Laparoscopic diagnosis and excision of Meckel's diverticulum

Meckel's diverticulum is one of the primary concerns in the differential diagnosis of the pediatric patient with massive, acute gastrointestinal bleeding, intussusception, or abdominal pain of uncertain cause. The hospital course of two children with Meckel's diverticulum, successfully treated by laparoscopic excision, is presented, along with details of the operative procedure. Both patients recovered from the procedure without incident and were discharged at 24 and 48 hours after surgery. The authors believe a laparoscopic approach is safe and effective in the diagnosis and treatment of Meckel's diverticulum.     

Circulatory disturbances following transient soft tissue compression trauma

Circulatory changes following standardized compression trauma to the hind leg in dogs were evaluated using an electromagnetic flow meter and repeated angiography. A transient increase of flow to the injured limb and within the traumatized region was observed. Good agreement was found between the electromagnetic flow recordings and estimates of relative changes in flow by the angiographic method.     

Functioning oxyphil adenoma of parathyroid gland. An ultrastructural and biochemical study

Oxyphil cells and oxyphil cell adenomas of parathyroid glands are, in most instances, regarded to be nonfunctioning. Although 21 cases of hyperparathyroidism associated with parathyroid oxyphil cell adenoma have been reported, secretion of hormone by these tumors has not been conclusively demonstrated. A parathyroid adenoma, diagnosed by light microscopy as oxyphil type, together with the results from ultrastructural and biochemical studies of the patient's adenomatous tissue, are reported here. The patient, a 64-year-old male, was found to have elevated serum calcium, low serum phosphorus, and elevated serum immunoreactive parathormone: findings consistent with hyperparathyroidism. After excision of two small normal-appearing glands and one greatly enlarged (1.9 g) parathyroid gland, those laboratory values returned to normal. Light microscopy of the enlarged parathyroid indicated that it consisted almost entirely of an oxyphil adenoma. Electron microscopy revealed that the adenoma was composed mainly of mitochondria-rich oxyphil cells but also of interspersed transitional oxyphil cells and rare scattered chief cells. Golgi zones, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and prosecretory and secretory-like granules were observed in some oxyphil cells, in most transitional oxyphil cells, and in the infrequent chief cells. Thus, many of these cells appear to contribute to the production and secretion of parathormone. Biochemical studies performed directly on the adenomatous tissue demonstrated that it was able to synthesize proparathormone and parathormone, although the proportion of hormonal peptide synthesis relative to that of the total protein synthesis in this tissue was much smaller (0.9%) than that found in normal parathyroid tissue (5.7%). There was a small increase in immunoreactive parathormone when the adenoma tissue was incubated in a low-calcium medium. These findings indicate that this oxyphil adenoma of the parathyroid gland synthesized and secreted parathormone, apparently to some extent autonomously, but suggest that its capacity to do so was largely dependent on its component of cells other than fully developed oxyphil cells, such as transitional oxyphil cells.     

The development of ketogenesis at birth in the rat

In the suckling newborn rat, blood ketone bodies begin to increase slowly 4h after birth and then rise sharply between 12 and 16h, whereas the major increase in plasma non-esterified fatty acids and liver carnitine occurs during the first 2h of life, parallel with the onset of suckling. In the starved newborn rat, which shows no increase in liver carnitine unless it is fed with a carnitine solution, the developmental pattern of the ketogenic capacity (tested by feeding a triacylglycerol emulsion, which increases plasma non-esterified fatty acids by 3-fold) is the same as in the suckling animal. This suggests that the increases in plasma non-esterified fatty acids and liver carnitine seen 2h after birth in the suckling animal are not the predominant factors inducing the switch-on of ketogenesis. Injection of butyrate to starved newborn pups resulted in a pattern of blood ketone bodies which was similar to that found after administration of triacylglycerols, but, at all time points studied, the hyperketonaemia was more pronounced with butyrate. It is suggested that, even if the entry of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria is a rate-limiting step, it is not the only factor controlling ketogenesis after birth in the rat. As in the adult rat, there is a reciprocal correlation between the liver glycogen content and the concentration of ketone bodies in the blood.     

Site preferences for Nd in YAG films grown by LPE

We have made spin-resonance measurements of the concentration on different, though crystallographically equivalent, sites, of Nd³⁺ dilutely incorporated into thin films of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG). The films were grown on {001}, {110}, and {111} substrates of pure YAG by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). Sites which differ only in the orientation of their local axes relative to the growth direction are found to be unequally populated. The site preferences found for {110} films are close to, though larger than, those found previously for {110} facets of bulk crystals grown from the flux. This result supports the view that the growth-induced magnetic anisotropy of LPE films of mixed rare earth iron garnets arises from the same site preference mechanism as the anisotropy found under natural facets of bulk crystals. Very large site preferences, up to 4.5:1, are found in {001} films; but for {111} films they are only slight. Site preferences are not greatly affected by changes in growth temperature (850°C to 1044°C) or in overall concentration (0.1% to 5% atomic). The effective distribution coefficient varies with concentration and substrate orientation.     

Conceptual level and accuracy of person perception.

Conceptual systems theory asserts that abstract conceptual functioning must include a well-developed capacity to "act as if" and ability to assume the role of the other. This proposition was tested in two samples of adolescents with a person perception task that required subjects to give a target person's actual responses to Cattell's 16PF Test immediately after exposure to the target. Two videotaped targets were used. Conceptual level was found to influence accuracy as predicted in three of four analyses, and sex of subject as predicted in two of four, with the effects of intelligence controlled. Accuracy in the postdiction task, and four components of accuracy, were relatively stable across targets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Granulocytic sarcoma (chloroma) initially seen as acute mastoiditis

Granulocytic sarcoma (chloroma) is a localized tumefaction of immature granulocytes that is typically seen in association with myelogenous leukemia. The primitive cell population seen in biopsy material may be misinterpreted as histiocytic lymphoma or other sarcoma unless additional studies are performed. We saw a 36-year-old woman with promyelocytic leukemia in remission who had the signs and symptoms of an acute coalescent mastoiditis. Histologic examination of the surgical specimen, however, demonstrated a granulocytic sarcoma. Our case exemplifies some of the difficulties that may be encountered in the diagnosis of granulocytic sarcoma and illustrates the point that symptoms of an inflammatory process in a patient with a diagnosis of leukemia must be regarded with a degree of suspicion.     

Behavioral comparisons of children from abusive and distressed families.

Investigated the problem behaviors of 35 physically abused 6–16 yr olds in comparison with 36 nonabused children from a child welfare agency and 35 nonabused children in the community. Parental report of behavioral strengths and weaknesses was examined by administering the Child Behavior Profile. Results concur with those of previous reports that abused children display a significantly greater number of behavior problems and fewer social competencies than normals. The behavior patterns of abused Ss closely resembled the range of behavior problems shown by Ss from distressed families in which abuse was not present. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex-related differences in cadmium-induced alteration of drug action in the rat

A case of multiple adenocarcinoma arising from the kidney, bladder, and prostate is presented with a relevant discussion of the possible factors of pathogenesis. A staged approach of radical extirpative surgery is suggested.