Localized Kaposi''s sarcoma in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris

We report the case of a patient with a 13-year history of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) treated with immunosuppressive agents, prednisone and mycophenolate mofetil who had developed lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) on a sole plaque of PV that had been previously treated with intralesional injections of steroids. The lesions were surgically removed and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) DNA. There were neither recurrences nor later dissemination of KS following gradual decrease of the immunosuppressive therapy. We suggest that the treatment with intralesional steroids may have influenced the local reactivation of a latent infection of the virus, determining the appearance of this localized KS.     

大脑后动脉交通前段及其内穿支研究

本文介绍Willis动脉环后半环大脑后动脉及其内穿支的显微解剖,大脑后动脉交通前段内穿支是脑深部的重要供血血管之一,100％的病例双侧具有该血管。     

FEASIBILITY OF CONDUCTING CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOME RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIAN GENERAL PRACTICE: RESULTS FROM THE ANBP2 PILOT STUDY

1. The present study aimed to determine the feasibility of conducting a 5 year cardiovascular outcome trial of the treatment of 6000 elderly hypertensive patients in Australian general practices. 2. General practitioners (GPs) were invited to participate by mail and personal follow-up. Patient records were reviewed to identify subjects for a blood pressure (BP) screening programme. Blood pressure was measured on three occasions and eligible subjects were included if the average BP was 160 mmHg systolic or 90 mmHg diastolic if systolic BP was 140 mmHg. 3. Seven hundred and forty-one GPs were approached and 89 were enrolled in the study (12% of mail invites and 75% of those receiving a personal contact). In 16 practices where screening was completed, 82 000 records were reviewed to identify 4% patients eligible for screening. Twenty-two per cent of eligible subjects attended screening. Of 1938 subjects screened, 180 (9%) had BP 5=160/90 mmHg. Forty-seven percent of subjects (n = 916) were receiving antihypertensive therapy and 184 (20%) were withdrawn from therapy. One hundred and sixteen (63%) of these subjects had BP return to study entry levels within 6 weeks. Fifty-seven newly diagnosed and 81 previously treated subjects were randomized (7% of the screened population). 4. Based on the high participation rate of GPs, the response rate of patients to attend a BP screening programme and the 7% randomization to screening ratio for entry into the study, the ANBP2 pilot study has demonstrated that it is feasible to recruit subjects from Australian general practices to a cardiovascular outcome trial.     

Radiopacity of dental materials using a digital X-ray system.

OBJECTIVES: Radiopacity is a desirable property for most intra-oral materials. There are established ISO and ANSI/ADA protocols for determining radiopacity using film-based radiography. However, these methods are not always followed by researchers. This study aims to adapt those procedures by using digital radiography, a simplified stepwedge, and examine the effects of target distance and exposure time choice. METHODS: One millimetre thick samples of three dental materials were prepared by placing the materials into a 1.00 mm thick washer sandwiched between two glass slides. The samples were digitally radiographed alongside a stepwedge of aluminum alloy 1100 with an X-ray unit at 70 kVp using five different target distance/exposure time combinations. For each combination, the grey scale values of various thicknesses of the stepwedge were converted into absorbencies and plotted against their thickness. These plots were then linearly regressed in order to correlate absorbance with a thickness of aluminum for each target distance/exposure time combination. The absorbencies of each sample were then converted into radiopacities using these correlations. RESULTS: The correlations between the absorbance of the stepwedge and its thickness were highly linear. This linearity allows the correlation to be accurately deduced from fewer data points than required by the ISO and ANSI/ADA protocols. Varying exposure time did not significantly affect the mean radiopacity measured at a target distance of 30 cm. Varying the target distance did not significantly affect the measured radiopacity as long as the samples were properly exposed. SIGNIFICANCE: A simplified, consistent digital method for determining radiopacity is presented.     

Biotransformation of caffeine, paraxanthine, theobromine and theophylline by cDNA-expressed human CYP1A2 and CYP2E1.

Six human cytochrome P450s expressed in HepG2 cells using vaccinia virus cDNA-directed expression, were used to study the biotransformation of caffeine and its metabolites. CYP1A2 alone was responsible for caffeine 3-demethylation and paraxanthine 7-demethylation; in addition, 1A2 catalysed virtually all reactions related to caffeine and its metabolites. The metabolic profile of caffeine biotransformation by CYP1A2 averaged 81.5% for paraxanthine, 10.8% for theobromine and 5.4% for theophylline formation. It remained quite uniform when caffeine concentrations were varied. The most striking finding was that CYP2E1 (the ethanol-inducible form) had major influences upon caffeine metabolism: in particular, it catalysed the formation of theophylline and theobromine from caffeine. Thus, the in vivo metabolite profiling of caffeine may reveal CYP2E1 activities in addition to the previously documented activities of CYP1A2, polymorphic N-acetyltransferase and xanthine oxidase.     

A comparison of arterial and venous flaps.

The survival rate and elastic properties of the anterior abdominal skin flap in Sprague-Dawley rats were studied in three groups of animals. In group 1 where the flaps were supplied by a normal artery, arterial flaps (1A) had better survival rate and elastic properties than venous flaps (1B). In group 2, where the flaps were supplied by an artery with diminished perfusion pressure, the arterial flaps (2A) still had slightly better results than venous flaps (2B). However, in group 3 where the flaps were supplied by a vein, venous flaps (3B) had better results than arterial flaps (3A).     

Pharmacokinetics of intravenously administered sodium dichloroacetate in rabbits

ＰｈａｒｍａｃｏｋｉｎｅｔｉｃｓｏｆｉｎｔｒａｖｅｎｏｕｓｌｙａｄｍｉｎｉｓｔｅｒｅｄｓｏｄｉｕｍｄｉｃｈｌｏｒｏａｃｅｔａｔｅｉｎｒａｂｂｉｔｓＧｕＢｉｎ（顾斌）；ＳｏｎｇＬｉｎｇ（宋岭）；ＪｉａｎｇＹｏｎｇｐｅｉ（蒋永培）；ＷｅｎＡｉｄｏｎｇ（文...