Histomorphometry and autoradiography of cultured fetal rat long bones

The behavior of fetal rat long bones cultured in vitro according to Raisz's technique (1969) was studied by histomorphometry and autoradiography for a period of four days. The changes were recorded daily both on the trabecular and cortical bone by measuring the bone volume, the number of osteoclasts, and the number of nuclei per osteoclast. Radioactive calcium release was measured and compared to the changes in bone volume and in the number of osteoclasts. An autoradiographic study, using ³H-proline and ³H-thymidine in flash labeling in the medium and ³H-thymidine in follow-up labeling after one injection in vivo was performed to evaluate the bone formation, the cellular proliferation rate and cell differentiation. After four days in culture, an increase in total calcified bone volume was observed which correlatd with changes in the trabecular bone. No significant changes were recorded in the cortical bone. The results showed a good maintenance of the resorption and formation phenomena through an active process of cellular multiplication and differentiation. Undifferentiated cells were labeled in flash label and osteoblast, osteocyte and some osteoclast nuclei were labeled in follow-up studies.     

Towards compatibility of EUnetHTA JCA methodology and German HTA: a systematic comparison and recommendations from an industry perspective

The European Journal of Health Economics - The transferability of the EU joint clinical assessment (JCA) reports for pharmaceuticals for the German benefit assessment was evaluated by...     

Quality of life—a measure of the quality of nursing care?

Quality of life is a very complex phenomenon in the life of cancer patients. Individual perceptions might change with the state of disease and with necessary interventions. Some definitions seem to be more useful in cancer care than others. There has been considerable controversy in the quantity versus quality debate. Some confusion in the measurement of quality of life concerns objectivity and subjectivity, referring either to the content of information or to persons other than the patient eliciting it. The relation between quality of life and quality of care has to be further explored: some dimensions of care might be of little or of potential relevance to the patient's quality of life. The dimensions of proven relevance concern psychological well-being through, for example, promotion of self-care or an enhanced perception of self-worth. These findings emphasise the importance of the concept of care, which is the essence of nursing. Contemporary professional and political difficulties require critical analysis.     

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill: A decade later

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) was conceived a decade ago in the tradition of self-organized parents' groups for handicapped and chronically ill children. The character of the organization and its rapid growth are thought to be due to its clear identity as a mental illness group, its control and direction by parents and relatives of people suffering from mental illness, and its relationships with staff and professionals. The author believes that the NAMI movement is at an important juncture in its development and identifies factors that could influence its character in the next decade.     

H1-receptor blocker antihistamine, terfenadine durably influences the glucocorticoid receptor, and lymphocyte histamine content of weanling rats.

Hormonal imprinting takes place perinatally when a hormone and its maturing target receptor meet. As a consequence of imprinting the receptor accomplishes its maturation reaching the binding capacity characteristic to the adult age. In this critical period the presence of foreign molecules which are able to bind to the receptor can cause faulty imprinting with life-long consequences. In the recent years it was cleared that not only receptors are influenced by faulty imprinting, however, also the hormone production of the given cell. In addition imprinting was provoked at non-perinatal periods (adolescence and adult age) in cytogenic organs. In the present experiment the prolonged effect of a non-perinatal imprinting by an antihistamine to the histamine content of white blood cells and glucocorticoid receptors of liver and thymus was studied. Two weeks after 3-day terfenadine treatment at weaning, flow cytometry of peritoneal cells and blood lymphocytes for histamine, and receptor kinetic analysis of dexamethasone binding were done. Histamine content of blood lymphocytes and glucocorticoid receptor density of liver cells were significantly decreased. This means that a short treatment with a H(1)-receptor blocker antihistamine durably influences physiological indexes which were not known till now. This means that not only the acute effects, but the prolonged side-effects must be considered.     

Classification of clear-cell sarcoma as a subtype of melanoma by genomic profiling.

PURPOSE: To develop a genome-based classification scheme for clear-cell sarcoma (CCS), also known as melanoma of soft parts (MSP), which would have implications for diagnosis and treatment. This tumor displays characteristic features of soft tissue sarcoma (STS), including deep soft tissue primary location and a characteristic translocation, t(12;22)(q13;q12), involving EWS and ATF1 genes. CCS/MSP also has typical melanoma features, including immunoreactivity for S100 and HMB45, pigmentation, MITF-M expression, and a propensity for regional lymph node metastases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RNA samples from 21 cell lines and 60 pathologically confirmed cases of STS, melanoma, and CCS/MSP were examined using the U95A GeneChip (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and support vector machine (SVM) analysis exploited genomic correlations within the data to classify CCS/MSP. RESULTS: Unsupervised analyses demonstrated a clear distinction between STS and melanoma and, furthermore, showed that CCS/MSP cluster with the melanomas as a distinct group. A supervised SVM learning approach further validated this finding and provided a user-independent approach to diagnosis. Genes of interest that discriminate CCS/MSP included those encoding melanocyte differentiation antigens, MITF, SOX10, ERBB3, and FGFR1. CONCLUSION: Gene expression profiles support the classification of CCS/MSP as a distinct genomic subtype of melanoma. Analysis of these gene profiles using the SVM may be an important diagnostic tool. Genomic analysis identified potential targets for the development of therapeutic strategies in the treatment of this disease.     

Pelvis-shoulder dysplasia

Pelvis-shoulder dysplasia is a rare focal skeletal dysostosis. We present the long-term follow-up of a patient with this condition. This patient has severe pelvic dysplasia but no involvement of the scapulae or clavicles. Despite the severity of the pelvic dysplasia, this man is able to function well. This is the fifth case of pelvis-shoulder dysplasia reported, but the only one documenting follow-up into adulthood. Received: 16 July 1997 Accepted: 4 February 1998