Diffusion-weighted imaging of the parotid gland: Influence of the choice of b-values on the apparent diffusion coefficient value

PURPOSE: To determine how the ADC value of parotid glands is influenced by the choice of b-values. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In eight healthy volunteers, diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging (DW-EPI) was performed on a 1.5 T system, with b-values (in seconds/mm2) of 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 500, 750, and 1000. ADC values were calculated by two alternative methods (exponential vs. logarithmic fit) from five different sets of b-values: (A) all b-values; (B) b=0, 50, and 100; (C) b=0 and 750; (D) b=0, 500, and 1000; and (E) b=500, 750, and 1000. RESULTS: The mean ADC values for the different settings were (in 10(-3) mm2/second, exponential fit): (A) 0.732+/-0.019, (B) 2.074+/-0.084, (C) 0.947+/-0.020, (D) 0.890+/-0.023, and (E) 0.581+/-0.021. ADC values were significantly (P <0.001) different for all pairwise comparisons of settings (A-E) of b-values, except for A vs. D (P=0.172) and C vs. D (P=0.380). The ADC(B) was significantly higher than ADC(C) or ADC(D), which was significantly higher than ADC(E). ADC values from exponential vs. logarithmic fit (P=0.542), as well as left vs. right parotid gland (P=0.962), were indistinguishable. CONCLUSION: The ADC values calculated from low b-value settings were significantly higher than those calculated from high b-value settings. These results suggest that not only true diffusion but also perfusion and saliva flow may contribute to the ADC.

Targeted disruption of the arylsulfatase B gene results in mice resembling the phenotype of mucopolysaccharidosis VI.

Mucopolysaccharidosis VI (MPS VI) is a lysosomal storage disease with autosomal recessive inheritance caused by a deficiency of the enzyme arylsulfatase B (ASB), which is involved in degradation of dermatan sulfate and chondroitin 4-sulfate. A MPS VI mouse model was generated by targeted disruption of the ASB gene. Homozygous mutant animals exhibit ASB enzyme deficiency and elevated urinary secretion of dermatan sulfate. They develop progressive symptoms resembling those of MPS VI in humans. Around 4 weeks of age facial dysmorphia becomes overt, long bones are shortened, and pelvic and costal abnormalities are observed. Major alterations in bone formation with perturbed cartilaginous tissues in newborns and widened, perturbed, and persisting growth plates in adult animals are seen. All major parenchymal organs show storage of glycosaminoglycans preferentially in interstitial cells and macrophages. Affected mice are fertile and mortality is not elevated up to 15 months of age. This mouse model will be a valuable tool for studying pathogenesis of MPS VI and may help to evaluate therapeutical approaches for lysosomal storage diseases.

Kitāb Had��yat al-aḥb��b wa-minḥat al-khullān wa-al-aṣḥāb

li-Muḥammad al-Qāwūqjī al-Ṭarābulusī al-Shāmī al-shahīr bi-Ab�� al-Maḥāsin.

Une aventurière de haut vol, Lady Hamilton, ambassadrice d'Angleterre, et la révolution de Naples, d'après des documents inédits (1763-1815)

At head of title: Joseph Turquan et Jules d'Auriac.

Économie rurale et civile, ou Moyens les plus économiques d'administrer et de faire valoir ses biens de campagne et de ville...

Contiene: Première partie: Administration des biens / par M. L.D.B.[Le B��gue de Presle]. 1789, XXIV, 541 p. - Seconde partie: Economie domestique / par M. L. B. D. P. [Le B��gue de Presle]. 1789, XXXIIV, 502 p., 2 lám. - Troisième partie, tome 1: Exploitation / par M. l'abbé de Lalauze. 1789, XVI, 488 p., 4 lám. - Troisième partie, tome 2: Exploitation des terres / par M. l'abbé de Lalauze. 1790, 2 h., 528 p., 2 lám. - Troisième partie, tome 3: Economie des champs / par M. l'abbé de Lalauze. 1791, 2 h., 540 p. - Troisième partie, tome 4: Economie des champs / par M. l'abbé de Lalauze..., 1792. 2 h., 390 p., 2 lám.

Memoires de M. Du Gué-Trouin chef d'escadre des armees des M.T.C. et grand croix de l'ordre militaire de S. Louis.

Mode of access: Internet.

La science des personnes de cour, d'epée et de robe /

Incluye tabla de los tomos.

A memoir of the life of John Codman Ropes, LL. D., with the proceedings of various societies, addresses, papers, and resolutions in commemoration of him.

"500 copies ... printed by D. B. Updike, at The Merrymount press, Boston, in April, 1901."

Memoria sobre la enfermedad de la vid de esta provincia : excrita de orden del Excmo. Sr. Gobernador Civil de la misma D. Miguel Tenorio de Castilla /

Mode of access: Internet.

Tre novelle inedite di Lauro Corniani d'Algarotti, tratte dal suo manoscritto autografo.

Half-title: Per le nozze Buri-Manin.

Trial of Moore & Sevey for a libel on Samuel D. Greene, in the Municipal Court, Boston, July term, 1833.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sous la tente : types, scènes et paysages d'Algérie /

A diary.

Scenes from the rejected comedies : By some of the competitors for the prize of £500, offered by Mr. B. Webster, lessee of the Haymarket theatre, for the best original comedy, illustrative of English manners /

Cf. Clark, W.A. Modern Eng. lit. 1920-28. v. 3, p. 1-2.

Response of B-type natriuretic pepticle to exercise in hypertensive patients with suspected diastolic heart failure: Correlation with cardiac function, hemodynamics, and workload

Background Diastolic heart failure (DHF) is characterized by dyspnea due to increased left ventricular (LV) filling pressures during stress. We sought the relationship of exercise-induced increases in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) to LV filling pressures and parameters of cardiovascular performance in suspected DHF. Methods Twenty-six treated hypertensive patients with suspected DHF (exertional dyspnea, LV ejection fraction >50%, and diastolic dysfunction) underwent maximal exercise echocardiography using the Bruce protocol. BNP, transmitral Doppler, and tissue Doppler for systolic (So) and early (Ea) and late (Aa) diastolic mitral annular velocities were obtained at rest and peak stress. LV filling pressures were estimated with E/Ea ratios. Results Resting BNP correlated with resting pulse pressure (r=0.45, P=0.02). Maximal exercise performance (4.6 +/- 2.5min) was limited by dyspnea. Blood pressure increased with exercise (from 143 +/- 19/88 +/- 8 to 191 +/- 22/90 +/- 10 mm Hg); 13 patients (50%) had a hypertensive response. Peak exercise BNP correlated with peak transmitral E velocity (r = 0.41, P <.05) and peak heart rate (r = -0.40, P <.05). BNP increased with exercise (from 48 57 to 74 97 pg/mL, P =.007), and the increment of BNP with exercise was associated with maximal workload and peak exercise So, Ea, and Aa (P <.01 for all). Filling pressures, approximated by lateral E/Ea ratio, increased with exercise (7.7 +/- 2.0 to 10.0 +/- 4.8, P <.01). BNP was higher in patients with possibly elevated filling pressures at peak exercise (E/Ea >10) compared to those with normal pressures (123 +/- 124 vs 45 +/- 71 pg/mL, P =.027). Conclusions Augmentation of BNP with exercise in hypertensive patients with suspected DHF is associated with better exercise capacity, LV systolic and diastolic function, and left atrial function. Peak exercise BNP levels may identify exercise-induced elevation of filling pressures in DHF.

Crystal structure of P450cin in a complex with its substrate, 1,8-cineole, a close structural homologue to D-camphor, the substrate for P450cam

Cytochrome P450cin catalyzes the monooxygenation of 1,8-cineole, which is structurally very similar to D-camphor, the substrate for the most thoroughly investigated cytochrome P450, cytochrome P450cam. Both 1,8-cineole and D-camphor are C-10 monoterpenes containing a single oxygen atom with very similar molecular volumes. The cytochrome P450cin-substrate complex crystal structure has been solved to 1.7 Angstrom resolution and compared with that of cytochrome P450cam. Despite the similarity in substrates, the active site of cytochrome P450cin is substantially different from that of cytochrome P450cam in that the B' helix, essential for substrate binding in many cytochrome P450s including cytochrome P450cam, is replaced by an ordered loop that results in substantial changes in active site topography. In addition, cytochrome P450cin does not have the conserved threonine, Thr252 in cytochrome P450cam, which is generally considered as an integral part of the proton shuttle machinery required for oxygen activation. Instead, the analogous residue in cytochrome P450cin is Asn242, which provides the only direct protein H-bonding interaction with the substrate. Cytochrome P450cin uses a flavodoxin-like redox partner to reduce the heme iron rather than the more traditional ferredoxin-like Fe2S2 redox partner used by cytochrome P450cam and many other bacterial P450s. It thus might be expected that the redox partner docking site of cytochrome P450cin would resemble that of cytochrome P450BM3, which also uses a flavodoxin-like redox partner. Nevertheless, the putative docking site topography more closely resembles cytochrome P450cam than cytochrome P450BM3.