Percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy of lumbar spinal facets: The results of 46 cases

The results of percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy of lumbar spinal facets in 46 patients followed at least three months (mean 15 months) are reported and compared with those reported previously. Satisfactory pain relief three months after the procedure was achieved in 36.4 percent of patients without operations and in 41.7 percent of patients with operations other than fusion.No patient had previously undergone fusion.Treatment of low-back pain by using radio-frequency thermocoagulation of spinal facets is a simple, safe, and well-tolerated procedure. It can be used to relief of pain in spite of decreasing rates of success within the follow-up period.     

Esthesioneuroblastoma in a young child. Case report

Esthesioneuroblastoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm that arises from olfactory mucosa, often with intracranial extension.A case report of the youngest victim in the literature (2-year-old boy) is presented.     

Osseous destruction and rupture of the extensor tendon caused by sarcoidosis of the finger.

We describe a woman with osseous destruction and rupture of the extensor tendon as a result of sarcoidosis in the left third finger with no evidence of systemic involvement. The tendon was repaired and she was successfully treated with prednisone.     

维生素E琥珀酸酯诱导人胃腺癌细胞凋亡途径

目的　探讨维生素E琥珀酸酯 (VES)诱导人胃腺癌SGC -790 1细胞凋亡的死亡受体 (Fas)信号转导途径。方法　人胃腺癌SGC -790 1细胞经不同剂量VES(5,10 ,2 0 μg/ml)处理 ,同时做琥珀酸、维生素E和空白对照 ,采用DAPI(4,6-贰脒基 -2 -苯基吲哚 )荧光染色法观察细胞凋亡情况 ,用WesternBlot法检测Fas、带有死亡结构域的Fas相关蛋白 (FADD)和天冬氨酸特异性半胱氨酸蛋白酶 (caspase -8)蛋白表达情况 ,Fas和FADD反义寡聚核苷分别转染SGC -790 1细胞后 ,用荧光法检测caspase -8活性。 结果　经VES处理后的细胞DAPI染色可见凋亡的形态学改变 ,2 0 μg/mlVES处理 48h后的细胞凋亡率为 89.6% ;VES处理 48h后Fas、FADD和caspase -8蛋白表达明显增加 ,且呈剂量 -效应关系 ;阻断Fas可明显抑制FADD蛋白表达 ,Fas和FADD反义寡聚核苷转染细胞后caspase -8活性明显降低 (P <0 .0 1) ,其中阻断Fas的效果高于阻断FADD。结论　维生素E琥珀酸酯诱导人胃腺癌SGC -790 1细胞凋亡过程中启动了Fas信号转导途径 ,VES启动Fas后 ,FADD将Fas和caspase -8联接起来 ,活化caspases级联反应 ,从而构成Fas/FADD/caspase -8的凋亡信号途径     

FFT-based digital tactile vocoder system for real-time use

A microprocessor-based real-time digital vibrotactile vocoder system has been developed to train the deaf and for artificial hearing research. The system is composed of a microcomputer module with a digital signal processor interface units and an attenuator/driver circuit. Live or digitised (stored or synthetic) speech is presented to the skin spectrally through a belt housing eight or 16 vibrators. Speech is processed in real time using a fast Fourier transform. The system is also capable of presenting any arbitrary spatiotemporal pattern on the skin for artificial hearing experiments. A preliminary experiment with a deaf subject indicates that the system is potentially an effective device for artificial hearing.     

Evaluation of leukocyte arylsulphatase a, serum interleukin-6 and urinary heparan sulphate following tamoxifen therapy in breast cancer.

Leukocyte arylsulphatase A (AS-A) was shown to be significantly high in newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients. Previous reports imply a connection between serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and breast cancer, possibly through a modulation of enzymes involved in estrogen synthesis. Abnormal distribution of heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in malignant breast epithelial cells suggests that they play a key role in the regulation of cell growth. Estradiol is believed to be effective in modulating glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and their depolymerizing enzymes. Therefore, in this study, attempts were made to evaluate the activity of leukocyte arylsulphatase A, serum interleukin-6, urinary GAGs and heparan sulphate (HS) in response to tamoxifen (TAM) therapy in mastectomised breast cancer patients. Thirty-four patients (aged 30-82 years) were administered TAM (20 mg twice daily). Blood and urine samples of each patient were collected three times (at the beginning, and in third and sixth month of TAM therapy), and biochemical parameters were measured. There was no difference between baseline leukocyte AS-A activity and that measured after three months. At the end of six months, enzyme activity was significantly higher than the former values (p=0.022), but within the reference intervals reported in the literature. Although this increase might imply a normalization, the duration of TAM therapy is not long enough to make a decision about either regression or aggravation of the disease. TAM did not have any effect on serum IL-6, urinary HS and GAG levels which may be due to insensitivity of these variables to TAM during the short period of therapy. Both urinary GAG and HS levels measured at sixth month exhibited a positive correlation with the baseline level of leukocyte AS-A (p=0.005 and 0.009, respectively), suggesting that positive responses to the drug might be seen in patients with low AS-A activity.     

Delay of cranial bone regeneration by CO2 and Nd-YAG laser application: an experimental study related to craniosynostosis

In this study we have investigated the negative influence of CO₂ and Nd-YAG laser irradiation on rapid cranial regeneration and whether it has any use in certain types of craniosynostosis. Twenty-two newborn rats were used in the study. Both CO₂ and Nd-YAG laser irradiation, which was applied to free bony edges after, suturectomies, resulted in a significant decrease in skull regeneration. Histopathological examinations revealed severe degeneration caused by both types of laser energies.     

Scar endometriosis—a gynaecologic pathology often presented to the general surgeon rather than the gynaecologist: report of two cases

Introduction Scar endometriosis develops in and is adjacent to surgical scars at the site of previous abdominal operations. The most frequent clinical presentation of the disease is that of a palpable subcutaneous mass near surgical scars associated with cyclic pain and swelling during menses. Endometriosis of the surgical scar is often referred to the general surgeons because the clinical presentation suggests an incisional hernia or other conditions related to the general surgery. Cyclical symptoms such as pain and swelling, in relation to surgical scars, which worsen at the time of menstruation, are nearly pathognomonic of scar endometriosis. However, often the diagnosis of endometriosis is not suggested until after histology has been performed. Case report We present two cases of cutaneous endometriosis that has occurred on the site of previous cesarean section scar area.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arg</Emphasis>194<Emphasis Type="Italic">Trp</Emphasis> polymorphism in DNA repair gene XRCC1 and the risk for sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined pathologically by the presence of β-amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and extensive neuronal loss. Evidence indicates that increased DNA damage may contribute to neuronal loss in AD. Recently, it has been shown that in AD neurons have a reduced capacity for some types of DNA repair. Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes may be associated with differences in repair efficiency of DNA damage. Variants of several DNA repair genes, including the base excision repair gene XRCC1, have been described previously. We hypothesised that Arg194Trp polymorphism of XRCC1 gene may contribute to genetic susceptibility for AD. In order to test this hypothesis, we investigated Arg194Trp polymorphism at the XRCC1 gene in the DNA samples of 98 patients with AD and 95 healthy subjects. The frequency of the Trp allele was more pronounced among cases (11.2%) compared with controls (5.8%). On combining the homozygous and heterozygous variants of each codon, the variants seemed to be at twofold risk of AD, although the risk estimates were not statistically significant (OR=1.95, 95% CI 0.88–4.34, p=0.09). In addition, the 194Trp allele revealed a borderline significance (OR=2.05, 95% CI 0.96–4.37, p=0.056). According to our results, it may be speculated that the polymorphic variants of XRCC1 codon 194 have a role in the development of AD.