Cataract in atomic bomb survivors.

Purpose: Ophthalmologic examinations were conducted on atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors 55 years after exposure.

Materials And Methods: A-bomb survivors who had been exposed before 13 years of age at the time of the bombings in 1945 or who had been examined in a previous study between 1978 and 1980. The examinations, conducted between June 2000 and September 2002, included slit-lamp examination, digital photography and a cataract grading system for three parts of the lens (nucleus, cortex and posterior subcapsule) as an outcome variable.

Subclinical cranial nerve involvement in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy: a combined conduction study with electrical and magnetic stimulation.

Objective: To evaluate the electrophysiological findings of clinically unaffected cranial nerves (facial, accessory and hypoglossal nerves) in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN).

Methods: The conduction times of the facial, accessory, and hypoglossal nerves in 10 patients with HMSN type I (HMSN I), 2 patients with HMSN Type II (HMSN II), and 20 normal controls were determined. The extra- and intracranial segments of the cranial nerves were stimulated electrically and magnetically, respectively.

Administration of phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol liposomes partially reconstitutes fat absorption in chronically bile-diverted rats.

Background And Aims: Intestinal bile deficiency in cholestatic patients leads to fat malabsorption. We addressed the potency of model bile, bile salts and phosphatidylcholine (PC)-cholesterol (CH) liposomes to reconstitute fat absorption in permanently bile-diverted (BD) rats.

Methods: The plasma appearance of 13C-labeled palmitic acid (13C-16:0) and linoleic acid (13C-18:2) was determined after their enteral administration to BD or to control rats with an intact enterohepatic circulation (EHC) (13C-16:0 and 13C-18:2 dissolved in 25% olive oil-75% medium chain triacylglycerol oil mixture).

Corrective valgus osteotomy after free vascularized fibula transfer for the treatment of osteomyelitis at the neck of the femur: case report.

Reconstruction using a free vascularized fibula was performed on a long bony defect after osteomyelitis of the proximal femur. For this type of bone defect, a double-barrel fibular graft is recommended. The authors used this procedure for a 58-year-old male who had osteomyelitis of the left proximal femur.

Rotational acetabular osteotomy for hip dysplasia: 61 hips followed for 8-15 years.

We operated on 54 patients (61 joints) with rotational acetabular osteotomy (RAO) due to dysplasia of the hip with pre- or early-stage osteoarthritis/arthrosis. The mean follow-up was 11 (8-15) years. The Merle d'Aubigné median score increased from 14 to 15.

Infundibuloneurohypophysitis presenting a large sellar-juxtasellar mass: case report.

Background: Infundibuloneurohypophysitis (INH) is reported to be a self-limiting inflammatory disease involving neurohypophysis. The authors experienced a case of INH presenting a large mass compressing the brain stem.

Case Presentation: The patient exhibited polyuria followed by left hemiparesis and dysarthria lasting a year.

An early return to vigorous activity may destabilize anterior cruciate ligaments reconstructed with hamstring grafts.

Objective: To evaluate the actual date of the return to activity and its impact on the postsurgical stability of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) using hamstring grafts.

Design: A retrospective analysis. The time of return to activity was determined by a questionnaire at 24 to 36 months after ACLRs.

Cytokine profile in paranasal effusions in patients with chronic sinusitis using the YAMIK sinus catheter with and without betamethasone.

Recently, the YAMIK sinus catheter (YAMIK) has been reported to be a useful therapeutic device in the treatment of sinusitis. The present study was conducted to compare its delivery of either a normal saline (NS) or a betamethasone solution (0.4 mg/ml) into the paranasal sinuses of 25 patients (39 sides) with chronic sinusitis.

[Advances in brachytherapy--focusing on the permanent implant for early prostate carcinoma].

Even in the modern era of advanced external radiotherapy, brachytherapy is an important and useful modality of radiotherapy. In North America and Europe, it has been noted that the proportion of prostate cancer patients treated by HDR or LDR interstitial brachytherapy is rapidly increasing, as it offers several practical and theoretical advantages over external radiotherapy. HDR treatment with 192Ir remote afterloader provides an optimized dose distribution controlled by an accurate dwell time and position of 192Ir source.

The Relationship between Postural Deformation and Standing Balance in Elderly Person.

Falling due to unstable standing balance is considered to be the main cause of bone fractures, which lead elderly persons to becoming bedridden. Thus, the standing balance of elderly persons is being given increasingly greater attention. On the other hand, postural deformation caused by deformation in the spine and lower leg joints is considered to have an effect on standing balance.

Dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in interferon-gamma gene is not associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease.

Various factors have been suggested to participate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, and some inflammatory cytokines may play an important role in the development of AD. Interferon-gamma (IFNG), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine, is encoded by a single gene mapped to chromosome 12, one of the candidate locus of AD. The first intron in the IFNG gene represents a CA repeat polymorphism that is possible to affect the IFNG secretion dose.

Influence of immobilization stress on the expression and phosphatase activity of protein phosphatase 2A in the rat brain.

Background: Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major kinase phosphatase that plays an important role in regulating the activities of protein kinase cascades. It has been revealed that stress changes neuronal gene expression by activating these cascades. We examined the expression of the catalytic subunit C and serine and threonine phosphatase activity of PP2A in the rat frontal cortex and hippocampus following various immobilization stress paradigms.

p16 Gene transfer increases cell killing with abnormal nucleation after ionising radiation in glioma cells.

It is well established that cells synchronised at the G1-S phase are highly radiosensitive. In this study, p16-null human glioma cell lines were induced into G1 cell cycle arrest by adenovirus-mediated p16 gene transfer, and examined for radiation-induced cell killing. Clonogenic analysis and trypan blue extraction test showed that the p16 gene transfer enhanced radiation-induced cell killing in p16-null glioma cell lines.

Radical scavengers for Ménière's disease after failure of conventional therapy: a pilot study.

Objective: To perform a trial to assess the efficacy of radical scavengers, i.e. rebamipide, vitamin C and glutathione, for the treatment of Ménière's disease (MD).

Traumatic avulsion fracture of the occipital condyles and clivus: a case report.

A 25-year-old male was found dead on a river bank. Wounds and injuries were found on the corpse, and a bloodstain was found on the face from blood discharged from the oral and nasal cavities. Since the man was considered the victim of a traffic accident, a forensic autopsy was carried out.

Sensitive determination of pentazocine in human tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The authors developed a simple, reliable and sensitive method for the determination of pentazocine in human solid tissues using high-performance liquid chromatography, combined with a three-step liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Levallorphan tartrate served as the internal standard. The extract was evaporated to dryness and dissolved in the mobile phase of acetonitrile/10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 4.

Second- and third-generation Omniflex modular femoral stem: results 3 to 8 years after surgery.

Primary cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA) using the Omniflex modular femoral stem was conducted on 73 hips in 70 patients. The arc deposition (AD)-type stem was used in 26 hips, and the hydroxyapatite (HA)-type stem was used in 47 hips. The mean follow-up period of patients in the AD group was 78 (range, 61-96) months and that of patients in the HA group was 52 (range, 36-61) months.

Analysis of Tsuge's procedure for the treatment of radial nerve paralysis.

Radial deviation and limited flexion of the wrist joint and a lack of abduction of the thumb have been noticed after the Riordan's procedure. Therefore, Tsuge et al. modified the Riordan's procedure, and their procedure includes transfer of the pronator teres to the extensor carpi radialis brevis, the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) to the extensor digitorum communis (EDC), and the palmaris longus to the extensor pollicis longus, along with tenodesis of the abductor pollicis longus.

Activation by N-acetyl-L-aspartate of acutely dissociated hippocampal neurons in rats via metabotropic glutamate receptors.

Purpose: We previously reported that an increase in the N-acetyl-L-aspartate (NAA) level due to the lack of aspartoacylase gene was found in the brain of the tremor rat (tm/tm), which is a mutant with a causative gene named tm that shows epileptic seizures. Therefore, NAA is suggested to be one of the factors involved in the induction of epileptic seizures. Patch-clamp studies were performed to determine whether NAA produces an excitatory effect on acutely dissociated rat hippocampal neurons.

Expression and localization of nuclear factor-kappa B subunits in cultured human paranasal sinus mucosal cells.

The purpose of this study was to compare the expression of cytokines and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) subunits in cultured sinus mucosal cells by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in chronic sinusitis patients with allergic rhinitis (abbreviated as AR patients) versus patients without AR (abbreviated as non-AR patients). The localization of p50 in cultured sinus mucosal cells was also observed by immunocytochemistry. The expression of messenger RNAs (mRNA) encoding granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, p50 and p65 subunits, and inhibitory kappa B-alpha (I kappa B-alpha) were analyzed by RT-PCR.

Limited effectiveness of betaine therapy for cystathionine beta synthase deficiency.

Background: Orally administered betaine (Bet) is regarded as an effective and safe therapy for homocystin-uria. However, even when patients' serum Bet concentrations are increased by supplementation, serum homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations are often not lowered to the normal range. The present study tested the hypothesis that with relatively high serum methionine (Met), serum Hcy does not adequately decrease, even when serum Bet concentrations are potentially therapeutic.

Laser surgery of the inferior turbinate for allergic rhinitis with seasonal exacerbation: an acoustic rhinometry study.

Laser surgery has been used to successfully treat patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. We examined whether the numbers and types of sensitized allergens influence the effects of surgery. Two different groups (those allergic to house dust mites only, and those allergic to house dust mites and Japanese cedar pollen) prospectively underwent the same course of laser turbinectomy during the pollen dispersion season.

Nodular gastritis in adults is caused by Helicobacter pylori infection.

A close relationship exists between nodular gastritis and Helicobacter pylori infection in children. The pathogenesis and optimal management of nodular gastritis in adults, however, are unclear. This study describes the clinicopathologic features of nodular gastritis in adults and correlates treatment with outcome.

Reduced expression of p27 is correlated with progression in precancerous lesions of the larynx.

Objectives: Factors related to malignant transformation of laryngeal precancerous lesions remain largely unknown, so we investigated the relationship between the expression of p27 and precancerous laryngeal lesion.

Study Design: In this study we investigated the expressions of p27 and p53 protein in 56 cases with laryngeal precancerous or cancer lesions (20 cases of hyperplasia, 19 of dysplasia, and 17 of squamous cell carcinoma), and went on to evaluate the relationship between immunoreactivity of each of them and the histological findings. We also evaluated the correlation between immunoreactivity and proliferative activity with the aid of Ki-67 nuclear antigen staining.

Isolated granulomatous gastritis successfully treated by Helicobacter pylori eradication: a possible association between granulomatous gastritis and Helicobacter pylori.

We report two cases of granulomatous gastritis that resolved completely with Helicobacter pylori eradication. Two Japanese women, one 61 years old and one 58 years old, presented to our hospital with epigastralgia. Endoscopy revealed multiple shallow ulcerative lesions in the gastric corpus of both patients.