Differentiation of pain ratings in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with chronic pain, preliminary evidence suggests reduced experimental pain sensitivity in this disorder. The questions addressed in the present study were whether pain perception would also be reduced in PTSD patients who are not suffering from chronic pain symptoms, and whether a reduction in pain sensitivity would also be present in combat veterans who did not develop PTSD. For this, we determined thermal detection and pain thresholds in 10 male combat-related PTSD patients, 10 combat control subjects (no PTSD) and 10 healthy controls without combat experience. All subjects were pain free. First, we measured thermal sensory thresholds with ramped heat and cold stimuli using the method of limits. Ramped thermal sensory stimulation revealed no deficits for the detection of (non-noxious) f2.1thermal stimuli between groups. In contrast, heat and cold pain thresholds in both combat groups (PTSD and combat controls) were significantly increased compared to healthy controls. However, these stimuli could not distinguish between the two groups due to ceiling effects. When using longer-lasting heat stimulation at different temperatures (30 s duration; method of fixed stimuli), we found significantly lower frequency of pain reports in PTSD patients compared with both combat and healthy controls, as well as significantly lower pain ratings. Our results suggest an association of PTSD with reduced pain sensitivity, which could be related to PTSD-related (neuro-)psychological alterations or to a pre-existing risk factor for the disorder.     

Radiotherapy for melanotic freckles

Five patients who received radiotherapy (RT) for 7 melanotic freckles (MF, also known as Hutchinson's freckles, lentigo maligna) were reviewed 8 to 37 months after their treatment by RT. Local control and a favourable cosmetic result occurred in all patients. Treatment toxicity was minimal. Few reports about the use of RT for MF exist. Many other treatments including observation alone have been associated with high rates of recurrence, and in some cases conversion to invasive melanoma has occurred. RT appears to be a safe and effective treatment for this condition, providing that doses equivalent to 44 Gy in 11 fractions or more are given.     

MOTOR RESPONSE PROCESSING IN CLUMSY CHILDREN

Twelve clumsy children and 12 controls executed a four choice reaction time task in two compatibility conditions and three precue conditions. The experimental results indicated that the cognitive decision process of response selection contributed to the slow but not to the inaccurate performance of clumsy children. Clumsy children, compared with controls, had more problems with the translation of the stimulus code (s) to the response code (r) when this translation required more transformations. Response selection is a cognitive process that is likely to be important for deficits in perceptual-motor skills.     

灰黄霉素中灰黄霉酸杂质及色泽的考查

目的：本文采用薄层色谱法考查了不同厂家灰黄霉素中灰黄霉酸杂质的存在。方法；以丙酮为溶媒，精制灰黄霉素，摸索分离条件，探讨杂质限度，考查产品色泽。结果：杂质均值为０．２７６％，ＲＳＤ为０．１６８％。结论：对改进产品检验方法，提高产品质量具有一定的参考价值。     

Arrhythmias and left ventricular function after defibrillation during acute myocardial infarction in the intact dog

The purpose of this study was to assess the recovery of the left ventricular pressure (P_LV), and the incidence and type of arrhythmias after effective low-dose defibrillation (I_max = 18 ? 70 A) in healthy hearts and in hearts with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the intact dog. In fifteen dogs 84 episodes of fibrillation-defibrillation were studied in the healthy heart and 53 episodes were studied in the acute phase of myocardial infarction $\text{1}\text{2}$ to 3 hours after occlusion of a part of the left anterior descending artery by a catheter technique. Time to recovery of P_LV depended on duration of fibrillation (t_F) and cumulative defibrillation current ($\text{I}\text{1}\text{2}$), and became critical at t_F > 45 seconds and $\text{I}\text{1}\text{2}\text{> 45 A}$. Total duration of arrhythmias due to defibrillation increased with increasing t_F and $\text{I}\text{1}\text{2}$. Arrhythmias which have a relative greater chance of resulting in refibrillation or which may seriously decrease the cardiac output occurred more often with $\text{I}\text{1}\text{2}\text{> 55 A}$ (p < 0.001), when 50% of episodes were followed by these arrhythmias. No differences were found in responses between the healthy heart and the heart with AMI.     

Tarsal navicular stress fractures: radiographic evaluation

Tarsal navicular stress fractures are a potential source of disabling foot pain in physically active individuals. The diagnosis of tarsal navicular stress fracture requires a high index of clinical and radiographic suspicion because the fracture is only rarely evident on routine radiographs or standard tomograms. The radiographic diagnosis of a tarsal navicular stress fracture may require anatomic anteroposterior tomograms or a radionuclide bone scan with plantar views. Radiographic examinations of 23 fractures in 21 patients are evaluated.