Minimizing thermal damage using self-cooling jaws for radiofrequency intestinal tissue fusion.

INTRODUCTION: Radiofrequency (RF)-induced tissue fusion shows great potential in sealing intestinal tissue without foreign materials. To improve the performance of RF-induced tissue fusion, a novel self-cooling jaw has been designed to minimize thermal damage during the fusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prototype of self-cooling jaws was developed and manufactured. A total number of 60 mucosa-to-mucosa fusions were conducted using ex-vivo porcine intestinal segments with the proposed design and conventional bipolar jaws. The effects of intestinal fusion were evaluated based on temperature curves, burst pressure, thermal damage, and histological appearances. RESULTS: The self-cooling jaws showed significant decrease in temperature during the fusion process. An optimal burst pressure (5.7 ± 0.5 kPa) and thermal damage range (0.9 ± 0.1 mm) were observed when the applied RF power was 100 W. The thermal damage range of the prototype has almost decreased 36% in comparison with the conventional bipolar jaws (1.4 ± 0.1 mm). The histological observation revealed that a decrease of thermal damage was achieved through the application of self-cooling jaws. CONCLUSIONS: The self-cooling jaws were proved to be effective for reducing the thermal damage during RF-induced tissue fusion, which could potentially promote the clinical application of tissue fusion techniques in the future.

Kindlin-3 in Immune Cells Is Required to Suppress Prostate Cancer Tumor Growth in Mice.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Kindlins are essential integrin activators. Kindlin-1 and kindlin-2 are often concomitantly expressed in epithelial tumor cells and participate in regulating tumor malignancy. However, it remains unclear whether kindlin-3, the one expressed in immune cells, also plays a role in regulating tumor malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To examine the role of kindlin-3 in different immune cells in regulating solid tumor growth, a xenograft model of prostate cancer tumor growth in genetically modified kindlin-3 mice was employed. RESULTS: Disruption of crosstalk between kindlin-3 and integrins significantly promoted subcutaneous prostate cancer tumor growth in mice. Furthermore, deficiency of kindlin-3 in T cells and NK cells, but not myeloid cells and B cells, significantly enhanced prostate cancer tumor growth. CONCLUSION: Tumor-killing leukocytes require Kindlin-3 for suppressing cancerous tumor growth, thus providing a novel anticancer mechanism.

Effects of Acute Dance and Aerobic Exercise on Drug Craving and Food Reward in Women with Methamphetamine Dependence.

INTRODUCTION: Drug dependence causes an overestimation of drug-related stimuli and an underestimation of non-drug-related stimuli, such as food. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute moderate-intensity dance and aerobic exercise on drug craving, appetite, prefrontal neural activation to food cues, and food reward in women with methamphetamine MA dependence. METHODS: Thirty-nine women who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition MA dependence criteria participated in the experiment and were randomly assigned to either a dance (n = 20) or exercise (n = 19) group. A moderate-intensity (65%-75% maximum heart rate) 35-min dance or treadmill intervention counterbalanced with a reading control session was conducted. After the intervention or control, subjective drug craving was measured before and after exposure to drug-related cues. Visual analog scales were used to measure subjective feelings of appetite. Participants then completed a visual food cue paradigm while using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to monitor prefrontal blood oxygen changes. Finally, the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire was used to measure reward responses to different categories of food. RESULTS: The results showed that the dance and exercise interventions reduced subjective craving for drugs after being exposed to drug cues (P = 0.019). Implicit wanting (P < 0.001) and relative preferences (P = 0.001) for high-calorie savory foods were all increased after interventions relative to control. Compared with the control session, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P = 0.020) was activated when viewing high-calorie foods after moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. CONCLUSIONS: The current results support the use of moderate-intensity exercise as a therapeutic intervention to restore the balance between drug and nondrug rewards by decreasing cue-induced MA craving and increasing food reward.

Effects of vitamins E and C combined with ß-carotene on cognitive function in the elderly.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of vitamins E (VE) and C (VC), combined with ß-carotene (ß-C), on cognitive function in the elderly. A total of 276 elderly subjects completed the prospective study following treatment with VE, VC and different doses of ß-C or with VE only. Cognitive function was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS) tests. The plasma levels of amyloid-ß (Aß) and estradiol (E2) were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Results from the MMSE and HDS assessments indicated that the treatment strategy of VE and VC combined with ß-C significantly improved cognitive function in the elderly subjects, particularly with higher doses of ß-C. Furthermore, RIA suggested that treatment with these vitamins could markedly reduce plasma Aß levels and elevate plasma E2 levels. The present findings suggest that treatment with VE, VC and ß-C results in promising improvements in cognitive function in the elderly.

Clinical performance of biodegradable versus permanent polymer drug-eluting stents: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials at long-term follow-up.

Several types of biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BPDES) have been used for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty; however, the safety and efficiency of these BPDES have not been fully evaluated. A meta-analysis was, therefore, conducted to compare the clinical performance of BPDES with that of permanent polymer drug-eluting stents (PPDES) in unselected patients with coronary stenosis. PubMed, Web of Science, Medline and The Cochrane Library were searched for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from January 2005 to January 2014. Trials that compared BPDES with PPDES in patients with coronary stenosis were considered. Twelve RCTs with a total of 15,938 patients with coronary stenosis were included in this meta-analysis. No significant difference was found between the two arms in the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and definite or probable stent thrombosis (DpST) at the one-year follow-up (P>0.10). The use of BPDES, however, showed a tendency towards a lower risk of MACE (P=0.09) and a beneficial effect by reducing DpST episodes (P=0.04) at long-term follow-up, particularly when compared with the incidence of DpST at the one-year follow-up. BPDES also tended to be associated with a decreased late lumen loss in patients with coronary stenosis [instrumental variable =-0.04; 95% confidence interval =-0.08-0.00; P=0.05). In conclusion, the one-year outcomes following drug-eluting stent implantation showed BPDES were noninferior to PPDES in unselected patients with coronary stenosis. Long-term clinical outcomes, however, indicated that BPDES appeared to a present a lower risk of MACE and DpST.

Compound gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine and gastrointestinal stromal tumors in the stomach: A case report.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) combined with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rarely observed in the clinic. In the present study, the case of a 56-year-old female diagnosed with compound GEP-NETs and GISTs was reported. The patient initially presented with epigastric discomfort. The pre-operative diagnosis was of GISTs based on the endoscopic and imaging findings. A subtotal gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y reconstruction were successfully performed. The final diagnosis was revised to be compound GEP-NETs and GISTs based on the pathological findings. After 17 months of follow-up examinations using computed tomography and ultrasonography, the patient showed no symptoms or signs of recurrence.