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Biomedical subjects

E Unger

Publications and source records attributed to E Unger.

204 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Intravascular bronchioloalveolar tumor: CT and pathologic correlation.

Intravascular bronchioloalveolar tumor of the lung is an unusual neoplasm that usually presents as multiple pulmonary nodules in asymptomatic young women. The course of the disease is often indolent with some patients eventually dying of respiratory failure secondary to progressive tumor infiltration of the pulmonary interstitium. The cell of origin appears to be an endothelial cell, and epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of liver or other soft tissues is a pathologically identical neoplasm. Open lung biopsy is necessary for diagnosis. The radiologist should be aware of this tumor and suggest the diagnosis in the appropriate clinical setting.

Adult↗

MRI-guided noninvasive ultrasound surgery.

In this study, the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect tissue necrosis induced by focussed ultrasound beams was investigated. It was shown that lesions produced in dog's thigh muscle in vivo were clearly visible in T2-weighted images and that the lesion dimensions measured from the images correlated with the postmortem measurements of the visible tissue damage. It was also shown that the sonications can be done in the magnet and that the lesions are visible immediately after the sonications with increasing image contrast as a function of time. These results showed that MRI can be used to direct and monitor on-line noninvasive ultrasound surgery. This may have a major impact in future patient treatments.

Animals↗

Laryngeal pacemaker: activity of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (PCM) and the diaphragm during respiration in sheep.

Electromyograms (EMG) of the PCM and the diaphragm were evaluated in 6 sedated female sheep. Corresponding pneumatograms were recorded simultaneously by means of thermocontrolled respiration flowmeter. Evidence was obtained on considerable intra- and inter-individual differences in the duration of respiratory cycles as well as PCM- and diaphragmatic activity. Most of the evaluated respiratory periods showed either a phase coincidence between the PCM and the diaphragm, or a leading edge of about 40-80 ms of the posticus muscle. Due to this minimal phase shift, the diaphragmatic myogram seems to be a valuable trigger for an external PCM stimulation unit in bilateral recurrent nerve palsy.

Animals↗

Effect of hyperthermia and X-irradiation on survival and occurrence of metastases in mice bearing P388 tumor.

Survival of P388 lymphoid tumor-bearing mice and the occurrence of metastasis was studied after combined modality treatment with hyperthermia and X-irradiation. P388 ascites tumor cells were treated at 42 degrees C or 43.5 degrees C for 1 hr in vitro and transplanted on B6D2F1 mice intraperitoneally (i.p.) or intramuscularly (i.m.). Hyperthermic treatment at 43.5 degrees C increased the median survival time (MST). Increased life-span (ILS) was found after i.p. transplantation (54%) and after i.m. transplantation (30%). During the life-span of tumor-bearing animals, significantly fewer metastases were observed in liver and spleen after hyperthermia and 5-10% metastasis occurred after transplantation of ascites tumor cells treated at 43.5 degrees C in vitro compared with 90% in the untreated control animals. The lower occurrence of metastasis could not be ascribed to the higher cell-killing effect of hyperthermia. When both modalities were combined the best tumor growth retardation effect was obtained when ascites tumor cells were treated at 43.5 degrees C for 1 hr before being transplanted i.m. and 1 day later locally X-irradiated with 6 Gy. In this case, 77% ILS was found demonstrating a synergistic effect of the two modalities. While X-irradiation alone did not change the occurrence of metastasis, after combined modality treatment it was as low as with hyperthermia alone (5-10%). In connection with the significantly lower occurrence of metastasis, the possible alterations of P388 tumor cell membrane and surface proteins induced by in vitro hyperthermic treatment are discussed.

Animals↗

Motor proteins and kinesin-based nanoactuatoric devices.

Eukaryotic organisms synthesize diverse motor proteins converting chemical into mechanical energy. Among them, both rotary (e.g., ATP synthase) and linear motors are found. Linear motors comprise highly specialized proteins moving along nucleic acid filaments (in the case of e.g., RNA polymerase) or cytoskeletal filaments. The present paper provides a brief overview on cytoskeleton-associated motors (myosins, dyneins, and kinesins) and summarizes results contributing to elaborate a basic configuration for constructing a kinesin-driven motor device, suitable for e.g. a controlled displacement of objects or specific substances over millimetre distances with nanometre precision.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Water content and water structure in CT and MR signal changes: possible influence in detection of early stroke.

Recent work by the authors and others has shown that MR imaging is more sensitive than CT in the detection of acute stroke. To separate the effects of water content and water structure on MR signal intensity, we undertook two sets of experiments that used simple model systems: gelatin gels with increasing water content and hardened hens' eggs. CT and MR were performed on both systems. On CT there was a direct linear relationship between CT attenuation (Hounsfield units) and the specific gravity of the gelatin gels, and an inverse relationship with water content. There was only a minimal change in the specific gravity of egg samples with hardening and, as expected on CT, no change in linear attenuation accompanying hardening. On MR there was a linear relationship between water content in gelatin gels and spin-lattice (T1) relaxation time (r = .92, p less than .01) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation time (r = .91, p less than .05). However, these changes were insufficient to explain the changes of signal intensity that occur in the brain with infarction. The simple cellular system with hens' eggs demonstrated that shortening of T1 and T2 accompanied egg hardening with minimal change in water content; the shift of water from bulk water to a bound or structured form was probably the basis of this phenomenon. We found that water structure and not merely water content is a significant mechanism underlying relaxation time changes and signal intensity changes in acute stroke.

Animals↗