Appendicectomy: an assessment of the advisability of stump invagination

Seven hundred and thirty-two cases of appendicectomy performed over a period of 5 years are reviewed to compare the incidence of complications and the length of the postoperative stay in hospital, depending on whether the appendix stump was simply ligated or was invaginated by purse string suture following ligation. No detrimental effects are noted following simple ligation, whereas patients who had stump invagination remained in hospital on average more than a day longer, mainly owing to a higher incidence of wound infection (16 per cent as against 6 per cent).     

Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver: a rational approach to treatment

Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver in a 3 year old child has been successfully treated by ligation of the hepatic artery branches supplying the lesion. The prominence of the abnormal vasculature in the lesion and its possible aetiological involvement is stressed. Because of the risks of partial hepatectomy, hepatic artery ligation is suggested as the treatment of choice for focal nodular hyperplasia.     

On the identification of repeatedly presented brief visual stimuli.

Discusses 2 hypotheses concerning the explanation of increasing perceptual performance with temporal repetition of tachistoscopically-presented visual stimuli. R. N. Haber's conception in terms of increasing phenomenal clarity is criticized, primarily for the confounding influence of the "stimulus error." An alternative explanation in terms of the perceptual independence of successive inputs is presented. The assumption of independence is built into a model that combines aspects of C. W. Eriksen's "clearest form" approach with Bayesian decision theory. 4 items of support for independence are presented. Eriksen found (a) no effect of interstimulus interval on accuracy; and (b) no difference in accuracy whether a form was preceded by the same or a different form, or by a flash. Previous studies by the present authors found (a) lack of influence of the locus on an inconsistent stimulus in a sequence, and (b) quite accurate Bayesian predictions of multiple observation performance in 3 experiments using equal prior probabilities of the stimulus states. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperature-sensitive mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe exhibiting enhanced radiation sensitivity

A conditional lethal and radiation-sensitive mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe is described in which both characteristics result from a single gene mutation. Confirmation of the pleiotropic nature of this mutant was obtained by tetrad analysis and by testing the radiation sensitivity of a large number of revertants that grew normally at the restrictive temperature. The colony-forming ability of the mutant after ultraviolet radiation, gamma radiation, and ethyl methane sulfonate treatment is considerably altered by the post-treatment incubation temperature, showing higher survival at 25 than at 30degreesC. The radiosensitivity of the mutant is also influenced by the stage of growth. The difference in radiation sensitivity between the wild type and mutant is greater when log-phase cultures are compared. The characteristics of this mutant suggest that it is defective in a step common to both deoxyribonucleic acid replication and repair.