Abstract Purpose Head and neck surgery and radiation cause tissue fibrosis that leads to functional limitations and lymphedema. The objective of this study was to determine whether lymphedema therapy ...after surgery and radiation for head and neck cancer decreases neck circumference, increases cervical range of motion, and improves pain scores. Methods and materials A retrospective review of all patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, or larynx who were treated with high-dose radiation therapy at a single center between 2011 and 2012 was performed. Patients received definitive or postoperative radiation for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, or larynx. Patients were referred to a single, certified, lymphedema therapist with specialty training in head and neck cancer after completion of radiation treatment and healing of acute toxicity (typically 1-3 months). Patients underwent at least 3 months of manual lymphatic decongestion and skilled fibrotic techniques. Circumferential neck measurements and cervical range of motion were measured clinically at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after completion of radiation therapy. Pain scores were also recorded. Results Thirty-four consecutive patients were eligible and underwent a median of 6 months of lymphedema therapy (Range, 3-12 months). Clinically measured total neck circumference decreased in all patients with 1 month of treatment. Cervical rotation increased by 30.2% on the left and 27.9% on the right at 1 month and continued to improve up to 44.6% and 55.3%, respectively, at 12 months. Patients undergoing therapy had improved pain scores from 4.3 at baseline to 2.0 after 1 month. Conclusions Lymphedema therapy is associated with objective improvements in range of motion, neck circumference, and pain scores in the majority of patients.
Extensive investigations, worldwide, in the last 4 decades have shown the benefits of radiation processing for the preservation and microbial quality improvement of seafoods. In the present review, ...the various factors determining the quality of seafoods are first presented. The basic principles underlying the effects of ionizing radiation and specific effects on food constituents such as proteins, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, and tissue enzymes are discussed. Data on radiation processing of seafoods arc reported and discussed with respect to shelf life enhancement under refrigeration by control of bacteria causing spoilage, radiation sensitivity of pathogenic microorganisms and parasites of public health significance and their elimination in fresh and frozen fishery products, control of insect disinfestation in dried fishery products, influence of irradiation on nutritional and sensory quality attributes, detection of irradiation treatment, economics, and international status.
Various aspects, mechanisms and functions of the oxidative burst with generation of O
2
− superoxide anions in plant cells, which is stimulated by active defence-inducing agents such as fungal ...infection or elicitor treatment, were reviewed mainly on the basis of experimental evidence obtained in a system of Solanaceae plants and
Phytophthora spp. The oxidative burst may be due to an O
2
−-generating NADPH oxidase in the plasma membrane, which is activated with combinations of cytosolic proteins, Ca
2+, calmodulin and protein kinase, following stimulation by elicitor molecules. The oxidative burst may play the role of an internal emergency signal for induction of the metabolic cascade for active defence.
We investigated whether nitric oxide (NO) radical could induce phytoalexin production. Treatment of potato tuber tissues with 1-hydroxy-2-oxo-3,3-bis(2-aminoethyl)1-triazene (NOC-18), an NO-releasing ...compound, induced the accumulation of the potato phytoalexin rishitin. This induction was inhibited by carboxy-2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline 1-oxyl-3-oxide (carboxy-PTI0), an NO-specific scavenger, or by Tiron, a radical scavenger, suggesting a phytoalexin inducing activity for NO.
Sesquiterpene cyclase and squalene synthase are key branch point enzymes in isoprenoid pathway for the synthesis of sesquiterpenoid phytoalexins and sterols/steroid glycoalkaloids, respectively. cDNA ...clones encoding these enzymes were isolated from potato. A phylogenetic tree showed that the sesquiterpene cyclase is vetispiradiene synthase. Infection of Phytophthora infestans with potato tubers caused transient increases in the transcript level of vetispiradiene synthase in a compatible and an incompatible interactions. On the other hand, wound expression of the squalene synthase was suppressed in favor of the expression of vetispiradiene synthase regardless of inoculated races.
A new aerosol‐assisted surfactant self‐assembly approach has been developed for large‐scale mesostructured silica thin film fabrication. The formation mechanism involves coalescence of semisolid ...surfactant–silica mesostructured particles on substrates (see Figure) and subsequent reassembly of the mesostructures to adapt the morphology transformation from spherical to planar shape.
Fresh, eviscerated threadfin bream (
Nemipterus japonicus) packaged in polyethylene pouches were dipped in 10% (w/w) sodium chloride for 1 h and subjected to gamma irradiation at 0, 1 or 2 kGy at ice ...temperature. The treated fish were stored under ice. At periodic intervals, quality of the fish was determined by sensory, chemical and microbiological parameters. The unsalted and unirradiated fish was acceptable up to 8 days in comparison to a storage life of 12 and 22 days for the unsalted fish irradiated at 1 and 2 kGy, respectively. Salting prior to irradiation at 0, 1 or 2 kGy gave a shelf life of 9, 14 and 28 days, respectively. Salting gave a firmer texture to the fish and prevented drip formation in the pouches during storage. The results suggested that while irradiation could significantly (
P< 0.05) extend the refrigerated shelf life of threadfin bream, salting prior to irradiation could enhance the acceptability of the irradiated fish.
Phospholipase (PL) A2 is involved in signal transduction in the resistance reaction that is induced in potato by inoculation of an incompatible race of Phytophthora infestans, the late blight fungus, ...or by treatment with fungal elicitor hyphal wall components (Kawakita et al. 1993). In this study, PLA2 in the soluble fraction from potato tuber was purified. The following results suggested that the enzyme was, in fact, patatin: (1) the molecular mass of the purified enzyme was 40 kDa, the same as that of patatin; (2) the pI of the purified enzyme was approximately 4.75, which corresponds to that of patatin; and (3) the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme showed a high degree of homology to that of patatin. Patatin is known as a storage protein of the potato tuber and it has been shown to have esterase activity. However, other enzymatic activities and the function(s) of patatin are unknown. We investigated the PLA activities of the purified patatin. The PLA2 activity of the patatin was much higher than the PLA1 activity, even though the protein exhibited both activities. The PLA2 activity of the enzyme was particularly apparent when phosphatidylcholine with linoleic acid at the sn-2 position was used as substrate. Lower activity was observed with phosphatidylcholine with palmitic acid, oleic acid and arachidonic acid at the sn-2 position.
Peroxynitrite (ONOOsup(-)) is a compound formed by reaction of superoxide (O2sup(-)) with nitric oxide (NO) and is expected to possess characteristics of both O2sup(-) reactivity and NO mobility in ...order to function as a signal molecule. Although there are several reports that describe the role of ONOOsup(-) in defense responses in plants, it has been very difficult to detect ONOOsup(-) in bioimaging due to its short half-life or paucity of methods for ONOOsup(-)-specific detection among reactive oxygen species or free radicals. Aminophenyl fluorescein (APF), a recently developed novel fluorophore for direct detection of ONOOsup(-) in bioimaging, was used for intracellular ONOOsup(-) detection. ONOOsup(-) generation in tobacco BY-2 cells treated with INF1, the major elicitin secreted by the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans, occurred within 1 h and reached a maximum level at 6-12 h after INF1 treatment. Urate, a ONOOsup(-) scavenger, abolished INF1-induced ONOOsup(-) generation. It is well known that ONOOsup(-) reacts with tyrosine residues in proteins to form nitrotyrosine in a nitration reaction as an ONOOsup(-)-specific reaction. Western blot analysis using anti-nitrotyrosine antibodies recognized nitrotyrosine-containing proteins in 20 and 50 kDa bands in BY-2 protein extract containing SIN-1 3-(4-morpholinyl) sydnonimine hydrochloride; an ONOOsup(-) donor. These bands were also recognized in INF1treated BY-2 cells and were found to be slightly suppressed by urate. Our study is the first to report ONOOsup(-) detection and tyrosine nitration in defense responses in plants.
We report an evaporation-induced self-assembly procedure to prepare poly(bridged silsesquioxane) thin-film and particulate mesophases that incorporate organic moieties (1−3) into periodic, ...mesostructured frameworks as molecularly dispersed bridging ligands. Capacitance−voltage measurements along with a variety of structural characterization procedures were performed to begin to elucidate structure−property relationships of this new class of surfactant-templated mesophases. We observed a consistent trend of increasing modulus and hardness and decreasing dielectric constant with substitution of the bridged silsesquioxane (⋮Si(CH2)2Si⋮) for siloxane (⋮SiOSi⋮) in the framework. This preliminary evidence suggests that the introduction of integral organic groups into the frameworks of mesoporous materials can result in synergistic properties, promising an unprecedented ability to tune properties and function.