Presence of atrial natriuretic peptide in rat thyroid medullary carcinoma cell line

In 1923, Masson described a neoplastic process consisting of papillary hyperplasia of the endothelial cells, with a consequent obliteration of the vascular lumen, followed later by degenerative changes. Masson coined the term vegetant intravascular haemangioendothelioma, however, these days it is more commonly known as papillary endothelial hyperplasia (PEH), or by the pseudonym, Masson's tumour. Although relatively rare, there are numerous accounts of PEH in the literature, describing its predilection for the head and neck region. Our case report describes the finding of a PEH within the paranasal sinuses, a site not previously mentioned even in the largest of series found on literature search. We will then discuss the relevant histological features of the lesion, and its natural history.     

Osteochondral lesions of the proximal phalanx of the great toe: a report of two cases

OBJECTIVE: To establish whether diltiazem reduces subcutaneous calcinosis (SCC) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and whether this calcinosis is related to other signs or symptoms. METHODS: 47 patients with SSc were evaluated and divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of SCC. RESULTS: Among the 12 patients with SCC who were treated with diltiazem and had sequential hand radiographs (differential time between the two radiographs: 7.8+/-4 years), there was a slight radiological improvement in three patients only. More patients with SCC had anticentromere antibodies than patients without (p = 0.003), fewer had anti-Scl 70 antibodies (p = 0.01), more had telangiectasia and giant capillaries ( p + 0.04 and 0.048 respectively), and SCC patients had significantly fewer capillaries at the nailfold (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: These results do not clearly indicate that diltiazem is effective in calcinosis associated with SSc. Among the patients with SSc, those who also had SCC exhibited a distinctive autoimmune profile and more severe cutaneous capillary injury than those without SCC.     

Differences of resected hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatitis B or C virus

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinicopathologic differences of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with the hepatitis B versus the hepatitis C virus. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and sixty-eight patients with resected hepatocellular carcinoma were tested for viral hepatitis. Ten (6%) had both the hepatitis B surface antigen and antibodies to the hepatitis C virus. Thirty-three (20%) had neither marker. Sixteen (9%) had only the hepatitis B surface antigen (group B), and 109 (65%) had only antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (group C). We compared groups B and C clinicopathologically. RESULTS: The mean tumor diameter was larger in group B than in group C (6.3 cm vs 3.4 cm), while group B patients were younger than group C (48 yrs vs 62 yrs, p<0.0001). Poor liver function, histologic cirrhosis and chronic active hepatitis were frequently found in group C. The 1- and 2-year tumor-free survival rates following surgery in group B were 67% and 33%, and those in group C were 73% and 49%. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates following surgery in group B were 78%, 68%, and 0%, while those in group C were 92%, 83%, and 76% (p=0.0189). CONCLUSIONS: Hepatocellular carcinoma with concomitant hepatitis B viral infection was found to present as larger tumors in younger patients with less severe liver dysfunction. Hepatocellular carcinoma with concomitant hepatitis C viral infection was often detected in follow-up studies when it was small.     

Using artificial intelligence in communication system design

The authors describe a knowledge-based design support system, called KDSS, that will help designers inexperienced in communication system design easily create advanced systems like intelligent networks, and large-scale distributed computing systems. They began by designing a support system for protocol and communication software. They then experimented with applying expert-system technology in design support systems and developed an expert system for protocol synthesis called KSPS. An expert system for protocol and communication software design that is based on the earlier work is also part of KDSS     

Compound heterozygous deletion of the PROP-1 gene in children with combined pituitary hormone deficiency

Mutations in the prophet of Pit-1 gene (PROP1) have been shown to be responsible for combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD) with deficiencies of growth hormone (GH), Prolactin (Prl), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and gonadotropins. We previously reported that homozygosity for a 2bp deletion in exon 2 (296delGA) accounted for CPHD in three patients from two Russian families. Here we report a second mutational hot spot in exon 2. This 2bp 149delGA deletion results in a frame shift that leads to the same serine to stop codon change at codon 109 (S109X). The predicted proteins are each truncated at residue 108 but diverge from the wild type sequence at different points in the homeodomain. Compound heterozygosity for the two mutations (149delGA/296delGA) was detected in 5 of 14 CPHD children from 4 families (36%). This provides the first evidence of heterozygosity for two common deletions as a cause of CPHD in Russian children.     

The tensile properties of an Fe-4 pct Mo-0.2 pct C martensite tempered under applied stress

In Fe-4 pct Mo-0.2 pct C martensite which is a typical secondary hardening steel, premature failure o°Curred in tensile test at 600 °C to 700°C where solute atoms could diffuse easily. To clarify this phenomenon, the quenched specimens were tempered under applied stress and tensile-tested at room temperature. The following results were obtained: (1) Typical intergranular fracture was observed in specimens tempered in a temperature range of 600 °C to 650 °C with tempering times of five minutes to 10 minutes and applied stress (70 MPa to 140 MPa). (2) Based on Auger analysis, this phenomenon was considered to be caused by segregation of P, S, and Mo on prior austenite grain boundaries due to applied stress. (3) The direction of applied stress was found to be very significant. Namely, when the tensile direction was parallel to the applied stress during tempering, the specimen was more brittle, and when tensile direction was normal to the applied stress, the specimen was not so brittle. (4) To reduce this embrittlement, solution treatment temperature was adjusted, and it was found that the embrittlement was considerably reduced both in specimens with fine prior austenite grains and with some ferrite phase on prior austenite grain boundaries. TAKATOSHI OGAWA, formerly with Kyoto University. YOSHIFUMI OHMURA, formerly with Kyoto University. This paper is based on a presentation made at the “pcter G. Winchell Symposium on Tempering of Steel” held at the Louisville Meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, October 12-13, 1981, under the sponsorship of the TMS-AIME Ferrous Metallurgy and Heat Treatment Committees.