Superluminal propagation of pulsed pseudo-thermal light in atomic vapor.

We report an experimental demonstration of slow and superluminal propagation of pseudo-thermal (chaotic) light in the Λ-type system of the 5S(1/2)-5P(1/2) transition of (87)Rb atom. The slowed propagation of pulsed pseudo-thermal light was demonstrated in an electromagnetically-induced transparency medium while the superluminal propagation was demonstrated with the enhanced absorption scheme where the coupling field takes the form of a standing wave.We have also demonstrated that the photon number statistics of the pseudo-thermal light is preserved for both the subluminal and superluminal cases.

Evaluation of lacrimal tear drainage mechanism using dynamic fluoroscopic dacryocystography.

Purpose: To evaluate the dynamic change of the canaliculus and the lacrimal sac during blinking using fluoroscopic dacryocystography.

Methods: Sixteen patients presenting with unilateral epiphora were enrolled in the study. Fluoroscopic dacryocystography was performed in both eyes, and sequential images of the lacrimal drainage system were acquired during blinking.

Technical strategy in endovascular treatment of proximal anterior cerebral artery aneurysms.

Purpose: There have been few reports on the endovascular treatment of aneurysms arising from A1 due to their rarity. We report the angiographic results, clinical outcomes, and technical aspects of endovascular treatment for 13 A1 aneurysms in 12 patients.

Methods: From January 2002 to November 2007, 12 patients (9 females and 3 males) with 13 A1 aneurysms underwent endovascular treatment.

Is clopidogrel premedication useful to reduce thromboembolic events during coil embolization for unruptured intracranial aneurysms?

Background: Thromboembolism is a common complication related to coil embolization of intracranial aneurysms.

Objective: To identify factors related to thromboembolic events during coil embolization for unruptured intracranial aneurysms and to evaluate the role of clopidogrel premedication to prevent thromboembolisms.

Methods: Since March 2006, clopidogrel has been administered to patients with unruptured aneurysms before coil embolization (the clopidogrel group) in our institution.

A technical strategy for carotid artery stenting: suboptimal prestent balloon angioplasty without poststenting balloon dilatation.

Background: Traditional carotid artery stenting (CAS) consists of predilatation, optional deployment of embolic protection devices, stenting, and poststent angioplasty. Each step carries a risk of thromboembolism.

Objective: To design a new and simplified procedural protocol, suboptimal balloon angioplasty without routine poststenting balloon dilatation, and to describe the efficacy this protocol in terms of procedural risks and angiographic and clinical outcomes.

Inhibitory effect of Sanguisorba officinalis ethanol extract on NO and PGE₂ production is mediated by suppression of NF-κB and AP-1 activation signaling cascade.

Aim Of The Study: Sanguisorba officinalis, a well known valuable medicinal plant in Korea, China and Japan used traditionally for the treatment of inflammatory and metabolic diseases such as diarrhea, chronic intestinal infections, duodenal ulcers, and bleeding. Recent studies have revealed that its aqueous or ethanolic extracts exhibit a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, anti-lipid peroxidation, anti-atherogenic, and vasorelaxant effects. Systematic studies on the anti-inflammatory effect of this plant and its molecular mechanisms have not yet been fully investigated.

Thromboembolic complications of elective coil embolization of unruptured aneurysms: the effect of oral antiplatelet preparation on periprocedural thromboembolic complication.

Objective: We retrospectively evaluated whether antiplatelet preparation lowered the thromboembolic complication rate during the perioperative period.

Methods: We reviewed 328 elective coil embolization procedures in which only microcatheters were used for coiling. No antiplatelet medication was prescribed before the procedure in 95 cases (29%, group 1), whereas antiplatelet therapy was used in 233 cases (71%, group 2; 61 [18.

Measurement of refractive index and thickness of transparent plate by dual-wavelength interference.

We developed an accurate and efficient method for measuring the refractive indices of a transparent plate by analyzing the transmitted intensity versus angle of incidence. By using two different wavelengths, we resolved the 2pi-ambiguity inherent to the phase measurement involving a thick medium, leading to independent determination of the absolute index of refraction and the thickness with a relative uncertainty of 10(-5). The validity and the accuracy of our method were confirmed with a standard reference material.

Shaping and navigating methods of microcatheters for endovascular treatment of paraclinoid aneurysms.

Objective: To determine whether the use of a specific shape and a navigating method of microcatheters are suitable for placement at paraclinoid aneurysms.

Methods: The clinical data from 122 patients with 132 paraclinoid aneurysms that underwent endovascular treatments during a 2.5-year period were retrospectively reviewed.

Remifentanil attenuates muscle fasciculations by succinylcholine.

Purpose: The present visual and electromyographic study was designed to evaluate muscle fasciculations caused by succinylcholine in adults pretreated with either remifentanil 1.5 microg/kg or saline.

Materials And Methods: The effect of remifentanil on succinylcholine-induced muscle fasciculations was studied using a double-blind method in 40 adults.

Simvastatin improves clinical scores in a rabbit multiple infarct ischemic stroke model: synergism with a ROCK inhibitor but not the thrombolytic tissue plasminogen activator.

Statins have pleiotropic neuroprotective effects in the central nervous system. In this study, we assessed the pharmacological effects of simvastatin on measures of behavior in New Zealand white rabbits embolized using a suspension of small-sized blood clots. For these studies, simvastatin was administered up to 3 hours following embolization, and behavior was measured 48 hours following embolization to calculate the dose of emboli (P(50) in mg) that produces neurological deficits in 50% of the rabbits.

Coil-based endovascular treatment of single-hole cerebral arteriovenous fistulae: experiences in 11 patients.

Background: An SHF is rare pial arteriovenous shunt with no nidal component, of which the feeder drains directly into a single venous channel. Casting with NBCA was described previously, but its control demands operator to accumulate a considerable learning curve. We are to present our experiences of coil-based endovascular treatment of SHF.

Preinterventional clopidogrel response variability for coil embolization of intracranial aneurysms: clinical implications.

Background And Purpose: Thromboembolism is one of the most serious complications in coil embolization for intracranial aneurysms, and antiplatelet premedication may reduce this complication. However, interindividual variation exists in the efficacy of CPG. This study sought to elucidate the clinical implications of preinterventional CPG response variability in patients who undergo coil embolization for intracranial aneurysms.

Tumor targeting chitosan nanoparticles for dual-modality optical/MR cancer imaging.

We report tumor targeting nanoparticles for optical/MR dual imaging based on self-assembled glycol chitosan to be a potential multimodal imaging probe. To develop an optical/MR dual imaging probe, biocompatible and water-soluble glycol chitosan (M(w) = 50 kDa) were chemically modified with 5beta-cholanic acid (CA), resulting in amphiphilic glycol chitosan-5beta-cholanic acid conjugates (GC-CA). For optical imaging near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) dye, Cy5.

Transformation of electromagnetically induced transparency into enhanced absorption with a standing-wave coupling field in an Rb vapor cell.

We present the transformation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) into narrow enhanced absorption with an on-resonant standing-wave coupling field in the 5S(1/2)-5P(1/2) transition of the Lambda-type system of (87)Rb atoms. When a coupling laser field was changed from a travelling-wave to a standing-wave that was made by adding a counter-propagating L(C) laser, the transmittance spectrum of the L(P) laser transformed the typical EIT into dramatically enhanced absorption, and a Bragg reflection signal was generated by the periodic modulation of atomic absorption. The reflected probe laser corresponding to a Bragg reflection was measured to be approximately 11.

Site-specific inhibition of integrin alpha v beta 3-vitronectin association by a ser-asp-val sequence through an Arg-Gly-Asp-binding site of the integrin.

A functional proteomic technology using protein chip and molecular simulation was used to demonstrate a novel biomolecular interaction between P11, a peptide containing the Ser-Asp-Val (SDV) sequence and integrin alpha v beta 3. P11 (HSDVHK) is a novel antagonistic peptide of integrin alpha v beta 3 screened from hexapeptide library through protein chip system. An in silico docking study and competitive protein chip assay revealed that the SDV sequence of P11 is able to create a stable inhibitory complex onto the vitronectin-binding site of integrin alpha v beta 3.

Endovascular treatment of ruptured aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms on the collateral vessels in patients with moyamoya disease.

Objective: Ruptured aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms on the collateral vessels in patients with moyamoya disease have been known to be difficult to treat surgically because of their deep location and combined ischemic condition of the brain. For several years, we have treated these aneurysms by endovascular means. In this article, we describe the detailed techniques and outcomes.

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor simvastatin reduces thrombolytic-induced intracerebral hemorrhage in embolized rabbits.

Statins were designed as cholesterol-lowering drugs for the prevention of coronary artery disease. It is estimated that there are currently 33.5 million U.

Cerebellum can be a possible generator of progressive myoclonus.

A 19-month-old girl presented with progressive myoclonic jerking of both proximal lower extremities. On her brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the authors found an ill-defined mass involving cerebellar vermis and the right middle cerebellar peduncle. ( 11)C-methionine positron emission tomography (PET) showed no abnormalities, but (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET revealed a well-defined hypermetabolic focus.

Mutations in ND subunits of complex I are an important genetic cause of childhood mitochondrial encephalopathies.

An increasing number of reports on mitochondrial DNA coding regions' mutations, especially in mitochondrial DNA- encoded NADH dehydrogenase (ND) subunit genes of the respiratory chain complex I, have been published recently, making it possible to improve the molecular diagnosis of many mitochondrial diseases in children with variable clinical features. This article describes 2 mitochondrial DNA mutations in the ND3 and ND5 genes in patients showing clinical features of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS)/Leigh syndrome overlap syndrome and atypical Leigh syndrome. These cases add to the increasing number of reports stating that mitochondrial DNA-encoded protein-coding regions are mutation hot spots in pediatric patients with encephalopathies with variable clinical spectra.

Pre-mesencephalic subarachnoid hemorrhage: rupture of tiny aneurysms of the basilar artery perforator.

Purpose: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) around the midbrain without evidence of aneurysm, a so-called perimesencephalic SAH, has been considered a typical nonaneurysmal SAH. Recently, we have encountered several patients with SAHs that could have been classified as having perimesencephalic SAH, but a common cause of the bleeding was demonstrated. In this article, we describe clinical and radiologic characteristics of these patients.

Endovascular coil embolization of anterior choroidal artery aneurysms. Clinical article.

Object: Anterior choroidal artery (AChA) aneurysms are difficult to treat, and the clinical outcome of patients is occasionally compromised by ischemic complications after clipping operations. The purpose of this study was to document the outcome and follow-up results of endovascular coil embolization in patients with AChA aneurysms.

Methods: Between July 1999 and March 2008, 88 patients with 90 AChA aneurysms (31 ruptured and 59 unruptured aneurysms) were treated with endovascular coil embolization in 91 sessions.

Free radical addition of butanethiol to vegetable oil double bonds.

Butanethiol was used in ultraviolet-initiated thiol-ene reaction with canola and corn oils to produce sulfide-modified vegetable oils (SMVO). The crude SMVO product was successfully purified by solvent extraction, vacuum evaporation, and silica gel chromatography. The SMVO products were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas: clinical experience with endovascular treatment as a primary therapeutic modality.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of endovascular therapy as a primary treatment for spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF).

Methods: The authors reviewed 18 patients with spinal DAVFs for whom endovascular therapy was considered as an initial treatment at a single institute between 1993 and 2006. NBCA embolization was considered the primary treatment of choice, with surgery reserved for patients in whom endovascular treatment failed.