Neuroanatomical Mapping of Gerbil Corticostriatal and Thalamostriatal Projections Reveals the Parafascicular Nucleus as a Relay for Vestibular Information to the Entire Striatum.

The striatum is the primary input nucleus of the basal ganglia, integrating a dense plexus of inputs from the cerebral cortex and thalamus to regulate action selection and learning. Neuroanatomical mapping of the striatum and its subcompartments has been carried out extensively in rats and mice, nonhuman primates, and cats allowing comparative neuroanatomy studies to derive heuristics about striatal composition and function. Here, we systematically map corticostriatal topography from motor, somatosensory, auditory, and visual cortices as well as thalamostriatal parafascicular (PfN) inputs in the Mongolian gerbil.

Model of superior semicircular canal dehiscence: asymmetrical vestibular dysfunction induces reversible balance impairment.

Background: Superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) is a vestibular-cochlear disorder in humans in which a pathological third mobile window of the otic capsule creates changes to the flow of sound pressure energy through the perilymph/endolymph. The primary symptoms include sound-induced dizziness/vertigo, inner ear conductive hearing loss, autophony, headaches, and visual problems. We have developed an animal model of this human condition in the Mongolian Gerbil that uses surgically created SSCD to induce the condition.

Postmenopausal hyperandrogenism: the under-recognized value of inhibins.

We report a 70-year-old female presenting with increased libido and mild but rapid onset virilism. Investigations showed markedly elevated androstenedione and 17 hydroxyprogesterone misdirecting to possible late-onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia. High serum testosterone and oestrogens with suppressed gonadotrophins, however, indicated an androgen-secreting tumour.

Laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy: experience of a Gynaecological Cancer Centre in the UK.

Introduction: The role of laparoscopic lymphadenectomy in the management of gynaecological cancers has been established over the last two decades, having been first described in Dargent and Selvat (L'envahissement ganglionnaire pelvin. Medsi-Mcgraw Hill, Paris, 1989). It has been shown that laparoscopic lymphadenectomy can be performed in the majority of patients and is associated with a low complication rate.

Malignant transformation of residual endometriosis after hysterectomy: a case series.

Objective: To explore the role of long-standing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the malignant transformation of endometriosis.

Design: Short case series. Three cases of women with pelvic clearance receiving long-standing HRT studied in detail.

Lipopolysaccharide induces nitric oxide synthase expression and platelet-activating factor increases nitric oxide production in human fetal membranes in culture.

Background: Platelet-activating factor and nitric oxide may be involved in the initiation of human labour as inflammatory mediators. The aim of this study was to test whether platelet-activating factor and lipopolysaccharide were able to induce nitric oxide synthase expression and stimulate the production of nitric oxide in human fetal membrane explants in culture.

Methods: Fetal membranes were collected from Caesarean sections at term.