Neural and musculoskeletal contributions to the development of stance balance control in typical children and in children with cerebral palsy

Studies on the development of automatic postural responses in both typically developing children and children with cerebral palsy were performed. With the appearance of "pull-to-stand" behavior, typically developing children first began to show muscle responses to platform movements in mainly the ankle muscles. With increased development, additional agonist muscles were added to the response pattern and a consistent distal to proximal sequence began to emerge. Well-organized responses were seen with the onset of independent stance and walking, along with the reduction of antagonist muscle co-activation. The older children with cerebral palsy who were pre-walkers had immature muscle activation patterns like those seen in the typically developing children at the pull-to- stand stage of development. These included disorganized muscle responses and increased frequency of coactivation of both proximal–distal and agonist–antagonist muscles. In order to determine if musculoskeletal constraints contributed to these response patterns, normal children were asked to stand in a crouched posture similar to that of children with CP. This caused postural muscle response patterns to more closely approximate those of children with spastic diplegia.     

Ear thermometry from the otologic viewpoint

Tympanic thermometry (TT) detects infrared emissions reaching a probe placed in the ear canal directed toward the tympanic membrane. This has been reported to be an ideal site for clinical temperature measurements. TT provides results rapidly, taking only one second. It is clean, safe, and there is no mucous membrane contact. Studies have primarily focused on the use of TT in pediatric office and emergency room settings. In the literature published to date, the otological viewpoint has not played an important role. Specially there is no systematic investigation of the influence of cerumen on TT. Twenty patients were examined. All of them had a complete obstruction of the auditory canal by cerumen. TT was performed before and after the removal of cerumen. It was found to have a significant impact on the ear temperature reading. After the removal, the temperature was higher by 0.5 degree C. In conclusion, one should consider that there can be a systematic error when using TT to determine body temperature. Nevertheless there are some important advantages compared to other methods of temperature measurements. Especially in the hands of physicians and nurses TT is accurate and can be recommended. However, at home in the hand of non-professionals there are some limitations and restrictions, particular when used in children. Further studies will have to be performed with a focus on otological problems and to determine the accuracy of TT in the non-professional user.     

Epithel regeneration inhibition in the treatment of Trifluorothymidin (F3TDR) (author's transl)]

After well-defined chemical and mechanical removal of the corneal epithelium from 38 rabbit eyes 19 right eyes were treated with F3TDR (Trifluorothymidine) 6 times daily, whereas the 19 left eyes were with physiologic NaCl-solution 6 times daily. The epithelial regeneration was compared with the contralateral controll-eye. No significant difference was found between both eye-series. The short-timed high dosage of F3TDR seems to have no delaying effect on epithelial regeneration.     

Current concept of pathophysiological understanding and natural course of ulcerative colitis

Introduction According to the current paradigm both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohns disease (CD) result from a complex interplay of genetic susceptibility factors, environmental factors, alterations of the physiological intestinal flora and a defective regulation of the intestinal immune system.Discussion The objective of this review is to give an overview of these factors and mechanisms, including genetic, environmental and microbial factors, with special alterations of relevant cellular components of the intestinal immune system such as T cells, macrophages and epithelial cells will then be addressed. In addition, the most relevant animal model systems that have contributed to our current pathogenetic understanding will be introduced. Clinically, the natural course of UC with special reference to the risk of colorectal cancer will be addressed.Conclusion The elucidation of pathomechanisms at the level of the intestinal immune system provides the potential for novel, effective treatment strategies. Best surgical management of patients with UC, however, still remains a challenge.