Symptomatic subclavian steal syndrome four decades after operation for dysphagia lusoria

Congenital abnormalities of the aortic arch may lead to signs and symptoms of tracheal and esophageal obstruction secondary to a restrictive vascular ring. There are many case reports and monographs concerning the surgical management of dysphagia lusoria. This case provides the first example of long-term follow-up of surgical intervention for relief of dysphagia lusoria. A 45-year-old laborer presented with a several year history of episodic bilateral blindness and a more recent onset of "drop attacks." Notably this patient had presented at the age of 18 months with difficulty breathing and eating since birth. The patient also had frequent upper respiratory infections and episodes of pneumonia. Workup revealed a right-sided aortic arch with a left ligamentum arteriosum. When he was first seen in our clinic, history and physical examination revealed claudication and diminished pulses in the left upper extremity. Arteriography and duplex studies confirmed reversal of flow in the patient's left vertebral artery. The arteriogram demonstrated the presence of a right-sided aortic arch and descending aorta along with the proximal stump of the previously ligated left subclavian artery. He underwent left carotid to left axillary artery bypass for the treatment of symptomatic subclavian steal syndrome. His symptoms have resolved with return of antegrade vertebral flow and the presence of normal pulses in the left arm. Congenital aortic abnormalities that lead to tracheal and esophageal compromise are numerous and varied. Surgical management requires a thorough understanding of the person's anatomy and preoperative planning. The life expectancy of patients with dysphagia lusoria necessitates consideration of the long-term consequences of surgical intervention.     

Multivariate Optimization for the Development of a Fast and Simple Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Procedure for Multielemental Determination in Tea Leaves by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP OES)

The current study describes a fast and efficient procedure of ultrasound-assisted extraction for determination of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Al in tea leaves by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). The variables of procedure were optimized using the Box–Behnken design and the conditions selected were nitric acid concentration (1.0 mol L^?1), sonication time (7 min), and sonication temperature (75 °C). The extraction efficiency was calculated using the analyte concentration obtained by a total digestion procedure as reference. Accuracy was confirmed by analysis of certified reference material of apple leaves (NIST 1515) and spinach leaves (NIST 1570a) using the procedure proposed. A statistical evaluation using Student’s t test showed that there is no significant difference between the value obtained with the proposed procedure and the certified value, at 95% confidence level. The proposed procedure was successfully applied and is a good alternative to conventional acid digestion procedure and can be applied to routine analysis for determination of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Al in tea leaves used for the preparation of infusions.     

Magnetic sensor-based simultaneous state and parameter estimation using a nonlinear observer

This paper presents an observer design technique for a newly developed non-intrusive position estimation system based on magnetic sensors. Typically, the magnetic field of an object as a function of position needs to be represented by a highly nonlinear measurement equation. Previous results on observer design for nonlinear systems have mostly assumed that the measurement equation is linear, even if the process dynamics are nonlinear. Hence, a new nonlinear observer design method for a Wiener system composed of a linear process model together with a nonlinear measurement equation is developed in this paper. First, the design of a two degree-of-freedom nonlinear observer is proposed that relies on a Lure system representation of the observer error dynamics. To improve the performance in the presence of parametric uncertainty in the measurement model, the nonlinear observer is augmented to estimate both the state and unknown parameters simultaneously. A rigorous nonlinear observability analysis is also presented to show that a dual sensor configuration is a sufficient and necessary condition for simultaneous state and parameter estimation. Finally, the developed observer design technique is applied to non-intrusive position estimation of the piston inside a pneumatic cylinder. Experimental results show that both position and unknown parameters can be reliably estimated in this application.     

Methyl octadecadienoates as protectors against inactivation of alkaline phosphatase by γ-radiation

Methylcis, cis-, cis, trans- andtrans,trans-9,12-octadecadienoates protect alkaline phosphatase from inactivation by γ-rays. The three isomers are equally efficient.     

Bioaccumulation of cyanuric acid in edible tissues of shrimp following experimental feeding

Due to concerns that cyanuric acid (CYA)-contaminated feed had been used in aquaculture and could enter the human food chain, a method to quantify CYA residues in the edible tissues of fish and shrimp was previously developed and validated. This paper provides further data on the deliberate feeding of CYA to shrimp to determine the extent of residue accumulation in edible tissue. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was employed for the analysis of CYA in shrimp tissue. Edible tissue of shrimp fed 1666 or 3333 mg kg?1 CYA in their diet (approximately 55 and 124 mg kg?1 body weight) contained 0.767 and 0.406 mg kg?1 CYA, respectively. The residue levels are below the World Health Organization (WHO) tolerable daily intake level for CYA and are generally considered unlikely to pose a human health risk.     

Applying for the predoctoral internship: Training program strategies to help students prepare.

The predoctoral internship signifies the culmination of applied training in professional psychology. With the increasing supply and demand gap, securing an internship has become competitive and has resulted in many students employing a wide variety of steps in an attempt to ensure a successful internship application. However, little is known about how academic training programs assist students in applying for an internship. The purpose of this study was to describe what activities training programs engage in to prepare their students for the internship application process, and to better understand students' perception of their preparedness to apply as well as to understand their experience applying. The results suggested that training programs prepared students well for general aspects of the process but did not adequately prepare them for the more specific tasks related to the application process. Results also suggested that while the students didn't find the application process confusing or difficult they found it stressful and anxiety provoking. Suggestions for programs to inform and assist their students in preparing for applying are presented as well as recommendations for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substrate specificity in plasmalogen biosynthesis. Desaturation of 1-O-hexadecyloxyethyl-2-acylglycero-3-phosphoethanolamine in developing rat brain

1-O-[1'-14C]Hexadecyloxyethyl rac-glycerol was administered to 18-day-old rats by intracerebral injection, and incorporation of radioactivity into the brain lipids was determined after 6, 24 and 48 h. Some of the substrate was catabolized by oxidative cleavage of either of the two ether bonds. Cleavage in the hexadecyloxyethyl moiety yielded labeled palmitic acid, whereas oxidative cleaveage of the glycol glycerol ether bond produced O-hexadecyl glycolic acid. The substrate was also incorporated as such into both ethanolamine and choline phospholipids. Evidence is presented for the desaturation by rat brain of 1-O-hexadecyloxyethyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine to the plasmalogen analogue, while the corresponding choline phospholipid was not desaturated.     

Autoantibody studies in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Early studies showed few immunologic abnormalities in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) patients. There were no specific laboratory markers useful for diagnosis and assessment of the course of disease in JRA. Previous work showed an association of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) with early-onset pauciarticular disease and iridocyclitis. Similarly, the presence of 19S immunoglobulin (Ig) M rheumatoid factors (RF) was associated with late-onset polyarticular disease in girls. More recent studies have detected many unique autoantibodies. Newer assays show 19S IgM RF in up to 35% of JRA patients, although still mainly in girls with late-onset polyarticular disease. Hidden 19S IgM RF can be shown in up to 75% of JRA patients using different procedures, primarily in those with active polyarticular-or pauciarticular-onset disease. Immune complexes have been detected in JRA patients by means of different techniques; their presence usually correlates with active disease. Studies on a specific ANA in JRA have shown no common extractable nuclear antigen, but antihistone antibodies have been found in up to 75% of cases, again mainly in those with pauciarticular onset and iritis. Finally, a variety of unusual immunologic proteins have also been detected, including anti-ocular, anti-cellular, anti-cardiolipin, anti-perinuclear factor, and anti-collagen antibodies. This review evaluates the significance of these antibodies that can now be found in JRA.     

Review of procedures involving separation and preconcentration for the determination of cadmium using spectrometric techniques

Spectrometric techniques for the analysis of trace cadmium have developed rapidly due to the increasing need for accurate measurements at extremely low levels of this element in diverse matrices. This review covers separation and preconcentration procedures, such as electrochemical deposition, precipitation, coprecipitation, solid phase extraction, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and cloud point extraction (CPE), and consider the features of the their application with several spectrometric techniques.