Changes in the Amphibian Antibody Repertoire are Correlated With Metamorphosis and not With Age or Size

Tadpole and adult Xenopus, manipulated to be of comparable size, exhibited stagespecific antibody expression. The production of adult-type higher-affinity anti-DNP antibodies proved to be independent of the age and size of the individual and is concomitant with the completion of metamorphosis. The appearance of new antibody specificities at such a time suggests that their expression occurs with the cell turnover and renewal during a period of morphological changes.     

Small isolated paraspinal arteriovenous fistula.

We report a case of a small, isolated paraspinal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) that arose in an adult without obvious trauma. The fistula, despite its extraspinal location and small size, caused hypertension of the intrathecal venous system and produced symptoms that were similar to those of spinal dural AVF. Detecting such a small lesion is difficult, but contrast-enhanced MR imaging can prove helpful in this regard.     

NMR Microscopy of Single Neurons Using Spin Echo and Line Narrowed 2DFT Imaging

NMR microimages of single neural cells were acquired at 500 MHz using a conventional spin echo pulse sequence and a line-narrowing sequence that eliminates susceptibility effects. The data show that any contribution to the measured T₂ relaxation rate arising from diffusion in local field inhomogeneities using spin echo sequences at high fields and high spatial resolution is relatively small. We conclude that the measured T₂ difference between the nucleus and cytoplasm in these cells represents primarily a true T₂ relaxation effect arising from the interactions of water with macromolecules in the two compartments and does not result from microsusceptibility differences. These observations have implications regarding water compartmentation in single cells and the interpretation of the MR characteristics of tissues in vivo.     

经肛门内镜显微手术切除直肠肿瘤

目的评价经肛门内镜显微手术(TEM)切除直肠绒毛状腺瘤和早期直肠癌的应用效果。方法分析我院总结1995年11月至2001年12月27例TEM手术的临床资料。结果本组患者肿瘤直径中位值2.5cm,肿瘤下缘与齿状线距离(8.9±3.4)cm,肿瘤侵犯直肠周径范围(35.7±17.5)%。平均手术时间(109±46)min。平均住院日4.5d。无围手术期死亡。手术并发症有尿潴留、暂时性大便失禁和慢性阻塞性肺病(COPD)复发。术中2例切穿至腹腔,即刻内镜下修补成功。切缘100%瘤细胞阴性。病理示直肠绒毛状腺瘤14例、直肠腺癌13例,后者包括pTis2例,pT16例和pT25例。直肠癌腔内超声肿瘤T分期符合率为84.6%。5例pT2中2例中转前切除术,1例接受术后放疗,2例无附加任何治疗。平均随访18个月,所有病例无局部复发。死亡2例,但无复发迹象。结论TEM易行且安全,是直肠绒毛状腺瘤和部分T1直肠癌的治愈性手术,也可作为T2直肠癌的姑息性治疗手段。     

Factors influencing calcitriol metabolism in renal failure

Metabolic clearance rate (MCR) and production rate (PR) of calcitriol is decreased in experimental renal failure. In this experiment, we studied uremia and secondary hyperparathyroidism as possible causes of the abnormal calcitriol metabolism. Normal rats were made uremic by infusing phosphorus-free urine for 24 hours. Both the MCR (0.22 +/- 0.01 ml/min/kg, N = 6 P less than 0.001) and the PR (16.6 +/- 1.97 ng/kg/day, P less than 0.01) of calcitriol were significantly suppressed in normal rats following urine infusion when compared to saline infused rats (MCR, 0.30 +/- 0.01; PR, 32.9 +/- 4.1, N = 6). Different levels of protein intake by rats with renal failure produced by subtotal nephrectomy also alter the PR but not the MCR of calcitriol. Thus, the synthesis of calcitriol was significantly lower in rats with renal failure fed a high protein (50% protein) diet (17.6 +/- 0.7 ng/kg/day, N = 8, P less than 0.001) than in rats with renal failure fed a normal protein (20% protein) diet (22.2 +/- 1.4, N = 7). Thyroparathyroidectomy (TPTX) did not alter the MCR of calcitriol in renal failure, even though parathyroid hormone, which may suppress the degradation enzyme, could be elevated in this model of renal failure. The MCR of TPTXed rats with renal failure (0.15 +/- 0.01 ml/min/kg, N = 7) remained lower than that of the TPTXed control rats (0.19 +/- 0.01, N = 7, P less than 0.001), and chronic infusion of PTH to TPTXed rats with renal failure did not change the MCR of calcitriol (0.15 +/- 0.01, vs. control, 0.24 +/- 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)