GST-lamin fusion proteins act as dominant negative mutants in Xenopus egg extract and reveal the function of the lamina in DNA replication.

A cDNA encoding Xlamin B1 was cloned from a whole ovary mRNA by RT-PCR. GST-lamin fusion constructs were generated from this cDNA by first creating convenient restriction sites within the Xlamin B1 coding sequence, using PCR directed mutagenesis, and then sub-cloning relevant sequences into pGEX-4T-3. Two expression constructs were made, the first, termed delta 2+ lacked sequences encoding the amino-terminal 'head domain' of lamin B1 but included sequences encoding the nuclear localization signal sequence (NLS).

The technetium white cell scan as an initial imaging investigation for evaluating suspected childhood inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: The technetium white cell scan (WCS) may be a useful investigation for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a retrospective study we assessed the use of the WCS as an initial imaging investigation in evaluating children with suspected IBD.

Methods: Over a 3-year period, 60 WCS were performed on 55 patients (25 boys, median age 12.

Carcinoma of the tonsil: prognostic factors.

Objectives: This study was conducted to provide a review of the prognostic factors of tonsillar carcinoma.

Design: A retrospective analysis.

Setting/patients: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, treated in Northern Alberta, at the Cross Cancer Institute from 1975 to 1995 were analyzed using a population-based, head and neck cancer registry.

Development of a new outcomes instrument for conductive hearing loss.

Objective: The objective was to design and validate a disease-specific outcomes instrument for use in conductive hearing loss (CHL).

Study Design: The study was a retrospective survey of 47 patients recently treated for CHL with either a hearing aid or surgery. Patients were tested with the newly designed instrument (the Hearing Satisfaction Scale [HSS]), previously validated hearing-specific instruments, and a generic quality-of-life instrument.

The effect of body mass index and oestrogen receptor level on survival of breast cancer patients.

Background: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that obesity and low oestrogen receptor level adversely affect survival from breast cancer. Few studies have examined the joint effects of these variables.

Methods: A cohort study was conducted in which 1169 breast cancer patients from the Northern Alberta Breast Cancer Registry were followed for an average of 4.

Faecal chymotrypsin in small for gestational age infants: effects of nucleotides and breast feeding.

The effect of diet on pancreatic exocrine function, measured by faecal chymotrypsin activity (FCA), was studied longitudinally in three groups of small for gestational age (SGA) infants in the first six months of life. The three groups comprised breastfed infants (group B), those randomly allocated to receive a standard infant formula (group S), or the same formula supplemented with nucleotides (group N). The three groups did not differ in their birthweight or gestational age.

Congenital chloride-losing diarrhoea: absence of the anion-exchange mechanism in the rectum.

Background: Congenital chloride-losing diarrhoea is characterized by a defect in chloride/bicarbonate exchange, which is normally present in the ileum and colon. Whether the defect is an absence or a reversal of such an exchange is unclear, and we have investigated two young children with the disorder to answer this question.

Methods: We used a previously described nonequilibrium rectal dialysis method, using different dialysate anion concentrations, to investigate the movement of sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate in the rectum of the two children.

Spontaneous erosion of a lost intra-abdominal gallstone through the back eight months following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background And Objectives: Gallbladder perforation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy with spillage of bile and gallstones occurs in up to 40% of patients. Several reports have recently been published describing complications related to these lost gallstones. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of this complication in our patients.

Inflammatory bowel disease and predisposition to osteopenia.

The prevalence of osteopenia in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is unknown. The effect of nutritional state, disease activity, and steroid therapy on bone mineral content (BMC) of whole body, lumbar spine, and left femoral neck measured by dual energy x ray absorptiometry in 32 children with IBD was assessed by comparison with 58 healthy local school children. Using the control data, a predicted BMC was calculated taking into account bone area, age, height, weight, and pubertal stage.

Iron deficiency anemia and hearing.

Iron deficiency anemia is a frequently occurring clinical disorder. Despite the suggested association with hearing loss in the literature, cochlear sequelae of iron deficiency have yielded conflicting results in experimental studies. Auditory function was tested in iron-deficient and normal male Wistar albino rats using distortion product otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response audiometry for the clarification of the opposing results in the literature.

Experience of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in children with Crohn's disease.

Enternal nutrition is an important mode of treatment for Crohn's disease in children. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy has been little used, even through it can facilitate the administration of an unpalatable elemental diet to an anorexic, undernourished patients. Its use is reported in 10 children with Crohn's disease.

Building a virtual reality temporal bone dissection simulator.

The temporal bone is one of seven bones that comprise the human skull, and has an intimate relationship with many vital structures. Anatomically, its three-dimensional relationships make it one of the most challenging areas for surgeons to understand and master. In addition, the temporal bone contains minute structures that are among the most sophisticated and delicate in the human body.

Morphology of oligodendrocytes during demyelination in optic nerves of mice infected with Semliki Forest virus.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease which affects oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells of the CNS. Demyelination is known to occur in the optic nerves of Balb/c mice infected with the avirulent A7(74) strain of Semliki Forest virus (SFV), and many of the changes are similar to those of patients with MS. The aim of the present study was to determine how demyelination proceeds in individual oligodendrocytes in SFV infection, to help in understanding the pathology of demyelination and remyelination in MS.

Virtual reality surgical simulation and otolaryngology.

Large-scale flight simulation was pioneered in the 1940s to help meet the training requirements and demand for pilots in World War II. Flight simulators have been effective for training, evaluating, and certifying military and commercial pilots. Accurate scenarios have been developed that allow pilots in training to gain experience without the risk and expense of learning while in flight.

Barotrauma after stapes surgery: a survey of recommended restrictions and clinical experiences.

Objective: To identify a consensus on the postoperative barorestrictions after stapes surgery and to examine the clinical barotrauma experience within this patient population encountered by the surveyed physicians.

Data Source: A 34-item survey was developed, allowing for detailed analysis of physician demographic data, practice characteristics, surgical experience, and clinical experience with barotrauma after stapes surgery. The postoperative restrictions addressed by the survey included those for air travel, snorkeling, and scuba diving.

Dimensions of the sinus tympani and its surgical access via a retrofacial approach.

The sinus tympani (ST) is a critical anatomic region of the temporal bone. It lies medial to the facial nerve, between the ponticulus and the subiculum, and therefore is not easily visualized by routine surgical approaches to the middle ear and mastoid. This limited access makes the ST a site that is notorious for residual cholesteatoma.

Endoplasmic reticulum protein expression in recombinant NS0 myelomas grown in batch culture.

During batch growth of two recombinant NS0 myelomas, an increase in the expression of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins (GRP78/BiP, GRP94, and ERp72) was observed. A marked increase in these proteins was associated with the decline phase of growth, an increase in the production rate of chimeric antibody, and a marked slowing or halt in the uptake of glucose and glutamate. Refeeding with glucose, glutamate, or a mixture of amino acids just prior to the onset of decline phase failed to repress induction.

Nuclear lamina and nuclear matrix organization in sperm pronuclei assembled in Xenopus egg extract.

Nuclear lamina and matrices were prepared from sperm pronuclei assembled in Xenopus egg extracts using a fractionation and extraction procedure. Indirect immunofluorescence revealed that while chromatin was efficiently removed from nuclei during the extraction procedure, the distribution of lamins was unaffected. Consistent with this data, the amount of lamin B3, determined by immunoblotting, was not affected through the extraction procedure.

The use of E-mail by otolaryngologists.

Electronic mail (e-mail) is an extremely powerful form of communication and the most frequently used application on the Internet. While e-mail is not the appropriate mode of communication for every situation, there are many instances where its use is invaluable.

The epidemiology of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

A retrospective study of the incidence and prevalence of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease over an 11 year period was undertaken in South Glamorgan. Over this time the incidence of Crohn's disease more than doubled from 1.30 cases per 100,000 childhood population per year in the period 1983-1988, to 3.

Nucleotide supplementation and the growth of term small for gestational age infants.

A double blind randomised controlled trial in small for gestational age (SGA) infants, whose intestinal mucosa was shown to be functionally impaired as a result of intrauterine undernutrition, was carried out to investigate the hypothesis that nucleotide supplementation of a milk formula could improve catchup growth. Anthropometric data were collected on 74 infants, 39 randomly allocated to the nucleotide supplemented group (group N) and 35 to a standard formula group (group S). From study entry to 2 months of age, infants in group N had significantly higher mean rates of weight gain (106.

A randomized single-blind evaluation of a discharge teaching book for pediatric patients with burns.

To evaluate the influence of a modular, multidisciplinary, pediatric burn discharge book on burn-care-related knowledge and satisfaction of caregivers, we studied children less than 17 years of age admitted with an acute thermal injury to the pediatric burn unit of a large, tertiary care hospital in Winnipeg, Canada over a 32 month period. Demographic characteristics of the population are similar to published profiles of other pediatric burn units with the exception that North American Indian (NAI) families were disproportionately admitted, with 59 out of the 123 (48%) admissions from a geographic area that has less than 15% NAIs. We randomly assigned the families to receive discharge instructions with the book (intervention group) or routine discharge teaching without the book (comparison group).