The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the coefficient of variation were used to assess the reproducibility of DC measurements made on the healthy subjects. selleck The DC was compared between arterial segments and between the healthy and diseased groups. Furthermore, within the diseased group, DC was correlated to plaque morphology and composition at each location as well as that

averaged over the plaque.\n\nResults: Distensibility measurements were highly reproducible: ICC (95% confidence interval) was 0.998 (0.96-1.0) for the common carotid segment and 0.990 (0.92-1.0) for the internal carotid segment. In healthy volunteers, we found significantly higher distensibility in the common segment of the carotid artery compared to the internal carotid segment (mean +/- SD = 4.56 +/- 1.02 versus 3.56 +/- 1.32 x 10(-5)/Pa; p < 0.05). However, no segmental differences were seen in the diseased group (3.25 +/- 1.84 versus 3.26 +/- 1.60 x 10(-5)/Pa; p = 0.607). Location-to-location changes in DC were not found to correlate to changes in the local plaque morphology or composition nor were average DC found to be associated with aggregate plaque features.\n\nConclusions:

These results demonstrate the feasibility of MRI to measure distensibility in the carotid artery and to presumably detect changes in distensibility due to age and/or disease. The results MK-0518 mouse suggest that the effect of atherosclerosis on local distensibility may not strongly depend upon the specific underlying plaque features in mild to moderate stenotic carotid lesions though more

diffuse or nonlocal changes in arterial distensibility could not be ruled out. (C) 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [http://dx.doi.org.library.tamiu.edu:2048/10.1118/1.4754302]“
“Introduction: Most non-small-cell lung cancer tumors with www.selleckchem.com/products/poziotinib-hm781-36b.html epidermal growth factor receptor mutations are responsive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as gefitinib and erlotinib, but almost all such tumors ultimately acquire resistance. We previously found that a gefitinib-resistant cell line, PC-9/Met in which MET (MNNG-HOS transforming gene) is amplified, was more sensitive than its parent cell line (PC-9) to 7-ethyl-10-hydroxy-camptothecin (SN-38), an active metabolite of irinotecan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the increased sensitivity of the gefitinib-resistant cell line to SN-38.\n\nMethods: The sensitivity of PC-9 and PC-9/Met to SN-38 was assessed by performing water soluble tetrazolium salt (WST-1) assays. Topoisomerase I (topo I) activities were determined for the cell lines cultured in the presence of hepatocyte growth factor and for those of which MET expression was knocked down by introducing a MET-specific small interfering RNA.\n\nResults: PC-9/Met exhibited higher topo I activities, and higher topo I gene and protein expression levels than PC-9 did.