Sarcoma in the forearm and hand: clinical outcomes and microsurgical reconstruction for limb salvage.

Sarcomas in the forearm and hand are very rare, and surgical outcomes have been unclear. The aim of this study was to examine oncologic outcome, microvascular reconstruction, and functional evaluation. A retrospective review was performed in 19 patients who were treated for soft tissue or osseous sarcoma.

Intrasacral schwannoma: clinical presentation, diagnosis and management.

Intrasacral schwannoma is a very rare lesion. We report here three cases of intrasacral schwannoma originating within the sacrum and discuss their clinical presentation, diagnosis and management. Complete excision would appear to be the treatment of choice, but conservative treatment is an option provided the tumour causes no serious symptoms.

Total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake is inversely associated with serum C-reactive protein in young Japanese women.

Little is known about the relation of dietary factors to circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations in young adults and non-Western populations. We cross-sectionally examined associations between dietary intake and serum CRP concentrations in young Japanese women. The subjects were 443 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18 to 22 years.

MachiBase: a Drosophila melanogaster 5'-end mRNA transcription database.

MachiBase (http://machibase.gi.k.

Myocardial repair achieved by the intramyocardial implantation of adult cardiomyocytes in combination with bone marrow cells.

Various cytokines produced by bone marrow cells can protect adult cardiomyocytes against apoptosis. Thus, we investigated the feasibility of implanting adult cardiomyocytes in combination with bone marrow cells for myocardial repair. Ventricular cardiomyocytes were isolated from adult rats and cocultured with bone marrow cells.

Serial evaluation of human anterior cruciate ligament grafts by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: comparison of allografts and autografts.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the difference in remodeling between allografts and autografts in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Methods: We examined 24 knees with bone-patellar tendon-bone allografts and 20 knees with central-third bone-patellar tendon-bone autografts. Surgical patients from January 1997 to December 2002 were included in the study, and more than 1 year had passed since surgery.

Polaron dynamics of heavily doped regioregular and regiorandom poly(3-alkylthiophenes) revealed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) features in heavily doped conjugated polymers are investigated through the comparison of temperature dependences of ESR spectra between head-to-tail coupled regioregular (RR) and regiorandom (RRa) poly(3-octylthiophenes) (P3OTs). RR-P3OT, used as a model of having crystalline grains in the solid film, is found to exhibit anisotropic ESR spectra, whereas RRa-P3OT gives almost isotropic ESR spectra similar to those of usual heavily doped conjugated polymers. This difference in the degree of spectral anisotropy primarily arises from a difference in their film morphology.

A newly designed and constructed 20 kHz magnetic field exposure facility for in vivo study.

Exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields has increased over the past century. As a result of exposure to these fields, concerns have been raised regarding the relationship between electromagnetic fields and human health. Interest in the biological and health effects of intermediate frequency (IF) magnetic fields has grown recently because of the increase in public concern.

Cartilaginous features in matrix-producing carcinoma of the breast: four cases report with histochemical and immunohistochemical analysis of matrix molecules.

Matrix-producing carcinoma of the breast is a well-established entity in the group of metaplastic carcinoma, which is histologically characterized by myxochondroid matrix formation and is extremely rare. We describe here four additional cases of matrix-producing carcinoma of the breast. All cases of matrix-producing carcinoma show nest-like, sheet-like, and cord-like growth of tumor cells with cellular atypia, in addition to scattered cancer cells within myxoid or myxohyalinous stroma.

Changes in the expression of CD106, osteogenic genes, and transcription factors involved in the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are well known to possess multipotential differentiation and are becoming a good tool for clinical research. However, specific markers for their purification and the mechanism of their osteogenic differentiation remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we compared the expression of CD106, and osteogenic differentiation-related proteins and genes in human bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs, before and after differentiation by FACS, histochemical staining, immunohistochemical staining, RT-PCR, and real-time PCR.

Chimerism studies as an approach for the induction of tolerance to extremity allografts.

Recent advances in the field of transplant immunology and reconstructive surgery have resulted in an increased interest in extremity allograft. Until now, more than 20 hand transplants have been performed in humans. Rejection is well controlled by currently available immunosuppressive drugs.

Preparation of human immune effector T cells containing iron-oxide nanoparticles.

Preparation of human immune T cells containing iron-oxide nanoparticles was carried out for the development of magnetically mediated immunotherapy. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) after the incubation with magnetite nanoparticles were found to contain measurable ferric ions, which suggested the incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) study indicated that the incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles was mediated by endocytosis of PBLs.

Peripheral neuropathies of the forearm and hand in rheumatoid arthritis: diagnosis and options for treatment.

Although the clinical hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involves inflammatory joint disease, extra-articular manifestations may be evident in 20% of patients. Among them neurologic features involving both the peripheral and central nervous system are one of the more common, but little has been noticed about it in clinic. The same mechanisms participating in joint destruction, synovial inflammation, and vasculitis contribute to the various RA neurological complications.

Neuron-specific and inducible recombination by Cre recombinase in the mouse.

To investigate the neuronal function of genes in vivo, a neuron-specific and inducible gene targeting system is desirable. In this study, we generated a knockin mouse line that expresses a fusion protein consisting of the Cre recombinase and the progesterone receptor (CrePR) in neurons. The neuron-specific expression of CrePR was attained by inserting CrePR gene into the tau locus, because tau is expressed strongly in neurons but scarcely in glias and other tissues.

Repopulation of donor cells from the recipient following extremity graft: studies using the LACZ transgenic rat.

Cell traffic from the recipient into the graft, so called graft chimerism, appears to play a major role in graft acceptance. This study was conducted using LacZ transgenic rats to define recipient cell migration into whole-limb grafts. Eighteen hind limb transplants were performed across LacZ+ transgenic and LacZ- rats.

Neuron-specific recombination by Cre recombinase inserted into the murine tau locus.

To determine the neuronal function of genes in vivo, the neuron-specific deletion of a target gene in animals is required. Tau, a microtubule-associated protein, is expressed abundantly in neurons but scarcely in glias and other tissues. Therefore, to generate mice that express Cre recombinase in neurons, we inserted Cre recombinase into the tau locus.

Intramuscular hemangioma of the upper extremity in infants and children.

Purpose: Intramuscular hemangiomas (IMHs) are benign tumors comprising just 0.8% of all hemangiomas and are extremely rare in the upper limbs. These tumors can pose diagnostic as well as therapeutic challenges for orthopaedic surgeons, especially in younger children.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma of the larynx: a case report of an unusual location with immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses.

Background: Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm of uncertain origin. In this article, we report a case of ASPS occurring in the larynx, an extremely rare location for this rather unusual tumor.

Methods And Results: The patient was a 34-year-old Japanese woman who requested an examination for hoarseness.

The patient health questionnaire, Japanese version: validity according to the mini-international neuropsychiatric interview-plus.

To validate the Japanese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire against the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus in Japan 131 patients in 4 primary care settings and 2 general hospital settings participated. These patients completed the Patient Health Questionnaire and returned it to their physician within 48 hr. Subsequently, the subjects underwent a diagnostic evaluation interview based on the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus by an interviewer blind to the results of the Patient Health Questionnaire screening.

Differential regulation of eotaxin expression by dexamethasone in normal human lung fibroblasts.

Lung fibroblasts are a major source of several cytokines including CC chemokine eotaxin. We aimed to study the regulation of eotaxin-1/CCL11 production by dexamethasone and analyze its molecular mechanisms in human lung fibroblasts. Normal human lung fibroblast cells were exposed to IL-4 (40 ng/ml) and/or dexamethasone (10(-6)-10(-9) M), and eotaxin mRNA expression and production was evaluated.

Carbocyclization reaction of omega-iodo- and 1,omega-diiodo-1-alkynes without the loss of iodine atoms through a carbenoid-chain process.

Atom-economical carbocyclization reactions of omega-iodo-1-alkynes and 1,omega-diiodo-1-alkynes to give products with incorporation of iodine atoms is described. Cycloisomerization of 2-(2-propynyloxy)ethyl iodides is initiated by a catalytic amount of LDA to give 3-(iodomethylene)tetrahydrofurans in high yields. Upon treatment of with a catalytic amount of 1-hexynyllithium, 1,omega-diiodo-1-alkynes efficiently undergo cycloisomerization to give (diiodomethylene)cycloalkanes.

Large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, with lymphoid stroma.

We report two cases of a large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin as a distinct histological category. The patients are a 63-year-old woman with a 7-mm reddish round nodule on her nose for 4 months, and a 95-year-old man with several hemorrhagic nodules on the external ear for 28 months. The first patient had two positive sentinel lymph nodes.

Primary reconstruction with digital ray transposition after resection of malignant tumor.

Introduction: Hand reconstruction after wide resection of digital malignant tumors is still very challenging. The technique of adjacent digital ray transposition has been used for digital defects arising from trauma, but few papers have focused on reconstruction following resection of malignant tumors of the finger. The indications, complications and functional outcomes with this approach are discussed.

Sequential treatment with intermittent low-dose human parathyroid hormone (1-34) and bisphosphonate enhances large-size skeletal reconstruction by vascularized bone transplantation.

Vascularized bone transplantation enables reconstruction of large skeletal defects, but this process needs a long time. Since short-term intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) enhances rat fracture healing, we investigated the effects of 4-week intermittent low-dose (10 microg/kg/day) or high-dose (100 microg/kg/day) PTH followed by 4-week vehicle, low-dose or high-dose intermittent PTH, or zoledronic acid (ZOL, 2 micro/kg/week), a potent bisphosphonate, on large skeletal reconstruction by vascularized tibial grafting in rats. Compared to 8-week vehicle, 8-week low-dose PTH did not significantly increase the serum osteocalcin level as well as the urinary deoxypyridinoline level, while 4-week low-dose or high-dose PTH followed by 4-week ZOL decreased both of these levels.