Effects of catastrophic financial loss on suicide risk: evidence from Korean stock market crash in October 2008

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology - The negative effect of catastrophic financial loss on suicide risk is widely perceived but hardly studied in-depth because of various difficulties...     

Comparative assays of the rpoB gene for identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from patients in Sudan.

OBJECTIVES: To characterise mycobacterial clinical isolates based on amplification of the rpoB gene. SETTING: One hundred and thirty-five mycobacterial isolates cultured from suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients were identified phenotypically. Molecular characterisation of the isolates was performed based on amplification of the rpoB gene, using duplex polymerase chain reaction (DPCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and nested PCR-based sequence analysis techniques. RESULTS: The DPCR assay identified 129 of 135 (95.5%) clinical isolates as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species. Restriction enzyme analysis of the rpoB PCR product using Hind II identified 134 of the 135 (99.3%) isolates as M. tuberculosis complex, while nested PCR sequence analysis of the rpoB gene identified 133/133 examined isolates (100%) as M. tuberculosis species. No mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis (MOTT) were detected among the studied isolates. CONCLUSION: DPCR, PCR/RFLP Hind II and nested PCR sequence analysis of the rpoB gene techniques showed comparable efficiency in the characterisation of Mycobacterium isolates. Nested PCR sequence analysis of the rpoB gene was superior to PCR/RFLP for characterisation of suspected M. tuberculosis isolates, while the DPCR technique showed less sensitivity. As PCR-RFLP requires less sophisticated laboratory facilities than nested PCR sequence analysis, it would be more appropriate to be adopted for accurate characterisation of mycobacteria in countries with a weak infrastructure.     

Common bile duct calculi: updated experience with dissolution with methyl tertiary butyl ether

The authors describe their experience with methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in a larger series of patients than previously reported in order to acquaint physicians with both its effectiveness for dissolution of common bile duct calculi and the limitations of its use. Ten patients with 13 biliary calculi underwent percutaneous stone dissolution treatment with the experimental cholesterol solvent, MTBE. Three stones completely dissolved within 30 minutes, seven were reduced in size, and three were visibly unaffected. All stones not completely dissolved were easily extracted by means of a stone basket except for one in a patient taken to surgery. Although MTBE perfusion is an effective technique for management of biliary calculi, practitioners should be aware that its use is quite time consuming and its odor difficult to control.     

Clinical MR imaging with a Helmholtz-type surface coil

Limited-field-of-view radio-frequency receiver antennas provide improved near-field sensitivity for magnetic resonance imaging by decreasing the antenna volume. The Helmholtz-type surface coil, consisting of two flat rings, is an organ-encompassing antenna that takes advantage of this principle to yield an improved signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The coil was tested in a group of 50 patients and 16 healthy volunteers. Images obtained with the Helmholtz coil demonstrated quantitatively superior S/N of 2.2-fold or greater than that of comparison body coil images, as well as qualitatively superior anatomic resolution.     

Uroscopy in the 21st century: high-field NMR spectroscopy

From the experiments described, it can be seen that there are different research approaches that can be taken and these are summarized in Table 1. Whereas much scientific research is principally hypothesis led, there remains, nevertheless, an important place for exploratory research. High resolution NMR can measure, directly and simultaneously, a wide range of endogenous metabolites in biological fluids and has the unique capability of providing structural information on the metabolites detected. It has proved to be a powerful research tool with which to study inherited metabolic diseases, renal disease, drug metabolism, and toxicity, and can be used to monitor the effects of drug therapy. For instance, by using a library of experimental toxins one can map the metabolic profile of site-specific nephron injury. With this approach in man one could eventually take an unknown disease such as Balkan nephropathy and predict the initial site of tubular injury, the mode of injury and therefore the kind of toxin capable of producing that injury. NMR spectroscopic techniques are still advancing rapidly, with ever increasing sensitivity and sophistication of NMR pulse sequences to enhance structural elucidation in complex mixtures. Given the advances in directly coupled HPLC-NMR and even HPLC-NMR-mass spectroscopy it is likely that these technologies in conjunction with pattern recognition will make major contribution to our understanding of renal processes and provide new diagnostic insights in the 21st century.      

105Changes in Nitric Oxide Levels After Deep Dermal injury in the Female,Red Duroc Pig (FRDP)

Introduction : Hypertrophic scar is a devastating sequel to burns and other tangential skin injuries. It follows deep dermal injuries and does not occur after superficial injuries. Nitric oxide (NO) plays many important roles in wound healing from inflammation to scar remodeling. Studies have shown that expression of nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide production are decreased in human hypertrophic scar. However little is known about NO involvement in the early stages of hypertrophic scarring, because of the lack of an animal model. It was recently reported that the female red Duroc pig (FRDP) makes thick scar, which is similar to human hypertrophic scar. We hypothesized that NO production in wounds on the female, red Duroc pig is similar to that of human hypertrophic scar and that NO involvement in deep wounds is different from that in superficial wounds. Methods : Superficial (0.015” to 0.030”) and deep (0.045” to 0.060”) wounds were created on the backs of four FRDPs. Biopsies were collected at weeks 1.5, 4, 8 and 21 post wounding including samples of uninjured skin. Nitric oxide levels were measured with the Griess reaction assay and normalized with tissue protein level. Results : Superficial wounds healed with an invisible scar whereas the deep wounds healed with scar resembling mild hypertrophic scar. The thickness of the scars from the deep wounds was significantly greater than uninjured skin and healed superficial wounds (p < 0.01). NO levels were increased at 1.5 weeks in deep wounds compared to superficial wounds and uninjured skin (p < 0.05). At 8 weeks, NO levels in deep wounds had returned to the level of uninjured tissue and superficial wounds. By 21 weeks, NO levels had decreased significantly when compared to superficial wounds (p < 0.01). There were no differences in NO levels between uninjured skin and superficial wounds at any time point (p > 0.05). Conclusions : NO production is similar in late, deep wounds on the female, red Duroc pig to that reported in the literature for human hypertrophic scar further validating this animal model. NO production is quite different after deep wounds as compared to superficial wounds in the FRDP. Early elevation in nitric oxide production might account for excessive inflammation in deep wounds that become thick scars in the FRDP. Nitric oxide regulators and effects at early stages of scar formation should be elucidated further and the FRDP appears to be a useful model.