Noncardiac thoracic surgery in children. A retrospective study

Assisted reproduction techniques (ART) are modern medical methods which should help infertile couples to resolve their problems. With the introduction of ART new ethical and technical problems arise. The authors wish to demonstrate on the submitted two case-histories the need of interdisciplinary collaboration of the specialist in internal medicine and gynaecologist when dealing with a serious complication of ART--ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).     

Genetic polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase mu and theta, N-acetyltransferase, and CYP1A1 and risk of gliomas

The simultaneous determination of betamethasone dipropionate (BD) and salicylic acid (SA) in both ointment and topical solution was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The method was standardized using a LiChrospher 100 RP-18 (125 x 4 mm, 5 microns) column, acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran-acetic acid 1% (25:20:55 v/v), apparent pH 3.3, as mobile phase, and UV detection at 254 nm. The peak area response versus concentration was linear in a concentration range from 5.0 to 50.0 micrograms/ml of BD and from 20.0 to 200.0 micrograms/ml of SA. The correlation coefficients were 0.9997 for BD and 0.9987 for SA, and the relative standard errors of estimates were 1.38% for BD and 3.27% for SA. The coefficient of variation and the recovery average were, respectively, 0.41-1.15% and 100.09% for BD, and 0.57-0.95% and 99.79% for SA.     

Comparative results of surgical treatment for perforating and bleeding pyloroduodenal ulcers

Results of treatment of 1309 patients with perforated and bleeding pyloroduodenal ulcers for 20-years period have been analysed. Resection of the stomach performed in 85 cases resulted in high postoperative lethality which made up in bleeding ulcers 14.8%. Drainage operations of the stomach with excision or suturing of ulcer combined with bilateral truncal vagotomy was performed in 60 patients, postoperative lethality rate being 8.4%. 128 patients underwent selective proximal vagotomy together with pyloro- and duodenoplasty, lethality rate being 1.6%. Combined vagotomy (posterior truncal and anterior sero-muscular) with excision of ulcer, transversal pyloroplasty and duodenoplasty was carried out in 1036 patients (postoperative lethality--2.4%). Excellent and good functional results were achieved in 79.6% of the patients.     

Chloroquine resistance--discovering the missing link?

Toxicosis due to microcystin-containing blue-green algae has been sporadically reported in a variety of animal species. Most reports of intoxication involve algal blooms during periods of warm temperatures and abundant sunshine in the spring or early summer. A case of blue-green algae toxicosis with lesions attributable to toxins from Microcystis aeruginosa is described in 4 cattle from southern Georgia during November. The case was unusual in that characteristic hepatic necrosis was accompanied by severe mesenteric edema and peritoneal effusion. In addition, weather conditions and location were not expected to be conducive to algal blooms. Rapid diagnosis and identification of the probable source of intoxication allowed the owner to move the herd away from the affected pond. This action limited losses to only the 4 cattle.     

Meeting the needs of young adults

As they mature and become sexually active, more young people face serious health risks. Most face these risks with too little factual information, too little guidance about sexual responsibility, and too little access to health care. Meeting young adults' diverse needs challenges parents, communities, health care providers, and educators. Despite urgent needs, program efforts have been slight and slowed by controversy.     

Role of fibroblast growth factor during early midbrain development in Xenopus

Genes encoding fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are expressed in early Xenopus neurulae in the prospective midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) region of the neural plate. These expression domains overlap those of XWnt-1 and XEn-2, raising the question of the role of FGF signalling in the regulation of these genes, and more generally about the function of FGF during Xenopus midbrain development. We report that explants from the prospective MHB grafted into the anterior neural plate in midneurula stage embryos induce XWnt-1 expression and, at a lower frequency, XEn-2 expression in the vicinity of the graft. Such a process is likely to involve FGF signalling. Implantation of FGF4- or FGF8-soaked beads in the prospective forebrain at neurula and tailbud stages causes the up-regulation of XWnt-1 and XEn-2 in the dorsal and lateral region of the anterior midbrain. This effect is not relayed by endogenous FGF genes since exogenous FGFs inhibit the expression of endogenous XFGF3 or XFGF8. However, consequences of grafting MHB or implanting FGF4 or FGF8 beads on tadpole brain development are different. MHB grafts induce ectopic mesencephalic structures, strongly suggesting that a region homologous to the isthmic organizer of amniotes is specified as early as the midneurula stage. In contrast, exogenous FGFs do not cause the formation of ectopic mesencephalic structures but an overgrowth of mesencephalon and diencephalon. We propose that FGF signals from the prospective MHB play a crucial role in the spatial regulation of XWnt-1 and XEn-2 expression in the posterior midbrain, but that the full organizing activity of the MHB involves other factors in combination with FGF.     

Xanthobacter tagetidis sp. nov., an organism associated with Tagetes species and able to grow on substituted thiophenes

Members of the marigold genus of flowering plants (the genus Tagetes), which synthesize and accumulate thiophene compounds in their roots, were investigated as potential sources of bacteria able to degrade substituted thiophenes. Batch and continuous enrichment cultures inoculated with compost from root balls of Tagetes patula and Tagetes erecta reproducibly produced the same predominant type of bacterium when they were supplied with thiophene-2-carboxylate (T2C) or thiophene-2-acetate (T2A) as a carbon and energy substrate. This organism was a yellow-pigmented, neutrophilic, mesophilic, gram-negative, pleomorphic, rodshaped bacterium, which we classify as a new species of the genus Xanthobacter, Xanthobacter tagetidis; strain TagT2C (= DSM 11105) is the type strain. Strain TagT2CT (T = type strain) grew on simple thiophenes, such as T2C, thiophene-3-carboxylate, and T2A, on analogs of these compounds (pyrrole-2-carboxylate and furan-2-carboxylate), and on the condensed thiophene dibenzothiophene. X. tagetidis was facultatively autotrophic, fixing carbon dioxide by means of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, and was able to grow on hydrogen, thiosulfate, or sulfide as an energy substrate. It also grew on a wide range of other heterotrophic, chemolithotrophic, and methylotrophic substrates. Its growth on T2C was optimal at 28 to 31 degrees C and pH 7.6 to 7.8, and the maximum growth rate in batch culture was 0.22 h-1. The DNA base composition of X.tagetidis is 68 mol% G + C. A 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis of strain TagT2CT showed that this organism represents a distinct lineage within the Aquabacter-Azorhizobium-Xanthobacter cluster of the alpha-2 subclass of the Pro-teobacteria. Discrimination of X. tagetidis from the other genera in this group and from other Xanthobacter species is discussed.