Colorectal carcinoma associated with serrated adenoma--prevalence, histological features, and prognosis.

Serrated adenoma has been proposed to be a distinct entity among colorectal neoplasms. Progression to frank carcinoma has been suggested in individual cases, but the prevalence of carcinomas originating from serrated adenomas and their clinico-pathological characteristics are not known. In the present study, a large series of colorectal cancers was analysed for the occurrence of serrated adenoma in association with carcinoma and clinico-pathological features were compared in cases with and without serrated adenoma.

Gastric air tonometry during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a comparison of two PaCO2 levels.

Purpose: Pneumoperitoneum can cause disturbances in acid-base balance and splanchnic perfusion. We studied the effect of ventilation on acid-base balance and gastric mucosal tonometric values in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Methods: Twenty-four patients (ASA I-II) were randomly allocated into two groups.

Convalescence in the first week after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: results from a detailed questionnaire on morbidity and recovery of daily activities.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate postoperative morbidity and return to daily activities after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Methods: Thirty-five patients were asked to keep daily detailed structured diaries for 1 week.

Results: Half of the patients were discharged from hospital on the 1st postoperative day (POD1); another third were released on POD2.

ENDOR studies of VO2+: probing protein-metal ion interactions in nephrocalcin.

Nephrocalcin inhibits the growth of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals in the mammalian kidney. Isoforms A and B contain three equivalents of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) residues implicated in Ca2+-binding and exhibit strong inhibitor properties and high Ca2+-binding affinity (Kd approximately 10(-8) M). Isoforms C and D lack these properties and exhibit low Ca2+-binding affinity (Kd approximately 10(-6) M).

Vear, a novel Golgi-associated protein, is preferentially expressed in type I cells in skeletal muscle.

Vear is a novel Golgi-associated protein with a domain structure characteristic of many vesicular transport-associated proteins. It has been suggested that Vear is involved in vesicle transport through trans-Golgi. In this study, we have determined the localization of Vear in skeletal muscle.

Classification of advanced colorectal carcinomas by tumor edge morphology: evidence for different pathogenesis and significance of polypoid and nonpolypoid tumors.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that a substantial proportion of colorectal carcinomas develop without a preexisting polypoid adenomatous lesion, but it is difficult to detect the possible origin of advanced carcinomas. The purpose of this study was to test the validity and significance of a new histopathologic classification system based on the histologic analysis of the tumor edge.

Methods: One hundred eighty-six unselected cases of colorectal carcinoma were included.

Applicability of homogeneous exposure groups for exposure assessment in the chemical industry.

The purpose of the study was to assess occupational exposure to chemicals, by taking the aspects presented in European standard EN 689 into account, especially with respect to homogeneous exposure groups and their suitability as the basis for exposure assessment. In addition, dermal exposure to chemicals was assessed when appropriate. The industries studied included a plywood factory, a paint factory and a sewage treatment plant of an oil refinery.

Expression of insulin-receptor substrate-1 and -2 in ovaries from women with insulin resistance and from controls.

Objective: To evaluate the role of insulin-receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and -2 in ovary dysfunction in women with insulin resistance.

Design: Immunoblotting and immunohistochemical analyses of the localization and staining intensity of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in the ovaries of women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turku University Central Hospital.

Overexpression and biosynthetic deuterium enrichment of TEM-1 beta-lactamase for structural characterization by magnetic resonance methods.

An expression system has been developed that allows high levels of production of TEM-1 beta-lactamase with ease of biosynthetic incorporation of nuclear isotopes. The gene for mature TEM-1 beta-lactamase fused to the leader sequence of the ompA protein was subcloned into the pET-24a(+) vector by introduction of an NdeI restriction site at the first codon of the fused genes and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells. With protein induction at 25 degrees C supported by LB medium supplemented with osmolytes (300 mM sucrose and 2.

Protonation of the beta-lactam nitrogen is the trigger event in the catalytic action of class A beta-lactamases.

The pH dependence of the pK(a) values of all ionizable groups and of the electrostatic potential at grid points corresponding to catalytically important atoms in the active site of TEM-1 beta-lactamase has been calculated by a mean-field approach for reaction intermediates modeled on the basis of energy minimized x-ray crystallographic coordinates. By estimating electrostatic contributions to the free energy changes accompanying the conversion of the free enzyme into the acylenzyme reaction intermediate, we found that acid-catalyzed protonation of the beta-lactam nitrogen is energetically favored as the initiating event, followed by base-catalyzed nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon of the beta-lactam group. N-protonation is catalyzed through a hydrogen-bonded cluster involving the 2-carboxylate group of the substrate, the side chains of S130 and K234, and a solvent molecule.

Inequalities in health care use and expenditures: empirical data from eight developing countries and countries in transition.

This paper summarizes eight country studies of inequality in the health sector. The analyses use household data to examine the distribution of service use and health expenditures. Each study divides the population into "income" quintiles, estimated using consumption expenditures.

New world, but not Old World, monkeys carry several genes encoding beta-microseminoprotein.

It was shown by Southern hybridization that cotton-top tamarin and common marmoset, New World monkeys, carry three or more genes encoding beta-microseminoprotein, also known as PSP94. In contrast, the genomes of Old World monkeys, as represented by rhesus macaque and sacred baboon, contain a single gene. Clones containing three different genes encoding beta-microseminoprotein were isolated from a cotton-top tamarin genomic library.

The extracellular matrix in skin tumor development-a morphological study.

The development of cancer involves epithelial-stromal interactions. Alterations in the synthesis and deposition of type I and III collagens are related to the tumor morphology. Skin carcinogenesis in experimental animals provides a reliable model for the development of neoplasia.

The second derivative electronic absorption spectrum of cytochrome c oxidase in the Soret region.

The electronic absorption spectrum of solubilized beef heart cytochrome c oxidase was analyzed in the 400-500 nm region to identify the origin of doublet features appearing in the second derivative spectrum associated with ferrocytochrome a. This doublet, centered near 22,600 cm(-1), was observed in the direct absorption spectrum of the a(2+)a(3)(3+).HCOO(-) form of the enzyme at cryogenic temperatures.

Microsatellite instability: impact on cancer progression in proximal and distal colorectal cancers.

Whilst individual planning of treatment and follow-up in every colorectal cancer case is an increasing demand, prognostic markers are needed for predicting cancer progression in the primary phase. We studied the effect of replication error (RER)-positivity on colorectal cancer progression by analysing 255 colorectal cancer specimens by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fragment analysis and correlating the results with the clinical and histological features of the tumour and with patient outcome. RER-positivity was detected in 12% (28/235) of cases.

Assessment of total exposure to phenol-formaldehyde resin glue in plywood manufacturing.

Objective: Respiratory and dermal exposure to phenol-formaldehyde resin-glue components used in plywood manufacturing were assessed.

Methods: Formaldehyde and phenol were monitored in the workplace air. Formaldehyde was measured both in the breathing zones of the workers and at stationary sampling sites.

Morphological and genetic abnormalities in prediction of recurrence in radically operated colorectal cancer.

Background: We analyzed clinicopathological variables, cell proliferation activity and genetic aberrations related to colorectal cancer in order to recognize clinically usable predictive markers of cancer recurrence.

Materials And Methods: A total of 111 patients radically operated upon because of primary colorectal cancer in 1986-1991 were studied. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 18q21 and replication errors were studied by polymerase chain reaction and fragment analysis.

Loss of heterozygosity at 18q21 is indicative of recurrence and therefore poor prognosis in a subset of colorectal cancers.

Adjuvant therapies are increasingly used in colorectal cancers for the prevention of recurrence. These therapies have side-effects and should, thus, be used only if really beneficial. However, the development of recurrence cannot be predicted reliably at the moment of diagnosis, and targeting of adjuvant therapies is thus based only on the primary stage of the cancer.

Separation of linoleic acid oxidation products by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography and nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis.

In this work the suitability of micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) and nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (CE) to the analysis of the primary oxidation products of linoleic acid was studied with uncoated fused-silica capillaries. The primary autoxidation products of linoleic acid are the four hydroperoxide isomers 13-hydroperoxy-cis-9, trans-11-octadecadienoic acid, 13-hydroperoxy-trans-9, trans-11-octadecadienoic acid, 9-hydroperoxy-trans-10,cis-12-octadecadienoic acid, 9-hydroperoxy-trans-10, trans-12-octadecadienoic acid. Addition of a surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or sodium cholate (SC) into the running buffer (20-30 mM 3-(cyclohexylamino)-1-propanesulfonic acid (CAPS) or ammonium acetate, pH 9.

Electron nuclear double resonance determined structures of enzyme reaction intermediates: structural evidence for substrate destabilization.

Angle selective ENDOR of nitroxyl spin-labels is briefly reviewed to illustrate the methodology of structure analysis developed in our laboratory for characterizing catalytically competent intermediates of enzyme catalyzed reactions. ENDOR structure determination of a reaction intermediate of alpha-chymotrypsin formed with a kinetically specific spin-labeled substrate and of an enzyme-inhibitor complex formed with a spin-labeled transition-state inhibitor analog is briefly described. Both spin-labeled molecules bound in the active site of the enzyme are found in torsionally distorted conformations.

p53 expression in skin carcinogenesis and its relationship to cell proliferation and tumour growth.

The immunoreactivity of p53 protein was studied in relation to tumour development, histopathological characteristics, cell proliferation, and basement membrane organisation following the induction of skin carcinogenesis in tumour-sensitive and -resistant mouse strains by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation or 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA). In non-neoplastic skin exposed to UV irradiation or DMBA, p53 immunoreactivity was observed in nearly 50% of the basal layer cells. These cells were morphologically and histochemically indistinguishable from the p53-negative cells, occurring similarly in the tumour-producing and the tumour-negative mouse strains and regardless of subsequent tumour formation.

Comparison of rocuronium and suxamethonium for use during rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia.

This study was designed to compare the tracheal intubating conditions during a rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia using rocuronium 0.6 (n = 61) or 1.0 mg.

Respiratory compliance during laparoscopic hiatal and inguinal hernia repair.

Purpose: Side stream spirometry with dynamic compliance displayed as pressure-volume loops, has enabled early detection of CO2 pneumothorax during pneumoperitoneum. We compared dynamic compliance profiles of two laparoscopic procedures with different patient positions.

Methods: In 26 patients, scheduled either for laparoscopic fundoplication in a head-up tilt or inguinal herniorrhaphy in a head-down tilt, dynamic compliance was measured with continuous spirometry from anaesthesia induction until skin closure.

Coronary pressure as a determinant of B-type natriuretic peptide gene expression in isolated perfused adult rat heart.

The role of coronary flow in the regulation of ventricular B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) gene expression was studied in isolated perfused rat heart preparation. The increase of coronary flow from 5 ml/min to 20 ml/min for 2 h resulted in a 132+/-6 mm Hg increase in aortic perfusion pressure. The changes in BNP mRNA and immunoreactive BNP (IR-BNP) levels in response to hemodynamic stress were compared to those of c-fos and adrenomedullin (ADM) gene expression.

Comparative genomic hybridization studies in tumours from a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1.

Objective: To identify genetic changes, other than the MEN1 gene, that might be involved in the tumorigenesis and progression of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1)-related tumours.

Methods: We used comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) to study tumours from various sites in a patient with MEN1.

Results: Gain of genetic material was not found.