Efficacy of microwave coagulation therapy (MCT) in patients with liver tumors

We evaluated the efficacy of microwave coagulation therapy (MCT) in 84 patients with hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and 40 with metastatic liver tumors (MLT). The response rates calculated with diagnostic imaging were 92% in HCC and 80% in MLT. The regional recurrence rates were relatively higher in patients with MLT (33%) than in HCC (14%). The average surgical margin in operative MCT group was 11 mm. The cumulative survival rates at three and five years were 63% and 38% in HCC and 43% and 33% in MLT, respectively. The complications were similarly encountered in HCC and MLT (12% versus 13%). When these observations are taken together, MCT is a radical and safe locoregional therapy which can keep an adequate surgical margin and assure long survival.     

Intestinal obstruction and peritoneal carcinomatosis after endoscopic resection of transitional carcinoma of urinary bladder

Gut involvement in bladder tumours is low, even exceptional in the presence of surface, low-grade neoplasia. The authors explain their experience in the diagnosis and management of a patient treated endoscopically for a vesical surface tumour which subsequently exhibited peritoneal and gut metastatic seeding. The various mechanisms for gut dissemination of vesical neoplasias and the repercussion of their endoscopic management are discussed.     

Cardiac microdialysis of salicylic acid .OH generation on nonenzymatic oxidation by norepinephrine in rat heart

The effect of pargyline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, on the generation of hydroxyl free radicals (.OH) was investigated using cardiac microdialysis. Salicylic acid in Ringer's solution (0.5 nmol x microL(-1) x min(-1)) was infused directly through a microdialysis probe to detect the generation of .OH as reflected by the formation of dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) in the myocardium of anesthetized rats. When pargyline (100 nmol x microL(-1) x min(-1)) was infused in rat heart, the level of norepinephrine (NE) gradually increased in a time-dependent manner and an increase of DHBA was also observed. When NE was administered to the pargyline pretreated animals, a marked elevation in the levels of 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA formation was obtained, as compared to the group treated with NE only, showing a positive linear correlation between NE and .OH formation trapped as 2,3-DHBA (R2 = 0.981) or 2,5-DHBA (R2 = 0.984) in the dialysate. NE clearly produced an increase in .OH formation. These results indicate that accumulation of NE in the extracellular fluid elicited by pargyline can be auto-oxidized, which in turn, leads (possibly by an indirect mechanism) to the formation of cytotoxic .OH free radicals.     

Why do lower educated people continue smoking? Explanations from the longitudinal GLOBE study.

This article describes the effect of educational level on the decision to continue smoking among 1,354 initially smoking participants (age≥20 years) in the Dutch GLOBE study. The effect of education continued smoking was explained from baseline information (1991) on smoking characteristics, individual characteristics, and environmental factors. Smoking status was reassessed after 6.5 years. Lower educated smokers more often continued smoking (odds ratio 2.09). Poor perceived health and earlier smoking initiation in lower educated groups were main predictors of educational differences in smoking maintenance. Educational differences in chronic illness, perceived control, neuroticism, and emotional support also contributed to the explanation of educational differences in continued smoking. These results have important implications for intervention programs and policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The N-terminal half of the influenza virus NS1 protein is sufficient for nuclear retention of mRNA and enhancement of viral mRNA translation

A collection of C-terminal deletion mutants of the influenza A virus NS1 gene has been used to define the regions of the NS1 protein involved in its functionality. Immunofluorescence analyses showed that the NS1 protein sequences downstream from position 81 are not required for nuclear transport. The capacity of these mutants to bind RNA was studied by in vitro binding tests using a model vRNA probe. These experiments showed that the N-terminal 81 amino acids of NS1 protein are sufficient for RNA binding activity. The collection of mutants also served to map the NS1 sequences required for nuclear retention of mRNA and for stimulation of viral mRNA translation, using the NP gene as reporter. The results obtained indicated that the N-terminal 113 amino acids of NS1 protein are sufficient for nuclear retention of mRNA and stimulation of viral mRNA translation. The possibility that this region of the protein may be sufficient for virus viability is discussed in relation to the sequences of NS1 genes of field isolates and to the phenotype of known viral mutants affected in the NS1 gene.     

Fatigue Life of Cast Titanium Alloys Under Simulated Denture Framework Displacements

The objective of the study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of removable partial dentures (RPD) made from cast titanium alloys can be improved by alloying with low-cost, low-melting elements such as Cu, Al, and Fe using commercially pure Ti (CP-Ti) and Ti-6Al-4V as controls. RPD specimens in the form of rest-shaped, clasp, rectangular-shaped specimens and round-bar tensile specimens were cast using an experimental Ti-5Al-5Cu alloy, Ti-5Al-1Fe, and Ti-1Fe in an Al₂O₃-based investment with a centrifugal-casting machine. The mechanical properties of the alloys were determined by performing tensile tests under a controlled displacement rate. The fatigue life of the RPD specimens was tested by the three-point bending in an MTS testing machine under a cyclic displacement of 0.5 mm. Fatigue tests were performed at 10 Hz at ambient temperature until the specimens failed into two pieces. The tensile data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA (α = 0.05) and the fatigue life data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (α = 0.05). The experimental Ti-5Al-5Cu alloy showed a significantly higher average fatigue life than that of either CP-Ti or Ti-5Al-1Fe alloy (p < 0.05). SEM fractography showed that the fatigue cracks initiated from surface grains, surface pores, or hard particles in surface grains instead of the internal casting pores. Among the alloys tested, the Ti-5Al-5Cu alloy exhibited favorable results in fabricating dental appliances with an excellent fatigue behavior compared with other commercial alloys.     

Thermophysical properties of (U,Y)O2

We prepared polycrystalline pellets of (U,Y)O₂, containing YO_1.5 up to 11 mol.%. We performed indentation tests on the pellets, and evaluated the Young’s modulus and hardness. We measured the heat capacity and the thermal diffusivity, and evaluated the thermal conductivity. We succeeded in evaluating the effect of Y content on the thermophysical properties of (U,Y)O₂. We revealed that the Young’s modulus, hardness, and thermal conductivity of (U,Y)O₂ decreased with increasing the Y content.     

Thermally Induced Microstructural Transformations of Fe72Si15B8V4Cu1 Alloy

Thermal stability, mechanism, and kinetics of thermally induced microstructural transformations and their effects on magnetic permeability of Fe₇₂Si₁₅B₈V₄Cu₁ alloy with combined amorphous/nanocrystalline structure were studied. DTA curves revealed two separated thermally activated exothermic events in the temperature ranges from 740 K to 820 K (467 °C to 547 °C) and 870 K to 930 K (597 °C to 657 °C). Crystalline phases present in the as-prepared and thermally treated alloy samples were identified, and their microstructural parameters were determined using XRD, while, to gain further insight into the mechanism of microstructural transformations, AFM and SEM–EDS analyses were performed. Deconvolution of the complex DTA peak into individual steps was conducted, and, in correlation with the results of microstructural analysis, kinetic triplets corresponding to individual transformation steps were determined, allowing for the estimation of the lifetimes of the alloy at different temperatures. Magnetic permeability measurements showed that, in spite of the influence of microstructural transformations on magnetic properties of the alloy, the favorable magnetic properties are retained over relatively a wide temperature range.

     

Tracking musical patterns using joint accent structure.

Joint Accent Structure (JAS) is a construct that uses temporal relationships between different accents in a melodic pattern as indices of its complexity. The present study examines the role of different JASs in real time, attending to simple musical events. 39 adults with or without musical training were told to selectively attend to and synchronize finger taps with accents in 2 experiments that examined attentional tracking to musical patterns having a concordant or discordant JAS. Results indicate that tapping was more variable with discordant than with concordant JAS patterns, both with respect to produced inter-accent time periods and with respect to the phase of taps relative to accent onsets. These findings are interpreted in terms of real time attending and its control by event time structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)