Laparoscopic enucleation of a renal cell carcinoma

The purpose of this study was to report on the feasibility of laparoscopic excision of renal cell carcinoma. An 81-year-old female with renovascular disease underwent a laparoscopic excisional operation for a 2-cm tumor localized in the left kidney. Pathological evaluation showed a low-grade tumor without any extension through the renal capsule (grade I Hand Broder, stage I Robson). The postoperative course was uneventful; there was minimal postoperative pain. The patient was discharged home on the sixth day. Laparoscopic excision would appear to be a safe and effective technique in selected cases.     

The simple AMG model accurately simulates organic carbon storage in soils after repeated application of exogenous organic matter

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems - Repeated application of exogenous organic matter (EOM) contributes to soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in cropped soils. Simple and robust models such as the...     

Adsorption of a lignosulphonate polymer onto PVC and PET surfaces: Evaluation by XPS

As part of the separation by froth flotation of PVC and PET from waste bottles before recycling, the adsorption mechanism of a lignosulphonate used to selectively render one of the plastics hydrophilic has been studied. As the 'rest' method is not sufficiently sensitive for this purpose, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis was conducted. A method of calculating the surface coverage of both plastics by the reagent is proposed based on the fact that the lignosulphonate contains sulphur whereas PVC and PET do not. The results show that a greater quantity of lignosulphonate adsorbs on PET than PVC, leading to a higher surface coverage of LS on PET. The surface coverage values are a function of the lignosulphonate macromolecular configuration. For the sphere and film configurations hypothetised, the surface coverage values remain less than 1, which is consistent with the patchy adsorption assumed in the calculations.     

Validation and study of the transferability of the selected technique by SFBC for the determination of creatinine in plasma

A selected method for the determination of creatinine in plasma, using the reaction with alkaline picrate without prior pretreatment has been proposed by the Commission 'Validation de techniques' in the SFBC (Société Fran?aise de biologie clinique). The transferability step was conducted in seven laboratories, equipped with different automatic analyzers, using analytical procedures derived from the recommended method. Its goal was to test whether the original analytical performances could be maintained and consistent results obtained. The validation step was designed to evaluate the linearity limits of the analytical range, the detection limit, to assess accuracy as compared to a high performance liquid chromatography and to investigate the effect of the main interferents. Linearity limits are 15 and 2000 mumol/L. The detection limit is 3 to 8 mumol/L according to the analytical systems. The selected method can fulfil the set imprecision goals: intralaboratory CV minus than 2% (within-run), minus than 4% (run-to-run), interlaboratory CV minus than 5% (for 100 mumol/L creatinine). Inaccuracy evaluated for the chosen control sera is 1 to 15% as compared to the chromatographic method, according to the sera and to the analytical systems. The results obtained with the selected method are more consistent with the HPLC than are those obtained with an alkaline picrate method without SDS or with an enzymatic method. No interference could be demonstrated for acetoacetate (up to 8 mmol/L), hemoglobin (up to 210 mumol/L), unconjugated bilirubin (up to 250 mumol/L), glucose (up to 30 mmol/L), IgG (up to 45 g/L), albumin (up to 60 g/L). The effect of cephalosporins depends on the molecule. The reagents are stable for at least 6 months when stored in closed vials at +20 degrees C. The alkaline reagent is stable 30 days at +4 degrees C. Reference limits (0.025 and 0.975 fractiles) have been established for healthy adults. They are respectively 73 to 126 mumol/L for men and 59 to 100 mumol/L for females.     

Characterisation of DNA gyrase and measurement of drug accumulation in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to fluoroquinolones

Twelve clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii highly resistant to pefloxacin (MIC > or = 32 mg/L) and to ciprofloxacin (MIC > or = 16 mg/L), were studied. A susceptible isolate used as a reference (MIC of 0.032 and 0.25 mg/L for ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin, respectively) accumulated 85 mg of pefloxacin per litre of cell volume within 10 min, from a solution containing 10 mg/L of antibiotic. One resistant isolate accumulated the same amount of pefloxacin, while the 11 others accumulated between 40 and 70 mg/L of cell volume. The differences between reference and resistant isolates with respect to ciprofloxacin and sparfloxacin accumulation were less pronounced. There were no apparent differences in the outer membrane protein profiles of susceptible and resistant isolates. DNA gyrase was isolated from four A. baumannii and the minimum concentration of fluoroquinolones, required to inhibit gyrase-catalysed supercoiling of plasmid DNA was 5- to 80-fold higher for the resistant isolates than for the reference strain. Although most isolates showed some degree of reduced fluoroquinolone accumulation, a DNA gyrase mutation was more likely to be the main mechanism of the high level resistance encountered.