Nondermatoscopic digital imaging of pigmented lesions

Background/aims: Pigmented lesions are often difficult to evaluate clinically. Improvement of diagnostic accuracy by dermatoscopy has attracted much interet. With advanced digital imaging measurement of assymmetry, border irregularity and relative color as well as texture characteristics, lesional depth and changes in lesional area are now possible, the object of this review is to conclude the present status of these techniques and their potential.
Conclusions: Digital imaging of pigmented lesions to this date include acquiring and storing of images, quantification of clinical features including asymmetry, and teledermatology with transfer of images. Predicted uses include malignancy evaluation, delineation of depth of invasion and the development of large collections of pigment lesions observations. The field is rapidly expanding. As of 1994, it is unknown what role digital imaging will ultimately play in clinical dermatology.     

齐墩果酸诱导Jurkat细胞凋亡及对PTEN表达的影响

本研究旨在探讨齐墩果酸诱导人T淋巴细胞白血病Jurkat细胞株凋亡及对PTEN表达的影响。应用CCK-8法检测细胞增殖抑制率,用Hoechst33258染色观察凋亡细胞形态,Annexin V/PI双染色后流式细胞仪检测细胞凋亡,并应用实时定量RT-PCR和Western blot方法分别检测PTEN基因及其蛋白表达水平。结果表明:齐墩果酸以时间和剂量依赖方式抑制Jurkat细胞增殖,12、24和48小时的半数抑制浓度(IC50)分别约为85.35、53.66和33.18μmol/L。流式细胞术检测显示,齐墩果酸以0、40、80和160μmol/L浓度作用细胞24小时凋亡率分别为6.72%、19.8%、28.72%和30.12%(p<0.05)。80和160μmol/L齐墩果酸分别处理Jurkat细胞24小时后PTEN-mRNA及蛋白表达上调。结论:PTEN基因和蛋白表达上调可能参与齐墩果酸对Jurkat细胞的抑制增殖和诱导凋亡作用。     

Febrile seizures and behavioural and cognitive outcomes in preschool children: the Generation R Study

Aim  General developmental outcome is known to be good in school‐aged children who experienced febrile seizures. We examined cognitive and behavioural outcomes in preschool children with febrile seizures, including language and executive functioning outcomes. Method  This work was performed in the Generation R Study, a population‐based cohort study in Rotterdam from early fetal life onwards. Information about the occurrence of febrile seizures was collected by questionnaires at the ages of 1, 2, and 3 years. At the age of 3 years, behaviour and emotion were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. Information on expressive language development was obtained by the Language Development Survey at the age of 2 years 6 months. To assess executive functioning, parents completed the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version when their children were 4 years old. Final analyses were based on 3157 children. Results  No associations were found between febrile seizures and the risk of behavioural problems or executive functioning. In contrast to single febrile seizures, recurrent febrile seizures were significantly associated with an increased risk of delayed vocabulary development (odds ratio 3.22, [95% confidence interval 1.30–7.94]). Interpretation  Febrile seizures are not associated with problem behaviour or executive functioning in preschool children, but the results suggest that children with recurrent febrile seizures might be at risk for delayed language development.     

大范围电子可读探测器数字X线摄影的原理

电子可读Ｘ线探测器的不断改进 ,使数字Ｘ线成像技术得以不断的充实和发展。自从电荷耦合技术（ｃｈａｒｇｅｃｏｕｐｌｅｄｅ ｖｉｃｅ,ＣＣＤ）的引入 ,虽使自扫描 ,直接读出数字探测器得以广泛应用 ,但随着设计的更新 ,工艺的进步 ,使具有薄膜晶体管读出机制的大范围平板探测器进入了一个新的阶段。由于Ｘ线探测器的改进 ,无论是采用固定的Ｘ线设备还是预置的图像质量都超过屏／片或光激励磷光存储计算Ｘ线摄影系统。１直接与间接转换电子Ｘ线探测器可分为直接转换和间接转换两大类。直接转换是通过探测器中的光导体如无定形硒将Ｘ线光…     

Direction and magnitude of nicotine effects on the fMRI BOLD response are related to nicotine effects on behavioral performance

Considerable variability across individuals has been reported in both the behavioral and fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to nicotine. We aimed to investigate (1) whether there is a heterogeneous effect of nicotine on behavioral and BOLD responses across participants and (2) if heterogeneous BOLD responses are associated with behavioral performance measures. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 41 healthy participants (19 smokers)—drawn from a larger population-based sample—performed a visual oddball task after acute challenge with 1 mg nasal nicotine. fMRI data and reaction time were recorded during performance of the task. Across the entire group of subjects, we found increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, post-central gyrus, planum temporal and frontal pole in the nicotine condition compared with the placebo condition. However, follow-up analyses of this difference in activation between the placebo and nicotine conditions revealed that some participants showed an increase in activation while others showed a decrease in BOLD activation from the placebo to the nicotine condition. A reduction of BOLD activation from placebo to nicotine was associated with a decrease in reaction time and reaction time variability and vice versa, suggesting that it is the direction of BOLD response to nicotine which is related to task performance. We conclude that the BOLD response to nicotine is heterogeneous and that the direction of response to nicotine should be taken into account in future pharmaco-fMRI research on the central action of nicotine.     

Seasonality of brown recluse populations is reflected by numbers of brown recluse envenomations

A significant seasonal correlation was recently shown for brown recluse spider activity. Vetter (2011) observed brown recluse spiders were submitted by the general public predominantly during April-October. For patients with suspected brown recluse spider bites (BRSB), we have observed the same seasonality. Among 45 cases with features consistent of a BRSB, 43 (95.6%) occurred during April-October. Both the Vetter study and our study serve to demonstrate seasonal activity for brown recluse spiders.     

Nutritional status and cognitive performance of mother–child pairs in Sidama,Southern Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status and cognitive performance of women and their 5‐year‐old children using a cross‐sectional design. Cognitive performance of mothers and children was assessed with Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children‐II (KABC‐II). Demographic characteristics, food consumption patterns and anthropometry were also measured. Four rural districts in Sidama, southern Ethiopia served as the setting for this study. Subjects were one hundred women and their 5‐year‐old children. Mean ± standard deviation age of the mothers was 29 ± 6 years and family size was 7.0 ± 2.6. Maternal body mass index (BMI) ranged from 15.3 to 29.0 with 14% of the mothers having BMI < 18.5. Anthropometric assessment of children revealed 29% to be stunted (height‐for‐age z‐score < ?2) and 12% to be underweight (weight‐for‐age z‐score < ?2). Mothers' education significantly contributed to prediction of both mothers' and children's cognitive test scores. There were significant differences in mean cognitive test scores between stunted and non‐stunted, and between underweight and normal‐weight children. Height‐for‐age z‐scores were correlated with scores for short‐term memory (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), and visual processing (r = 0.42, P < 0.001) indices and weight‐for‐age z‐scores were also correlated with scores of short‐term memory (r = 0.41, P < 0.001) and visual processing (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) indices. Malnutrition in the community likely contributed to the cognitive performance of the subjects. Performance on memory and visual processing tasks was significantly lower in children with growth deficits suggesting that efficient and cost effective methods to alleviate malnutrition and food insecurity would impact not only child health but also cognitive function.