[Renal adenocarcinoma with vena cava invasion: current status of its diagnosis and treatment using total segmentary cavectomy].

Objectives: Renal adenocarcinoma is characterized by marked venotropism; 20-49% show extension into the main renal vein and 4-19% into the vena cava. The present study analyzes the different diagnostic methods to evaluate the vascular involvement by renal carcinoma and presents the results achieved by total segmental cavectomy with ligation of the left renal vein and without vena caval reanastomosis.

Methods: Three patients (two males, one female) underwent total segmental cavectomy with ligation of the left renal vein in our Service over the last 10 years.

Effects of capture and transport on blood parameters in free-ranging mouflon (Ovis ammon).

Twelve free-ranging mouflon (Ovis ammon), eight adults and four lambs, were captured in northeast Spain. The animals were transported for 9 hr from the capture site to the Wildlife Rescue Center at Vallcalent (Lleida), 300 km SW. Blood samples were taken at capture and after transport to study the effects on hematologic and biochemical parameters.

Analysis of human ocular mucus: effects of neuraminidase and chitinase enzymes.

Purpose: Our goal was to establish the characteristic migration pattern on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of high molecular weight mucins from human ocular mucus and the effects of treatment with exo- and endoglycosidases.

Methods: Chromatography by gel filtration with Sepharose CL-4B was performed on samples collected from normal subjects. Human ocular mucins from the high molecular weight fraction were digested with exoglycosidases (neuraminidase, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, beta-D-glucosidase) and endoglycosidases (chitinase, lysozyme); and the resulting products were analyzed by electrophoresis.

Early gram-positive bacteremia in BMT recipients: impact of three different approaches to antimicrobial prophylaxis.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis against gram-positive bacteremia (GPB) following BMT may prevent infections but promote antimicrobial resistance. In a sequential cohort study involving 289 consecutive BMT recipients we compared three protocols for prevention of GPB (vancomycin prophylaxis, penicillin/cefazolin prophylaxis, and no specific GPB prophylaxis) with respect to incidence of GPB, mortality, and vancomycin use. GPB was associated with increased mortality (27% vs 15%; P = 0.

Herbivores, the Functional Diversity of Plants Species, and the Cycling of Nutrients in Ecosystems.

Numerous investigators have suggested that herbivores almost always increase rates of nutrient and energy flow through terrestrial ecosystems by returning to the soil fecal material and urine with faster turnover rate than shed plant litter. These previous theories and models always treat the producer compartment as a homogenous pool. Essentially, they assume that consumers feed through a pureed cream of vegetable soup.

Porcine model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy with platelets.

Purpose: To develop an experimental model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) in the pig, and determine the efficacy of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) compared with different platelet plasma concentrates in its development.

Methods: Animals were divided into four groups of 12 pigs each. Group 1, 2, and 3 underwent four 3-mm-long retinotomies, a partial mechanical vitrectomy, and six transconjunctival retinal cryoapplications and were injected intravitreally with, respectively, 0.

Synthesis of epothilones A and B in solid and solution phase.

Epothilones A and B, two compounds that have been recently isolated from myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum strain 90, have generated intense interest among chemists, biologists and clinicians owing to the structural complexity, unusual mechanism of interaction with microtubules and anticancer potential of these molecules. Like taxol, they exhibit cytotoxicity against tumour cells by inducing microtubule assembly and stabilization, even in taxol-resistant cell lines. Following the structural elucidation of these molecules by X-ray crystallography in 1996, several syntheses of epothilones A and B have been reported, indicative of the potential importance of these molecules in the cancer field.

Characterization of epithelial primary cultures from human conjunctiva.

Primary cultures of human epithelial cells from normal conjunctiva were developed and characterized to determine whether they retained epithelial characteristics. Conjunctival explants were obtained from the upper fornix of healthy donors and cultured in supplemented DMEM/F-12 medium for 5 days. The epithelial outgrowth was maintained for an additional 10 days.

The role of retinotomy in an experimental rabbit model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Purpose: To create a model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) using retinotomy with vitrectomy, cryotherapy, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, which more closely resembles the human pathophysiologic condition.

Methods: One hundred and twenty albino rabbits were divided into 10 groups of 12 rabbits each and underwent the following procedures: group 1, vitrectomy; group 2, cryotherapy; group 3, PRP intravitreous injection; group 4, retinotomy; group 5, retinotomy and vitrectomy; group 6, retinotomy and cryotherapy; group 7, retinotomy and PRP injection; group 8, retinotomy, vitrectomy, and cryotherapy; group 9, vitrectomy, cryotherapy, and PRP injection and group 10, retinotomy, vitrectomy, cryotherapy, and PRP injection. All animals underwent follow-up examinations with indirect ophthalmoscopy and fundus photography on days 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 after the procedure(s).

Sclerosing adenocarcinoma of the extrahepatic bile duct in a cat.

Sclerosing adenocarcinoma of the extrahepatic bile duct and pyometra were diagnosed in a 17-year-old entire female Siamese cat which had had anorexia, depression, acute icterus and abdominal distension for about a week. Clinical signs derived from he tumor were minimal and non-specific until the diffuse thickening of the bile duct obstructed bile flow and acute icterus resulted. Sclerosing adenocarcinoma of the extrahepatic bile duct is a human variant of bile duct carcinomas that has not, to the authors' knowledge, previously been described in the cat, but it appears to be as invasive as other feline hepatic tumours.

Plasma albumin induces calcium waves in rat cortical astrocytes.

Changes in intracellular calcium were monitored in cultured cortical astrocytes stimulated with albumin. Albumin elicited intracellular calcium mobilisation from intracellular stores, inducing repetitive intracellular calcium oscillations. The oscillations were not blocked by ryanodine, a blocker of the Ca-induced Ca release mechanism, and the release occurred from the same store as is accessed by glutamate and bradykinin, both of which release calcium by an IP3-dependent mechanism.

Nonpeptide angiotensin II receptor antagonists: synthesis and biological activity of 1H-imidazo and 1H-[1,2,3]-triazolo fused derivatives.

A series of 1H-Imidazo and 1H-[1,2,3]-Triazolo fused derivatives have been obtained and tested as non peptide AII receptor antagonists. Modification of the classical biphenyl moiety to a 4-arylthienyl fragment afforded interesting activities.

Influence of topical anesthesia on tests diagnostic of blepharitis-associated dry eye syndrome.

Purpose: Despite the high frequency and clinical relevance of blepharitis-associated dry-eye syndrome, no agreement exists about whether diagnostic tests should be performed with or without topical anesthesia. The aim of this study was to compare the influence of topical anesthesia on the mean values of Schirmer's test, tear lysozyme, tear lactoferrin, and tear osmolarity in patients suffering from blepharitis-associated dry eye syndrome.

Methods: The authors compared the mean values of Schirmer's test, tear osmolarity, tear lysozyme (turbidimetric assay), and tear lactoferrin (radial immunodiffusion) before and after topical anesthesia in the following groups: 56 normal subjects (group 1), 62 blepharitis patients (group 2), and 15 patients with blepharitis-associated dry eye syndrome (group 3).

Value of logistic discriminant analysis for interpreting initial visual field defects.

Purpose: The authors evaluate logistic discriminant analysis as a method for interpreting visual field results in initial stages of several ophthalmic diseases.

Methods: The authors retrospectively studied the visual field defects of 96 patients with early glaucomatous damage and prospectively studied 84 subjects with normal eyes (n = 28), cataracts (n = 27), diabetic retinopathy (n = 14), or hypertensive retinopathy (n = 15). The visual fields were examined at least twice with program G1 of Octopus 500 (Interzeag AG, Schlieren, Switzerland).

Original papers: Prevalence of amblyogenic diseases in a preschool population sample of Valladolid, Spain.

Objectives: Amblyopia is the leading cause of monocular vision loss in people under 40 years, and especially in children. The purpose of the present investigation is to determine the prevalence of amblyopia and ocular pathology, specially the most common causes of amblyopia, in a population of 3-to 6-year-old children.

Patients And Methods: From a total of 8167 children, a geographically defined population of 3-to 6-year-old children, 2000 were randomly selected, and 1179 (58.

Evaluation of a hematology analyzer with canine and feline blood.

A semiautomatic electronic blood cell counter (Sysmex F-800:Toa Medical Electronics Europa Gmbh, Hamburg, Germany) was evaluated using canine and feline blood, following the International Committee for Standardization in Hematology protocol (ICSH, 1984). Precision and overall reproducibility were acceptable for all the parameters studied except for the feline platelet count, in which overlapping of erythrocyte and platelet populations prohibited determination of an accurate platelet count. Since carry-over from canine hematocrit values and platelet counts and from feline hematocrit values was unsatisfactory, the use of a blank diluent sample between different analyses was necessary.

Glans hyperemia after penile revascularization: a late complication following alpha-1-receptor blockade for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Surgical revascularization of the penile vessels is one treatment choice for patients with vasculogenic impotence. Hyperemia of the glans is a rare but severe complication which usually occurs early. We report a patient who developed this complication more than 3.

Efficacy of nedocromil sodium and cromolyn sodium in an experimental model of ocular allergy.

Background: Because ocular allergic disorders are important in terms of frequency and severity, there is a constant search for new topical antiallergic drugs. Nedocromil sodium has recently been introduced as a potential substitute for the mast cell stabilizer cromolyn sodium.

Objective: We compared the efficacy of topical 2% nedocromil sodium to that of 2% cromolyn sodium in treatment of the early-phase reaction of an experimental model of allergic conjunctivitis.

[Left-sided flank pain in coincident infrarenal aortic aneurysm and left-sided nephropathy].

Two cases illustrating the difficult differential diagnosis of left-sided pain in the coincidence of nephropathy and aortic aneurysm are described. In both cases an aortic aneurysm was discovered, although the aneurysm caused the pain in the side in only one case. In particular, older men with recently occurring side or back pain must be examined with regard to aortic aneurysm.

Properties of the nociceptive neurons of the leech segmental ganglion.

1. The electrical responses of nociceptive (N) lateral and N medial neurons of the leech segmental ganglion to mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimulation of the skin were studied in a superfused ganglion-body wall preparation. 2.

Polyester nanocapsules as new topical ocular delivery systems for cyclosporin A.

Purpose: Nanocapsules composed of an oily core (Migliol 840) (MG) surrounded by a poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PECL) coat were evaluated as potential vehicles for the topical ocular administration of cyclosporin A (CyA).

Methods: A 2(3) experimental factorial design was applied to optimize the coating of the oily nanodroplets by a solvent displacement technique and to encapsulate a high dose of CyA. The variables investigated were: volume of oil (MG), amount of polymer (PECL), and volume of the organic solvent (acetone) used to dissolve the polymer.