PURPOSE To investigate whether in isolated porcine ciliary processes, stimulation of the nitric oxide (NO)-guanylate cyclase (GC)-3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway modulates ciliary epithelial transmembrane potential. METHODS Changes in transmembrane potential induced by the two NO donors, sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 100 microM) and S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP; 100...

AGuIX are gadolinium-based nanoparticles developed mainly for imaging due to their MR contrast properties. They also have a potential role in radiation therapy as a radiosensitizer. We used MRI to quantify the uptake of AGuIX in pancreatic cancer cells, and TEM for intracellular localization. We measured the radiosensitization of a pancreatic cancer cell line in a low-energy (220 kVp) beam, a s...

Background: Craniospinal irradiation (CSI) of medulloblastoma poses technological challenges due to the involvement of large treatment volume. Commonly, the whole treatment length is covered with two different isocentric plans in which the junction is shifted after every five fractions to overcome the possibility of hot and cold spot.Objective: This study aims to evaluate dosimetrically and cli...

Heterogeneous lung and bone phantoms have been constructed for the purpose of testing monitor unit calculations at or near interfaces for different planning systems. Data have been acquired for 2 linear accelerators: a Varian 2300cd (6 and 25 MV) and an Elekta Synergy (6, 10, and 18 MV). We have reviewed Pinnacle and the correction-based, pre-AAA version of Eclipse planning systems with the int...

Respiratory muscle weakness resulting from both diaphragmatic contractile dysfunction and atrophy has been hypothesized to contribute to the weaning difficulties associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV). While it is clear that oxidative injury contributes to MV-induced diaphragmatic weakness, the source(s) of oxidants in the diaphragm during MV remain unknown. These experiments tes...

OBJECTIVE Mechanical ventilation (MV) itself can directly contribute to lung injury. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate early biomarkers concerning oxidant/antioxidant balance, oxidative stress, and inflammation caused by short-term MV in healthy mouse lungs. METHODS Twenty male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into two groups: MV, submitted to low tidal volume (V T,...

The spontaneous, synchronous activity induced by 4-aminopyridine (4AP, 50 microM) in the adult rat entorhinal cortex was analyzed with simultaneous field potential and intracellular recordings in an in vitro slice preparation. Four-AP induced isolated negative-going field potentials (interval of occurrence = 27.6 +/- 9.9 (SD) s; n = 27 slices) that corresponded to intracellular long-lasting dep...

Objective: Mechanical ventilation (MV) itself can directly contribute to lung injury. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate early biomarkers concerning oxidant/antioxidant balance, oxidative stress, and inflammation caused by short-term MV in healthy mouse lungs. Methods: Twenty male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into two groups: MV, submitted to low tidal volume (VT, ...