Efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.

The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines (HMs), as a monotherapy or adjunct therapy, compared to placebo or conventional approaches in the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials from both conventional and alternative medicine sources. Outcome measures were overall improvement, quality of life, reduction of levodopa dose, and adverse events. Nine studies were included, each testing a different HM. Six of the trials had limited internal validity due to major flaws in design, including the lack of proper randomization; insufficient blinding; unclear inclusive criteria in terms of diagnostic criteria, baseline staging, and duration of disease; lack of proper sample size calculation; and insufficient data analysis. Imbalances in gender and ethnicity among the patients in the included trials were observed. No major adverse events emerged, and no specific pattern was detected from the trials describing such data. In addition to major methodological defects, heterogeneity in (1) HM tested, (2) control treatment, and (3) outcome measure hindered in-depth data analysis and synthesis. Current evidence is insufficient to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various HMs. Further studies with improved trial design and reporting, with assessment on cost-effectiveness, quality of life, and qualitative data are warranted.     

Fetal neural grafts for Huntington's disease: a prospective view.

Intrastriatal transplantation of striatal neuroblasts from human fetuses is a promising approach for treatment of Huntington's disease, on the basis of many experimental animal studies and, most recently, pilot clinical trials. Technically, several issues remain to be resolved (e.g., the precise site of dissection of the fetal tissue; the number and location of the fetal striatal implants; or the use of immunosuppressive therapy), and await larger-scale trials and purposely designed protocols. Further clinical data must also be obtained, and preliminary promising results must be replicated in a patient group large enough to provide conclusive results. It is important to establish (1) the amount of clinical benefit provided to the patient by the grafted cells; (2) the anticipated duration of clinical benefits; and (3) the secondary rate of decline after the benefit of the graft has been overbalanced. Evaluation of these parameters will require very long-term follow-up of the patients involved, over several years after grafting, before the technique can eventually be proposed widely to patients.     

Differential role for the striatum and cerebellum in response to novel movements using a motor learning paradigm.

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the role of the striatum and cerebellum in the adaptation to a novel movement within a sequence of practiced movements using a motor learning paradigm. The performance of patients in the early or advanced stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) and of patients with damage to the cerebellum (CE) was compared, respectively to a group of aged and young matched controls on an adapted version of the Mirror-Tracing Test. In this task, subjects were required to trace a series of complex figures in two conditions: (1) a Practiced condition, in which the figures were composed of the juxtaposition of three simple designs that were extensively practiced before; and (2) a Mixed condition in which triads were created by replacing the last simple figure of the triads in the Practiced condition by a new simple figure that had never been traced individually before. Results showed that all clinical groups were slower than controls at tracing the Practiced triads. Most interestingly, however, only patients in the advanced stages of PD showed increased completion time to trace the triads in the Mixed condition. This suggests that a bilateral striatal dysfunction affects the ability to adapt to a novel motion within a sequence of practiced movements. Although exploratory, these results support a functional dissociation between the striatum and cerebellum in acquiring visuomotor skilled behaviors.     

高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查价值

目的：探讨高分辨率CT（HRCT）对颞部疾病的检查价值。方法：对43例颞部疾病患者行常规CT和高分辨率CT（HRCT）检查所获图像对比分析，并讨论HRCT的检查技术和图像后处理。结果：HRCT对病变的显示率及病变引起骨质破坏的程度，病变边缘，轮廓的显示均明显优于常规CT，尤其能清楚显示常规CT难以显示的中耳及内耳的细微结构，结论：高分辨率CT是颞部疾病的首选检查方法，使用高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查给临床提供更多，更准确的诊断信息。     

Excretory/secretory antigen of Toxocara canis: recognition profiles of polyclonal and larvicidal monoclonal antibodies

Summary Five monoclonal antibodies against the excretory/secretory (E/S) antigen of Toxocara canis were obtained and characterized. Immunoprecipitating activity was demonstrated in an in-vitro micropre-cipitating assay using live T. canis larvae. Their capacity to kill larvae was also shown in an in-vitro assay. Two zones of reactivity were observed in 7.5 and 12.5% SDS-PAGE (177-77 kD, 43-15 kD) of immunoprecipitates of human and mouse positive polyclonal anlisera. The murine monoclonal antibodies showed a common pattern of reactivity with the proteins in the 177-77 kD range.     

非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病患者血清唾液酸的改变

测定20例NIDDM伴有心脑血管病变的患者、20例单纯NIDDM患者的血清唾液酸（SA）水平，并与20例正常人进行比较。结果发现所有NIDDM患者的血清SA水平均显著增高（P＜0．01），其中伴有心脑血管疾病患者的血清SA水平显著高于单纯NIDDM患者（P＜0．05），同时血清SA水平与血清胰岛素及C肽水平、收好压之间存在相关。提示血清SA水平与NIDDM患者的心脑血管疾病关系密切，可能是心脑血管并发症发生的一个危险因素。     

外阴汗腺癌七例临床分析

目的：总结外阴汗腺癌的临床特点及治疗方法。方法：对７例外阴汗腺癌病例进行回顾性分析。结果：外阴汗腺癌的发病年龄为４０～５８岁。７例患者的治疗为局部扩大切除或根治性外阴广泛切除，２例辅以术后放疗。７例中５例存活５年以上，其中１例曾在首次治疗后第７年、１１年２次复发并于第１７年死于肿瘤。２例存活＜５年，１例在术后２年半死于脑出血，１例因脊椎广泛转移在术后１年零９个月死亡。结论：外阴汗腺癌的预后较好，局部扩大切除或根治性外阴切除，是首选治疗方法。     

A new pedicled seromuscular flap technique for high-risk intestinal anastomoses

A new method for protecting intestinal anastomoses in patients at high risk of anastomotic dehiscence or fistula formation is described herein. This method involves raising a seromuscular flap on a pedicle from the stump of the intestine to be anastomosed. The anastomosis is performed, then covered with the seromuscular flap.     

Influence of the Compliance of the Pump Housing and Cannulas of a Paracorporeal Pneumatic Ventricular Assist Device on Transient Pressure Characteristics

Abstract: The dependence of transient pressure characteristics of a ventricular assist device (VAD) on the compliance of its housing and cannulas was investigated in a mock circulation. The peak rate of change of pressure ( dP/dt _max) values was greater in the cannulas than other compartments and was associated with valve closure-induced pressure oscillations. When cannula compliance was increased from 0.0057 to 0.0129 cm³/mm Hg, these values decreased by ˜20%, and outflow cannula pressure oscillation frequency decreased from 17.5 Hz by 35%. This trend was also apparent in the inflow. A VAD housing compliance increase from 0.0162 to 0.0483 cm³/mm Hg caused a dP/dt _max decrease of 30% in both the blood chamber and the outflow cannula. The effect of this change on the inflow was weaker implying that housing absorbs the energy associated with outflow deceleration more effectively than the inflow. These findings suggest that increasing VAD housing and cannulas compliance can improve hydrodynamic performance.