Plating of rat femoral shaft osteotomies: report of a technique and preliminary results.

Development of a small animal model to study fracture healing has been challenging in the past. Stabilization of osteotomy in small animals has mainly been accomplished using Krishner wires. Krisheners offer stabilization, but can result in a significant increase in fracture callus.

Diabetic neuroarthropathy (Charcot joints): the importance of recognizing chronic sensory deficits in the treatment of acute foot and ankle fractures in diabetic patients.

Patients with diabetic neuropathy are at a higher risk of developing complications, especially Charcot arthropathy. Early diagnosis and intervention is the key to optimizing outcome. Therefore, diabetic patients with a lower extremity injury should be screened with sensory testing using a 5.

The structure and evolution of the major capsid protein of a large, lipid-containing DNA virus.

Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus type 1 (PBCV-1) is a very large, icosahedral virus containing an internal membrane enclosed within a glycoprotein coat consisting of pseudohexagonal arrays of trimeric capsomers. Each capsomer is composed of three molecules of the major capsid protein, Vp54, the 2.0-A resolution structure of which is reported here.

Bethlem myopathy in a black creole pedigree.

Objectives: To analyze the clinical and molecular features of a distinctive muscular dystrophy in a family of black Creole descent.

Methods: We clinically characterized a four-generation pedigree and performed linkage analysis for all relevant autosomal-dominant muscular dystrophies.

Results: Affected family members had minor neurologic dissimilarities from previously reported Bethlem myopathy pedigrees and a high incidence of keloid formation.

Phycodnaviridae--large DNA algal viruses.

Members and prospective members of the family Phycodnaviridae are large icosahedral, dsDNA (180 to 560 kb) viruses that infect eukaryotic algae. The genomes of two phycodnaviruses have been sequenced: the 331 kb genome of Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus (PBCV-1) and more recently, the 336 kb genome of the Ectocarpus siliculosus virus (EsV-1). EsV-1 has approximately 231 protein-encoding genes whereas, the slightly smaller PBCV-1 genome has 11 tRNA genes and approximately 375 protein-encoding genes.

Interactive body magnetic resonance fluoroscopy using modified single-shot half-Fourier rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) with multiparameter control.

Purpose: To develop a technique for interactive fluoroscopic abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on a single-shot half-Fourier rapid acquisition and relaxation-enhanced sequence.

Materials And Methods: The sequence was modified by incorporating inner-volume excitation, driven-equilibrium signal enhancement, and reduced flip angle refocusing pulses. Contrast control was provided by integrating "on-the-fly" selection of phase encoding view order, fat suppression, and section thickness.

Cyclooxygenase-2-positive macrophages infiltrate the Alzheimer's disease brain and damage the blood-brain barrier.

Background: Monocyte/macrophages are known to infiltrate the brain of patients with HIV-1 encephalitis (HIVE). In Alzheimer's disease brain, the origin of activated microglia has not been determined.

Materials And Methods: We employed the antigen retrieval technique, immunocytochemistry, immunofluorescense, and confocal microscopy to identify macrophages and microglia in relation to amyloid-beta plaques and the blood-brain barrier in autopsy brain tissues from patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and HIVE.

Calibration and quality assurance for rounded leaf-end MLC systems.

Multileaf collimator (MLC) systems are available on most commercial linear accelerators, and many of these MLC systems utilize a design with rounded leaf ends and linear motion of the leaves. In this kind of system, the agreement between the digital MLC position readouts and the light field or radiation field edges must be achieved with software, since the leaves do not move in a focused motion like that used for most collimator jaw systems. In this work we address a number of the calibration and quality assurance issues associated with the acceptance, commissioning, and routine clinical use of this type of MLC system.

Rat-bite fever (Streptobacillus moniliformis): a potential emerging disease.

Objectives: To determine the relative prevalence of human infections attributable to Streptobacillus moniliformis in California over the past 3 decades.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all the data collected was conducted on S. moniliformis cultures identified by the Microbial Diseases Laboratory (MDL) from January 1970 to December 1998.

Loss-of-function EA2 mutations are associated with impaired neuromuscular transmission.

Objective: To examine the functional consequences of episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2)-causing nonsense and missense mutations in vitro and to characterize the basis of fluctuating weakness in patients with E2A.

Background: Mutations in CACNA1A encoding the Ca(v)2.1 calcium channel subunit cause EA2 through incompletely understood mechanisms.

Essential role of HIV type 1-infected and cyclooxygenase 2-activated macrophages and T cells in HIV type 1 myocarditis.

HIV-1 cardiomyopathy has become a major cause of death in AIDS patients, but its pathogenesis is unclear. We used an antigen retrieval technique and immunostaining to investigate the hearts of 15 AIDS patients, of whom 3 had dilated cardiomyopathy. Immunocytochemistry shows infiltration of the left ventricular myocardium with mononuclear cells, ranging from minimal to diagnostic of myocarditis.

HIV-1 penetrates coronary artery endothelial cells by transcytosis.

Background: The pathogenesis of HIV-1-related cardiomyopathy is poorly understood, but HIV-1 has been detected in cardiomyocytes. Whether HIV-1 penetrates into the myocardium by infection of coronary artery endothelial cells (CAEC) or using transcellular or paracellular routes across CAEC has not been resolved.

Materials And Methods: A model of the CAEC barrier was constructed with primary CAEC (derived from human coronary vessels).

Molecular and genetic evidence for a virus-encoded glycosyltransferase involved in protein glycosylation.

The major capsid protein, Vp54, of chlorella virus PBCV-1 is a glycoprotein that contains either one glycan of approximately 30 sugar residues or two similar glycans of approximately 15 residues. Previous analysis of PBCV-1 antigenic mutants that contained altered Vp54 glycans led to the conclusion that unlike other glycoprotein-containing viruses, most, if not all, of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of the Vp54 glycan are probably encoded by PBCV-1 (I.-N.

An association between Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Purpose: To describe an association between Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Methods: Case series, describing three patients.

Results: In two patients, the disorders had their onsets within 2 weeks of each other; in the third patient, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease occurred after 3 months, as Guillain-Barré syndrome resolved.

Colon carcinoma: MR imaging with CO2 enema--pilot study.

Prior to surgery, seven patients with known colonic tumors underwent breath-hold single-shot fast spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging during a CO2 enema. The images were evaluated for depiction of tumor, adjacent structures, and the remaining colon, and findings were compared with findings at surgery. In all seven patients, the tumor was demonstrated, and in four (57%), breach of the muscularis propria was correctly predicted.

Rational design of a potent, long-lasting form of interferon: a 40 kDa branched polyethylene glycol-conjugated interferon alpha-2a for the treatment of hepatitis C.

A potent, long-lasting form of interferon alpha-2a mono-pegylated with a 40 kilodalton branched poly(ethylene glycol) was designed, synthesized, and characterized. Mono-pegylated interferon alpha-2a was comprised of four major positional isomers involving Lys31, Lys121, Lys131, and Lys134 of interferon. The in vitro anti-viral activity of pegylated interferon alpha-2a was found to be only 7% of the original activity.

Phase III randomized trial of gabapentin in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: Preclinical and clinical studies of gabapentin in patients with ALS led the authors to undertake a phase III randomized clinical trial.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned, in a double-blinded fashion, to receive oral gabapentin 3,600 mg or placebo daily for 9 months. The primary outcome measure was the average rate of decline in isometric arm muscle strength for those with two or more evaluations.

Temporal lobe rating scale: application to Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.

Objectives: Temporal lobe atrophy as assessed by MRI can be measured in several ways. Volumetric measurements are quantitative but very time consuming and require extensive training to perform, so are not easily transferable to clinical practice. Visual rating scales, by contrast, are quick and widely applicable.

Therapeutic 131I in outpatients: a simplified method conforming to the Code of Federal Regulations, title 10, part 35.75.

Unlabelled: The Code of Federal Regulations, title 10, part 35.75 (10CFR35.75), provides greater latitude and flexibility in the dosing and management of outpatients treated with therapeutic 131I than did preceding regulations.

Magnetic resonance imaging screening in women at genetic risk of breast cancer: imaging and analysis protocol for the UK multicentre study. UK MRI Breast Screening Study Advisory Group.

The imaging and analysis protocol of the UK multicentre study of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a method of screening for breast cancer in women at genetic risk is described. The study will compare the sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced MRI with two-view x-ray mammography. Approximately 500 women below the age of 50 at high genetic risk of breast cancer will be recruited per year for three years, with annual MRI and x-ray mammography continuing for up to 5 years.

Comparison of cardiac stroke volume measurement determined using stereological analysis of breath-hold cine MRI and phase contrast velocity mapping.

Cine MRI of the heart using segmented k-space pulse sequences permits multiphase images to be acquired in a single breath-hold. Whilst image quality is improved compared with conventional (non-segmented) cine imaging, subsequent analysis can be relatively time consuming. In this study, multiple slice breath-hold cine imaging of the heart was performed in 11 normal volunteers.

Characterization of a beta-1,3-glucanase encoded by chlorella virus PBCV-1.

Sequence analysis of the 330-kb chlorella virus PBCV-1 genome revealed an open-reading frame, A94L, that encodes a protein with significant amino acid identity to Glycoside Hydrolase Family 16 beta-1,3-glucanases. The a94l gene was cloned and the protein was expressed as a GST-A94L fusion protein in Escherichia coli. The recombinant A94L protein hydrolyzed the beta-1,3-glucose polymer laminarin and had slightly less hydrolytic activity on beta-1,3-1, 4-glucose polymers, lichenan and barley beta-glucan.

A multicenter validation of an active contour-based left ventricular analysis technique.

Quantitative analysis of functional cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) images has been limited by the lack of well-validated, semiautomatic, methods for rapid analysis. We describe the evaluation of a DICOM-compatible PC-based parallel-processing tool, for cardiac magnetic resonance analysis (CAMRA), which supports semiautomatic image mensuration using an active contour model-based algorithm. The CAMRA software was used to analyze data from 12 patients in a multicenter acquisition and analysis trial to compare semiautomatic contour detection with manual planimetry of the left ventricular endocardium from short-axis, breath-held, cine gradient-echo images.