The earliest evidence for Upper Paleolithic occupation in the Armenian Highlands at Aghitu-3 Cave.

With its well-preserved archaeological and environmental records, Aghitu-3 Cave permits us to examine the settlement patterns of the Upper Paleolithic (UP) people who inhabited the Armenian Highlands. We also test whether settlement of the region between ∼39-24,000 cal BP relates to environmental variability. The earliest evidence occurs in archaeological horizon (AH) VII from ∼39-36,000 cal BP during a mild, moist climatic phase.

[Autoimmune pancreatitis mimicking pancreatic tumor].

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare disease of unknown pathomechanism. AIP belongs to the IgG4-related disease family and responds well to steroids, although the relapse rate can reach up to 20-30%. Differentiation of AIP from the more common pancreatic cancer can be very challenging.

Autoimmune pancreatitis mimicking pancreatic tumor.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare disease of unknown pathomechanism. It belongs to the IgG4-related disease family and responds well to steroids, although the relapse rate can reach up to 20-30%. Differentiating AIP from the more common pancreatic cancer can be very challenging.

[Safety of gastrointestinal endoscopy during pregnancy].

There are only few data of gastrointestinal endoscopy in pregnant patients. Only 0.4% of all procedures are carried out during pregnancy.

Crystallization of calcium oxalates is controlled by molecular hydrophilicity and specific polyanion-crystal interactions.

To gain more insight into protein structure-function relationships that govern ectopic biomineralization processes in kidney stone formation, we have studied the ability of urinary proteins (Tamm-Horsfall protein, osteopontin (OPN), prothrombin fragment 1 (PTF1), bikunin, lysozyme, albumin, fetuin-A), and model compounds (a bikunin fragment, recombinant-, milk-, bone osteopontin, poly-L-aspartic acid (poly asp), poly-L-glutamic acid (poly glu)) in modulating precipitation reactions of kidney stone-related calcium oxalate mono- and dihydrates (COM, COD). Combining scanning confocal microscopy and fluorescence imaging, we determined the crystal faces of COM with which these polypeptides interact; using scanning electron microscopy, we characterized their effects on crystal habits and precipitated volumes. Our findings demonstrate that polypeptide adsorption to COM crystals is dictated first by the polypeptide's affinity for the crystal followed by its preference for a crystal face: basic and relatively hydrophobic macromolecules show no adsorption, while acidic and more hydrophilic polypeptides adsorb either nonspecifically to all faces of COM or preferentially to {100}/{121} edges and {100} faces.

Specific adsorption of osteopontin and synthetic polypeptides to calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals.

Protein-crystal interactions are known to be important in biomineralization. To study the physicochemical basis of such interactions, we have developed a technique that combines confocal microscopy of crystals with fluorescence imaging of proteins. In this study, osteopontin (OPN), a protein abundant in urine, was labeled with the fluorescent dye AlexaFluor-488 and added to crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), the major constituent of kidney stones.

Relationship of clinical and demographic characteristics of schizophrenia patients to rehabilitation status.

Objectives: To identify the relationship between demographic, clinical and treatment variables and measures of psychiatric rehabilitation status among chronic schizophrenia patients residing in rehabilitation hostels in the community.

Method: Demographic and clinical data were collected from a sample of 89 patients. The data included: age, gender, education, origin immigration status, age of onset of the illness, family history of mental illness, early parental loss status, psychiatric symptoms (measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and compliance with medication.

[Transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscopy?].

Introduction: The most proper examination for the morphological changes of the upper gastrointestinal tract is endoscopy. The standard oro-gastric route is carried out under conscious sedation, but the drugs used might have cardiopulmonary side effects. Furthermore there are a few conditions when this routine endoscopy is technically impossible.

[Otorhinolaryngeal and phonation aspects of gastroesophageal reflux disease].

Experts dealing with patients of chronic upper and lower airway disorders have drawn a lot of interest in the last decades to gastrooesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Nowadays it is obvious that 'occult GORD' may be an aetiological factor in this group of patients. GORD may has a role in lot of organic laryngeal diseases and functional voice disorders.

Technical modifications for improving the success rate of PEG tube placement in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) benefit from nutritional support by means of PEG tubes, but endoscopy may be impossible when there is partial or complete trismus and/or stenosis or occlusion of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Methods: PEG tubes were placed in 277 patients with HNC. Oral insertion of an endoscope into the esophagus was impossible in 27 patients.

[Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: experience of three years].

Unlabelled: Patients who are not able to eat do need tube feeding. The most preferred way of artificial enteral nutritional support is feeding via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes. Head and neck cancer patients do represent a special group of patients needing a PEG.

Electroconvulsive therapy for epilepsy and major depression.

In this first report of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the simultaneous treatment of seizures and depressive episodes, the authors discuss the use of ECT in the treatment of complex-partial seizures and major depression in a geriatric patients who refused antidepressant and antiepileptic medication. ECT has numerous anticonvulsant effects, including elevated seizure threshold and decreased seizure duration, which make it a useful adjunctive therapy in epilepsy that is refractory or not amenable to treatment with medication.

[Massive haemothorax caused by intralobar pulmonary sequestration].

The authors present the case of a young male with massive haemothorax caused by intralobar bronchopulmonary sequestration. Angiography is necessary for the exact diagnosis of bronchopulmonary sequestration. The most common site of intrapulmonary type sequestration is the left lower lobe of the lung.

Search for viral nucleic acid sequences in brain tissues of patients with schizophrenia using nested polymerase chain reaction.

Background: We used polymerase chain reaction to search for nucleic acid sequences of several viruses in DNA and RNA extracted from brain tissues of schizophrenic and control subjects.

Methods: We extracted DNA and RNA templates from frozen brain specimens of 31 patients with schizophrenia and 23 nonschizophrenic control patients with other diseases. The extracts were subjected to polymerase chain reaction with oligonucleotide primers for 12 different viruses (cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus type 1, human herpesvirus type 6, varicellazoster virus, measles virus, mumps virus, rubella virus, the picornavirus group, influenza A virus, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I, and St Louis encephalitis virus), several of which have been suspected of involvement in schizophrenia.

[Eosinophilic gastroenteritis].

A case of a young man with eosinophilic gastroenteritis with mucosal involvement in the antrum and duodenum is presented. The diagnosis was based on endoscopic biopsy with histological examination, peripheral blood eosinophilia and gastrointestinal symptoms, like abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Parasitic and extraintestinal diseases were ruled out.

Belgrade virus, a cause of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in the Balkans, is closely related to Dobrava virus of field mice.

Belgrade virus is a recently described hantavirus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in people living in various parts of the Balkan Peninsula. Nucleotide sequencing of the G2-encoding region in the medium (M) segment of the viral genome, reverse transcribed and amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, revealed the Belgrade virus to be substantially different from Hantaan virus and other major serotypes of hantavirus but identical to Dobrava virus, a virus isolated from a field mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) in Slovenia. Belgrade virus may be an important cause of HFRS in the Balkan Peninsula, extending north toward the Alps.

Simultaneous occurrence of diabetes insipidus and ascites due to liver cirrhosis: clinical and pathophysiological studies.

Authors describe the simultaneous occurrence of ascites due to liver cirrhosis and diabetes insipidus in a patient with consistently normal urine volume. The diagnosis of diabetes insipidus has been proved by the water deprivation test combined with the administration of dDAVP as well as by serial determinations of plasma arginine vasopressin levels before and during infusion of hypertonic sodium chloride solution. Authors discuss the differential-diagnostic difficulties of the case and consider the mechanisms playing a role in the abolishment of diabetic polyuria by hepatic disease.

[Partial diabetes insipidus and ascitic liver cirrhosis in a patient].

The occurrence of hepatic cirrhosis with ascites and diabetes insipidus in the same patient is described. The stimulability of residual vasopressin was confirmed by water deprival and the partial vasopressin deficit by the administration of dDAVP. Water loading test referred to the possibility of suppression of residual vasopressin.