Primary sphincter repair in anorectal trauma

Two patients who sustained severe anorectal trauma from "fist fornication" were treated by irrigation, colostomy, drainage, antibiotics, and primary repair of the rectum and anal sphincters without complications. Both had complete return of continence. Primary sphincter repair is advocated for these and similar anorectal injuries.     

Outcome Following Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparison of Primary and Secondary Depression

In a consecutive series of 117 depressed patients referred for electroconvulsive therapy, the 10 with secondary depression had significantly poorer outcomes according to three independently assessed measures-Hamilton rating scale score at discharge, global rating at discharge, and mean depressive symptom score during a 6-month follow-up.     

Purification and further characterization of antithrombin III Milano: lack of reactivity with thrombin

The functional abnormality of Antithrombin III "Milano", a previously described variant with monomeric and dimeric forms of abnormal AT III, has been further characterized. Affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose led to the separation and purification of two distinct fractions: fraction I is identical to normal AT III; fraction II (abnormal AT III) reproduces the abnormalities of the AT III "Milano", i.e. lack of thrombin inhibition, increased mobility by two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis in the absence of heparin and migration as two bands with molecular weights of 60 K and 120 K by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The interaction of both fractions with purified alpha-thrombin was studied by the formation of complexes as well as by affinity chromatography on thrombin-Sepharose. No thrombin-AT III complexes could be demonstrated with either the monomeric or dimeric forms of purified variant AT III at both concentrations of thrombin used. Similarly, no binding to thrombin-Sepharose was observed, thus indicating that the molecular defect of AT III Milano is related to its absence of reactivity with thrombin.     

Effect of 3-methyl-branching on the metabolism in rat hearts of radioiodinated iodovinyl long chain fatty acids

The metabolism of two new 3-methyl-branched iodovinyl fatty acids in rat hearts was evaluated by determining the subcellular and lipid pool distribution of these radiolabeled analogues after intravenous injection. Methyl branching had been introduced into the straight chain analogue, 19-iodo-18-nonadecenoic acid (IVN), to produce the monomethyl analogue, 19-iodo-3-(R,S)-methyl-18-nonadecenoic acid (BMIVN) and the dimethyl derivative, 19-iodo-3,3-dimethyl-18-nonadecenoic acid (DMIVN) in the hope of inhibiting oxidation. Since the presence of 3-methyl branching results in delayed myocardial clearance in rats, differences were sought in the lipid and subcellular distribution of these branched analogues that might correlate with the prolonged retention and reflect differences in metabolism. Hearts of rats injected intravenously with the radiolabeled fatty acids were removed and homogenized and the homogenates partitioned between the chloroform-methanol (organic) fraction and the aqueous fraction. Comparison of the distribution of radioactivity between the organic and aqueous fractions showed that most of the DMIVN and BMIVN activity was in the organic fraction with IVN activity initially divided equally between the two fractions. Identification of the lipid components of these organic fractions showed that there was slow incorporation of DMIVN into the triglyceride and polar lipid fractions with a slow loss from the free fatty acid fraction. With the straight chain IVN analogue which shows rapid washout from rat hearts, there was loss of activity from all 3 lipid components during the 60 min. The monomethyl branched BMIVN analogue demonstrated predominant storage in the polar lipid fraction with some incorporation into triglycerides. Subcellular distribution studies of the three analogues also showed differences that correlated with the observed differences in heart retention properties. With the unbranched IVN analogue, radioactivity was found primarily in the cytoplasmic fraction 30 min after injection, whereas the branched analogues demonstrated a much higher association with the microsomal and mitochondrial fractions of the heart. In rats fed prior to injection, these differences in the subcellular distribution profiles were minimized. The lipid and subcellular distribution patterns reported here for the methyl branched analogues as compared to those of the straight chain iodovinyl fatty acid may provide some understanding as to the mechanisms of retention in rat myocardium.Research supported by the Office of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract DE-AC0 5-840 R21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.     

Cerebral blood flow in autogenic training and hypnosis

In 12 healthy volunteers with at least an experience of six months in autogenic training (AT), the cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured at rest, in AT and in hypnosis (H). The results were correlated with individual test profiles. The cortical flow pattern at rest of our AT trained volunteers did not show the hyperfrontality which is described in the literature. This may be interpreted as an effect of better and habitualized relaxation in long trained AT practitioners. This flow pattern corresponds to the low grades of neuroticism and aggressivity found in the tests. Furthermore an activation in central cortical areas and a deactivation in regions which are associated with acoustic and autonomous functions occur.Possible explanations for these phenomena as well as for the relatively low perfusion of the left hemisphere at rest and activation in AT are discussed. The global rise of CBF in H may be an activation effect caused by resistance against the hypnotizer: the deeper the trance, the smaller the CBF increase in the motor cortical area needed for maintaining catalepsy of the right arm and in temporal cortical fields processing acoustic inputs.     

Bladder leiomyoma: Advantages of sonography over computed tomography

The complementary use of sonography in the evaluation of a bladder-base leiomyoma is reported. Sonography, as compared to computed tomography, was able to document the solid nature of the tumor, its submucosal location, and determined the site of origin and exact relationship to adjacent organs by virtue of the ability to image in multiple planes. The sonographic appearance of a submucosal, solid lobulated bladder-base mass is suggestive of a leiomyoma.     

Self-reported health and associated factors among the immigrant populations in Norway

Aim

The immigrant population continues to increase in Norway, and Somali immigrants and their descendants are presently the largest non-Western group. We have limited knowledge about the health status in this population. The aim of this study was to assess self-perceived health status among Somalis in Norway.

Method

We used data from a study assessing risk factors for lifestyle diseases among Somali immigrants in Oslo, which was conducted between December 2015 and October 2016, among men and women aged 20–73 who were living in the Sagene borough in Oslo.

Results

The study population included 221 participants (112 females and 110 males). Overall, 78% of the participants (70% of females and 86% males) rated their health status as good or very good. Women had poorer self-reported health (p?=?0.003) than men. Being unemployed and having diabetes, stress, and sleeping problems were associated with poor self-reported health, but time lived in Norway, education level, Norwegian language proficiency, and high BMI were not significantly associated. Around 2/3 of the participants reported being physically inactive, while around half reported walking or moving more than 30 min per day. Self-reported chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension were 5% and 9% respectively.

Conclusion

This study has shown the different patterns of self-reported health status among Somali immigrants in Norway, as associated with gender, age, psychosocial conditions, and employment status. Further research is needed to explain why Somali women in Norway have poorer self-reported health than men. The findings from this study should provide direction to healthcare providers for improving health among immigrants, for example through implementing a community-driven and culturally appropriate lifestyle intervention program.