Rising incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in men in Australia

Adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus and of the gastric cardia have been reported to be increasing in incidence in many countries, while the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus is stable and non-cardia gastric cancers are decreasing in incidence. Age-standardized incidence rates for the years 1982–93 for oesophageal adenocarcinoma and non-adenocarcinoma, and gastric cardia and non-cardia cancers were calculated based on state cancer registry incidence data. Time trends in the age-standardized rates were assessed using linear regression. A consistent increasing trend in the incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in men was seen in all states of Australia and was statistically significant in all states except South Australia. There were no consistent nationwide trends in the incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in women, although a trend towards an increase in the incidence of this cancer reached statistical significance ( P < 0.05) in three states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland). There were no important trends in the incidence of oesophageal non-adenocarcinoma in either men or women. There were no consistent nationwide changes in the incidence of gastric cardia cancer in either men or women, although this cancer was significantly increasing in Tasmania in both men and women. The incidence of cancer of the stomach not arising at the gastric cardia was significantly decreasing in men in all states and was also decreasing in women in all states, although in women this decrease was statistically significant only in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. There has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in men in Australia. The incidence of this cancer in men is now approximately equal with that of non-adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. The incidence of non-cardia stomach cancer continues to fall.     

Dietary nutrient intake comparisons for rural and urban Russian boys,ages 6, 9, and 15 years,living in St. Petersburg and surrounding areas

Dietary intake data were gathered on 123 rural and 111 urban males, ages 6, 9, and 15 years, living in and near St. Petersburg, Russia. Data were analyzed to estimate intakes of kilocalories, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, and percentage of kilocalories from protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Comparisons were made between nutrient intakes of urban and rural subjects; intakes were also compared with the Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDI) of the USSR Research Institute of Nutrition. There were no significant differences between rural and urban boys in energy intake at any age. Urban boys consumed more vitamin C at ages 6 and 9, had higher intakes of protein, calcium, and niacin at age 9, and consumed more protein at age 15. Rural boys had higher intakes of riboflavin and calcium than urban boys at age 6. Urban boys consumed larger proportions of energy as carbohydrate at age 6, protein at age 9, and both protein and fat at age 15 than rural subjects. Rural boys had higher proportions of kilocalories from fat at age 6 and carbohydrate at age 15 than urban boys. Mean nutrient intakes below the RDI were: energy for rural boys at 9 and 15 years; iron for rural subjects at ages 6 and 9 and urban boys at age 6; calcium for rural and urban boys at all ages; vitamin C for rural subjects at ages 6 and 9; vitamin A for rural and urban boys at age 15; and protein for rural boys at age 15. At age 6, rural boys had nutrient intakes superior to those of urban boys; urban nutrient intakes were better than rural at ages 9 and 15. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Neurenteric cyst of the posterior mediastinum

We report a case of a large posterior mediastinal neurenteric cyst in a neonate demonstrated by chest radiographs, barium swallow examination, ultrasonography and CT of the thorax. All the investigations revealed a large posterior mediastinal cystic mass with vertebral anomalies in the form of scoliosis and hemivertebra. The cyst was completely excised by a right posterolateral thoracotomy and biopsy showed the features of a neurenteric cyst. The rarity of the lesion prompted us to report this case.     

TOLERANCE TIME OF EXPERIMENTAL THERMAL PAIN (COLD INDUCED) IN VOLUNTEERS

Perception of thermal pain (cold induced) was studied in 106 volunteers from troops and civilians deployed in J & K. Thermal stimulus devised was “holding ice”. Tolerance time of holding ice was taken to be a measure of thermal sensitivity, volunteers were classified based on their native areas, addiction habits and socio-economic status, out of 106 volunteers, 81 could & 25 could not hold ice over 10 min. Sixteen out of 40 from coastline States and 9 out of 66 from non-coast line States failed to hold ice over 10 min. In “below average” “average” and “high average” socio-economic groups, three out of 27, 19 out of 73 and 03 out of 6 failed to hold ice over 10 min respectively. Fifteen out of 64 from “addiction habit group” and 10 out of 42 from “no addiction habit group” failed to hold ice over 10 min. Statistically no classification used in the study revealed significant difference in “tolerance times” of volunteers except the one based on coastline and non-coastline States.KEY WORDS: Pain, Nociception, Thermal sensations     

Field Trial of Relative Efficacy of Abate and Bacillus thuringiensis Against Simulium himalayense Larvae (Diptera simulidae)

Simulium himalayense (Diptera simulidae) are known pests which cause severe biting nuisance in North-East region and breed in its fast flowing rivers and rivulets. A field trial was undertaken to control this nuisance with the help of larvicides and to help ascertain relative efficacy of Abate and B thuringiensis against Simulidae. Abate proved to be an effective larvicide for river treatment wherein 0.1 PPM resulted in 100% larval reduction while in small streams, the treatment with Teknar (Bacillus thuringiensis) with 10 PPM for 10 minutes resulted in 80% larval reduction. The results of the present study showed that Abate was more effective in rivers while B thuringiensis proved to be useful in controlling the breeding in the rivulets. An integrated approach using chemical and biological agents is recommended and considered ecologically sound as it does not affect the fish and potability of water.Key Words: Larvicidal control, Simulidae     

Polyacrylamide Gel Affinity Electrophoresis for Separation of Enzyme Isoforms

Affinity electrophoresis of differently glycosylated isoforms of enzymes using lectin as affinity ligand has been reported on support media such as cellulose acetate membrane (CAM) or agarose gel. We report a method for affinity electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel (PAG) using wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). WGA is added to acrylamide-Bis mixture and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature. This causes WGA to react covalently with acrylamide and Bis. Polymerization is initiated with addition of N,N,N,N-tetramethylethylene diamine (TEMED) and ammonium persulphate to give polyacrylamide gel with immobilized lectin. This gel has been found to effectively separate differently glycosylated isoforms of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Concanavalin – A, similarly immobilized, did not give effective separation of ALP isoforms. The immobilization of lectin on polyacrylamide as support media requires less amount of lectin in comparison to CAM and agarose. Additional advantage of affinity electrophoresis on PAG is separation of biomolecules according to size.Key Words: Affinity electrophoresis, Alkaline phosphatase, Isoforms separation, Lectin, Polyacrylamide gel     

预测急性脑卒中缺血半暗带的最优Tmax阈值

背景:挽救缺血半暗带对减少梗死范围有重要意义,一般以PWI与DWI的不匹配区域来评估半暗带.但PWI评估的低灌注范围可能会包括良性缺血区,从而使评估所得的半暗带体积大于实际值.为减少这种弊端,近来引入一新的参数:PWI的达峰时间(Tmax)阈值.Tmax为PWI成像信号强度-时间曲线中从对比剂开始出现到对比剂浓度达到峰值的时间.以对侧相应部位正常脑组织的Tmax为参考,脑组织中Tmax延迟超过阈值的区域即为PWI病灶区.     

预测急性脑卒中缺血半暗带的最优Tmax阈值

背景:挽救缺血半暗带对减少梗死范围有重要意义,一般以PWI与DWI的不匹配区域来评估半暗带.但PWI评估的低灌注范围可能会包括良性缺血区,从而使评估所得的半暗带体积大于实际值.为减少这种弊端,近来引入一新的参数:PWI的达峰时间(Tmax)阈值.Tmax为PWI成像信号强度-时间曲线中从对比剂开始出现到对比剂浓度达到峰值的时间.以对侧相应部位正常脑组织的Tmax为参考,脑组织中Tmax延迟超过阈值的区域即为PWI病灶区.