Changes in neuromuscular activity during motor training with a body-machine interface after spinal cord injury.

Body machine interfaces (BMIs) are used by people with severe motor disabilities to control external devices, but they also offer the opportunity to focus on rehabilitative goals. In this study we introduced in a clinical setting a BMI that was integrated by the therapists in the rehabilitative treatments of 2 spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects for 5 weeks. The BMI mapped the user's residual upper body mobility onto the two coordinates of a cursor on a screen.

Low-dose paclitaxel elution by novel bioerodible sol-gel coating on stents inhibits neointima with low toxicity in porcine coronary arteries.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate a novel bioerodible sol-gel film coated paclitaxel-eluting stent (sol-gel-PES, 3 microg per stent) in a porcine coronary artery model.

Background: Although current polymer-based PES decrease restenosis, the permanent polymer and bound drug have raised concerns regarding delayed vessel healing and late stent thrombosis.

Methods: Polymer-based PES (poly-PES, n = 8), sol-gel-PES (n = 15), bare metal (BMS, n = 14), and sol-gel film only (sham, n = 12), stents were implanted in 17 juvenile pigs.

[Intestinal intussusception: easy diagnosis in the 21st Century? Outcome of five years experiences].

Unlabelled: Intussusception is an entity well codify in pediatric surgery, with guidelines well defined since years in terms of imaging and procedures.

Material: From January '99 to Dec. '03, 25 children were admitted to the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Children's Hospital of Milan.

[Cystic tumours of the pancreas].

The authors illustrate 2 cases of cystic pancreatic neoplasms recently observed at the 2nd Surgical Clinic of IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia. Having emphasised the rarity of this pathology, they describe the specific nature of the clinical condition and symptoms which may remain unchanged for a long period. They then highlight the most significant radiological aspects, paying special attention to differential diagnosis.

Absence of PTEN repeat tract mutation in endometrial cancers with microsatellite instability.

Objective: PTEN, a tumor suppressor gene shown to be frequently mutated in endometrial cancers, has been suggested to be a target of microsatellite instability (MSI)-driven mutagenesis. We set out to investigate the relationship between MSI and PTEN mutation in a large series of primary endometrial carcinomas.

Methods: Thirty-nine MSI-positive endometrial cancers were evaluated by single-strand conformational variant analysis and direct sequencing to screen all nine PTEN exons for mutation.