An epidemiologic study on the correlation between salt threshold, academic test marks, biochemical data, number of complaints, and personality in women college students

One hundred nine 19-year-old female students were surveyed as to academic test marks; salt detection and recognition thresholds; serum cholesterol, serum uric acid, serum cortisol, and other biochemical indices in serum; urinary sodium/creatinine and potassium/creatinine, as well as number of complaints based on the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and personality based on the Yatabe-Guilford (Y-G) test. The salt recognition threshold showed a high negative correlation with serum uric acid concentration and a slight correlation with CMI complaint number, academic test marks, blood pressure, obesity, and serum cholesterol. The subjects with high salt thresholds had relatively passive personalities. Cholesterol, uric acid, hemoglobin, ferritin, and glucose levels in the serum were higher in the group with higher academic marks. These students also had fewer complaints and more of them were type B individuals based on the Y-G test. They also seemed to be under greater stress. In regression analysis, the partial regression coefficient between academic test marks and serum cholesterol was 60 percent higher than that between academic test marks and serum uric acid. Students who lived on campus had 24.8 milligrams per deciliter (15.7 percent) more serum cholesterol and 3.8 micrograms per deciliter (37.7 percent) more serum cortisol than those who commuted from home.     

Prediction of individual tumor chemosensitivity in subrenal capsule assay

Fifty-three tumor specimens, including thirty-one stomach and seven esophageal cancers, were examined to determine the individual tumor sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Using the subrenal capsule assay (SRC assay), tumor specimens were implanted under the renal capsule of male, 8 week old ddY mice, after cutting the tissues into 1.5 mm cubed fragments. Following the implantations, chemotherapeutic agents were injected daily for 3 days and the relative variations of tumor weights were calculated. An 84.9 per cent of the total evaluability rate was obtained and implanted tumor specimens responsed to chemotherapeutic agents in 26.7 per cent. The correlation rate between tumor sensitivity in SRC assay and clinical responses was obtained in 72.9 per cent. The predictive accuracy rate of the clinical responses was 50.0 per cent, while 100 per cent of the prediction rate of clinical resistance was obtained. With regard to upper gastro-intestinal cancers, 83.9 per cent of the evaluability rate and 18.2 per cent of response rate in SRC assay were obtained. These results indicate that this assay is equivalent to other procedures for predicting individual tumor sensitivity.     

A case of porencephaly associated with aneurysm

A case of aneurysm of the middle cerebral artery with congenital porencephaly in the same region is reported. The cyst was opened and the aneurysm was wrapped with a muscle strip. The resected specimen of the cyst wall contained a parenchymal layer with hemosiderinladen macrophages. It is speculated that bleeding from the aneurysm during the perinatal period caused the porencephaly.     

Mitochondrial changes in motor neurons of homozygotes of leucine 126 TT deletion SOD1 transgenic mice

We investigated the time course of ultrastructural changes of mitochondria in the spinal cord of homozygotes of Leu126TTdel SOD1 (superoxide dismutase 1) with FLAG (signal sequence at the C‐terminal protein) transgenic mice (DF‐homo). Non‐Tg mice and wild‐type human SOD1 with FLAG epitope transgenic mice (WF) were investigated as controls for non‐onset Tg mice. Expansion and vacuolation of the mitochondrial matrix was exhibited in motor neurons in the anterior horns of DF‐homo Tg mice at the presymptomatic stage. Such mitochondrial degeneration became severe at the postsymptomatic stage. In contrast, expansion of the mitochondrial inner‐membrane space was not evident even at the terminal stage. Microvacuoles of cytoplasm and fibrillar inclusions were rarely shown from the early symptomatic stage. WF mice showed expansion and vacuolation of the mitochondrial inner membrane space at old age. Non‐Tgs showed no obvious change in mitochondria. Gold‐labeled human SOD1 immunoreactivity showed small amount of gold deposits in the vacuolated mitochondria. These results suggest that the expansion and vacuolation of mitochondrial matrix in the spinal cord of DF‐homo transgenic mice is the first pathological change, but that it is not directly caused by the aggregation of an abnormal human SOD1 protein in intermembrane space of mitochondria.     

Lung radiofrequency ablation in patients with pulmonary metastases from musculoskeletal sarcomas

BACKGROUND:

The authors retrospectively evaluated the impact of lung radiofrequency (RF) ablation on survival in patients with lung metastases from musculoskeletal sarcomas.

METHODS:

Lung RF ablation was done under the real‐time computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy. Safety, local tumor progression, and survival were evaluated in 2 institutions.

RESULTS:

Lung RF ablation was performed in 20 consecutive patients. The mean maximum tumor diameter was 14 ± 9 mm (range, 5‐40 mm) and the mean tumor number 7 ± 6 (range, 1‐18) per patient. Pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement developed in 24 of 63 RF sessions (38%). During the mean follow‐up period of 18 months (range, 7 months to 54 months), 9 of 20 patients died of lung tumor progression. The 1‐ and 3‐year survival rates from RF ablation were 58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 33.3‐82.6%) and 29% (95% CI, 0‐59.9%) with a median survival time of 12.9 months in all patients. Ablation of all lung tumors was the only significantly better prognostic factors in both the univariate analysis and the multivariate analyses. The 1‐ and 3‐year survival rates were 88.9% (95% CI, 69.3%‐100%) and 59.2% (95% CI, 10.2%‐100%) in 11 patients with complete tumor ablation.

CONCLUSIONS:

Lung RF ablation is a safe and useful therapeutic option for selected patients. (R#1) Prognostic factors identified in our study will help to stratify those patients who may benefit from lung RF ablation. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.     

Perioperative Allogeneic Blood Transfusion and Serum Levels of Immunosuppressive Acidic Protein in Patients Undergoing Resection of Colorectal Carcinoma

Serum levels of immunosuppressive acidic protein(IAP) were determined in 68 patients undergoingresection of colorectal cancer and 21 healthy subjects.Eighteen patients had perioperative transfusion of allogeneic blood (transfused patients) and 50patients had no blood transfusion (nontransfusedpatients). Transfused patients had a higher incidence ofnodal involvement, advanced disease, and noncurative surgery compared to nontransfused patients, butthe difference did not reach a statistical significance.Hemoglobin concentration and serum albumin level werelower in transfused patients, although there was no statistically significant difference.Preoperative serum IAP level was higher in the patientswith nodal involvement and advanced disease and thosewith moderately or poorly differentiated tumor, though this was not statistically significant.The preoperative serum IAP level was higher in patientsthan in controls, but the difference did not reachstatistical significance. Serum IAP level roseimmediately after the operation. In nontransfused patients,the serum IAP level returned to the preoperative valueby three months after the operation. In contrast, theserum IAP level of transfused patients remained significantly higher than the preoperativevalue (P < 0.05) at three months after the operation.These findings indicated that perioperative transfusionof allogeneic blood elevated the serum IAP level for a considerable period after theoperation.     

Arginyl-tRNA-protein transferase activities in crude supernatants of rat tissues.

A fluorescent HPLC method for the assay of arginyl-tRNA-protein transferase (R-Transferase) activity was applied to obtain quantitative data of the enzyme activity in rat tissues for the first time. In this assay, the major problem was a significant hydrolysis of the substrate, N-aspartyl-N'-dansylamido-1,4-butanediamine, and the product, N-arginylaspartyl-N'-dansylamido-1,4-butanediamine (ArgAsp(4)DNS) by aminopeptidases in crude samples such as 105000g supernatants (105S) of tissue homogenates. As bestatin inhibited the hydrolysis of ArgAsp(4)DNS, a standard-addition method in the presence of bestatin, using a partially purified R-Transferase preparation from hog kidney as a standard, made it possible to measure directly R-Transferase activities in 105S with a short incubation time and sufficient reliability. It was found by the established method that of 14 tissues examined, stomach was rich in the R-Transferase activity with the highest specific activity, suggesting a target tissue for the future studies on R-Transferase to elucidate its physiological significance.