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Biomedical subjects

M Wagner

Publications and source records attributed to M Wagner.

At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources
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Depending on donations.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital relies on donations for more than half its operating income. But that doesn't worry Joseph Simone, M.D. After 23 years at the Memphis, Tenn., hospital, its director has learned to trust the generosity of others.

Fund Raising↗
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Locally advanced breast carcinoma: evaluation of mammography in the prediction of residual disease after induction chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the mammographic features of locally advanced breast carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to evaluate morphological criteria that determine the value of mammography in therapy monitoring. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the pre- and post-therapeutic mammograms of 44 patients with stage III-breast carcinoma with regard to tumor characteristics and malignant calcifications and compared to histopathological results. RESULTS: Delineation of the tumor proved to be the most significant criterion. In 34 tumors more than 50% of the lesion was defined; these showed a high correlation between the mammographically determined tumor diameter and that determined on histopathological examination (r = 0.77). Less than 50% of the mass was definable in 14 tumors; here the correlation between mammographically and histopathologically determined tumor diameter was low (r = -0.19). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic value of mammography in the evaluation of tumor response to induction chemotherapy depends primarily on the extent to which the tumor can be delineated from the adjacent breast tissue. For tumors whose margins can be defined by more than 50% on the baseline mammogram, the diagnostic reliability of mammography is high. Ill-defined masses should preferably be assessed with other imaging procedures such as ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
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Cyclin-dependent kinase-inhibitor 1 (CDKN1A) in the squamous epithelium of the oropharynx: possible implications of molecular biology and compartmentation.

The cdknlA gene encodes CDKN1A, a protein that regulates cell cycle progression, terminal differentiation, and apoptosis. Polymorphisms or loss of heterozygosity of this usually biallelically expressed gene have no major impact on carcinogenesis. The prevalence of somatic mutations in malignancies is low. Gene rearrangements involving cdknlA are scarce. CDKN1A is expressed in both premalignant and malignant lesions. While the prognostic value of nuclear CDKN1A expression is controversial, the prognostic value of its recently discovered cytoplasmic accumulation is simply unknown. CDKN1A translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm when cleaved by caspase-like activities during early apoptosis. The presence of cytoplasmic catabolites (e.g.: p14) might therefore indicate apoptosis. We found no correlation between nuclear and cytoplasmic anti-CDKN1A immunoreactivity in our samples of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. CDKN1A Cap20, CDKN1, CDKN1A, CDKNA1, Cip-1, Mda-6, P21, Pic1, Sdi-1, Waf-1.

Apoptosis↗
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An approach towards public health and foodborne human listeriosis--the Austrian Listeria monitoring.

The Institute for Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science has launched a Listeria monitoring for Austrian cheese factories in 1988 which is nowadays a valuable tool to control the safety of cheese production. It is a means to qualify the proper hygienic conditions in the participating cheese plants. Proper hygiene protects cheese plants from getting contaminated by L. monocytogenes. The preventive elimination of foodborne pathogens facilitates a thriving economical development of the domestic cheese industry as contamination by L. monocytogenes may lead to a stop of delivery, product recall and other costly measures. This report comprehensively describes the principle of the monitoring including a description of the microbiological and molecular tools. It summarizes data on the detection frequency of Listeria contamination with respect to the different matrices under investigation. Furthermore an overview is given on the course of 17 contamination periods in 10 cheese plants and the outcome of the decontamination endeavours is described. Apart from epidemiological investigations, this report summarizes data regarding molecular species confirmation in the genus Listeria as the species assignment was comparatively examined by both conventional microbiology and molecular tools. Genotyping by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis was applied in three plants which were confronted with a long term contamination period. The data presented in this paper rely on results which were collected through a decade of investigation (1990-2000).

Animals↗
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Generation of classification criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome using an artificial neural network and traditional criteria set.

OBJECTIVE: The definition of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is still disputed and no validated classification criteria have been published. Artificial neural networks (ANN) are computer-based models that can help to evaluate complex correlations. We examined the utility of ANN and other conventional methods in generating classification criteria for CFS compared to other diseases with prominent fatigue, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-nine case patients with CFS, 41 patients with SLE and 58 with FMA were recruited from a generalist outpatient population. Clinical symptoms were documented with help of a predefined questionnaire. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group (n = 158) served to derive classification criteria sets by two-fold cross-validation, using a) unweighted application of criteria, b) regression coefficients, c) regression tree analysis, and d) artificial neural networks in parallel. These criteria were validated with the second group (n = 40). RESULTS: Classification criteria developed by ANN were found to have a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 85%. ANN achieved a higher accuracy than any of the other methods. CONCLUSION: We present validated criteria for the classification of CFS versus SLE and FMA, comparing different classification approaches. The most accurate criteria were derived with the help of ANN. We therefore recommend the use of ANN for the classification of syndromes with complex interrelated symptoms like CFS.

Adult↗
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Conscious sedation and analgesia with rectal ketamine in the Macaca fuscata monkey.

Conscious sedation is commonly utilized in pediatric dentistry. Although opioid analgesics are often employed, patient safety would be enhanced if nonopioid drugs were used. The purpose of this study was to determine if rectal ketamine could produce plasma concentrations that would achieve both conscious sedation and analgesia to gingival needle puncture. Five 2-year-old male Macaca fuscata monkeys were given rectal ketamine at a dosage of 60 mg/kg and 90 mg/kg one week apart. Blood was drawn at selected times after administration, and vital signs, level of sedation, and consciousness were assessed. Plasma ketamine concentrations ranged from 240 to 820 ng/mL and from 390 to 3120 ng/mL after rectal administration at doses of 60 mg/kg and 90 mg/kg, respectively. Two monkeys after the high dose showed analgesia to a gingival needle puncture at plasma ketamine concentrations that ranged from 1390 to 3120 ng/mL. A good level of sedation was consistently observed in four monkeys (80%) following rectal ketamine at a dosage of 90 mg/kg, whereas one monkey showed a consistently good level at a dosage of 60 mg/kg. Sedation and dose were significantly (P less than 0.001) associated with plasma ketamine concentrations; physiologic parameters were not (P greater than 0.05). The results of this study suggest that rectal ketamine can produce plasma concentrations of the drug sufficient to achieve sedation in the monkey. The attainment of concomitant analgesia to a gingival needle puncture was not as predictable.

Analysis of Variance↗
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MR appearance of gray and white matter at the cervicomedullary region.

To study the appearance of gray and white matter in the cervicomedullary region, six fresh cadavers were imaged with a 1.5-T MR scanner and then sectioned with a cryomicrotome. The pyramidal tracts, fasciculus cuneatus and gracilis, inferior olivary nuclei, supraspinal nuclei, spinal trigeminal nuclei, and medial lemnisci were identified by MR in the cervicomedullary region.

Adult↗
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Comparison of MR and diskography in detecting radial tears of the anulus: a postmortem study.

Radial tears of the anulus fibrosus, which anatomic studies suggest are a primary event in disk degeneration, can be detected by diskography or MR imaging. We compared the sensitivity of MR and diskography in the detection of anular tears. MR, diskography, and cryomicrotomy anatomic sectioning were performed in eight cadaver lumbar spines. Diskography demonstrated 15 radial tears in 36 intervertebral disks. MR demonstrated 10 of the 15, a sensitivity of 67%. MR (T2-weighted images) in each of the diskographically normal disks showed the high signal intensity characteristic of normal disks. Thirteen of 15 disks from which contrast medium extravasated at diskography had diminished signal intensity in MR images. We conclude that although MR may demonstrate some radial tears of the anulus, and associated changes in the disk, it cannot be used as effectively as diskography to visualize a radial tear.

Aged↗
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Induction of a novel damage-specific DNA binding protein correlates with enhanced DNA repair in primate cells.

Pretreatment of mammalian cell with DNA-damaging agents, such as UV light or mitomycin C, but not the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), results in the enhanced repair of subsequently transfected UV-damaged expression vectors. To determine the cellular factors that are responsible for this enhancement, we have used a modified gel retardation assay to detect the proteins that interact with damaged DNA. We have identified a constitutive DNA binding protein in extracts from primate cells that has a high affinity for UV-irradiated double-stranded DNA. Cells pretreated with UV light, mitomycin C, or aphidicolin, but not TPA or serum starvation, have higher levels of this damage-specific DNA binding (DDB) protein. These results suggest that the signal for induction of DDB protein can either be damage to the DNA or interference with cellular DNA replication. The induction of DDB protein varies among primate cells with different phenotypes: (1) virus-transformed repair-proficient cells have partially or fully lost the ability to induce DDB protein above constitutive levels; (2) primary cells from repair-deficient xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) group C, and transformed XP groups A and D, show constitutive DDB protein, but do not show induced levels of this protein 48 h after UV; and (3) primary and transformed repair-deficient cells from one XP E patient are lacking both the constitutive and the induced DDB activity. The correlation between the induction of the DDB protein and the enhanced repair of UV-damaged expression vectors implies the involvement of the DDB protein in this inducible cellular response.

Animals↗
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Tears of the anulus fibrosus: correlation between MR and pathologic findings in cadavers.

Tears of the anulus fibrosus, which have been implicated in back pain, have not been studied systematically with MR imaging. We correlated MR images with cryomicrotome sections to study the lumbar anulus fibrosus in 20 cadavers. Three distinct types of tears of the anulus were identified: concentric tears, characterized by fluid-filled spaces between adjacent lamellae; radial tears, characterized by a rupture of all layers in the anulus between the nucleus and the surface of the disk; and transverse tears, characterized by a rupture of Sharpey's fibers in the periphery of the anulus, near the ring apophysis. In each type, fluid or mucoid material was present in the tear. MR demonstrated the transverse and radial tears. We conclude that MR imaging provides an accurate means for investigating tears of the anulus.

Cadaver↗