Stretch- and swelling-activated cation (SSAC) channels play essential roles not only in sensing and transducing external mechanical stresses but also in regulating cell volume in living cells. However, the molecular nature of the SSAC channel has not been clarified. In human epithelial HeLa cells, single-channel recordings in cell-attached and inside-out patches revealed expression of a Mg(2+)-...

We report a unique case of delayed brain swelling following craniectomy that improved rapidly after cranioplasty, and discuss the potential mechanism underlying this delayed and reversible brain swelling. A 22-year-old woman developed surgical site infection after removal of a convexity meningioma. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an epidural abscess around the surgical site. Subsequently, t...

A man, age 62 years, presented to the clinic with a 2-week history of increased nontender, nonerythematous, indurated right-sided parotid swelling. A 4 × 6-cm firm, well-circumscribed mass was palpated in the right parotid gland. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed on the parotid mass with aspiration of 0.5 cc of purulent fluid with some blood. Cultures from the aspirate revealed Cocc...

INTRODUCTION Intervertebral discs (IVD) are swollen structures which support substantial static and dynamic loads. Load-carriage is achieved by hydrostatic pressurization of the fluid-filled nucleus pulposus (NP) contained by the ultra-low hydraulic permeability of the endplates and mechanically strong annulus fibrosis (AF). During the diurnal loading cycle, fluid is slowly wrung out in a proce...

A novel thermo-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel with saltand pH-responsiveness properties was obtained by grafting of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers onto kappa-carrageenan, kC, using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator in the presence of methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. Infrared spectroscopy was carried out to confirm t...

fibrous dysplasia (fd) is an osseous growth dis-order, producing immature bone and characte-rized by the replacement of normal bone with fibro-osseous connective tissue. it is a bone dys-plasia that has the potential to cause significant cosmetic and functional disturbances, particularly in the craniofacial skeleton. cra-niofacial fibrous dysplasia is one of the three types of polyostotic fibro...

In order to utilize the psyllium husk, a medicinally important natural polysaccharide, for developing the novel hydrogels meant for the controlled drug delivery devices, we have prepared psyllium and polyacrylamide based polymeric networks by using N,N 0-methylenebisacrylamide (N,N-MBAAm) as crosslinker. The polymeric networks thus formed were characterized with scanning electron micrography (S...

CO2 geosequestration is currently considered to be the most effective and economical method to dispose of artificial greenhouse gases. There are a large number of coal mines that will be scrapped, and some of them are located in deep formations in China. CO2 storage in abandoned coal mines will be a potential option for greenhouse gas disposal. However, CO2 trapping in deep coal pillars would i...

Using a novel method for evaluating mitochondrial swelling (Drahota et al. 2012a) we studied the effect of calcium (Ca(2+)), phosphate (P(i)), and triiodothyronine (T(3)) on the opening of mitochondrial membrane permeability transition pore and how they interact in the activation of swelling process. We found that 0.1 mM P(i), 50 microM Ca(2+) and 25 microM T(3) when added separately increase t...

The potential for allergic contact sensitization to two polyaromatic hydrocarbons, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene, was investigated in C3H/HeN mice. For each agent, contact hypersensitivity was achieved by applying a 100-micrograms dose to the shaved abdomen. An ear swelling response was observed following application of 20 micrograms of the sensitizing dose to the ear dorsum...