Levels of 4EBP1/eIF4E Activation in Renal Cell Carcinoma Could Differentially Predict Its Early and Late Recurrence

Background

The objective was to explore the predictive markers of late recurrence (LR) > 5 years after curative nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

MRI background parenchymal enhancement,breast density and serum hormones in postmenopausal women

Background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) is the degree to which normal breast tissue enhances on contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI‐density is a volumetric measure of breast density that is highly correlated with mammographic density, an established breast cancer risk factor. Endogenous estrogen concentrations are positively associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk and BPE has been shown to be sensitive to hormonal exposures. The objective of our study was to examine the relationship between BPE and MRI‐density and serum hormone concentrations in postmenopausal women. This was a study of cancer‐free postmenopausal women undergoing contrast‐enhanced breast MRI (N = 118). At the time of MRI all women completed a self‐administered questionnaire and blood samples were collected for hormone analyses. Serum concentrations of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2) and bioavailable E2 were examined by category of BPE and MRI‐density. Compared to women with “minimal” BPE, those who had “marked” BPE had significantly higher serum concentrations of E1, E2 and bioavailable E2 (90% increase, p_trend across all categories = 0.001; 150% increase, p_trend = 0.001; and 158% increase, p_trend = 0.001, respectively). These associations were only affected to a minor extent by adjustment for BMI and other variables. After adjustment for BMI, no significant associations between MRI‐density and serum E1, E2 and bioavailable E2 were observed. Serum estrogen concentrations were significantly positively associated with BPE. Our study provides further evidence of the hormone‐sensitive nature of BPE, indicating a potential role for BPE as an imaging marker of endogenous and exogenous hormonal exposures in the breast.     

心血管MR成像在缺血性心脏病中的应用

缺血性心脏病（IHD）不同阶段的病理组织学改变与病人预后和生活质量密切相关。心血管MR（CMR）成像技术具有多参数、多成像序列,能对IHD进行早期诊断,评价微血管阻塞、心肌内出血、瘢痕心肌和舒张末期心室壁厚度,通过对急慢性心肌梗死进行早期诊断和远期风险评估,为病人的早期治疗及降低预后风险提供信息。就CMR在急慢性IHD心肌组织特征、风险评估和病人远期预后方面的应用予以综述。     

Intramammary extension of breast cancer: Diagnosis with MR mammography

Purpose  Intramammary extension of breast cancer was investigated using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging by comparing MR findings with the histopathology of specimens used for pretreatment planning. Materials and Methods  Thirty-nine breast cancers were examined. The dynamic protocol was performed with a 2- or 3-dimensional fast spin echo sequence (1.5 T), once before and 2-5 times immediately after Gd-DTPA administration with an original fat suppression technique. The findings were correlated with the histopathology. Results  All main tumors showed early enhancement. All with direct invasion histopathologically showed spicular enhancement. The four patients who had separate nodular enhancement showed satellite lesions histopathologically. Three-typed MR findings were found to be indicative of an intraductal component. Conclusion  Various forms of breast cancer were reliably demonstrated using MR imaging. MR imaging could be useful for the pretreatment planning for patients with breast cancer.     

The effects of strychnine on recently acquired and reactivated passive avoidance memories

Rats were trained on passive avoidance (PA) or were given equivalent handling and footshocks (FS) prior to injection with either strychnine (1 mg/kg IP) or saline. Twenty-four hr after injection, rats in the PA-strychnine condition took significantly more trials to learn active avoidance than did animals in any of the other conditions. In Experiment 2, the interval between PA training and the strychnine treatment was extended to 72 hr. Using this interval, retarded active avoidance acquisition occurred only when the memory of PA training was reactivated just prior to the strychnine injection. Results were interpreted as indicating that strychnine enhanced the memory of the PA training requirements, thus interfering with the acquisition of active avoidance. However, this enhancement did not appear to depend on the influence of strychnine on the consolidation of the PA memory.     

一种线性滤波算子在医学扫描图像中的应用

目的：解决传统的二维锐化增强算子不能很好解决扫描医用胶片图像不同区域不同模糊程度的问题。材料和方法：本文根据扫描仪成像系统的特点，提出了一维滤波进行处理。通过不同区域不同长度滤波算子的处理。保证了处理后的图像整体一致清晰。结果：本方法跟二维滤波相比运算量大幅下降，满足大尺寸扫描图像实时处理的要求。结论：试验结果表明，该一维算子稳健高效，提高了图像的清晰度、对比度，让医生能够更准确的诊断。     

Contrast enhancement in a Hermann grid with variable figure-ground ratio

Summary Psychophysical experiments on contrast vision were made using a modified Hermann grid which was graded in two directions. This pattern was composed of intersecting (IG) and intersected stripes (ID) representing 15 shades of a gray scale, and was viewed against 5 uniform backgrounds (BGD) ranging from white to black. Illusory light and dark patches at intersections were essentially limited to IG's that ranged in reflectance between BGD and ID. The illusion was most distinct when the contrast ratio between IG and BGD was minimum, while that between IG and ID was maximum; it was much reduced on intersections formed by equireflectant stripes, such as those in the original Hermann grids. Brighter responses were evoked by a white BGD and darker responses by a black BGD. Gray BGD's elicited both kinds of responses. The contrast effects were more pronounced for vertical and horizontal than for diagonal grid orientation. An optimum grid was devised that shows maximum brightness changes at almost every intersection, even when fixated foveally. The observations are interpreted in terms of Baumgartner's receptive field hypothesis.This work was supported (in part) by PHS Grant EY00227 from the National Eye Institute (to Dr. C.L. Schepens) and by a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc. (to Dr. H.L. Teuber).JL worked under the summer student program of Chelsea High School