Neuroendoscopic stent procedure in obstructive hydrocephalus due to both foramina of monro occluding craniopharyngioma: technical note.

Background: The development of various neuroendoscopic surgical instruments has offered more options for endoscopic procedures in the treatment of intraventricular tumors. Not only tumor biopsy or tumor resection but also restoration of an obstructed cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) pathway can be performed using the same approach.

Method: A 76-year-old woman with a cardiac pacemaker for an underlying heart disease was diagnosed with obstructive hydrocephalus because of a third ventricular tumor 8 years ago.

Expression of photoreceptor-associated molecules during human fetal eye development.

Purpose: A characteristic feature of the human retina is the early differentiation of foveal cells followed by a central to peripheral wave of maturation. This can obscure the true onset of differentiation when regions other that the fovea are sampled, or when methods based on whole retina or whole eye tissue are employed, such as reverse transcription-polymerase chain technique (RT-PCR). In order to assess the suitability of RT-PCR based approaches during human retinal development and to gain insight into the developmental progression of photoreceptor differentiation and maturation in the human, we analyzed the expression of several photoreceptor-associated genes by immunocytochemical labeling (ICC) of the foveal region as well as by RT-PCR of total RNA from whole fetal eyes from different developmental stages.

The effects of high- and low-intensity percutaneous stimulation on nitric oxide levels and spike activity in the superficial laminae of the spinal cord.

Nitric oxide (NO) was measured using a new electrochemical method with a carbon fibre microelectrode at depths of up to 400 microm in the lumbar dorsal horn of the anaesthetised rat. The method allowed extracellular spike recording from single units together with the electrochemical recording at the same electrode. Thirty-six cells with low threshold cutaneous (brush/touch) or wide dynamic range receptive fields (brush/touch plus pinch) were studied.

Successful management of a symptomatic fusiform dilatation of the internal carotid artery following surgery of childhood craniopharyngioma.

Introduction: The development of fusiform dilatation of internal carotid artery is one of the vascular complications that can follow surgery for craniopharyngioma and other suprasellar tumours in children, but its pathogenesis and the line of management are still controversial.

Case Report And Discussion: We report a child who presented with a giant fusiform aneurysm involving the supraclinoid portion of the internal carotid artery after total removal of a craniopharyngioma and review the literature on related cases. The treatment of this phenomenon and its possible pathogenesis are discussed.

Image fusion for skull base neuronavigation. Technical note.

An automatic image fusion module (BrainLab, Munich, Germany) is used for the fusion of the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) data sets. The procedure of image fusion takes 5 minutes prior to surgery. The image fusion of CT and MR imaging data visualizes the skull base and tumor margins clearly.

The anatomical basis of the Abbé flap.

Objectives: Objective of the study were 1) to determine the course, including specific relationship to the vermilion border, free margin of the lip, and orbicularis oris and number of the superior and inferior labial arteries, and 2) to discuss the relevance of this anatomy to design of the Abbé flap.

Study Design: Detailed anatomical dissections of the mid and lower face of injected cadaver heads.

Methods: Sixteen superior labial arteries and 15 inferior labial arteries in 9 adult cadaver heads ranging in age from 41 to 90 years were studied.

Antigen-induced mucosal T cell activation is followed by Th1 T cell suppression in continuously fed ovalbumin TCR-transgenic mice.

We investigated kinetics and dose-dependent features of mucosal and peripheral immune responses following oral antigen application in a TCR-transgenic mouse model. Ovalbumin (OVA) TCR-transgenic mice were fed OVA at different doses (5-250 mg) and various frequencies (one to seven times, or continuous feeding). Low- and medium-dose (10, 100 mg) OVA feeding resulted in priming of immune responses, i.

Two homeobox genes define the domain of EphA3 expression in the developing chick retina.

Graded expression of the Eph receptor EphA3 in the retina and its two ligands, ephrin A2 and ephrin A5 in the optic tectum, the primary target of retinal axons, have been implicated in the formation of the retinotectal projection map. Two homeobox containing genes, SOHo1 and GH6, are expressed in a nasal-high, temporal-low pattern during early retinal development, and thus in opposing gradients to EphA3. Retroviral misexpression of SOHo1 or GH6 completely and specifically repressed EphA3 expression in the neural retina, but not in other parts of the central nervous system, such as the optic tectum.

Engineering the active center of the 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase from Lactococcus lactis.

Several amino acids in the active center of the 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase from Lactococcus lactis were replaced by the corresponding residues in homologous enzymes of glycosidase family 1 with different specificities. Three mutants, W429A, K435V/Y437F and S428D/ K435V/Y437F, were constructed. W429A was found to have an improved specificity for glucosides compared with the wild-type, consistent with the theory that the amino acid at this position is relevant for the distinction between galactosides and glucosides.

Propofol decreases stimulated dopamine release in the rat nucleus accumbens by a mechanism independent of dopamine D2, GABAA and NMDA receptors.

Although propofol (2,6-di-isopropylphenol) is a popular i.v. general anaesthetic, it has been suggested to have abuse potential.

Misexpression of the Emx-related homeobox genes cVax and mVax2 ventralizes the retina and perturbs the retinotectal map.

The mechanisms that establish the dorsal-ventral (D-V) axis of the eye are poorly understood. We isolated two homeobox genes from mouse and chicken, mVax2 and cVax, whose expression during early eye development is restricted to the ventral retina. In chick, ectopic expression of either Vax leads to ventralization of the early retina, as assayed by expression of the transcription factors Pax2 and Tbx5, and the Eph family members EphB2, EphB3, ephrinB1, and ephrinB2, all of which are normally dorsally or ventrally restricted.

Safety of paranasal sinus surgery in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Objective: Document the safety of paranasal sinus surgery in cystic fibrosis patients and review the changing trends in paranasal sinus surgery in the cystic fibrosis population.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Materials And Methods: Chart review of cystic fibrosis patients who underwent paranasal sinus surgery from 1955 to 1997.

Irradiated rib cartilage graft for reconstruction of the tympanic membrane: preliminary results.

Objective: To evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, safety, and results in reconstruction of the tympanic membrane using irradiated rib cartilage.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: A tertiary referral center.

Functional analysis and association state of water channel (AQP-1) isoforms purified from six mammals.

Aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) or CHIP28 occurs in glycosylated (glyCHIP) and non-glycosylated (CHIP) forms and solubilization in octyl-beta-D-glucoside (OG) results in a tight association of glyCHIP and CHIP to form a heterodimer. The tight association did not permit separation of the two forms by affinity chromatography. We examined the mechanism of the tight association by enzymatic removal of sugar moieties, utilized organic solvents for preferential solubilization and purified CHIP28 from six mammals for inspection of glycosylation and association state in OG.

Vitamin A deficiency alters rat neutrophil function.

Previous studies showed a higher percentage of neutrophils from vitamin A deficient rats are hypersegmented and contain lower levels of cathepsin G than the neutrophils from control rats. In this study chemotaxis, phagocytosis and oxidant generation were studied using either isolated neutrophils or neutrophils in whole blood from four dietary groups of rats: 1) vitamin A deficient rats; 2) vitamin A deficient rats that received vitamin A for 16, 8, 4 or 2 d prior to killing; 3) weight-matched rats pair-fed a vitamin A-complete diet; and 4) rats fed nonrestricted, vitamin A complete diet. Chemotaxis towards P.

Changes in rat corneal matrix metalloproteinases and serine proteinases under vitamin A deficiency.

Purpose: Vitamin A deficiency alters the transparency of the cornea due to epithelial cell keratinization and increases the susceptibility of the cornea to ulceration. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of vitamin A deficiency on rat corneal matrix metalloproteinases and serine proteinases.

Methods: Four dietary groups of male WAG/RijMCW rats were prepared: (1) Vitamin A deficient rats were raised on a casein-based retinoid deficient diet; (2) Retinol repleted rats were raised on the retinoid deficient diet.

Neutrophil cathepsin G is specifically decreased under vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A deficiency leads to an increased susceptibility to infections, increased severity of infections and increased mortality. Because the neutrophil is the first cell to respond to infection, this study explores the effect of vitamin A deficiency on neutrophil proteinases. We found that neutrophils from vitamin A-deficient rats had lower levels of two cathepsin G-like enzymes (28 and 24 kDa) when compared to neutrophils from weight-matched pair-fed rats, vitamin A-deficient rats which were repleted with retinyl palmitate and nonrestricted vitamin A complete diet rats.

Tailor-made and standardized therapy: complementary tasks in behavior therapy. A contrarian view.

In medicine, decisions about treatment selection are mainly based on clinical diagnoses, whereas behavior therapists have typically assumed that it is necessary to tailor treatments based on individual problem analyses. However, various studies (including our own using patients with phobic anxieties) have failed to demonstrate an advantage for this procedure. At least for some disorders, clinical diagnosis appears to be a relevant and sufficient criterion for treatment selection.

Retinol is sequestered in the bone marrow of vitamin A-deficient rats.

Retinoic acid bound to the nuclear retinoic acid receptor-alpha is required for the differentiation of promyelocytes to mature neutrophils. However, severely vitamin A-deficient rats have normal numbers of neutrophils in the blood and inflamed tissues. This paradox was explored using four dietary groups of rats: 1) vitamin A-deficient rats; 2) vitamin A-deficient rats subsequently receiving vitamin A; 3) weight-matched pair-fed rats; and 4) nonrestricted, vitamin A-complete diet-fed rats.

Effect of vitamin A deficiency on the early response to experimental Pseudomonas keratitis.

Purpose: Vitamin A-deficient humans and animals are more susceptible to infections than are healthy humans and animals. This study compares the early corneal response (within 24 hours) to an experimental Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection between vitamin A deficient and control rats.

Methods: Male WAG/Rij/MCW rats were fed either a vitamin A- deficient diet (A-) or the same diet with retinyl palmitate added back in a nonrestricted manner (N) or under pair-fed conditions (A+) to yield weight-matched rats.

Properties of the human nuclear protein p85Mcm. Expression, nuclear localization and interaction with other Mcm proteins.

Recently we identified a cDNA fragment encoding a conserved part of a new human minichromosome maintenance (Mcm) protein, provisionally termed P1.1Mcm3. Here, we report that the protein is most highly related to a yeast cell-division-cycle protein, Cdc47, encoded by the open reading frame YBR1441 on chromosome 11 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.