Guidewire damage during cannulated screw fixation for slipped capital femoral epiphysis.

Cannulated screw fixation of slipped capital femoral epiphysis is a standard procedure for the mild to moderately displaced slip. We report six cases in which the guidewire was damaged by a cannulated drill. In five the wire broke off within the femur.

Longitudinal outcome in patients with bipolar disorder assessed by life-charting is influenced by DSM-IV personality disorder symptoms.

Objectives: Few studies have examined the question of how personality features impact outcome in bipolar disorder (BD), though results from extant work and studies in major depressive disorder suggest that personality features are important in predicting outcome. The primary purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of DSM-IV personality disorder symptoms on long-term clinical outcome in BD.

Methods: The study used a 'life-charting' approach in which 87 BD patients were followed regularly and treated according to published guidelines.

The mid-point of passive hip rotation range is an indicator of hip rotation in gait in cerebral palsy.

This study investigated the strength of any linear relationship between femoral anteversion and passive hip rotations, with rotation of the limb during gait. The data of 29 subjects (38 legs) with cerebral palsy (CP) were reviewed. Passive examination data were correlated with hip rotations during the whole gait cycle, and in stance only.

Normalisation of gait data in children.

The comparative effect of semi-dimensional (SD) and non-dimensional (ND) normalisation on the results of a longitudinal study of gait in 5-12-year old children was investigated. The use of both height and leg length in the normalisation was examined. Only ND analysis could be used to identify subjects with the same accelerations.

Gender-related changes in the practice and outcomes of percutaneous coronary interventions in Northern New England from 1994 to 1999.

Objectives: We sought to determine whether the changing practice of interventional cardiology has been associated with improved outcomes for women, and how these outcomes compare with those for men.

Background: Previous work from the early 1990s suggested women are at a higher risk than men for adverse outcomes after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). From 1994 to 1999 data were collected on 33,666 consecutive hospital admissions for a PCI in Northern New England.

Kinematic and kinetic gait characteristics of normal children walking at a range of clinically relevant speeds.

Kinematic and kinetic data were obtained from 36 normal children who walked at five different clinically relevant speeds, which were mostly slower than normal speed. Speed groups were normalized for body height. Speed significantly affected most of the stride parameters, joint angles, joint moments, and the ground reaction force in all three planes of motion.

Induction of mania and cycle acceleration in bipolar disorder: effect of different classes of antidepressant.

Objective: To assess the effect of different antidepressants on induction of mania and cycle acceleration, commonly accepted unwanted effects of antidepressant treatment for acute bipolar depression. There is, however, the suggestion that certain classes of antidepressants may be less likely than others to cause these unwanted effects.

Method: We conducted a prospective, open, naturalistic, life charting study to assess the occurrence of onset of mania and cycle acceleration attributable to two antidepressant classes: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and bupropion.

Previous mood state predicts response and switch rates in patients with bipolar depression.

Objective: The treatment of bipolar depression is a significant clinical problem that remains understudied. The role for antidepressant (AD) agents vs. mood stabilizers has been particularly problematic to ascertain.

Management of completely displaced metaphyseal fractures of the distal radius in children. A prospective, randomised controlled trial.

In a prospective, randomised controlled trial, 68 children who had a completely displaced metaphyseal fracture of the distal radius were treated either by manipulation (MUA) and application of an above-elbow cast alone or by the additional insertion of a percutaneous Kirschner (K-) wire. Full radiological follow-up to union was obtained in 65 children and 56 returned for clinical evaluation three months after injury. Maintenance of reduction was significantly better in the K-wire group and fewer follow-up radiographs were required.

Detection of marijuana use by oral fluid and urine analysis following single-dose administration of smoked and oral marijuana.

We compared oral fluid testing to urine testing in subjects who were administered single doses of marijuana by smoked and oral routes. Oral fluid specimens were collected with the Intercept DOA Oral Specimen Collection Device, screened for THC with the Cannabinoids Intercept MICRO-PLATE Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) utilizing a 1.0-ng/mL cutoff concentration, and confirmed for THC by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS) with a 0.

Use of Quantitative PCR Diagnostics to Identify Tolerance and Resistance to Verticillium dahliae in Potato.

A potato breeding population was evaluated for the presence of tolerance and resistance to Verticillium dahliae. Clones were ranked as susceptible or moderately and highly resistant based on symptom expression, and a species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay was used to determine the Verticillium biomass in the bases of stems. A clone was designated as tolerant if the amount of fungus present in the host tissue was equal to or greater than the collective average amount for all clones in the symptom category above.

Social "status" and biological "status": a comparison of grave goods and skeletal indicators from Pontecagnano.

Comparison of funerary treatment and skeletal biology can be very informative about the interplay of social status and meanings and actual life conditions in ancient communities, but such comparison is rarely done, due in part to the disciplinary separation of bioanthropology and social archaeology in many archaeological traditions. In this paper, we analyze relations between skeletal pathologies and grave goods in a sample of 94 individuals from Pontecagnano (Salerno, Italy, seventh-third centuries BC). The results show that the relationship between health, activity, and social status as expressed in grave goods was complex.

Sagittal joint kinematics, moments, and powers are predominantly characterized by speed of progression, not age, in normal children.

Twenty-six healthy 7-year-old children were enrolled in a 5-year longitudinal study to examine the importance of age and speed in the characterization of sagittal joint angles, moments, and powers. In 740 gait trials, children walking at self-selected speeds were examined on the basis of age and normalized speed [speed/(height x g)1/2]. The kinematics and kinetics in these children were characterized predominantly by normalized speed of progression and not age.

Normalized speed, not age, characterizes ground reaction force patterns in 5-to 12-year-old children walking at self-selected speeds.

Twenty-six healthy 5-year-old children were enrolled in a 7-year longitudinal study to examine the importance of age and speed in the characterization of ground reaction forces. One thousand forty gait trials of children walking at self-selected speeds were examined on the basis of age and normalized speed [speed/(height x g)(1/2)]. Results, presented as discrete peak and trough values and as continuous trace plots over the stance phase, indicated that there was little change in ground reaction forces with age, but there were significant changes in vertical force and anterior-posterior force values with normalized speed.

Group cognitive behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder: a feasibility and effectiveness study.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common disorder that results in significant psychosocial impairment, including diminished quality of life and functioning, despite aggressive pharmacotherapy. Psychosocial interventions that target functional factors could be beneficial for this population, and we hypothesized that the addition of group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to maintenance pharmacotherapy would improve functioning and quality of life.

Methods: Patients diagnosed (by SCID) with bipolar disorder attending an outpatient clinic of a mood disorders program participated in the study.

Administration of p.g. 600 to sows at weaning and the time of ovulation as determined by transrectal ultrasound.

This study determined whether the interval from estrus to ovulation was altered by giving P.G. 600 to sows at weaning.

Number of episodes and antidepressant response in major depression.

Current series of depression suggests that episodes of major depression sensitize a patient to further episodes so that the illness adopts a recurrent course. This suggested pathophysiological process may also lead to increased risk of treatment resistance and a chronic course of illness. This hypothesis has received little empirical support and, if correct, would suggest that greater number of episodes would lead to a decreased response to antidepressants.

[CRIGOS: development of a compact robot for image-guided orthopedic surgery].

In this paper, we present a medical robot system dedicated to support the surgeon during challenging tasks within orthopedic interventions. The main goal of this work is to develop a system as technically simple as the surgical requirements allow to keep its cost and complexity to a minimum. Therefore, we primarily focus on calibrated X-ray imaging for image acquisition, an easy registration procedure and robotic execution using a positioning device with simple parallel kinematics.

Human bone cell hyperpolarization response to cyclical mechanical strain is mediated by an interleukin-1beta autocrine/paracrine loop.

Mechanical stimuli imparted by stretch, pressure, tension, fluid flow, and shear stress result in a variety of biochemical responses important in bone (re)modeling. The molecules involved in the recognition and transduction of mechanical stimuli that lead to modulation of bone cell function are not yet fully characterized. Cyclical pressure-induced strain (PIS) induces a rapid change in membrane potential of human bone cells (HBC) because of opening of membrane ion channels.

Effect of subcutaneous vs intramuscular administration of P.G. 600 on estrual and ovulatory responses of prepubertal gilts.

The effects of s.c. and i.

Properties of herbage in relation to equine dysautonomia: biochemical composition and antioxidant and prooxidant actions.

To investigate the etiology of equine dysautonomia (ED), a degenerative polyneuropathy affecting grazing horses, the biochemical composition and antioxidant/prooxidant activities of aqueous extracts of plants collected from ED pastures were determined. Plants collected immediately after an outbreak of ED had reduced antioxidant and weak prooxidant activities when compared with control plants (plants collected from ED pastures out of ED season and control plants from ED pastures that were grown under favorable conditions). ED plants also had significantly increased concentrations of fructose and low molecular weight phenolic compounds, significantly more of one amino acid zone (probably valine), significantly less tartaric acid, and a nonsignificant decrease in ascorbic acid content when compared with control plants from ED pastures that were grown under favorable conditions.

Extension of the elbow and supracondylar fractures in children.

We tested the hypothesis that children who sustain a supracondylar fracture have a greater range of elbow hyperextension than those with a fracture of the distal radius. Three observers made 358 measurements in 183 children (114 boys and 69 girls). There were 119 fractures of the distal radius and 64 supracondylar fractures.

Safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions performed immediately after diagnostic catheterization in northern new england and comparison with similar procedures performed later.

"Ad hoc" percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs)-those performed immediately after diagnostic catheterization-have been reported in earlier studies to be safe with a suggestion of higher risk in certain subgroups. Despite increasing use of this strategy, no data are available in recent years with new device technology. We studied use of an ad hoc strategy in a large regional population to determine its use and outcomes compared with staged procedures.

Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction in an older woman: facilitated diagnosis with transesophageal echocardiography-guided biopsy.

Fibrosarcoma is a rare primary cardiac malignancy. We report the case of a 70-year-old woman who had signs of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by a fibrosarcoma. The pivotal role of multiplanar transesophageal echocardiography in characterizing masses in this location and in guiding transvenous biopsy is discussed.

Effect of number of episodes on wellbeing and functioning of patients with bipolar disorder.

Objective: To examine the relationship between number of episodes and inter-episode functioning in bipolar disorder.

Method: Sixty-four euthymic subjects with bipolar affective disorder completed the Medical Outcomes Questionnaire Short Form and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. Goodness-of-fit models were used to define the relation between episode number and level of function.