Diffusivity Metrics Three Months After Upfront Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia May Be Correlated with Pain Relief.

Background: Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is a safe and effective treatment option for trigeminal neuralgia (TN). However, there is no objective, noninvasive tool to identify nonresponders or late responders to GKRS and to facilitate longitudinal patient management. We hypothesized that diffusivity metrics obtained 3 months after GKRS may correlate with response to treatment.

Introducing key microbes from high productive soil transforms native soil microbial community of low productive soil.

This study aimed to understand the changes in rhizosphere microbial structure and diversity of an average corn yielding field site soil with the introduced microbial candidates from a high-yielding site. Soils used in this study were from two growers' fields located in Dunnville, Ontario, Canada, where one of the farms has an exceptional high corn yield (G-site soil; ca 20 tons/acre) and the other yields an average crop (H-site soil; 12 tons/acre) (8 years of unpublished A & L data). In growth room experiments using wheat as the indicator crop, calcium alginate beads with microbes composed of Azospirillum lipoferum, Rhizobium leguminosarum, Burkholderia ambifaria, Burkholderia graminis, Burkholderia vietnamiensis, Pseudomonas lurida, Exiguobacterium acetylicum, Kosakonia cowanii, and Paenibacillus polymyxa was introduced into the soil at planting to the average-yielding soil.

Automated cuff pressure modulation: a novel device to reduce endotracheal tube injury.

Objective: To assess whether dynamically modulating endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff pressure, by decreasing it during each ventilatory cycle instead of maintaining a constant level, would reduce the extent of intubation-related laryngotracheal injury.

Design: Single-blind, randomized controlled animal study using a previously validated live porcine model of accelerated intubation-related tracheal injury.

Setting: Animal research facility.

Edaphic Soil Levels of Mineral Nutrients, pH, Organic Matter, and Cationic Exchange Capacity in the Geocaulosphere Associated with Potato Common Scab.

ABSTRACT In order to determine possible relationships between geocaulosphere soil properties and severity of common scab of potato caused by Streptomyces scabies, soils were collected from representative commercial potato fields in Canada: in Simcoe and Dufferin Counties, Ontario and across Prince Edward Island (PEI) in August 2004. Soils immediately adjacent to tubers were sampled and analyzed for select edaphic factors and for pathogen presence using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests with primers that amplify a region of the TxtA gene involved in regulating the biosynthesis of the thaxtomin toxin family. Individual tubers were assessed visually for scab severity.

Gamma knife surgery for neurocytoma.

Object: Although considered benign tumors, neurocytomas have various biological behaviors, histological patterns, and clinical courses. In the last 15 years, fractionated radiotherapy and radiosurgery in addition to microsurgery have been used in their management. In this study, the authors present their experience using Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) in the treatment of these tumors.

Gamma knife surgery for focal brainstem gliomas.

Object: Focal tumors, a distinct subgroup of which is composed of brainstem gliomas, may have an indolent clinical course. In the past, their management involved monitoring of open-ended imaging studies and shunt placement if cerebrospinal fluid diversion was required. Nonetheless, their treatment remains a significant challenge for neurosurgeons.

Gamma knife surgery for metastatic brainstem tumors.

Object: The authors review imaging and clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic brainstem tumors treated using Gamma Knife surgery (GKS).

Methods: Between March 1989 and March 2005, 53 patients (24 men and 29 women) with metastatic brainstem lesions underwent GKS. The metastatic deposits were located in the midbrain in eight patients, the pons in 42, and the medulla oblongata in three.

Initial experience with the novel 6 Fr-compatible system for debulking de novo coronary arterial lesions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a novel system for debulking of de novo native coronary arterial lesions. The Helixciser De Novo system is a novel 6 Fr-compatible catheter with a cutter encased in a slotted-orifice housing to excise atheromatous plaque. The cutter rotates at 15,000 rpm, debulking the plaque as it tracks through the lesion over a straight wire or a self-expanding nitinol helical-shaped wire.

Efficacy and feasibility of helixcision for debulking neointimal hyperplasia for in-stent restenosis.

The Helixcision system is a novel 6 Fr-compatible catheter designed to debulk tissue for in-stent restenosis lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and feasibility of this new system for removing neointimal hyperplasia. A total of 32 in-stent restenosis lesions in 32 patients were treated with helixcision followed by balloon angioplasty.