The use of osteointegrated implants in E.N.T and maxilo-facial surgery in children

The aim of this article is to present our clinical experience of extraoral osteointegrated implants in children. We have had a total of twenty cases. Seventeen were cases of auricular epithesis, and in six of these we also inserted a bone conduction auditory prosthesis. In three cases we inserted an orbital epithesis. Two operations are necessary, in which the osteointegrated implants are placed in the temporal and orbital regions respectively. We carried out a follow-up study with these patients of approximately two years, and we present the resulting statistics, along with the complications that we have encountered. We conclude that osteointegrated implants in children, if carefully preselected, offer excellent epithesis setting and a reliable method for applying bone conduction hearing aids.     

Transient myeloproliferative disorder associated with trisomy 21, a wide range syndrome: Report of two cases with trisomy 21 mosaicism

Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) is an uncommon syndrome strongly associated with abnormalities of chromosome 21. Blast transient proliferation appears most frequently at neonatal age and usually resolves spontaneously in two or three months. Two patients, a girl and a boy, with neonatal onset of TMD are reported. They both presented trisomy 21 mosaicism according to bone marrow cytogenetic analysis. Patient 1, on one end of the spectrum, showed a “classic” benign course with rapid resolution and favorable outcome. Patient 2, on the other hand, had two blast outbursts both followed by spontaneous remissions. He failed to thrive and never reached a good general condition, dying at 5 months of age from a respiratory infectious complication. The necropsy showed generalized extramedullary hemopoiesis without evidence of bone marrow blast infiltration or myelofibrosis. TMD has some clinical and laboratory features that make it unique and distinguishable from true congenital leukemia with which it may be initially mistaken. It usually has a benign course followed by a favorable outcome. As trisomy 21 mosaicism may not have overt phenotypic stigmata, it is possible that many cases of TMD in these children may have a silent, non-detected course. We also conclude that a favorable outcome is not always to be expected in TMD. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Nucleus reticularis lateralis involvement in the pressor component of the cerebral ischemic response

Lesions of the ventromedial portion of the nucleus reticularis lateralis (NRL) of the medulla oblongata in the rabbit significantly and markedly reduced the pressor component of the cerebral ischemic response (CIR) without altering vasomotor tone. Use of horseradish peroxidase as an anterograde and retrograde tracer indicated that the ventromedial NRL projects to the intermediolateral cell column (IML) of the upper thoracic spinal cord. Injections of glutamate into ventromedial NRL elevated blood pressure (BP), indicating that neuronal cell bodies in this area are capable of eliciting BP elevations when stimulated. These findings suggest that cell bodies in the ventromedial NRL are capable of eliciting pressor responses during the CIR via direct projections to sympathetic preganglionic cell bodies.     

Chromosomal Aberrations in Peripheral Lymphocytes of Abstinent Alcoholics

The frequency of structural and/or numerical chromosomal aberrations in human metaphasic cells of lymphocyte cultures from abstinent alcoholics who were abstinent for 1 month up to 32 years was compared with those from controls not selected for alcohol consumption. Cytogenetic analyses revealed a significant increase of the frequencies of cells with structural aberrations in the abstinent alcoholics (7.1 %), compared with controls (2.4%). The frequency of numerical aberrations showed a significant regression on ages in abstinent alcoholics and controls. These results suggest specific action of chronic alcohol consumption impairing biological repair with aging. The increased frequency of chromosome-type aberrations associated with alcohol consumption, even after long withdrawal, could be due to an action of ethanol or its metabolites on primordial leukopoietic cells.     

Extrageniculostriate vision in the monkey III. Circle vs triangle and “red vs green” discrimination

Summary Four monkeys were trained on 3 visual discriminations using a two-choice pulling-in technique with movable transilluminated stimuli, before and after histologically verified total bilateral removal of area 17, most of 18, and part of 19. Test 1 consisted of one small bright circle vs a large, dim circle closely matched for total luminous flux. Test 2 was a circle vs a triangle of equal brightness and approximately equal area and luminous flux. Test 3 contained a red circle vs a green circle of equal area. Preoperatively, all monkeys mastered the 3 tests. Postoperatively, test 1 was relearned by all animals with 6.7 fold increase in the mean error score. Test 2 was solved by all subjects to a criterion of 18 correct out of 20 responses, and by only 3 to a level of 90% correct in 200 trials after considerable training. Test 3 was mastered by all monkeys. Controls were carried out following each of the tests. The principal type involved the introduction of a fixed additional density to the right side stimulus box. After test 3, this manipulation was made in increasing steps to the point of complete occlusion of the stimulus on the right side. For test 2, variations in orientation, relative size and brightness were also part of the controls. The results of the original tests and controls confirmed and extended previous findings showing that monkeys without striate cortex can discriminate luminous flux-equated figures, that prior training on luminous flux differences is not a prerequisite, and that they can master a circle vs triangle, and red vs green type of visual discriminations.This research was supported by U.S.P.H.S. grants No. MH-02261 and K3-EY-16,865. The technical assistance of Mr. Victor Rodriguez is gratefully acknowledged. Histologic preparations were made by Mrs. Mildred Marcano.     

Health Care Expectations Among Urban Women

Although patient participation in the health care system is increasing, assumptions are often made about patients'' ideas and expectations, because these have not been systematically studied as of yet.     

Isolation of the Insulin Receptor of Liver and Fat-Cell Membranes

Extraction of liver and fat-cell membranes with the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 prevents specific binding of (125)I-labeled insulin to these membranes. This loss of binding to particulate material is quantitatively recovered in a high-speed (300,000 x g, 2 hr) supernatant of the extract. Specific and reversible insulin binding to soluble proteins is readily demonstrable by gel filtration. A simple and sensitive assay for detection of specific macromolecule-insulin complexes has been developed based on the selective precipitation of the complex by polyethylene glycol. Extraction of membrane lipids with organic solvents or by phospholipase digestion does not impair the subsequent extraction of the insulin-binding protein with detergent. Binding of insulin to the soluble protein is a saturable and dissociable process having a dissociation constant of about 100 nM. Derivatives of insulin compete for binding in direct proportion to their biological activity; other peptide hormones are without effect. The quantitative features of the detergent extractions and the specific insulin-binding properties of the material so obtained indicate that the protein solubilized is the biologically significant insulin receptor, whose insulin-binding function is essentially unaltered.     

Further evidence for increased macrophage migration inhibitory factor expression in prostate cancer

Background  

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine associated with prostate cancer, based on histologic evidence and circulating (serum) levels.