Divided attention, as measured by dichotic speech performance, in dementia of the Alzheimer type

To determine if impaired dichotic performance in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type is due to the inability to divide attention or the inability to perceive degraded auditory stimuli, we measured performance on tasks of both dichotic and degraded monotic speech materials. We also examined whether perception of degraded speech stimuli presented monaurally is related to abnormalities of temporal lobe anatomy and physiology, as we have shown for dichotic performance. Although the patients were impaired on both dichotic and monotic tests, significantly greater impairment was seen on the dichotic test. Our earlier finding of a significant relation between dichotic performance and measures of anterior temporal lobe atrophy and reduced glucose metabolism was replicated, but no significant relation was found between monotic tests and measures to temporal lobe integrity. We conclude that the inability to divide attention, rather than abnormal processing of degraded stimuli per se, is reflected in poor dichotic performance in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type, and that dichotic performance, unlike degraded monotic perception, depends directly on the integrity of temporal cortex in these patients.     

A comparison of the Brooker-Wills and Russell-Taylor nails for treatment of patients who have fractures of the femoral shaft

Seventy-three fractures of the femoral shaft (seventy patients) were randomized to treatment with interlocked nailing with either the Brooker-Wills femoral nail (thirty-nine fractures) or the Russell-Taylor femoral nail (thirty-four fractures). Sixty-one patients (sixty-four fractures) were prospectively followed from admission until healing of the fracture. Specific attention was paid to recording operative details, including technical difficulties associated with insertion of the nails. Technical difficulties were encountered in insertion of the proximal screw, distal screw, and nail, and in deployment of the fins. Insertion of the Russell-Taylor nail was associated with less technical difficulty, operative time, and estimated loss of blood. The two nails differ in their biomechanical properties, methods of fixation, and instrumentation. These differences did not affect the clinical outcome; the fractures in both groups of patients healed with excellent functional results.     

Difficult supracondylar elbow fractures in children: analysis of percutaneous pinning technique.

After treatment with two lateral percutaneous pins, 80 children with grade II-III supracondylar elbow fractures were reviewed. The result was good in 55 patients (68%) and was the same for extension- and flexion-type injuries. These patients had less than 10 degrees change in carrying angle and less than 20 degrees total change in range of motion. This method eliminates risk of iatrogenic injury to the ulnar nerve but is technically very demanding. Redisplacement, joint penetration, and damage to the capitellar side of growth plate can be avoided only by positioning the pins divergently.     

Alpha 2U-globulin: measurement in rat kidney and relationship to hyaline droplets

The concentration of renal alpha 2U-globulin increased in a dose-dependent manner in adult male but not female rats which received a single dose of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (TMP). After administration of a single dose of 12 mmol TMP/kg to adult male rats, the renal concentration of alpha 2U-globulin reached a peak at 48 hours and returned to near background level after 7 days. These changes in renal alpha 2U-globulin concentration were closely paralleled by changes in renal hyaline droplet formation. Renal alpha 2U-globulin and hyaline droplets were absent in normal pre-puberty male rats, and neither could be stimulated by a single dose of TMP. alpha 2U-Globulin was localised in the renal cortex of adult male rats, in particular the S2 segment of the proximal tubule. A greater staining intensity due to alpha 2U-globulin was seen in the S2 and adjacent segments after a single dose of TMP. A strong association is suggested between the presence of renal hyaline droplets and the occurrence of alpha 2U-globulin.