Neural network analysis for predicting metrics of fragmented laminar artifacts: a case study from MPPNB sites in the Southern Levant.

This study was aimed at introducing a new method for predicting the original metrics of fragmented standardized artifacts, specifically of flint blades from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (10,200/100-9,500/400 cal B.P.) in the Southern Levant.

A rare case of essential thrombocythemia with pseudo-hyperkalemia.

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a rare clonal stem cell disorder that affects the production of platelets in the bone marrow. This condition causes an overproduction of platelets, which can lead to blood clots and other complications. Potassium, on the other hand, is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in various bodily functions, including nerve impulses and muscle contractions.

Unmet communication needs and moral work in the disposition decision concerning surplus frozen embryos: The perspectives of IVF users.

The disposition decision is a frequently unresolved issue for many IVF users with surplus frozen embryos (SFEs), and this study draws attention to their experiences and moral work, locating it in the Jewish-Israeli context that legally enables the donation of SFEs to research but prohibits donation to other infertile people. To explore the (mis)understandings and (mis)communication underlying IVF users' decisions concerning the fate of their SFEs, the records of 674 IVF users with SFEs stored for more than 5 years during 1996-2011 were analyzed, and 89 IVF users with different disposition decisions were recruited for semi-structured interviews. With an average of 5.

Farming legumes in the pre-pottery Neolithic: New discoveries from the site of Ahihud (Israel).

New discoveries of legumes in the lower Galilee at the prehistoric site of Ahihud in Israel shed light on early farming systems in the southern Levant. Radiocarbon dating of twelve legumes from pits and floors indicate that the farming of legumes was practiced in southern Levant as early as 10.240-10.

The onset of faba bean farming in the Southern Levant.

Even though the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is among the most ubiquitously cultivated crops, very little is known about its origins. Here, we report discoveries of charred faba beans from three adjacent Neolithic sites in the lower Galilee region, in the southern Levant, that offer new insights into the early history of this species.

Cognitive dysfunction evaluation in multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon beta-1b: an open-label prospective 1 year study.

Background: The cognitive impairment (frontal, parietal) in many patients with multiple sclerosis does not correlate with the degree of neurological disability and disease duration. Frontal/prefrontal cognitive impairment requires neuropsychological diagnostic tools.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical effect of IFNbeta-1b (Betaferon) treatment on cognitive function and event-related potential as compared to the clinical course (EDSS) in MS patients during 1 year of follow-up.

Progressive parkinsonism in a young experimental physicist following long-term exposure to methanol.

A case is described of an experimental physicist who developed parkinsonism, apparently as delayed toxic effect of long exposure to vapors of methanol in the laboratory. Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) supported the diagnosis, after exclusion of hereditary diseases and primary degenerative diseases. Screening for heavy metals in urine and plasma ceruloplasmin was negative.

Comparison of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) and interferon beta-1b (Betaferon) in multiple sclerosis patients: an open-label 2-year follow-up.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy, as expressed by relapse rate and disability accumulation, and safety profile of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone; COP-1) and Interferon beta-1b (Betaferon; IFN beta - 1b) administered to multiple sclerosis patients during a 2-year follow-up on an open-label parallel design, as compared to their clinical condition in the 2-year period prior to treatment.

Background: Copaxone and IFN beta - 1b have been recently introduced for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. Both medications have been proven to have a relatively safe profile and are used extensively world-wide.

Identification in Israel of 2 Jewish Creutzfeld-Jakob disease patients with a 178 mutation at their PrP gene.

Among the dozen known mutations in the PrP gene which segregate with the inherited prion diseases, only 2 mutations have been described in Israel so far: the codon 200 mutation in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) affected Libyan Jews, and the codon 102 mutation in 1 Jewish Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker (GSS) affected pedigree of German origin. We report here 2 unrelated CJD178 cases affected by a unique phenotype: aphemia, apraxia, uncontrolled laugh and no ataxia. As opposed to other CJD178 patients, in these patients, the signal transduction protein 14-3-3, recently suggested as a CJD marker, was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid samples by immunostaining.

The enigma of parkinsonism in chronic borderline mercury intoxication, resolved by challenge with penicillamine.

A 47 year old female dentist suffered from hemiparkinsonism which had started eighteen months earlier and was manifested mainly by resting tremor and cogwheel rigidity. A baseline quantitative urinary mercury excretion was 46 micrograms/day. The patient was treated with chelating agent d-penicillamine for a week.

L'homme qui rit: inappropriate laughter and release phenomena of the frontal subdominant lobe.

Witzelsucht and moria are time-honored neurobehavioral terms. Witzelsucht is a tendency to tell inappropriate jokes, and moria is euphoric behavior. Focal right-orbitofrontal parenchymal lesion is often the anatomical substrate for these behavioral attitudes.

The value of exploratory laparotomy in patients with endometrial carcinoma according to the new International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging.

Objective: We conducted a retrospective review of 169 consecutive patients diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma to evaluate the advantage of exploratory laparotomy according to the new International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) classification as compared with clinical staging.

Methods: All 169 patients were admitted to the Department of Gynecologic Oncology from August 1980 through June 1988 and underwent exploratory laparotomy, which included total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and peritoneal washings. We performed complete lymph node dissection of the pelvic and the para-aortic areas on 87 patients with clinical stages I and II.

Tumor debulking followed by immediate combination chemotherapy in advanced ovarian carcinoma. Phase II.

Fifty-one consecutive, previously untreated patients with FIGO stage III or IV epithelial ovarian carcinoma were enrolled in a prospective study over a period of 7 years (1981-1988). Significant improvement has been noted in patients with advanced ovarian cancer following the administration of modified PAC 1 (adriamycin, cytoxan and cyclophosphamide) immediately following primary debulking surgery (within 24 hours) and repeated for 11 monthly cycles. A second look operation was found as an important prognostic indicator.

Impulsive artistic creativity as a presentation of transient cognitive alterations.

A 27-year-old right-handed male mosaic artisan who had not shown any interest in drawing or artistic activity was admitted to the Department of Neurology for attacks of bizarre behavior and convulsive disorder. The patient reported feeling "waves" engulfing him during the attacks, leaving him floating helplessly. During some attacks, the patient impulsively initiated drawing activity.

Plasma lipid-associated sialic acid and serum CA 125 as indicators of disease status with advanced ovarian cancer.

Levels of plasma lipid-associated sialic acid and serum cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) were measured in 49 consecutive patients with advanced ovarian cancer (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages III or IV) and in 43 women with benign gynecologic diseases who served as controls. Levels were evaluated in 22 previously untreated patients before initial debulking surgery, in 11 with negative second-look operation, and in 16 with persistent or progressive disease confirmed by second-look operation or reexploration. Plasma lipid-associated sialic acid values had a sensitivity of 100% in previously untreated patients, a specificity of 73% in those with negative second-look, and a sensitivity of 87% in those with positive second-look, or persistent disease.

Stage IV endometrial carcinoma in a 25-year-old woman: a case report and review of the literature.

Presented is a case of endometrial adenocarcinoma FIGO stage IV grade III in a 25-year-old woman with no evidence of any associated disease or known risk factors. To the best of the authors' knowledge this association has not been reported previously.

The feasibility of early administration of combination chemotherapy following cytoreductive surgery and second-look operation in patients with stage III ovarian carcinoma: a pilot study.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of early use of modified PAC-1 chemotherapy following debulking surgery and its efficacy by assessing disease status during a second-look operation. Twenty-six consecutive previously untreated patients with stage III ovarian carcinoma were evaluated in a prospective study over the 5-year period March 1981 to August 1986. Initial exploratory laparotomy was performed for staging and maximum cytoreduction.

Lipid associated sialic acid in plasma in patients with advanced carcinoma of the ovaries.

Plasma lipid associated sialic acid (LASA-P) was evaluated in relation to disease status and disease progression in a total of 52 consecutive patients with advanced carcinoma of the ovaries (FIGO stage III and IV). Forty-three individuals with benign gynecologic diseases served as controls. There were three groups.

Malignant cystic meningioma with spike and wave EEG pattern.

A 23 year old woman suffering from grand mal epilepsy showed generalized spike and wave activity on her EEG. The CT showed a cystic tumor in the cortex and the white tissue of the right parietal region. On operation the tumor was diagnosed as malignant infiltrating cystic meningioma.

Selective regional effect of various neuroactive drugs on bromocriptine concentration in the brain of rats.

Bromocriptine (2-Br-alpha-ergocryptine), a partial ergoline derivative, is a dopamine agonist which has been used successfully in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia, acromegaly and Parkinson's disease. The main targets for the action of the drug are the hypothalamic, hypophyseal pathway and the striatum. These regions contain different populations of neurons which interact with each other in a complex way.

Thymectomy and chronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in guinea pigs.

Chronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in young Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs by a single sensitization with guinea pig spinal cord homogenate. The effect of either newborn thymectomy or young adult thymectomy on the clinical course of chronic and relapsing EAE was studied and evaluated statistically by Student's t test. All the animals that underwent thymectomy showed a significant delay in the onset of the disease compared with control groups.

Effect of various neuroactive drugs on bromocriptine concentration in the striatum of rats.

Parkinsonian patients are usually given several drugs concomitantly with bromocriptine, with variable results. The possibility of interference of these drugs with the availability of bromocriptine in the brain was investigated by measuring bromocriptine concentrations in the striatum in rats. After a single injection, bromocriptine concentration in the striatum was 13.

Convulsive attacks due to antidepressant drug overdoses: case reports and discussion.

Antidepressant drug overdoses have been reported to induce seizures, but the etiology of this phenomenon is still unclear. Recently we treated three patients who suffered from epileptic seizures after acute overdoses of three antidepressant drugs: (a) Dibenzepin HCl (Noveril), (b) Maprotiline HCl (Ludiomil), and (c) Clorimipramine (Anafranil). After a review of the pertinent literature, the possible role of antidepressant drugs in the genesis of epileptic seizures is discussed.