The use of Endurant stent-graft for abdominal aortic aneurysm: the story about extension of instruction for use with persistent good results of stent-graft latest generation.

The Endurant stent-graft (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) is a latest generation device for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm. The idea behind designing such a graft came from the intention to broad the instruction for use (IFU) and to enable it to treat more challenging anatomy including the 10mm neck lengths, and more severe suprarenal and infrarenal angulations. Endurant stent-graft has active fixation through suprarenal stent with anchoring pins to provide migration resistance, optimized heights of stents and spacing between them for improved flexibility and conformability, low-profile delivery system with hydrophilic coating and controlled simple deployment mechanism. Short term results are excellent. Technical and clinical success is confirmed in Regulatory trials (EU and USA), as well as in ENGAGE and the Canadian registry. Many current publications record the use of Endurant stent-graft outside the Instruction for use. The results in a group of patients outside the instruction for use are comparable to those within instruction for use; with the exception of perioperative proximal endoleak type I. Mid-term results are consistent with short-term results. The long-term results are lacking.

Effect of histamine on the signal transduction of the AtoS-AtoC two component system and involvement in poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate biosynthesis in Escherichia coli.

AtoS-AtoC two-component system acts directly on the atoDAEB operon transcription to regulate the biosynthesis of short-chain poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate. This study sought to investigate the effect of histamine and compound 48/80 on the regulation of AtoS-AtoC two-component system in Escherichia coli K-12 MA255 (speC(-), speB(-)) and the isogenic E. coli strains BW25113 (atoSC(+)) and BW28878 (DeltaatoSC) transformed with plasmids carrying related genes. Histamine or compound 48/80 induced or tended to reduce atoC transcription, respectively, while neither compound showed any effect on atoDAEB operon transcription. Moreover, histamine down-regulated poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate biosynthesis, whereas compound 48/80 up-regulated its biosynthesis, maximal induction being obtained in the presence of multiple copies of AtoS-AtoC. Interestingly, co-administration of histamine counteracted this inductive effect of compound 48/80. The reported data provide the first evidence for a differential modulator role of histamine and compound 48/80 on the AtoS-AtoC two-component system signaling in potentially pathogenic bacteria, leading to a new perspective on their symbiotic behavior.

In vivo anterograde and retrograde axonal transport of the fluorescent rhodamine-dextran-amine, Fluoro-Ruby, within the CNS.

A number of fluorescent dextrans were screened for axonal transport properties within the rat CNS. One compound, Fluoro-Ruby (FR), was found to be particularly sensitive for demonstrating retrograde and particularly anterograde axonal transport. The tracer may be either pressure or iontophoretically injected, and the fixed tissue can be examined without histochemical processing. The technique can be combined with a wide variety of other neuroanatomical methods.

[Research in the dental laboratories in Thessaloniki referring to the categories and the elaboration of the dental alloys for the fixed prosthetic constructions]. / Hereuna sta odontotechnika ergasteria Thessalonikes schetika me tis kategories kai ten ergasteriake epexergasia ton odontiatrikon kramaton gia akinetes prosthetikes ergasies.

The research that is presented in this article is a statistical evaluation with goal to scrutinize which classes of the dental alloys are being used by the dental laboratories in Thessaloniki for porcelain and acrylic bridge work constructions. On the other hand many elements concerning to the elaboration of the new dental alloy have been checked and evaluated. The result of this research that covers the 90% of the total number of the dental laboratories of Thessaloniki lead to the following conclusions: 1. The dental laboratories in Thessaloniki use in high percentage alloys with low cost for the fixed prosthetic constructions. 2. The Ag-Pd dental alloys for the metal-acrylic and the Ni-Cr alloys for the metal-ceramic constructions occupy the first position in frequency. 3. The dental Technicians must improve even more the elaboration of the new dental alloys.

Neurons containing retrogradely transported Fluoro-Gold exhibit a variety of lysosomal profiles: a combined brightfield, fluorescence, and electron microscopic study.

The advantages of axonally transported Fluoro-Gold as a retrograde fluorescent marker are numerous. The objective of the present study was to determine whether transported Fluoro-Gold is visible in either semi-thin sections for light microscopy or thin sections for electron microscopy. Rats received injections of Fluoro-Gold into either the striatum or thoracic spinal cord. After appropriate survival times, labelled neurons were observed with the fluorescence microscope in brain regions that are known to project to the injected areas. Sections that contained labelled cells were embedded in plastic and examined with a fluorescence microscope. Semi-thin sections of unosmicated tissue displayed high-resolution fluorescent labelling of somata and dendrites. In contrast, osmicated tissue did not fluoresce, but numerous dark granules were observed in the dendritic and perikaryal cytoplasm of labelled neurons in toluidine blue stained sections that were examined with brightfield optics. The unosmicated tissue did not display these granules, and this finding suggested that the granules are composed of membranes. Neurons in other brain regions that are known not to project to the injection sites did not contain these dark granules. Adjacent thin sections examined with the electron microscope displayed numerous electron-dense, lysosome-like organelles in the cytoplasm of labelled neurons. The electron density of these organelles was greater than that of lysosomes in unlabelled neurons. Three types of distinctive organelles were observed in these preparations: (1) relatively dense concentric lamellar bodies of various sizes; (2) heterogeneous or lipofuscin-like lysosomes; and (3) coarse grained lysosomes. Control sections and unlabelled neurons did not display these organelles. Therefore, these organelles appear to correlate with Fluoro-Gold localized within the somata and dendrites of retrogradely labelled neurons. It is not known if they are the Fluoro-Gold itself, or represent a physiological effect on membranes. The results of this study indicate that Fluoro-Gold may be useful for tract tracing at the electron microscopic level.

[Prevention of premature delivery with acetylsalicylic acid]. / Wehenhemmung durch Azetylsalizylsäure.

In 52 cases acetylsalicylic acid was used to prevent labor when symptomatic tocolysis with beta-adrenergic substances showed insufficient results. By applying this method, 48 children were carried to full viability. Upon admission, all pregnancies were below 36 weeks of gestation. Upon delivery, 15 were between the 34th und 36th week, and 31 beyond the 36th week of gestation. We succeeded fully in 32 cases, 15 incomplete cases were observed and 5 failures. In addition to tocolysis, therapy with acetylsalicylic acid appears promising in preventing premature delivery.