Pregnancy following treatment of symptomatic myomas with laparoscopic bipolar coagulation of uterine vessels

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic bipolar coagulation of uterine vessels (LBCUV) has been employed for women with symptomatic uterine myomas, but its effect on subsequent pregnancy has not been characterized. METHODS: Four-hundred and twenty-three women entered the study between March 1999 and December 2001. Of these, 142 women (33.6%) were under the age of 40 years at the time of LBCUV, 36 of whom (36/142, 25.3%) were sexually active without contraception. In a prospective study of 142 patients (<40 years old) undergoing LBCUV for symptomatic myomas, 15 women became pregnant (17 total pregnancies) and were evaluated by physical and ultrasound examinations. RESULTS: The volume of the dominant myoma was 117.4 +/- 118.4 and 36.8 +/- 56.8 cm(3) before and after LBCUV respectively. Volume of the dominant myoma after pregnancy was 46.2 +/- 76.7 cm(3) (mean +/- SD). There was a significant difference in myoma volume before and after LBCUV (P = 0.002), but no significant difference in myoma volume when comparing post-partum size with post-LBCUV size (P = 0.269). Pregnancy outcomes included seven miscarriages in the first trimester and one premature rupture of membrane (PPROM). Although the other pregnancies were regarded as uncomplicated, only two women were delivered of normal neonates as the other seven pregnancies were terminated secondary to patient request. CONCLUSIONS: The pregnancy and term pregnancy rates in sexually active women without contraception were 41.6% (15/36) and 5.6% (2/36) respectively. Because a relatively high rate (7/17, 41.2%) of early miscarriages was observed, we recommend that this procedure be employed only for women who do not desire additional children.     

Contact heat evoked potentials to painful and non-painful stimuli: effect of attention towards stimulus properties

The study aim was to evaluate the effect of different attentional tasks on the amplitudes and latencies of painful and non-painful contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs). CHEPs were recorded in 12 healthy subjects during two experimental conditions, in which attention was oriented towards the intensity and the distress caused by the stimuli and were compared with CHEPs recorded during a neutral condition. The painful heat stimulation produced a negative potential at Cz vertex with a latency around 540 ms (Cz/N540), a positive peak at Cz electrode around 730 ms (Cz/P730) and, lastly, a positive peak around 1000 ms (Pz/P1000) in the Pz traces. The Cz/P730 wave was significantly higher in amplitude only during the painful stimulation and is probably related to coding the nociceptive activity. Varying the attentional target towards different properties of the stimulus did not cause any significant change in CHEP responses amplitude and latencies compared with the neutral condition. Our results suggest that CHEPs represent a reliable functional measure of the nociceptive pathways and that they are generated by the activation of different cerebral areas involved in pain processing. The high activation level of each of these area or their spatial neighbouring might explain the strong similarity of CHEP components recorded during different attentional manipulations.     

颞下颌关节与颅面指标的计算机相关及回归分析

本文用计算机分析统计了118例(236侧)颞下颌关节的12项骨性指标及10项颅面指标的正常值及相关关系。结果表明颞下颌关节各项指标之间、颞下颌关节与颅面各主要指标之间,均存在良好的相关关系。说明颞下颌关节,特别是关节窝和髁突的形态大小具有明显的规律性。由于颅面诸指标与颞下颌关节主要指标之间高度相关,因而本文用逐步回归方法,建立了由颅面特征指标推算髁突形态的回归方程。本文的结果可为该关节的形态研究及人工关节的设计和应用提供有益的依据。     

Serum hepatitis B virus DNA in healthy HBsAg-negative Chinese adults evaluated by polymerase chain reaction

Serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA was assayed using polymerase chain reaction, in 107 HBsAg-negative normal Chinese subjects. The results showed that eight subjects (7.5%) had HBV DNA. In the subgroup with antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) and to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), 7.3% (5/68) were positive for HBV DNA; HBV DNA was not detected in six individuals with anti-HBs only and in nine with anti-HBc only. In four persons with anti-HBc and anti-HBe, one had HBV DNA. In 20 subjects negative for all hepatitis B serological markers, two (10%) were found to have HBV DNA. This study indicates that serological markers are not adequate to rule out HBV infection, and it further implies that present blood donor screening methods may need improving.     

Organization and operation of a flow cytometric immunophenotyping laboratory

Technical advances in the field of flow cytometry have made it feasible for many academic and private hospital laboratories to purchase relatively inexpensive "user friendly" flow cytometers that do not require dedicated flow cytometer operators, special rooms, or a significant amount of laboratory space. Because the financial and physical constraints in operating a flow cytometer have been substantially reduced, many pathologists may now be considering such a purchase. By chronicling the clinical activities of a single flow cytometric immunophenotyping laboratory, this report will answer a variety of questions that may be asked by pathologists regarding both the utility of flow cytometers in clinical diagnosis and the mechanics of operating an immunophenotyping laboratory. The types of tissues that can be evaluated by flow cytometry will be detailed, and we will summarize the number and type of flow cytometric clinical studies performed in our laboratory since its development in 1983. Practical aspects of laboratory operation including technical staff requirements, specimen handling and processing procedures, monoclonal antibody selection, and quality control procedures will be presented. In addition, a comprehensive review of flow cytometric immunophenotyping studies as applied to the diagnosis of leukemias, lymphomas, and immunodeficiency disorders will be presented along with case examples that illustrate our approach to the interpretation of immunophenotyping results.     

An adhesive glycoprotein from rat ascites hepatoma cells potentiates natural cytotoxic activity by rat spleen cells.

In a previous paper, we have described a cell-surface associated adhesive glycoprotein (AF) that has been separated and highly purified from rat ascites hepatoma AH136B cells. AF was found to induce the aggregation and adhesiveness of hepatoma cells. AF was also shown to have a mitogenic activity on rat T lymphocytes, and to stimulate them to produce a lymphokine chemotactic for macrophages. In the present paper, we have examined the effects of AF on natural killing (NK) activity by rat spleen cells against NK-sensitive YAC-1 cells using 51Cr-release cytotoxicity assay. NK activity of spleen cells was potentiated by AF treatment in a dose-dependent manner. A short incubation with AF was sufficient for the potentiation of NK activity, whereas the potentiation by OK-432, which is well known as a potentiator of anti-tumour activity, required a longer stimulation. Macrophage depletion from spleen cells resulted in the decreased potentiating effects of OK-432, whereas the depletion failed to influence the effects of AF. IN subsequent experiments, it was found that AF could potentiate NK activity of the NK-cell enriched fraction. We further found that culture supernatants from spleen cells and peritoneal exudate cells treated with OK-432 potentiate the NK activity, whereas those from AF-treated cells fail. It was thus suggested that AF acts directly on the cells responsible for NK activity, and that the mechanisms of AF-induced potentiation of NK activity differ from those of OK-432-induced potentiation.     

c-erbB-2、VEGF和组织蛋白酶D在胃癌中的表达及其相关性

目的：探讨癌基因c-erbB-2、血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）和组织蛋白酶D（Cath-D)在胃癌中的表达及其与胃癌生物学行为的关系。方法：采用免疫组织化学（S－P）法，检测了102例胃癌手术标本中c-erbB-2、VEGF及Cath-D的表达，同时观察了网状纤维分布与c-erbB-2、Cath-D之间的关系，并将检测结果与跟踪随访资料进行了综合分析。结果：102例胃癌组织中c-erbB-2表达阳性率为38.24%（39／102），与胃癌浸润深度（P＜0.05）、淋巴结转移（P＜0.05）密切相关；VEGF表达阳性率为50％（51／102），与胃癌浸润深度（P＜0.01）、生长方式（P＜0.01）、淋巴结转移（P＜0.01）密切相关；Cath-D表达阳性率为81.37%(83/102)，与胃癌浸润深度（P＜0.05）、生长方式（P＜0.05）、淋巴结转移（P＜0.05）及脉管内有无癌栓（P＜0.05）有关。对生存期分析显示：Cath-D、VEGF、c-erbB-2阳性患者预后差，5年生存率低于阴性表达患者。结论：c-erbB-2、VEGF及Cath-D与胃癌的生长、浸润、转移、预后有密切关系，可作为判断胃癌生物学行为和预后的重要指标。     

The isolated major histocompatibility complex class I alpha3 domain binds beta2m and CD8alphaalpha dimers

The MHC class I molecule plays a crucial role in cytotoxic lymphocyte function. The heavy chain of the MHC class I molecule can form many non-covalent interactions with other molecules on multiple domains and surfaces. We have generated an isolated alpha3 domain of a murine MHC class I molecule and evaluated the contribution of this domain to binding with the MHC class I light chain, beta2m, and CD8. The alpha3 domain binds beta2m at a thousand-fold higher concentration than the whole MHC, and binds CD8alphaalpha with a dependence on the alpha3 CD loop. Our results are relevant for models of MHC folding and CD8-MHC function. The study of individual domains of complex molecules is an important strategy for understanding their dynamic structure and function.