Venous uptake of 201T1 as thallous chloride

Thallium-201, injected as thallous chloride, has been found to adhere to or be taken up by the vein into which it is injected, permitting images to be obtained of human veins up to 4 h following injection. A digoxin-insensitive rat vein model also retained 201Tl but for shorter periods of time. 201Tl uptake is independent of the solution into which it is introduced, whether 5% dextrose or 0.9% sodium chloride. This technique permits multiple delayed views of normal veins to be obtained but is of uncertain value in the evaluation of thrombophlebitis of the calf because of rather poor resolution and high cost.     

Assessment of bioavailability limitations during slurry biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in aged soils

In an effort to determine whether bioavailability limitations are responsible for the slow or incomplete hydrocarbon biodegradation in aged soils, both the rate of desorption (rdes) and biodegradation (rbio) was measured for n-alkanes and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at different times during the slurry biotreatment of six different soils. While all n-alkanes were biodegraded to various degrees depending on their respective carbon number and the soil organic matter content, none of them were desorbed to a significant extent, indicating that these saturated hydrocarbons do not need to be transferred from the soil particles into the aqueous phase in order to be metabolized by microorganisms. Most two- and three-ring PAHs biodegraded as fast as they were desorbed (rbio = rdes); that is, desorption rates controlled biodegradation rates. By contrast, the biodegradation kinetics of four-, five-, and six-ring PAHs was limited by microbial factors during the initial phase (rbio < rdes) while becoming mass-transfer rate limited during the final phase of bioremediation treatment (rbio = rdes). Whenever PAH biodegradation stalled or did not occur at all (rbio = 0), it was never due to bioavailability limitations (rdes > 0) but was more likely caused by microbial factors. such as the absence of specific PAH degraders or cometabolic substrates. Consequently, PAHs that are found to be microbially recalcitrant in aged soils may not be so because of limited bioavailability and thus could pose a greater risk to the environment than previously thought.     

Emergence of fluoroquinolone‐resistant clonal group A: clonal analysis of Norwegian and Russian E. coli isolates

Strand L, Jenkins A, Grude N, Allum A‐G, Mykland H‐C, Nowrouzian FL, Kristiansen B‐E. Emergence of fluoroquinolone‐resistant clonal group A: clonal analysis of Norwegian and Russian E. coli isolates. APMIS 2010; 118: 571–77. We describe a study of urinary tract and intestinal isolates of Escherichia coli from Norway and Russia using automated ribotyping, single nucleotide polymorphism analysis for clonal group A (CgA) supplemented with phylogrouping, virulence gene profiling and resistance profiling. CgA comprised 19% of the Norwegian UTI isolates from 2001. Two highly multiresistant fluoroquinolone‐resistant CgA isolates were found. Ribotypes clustered into four major and six minor groups (ribogroups). Fluoroquinolone‐resistant isolates and phylogroups A and B1 were associated with ribogroup ^RA. Ribogroup ^RB predominated among Russian UTI isolates and was predominantly phylogroup A and depleted in P‐fimbriae. Ribogroup ^RC predominated among Norwegian UTI isolates and was rich in virulence factors (S‐fimbriae, haemagglutinin and haemolysin) and predominantly phylogroup B2 and D. Ribogroup ^RG was associated with CgA and predominantly phylogroup D. Ribogroups ^RD, ^RE and ^RF had too few members for statistical analysis. The correlation between ribotype and phylogenetic group was not as strong as reported in other studies.     

Effect of tadalafil on blood flow,pain, and function in chronic cold Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Background  

This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial investigated the effect of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor tadalafil on the microcirculation in patients with cold Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in one lower extremity.     

Osteosarcoma: use of MR imaging and MR spectroscopy in clinical decision making

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed on 14 patients with histologically proved osteosarcoma (mean age, 14.4 years). There was excellent correlation of intramedullary tumor extent as determined with MR imaging and pathologic examination (r = 99%). This was facilitated by the presence of a chemical shift artifact at the tumor-marrow interface on the T1-weighted images. The correlation between CT and pathologic findings was not as good (r = 84%). In a single patient, however, a 10-cm length of sclerotic bone was incorrectly interpreted as being tumor. If this case is excluded, the correlation between CT and pathologic findings improves significantly (r = 96%). T2-weighted images were optimal in demonstrating soft-tissue bulk and breach of the epiphysis or cortex. Vascular involvement was also readily defined. The T2 value of the tumor soft-tissue component decreased in patients who were deemed to have responded well to therapy. Two patients with very high T2 values after chemotherapy developed wide-spread metastatic disease and died. Phosphorus-31 MR spectroscopy of five patients with osteosarcoma showed elevated levels of phosphomonoesters (PMEs), inorganic phosphate (Pi), and phosphodiesters (PDEs). PME and PDE peak areas decreased in three patients after chemotherapy, while Pi peak areas increased.