Multiple revision for failed Charnley low-friction arthroplasty

Between June 1958 and December 1991, 315 patients (217 male and 98 female, mean age = 17.8 +/- 5.5 years) affected by pectus excavatum (PE) were surgically treated. Most of the patients required operation for aesthetic reasons only (299 patients; 95 percent). The grade of PE (Chin classification) was I in 72 patients, II in 152, and III in the remaining 91. The surgical technique consisted of a double transversal sternotomy at the level of the lowest and highest part of the depression associated with a longitudinal sternotomy. A wedge resection of the ribs was then performed and the sternum was fixed using a stainless steel strut molded into a seagull wing prosthesis. The strut was removed 12 months postoperatively. There were no operative mortalities. Four patients had sternal wound infection that was successfully treated. The mean follow-up was 15.8 years per patient and was 60 percent complete. From the aesthetic point of view, the postoperative results were excellent in 246 patients (78 percent), good in 57 (18 percent), and poor in 12 (4 percent). All subjective symptoms, when present, disappeared after surgery. The seagull wing prosthesis appears to be safe, easy to implant and to remove, and comfortable for the patient. This technique has shown good long-term results independently of type of deformity and patient age.     

Therapeutic effect of the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, batimastat, in a human colorectal cancer ascites model

The matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor batimastat was administered to a human colorectal cancer ascites model, which was initiated by injection of C170HM2 cells into the peritoneal cavity of SCID mice and resulted in solid tumour deposits and ascites formation. The cell line expressed both the 72 and 92 kDa forms of gelatinase by zymography. Batimastat administered from day 0 (40 mg kg-1) reduced the volume of ascites to 21% of control in mice treated from day 0 (P < 0.002) but not day 10. Formation of solid peritoneal deposits was significantly reduced to 77% of vehicle control when batimastat was administered from day 0 (P < 0.01) and 69% of control when administered from day 10 (P < 0.05). Thus, batimastat has the ability to reduce the volume of ascites forming in SCID mice injected intraperitoneally with the human colorectal cell line, C170HM2, when administered from day 0 but not from day 10. Solid peritoneal tumour deposits were significantly reduced in both treatment groups, highlighting the therapeutic potential of batimastat in this clinical condition.     

Reliability and validity of Women's Health Initiative Insomnia Rating Scale.

The reliability and construct validity of the 5-item Women's Health Initiative Insomnia Rating Scale (WHIIRS) were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, using a sample of 66,269 postmenopausal women, validity of the WHIIRS was assessed by examining its relationship to other measures known to be related to sleep quality. Reliability of the WHIIRS was estimated using a resampling approach; the mean alpha coefficient was .78. Test-retest reliability coefficients were .96 for same-day administration and .66 after a year or more. Correlations of the WHIIRS with the other measures were in the predicted directions. Study 2 used a sample of 459 women and compared the WHIIRS with objective indicators of sleep quality. Results showed that differences in the objective indicators could be detected by the WHIIRS. Findings suggest that a between-group mean difference of approximately 0.50 of a standard deviation on the WHIIRS may be clinically meaningful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of additives on the water uptake of hydrosilanized silicone rubbers

Water uptake characteristics of a silicone polymer containing additives of varying solubility have been investigated. A hydrophobic silica, a sparingly soluble agent and a soluble catalyst were added to a stoichiometrically balanced hydrosilanized silicone polymer (the inherent absorption of which was 0.09 wt%). The diffusion coefficients for desorption of all materials were of the order 10(-6) cm2s-1, whereas the diffusion coefficients for absorption showed a decrease with increasing hydrophilicity and solubility of the additive. The greater the solubility of the additive, the more prolonged the uptake and the greater the deviation from classic diffusion theory.     

Isolation, cloning, and characterisation of a trp homologue from squid (Loligo forbesi) photoreceptor membranes

The invertebrate phototransduction system is a valuable model of the ubiquitous inositol lipid signalling system. Taking advantage of the ability to obtain relatively large amounts of retinal material from the cephalopod eye, partial protein sequence data were obtained for a 92-kDa component isolated from a detergent-insensitive cytoskeletal fraction of a squid retinal microvillar membrane preparation. Degenerate oligonucleotides, designed on the basis of these sequence data, were used to isolate a full-length cDNA, encoding the 92-kDa component, using both cDNA library screening and 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5'-RACE) techniques. Comparison of the amino acid sequence encoded by this cDNA with entries in the OWL composite protein sequence database reveals greatest sequence similarity with the products of the Drosophila trp and trpl genes. Greatest variation from the Drosophila Trp protein is seen in the carboxyl-terminal region, which is considerably truncated in the squid protein and which accounts for most of the substantial difference in molecular weight seen between these proteins. This variation may be significant as the carboxyl-terminal domain has been shown to be in the regulation of several ligand-gated channels. The carboxyl-terminal domain has been expressed and shown to interact with calmodulin in a calcium-dependent fashion, thereby supporting this hypothesis. The likely occurrence of other homologues in a variety of systems suggests that this is a novel and important family of regulated ion channels involved in calcium signalling.     

What information do consumers want and need?

This paper reviews information from surveys and focus group studies about how consumers define high-quality care and the types of information they want when making decisions about which health plan to join. The authors also interviewed consumer advocacy groups and persons responsible for disseminating health plan information to Medicare enrollees in various types of managed care plans to learn about the types of plan information that Medicare enrollees most often request. They describe the types of information that should be made available to consumers and the challenges involved in making this information understandable and useful.     

N-acylated alpha-amino acids as novel oral delivery agents for proteins

A series of N-acylated alpha-amino acids were synthesized and shown to improve the oral delivery of two protein drugs, salmon calcitonin (sCT) and interferon-alpha. Forty-five compounds in this series were tested in vivo in rats and primates. A significant positive correlation was found between the log P of the acylated amino acids and the decrease in serum calcium following oral dosage of sCT in rats. Such a correlation was not found for interferon-alpha. These derivatized amino acids only weakly inhibited the activity of trypsin or leucine aminopeptidase. Histological examinations of rat intestinal tissue after oral dosing of acylated amino acid/protein combinations revealed no detectable pathology.