Distribution of Mercury Concentrations in Tree Rings and Surface Soils Adjacent to a Phosphate Fertilizer Plant in Southern Korea

This study aimed to determine mercury concentrations in tree rings and surface soils at distances of 4, 26 and 40 km from a fertilizer plant located in Yeosu City, Korea. Mercury concentrations in all tree rings were low prior to the establishment of the plant in 1977 and became elevated thereafter. The highest average mercury concentration in the tree rings was 11.96 ng g^?1 at the Yeosu site located nearest to the plant, with the lowest average mercury concentration of 4.45 ng g^?1 at the Suncheon site furthest away from the plant. In addition, the highest mercury content in the surface soil was 108.51 ng cm^?3 at the Yeosu site, whereas the lowest mercury content in the surface soil was 31.47 ng cm^?3 at the Suncheon site. The mercury levels decreased gradually with increasing distance from the plant.     

Variants in CXADR and F2RL1 are associated with blood pressure and obesity in African-Americans in regions identified through admixture mapping

OBJECTIVE:: Genetic variants in 296 genes in regions identified through admixture mapping of hypertension, BMI, and lipids were assessed for association with hypertension, blood pressure (BP), BMI, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). METHODS:: This study identified coding SNPs identified from HapMap2 data that were located in genes on chromosomes 5, 6, 8, and 21, wherein ancestry association evidence for hypertension, BMI, or HDL-C was identified in previous admixture mapping studies. Genotyping was performed in 1733 unrelated African-Americans from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Family Blood Pressure Project, and gene-based association analyses were conducted for hypertension, SBP, DBP, BMI, and HDL-C. A gene score based on the number of minor alleles of each SNP in a gene was created and used for gene-based regression analyses, adjusting for age, age, sex, local marker ancestry, and BMI, as applicable. An individual's African ancestry estimated from 2507 ancestry-informative markers was also adjusted for to eliminate any confounding due to population stratification. RESULTS:: CXADR (rs437470) on chromosome 21 was associated with SBP and DBP with or without adjusting for local ancestry (P?相似文献   

Intravenous dexamethasone followed by oral prednisolone versus oral prednisolone in the treatment of childhood Henoch�CSch?nlein purpura

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous corticosteroid therapy when Henoch–Sch?nlein purpura (HSP) patients are unable to tolerate oral medications due to abdominal pain. We retrospectively analyzed 111 children with a diagnosis of HSP (mean age 6.9 ± 2.3 years, male:female = 54:57) from the years 2000 to 2007. They were divided into two groups: 49 patients received only oral prednisolone (PL group) and 62 patients received oral prednisolone after intravenous dexamethasone (Dexa + PL group). Palpable purpura was seen in all 111 patients (100%), abdominal pain in 55 (50%), and arthralgia in 65 (59%). Dexa + PL group had significantly longer duration of fasting than PL group (0.7 ± 1.2 vs. 0.02 ± 0.1 days, P < 0.01) due to more severe and frequent abdominal pain (68 vs. 27%, P < 0.01). Intravenous dexamethasone resulted in the rapid resolution of abdominal pain or arthralgia in all patients without major complications. However, the development of nephritis (21% in PL group versus 32% in Dexa + PL group, P = 0.098), the number of relapse (4 vs. 11%, P = 0.167), and persistent nephritis at last follow-up (12 vs. 16%, P = 0.563) were not different between the two groups despite more severe symptoms in Dexa + PL group. Intravenous dexamethasone followed by oral prednisolone may be a useful and effective therapeutic strategy in HSP children who cannot tolerate oral medications due to severe abdominal pain.     

Sudden Foot Drop Caused by Foraminal Gas Pseudocyst

A foraminal gas pseudocyst is a rare cause of lumbar radiculopathy. The association with a sudden foot drop has not been previously reported. Here, a 67-year-old woman with sudden foot drop on the left side is reported. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging identified a foraminal gas containing lesion compressing the left L5 root at the L5-S1 foramen. The foraminal gas containing lesion compressing the L5 ganglion was successfully removed by the posterior approach. The histological diagnosis was a gas pseudocyst. This unique case of surgically proven gas pseudocyst indicates that it should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with sudden foot drop.     

Unexpected Seizure Attack in a Patient with Spinal Metastasis Diagnosed as Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome

Seizure is a foreseeable risk in patients with brain lesion. However, seizure during treating non-brain lesion is not a familiar situation to neurosurgeon. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a relatively common situation after systemic chemotherapy. The aim of this study is to make neurosurgeons aware of this potential medical problem. A 52-year-old woman with advanced gastric cancer, presented with low back pain due to spinal metastasis at the 4th lumbar vertebra. Ten cycles of chemotherapy with FOLFOX (5-Fluoruracil/Oxaliplatin) had been completed 23 days ago. Two days before the planned operation, a generalized tonic clonic seizure occurred. She did not have a history of hypertension or seizure. The seizure was stopped with lorazepam 4mg. The brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed high signal changes in both parieto-occipital lobes on the T2-weighted images, and these were partially enhanced, suggesting PRES. The surgery was preceded by treatment with an antiepileptic drug. The MR images, taken 1.5 months after the seizure, showed that the lesion was no longer present. At 3 month follow-up, no additional seizure attack occurred without any seizure medication. The possibility of a seizure attack should be considered if the patient has a history of chemotherapy.     

MRI Findings of Pericardial Fat Necrosis: Case Report

Pericardial fat necrosis is an infrequent cause of acute chest pain and this can mimic acute myocardial infarction and acute pericarditis. We describe here a patient with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of pericardial fat necrosis and this was correlated with the computed tomography (CT) findings. The MRI findings may be helpful for distinguishing pericardial fat necrosis from other causes of acute chest pain and from the fat-containing tumors in the cardiophrenic space of the anterior mediastinum.     

Clinical Efficacy of Cervical Length and Volume for Prediction of Labor Onset in VBAC Candidates

Background: The purpose of this research is to discover whether measurement of cervical length and cervical volume at term is helpful in predicting the onset of labor in VBAC candidates.Methods: Transvaginal sonographic evaluations of the cervixes of pregnant women who desired to undergo VBAC were performed between 36 - 40 weeks gestation. Clinical information such as labor onset time, gestational age at delivery and delivery mode was gathered from medical records.Results: A total of 514 pregnant women participated in this study. Cervical length was significantly longer in the group that delivered 7 days or more after measurement than in the group that delivered within 7 days of measurement (43±0.77 cm vs. 2.99±0.72 cm, p< 0.001). Cervical volume was significantly larger in the group that delivered at and after 7 days than in the group that delivered within 7 days (29.21±11.62 cm³ vs. 34.07±13.41 cm³, p=0.014). The cervical length ROC curve was significantly more predictive than the cervical volume ROC curve (AUC: 0.711 vs 0.594, p= 0.001). There were no significant differences between the combined cervical length/volume ROC curve and the cervical length ROC curve alone (p= 0.565). The AUC of the cervical length ROC curve to predict postterm pregnancy was 0.729.Conclusion: Measuring cervical length is helpful in predicting the onset of spontaneous labor within 7 days and posterm delivery in VBAC candidates.