Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS): A Potential Arthroscopic Tool for Quantitative Assessment of Articular Cartilage

Conventional ultrasound examination of the articular cartilage performed externally on the body surface around the joint has limited accuracy due to the inadequacy in frequency used. In contrast to this, minimally invasive arthroscopy-based ultrasound with adequately high frequency may be a better alternative to assess the cartilage. Up to date, no special ultrasound transducer for imaging the cartilage in arthroscopic use has been designed. In this study, we introduced the intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for this purpose. An IVUS system with a catheter-based probe (Ø ≈ 1mm) was used to measure the thickness and surface acoustical reflection of the bovine patellar articular cartilage in vitro before and after degeneration induced by enzyme treatments. Similar measurement was performed using another high frequency ultrasound system (Vevo) with a probe of much larger size and the results were compared between the two systems. The thickness measured using IVUS was highly correlated (r = 0.985, p < 0.001) with that obtained by Vevo. Thickness and surface reflection amplitude measured using IVUS on the enzymatically digested articular cartilage showed changes similar to those obtained by Vevo, which were expectedly consistent with previous investigations. IVUS can be potentially used for the quantitative assessment of articular cartilage, with its ready-to-use arthroscopic feature

A Switch in the Control of Growth of the Wing Imaginal Disks of Manduca sexta

Background: Insulin and ecdysone are the key extrinsic regulators of growth for the wing imaginal disks of insects. In vitro tissue culture studies have shown that these two growth regulators act synergistically: either factor alone stimulates only limited growth, but together they stimulate disks to grow at a rate identical to that observed in situ. It is generally thought that insulin signaling links growth to nutrition, and that starvation stops growth because it inhibits insulin secretion. At the end of larval life feeding stops but the disks continue to grow, so at that time disk growth has become uncoupled from nutrition. We sought to determine at exactly what point in development this uncoupling occurs. Methodology: Growth and cell proliferation in the wing imaginal disks and hemolymph carbohydrate concentrations were measured at various stages in the last larval instar under experimental conditions of starvation, ligation, rescue, and hormone treatment. Principal Findings: Here we show that in the last larval instar of M. sexta, the uncoupling of nutrition and growth occurs as the larva passes the critical weight. Before this time, starvation causes a decline in hemolymph glucose and trehalose and a cessation of wing imaginal disks growth, which can be rescued by injections of trehalose. After the critical weight the trehalose response to starvation disappears, and the expression of insulin becomes decoupled from nutrition. After the critical weight the wing disks loose their sensitivity to repression by juvenile hormone, and factors from the abdomen, bu

Aphid Wing Induction and Ecological Costs of Alarm Pheromone Emission under Field Conditions

The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris, (Homoptera: Aphididae) releases the volatile sesquiterpene (E)-β-farnesene (EBF) when attacked by a predator, triggering escape responses in the aphid colony. Recently, it was shown that this alarm pheromone also mediates the production of the winged dispersal morph under laboratory conditions. The present work tested the wing-inducing effect of EBF under field conditions. Aphid colonies were exposed to two treatments (control and EBF) and tested in two different environmental conditions (field and laboratory). As in previous experiments aphids produced higher proportion of winged morphs among their offspring when exposed to EBF in the laboratory but even under field conditions the proportion of winged offspring was higher after EBF application (6.84±0.98%) compared to the hexane control (1.54±0.25%). In the field, the proportion of adult aphids found on the plant at the end of the experiment was lower in the EBF treatment (58.1±5.5%) than in the control (66.9±4.6%), in contrast to the climate chamber test where the numbers of adult aphids found on the plant at the end of the experiment were, in both treatments, similar to the numbers put on the plant initially. Our results show that the role of EBF in aphid wing induction is also apparent under field conditions and they may indicate a potential cost of EBF emission. They also emphasize the importance of investigating the ecological role of induced defences under field conditions

Pogostick: A New Versatile piggyBac Vector for Inducible Gene Over-Expression and Down-Regulation in Emerging Model Systems

Non-traditional model systems need new tools that will enable them to enter the field of functional genetics. These tools should enable the exploration of gene function, via knock-downs of endogenous genes, as well as over-expression and ectopic expression of transgenes.We constructed a new vector called Pogostick that can be used to over-express or down-regulate genes in organisms amenable to germ line transformation by the piggyBac transposable element. Pogostick can be found at www.addgene.org, a non-profit plasmid repository. The vector currently uses the heat-shock promoter Hsp70 from Drosophila to drive transgene expression and, as such, will have immediate applicability to organisms that can correctly interpret this promotor sequence. We detail how to clone candidate genes into this vector and test its functionality in Drosophila by targeting a gene coding for the fluorescent protein DsRed. By cloning a single DsRed copy into the vector, and generating transgenic lines, we show that DsRed mRNA and protein levels are elevated following heat-shock. When cloning a second copy of DsRed in reverse orientation into a flanking site, and transforming flies constitutively expressing DsRed in the eyes, we show that endogenous mRNA and protein levels drop following heat-shock. We then test the over-expression vector, containing the complete cDNA of Ultrabithorax (Ubx) gene, in an emerging model system, Bicyclus anynana. We produce a transgenic line and show that levels of Ubx mRNA expression rise significantly following a heat-shock. Finally, we show how to obtain genomic sequence adjacent to the Pogostick insertion site and to estimate transgene copy number in genomes of transformed individuals.This new vector will allow emerging model systems to enter the field of functional genetics with few hurdles

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Elinsiirron saaneen nuoren siirtyminen lasten ja nuorten hoitotyöstä aikuisten terveyspalveluiden käyttäjäksi

Opinnäytetyömme tarkoituksena on kuvata saumaton, hoitoon sitoutumista tukeva hoitopolku nuoren elinsiirtopotilaan siirtyessä lasten ja nuorten hoitotyöstä aikuisten terveyspalvelujen käyttäjäksi. Työmme on osa lasten ja nuorten hoitotyön osaamisen tulevaisuuden hanketta. Hankkeen tarkoituksena on uusien toimintakäytäntöjen luominen, verkostomaisen työskentelyn vahvistaminen, sekä saumattomien hoitopolkujen kehittäminen. Hankkeessa yhteistyökumppaneina ovat HYKS Naisten- ja lastentautien tulosyksikkö, Metropolia ammattikorkeakoulun Hoitotyön koulutusohjelma ja Tampereen yliopiston Hoitotieteen laitos. Työssämme keskitymme potilaan siirtymävaiheen solmukohtiin, kuvaamme nykyisen hoitopolun ja pyrimme löytämään näkökulmia sekä toimintamalleja, jotka antaisivat nuorelle, hänen perheelleen sekä hoitoyksikölle valmiuksia siirtymisprosessin vaiheisiin. Työssämme keskitymme nuorten kehittymishaasteisiin ja pyrimme kartoittamaan nuorten hoitomyönteisyyttä ja vastaanottavaisuutta edistäviä keinoja ja välineitä. Opinnäytetyömme aihe on uusi hoitotieteellisen tutkimuksen kohde ja löytämämme materiaali on luonteeltaan täsmällistä, tuoretta ja vastaa hyvin työmme edistymisen vaateisiin. Käytimme työssämme kvantitatiivista tutkimusmenetelmää. Tutkimustyön tarve sekä prosessin kehittäminen potilaan tarpeita vastaavaksi tällä hoitotyön saralla on erittäin tärkeää. Kansainvälisesti siirtymisessä koetaan haastavimmaksi prosessin alkamisen äkillisyys, riittämätön tiedonkulku lasten ja aikuisten puolen välillä ja tätä kautta hoidon jatkuvuuden kankeus. Toisin sanoen siirtymiseen valmistavien toimintojen aikaistaminen, kirjallinen informaatio ja sujuvampi yhteistyö palveluiden tarjoajien välillä, ovat suurimmat kehittymishaasteet

Aligning kidney function assessment in patients with cancer to global practices in internal medicine

UNLABELLED: The kidney disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guideline recommends assessing kidney function using glomerular filtration rate (GFR) either through direct measurement or through estimation (eGFR) and describes a standardised classification of reduced kidney function. KDIGO guidelines have been adopted by most internal medicine specialities for the assessment and classification of kidney function, but not by cancer medicine. The development of the International Consensus Guideline on Anticancer Drug Dosing in Kidney Dysfunction (ADDIKD) aims to overcome the perceived challenges with KDIGO recommendations by describing their utility in patients with cancer. Two virtual, consensus building workshops were held consecutively, involving international, multidisciplinary participants (Part 1 of ADDIKD development). During these workshops, three consensus recommendations were agreed upon based on KDIGO's principles; to standardise kidney function assessment, classify kidney function, and determine a uniform approach to dose anticancer drugs in patients with reduced kidney function. Cancer clinicians attending the workshops identified issues regarding the adoption of KDIGO's recommendations. These issues were addressed by nephrologists, clinical pharmacologists, and other clinicians with extensive experience in the contemporary assessment of kidney function. The key concern for cancer specialists was a hesitancy to move away from the familiar and long-standing practice of using the Cockcroft-Gault equation to estimate creatinine clearance. The consensus building within the two multidisciplinary workshops allowed a thorough assessment of the evidence and clarified how directly measured GFR and eGFR, rather than creatinine clearance, could be optimally utilised in cancer care. The development of Part 1 of the ADDIKD guideline represents a standardised, contemporary approach to the assessment, classification, and utility of kidney function in the setting of cancer care and it harmonises with the approach used in other areas of medicine internationally. FUNDING: Development of the ADDIKD guideline is funded by the Cancer Institute NSW as part of the NSW Government and received no funding from external commercial sources