Fracture repair during external fixation: Torsion tests of rabbit osteotomies

Bone repair was studied in the rabbit tibiofibular bone after a midshaft transverse osteotomy stabilized by external fixation and heavy compression. Both subendosteal and subperiosteal callus formation with concomitant contact healing were observed within 3 weeks, and were further succeeded by subendosteal resorption and increased porosis resulting in atrophy of the cortical bone. Subjected to the torsion test, the bones exhibited restoration of strength within 3 weeks, with maximal energy absorption and elasticity at 6 weeks. The failure of the osteotomy in the torsion test, with radiographic visibility of the osteotomy, characterized the soft-tissue type of behavior of the bones. Hard-tissue like behaviour of the bones with resistance to torsion at the osteotomy site and radiographic obliteration of the osteotomy line occurred by 12 weeks, indicating complete union of the osteotomy. Our experiments demonstrate that elastic external fixation is preferable to the rigid compression plate.     

Implementation of a Patient Charting System: Challenges Encountered and Tactics Adopted in a Burn Center

The rapid movement of information technologies into health care organizations has raised managerial concern regarding the capability of today's institutions to satisfactorily manage their introduction. Indeed, several health care institutions have consumed huge amounts of money and frustrated countless people in wasted information systems implementation efforts. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers as to why so many health informatics projects are not more successful. In this light, the aim of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of how clinical information systems are being implemented by emphasizing research efforts on the dynamic nature of the process, that is, the “how” and “why” of what happened. Using a case study methodology, we examined the implementation of a patient charting system in the Burn Center of a large, not-for-profit, teaching hospital. Based on an in-depth examination of this implementation, several insights are offered to those who have responsibility for managing complex and risky clinical information system implementation projects.     

Obesity of Czech children and adolescents: relation to parental obesity and socioeconomic factors

The purpose of this study was to estimate the change in overweight and obesity prevalence and the influence of socioeconomic status and parental obesity on overweight and obesity of children and adolescents in the Czech Republic. The roles of family history of obesity, dietary factors and physical activity were evaluated. The quota sample of 1,417 children and adolescents aged 6.00–17.99 years was examined in November 2005 as a part of the survey Lifestyle and Obesity. The quota sample was nationally representative, and subjects were selected according to the gender, age, region, size of residential location and education of parents. In the subjects weight, height and waist circumferences were measured and BMI was calculated. Food intake and physical activity were estimated by food frequency and physical activity questionnaires. The results were compared with the data from the 6th National Anthropological Survey of Children and Adolescents 2001, the Czech Republic. The data was evaluated by Pearson’s chi-square test and by linear regression analysis with backward factor reduction. Enhancing prevalence of obesity was found in younger age categories in comparison with the year 2001. Parental overweight and obesity significantly increased the risk of overweight and obesity. BMI in children (6–12.99 years) was associated with the intake of sweetened carbonated drinks and potatoes including fried ones (positive association) and low-sugar carbonated drinks and physical activity (negative association). In adolescents (13–17.99 years) BMI was associated with parental obesity, fat meat intake, time spent on the computer (positive association) and fish intake and physical activity (negative association). The results show an increase in obesity prevalence in younger children in the Czech Republic. Parental obesity significantly enhanced the risk ratio of obesity predominantly in adolescents.     

Aortic valve replacement by a pulmonary homograft

Minor experience still exists in our country with regard to the use of valve homografts in cardiac surgery. Only a few implantations have been performed in cases of right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction in addition to our own experience in cases of infective endocarditis of the aortic valve. We present a case of aortic valve replacement by using an antibiotic-sterilized fresh pulmonary valve autograft. The case is described and the possible advantages of the use of pulmonary allografts in the aortic position are discussed.     

Segmental aortic wall stiffness from intravascular ultrasound at normal and subnormal aortic pressure in pigs.

Segmental aortic wall stiffness was calculated from intravascular ultrasound images and intravascular pressures in six pigs at normal and subnormal aortic pressures (21 sequences of pressures and areas before and after boli of intravenous nitroglycerin). The wall stiffness was expressed as the pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep). The Ep was calculated from the formula: Ep = delta PR delta R-1 (P, pressure; R, radius) in two different ways. First from maximal and minimal values of pressure and area. Second as the slope of linear regression line of delta PR as a function of delta R from 29 simultaneous recorded pressures and images. The average Ep value for all sequences in the different segments was 0.58 +/- 0.55 10(5) Pa (Method 1) and 0.50 +/- 0.40 10(5) Pa (Method 2). Ep increased with the distance from the heart at normal aortic pressures. At subnormal aortic pressures after intravenous nitroglycerin this relationship was not so evident. At subnormal aortic pressures the calculated Ep values were significantly reduced in the lower half of the abdominal aorta. The phase lag, i.e. hysteresis, between pressure and diameter was demonstrated. Our study shows the applicability of intravascular ultrasound as a tool to evaluate arterial wall stiffness.     

Profiles of alcoholics according to the SCL-90-R: a confirmative study.

The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) has often been used in studies of alcoholic populations. Based on findings reported in the literature and data gathered on 712 alcoholics in treatment, this paper investigates the general trends in the responses of alcoholics to the SCL-90-R. On global measures as well as on each of the symptom scales, the scores of alcoholic groups reveal a symptomatology two to five times as severe as that observed in the general population. The Psychoticism dimension shows the most marked divergence with the general population. In almost each of the study groups, the Depression Scale registers the highest scores, followed by Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Anxiety.     

A new mixed plant preparation possessing antistressor properties

The optimum extraction conditions for obtaining a new mixed plant preparation (tanton) have been determined and its phytochemical composition has been studied. The antistressor activity of tanton has been established in experiments on white rats. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 11, pp. 42–46, November, 2007.     

Alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzymes in rat development. Effect of maternal ethanol consumption.

The alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) isoenzymes (alcohol:NAD oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.1) of classes I, III and IV were investigated by activity and starch gel electrophoresis analyses during rat ontogeny. Class I was studied in the liver, class III in the brain and class IV in the stomach and eyes. Classes I and IV exhibited very low activity during the fetal period, reaching 12% and 3%, respectively, of the adult value at birth. Class III was relatively more active in the fetus, with 38% of the adult activity at birth. In the three cases, activity increased after birth and adult values were found around day 20 (classes I and III), day 39 (stomach class IV) and after day 91 (eye class IV). The very low activity of the isoenzymes responsible for ethanol oxidation, i.e. liver class I and stomach class IV, in the fetus demonstrates that metabolism of ethanol during gestation is essentially performed by the maternal tissues. Development of ADH isoenzymes were also studied in the offspring of rats exposed to an alcoholic liquid diet. Activities of liver class I and stomach class IV were severely reduced: they were only 30% and 50%, respectively, of the control values. In contrast, eye class IV activity did not change and brain class III showed a 30% increase. Moreover, the concentration of liver soluble protein exhibited a 1.3-1.5-fold increase with respect to control animals. The effects on activities and liver protein were more pronounced in the adult than in the perinatal period, and they seem irreversible since normal values were not recovered after 6 weeks of feeding with a non-alcoholic diet. The low activities of the alcohol-oxidizing isoenzymes indicate tht maternal ethanol consumption results in an impaired ethanol metabolism of the offspring.     

Alcoholic foamy degeneration in Spain. Prevalence and clinico-pathological features

Among 389 consecutive chronic alcoholics in whom a liver biopsy was performed for diagnostic purposes, nine patients (2.3%) had histological changes of "alcoholic foamy degeneration" (AFD), characterized by numerous small fat droplets in the swollen hepatocytes of the centrilobular area. In five cases, there were non-specific clinical features, while the other four cases presented acute hepatic decompensation with jaundice and a reduced prothrombin activity. Seven patients had high serum lipid concentrations including hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia, which improved after withdrawal of alcohol intake. In conclusion, AFD has a broad clinicopathological spectrum including asymptomatic patients and other cases with severe liver decompensation manifested by jaundice and reduced prothrombin activity. AFD is usually associated with hyperlipemia.     

Determinants of health counseling practices in hospitals: the patient's perspective

We conducted a survey of 518 patients who had been admitted to three hospitals for selected medical, surgical, and obstetrical conditions. All patients came from the same city. One of the hospitals had put forward health promotion and disease prevention as a formal goal. Almost 40% of the respondents reported that they received health counseling during their hospital stay. Logistic regression analyses revealed that medical care processes and organizational factors were more important than patient characteristics in determining health counseling. The only patient characteristic that was positively related to health counseling was "perceived poor health status." Favorable conditions for the development of health counseling included having an attending physician different from the one who treated the patient before entering the hospital, an adequate number of physician visits, and a longer length of stay. Being admitted to a medical ward rather than a surgical or an obstetrical ward also was associated with more frequent health counseling. No significant differences were found among hospitals. Finally, having a general practitioner rather than a specialist as attending physician did not make a difference. These findings support the view that although hospitals have an important and legitimate role to play in health promotion, organizational and institutional obstacles to implementing such practices must not be ignored.