Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a six-year-old girl

A 6-year-old white female was found to have an adenoid cystic carcinoma originating in a lacrimal gland. Eighteen months following diagnosis, the tumor recurred. Conservative surgery has been the sole mode of therapy. To date, after four operations and quadrimenstral imaging surveillance, there is no sign of disease progression. Our purpose is to record the unusual occurrence of an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a child. An interim report, 32 months after diagnosis, is presented.     

The use of angiostatic steroids to inhibit cartilage destruction in an in vivo model of granuloma-mediated cartilage degradation

Angiogenesis is an important component of the development of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It is known that clinically used anti-rheumatic drugs exert, in part, effects on the angiogenic response. Little work, however, has investigated the potential of experimental angiostatic therapies in chronic inflammatory disease models. The effect of one such angiostatic treatment, cortisone combined with heparin, was tested in an in vivo model of granuloma-mediated cartilage degradation. Angiostatic treatment significantly retarded the growth of granulomatous tissue, mononuclear cell influx into the granuloma, and the degradation of juxtaposed cartilage. This correlated with a decrease in the vascularity of the granulomatous tissue. Modulation of this component of pathogenesis of "angiogenesis-dependent disease" may be useful as a new therapeutic approach.     

Grafting of enzymes on collagen films using Woodward''s reagent "K" and a water-soluble carbodiimide derivative

Two new methods of activation were developed to graft enzymes on collegen films. They involved chemical modifications of surface groups of collagen either by Woodward's reagent "K" or by EDC, a water-soluble derivative of carbodiimide. EDC was a better coupling agent and a detailed study was conducted with this agent. It could be used either in a global method of activation and coupling, or in a two-step procedure of activation of collagen, followed by spontaneous coupling of enzyme. All enzymes tested were successfully bound: malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, urease, creatine kinase, hexokinase. The influence on the yield of grafted enzyme, of pretreatment of films, time and temperature of EDC activation, concentration of EDC and enzyme, protecting agents was studied. Stability of enzyme activity on storage was greatly increased after grafting. A co-grafted dual system creatine kinase/heoxkinase, was achieved which exhibited a good efficiency. A striking renaturing process at 0-4degreesC after thermal denaturation, was observed with hexokinase.     

High-power 1.3-/spl mu/m InGaAsP-InP amplifiers with tapered gain regions

Tapered structures fabricated in InGaAsP-InP 1.3-/spl mu/m quantum-well material have been evaluated as high-gain high-saturation-power amplifiers. The devices, which had a 1-mm-long ridge-waveguide input gain section followed by a 2-mm-long tapered section, demonstrated an unsaturated gain of 26 dB at 2.0 A and about 30 dB at 2.8 A. Saturated output power at 2.8 A was >750 mW. At 2.0-A drive current and /spl ap/10-mW input power, the relative intensity noise of the amplified signal was /spl les/-160 dB/Hz at frequencies /spl ges/2 GHz.     

Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy and its occurrence with pulmonary metastases from renal carcinoma

Studies concerning the ability of an inhaled beta2-agonist to produce dose-related bronchodilatation are conflicting. In five asthmatic, five bronchitic, and five normal subjects, specific airway conductance (Gaw/VL), flow-volume curves, and single-breath nitrogen washout were recorded after noncummulative inhalation of 0.65 mg, 1.30 mg, 1.95 mg, and, in some subjects, 2.60 mg of metaproterenol sulfate. Bronchodilatation appeared to be dose-related and was best assessed by using Gaw/VL; in all but one subject with chronic bronchitis, there was a significant linear relationship between log dose and precent change in Gaw/VL. Measurements of flow rate could demonstrate significant log dose-responses in eight subjects, maximum midexpiratory flow being the most sensitive measurement of flow rate, followed in order by forced expiratory volume in one second, flow at 50 percent of forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow rate, and flow at 75 percent of forced vital capacity. No log dose-respone curve could be observed by using the single-breath nitrogen-washout technique. This demonstration of significant log dose-responses to inhaled metaproterenol is consistent with the response to drugs acting upon receptors and suggests that patients may benefit from increasing doses of bronchodilators.