Local treatment of breast carcinoma: when is breast-saving therapy not indicated?

Conservative treatment of breast cancer is now an accepted oncological procedure. It further allows a good functional and cosmetic result. This treatment needs more skills and time than mastectomy, as it does not only include a surgical excision but also a postoperative local radiotherapy and a sometimes difficult follow-up during many years. The contraindications for conservative breast cancer therapy are numerous and depend on factors as tumor, patient and radiotherapy. As more than 1100 patients have been treated since 1977 in our area at a single radiooncological center by a breast conserving procedure. We have confirmed or defined criteria which lead to a good local tumor control as well as to good functional and cosmetic results.     

The Use of Colour–difference Formulae in the Leather Industry

There has been an interest in colour measurement and the measurement of colour differences for a considerable number of years in the leather industry. A brief outline of their use and of the related problems is given and the application of colour–difference equations to matching, sorting and specifications is reviewed. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that no single colour–difference formula is likely to be acceptable for all productions of leather.     

Modification of ischemia and reperfusion damage of skeletal muscles with allopurinol: in vivo 31P MR spectroscopy of the posterior limb of the rat

The effect of Allopurinol on energy metabolism (re-utilisation of hypoxanthine) was studied in a in vivo skeletal muscle ischemia rat model by 31-P-MR spectroscopy. Allopurinol-treatment showed no benefit to the kinetics of PCr/(Pi + PCr) and ATP/(Pi + PCr). The role of re-utilisation of hypoxanthine has to be further investigated.     

Melting and dilatometric behavior of 2-Oleopalmitostearin and 2-Oleodistearin

The glycerides, 2-oleopalmitostearin and 2-oleodistearin, which are important components of confectionery fats, were synthesized, and their melting behavior and dilatometric properties were determined. Each glyceride was found to have four melting points: 18.2, 24.5, 33.0, and 37.4°C, for 2-oleopalmitostearin; 22.8, 30.0, 37.7, and 42.8°C, for 2-oleodistearin. The rate of transformation of the thermodynamically unstable polymorphs at temperatures just below their melting points was found to vary from a few seconds to more than eight days. For each glyceride, expansivities were determined for three polymorphs and melting dilations for two polymorphs. Mixtures of the two glycerides were examined dilatometrically and found to behave in some respects as single components. The mixtures were readily tempered so that both components were in the same polymorphic form, and expansivities and melting dilations were obtained for mixtures in three polymorphic forms. Dilatometric data also were obtained for a sample of cocoa butter and a sample of sweet milk chocolate of the coating type. Presented at the 32nd Fall Meeting, American Oil Chemists’ Society, Chicago, Ill., October 20–22, 1958. Fellow, National Confectioners’ Association. One of the laboratories of the Southern Utilization Research and Development Division, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.     

Tempering triglycerides by mechanical working

The tempering of fat products to convert their components to stable polymorphs is an important and a sometimes troublesome problem in the manufacture of these products, particularly chocolate and chocolate-type confections. It has been found that a solid-to-solid transformation to the stable polymorphs can be effected by mechanical working consisting of extrusion under pressure. With a fat of relatively few components, such as cocoa butter, evidence of the transformation can be obtained from X-ray diffraction patterns. For more complex fats, hardness and melting characteristics must be considered. There is evidence that mechanical working is also effective in the transformation of a cocoa butter-like fat made from hydrogenated cottonseed oil and olive oil, and in the transformation of highly hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Mechanical working to effect polymorphic transformation is also effective with products containing the fats mentioned. Presented at the 35th Fall Meeting of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Chicago, Illinois, October 30–November 1, 1961. One of the laboratories of the Southern Utilization Research and Development Division, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.     

Long-term results after open and semiclosed thrombendarterectomy for aortoiliac occlusive disease

OBJECTIVES: This study reviews the long-term results of 514 aortoiliac thrombendarterectomies (TEA's). DESIGN: A prospective study in a major university hospital in Switzerland. SUBJECTS: 353 male and 62 female patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease. Operative indications: disabling claudication (n=334), rest pain (n=44), and gangrene (n=37). METHODS: Open and semiclosed TEA's were performed on 167 and 347 limbs, respectively. Follow-up was continuous and complete in 97.1 % of patients over a period of more than 15 years. RESULTS: The overall life-table patency rate at 5, 10, and 15 years postoperatively were 93.4 %, 90.4 %, and 84.2 %, respectively. Fifteen years postoperatively, the patency rate of 92.3 % after open TEA was significantly higher (p<0.04) than after semiclosed TEA (79.5 %). However, similar patency rates of 69.5 % and 69.8 % were observed 20 years postoperatively. Further significant prognostic factors on patency were: anatomic localization (p<0.004), preoperative stage of arterial occlusive disease (p<0.008), and gender (p<0.007). Patient's age did not influence the outcome in terms of patency. Hospital mortality rate was 1.2 %. Early obstruction occurred in 2.2 %, leading to subsequent early amputation of 1.4 % and reoperations in 1.2 %. The long-term actuarial survival rates of the patients were 55 %, 36 %, and 18 % after 10, 15, and 20 years postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Both open and semiclosed TEA give highly satisfactory long term results in aortoiliac occlusive disease with a low morbidity and low mortality.     

The sister of P-glycoprotein represents the canalicular bile salt export pump of mammalian liver

Canalicular secretion of bile salts is a vital function of the vertebrate liver, yet the molecular identity of the involved ATP-dependent carrier protein has not been elucidated. We cloned the full-length cDNA of the sister of P-glycoprotein (spgp; Mr approximately 160,000) of rat liver and demonstrated that it functions as an ATP-dependent bile salt transporter in cRNA injected Xenopus laevis oocytes and in vesicles isolated from transfected Sf9 cells. The latter demonstrated a 5-fold stimulation of ATP-dependent taurocholate transport as compared with controls. This spgp-mediated taurocholate transport was stimulated solely by ATP, was inhibited by vanadate, and exhibited saturability with increasing concentrations of taurocholate (Km approximately 5 microM). Furthermore, spgp-mediated transport rates of various bile salts followed the same order of magnitude as ATP-dependent transport in canalicular rat liver plasma membrane vesicles, i.e. taurochenodeoxycholate > tauroursodeoxycholate = taurocholate > glycocholate = cholate. Tissue distribution assessed by Northern blotting revealed predominant, if not exclusive, expression of spgp in the liver, where it was further localized to the canalicular microvilli and to subcanalicular vesicles of the hepatocytes by in situ immunofluorescence and immunogold labeling studies. These results indicate that the sister of P-glycoprotein is the major canalicular bile salt export pump of mammalian liver.