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Selected AbstractsTreatment of achalasia: lessons learned with Chagas' diseaseDISEASES OF THE ESOPHAGUS, Issue 5 2008F. A. M. Herbella SUMMARY., Chagas' disease (CD) is highly prevalent in South America. Brazilian surgeons and gastroenterologists gained valuable experience in the treatment of CD esophagopathy (chagasic achalasia) due to the high number of cases treated. The authors reviewed the lessons learned with the treatment of achalasia by different centers experienced in the treatment of Chagas' disease. Preoperative evaluation, endoscopic treatment (forceful dilatation and botulinum toxin injection), Heller's myotomy, esophagectomy, conservative techniques other than myotomy, and reoperations are discussed in the light of personal experiences and review of International and Brazilian literature. Aspects not frequently adopted by North American and European surgeons are emphasized. The review shows that nonadvanced achalasia is frequently treated by Heller's myotomy. Endoscopic treatment is reserved to limited cases. Treatment for end-stage achalasia is not unanimous. Esophagectomy was a popular treatment in advanced disease; however, the morbidity/mortality associated to the procedure made some authors seek different alternatives, such as Heller's myotomy and cardioplasties. Minimally invasive approach to esophageal resection may change this concept, although few centers perform the procedure routinely. [source] How should we estimate driving pressure to measure interrupter resistance in children?PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 9 2007MB ChB, P. Seddon BSc Abstract Interrupter resistance (Rint) is a widely used measure of airway caliber, but concerns remain about repeatability and sensitivity. Some Rint variability may derive from the linear back-extrapolation algorithm (LBE 30/70) usually used to estimate driving pressure. To investigate whether other methods of estimating driving pressure could improve repeatability and sensitivity, we studied 39 children with asthma. Two measurements of Rint,each the median of 10 interruptions,were made 5 min apart, and 14 children had a third measurement after bronchodilator (RintBD). Mouth pressure transients were analyzed using several algorithms, to compare the magnitude, repeatability, and sensitivity to bronchodilator change of Rint values yielded. Algorithms taking driving pressure from later in the transient, predictably, yielded higher values of Rint than those which back-extrapolated to time of valve closure. Algorithms which did not rely on back-extrapolation, including mean oscillation pressure (MOP) and mean plateau pressure (MP 30/70) had better repeatability. Sensitivity to detect change, calculated as ratio of bronchodilator response to repeatability coefficient (,Rint/CR), was also better for non-extrapolating algorithms: MP 30/70 1.67, LBE 30/70 1.28 (P,=,0.0004). Measuring Rint using techniques other than conventional back-extrapolation may give more consistent and clinically useful results, and these approaches merit further exploration. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2007; 42:757,763. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Probing protein colloidal behavior in membrane-based separation processes using spectrofluorometric Rayleigh scattering dataBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2010Rand Elshereef Abstract One of the primary problems in membrane-based protein separation is membrane fouling. In this study we explored the feasibility of employing Rayleigh light scattering data from fluorescence studies combined with chemometric techniques to determine whether a correlation could be established with membrane fouling phenomena. Membrane flux was measured in a dead-end UF filtration system and the effect of protein solution properties on the flux decline was systematically investigated. A variety of proteins were used as a test case in this study. In parallel, the colloidal behavior of the protein solutions was assessed by employing multiwavelength Rayleigh scattering measurements. To assess the usefulness of Rayleigh scattering measurements for probing the colloidal behavior of proteins, a protein solution of ,-lactoglobulin was used as a base-case scenario. The colloidal behavior of different ,-lactoglobulin solutions was inferred based on published data for this protein, under identical solution conditions, where techniques other than Rayleigh scattering had been used. Using this approach, good agreement was observed between scattering data and the colloidal behavior of this protein. To test the hypothesis that a high degree of aggregation will lead to increased membrane fouling, filtration data was used to find whether the Rayleigh scattering intensity correlated with permeate flux changes. It was found that for protein solutions which were stable and did not aggregate, fouling was reduced and these solutions exhibited reduced Rayleigh scattering. When the aggregation behavior of the solution was favored, significant flux declines occurred and were highly correlated with increased Rayleigh scattering. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010 [source] Detection of germline deletions using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in Japanese patients with von Hippel,Lindau diseaseCANCER SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006Keiko Hattori Germline mutations of the VHL gene are responsible for VHL. Approximately 70% of VHL families display small intragenic mutations detectable by sequencing, whereas partial- or whole-gene deletions have been described in the majority of the remaining families. For such large deletions, complex genetic techniques other than sequencing might have to be used. In this study, we describe an RQ-PCR assay with TaqMan fluorescent probes to detect germline VHL deletions. The RQ-PCR primer/probe sets were designed for the three VHL coding exons as well as for the 5, promoter and 3, untranslated regions. The RQ-PCR assay for 30 normal and 10 known VHL deletion control samples demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. We then screened 29 individuals from 19 classical VHL families (16 type 1, 2 type 2A, and one type 2B) and one PHEO family, as well as four solitary suspected cases, none displaying any sequence changes, for VHL deletions by the RQ-PCR assay. We detected germline deletions in 17 (89%) classical families including 15 type 1, one type 2A, and one type 2B. We also identified two mutation carriers and two non-carriers in our family cohort. The one PHEO family and four solitary cases did not display any deletion patterns. These findings indicated that the TaqMan-based RQ-PCR assay is a simple and potent technique for the rapid, sensitive, and specific investigation of VHL genetic diagnoses that could be used profitably before more complex large-deletion detection techniques. (Cancer Sci 2006; 97: 400 ,405) [source] | ||||||||||