Ischiogluteal bursitis in cancer patients: an infrequently recognized cause of pain

We report eight patients with metastatic malignancy who developed severe back and leg pain caused by ischiogluteal bursitis. Careful evaluation excluded the possibility of bony metastases. Ischiogluteal bursitis is an easily diagnosed condition that can be effectively treated with local injection of corticosteroids. Recognition of this disorder will allow prompt therapy and unnecessary evaluation expenses.     

Systeme für das Management digitaler Rechte

Media companies and producers of intellectual property are currently threatened with massive information product piracy. Digital Rights Management Systems (DRMS) offer technical copyright protection measures to protect content against digital piracy. The authors give an overview about the status quo of DRMS from a functional, technical and architectural perspective. Apart from purely technological issues, it is also essential to take the economic aspects of DRMS into consideration. The trade-off between content protection and total cost of ownership of a DRMS installation will require the determination of a suitable level of technical copyright protection for a given context.     

溴含量对TBBPAER/DDS固化体系的影响

采用傅立叶变换红外光谱法(FT—IR)结合差示扫描量热法(DSC)研究了不同的溴含量对四溴双酚A环氧树脂／二氨基二苯砜(TBBPAER／DDS)固化体系的固化反应速率常数k、转化率α及固化产物的玻璃化温度(Tg)的影响。理论上,随着取代基体积和极性的增加,k值、α值及Tg值均应增加,但实验结果显示却与此相反,由此得出结论：溴含量所引起的空间位阻作用对该固化体系的固化过程起着重要的作用。选择环氧树脂的含溴量可以控制反应速度、转化率并得到具有不同Tg值的固化产物。     

大面积光学多层膜玻璃

随着磁控溅射技术的不断进步,大面积光学多层膜玻璃也日渐发展,广泛地应用于建筑、汽车、平板显示等行业。对几种大面积光学多层膜玻璃的原理、应用以及制备技术分别作了简要介绍及评述。     

Association between plasma vitamin E concentration and the risk of equine motor neuron disease

Venous ulceration is a common problem in western countries and results in large costs to healthcare systems. A number of hypotheses of the mechanisms of development of venous ulceration have been advanced, but this question has not been fully resolved. In recent years research effort has focused on the microcirculation of the skin and many methods of investigation have been employed to study this. Some of the principal findings described in published work are reviewed in this article. It seems unlikely from the available evidence that venous ulceration is attributable solely to failure of diffusion of oxygen and other small nutritional molecules to the tissues of the skin. The microvascular changes in the skin are characterised by activated endothelium and perivascular inflammatory cells. It is much more likely that leucocytes attach themselves to the cutaneous microcirculation, become activated and produce endothelial injury. Repeated over many months or years, this chronic inflammatory process leads to be tissues changes of lipodermatosclerosis. Although there is evidence of leucocyte involvement in the pathogenesis of venous ulceration, the exact mechanisms remain to be resolved. Improved treatment for patients may be devised once a better understanding of the basic causes of this condition has been reached.     

An overview of professional liability in occupational therapy

Occupational therapists occasionally are sued for professional malpractice; thus, they need to be aware of the law of malpractice, those areas of practice that present the greatest legal challenges, and strategies to reduce client injury and liability risks. This article provides an overview of the law of professional malpractice, explains the impact of various employment relationships on liability risks, reviews specific malpractice actions against occupational therapists, and provides suggestions on how to reduce the risk of injuring a client in therapy. By increasing one's awareness of the legalities of professional malpractice and implementing certain strategies, therapists can improve quality of care and reduce their exposure to malpractice liability.     

Emergence of determined myotome precursor cells in the somite

Myotome and sclerotome precursor cells are derived, respectively, from cells in the dorsomedial and ventromedial regions of the somite. To assay changes in the specification of myotomal precursor cells during somite maturation, we implanted dorsomedial quadrant fragments, from staged quail somites, next to the notochords of host chick embryos, and superimposed two additional notochords on these implants. In this notochord signalling environment, dorsomedial quadrant cells that are developmentally plastic are expected to differentiate as cartilage, while cells determined to a myogenic fate are expected to differentiate as skeletal muscle. Large numbers of differentiated chondrocytes developed from dorsomedial quadrant grafts of all stages of paraxial mesoderm development tested, indicating that persistent chondrogenic potential in cells fated to form muscle and dermis can be elicited by notochord signals. Differentiated myocytes, however, appeared in two somite-stage-dependent phases. In the first phase, dorsomedial quadrants from segmental plate and early stage somites (II and IV) form small, disorganized clusters of individual myocytes. The frequency of first-phase myocluster formation increases as myogenic factor expression begins in the dorsomedial quadrant, indicating that myogenic determination assayed by this method is closely linked to the expression of myogenic factors in the dorsomedial quadrant. In the second phase, dorsomedial quadrants from somite stages XI-XIII consistently form morphologically organized muscle tissue containing large numbers of parallel-oriented, multinucleated myotubes. Mitotic labelling demonstrated that muscle precursors were determined to the muscle phenotype prior to withdrawal from the cell cycle. Thus, myogenic determination in cells of the dorsomedial quadrant is acquired at earlier stages of somite maturation than the ability to proliferate and form muscle tissue. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that successive lineages of myotome precursor cells with different mitotic and morphogenetic properties arise in the dorsomedial quadrant during somite maturation.     

The efficacy, safety and tolerability of antidepressants in late life depression: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: To determine the efficacy, safety and tolerability of antidepressants in depressed elderly patients. METHODS: Search for randomized controlled double-blind studies evaluating atypical antidepressants (ATYPs), reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase-A, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants in moderate/severe depressed patients > or = 60 years for > or = four weeks. The random effects model (single-arm; comparative) was used to aggregate efficacy, safety and dropout. RESULTS: No difference in single-arm aggregation of outcomes for four antidepressant classes. Comparative analyses showed no statistical difference between outcomes, except SSRIs had a higher response rate than ATYPs. CONCLUSION: Elderly show no differences in antidepressant class outcomes. LIMITATIONS: Heterogeneity and lack of power. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: There is little advantage for antidepressant classes over another in the aged.     

Starch utilization by Bacteroides ovatus isolated from the human large intestine

OBJECTIVE: It was hypothesized that there is an inverse relationship between resin-enamel bond strength and bonded cross-sectional area, and that there are regional differences in resin-enamel bond strength. METHODS: The facial and lingual surfaces of extracted human third molars were ground down 0.3 mm using 240 grit abrasive paper and were then bonded with either Clearfil Liner Bond 2 or Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus adhesive systems using the manufacturer's instructions. The bonded surfaces then received a resin composite build-up. After 24 h of storage in water, the bonded teeth were vertically serially sectioned into 1.0 mm thick slabs using a diamond saw, and the bonded surface area at the resin-enamel interface was varied from 0.5 to 3.0 mm2 using a diamond saw under microscopic observation. The trimmed region was varied from the occlusal third of the facial or lingual enamel to the middle third, to the cervical third. The trimmed specimens were then glued to a Bencor Multi-T device, placed in an Instron testing machine and stressed to failure at 1 mm/min. A three-factor ANOVA was used to compare bond strengths (buccal vs. lingual, occlusal vs. middle vs. cervical-third, vs. materials). Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between bond strength and bonded cross-sectional area for each material on occlusal enamel. RESULTS: For both bonding systems, there was a highly significant (p < 0.001) inverse exponential relationship between tensile bond strength (y axis) and bonded cross-sectional area (x axis) with y intercepts of 51 and 59 MPa for Clearfill Liner Bond 2 and Multi-Purpose Plus, respectively. Using both materials, the highest bond strengths were measured in the occlusal third, which were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those made to cervical enamel. SIGNIFICANCE: Like resin-dentin bonds, resin-enamel bonds exhibit an inverse relationship with cross-sectional area. This relationship becomes more apparent at bonded surface areas below 2 mm2 and is probably due to reductions in the number of interfacial stress-raisers as samples are made smaller.     

Identification, purification, and characterization of a soluble interleukin (IL)-13-binding protein. Evidence that it is distinct from the cloned Il-13 receptor and Il-4 receptor alpha-chains

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) are structurally and functionally related cytokines which play an important role in the regulation of the immune response to infection. The functional similarity of IL-4 and IL-13 can be explained, at least in part, by the common components that form their cell surface receptors, namely the IL-4 receptor alpha-chain (IL-4Ralpha) and the IL-13 receptor alpha-chain (IL-13Ralpha). Soluble forms of the IL-4Ralpha have also been described and implicated in modulating the effect of IL-4. In this paper we describe the presence of a 45,000-50,000 Mr IL-13-binding protein (IL-13BP) in the serum and urine of mice. This protein binds IL-13 with a 100-300-fold higher affinity (KD = 20-90 pM) than does the cloned IL-13Ralpha (KD = 3-10 nM). In addition to this functional difference, the IL-13BP appears to be structurally and antigenically distinct from the IL-13Ralpha. Finally, unlike the cloned receptor, the IL-13BP acts as a potent inhibitor of IL-13 binding to its cell surface receptor, raising the possibility that it may be used to modulate the effects of IL-13 in vivo.