. Control MRI revealed regression of pathological changes in the spinal cord. Conclusion. A wide range of disorders can cause LETM, but usually the first line diagnosis is neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Based on the detection of NMO immunoglobulin G in the serum of affected patients, a variety of allied disorders were grouped under the name of NMO spectrum disorders, including recurrent myelitis associated with LETM and myelitis associated with autoimmune disorders such as SS. There have been only a few cases reported in the literature with recurrent LETM associated with non-organ specific autoimmune disorder

Characterisation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children and accounts for about 5% of all malignant paediatric tumours. β-Catenin, a multifunctional nuclear transcription factor in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, is active in myogenesis and embryonal somite patterning. Dysregulation of Wnt signaling facilitates tumour invasion and metastasis. This study characterizes Wnt/β-catenin signaling and functional activity in paediatric embryonal and alveolar RMS. Immunohistochemical assessment of paraffin-embedded tissues from 44 RMS showed β-catenin expression in 26 cases with cytoplasmic/membranous expression in 9/14 cases of alveolar RMS, and 15/30 cases of embryonal RMS, whereas nuclear expression was only seen in 2 cases of embryonal RMS. The potential functional significance of β-catenin expression was tested in four RMS cell lines, two derived from embryonal (RD and RD18) RMS and two from alveolar (Rh4 and Rh30) RMS. Western blot analysis demonstrated the expression of Wnt-associated proteins including β-catenin, glycogen synthase kinase-3β, disheveled, axin-1, naked, LRP-6 and cadherins in all cell lines. Cell fractionation and immunofluorescence studies of the cell lines (after stimulation by human recombinant Wnt3a) showed reduced phosphorylation of β-catenin, stabilisation of the active cytosolic form and nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Reporter gene assay demonstrated a T-cell factor/lymphoid-enhancing factor-mediated transactivation in these cells. In response to human recombinant Wnt3a, the alveolar RMS cells showed a significant decrease in proliferation rate and induction of myogenic differentiation (myogenin, MyoD1 and myf5). These data indicate that the central regulatory components of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling are expressed and that this pathway is functionally active in a significant subset of RMS tumours and might represent a novel therapeutic target

Comparative analysis of IL6 and IL6 receptor gene polymorphisms in mastocytosis

Mastocytosis is a rare disease with reported high interleukin-6 (IL6) levels influencing disease severity. The present study investigated polymorphisms within the genes that encode IL6 and its receptor (IL6R) in relation to mastocytosis development in a case-control design. Analysis of the IL6R Asp358Ala polymorphism showed that carriers of the AA genotype had a 2.5-fold lower risk for mastocytosis than those with the AC or CC genotypes. No association with mastocytosis was found for the IL6-174G/C polymorphism, however, it may influence the effect of IL6R polymorphism. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study analysing IL6/IL6R polymorphisms in mastocytosis

Plasma Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease

Biomarker study on dementia has developed widely. In applying biomarkers, there seems to be several utilizations such as presymptomatic- and early-stage detection, differential diagnosis, and evaluation of treatment effect. Currently, most reliable fluid markers are amyloid peptide (Aβ) with microtubule-associated protein tau (TAU) and phosphorylated TAU (P-TAU) detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Aβ42 correlates with plaque pathology, TAU reflects the intensity of neuroaxonal degeneration, and P-TAU may correlate with neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology. An attenuation of the level of Aβ42 and elevation in the ratio of Aβ42 relative to the shorter major species of Aβ42 peptide with 40 amino acid residues (Aβ40) has been identified as significant events in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. In addition, there is great interest in blood-based markers of AD since blood extraction is much less invasive. Moreover, plasma biomarkers can be measured at relatively low expense once a standard system of measurement is established. Although there is not yet an established or validated diagnostic test for plasma biomarkers, there is great interest in blood-based markers. We will summarize reported biomarkers, describe our novel potential plasma biomarker for AD (annexin A5), offering a strategy for selecting candidates, and show our results and evaluation

Wettability characteristics of an Al2O3/SiO2-based ceramic modified with CO2, Nd:YAG, excimer and high-power diode lasers

Interaction of CO2, Nd:YAG, excimer and high power diode laser (HPDL) radiation with the surface of an Al2O3/SiO2 based ceramic was found to effect significant changes in the wettability characteristics of the material. It was observed that interaction with CO2, Nd:YAG and HPDL radiation reduced the enamel contact angle from 1180 to 310, 340 and 330 respectively. In contrast, interaction with excimer laser radiation resulted an increase in the contact angle to 1210. Such changes were identified as being due to: (i) the melting and partial vitrification of the Al2O3/SiO2 based ceramic surface as a result of interaction with CO2, Nd:YAG HPDL radiation. (ii) the surface roughness of the Al2O3/SiO2 based ceramic increasing after interaction with excimer laser radiation. (iii) the surface oxygen content of the Al2O3/SiO2 based ceramic increasing after interaction with CO2, Nd:YAG and HPDL radiation. The work has shown that the wettability characteristics of the Al2O3/SiO2 based ceramic could be controlled and/or modified with laser surface treatment. In particular, whether the laser radiation had the propensity to cause surface melting. However, a wavelength dependance of the change of the wetting properties could not be deduced from the findings of this work