Causes and treatment of burns from grease

A large number of burns are sustained every year as the result of kitchen grease. A review of a 13-month period at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, revealed 60 cases (9.4% of acute burn admissions). Forty-five (75%) of these patients were adults and 25% were children. There were 23 females and 37 males. Forty-two percent of the adults and 33% of the children had some percentage of third-degree injury. The average total body surface area burn in adults was 5.9% and in children 6.3%. There were no deaths in this series. Burns usually occurred as the result of scalds with grease while cooking. Spilling grease on children in the kitchen was a frequent problem. Burns due to ignition of grease was also a cause of injury. Most of the injuries were potentially preventable, and therefore the importance of burn appropriate safety programs is stressed.     

Pharmacokinetics of modified oral calcitonin product in healthy volunteers

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the preliminary pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and tolerability of single oral doses of a chemically modified salmon calcitonin product, CT-025, in healthy volunteers. DESIGN: Phase I, exploratory, five-way, open-label, nonrandomized, crossover study. SETTING: Clinical research center. SUBJECTS: Twelve healthy volunteers aged 22-44 years. INTERVENTION: A single oral dose of CT-025 was administered on 5 separate days with a 72-hour washout period between doses. Each dose consisted of CT-025 160 or 320 microg in varying relative concentrations of a mixture of excipients (formulations A, B, and C). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Serial blood samples were collected for determination of plasma CT-025, total serum calcium, and ionized serum calcium concentrations during the 4-hour period after dose administration. The data are the results from four of the five dosing days, when subjects received CT-025 in high and low concentrations of excipients. The data indicate that CT-025 was rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Mean peak plasma concentrations ranging from 51+/-51-110+/-59 pg/ml were observed 36-54 minutes after administration. Mean terminal elimination half-lives ranged from 54-76 minutes. There was a trend for the mean maximum concentration and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) from time zero to the time of the last quantifiable plasma concentration to increase with dose. Single oral doses of CT-025 160 and 320 microg were pharmacologically active, inducing a statistically significant decrease in total and ionized serum calcium concentrations. The rate of decrease in ionized serum calcium concentration was significantly related to the CT-025 dose. Single ora doses were well tolerated; some subjects experienced mild and transient nausea. CONCLUSION: Single doses of CT-025 were absorbed into the systemic circulation after oral administration and were well tolerated in healthy volunteers at doses up to 320 microg. These data suggest that oral delivery of salmon calcitonin becomes feasible with this product and support further clinical investigation of CT-025 as a treatment for osteoporosis and osteoporotic bone pain.     

ZNF198 protein,involved in rearrangement in myeloproliferative disease,forms complexes with the DNA repair-associated HHR6A/6B and RAD18 proteins

A highly specific t(8;13)(p11;q12) translocation has been consistently identified in bone marrow cells from patients with an atypical myeloproliferative disease that is associated with peripheral blood eosinophila and T- or B-cell leukemias. In all patients analysed to date, the translocation event results in a chimeric gene in which the atypical zinc-finger domain of ZNF198 is fused to the N-terminal end of the catalytic domain of the FGFR1 receptor tyrosine kinase. To understand more about the consequences of this rearrangement we have investigated the normal function of the ZNF198 gene. Using yeast two-hybrid analysis we identified HHR6 as a protein binding partner and confirmed this using immunoprecipitation studies. The ZNF198/FGFR1 fusion protein also binds to HHR6. We demonstrate here that the human RAD18 is also present in the ZNF198/HHR6 protein complex, although it does not coimmunoprecipitate with the fusion kinase. Cells expressing the fusion kinase gene show a marked increased sensitivity to UVB irradiation, suggesting that it acts in a dominant-negative way to affect DNA repair. These observations support the idea that ZNF198, through its interaction with HHR6 and RAD18, may be involved in the DNA repair process.     

Use of animal products in traditional Chinese medicine: environmental impact and health hazards

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been increasingly practised in many countries of the world. Some recent textbooks of TCM still recommend formulas containing various animal tissues such as tiger bones, antelope, buffalo or rhino horns, deer antlers, testicles and os penis of the dog, bear or snake bile. Usually, animal tissues are combined with medical herbs. In most of the cases, the medical use of the preparations is justified in terms of the rules of TCM. So far, little research has been done to prove the claimed clinical efficacy of TCM animal products. This paper discusses some related ecological, ethico-legal and health concerns such as hunting, breeding and trade with endangered species, risks of transmission of zoonoses, quality of the products, and alternatives to preparations from endangered species.     

Malignant melanoma in a burn scar

Cancers of various sorts are occasionally encountered in burn scars. These lesions are usually squamous cell carcinomas, and the burn scars are usually old. Very rarely, malignant melanoma is encountered. An 87-year-old nursing home patient who had been burned by a lightening strike at age 16 was evaluated. She had sustained a wound covering 2% or 3% of her body surface involving her neck and the upper portion of her anterior trunk that had required several grafts. A lesion was noted over the suprasternal notch approximately 3 months before admission. The biopsy was reported as malignant melanoma. She was subsequently treated by wide reexcision with an associated Z-plasty for neck release. Because of the patient's age and the presence of four areas of regional lymph nodes nearby into which metastasis might spread, no lymph node dissections were carried out. The specimen from the reexcision was reported as squamous cell carcinoma in situ, melanoma in situ, and multinucleated giant cell reaction, acute and chronic infiltrates. The wound margins were clear.     

筛查和诊断糖尿病的新观点

美国约有30％的糖尿病患者（约620万人）被漏诊。超过25％的新诊断糖尿病患者已经患有糖尿病视网膜病变或出现微量白蛋白尿，这意味着患者在2型糖尿病发病和确诊之间被“忽视”了7年。有时发现在糖尿病前期，即空腹血糖（FPG）略有偏高（IFG，空腹血糖受损）或口服葡萄糖耐量试验（OGTT）略有偏高，甚至已存在微血管和大血管并发症。     

Gait analysis in the mouse.

The gait of the adult Swiss (Mike Flack--MF1 subtype) mouse during spontaneous walk/trot locomotion at velocities ranging from 14-43 cm s(-1) has been analysed using simultaneous video and reaction force analysis. No differences were observed between males and females. Velocity adjustments within this range are accounted for to a greater extent (>70%) by stride time decreases and to a lesser degree (<30%) by stride length increases. Equivalent stride times for fore and hindlimbs were, in the former, composed of a shorter stance and a longer swing time. Peak vertical reaction force increases with decreasing stance time, with that for the forelimb being about 5% greater than that for the hindlimb across the whole stance time range studied. The areas under the vertical reaction force curves for fore and hindlimbs are, however, not significantly different. The results are discussed in the light of in vitro work cycle studies on the properties of some of the major hindlimb locomotor mouse muscles, and with previously established data in the rat. It is concluded that the mouse shows a consistent and quantifiable gait that would allow incorporation of locomotor assessment into the evaluation of a number of pathophysiological states.     

Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of young pine shoots (Picea abies L.).

The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of young pine shoots was investigated and compared with that of a commercial pine needle oil and chloramphenicol. The correlation between the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils and their compositions, analysed by gas chromatography, is discussed.