Computed tomographic diagnosis of a common bile duct abscess and secondary extrahepatic biliary duct obstruction in a potbelly pig.

A potbelly pig was evaluated for anorexia and icterus. Clinicopathologic abnormalities suggested an active inflammatory hepatobiliary process. Ultrasound and CT of the abdomen revealed an extrahepatic biliary obstruction of the common bile duct (CBD). Surgical exploration and choledochotomy revealed a markedly dilated CBD containing a large volume of intraluminal inspissated biliary material. This case report describes the imaging findings of an extrahepatic biliary obstruction secondary to abscessation within the CBD in a pig.

Effect of graphene-based nanomaterials on corneal wound healing in vitro.

Graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs) are widely used due to their chemical and physical properties for multiple commercial and environmental applications. From an occupational health perspective, there is concern regarding the effects of inhalation on the respiratory system, and many studies have been conducted to study inhalation impacts on lung. Similar to the respiratory system, the eyes may also be exposed to GBNs and thus impacted. In this study, immortalized human corneal epithelial (hTCEpi) cells and rabbit corneal fibroblasts (RCFs) were used to investigate the toxicity of eight types of GBN: graphene oxide (GO; 400 nm), GO (1 µm), partially reduced graphene oxide (PRGO; 400 nm), reduced graphene oxide (RGO; 400 nm), RGO (2 µm), graphene (110 nm), graphene (140 nm), and graphene (1 µm). We next examined the effects of these GBNs on hTCEpi cell migration. We also determined whether the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), a myofibroblast marker, is altered by the GBNs using RCFs. We found that RGO (400 nm) and RGO (2 µm) were highly toxic to hTCEPi cells and RCFs meanwhile, PRGO (400 nm) was toxic only to hTCEpi cells. In addition, PRGO (400 nm), RGO (400 nm), and RGO (2 µm) inhibited hTCEpi cell migration and significantly increased αSMA mRNA expression. Further study in vivo is required to determine if RGO nanomaterials delay corneal epithelial healing and induce scar formation.

Standardized uptake values and attenuation correction in 18 F-sodium fluoride PET of the equine foot and fetlock.

Maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax ) are commonly used for the interpretation of PET studies. Limited information regarding the SUVmax of 18 F-NaF PET in horses is currently available in the literature. The goals of this retrospective secondary analysis study were to provide reference values for 18 F-NaF SUVmax in the equine distal extremity and assess the effect of attenuation correction. Nonattenuation corrected (NAC) and CT-based attenuation corrected (CTAC) SUVmax were obtained from 19 feet and 19 fetlocks. Twenty regions of interest (ROIs) were defined for the foot and 22 for the fetlock. Areas presenting abnormal uptake were excluded. The overall NAC and CTAC SUVmax were 3.6 +/- 1.5 (mean +/- sd) and 5.0 +/- 1.8 for the feet and 2.9 +/- 1.1 and 3.8 +/- 1.4 for the fetlocks, respectively. The 3 ROIs showing the highest attenuation correction were the navicular center (83.4%), navicular flexor surface (74.9%) and distal phalanx flexor surface (81.3%), whereas attenuation correction was only 5.2% at the dorsal aspect of the proximal phalanx. Significant SUVmax differences were observed between the different ROIs (P < 0.0001), with the toe (CTAC SUVmax 7.7 +/- 3.7), dorsal (7.5 +/- 1.9) and central (6.1 +/- 2.2) ROIs of the distal phalanx being significantly higher than those of the other areas. This study demonstrates that attenuation correction affects SUVmax in the equine distal extremity and should be performed if CT data are available. However, as the maximal attenuation correction results in less than doubling the signal intensity, nonattenuation corrected images likely remain relevant for subjective clinical interpretation.

Effect of Urea and Thiourea on Generation of Xenogeneic Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering.

Effective solubilization of proteins by chaotropes in proteomic applications motivates their use in solubilization-based antigen removal/decellularization strategies. A high urea concentration has previously been reported to significantly reduce lipophilic antigen content of bovine pericardium (BP); however, structure and function of the resultant extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold were compromised. It has been recently demonstrated that in vivo ECM scaffold fate is determined by two primary outcome measures as follows: (1) sufficient reduction in antigen content to avoid graft-specific adaptive immune responses and (2) maintenance of native ECM structural proteins to avoid graft-specific innate responses. In this work, we assessed residual antigenicity, ECM architecture, ECM content, thermal stability, and tensile properties of BP subjected to a gradient of urea concentrations to determine whether an intermediate concentration exists at which both antigenicity and structure-function primary outcome measures for successful in vivo scaffold outcome can simultaneously be achieved. Alteration in tissue structure-function properties at various urea concentrations with decreased effectiveness for antigen removal makes use of urea-mediated antigen removal unlikely to be suitable for functional scaffold generation.