Treatment of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy with periocular injections of triamcinolone.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of periocular triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO), and the presence of ocular or systemic adverse effects.

Methods: A multicentre prospective pilot study was performed on patients diagnosed with Graves' ophthalmopathy less than 6 months before entry to the study. Patients were admitted to the study and were randomised into two groups: treatment and control.

Combining geometrical and dynamical disorder to enhance transport.

We look for the optimal way to distribute rectifiers in order to maximize their effect on the transport properties of Brownian particles. These rectifiers are introduced in the form of flashing asymmetric potentials distributed on a one dimensional lattice. We study the effects that different distributions of these rectifiers have on the generated current and on the energy cost of transport.

Lack of association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could be considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, from several lines of evidence. One of the most widely studied genes in these disorders is the apolipoprotein E gene, particularly allele 4. We analyzed for association among patients with OCD versus normal controls and cognitively impaired patients.

Negative ion formation and motion in a mixture of CCl4 and Ar.

This paper deals with the measurement of the mobility of negative ions in the mixtures of CCl4 with Ar with the CCl4 ratio up to 33.3%. The pulsed Townsend technique was employed to produce an integrated ionic avalanche over a range of the density-reduced electric field E/N for which ionization is either negligible or absent, and attachment processes are dominant, leading to the formation of mostly CCl-4.

[Spontaneous motor activity and brain catecholamines in C57BL/6 and albino mice treated with manganese].

The present study was conducted to further examine the observed phenotypic differences in the sensitivity to chronic manganese exposure. Albino mice (NMRI-IVIC strain) and C57BL/6 black mice were divided into two groups. One group of mice was given daily i.

Nutritional status of indigenous children at boarding schools in northern Mexico.

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of Tarahumara children at indigenous boarding schools.

Design: Cross-sectional comprehensive nutritional survey.

Setting: The schools sampled were located in indigenous municipalities of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.

[Complications of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography].

Introduction: Endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) is commonly used to remove bile-duct stones and to treat other problems. We prospectively investigated complications and mortality of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

Patients And Methods: Between june 6, 1998 and june 6, 1999 553 ERCP were performed in our centers.

Topiramate as an adjunctive treatment in migraine prophylaxis.

Background: Anticonvulsants now are commonly used for headache prevention. Topiramate, one of the newer anticonvulsants, recently has been demonstrated to be effective as monotherapy for migraine prophylaxis.

Objective: To assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of topiramate as adjunctive prophylactic therapy for migraine.

Changes in blood coagulation markers associated with uterine artery embolization for leiomyomata.

Purpose: To determine whether a transient hypercoagulable state is induced by the uterine artery embolization (UAE) procedure.

Materials And Methods: Serial periprocedure blood samples were obtained from 27 patients undergoing the UAE procedure. Five blood samples were obtained from each patient at set time intervals: before the procedure (for baseline determination), immediately before and after embolization of the uterine arteries, 90 minutes after conclusion of the procedure, and between 18 and 24 hours later.

Learning from pain scales: patient perspective.

Objective: Rheumatologists often deal with patients' pain, as commonly measured by clinical scales. However, no published study in the last 25 years has explored patient preferences for the 2 most frequently used clinical scales the verbal rating scale (VRS) and the visual analog scale (VAS). We (1) evaluated patient preferences for the 10 cm horizontal VAS versus the 5 point VRS and identified associated reasons for their preferences; and (2) validated the test-retest reliability and construct validity of these scales.

Combined effect of periodic gates and external fields on the diffusion coefficient of a single particle.

A general analytical expression to describe the diffusion of a single particle in a one-dimensional lattice with periodically distributed gates of lifetime (tau) and while under the influence of a constant external field is calculated. A formulation based on a microscopic model and a diffusion relaxation condition is used to derive an equation for the diffusion coefficient as a function of the concentration of gates (c), the lifetime (tau) of such gates, and the strength of the external field (p). The theory is compared against Monte Carlo simulations, and limiting cases are used to reproduce previously published results on a variety of phenomena.

Quality improvement of integrated child health care management after in-service training for physicians.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the quality of integrated child health care management (ICHCM) promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) after an in-service training course.

Methods: The training was carried out in a rural and an urban health unit and in the paediatric ward of the local reference hospital. Tutorial courses were given to small groups (4-6 students) over a 5-day period (40 h in total).

A prospective multicenter evaluation of 1,583 3i implants: 1- to 5-year data.

Purpose: The purpose of this prospective multicenter study was to evaluate the efficacy of 3i threaded implants for the treatment of edentulous patients in a 1- to 5-year period. This article reports the total data and global results of 3 threaded designs of 3i implants: self-tapping, ICE, and Osseotite.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1,583 implants (619 ICE, 545 Osseotite, and 419 self-tapping) were placed between 1995 and 1999 in 528 patients at 13 European clinical centers.

Endemic goiter in pregnant women: utility of the simplified classification of thyroid size by palpation and urinary iodine as screening tests.

Objective: To validate urinary iodine (I) excretion and the simplified classification of goiter by palpation, comparing them with ultrasound of the thyroid gland as the gold standard, to identify endemic goiter in pregnant women.

Population And Setting: 300 pregnant women identified in referral hospitals, in three geographic regions.

Methods: Two endocrinologists, previously trained, evaluated thyroid size by palpation and by ultrasound.

Molecular modeling and dynamics studies of HIV-1 kissing loop structures.

Recognition of an RNA loop by another RNA loop is involved in several biological functions. The dimerization of two copies of the HIV-1 genomic RNA is thought to be involved in several steps of the retroviral life cycle. It has been shown that the dimerization of the two HIV-1 RNA genomes is initiated by the so called kissing loop.

Mosquito vector control and biology in Latin America--a twelfth symposium. Denver, Colorado, February 2002. Summaries.

The 12th annual Latin American symposium presented by the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) was held as part of the 68th Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, in February 2002. The principal objective, as for the previous 11 symposia, was to promote participation in the AMCA by vector control specialists, public health workers, and academicians from Latin America. This publication includes summaries of 35 presentations that were given orally in Spanish or presented as posters by participants from 7 countries in Latin America.

[Beliefs and knowledge of a group of doctors about the nutritional management of the child with acute diarrhea].

Objective: To identify the beliefs and knowledge of a group of rural physicians on the dietary management of children under five years of age, with acute diarrhea. Physicians' dietary management was compared with that recommended by the World Health Organization.

Material And Methods: A cognitive anthropology study was carried out from July to December 1998, on ten physicians that care for the infant population ascribed to Hospital Rural IMSS-Solidaridad of San Juanito Bocoyna, Chihuahua, Mexico.

[Care and management of cleft lip and palate by CLP Department hospital Robert Debre in Paris].

Cleft lip and palate repair must take a place at an early stage and respect physiology. Iatrogenic consequences harming maxillary growth must be avoided. Owing to early and reverse timing, short and long term results have been improved.

Engineering reactions in crystalline solids: predicting photochemical decarbonylation from calculated thermochemical parameters.

A detailed thermochemical analysis of the alpha-cleavage and decarbonylation reactions of acetone and several ketodiesters was carried out with the B3LYP/6-31G* density functional method. The heats of formation of several ground-state ketones and radicals were calculated at 298 K to determine bond dissociation energies (BDE) and radical stabilization energies (RSE) as a function of substituents. Results show that the radical-stabilizing abilities of the ketone substituents play a very important role on the thermodynamics of the alpha-cleavage and decarbonylation steps.

[Pancreas divisum: endoscopic management. Case report].

This is a case report of a 19 year-old woman, with an acute recurrent pancreatitis diagnose, and pancreas divisum as anatomic alteration. An extensive evaluation including specialized labs, ERCP was done. The diagnosis is suspected during ERCP and confirmed by minor papilla injection.

The fetal mandible: a 2D and 3D sonographic approach to the diagnosis of retrognathia and micrognathia.

Objective: To define parameters that enable the objective diagnosis of anomalies of the position and/or size of the fetal mandible in utero.

Design: Fetuses at 18-28 gestational weeks were examined by two- and three-dimensional ultrasound. The study included normal fetuses and fetuses with syndromes associated with known mandible pathology: Pierre Robin sequence or complex (n = 8); hemifacial microsomia (Treacher-Collins syndrome, n = 3); postaxial acrofacial dysostosis (n = 1).

Three-stage approach to aesthetic implant restoration: emergence profile concept.

Proper treatment planning and precise evaluation of various parameters (e.g., bone volume, soft tissues, dental anatomy, surgical and prosthetic components) are crucial for an aesthetic implant restoration.

Wide-diameter implants: new concepts.

At the end of the 1980s, it was suggested that wide-diameter implants be used to better the prognosis in cases in which the condition of the supporting bone is unfavorable. Technical improvements associated with different shapes and materials used for implants have led to an evolution of our concepts of surgical and prosthetic treatments. The aim of these new suggestions is to optimize the functional and esthetic result while respecting the fundamental principles of osseointegration.