Chronic lymphocytic leukemia presenting in the marrow of a phalanx

Systemic disease may present first in the foot. The authors present a case in which the marrow of resected bone tissue from a phalanx showed the changes of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Subsequent blood examination confirmed this diagnosis.     

Head and neck malignancies associated with HIV infection.

Immunosuppressed persons are at greater risk of developing malignancies. In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) immunosuppression the most common oral cancers are Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Squamous cell carcinoma has also been reported to be associated with HIV disease. Kaposi's sarcoma is the most frequent neoplastic disease in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and is by far the most common in the head and neck area. This article reviews the prevalence, clinical features, and management of these diseases in HIV infection.     

Estrogen inhibition of a Mr 39,000 glycoprotein secreted by human breast cancer cells

We have identified a secreted glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 39,000 that is inhibited by estrogens and stimulated by antiestrogens in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. The protein was detected within 24 h of hormone treatment with inhibition occurring at concentrations as low as 10(-11) M estradiol and stimulation occurring with antiestrogens. When phenol red, which has been found to have estrogenic activity, is removed from the tissue culture medium, no inhibition of cell growth or induction of the Mr 39,000 protein is seen with antiestrogens. A 6-fold decrease in the amount secreted in the presence of estrogens is seen under these conditions. The induction was specific in that growth inhibition by several other means did not induce expression of the Mr 39,000 protein. The Mr 39,000 protein has been identified as a glycoprotein complex that can be resolved into four polypeptides with two major components that migrate in the pH range of 5.5 to 6.3 by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. This protein is the first evidence that estrogens inhibit a specific protein and it may prove useful as a marker of antiestrogen-induced growth arrest in breast cancer.     

Truncus Arteriosus With Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Normal Aortic Arch

In hearts with a common arterial trunk (truncus arteriosus), there is almost always an inverse development of the aortic arch and the ductus arteriosus. Truncus with a normal aortic arch and a patent ductus is a rare echocardiographic and surgical finding. In this report, we describe 2 neonates in whom truncus arteriosus with a normal aortic arch and a medium or large patent ductus was diagnosed by preoperative echocardiography (without catheterization) and confirmed intraoperatively.     

Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis and psoriasis—A report of a new association and review of related disorders

In summary, we have described two patients with CRMO and psoriasis, and have reviewed the musculoskeletal manifestations associated with pustular eruptions of the palms and soles. In view of the frequent occurrence of PPP in patients with CRMO, we suggest that the occurrence of psoriasis in our two patients is more than coincidence, and that noninfectious, inflammatory lesions of bone may be another musculoskeletal manifestation of psoriasis. This rare association, as well as the association of PPP with disorders associated with new bone formation, may shed new insights on the relatively common finding of periosteal elevation associated with psoriatic arthritis and the occasional severe juxta-articular osteolytic destructive bone lesions seen in psoriatic arthritis.     

3-alkyl GABA and 3-alkylglutamic acid analogues: two new classes of anticonvulsant agents.

Recently we showed that 3-alkyl-4-aminobutanoic acids are in vitro activators of brain L-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) that show anticonvulsant activity. Since activation of GAD leads to increased concentrations of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in vitro, these compounds could represent a new class of anticonvulsant agents. Here it is shown that 3-alkylglutamic acid analogues also activate GAD and that all of the compounds in both series are active anticonvulsant agents against low intensity electroshock in mice. The most active compound, 3-isobutyl GABA, was tested further against maximal electroshock in mice and was shown to be very potent after both intravenous and oral administration without causing ataxia. It is not known if brain GABA levels are elevated in vivo by administration of these compounds or if the mechanism of anticonvulsant activity is related to their ability to activate GAD.     

A case-control study of Alzheimer's disease in China.

We conducted a case-control study to assess possible factors associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with 70 clinically diagnosed AD patients and 140 age- and sex-matched nondemented neighborhood controls in China. Factors significantly associated with AD cases were family history of dementia in first-degree relatives, family history of psychotic disorders in first-degree relatives, and left-handedness/ambidexterity. A history of arthritis showed a significantly negative association with AD. Neither a family history for Down's syndrome, history of head trauma, nor other conditions that might support immune or viral hypotheses in AD were significantly associated with AD cases. These data support the role of familial/genetic factors in AD.     

Screening and surveillance for colorectal cancer

Pathologic reviews and clinical studies demonstrate that groups with increased cancer risk can be identified. It is estimated that about 3.5 per cent of colorectal cancers in this country are the result of known heritable cancer syndromes, such as familial polyposis. Much effort is currently being devoted to evaluation of biologic markers, such as cell surface antigens and their antibodies, ornithine decarboxylase, errors in DNA repair, abnormalities in metabolism of polyadenosine diphosphate, and application of molecular genetic techniques to identify patients with genetic cancer susceptibility.     

Pancreatic pseudotumor in pancreas divisum: CT characteristics

We report a case in which a focally spared area of pancreatic tissue in a gland otherwise replaced by fat created a "pseudomass" mimicking neoplasm on sonography and CT. The "pseudomass" appearance was related to the anomalous ductal anatomy in pancreas divisum. The spared area of pancreas creating a "pseudomass" was drained by the dorsal duct and the remainder of the pancreas that had undergone relative fatty replacement was drained by the ventral duct.     

Occlusion and the solution to the aperture problem for motion

The "aperture problem" indicates that a local reading of the velocity of an oriented contour is inherently ambiguous, insufficient by itself to recover the velocity of image points. In Wallach's "barber pole" display consisting of moving diagonal lines within an elongated rectangular aperture, it has been suggested that the unambiguous motion of edge-terminators along the longer edges of the aperture propagates towards the motion-ambiguous center part of drifting stripes. This results in the perception of a surface moving in the direction of the longer axis of the aperture. By manipulating the stereoscopic disparity of a striped pattern relative to the aperture plane, we found that the disambiguating effects of terminators could be abolished if the striped pattern was in uncrossed disparity relative to the aperture plane. Also, the motion in 3 separate horizontally oriented, and vertically aligned apertures which would otherwise be seen as moving horizontally, was seen as "linked" together and moving vertically. This occurred only when the horizontally oriented segments separating these apertures were stereoscopically coded so that they appeared as occluders in front. These findings suggest that accidental or "extrinsic" terminators created by occluding edges are treated differently from real or "intrinsic" terminators, and that the real-world constraint of occlusion is thus implemented in the ambiguity-solving processes for motion.