Upper tibial corticocancellous flap anatomy study (19.2.93)

Summary A cortico-cancellous flap from the anterolateral aspect of the upper third of the tibia was presented. Sixty lower limbs of fresh cadavers were dissected. The vascular bundle includes the anterior tibial artery and its recurrent collateral branches and recurrent and muscllo periostal arteries. The flap is harvested with the interosseous membrane and can be used either free or pedicled. We used this flap for two patients suffering from pseudarthrosis. Long range clinical and radiological results are good.

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Le transfert osseux vascularisé tibial superieur

Résumé Les auteurs décrivent un transfert ostéo-periosté vascularisé, prélevé sur la face antéro-latérale de l'extremité supérieure du tibia. L'étude anatomique porte sur soixante membres inférieurs, conservés au froid. La vascularisation métaphysaire du transfert provient de la branche récurrente tibiale antérieure et de ses rameaux, la vascularisation diaphysaire étant issue des branches musculo-périostiées proximales. Le transfert vascularisé est prélevé avec la membrane interosseuse et peut être pediculé ou libre. L'expérience clinique porte sur deux cas de pseudarthroses multiopérées. Les résultats cliniques et radiologiques sont bons à long terme.

     

The use of laparoscopic ovarian electrocautery in preventing cancellation of in-vitro fertilization treatment cycles due to risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in women with polycystic ovaries

Fifty women with polycystic ovaries took part in a prospective randomized study. All women required treatment by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) for reasons other than anovulation. They had all previously undergone ovarian stimulation with gonadotrophin therapy which had failed to result in pregnancy or had been abandoned due to high risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Twenty-five women were treated by long-term pituitary desensitization followed by gonadotrophin therapy, oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer (group 1). Twenty-five women underwent laparoscopic ovarian electrocautery after pituitary desensitization followed by gonadotrophin therapy, oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer (group 2). A significantly higher number of women in group 1 had to have the treatment cycle abandoned due to impending or actual OHSS, determined by endocrine and clinical findings. In addition, the development of moderate or severe OHSS in completed cycles was higher in group 1. The pregnancy rate and miscarriage rates in the two treatment groups were similar. The authors propose that laparoscopic ovarian electrocautery is a potentially useful treatment for women who have previously had an IVF treatment cycle cancelled due to risk of OHSS or who have suffered OHSS in a previous treatment cycle.      

The salivary microbiota as a diagnostic indicator of oral cancer: A descriptive,non-randomized study of cancer-free and oral squamous cell carcinoma subjects

Background  

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine if the salivary counts of 40 common oral bacteria in subjects with an oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) lesion would differ from those found in cancer-free (OSCC-free) controls.     

Failure to produce conditioning with low-dose trimethylthiazoline or cat feces as unconditioned stimuli

Trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a derivative of fox feces, has been reported to fail to produce aversive conditioning as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) when presented in large amounts (I. S. McGregor, L. Schrama, P. Ambermoon, & R. A. Dielenberg, 2002). Experiment I evaluated very low TMT levels that nonetheless produced defensive behaviors in rats during exposure. Although each level (0.01, 0.05, and 0.10 microl TMT) produced significant change in defensiveness, none resulted in significant changes the following day in the absence of TMT. Experiment 2 evaluated cat urine, cat feces, and cat fur/skin odor against a no-odor control. Urine produced no significant changes, but feces and fur/skin odors elicited virtually identical changes in defensive behaviors during exposure. When tested the next day in the absence of odor, the fur/skin odor-exposed group showed significant differences on the same behaviors as during exposure, but the feces-exposed group showed no differences on any measure. Results suggest that lack of conditioning to TMT may relate to the type of predator odor rather than the amount, predator species, or possible lack of odor components in TMT that are present in natural feces. Predator feces may also be less effective as a UCS because they are poorly predictive of the actual presence of the predator, suggesting the need for a reevaluation of UCS functions in aversive conditioning.     

Mosaic hexasomy 21.

Cases in which there are more than three copies of a sex chromosome, and rarely of an autosome, have been reported, but to our knowledge hexasomy has never been described except in tissue undergoing neoplastic change. This report describes a female infant with multiple malformations in whom we found a mosaic hexasomy 21. This was first detected in amniotic fluid cells and subsequently in skin fibroblasts.     

Kinetics and characterization of interferon production by murine spleen cells stimulated with Legionella pneumophila antigens.

Formalin-killed Legionella pneumophila bacterial cells, as well as a purified cell wall preparation (designated F-1 antigen) containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS), stimulated production of interferons (IFNs) in mouse spleen cell cultures. L. pneumophila whole-cell vaccine induced an IFN that was pH 2 labile and neutralized by anti-IFN-gamma indicating that IFN-gamma was the dominant form present. F-1 antigen induced a mixture of IFNs, depending upon the age of the culture and cell types present. In freshly prepared whole-spleen cultures and in 2-h adherent cultures, F-1 induced predominantly IFN-alpha/beta. In whole-spleen cultures that were allowed to age for 24 to 48 h before stimulation, F-1 was seen to induce mostly IFN-gamma, with low levels of IFN-alpha/beta present. Since only IFN-alpha/beta was produced in T-cell-depleted populations (at 2 h or at 48 h), it is suggested that T cells are responsible for IFN-gamma production in aged cultures. Additionally, heat-treated F-1, Escherichia coli LPS, and heat-treated E. coli LPS all induced similar levels of IFN-gamma in whole-splenocyte or nonadherent cell cultures which were incubated 48 h before stimulation. This suggests that LPS present in F-1 is responsible for IFN-gamma production and that an activated cell population is required. These results show that L. pneumophila antigens can induce the production of various types of IFN in mouse spleen cell cultures through several mechanisms.     

Evidence that the c, D and E epitopes of the human Rh blood group system are on separate polypeptide molecules

The distribution of the epitopes, c, D, E and G of the human Rh system on red cells has been investigated using both 125I-labelled and fluorescently-labelled MAbs. There is a very wide range in the density of each epitope on individual red cells and the numbers of c, D and E epitopes on each cell are independent of each other. These observations taken together with the finding that there is no steric hindrance to binding between the antibodies, anti-c, anti-D and anti-E indicate that these epitopes are on separate Rh polypeptide molecules. The observations are taken to indicate that the total amount of Rh polypeptide on a single red cell is constant but that there is considerable heterogeneity between cells in the amount of each separate polypeptide carrying the different epitopes. In contrast, there was a mutual inhibition of binding of anti-G and anti-D monoclonals and direct positive correlation between the number of G and D sites on individual cells, indicating that the G and D epitopes are probably on the same Rh polypeptide.     

Restriction fragment pattern analysis of genomes from French isolates of suis herpes virus 1 (Aujeszky's disease virus)

Summary Purified DNA from 45 isolates of suis herpes virus 1 (SHV1) collected between 1980 and 1987 from clinical outbreaks of Aujeszky's disease on French farms was compared by restriction fragment pattern (RFP) analysis. The BamHI generated RFPs were found to be distinguishable, confirming RFP analysis as a potential epidemiological tool. The RFP could be assigned to two established major electrophoretic types and different subtypes. The RFP analysis indicated that the majority of outbreaks were caused by ADV with a central European genome type. The heterogeneity of RFPs among PRV isolates recovered from the central nervous system, lung, and foetus was not restricted specifically to one clinical entity. Variations in the virulence of the 45 isolates studied in mice, chicks, or piglets were unrelated to the RFP subtypes. One unusual RFP has been described for one strain of low virulence.     

Identification of MEN1 gene mutations in sporadic carcinoid tumors of the lung

Lung carcinoids occur sporadically and rarely in association with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). There are no well defined genetic abnormalities known to occur in these tumors. We studied 11 sporadic lung carcinoids for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the locus of the MEN1 gene on chromosome 11q13, and for mutations of the MEN1 gene using dideoxy fingerprinting. Additionally, a lung carcinoid from a MEN1 patient was studied. In four of 11 (36%) sporadic tumors, both copies of the MEN1 gene were inactivated. All four tumors showed the presence of a MEN1 gene mutation and loss of the other allele. Observed mutations included a 1 bp insertion, a 1 bp deletion, a 13 bp deletion and a single nucleotide substitution affecting a donor splice site. Each mutation predicts truncation or potentially complete loss of menin. The remaining seven tumors showed neither the presence of a MEN1 gene mutation nor 11q13 LOH. The tumor from the MEN1 patient showed LOH at chromosome 11q13 and a complex germline MEN1 gene mutation. The data implicate the MEN1 gene in the pathogenesis of sporadic lung carcinoids, representing the first defined genetic alteration in these tumors.