Is it necessary to shave the pubic and genital regions of patients undergoing endoscopic urological surgery?

To determine whether postoperative urinary infections were related to shaving before undergoing endoscopic urological surgery, 90 patients were randomly assigned to shaving or not shaving. Urinary cultures revealed infection in 10 patients. Half of them had been shaved, suggesting that this practice does not affect the incidence of urinary infections.     

人早孕绒毛组织的体外原代培养和人滋养细胞株的建立

目的:建立快速、有效的绒毛滋养细胞体外原代培养的方法以及建立人滋养细胞株和初步评价。方法:采用胰酶和胶原酶I混合消化法消化绒毛组织,用胰蛋白酶消化传代体外培养,通过光镜、透射电镜和免疫荧光激光共聚焦方法对培养出的细胞进行形态和骨架评价。结果:显微镜下可见细胞呈多边形,细胞平铺生长,有细胞融合后形成的合体滋养层细胞;透射电镜下可见细胞表面的微绒毛丰富;胞质丰富,内质网扩张明显,有丰富的糖原颗粒、髓样小体和明显的脂滴,以及细胞间紧密的桥粒样结构连接;直接免疫荧光双标记染色检测到角蛋白18和波形蛋白均为阳性。结论:采用胰酶和胶原酶I混合消化法可获得较纯的滋养细胞,通过光镜、透射电镜和免疫荧光激光共聚焦检测细胞外形和骨架,确定该体外传至56代的细胞株为滋养细胞株。     

Trace element determination of Argentine wines using ETAAS and USN-ICP-OES.

The objective of this work was to develop a method to determine the metal content in wine samples from the province of Mendoza in Argentina. Ten samples of white wine and 10 samples of red wine available in the supermarket were analyzed for the metals aluminium, cadmium, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead and zinc by electrothermal atomic spectrometry (ETAAS) and ultrasonic nebulization was coupled to inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (USN-ICP-OES). The aluminium, cadmium, calcium, copper, iron, lead, zinc, chromium concentrations were between 17.0-18.0 microg l(-1), 1.0-4.7microg l(-1), 10.0-15.0 mg l(-1), 23.0-28.0 microg l(-1), 480-790 microg l(-1), 50-90 microg l(-1), 24-130 microg l(-1), and <0.2-6.25 microg l(-1), respectively. The levels compare well with those reported for similar wines from some other parts of the world. A significant aspect in this paper is the samples mineralization step, which allowed the direct determination of the metals. Concerning to the Cd determination, a refluxing digestion system was used for the pretreatment of the samples.     

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor UCN-01 plus cisplatin in advanced solid tumors: a California cancer consortium phase I pharmacokinetic and molecular correlative trial.

BACKGROUND: UCN-01 (7-hydroxy-staurosporine) is a novel antineoplastic agent targeting cyclin-dependent kinases, which shows potent in vitro and in vivo activity against a broad range of tumor types. Our group has previously shown that UCN-01 potentiates the apoptotic response of agents such as cisplatin in vitro by preventing sequence-specific abrogation of G2 arrest caused by DNA-damaging chemotherapies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This National Cancer Institute-sponsored phase I trial was designed to determine the safety, maximum tolerated dose, and pharmacokinetics of escalating doses of cisplatin in combination with UCN-01 in patients with advanced malignant solid tumors, as well as to do molecular correlative studies on tumor specimens. Cisplatin was infused over 1 hour before UCN-01 (45 mg/m2/d) given as a 72-hour continuous infusion. Escalation of cisplatin was planned through five dose levels at 20, 30, 45, 60, and 75 mg/m2. RESULTS: Ten patients were accrued. Accrual was halted at dose level 2 (cisplatin, 30 mg/m2) due to dose-limiting toxicities consisting of grade 5 sepsis with respiratory failure associated with grade 3 creatinine (one patient) and grade 3 atrial fibrillation (one patient). Plasma and salivary pharmacokinetics of UCN-01 were unaffected by cisplatin. Pretreatment and posttreatment tumor biopsies showed that UCN-01 was active against a key molecular target, the checkpoint kinase Chk1.CONCLUSIONS: This phase I trial failed to achieve targeted therapeutic dose levels of cisplatin when combined with prolonged infusion UCN-01. However, because preclinical data indicate that UCN-01 potentiates response to platinum, further studies with alternative dose schedules of the combination, or with other platinum analogues, are warranted.     

Evaluation of a preoperative multimedia information program in surgical oncology.

AIM: We report on the design, validation and evaluation of a DVD for patient information in a department of surgical oncology. PATIENTS AND METHOD: DVDs provided the patient with information about the anatomy, surgical techniques and post-operative complications on digestive cancers, oral cavity and breast tumours. After surgery a questionnaire was sent to the patients in order to evaluate their level of satisfaction and opinion regarding the pre-operative information they had been given. RESULTS: One hundred and eight patients were invited to watch the DVD. Seventy-one percent of the patients considered that viewing the DVD had been positive and encouraging and 83% of all the patients would recommend its use. Among the 14 patients who experienced complications, only 21% declared having been well informed by the DVD and only 12% considered they were better prepared to face those complications. CONCLUSIONS: DVD based information systems are valuable and acceptable to patients, but the presentation of complications needs to be improved.