Neural crest stem cell population in craniomaxillofacial development and tissue repair.

Neural crest cells, delaminating from the neural tube during migration, undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition and differentiate into several cell types strongly reinforcing the mesoderm of the craniofacial body area - giving rise to bone, cartilage and other tissues and cells of this human body area. Recent studies on craniomaxillofacial neural crest-derived cells have provided evidence for the tremendous plasticity of these cells. Actually, neural crest cells can respond and adapt to the environment in which they migrate and the cranial mesoderm plays an important role toward patterning the identity of the migrating neural crest cells. In our experience, neural crest-derived stem cells, such as dental pulp stem cells, can actively proliferate, repair bone and give rise to other tissues and cytotypes, including blood vessels, smooth muscle, adipocytes and melanocytes, highlighting that their use in tissue engineering is successful. In this review, we provide an overview of the main pathways involved in neural crest formation, delamination, migration and differentiation; and, in particular, we concentrate our attention on the translatability of the latest scientific progress. Here we try to suggest new ideas and strategies that are needed to fully develop the clinical use of these cells. This effort should involve both researchers/clinicians and improvements in good manufacturing practice procedures. It is important to address studies towards clinical application or take into consideration that studies must have an effective therapeutic prospect for humans. New approaches and ideas must be concentrated also toward stem cell recruitment and activation within the human body, overcoming the classical grafting.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension: case report.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a well defined entity, however it is characterised by a relevant clinical heterogeneity. The main feature is orthostatic headache, often accompanied by other symptoms. The diagnosis is easily made in the presence of orthostatic headache, excluding an obvious aetiology of low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure, and often there is no evidence of direct or indirect CSF leak.

Reproductive versus floral isolation among morphologically similar Serapias L. species (Orchidaceae).

Flowers of the Mediterranean orchid genus Serapias L. form small, dark tubes that vary among taxa in diameter and depth. Visiting insects use the floral tube as shelter and act as pollinators if they touch the sticky viscidium at the rear of the tube and remove the pollinarium. It has been assumed that floral tube size and shape limit access to the flowers and thus may act as a barrier to gene flow between different Serapias species. Here we investigated floral characters and nuclear microsatellite markers in populations belonging to three morphologically similar Serapias species to test whether these species show evidence for floral or reproductive isolation. We found strong overlap of floral traits between two species, suggesting that floral isolation is nonexistent between them. Microsatellite markers applied to the same populations were highly polymorphic and revealed clear genetic differentiation among all three species. These results suggest that reproductive isolation exists, despite the lack of floral isolation between two of the species. In contrast to morphological characters, diagnostic microsatellite alleles were found for all Serapias species. The microsatellite markers could thus provide a useful tool to identify Serapias species and further investigate evolutionary relationships in this fascinating orchid lineage.

Accuracy of enteroclysis in Crohn's disease of the small bowel: a retrospective study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of enteroclysis in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease of the small bowel in a group of consecutive patients. From January 1992 to December 1995, 165 patients with suspected Crohn's disease of the small bowel presented to our institution for enteroclysis. In 14 patients up to three enteroclysis exams were performed. Most patients (78%) underwent colonoscopy and retrograde ileoscopy. In the remaining patients clinical follow-up was used as gold standard. In 79 patients no radiographic abnormalities were found. Sixty-one patients (40 men and 21 women; mean age 34.2 years) had a radiological diagnosis of Crohn's disease. This involved the terminal ileum in 39 patients (64%) either alone (n = 25) or in association with the pelvic ileum (n = 14). In 12 of these patients retrograde ileoscopy was not feasible. Twenty-one patients underwent surgery. In 4 patients pathology revealed diseases other than Crohn's. These patients had all ileocecal diseases (tuberculosis = 2; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma = 1; adenocarcinoma = 1). One false-negative result was observed. Overall, enteroclysis showed a sensitivity of 98.2% and a positive predictive value of 93.4%. Enteroclysis is a sensitive technique in evaluating both the extent and the severity of small bowel involvement in Crohn's disease, although the overlap of radiographic findings may hamper its accuracy when the disease is confined to the ileocecal area.

The Tripler LE3AN Program: a two-year follow-up report.

This paper provides a review of 2-year follow-up data on the Tripler Army Medical Center LE3AN Program. The LE3AN Program (emphasizing healthy Lifestyles, reasonable Exercise, realistic Expectations, Emotions, and Attitudes, and Nutrition) provides active duty service members a treatment strategy that involves a reasonable low-intensity exercise regimen, behavior modification, intensive nutritional counseling healthy meal planing, relapse prevention strategies, cognitive coping strategies, and healthy lifestyle principals to lose weight and maintain weight loss. Based on the 2-year data and additional clinical findings, we expand upon earlier preliminary reports. The 2-year follow-up data suggest that the program is a safe and efficacious treatment program.

Micronucleus frequency and cell proliferation in human lymphocytes exposed to 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic fields.

In the present study micronucleus induction and cell proliferation in human peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured in vitro and exposed to 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic fields for 72 h at different intensities (1.0, 0.75, 0.5, 0.25, and 0.05 mT rms) were investigated. The results obtained from 42 healthy donors aged between 26 and 54 y indicate that, for the field intensities tested, no genotoxic effects were found, as assessed by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. On the contrary, cell proliferation, evaluated by the cytokinesis-block proliferation index, was slightly affected by the field at the intensities tested.

The Tripler Army Medical Center LEAN Program: a healthy lifestyle model for the treatment of obesity.

This paper provides an overview of the Tripler Army Medical Center LEAN Program for the treatment of obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and essential hypertension. The LEAN Program, a multi-disciplinary prevention program, emphasizes healthy Lifestyles, Exercise and Emotions, Attitudes, and Nutrition for active duty service members. The treatment model offers a medically healthy, emotionally safe, and reasonable, low-intensity exercise program to facilitate weight loss. We will discuss the philosophy behind the LEAN Program and the major components. Thereafter, we will briefly discuss the preliminary results.

Real-time measurement of transverse-mode-mixing effects in a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser.

We describe a novel apparatus for the real-time characterization of transverse-mode-mixing effects by monitoring the fluctuations of the M(2) factor defined by Siegman [Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt. Instrum. Eng. 1224, 2 (1990)]. A comparison between the results provided by our approach and those obtained by the use of a standard measurement apparatus has shown a satisfactory agreement within the experimental uncertainty.

[Non-surgical treatment of pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery and its branches]. / Trattamento non chirurgico degli pseudoaneurismi dell' arteria epatica e dei suoi rami.

The transcatheter embolization of hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms and of its branches is now considered the most effective tool for their treatment. These lesions are caused by abdominal traumas or inappropriate surgical treatment. These pseudoaneurysms must be treated promptly because they are at high risk for rupture, with subsequent complications such as hematemesis, hemobilia and hemoperitoneum. We treated 7 patients with pseudoaneurysms: 4 of them were in the right hepatic artery, 1 in a right hepatic artery branch, 1 in the common hepatic artery and 1 in the suprahilar hepatic artery. Two pseudoaneurysms were treated with Gianturco coils, 2 with Ivalon particles, 1 with Contour particles, 1 with fibrin particles and 1 with transcatheter occlusion with Bucrylat. Six of 7 patients recovered completely after embolization and in 1 patient only subsequent surgery was required. The success rate of transcatheter embolization was 85%. In our personal experience and from international literature reports, percutaneous embolization emerges as the safest therapeutic approach to hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms, yielding optimal results. In particular, percutaneous embolization is indicated for intrahepatic pseudoaneurysms and extraparenchymal saccular pseudoaneurysms of the common hepatic artery. Moreover, this technique exhibits a lower complication rate than surgery, whose mortality rate ranges 15-20%.

[Magnetic resonance in surgical planning in hepatocarcinomas]. / La risonanza magnetica nella programmazione chirurgica degli epatocarcinomi.

The diagnostic accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the preoperative staging of unifocal hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was investigated and compared with that of ultrasonography (US) and Computed Tomography (CT). Eighteen patients with focal HCCs underwent MRI, CT and US scans before surgery. In all cases the histopathologic diagnosis was made with CT-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). The diagnostic accuracy of each imaging modality was investigated with the assessment of three parameters thought to be of the utmost importance for surgical planning, i.e., lesion unifocality, the presence of a capsule and finally vascular involvement. MRI proved to be more sensitive than CT in demonstrating both lesion unifocality (100% vs. 94.4%) and the presence of a capsule (100% vs. 71.4%). In 2 of 18 patients some blood vessels were involved, which was clearly demonstrated only by MRI, CT missing it. Both MRI and CT had 100% specificity in the detection of a perilesional capsule and of vascular involvement. To conclude, MRI exhibited higher diagnostic accuracy than US and CT, thus confirming its major role in the preoperative staging of unifocal HCCs.