Cat-301 immunoreactivity in the lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of the strabismic amblyopic cat

Purpose: It was investigated whether alterations in neuronal structure and function occasioned by strabismic amblyopia also may be reflected in alterations in the expression on Y type neurons of a Cat-301 antibody sensitive antigen in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and cortex of our cat model of strabismic amblyopia. Methods/Results: The percentage of positively labelled cells was reduced in LGN laminae that received input from the deviated eye in strabismic amblyopic cats compared with normal cats. In the strabismic cortex, the density of immunopositive neurons was significantly reduced compared with normal, the effect being most pronounced in layer IV Conclusions: Despite previous physiological recordings indicating a decrease in X-cell associated acuity in strabismic amblyopia, the present findings imply that the changes in the early visual experience occasioned by strabismus also produce specific molecular changes in theY neuronal class.     

Aortopulmonary window with patent ductus arteriosus and interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery -     

Peribursal fat plane of the shoulder: anatomic study and clinical experience

A comprehensive anatomic and radiographic analysis of the peribursal fat plane in 12 cadavers confirmed that the fat plane seen on radiographs represents extrasynovial fat lining the subacromial bursa and documented the anatomic relations of the bursa. A three-part retrospective clinical evaluation of rotator cuff tears, calcific tendinitis, and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. Two osteoradiologists blindly graded the appearance of the peribursal fat plane with the shoulder in external versus internal rotation in 21 patients with arthrographically intact rotator cuffs and 21 patients with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with the shoulder in internal rotation and was seen in 60% of control subjects but only 21% of patients with rotator cuff tears. Partial or complete obliteration of this fat plane is a sensitive (79%) but less specific (60%) indicator of rotator cuff tears. Obliteration of the peribursal fat plane by inflammatory processes in adjacent tissues, including calcific tendinitis and rheumatoid arthritis, occurred with a high frequency.     

The Cathlocator: A novel non-radiological method for the localization of enteral tubes

Safe placement of nasogastric tubes requires reliable positioning of the tip of the tube within the stomach. Radiology and aspiration are currently used to confirm tube position, but suffer from significant problems of cost and efficacy, respectively. We have developed a novel method to locate the position of a catheter tip within the body, using the detection of a low energy electromagnetic field generated in a coil located in the catheter with an external hand-held unit (Cathlocator). In vitro, the unit detected the distance of the coil from the detector with an accuracy of 0.1 cm over a range of 4–12 cm. In vivo studies were performed in 11 healthy volunteers using a purpose-built manometric assembly that incorporated the signal generating coil in its tip. In all subjects the Cathlocator showed the position of the signal generating coil to be cranial to the xiphisternum when manometric and transmucosal potential difference criteria showed it to be located above the lower oesophageal sphincter. When the coil was within the stomach, the Cathlocator identified its position within the epigastric, umbilical and left hypochondrial regions of the abdomen. The distance of the coil from the surface was significantly greater when in the duodenum mean (±s.e.m. 7.6±0.3 cm; P<0.001) and oesophagus (8.6±0.2 cm; P<0.002) than the stomach (5.0±0.4 cm). In one subject studied twice there was a close correlation between the location and depth measured by the device on each occasion. The Cathlocator is a novel non-radiological device that has the potential to be useful in the placement of gastrointestinal catheters.     

Tumor vascular signals in renal masses: detection with Doppler US

The vascularity of 49 renal masses (26 malignant and 23 benign lesions) was investigated with duplex Doppler ultrasound. Doppler signals obtained at the margins of renal masses were defined as "tumor signals" when the Doppler-shifted frequency of the lesion exceeded the frequency shift in the ipsilateral main renal artery. These exceeded 2.5 kHz with a 3-MHz insonating frequency. Among the 26 renal masses that subsequently proved to be malignant, tumor signals were obtained in 15 of 18 (83%) untreated renal cell carcinomas, in three of four Wilms tumors, and in two patients with metastases to the kidney, but not in the one patient with lymphoma. None of the 23 benign renal masses demonstrated tumor signals. Tumor vascularity in malignant lesions gives rise to abnormal, high-velocity, Doppler-shifted signals that can help in the differential diagnosis of renal masses.     

Replacement of Candida albicans with C. dubliniensis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis treated with fluconazole

Candida dubliniensis is an opportunistic yeast that has been increasingly implicated in oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients but may be underreported due to its similarity with Candida albicans. Although most C. dubliniensis isolates are susceptible to fluconazole, the inducibility of azole resistance in vitro has been reported. Thus, the use of fluconazole prophylaxis in the treatment of these patients may have contributed to the increasing rates of isolation of C. dubliniensis. In this study, yeast strains were collected from the oral cavities of HIV-infected patients enrolled in a longitudinal study of OPC. Patients received fluconazole for the suppression or treatment of OPC, and isolates collected at both study entry and end of study were chosen for analysis. Samples were plated on CHROMagar Candida medium for initial isolation and further identified by Southern blot analysis with the species-specific probes Ca3 (for C. albicans) and Cd25 (for C. dubliniensis). Fluconazole MICs were determined by using NCCLS methods. At study entry, susceptible C. albicans isolates were recovered from oral samples in 42 patients who were followed longitudinally (1 to 36 months). C. albicans strains from 12 of these patients developed fluconazole resistance (fluconazole MIC, >/=64 micro g/ml). C. dubliniensis was not detected at end of study in any of these patients. Of the remaining 30 patients, eight (27%) demonstrated a replacement of C. albicans by C. dubliniensis when a comparison of isolates obtained at baseline and those from the last culture was done. For the 22 of these 30 patients in whom no switch in species was detected, the fluconazole MICs for initial and end-of-study C. albicans isolates ranged from 0.125 to 2.0 micro g/ml. For the eight patients in whom a switch to C. dubliniensis was detected, the fluconazole MICs for C. dubliniensis isolates at end of study ranged from 0.25 to 64 micro g/ml: the fluconazole MICs for isolates from six patients were 0.25 to 2.0 micro g/ml and those for the other two were 32 and 64 micro g/ml, respectively. In conclusion, a considerable number of patients initially infected with C. albicans strains that failed to develop fluconazole resistance demonstrated a switch to C. dubliniensis. C. dubliniensis in this setting may be underestimated due to lack of identification and may occur due to the impact of fluconazole on the ecology of oral yeast species.     

Neural substrates of coping behavior in the rat: possible importance of mesocorticolimbic dopamine system

This study measured expression of Fos protein, an indicator of neural activation, in 116 brain regions of rats that were able to control a stressor (i.e., avoid and/or escape an electric shock), and compared the changes with those observed in yoked rats that received the same shocks but without having control over them. The authors' interest was to find brain regions where elevated activity occurs in conjunction with control. Activity in these brain regions might be responsible for the consequences of having control, such as reduction of stress responses. Eleven brain regions were found in which rats with control showed significantly more Fos expression than was seen in yoked rats that did not have control. Six of these brain regions were part of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system. These results point to the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system as being importantly involved in the mediation and/or the consequences of coping behavior.