Acid and alkaline phosphatase activities in homogenates and subcellular fractions of human brain tumors

This study is a quantitative analysis of acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in human brain tumor homogenates and subcellular fractions, in parallel with normal brain tissue. Glioblastoma multiforme, meningioma, astrocytoma and normal tissue samples were separated by ultracentrifugation into five subcellular fractions: nuclei (N), mitochondria (M), microsomes (P), ribosomes (R) and supernatant (S). These two phosphatases showed significant increase in astrocytoma and meningioma tissue homogenates, compared with normal brain tissue. Alkaline phosphatase levels were determined to increase significantly in glioblastoma multiforme tissue homogenates as compared with normals, while those of acid phosphatase were observed to decrease. The results of this investigation also indicate that the subcellular distributions of acid and alkaline phosphatase show differences in the different tumor types. This observation is evidence against metabolic uniformity in tumoral tissue.     

Obstructive congenital gingival granular cell tumour

Congenital gingival granular cell tumours (CGCT) are rare and always benign intraoral tumours originating from the alveolar ridge. They are also known as congenital epulis, congenital myoblastoma or Neumann's tumour. They are typically seen as a mass protruding out of a newborn child's mouth. In general, CGCT occurs as a solitary tumour. The main differential diagnosis is epignathus (oral teratoma). This report describes a newborn with a mass originating from lower alveolar ridge obtruding into the oral cavity. Clinical features, histiogenesis and necessity for early surgical treatment due to risk of airway obstruction and difficulty in feeding were discussed.     

How we derived a core curriculum: from institutional to national--Ankara University experience

As the first phase of a major curricular change in a large medical school the core curriculum had to be determined. The criteria for the inclusion of topics in the core curriculum were defined for both clinical and basic sciences. A large group of faculty members have worked in 11 sub-groups to determine the core knowledge, skills and attitudes for undergraduate medical students. During this work 608 clinical topics have been reviewed. Four-hundred and eighty five of them (79%) have been included in the core curriculum. Clinical and basic science knowledge, skills and attitudes relevant to these topics have been defined and classified. A total of 1610 cognitive, 428 psychomotor skills and 247 attitudes have been named. Thus the core curriculum defined is not just a set of diseases, conditions and symptoms but also includes the details of each and every topic. Starting from this point the medical school has participated actively in defining the national core curriculum, which has also been determined according to the same criteria.     

Evaluation of adding preoperative or postoperative rectal paracetamol to caudal bupivacaine for postoperative analgesia in children

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to investigate whether effects of caudal analgesia could be extended by preoperative or postoperative rectal paracetamol administration in children undergoing surgical repair of hypospadias. METHODS: The group consisted of 60 ASA I boys, aged 3-12 years, who were operated for surgical repair of hypospadias. The patients were randomized into three groups: patients in group I received rectal paracetamol (20-25 mg x kg(-1)) just before the operation. Group II received only caudal bupivacaine. Group III patients received rectal paracetamol (20-25 mg x kg(-1)) at the end of the operation. Pain was assessed by Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) and the degree of sedation was evaluated. During the first 24 h, time to the patients' first analgesic requirement and the number of supplementary analgesics needed were recorded. RESULTS: There was no difference between the demographic and haemodynamic data of the three groups. In addition, the duration of surgery and anaesthesia, pain scores and sedation scores of the groups were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS : Addition of preoperative or postoperative rectal paracetamol in the doses used did not show an effect on the duration and intensity of postoperative analgesia obtained by caudal bupivacaine.     

Serum TNF-α, IL-6, lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibody in women with and without a past history of recurrent miscarriage

Objective The aim of the this study was to investigate Lupus Anticoagulan (LA), Anticardiolipin Antibody (ACA), Tumor Necrosis Factor- (TNF-) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) serum levels in 40 pregnant and 20 nonpregnant.Materials and methods The women were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 20 pregnant women of less than 20 gestational weeks and a past history of habitual abortion . The second group consisted of 20 non pregnant patients with a past history of habitual abortion. The third group consisted of 20 healthy non pregnant women. RESULT: LA was found in only one patient in the Group 2. ACA Ig G positivity were found 1 patient in the Group 1, 3 patients Group 2 and 1 patient in Group 3. Mean ACA IgG was highest in the Group 2. High serum TNF- levels were found in the 12 (60%), 6(30%) and 2 (10%) women in the Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Significant difference were found for TNF- among the groups (P<0.05). The highest level of TNF- was found in the Group 1 and the lowest in the Group 3. There were statistically significant differences for IL-6 among the three groups (P>0.05).Conclusion We propose that cytokines especially TNF- was found to be related to the pregnancy loss.