Can iridology detect susceptibility to cancer? A prospective case-controlled study

OBJECTIVE: This prospective case-control study aimed to investigate the value of iridology as a diagnostic tool in detecting some common cancers. SUBJECTS: One hundred ten (110) subjects were enrolled in the study: 68 subjects had histologically proven cancers of the breast, ovary, uterus, prostate, or colorectum, and 42 were control subjects. METHODS: All subjects were examined by an experienced practitioner of iridology, who was unaware of their gender or medical details. He was allowed to suggest up to five diagnoses for each subject and his results were then compared with each subject's medical diagnosis to determine the accuracy of iridology in detecting malignancy. RESULTS: Iridology identified the correct diagnosis in only 3 cases (sensitivity, 0.04). CONCLUSION: Iridology was of no value in diagnosing the cancers investigated in this study.     

Anatomy and function of sensory hepatic nerves

Vagal and spinal afferent innervation of the portal hepatic area has not been studied as thoroughly as the innervation of other important organs. It is generally agreed that unlike noradrenergic sympathetic efferent nerve fibers, sensory nerve fibers of either vagal or dorsal root/spinal origin do not directly innervate hepatocytes, but are restricted to the stroma surrounding triades of hepatic vasculature and bile ducts, and to extrahepatic portions of the portal vein and bile ducts. For vagal afferent innervation, retrograde and anterograde tracing studies in the rat have clearly shown that only a minor portion of the common hepatic branch innervates the liver area, while the major portion descends in the gastroduodenal branch toward duodenum, pancreas, and pylorus. Hepatic paraganglia, bile ducts, and portal vein receive the densest vagal afferent innervation. Calretinin may be a relatively specific marker for vagal afferent innervation of the portal-hepatic space. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a specific marker for dorsal root afferents, and CGRP-immunoreactive fibers are mainly present near the intrahepatic vascular bundles and bile ducts, and in the same extrahepatic compartments that contain vagal afferents. Because of the specific anatomical organization of hepatic nerves, selective hepatic denervation, whether selective for the vagal or sympathetic division, or for efferents and afferents, is nearly impossible. Great caution is therefore necessary when interpreting functional outcomes of so-called specific hepatic denervation studies.     

The Ensembl Web site: mechanics of a genome browser

The Ensembl Web site (http://www.ensembl.org/) is the principal user interface to the data of the Ensembl project, and currently serves >500,000 pages (approximately 2.5 million hits) per week, providing access to >80 GB (gigabyte) of data to users in more than 80 countries. Built atop an open-source platform comprising Apache/mod_perl and the MySQL relational database management system, it is modular, extensible, and freely available. It is being actively reused and extended in several different projects, and has been downloaded and installed in companies and academic institutions worldwide. Here, we describe some of the technical features of the site, with particular reference to its dynamic configuration that enables it to handle disparate data from multiple species.     

Über Greisenhaftigkeit im Kindesalter,insbesondere die Gilfordsche Progerie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Relationship between behavioral and nociceptive changes in attacked mice: effects of opiate antagonists

The relationship between analgesia and behavior during and after an aggressive encounter was investigated in saline- and opiate antagonist-treated DBA mice. A low number of bites induced an analgesia that was reversed by -chlornaltrexamine but not by naloxone, and that correlated positively with increased displays of defensive upright and immobility upon contact with the opponent. Extended attacks induced a naloxone-sensitive analgesia that was linked to a delayed occurrence of panic escape behavior. In the post-conflict phase, the degree of immobility and analgesia correlated positively in attacked mice. Naltrexone prevented this analgesia and lowered immobility. Endogenous opioids released during social conflict may induce analgesia and immobility in DBA mice.     

Incidence of curvature progression in idiopathic scoliosis patients treated with scoliosis in-patient rehabilitation (SIR): an age- and sex-matched controlled study

The goal of this study is to test the hypothesis that physiotherapy-based intervention can reduce incidence of progression in children with IS. Two independent patient groups matched by age and sex at diagnosis were analysed using the outcome parameter, incidence of progression ( &#83 5°). One group was untreated and the other received scoliosis in-patient rehabilitation (SIR). Incidence of progression in groups of untreated patients ranged from 1.5-fold (71.2% vs 46.7%) to 2.9-fold (55.8% vs 19.2%) higher than in groups of patients treated with SIR, even when SIR-treated groups included patients with more severe curvatures. Statistically, the differences were highly significant. Efforts to test the hypothesis that physical therapies addressing postural imbalance can be used effectively in the treatment of IS have been limited. The results of this study are consistent with the possibility that a supervized programme of exercise-based therapies can reduce incidence of progression in children with IS.     

Obesity surgery and gut-brain communication

The prevalence of obesity, and the cluster of serious metabolic diseases it is associated with, continues to rise globally, and hopes for effective treatment with drugs have been considerably set back. Thus, success with bariatric surgeries to induce sustained body weight loss and effectively cure most of the associated co-morbidities appears almost “miraculous” and systematic investigation of the mechanisms at work has gained momentum. Here, we will discuss the basic organization of gut-brain communication and review clinical and pre-clinical investigations on the potential mechanisms by which gastric bypass surgery leads to its beneficial effects on energy balance and glucose homeostasis. Although a lot has been learned regarding changes in energy intake and expenditure, secretion of gut hormones, and improvement in glucose homeostasis, there has not yet been the “breakthrough observation” of identifying a key signaling component common to the beneficial effects of the surgery. However, given the complexity and redundancy of gut-brain signaling and gut signaling to other relevant organs, it is perhaps more realistic to expect a number of key signaling changes that act in concert to bring about the “miracle”.     

In vitro assessment of the formation of ceftriaxone-calcium precipitates in human plasma

Ceftriaxone is a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic, which has a broad spectrum of bactericidal activity. Ceftriaxone is highly soluble as a sodium salt, but far less soluble as a calcium salt. Incompatibility of ceftriaxone with calcium and the possible formation of precipitates have been stated in the product label from early on. It was the objective of the present in vitro study to further assess the risk of precipitation of calcium-ceftriaxone in human plasma. Analytical methods were developed (high-performance liquid chromatography and flame atomic absorption spectroscopy) to quantitate calcium and ceftriaxone in human plasma supernatants and human plasma precipitates. Using high concentrations of ceftriaxone (10 mmol/L) and calcium (4.2 mmol/L) did not result in any precipitation after 2 h incubation in human plasma at 37 °C. Under conditions of forced precipitation only, formation of precipitation was observed. The identity of the precipitated material was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. We conclude that calcium-ceftriaxone in human plasma has an apparent kinetic solubility product constant of greater than 0.42 × 10(-4) (mol/L)(2), which exceeds the normal thermodynamic solubility product in water by a factor of 26. Under these conditions, the formation of plasma precipitates is unlikely.