Myomectomy during pregnancy and caesarean section

Myomectomy was performed on a 31 year old primigravida during the 15th week of pregnancy due to a large myoma which was 23 cm in diameter. At the 39th week of pregnancy, during the Caesarean section, eight fibroids obstructing the lower part of the uterus were removed. There were no maternal or fetal complications.     

Human class I supertypes and CTL repertoires extend to chimpanzees

Using an in vitro peptide stimulation strategy, two chimpanzees that were acutely infected by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) produced peripheral blood CTL responses to several HBV-encoded epitopes that are known to be recognized by class I-restricted CTL in acutely infected humans. One animal responded to three HBV peptides that, in humans, are restricted by HLA-A2; the other animal responded to three peptides that are restricted by HLA-B35 and HLA-B51, members of the HLA-B7 supertype in man. The peptides recognized by each chimp corresponded with the ability of its class I molecules to bind peptides containing the HLA-A2 and HLA-B7 supermotifs. Similar, apparently class I-restricted CTL responses to some of these peptides were also detected in occasional HBV-uninfected chimps. These results demonstrate that the CTL repertoire overlaps in humans and chimps and that the HLA-A2 and HLA-B7 supertypes extend to the chimpanzee. Based on these results, the immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines designed to induce CTL responses to human HLA-restricted viral epitopes may be testable in chimpanzees.     

Macrophyllicin, a saponin from Primula macrophylla

A new triterpenoid saponin, macrophyllicin has been isolated from the methanolic extract of the whole plant of Primula macrophylla. On the basis of chemical and spectral evidence, the structure of macrophyllicin was determined as 3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl- (1-->2)-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl] -6 beta,16 alpha,28-trihydroxy-olean-12-ene. The 2D NMR experiments were useful in providing complete information on the structure of macrophyllogenin, a new sapogenin.     

Use and abuse of over-the-counter analgesic agents

Pain and discomfort in everyday life are often treated with over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic medications. These drugs are remarkably safe, but serious side effects can occur. Up to 70% of the population in Western countries uses analgesics regularly, primarily for headaches, other specific pains and febrile illness. It is not known whether the patterns of use are consistent with good pain management practices. OTC analgesics are also widely used to treat dysphoric mood states and sleep disturbances, and high levels of OTC analgesic medication use are associated with psychiatric illness, particularly depressive symptoms, and the use of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. More than 4 g per day of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) or acetaminophen over long periods is considered abuse. People using excessive amounts of OTC analgesics may need more effective treatments for chronic pain, depression or dysthymia. The possibility that these drugs have subtle reinforcing properties needs to be investigated. Certainly phenacetin, which was taken off the market in the 1970s, had intoxicating effects. A better understanding of patterns of use is needed to determine the extent of problem use of OTC analgesics, and whether health could be improved by educating people about the appropriate use of these drugs.     

Sir Harold Gillies Memorial Lecture. Aesthetic plastic surgery and the future plastic surgeon

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is known to inhibit the initial reaction in the tissue factor-mediated coagulation pathway. We measured plasma free-form TFPI antigen levels and monitored 24-h Holter recordings at 06.00, 14.00 and 22.00 h in 15 patients with coronary spastic angina, 13 patients with stable exertional angina, and 11 control subjects. There was a significant circadian variation in plasma free-form TFPI antigen levels in patients with coronary spastic angina (25.8+/-2.0 ng/ml at 06.00 h, 21.1+/-1.6 ng/ml at 14.00 h, and 20.2+/-1.4 ng/ml at 22.00 h; p<0.01). Furthermore, free-form TFPI antigen levels at 06.00 h were significantly higher in coronary spastic angina patients than in patients with stable exertional angina or control subjects (p<0.01). Free-form TFPI antigen levels increased after the ischemic attacks in coronary spastic angina (p<0.01). This circadian variation correlated with the frequency of attacks, with the peak level occurring between midnight to early morning in patients with coronary spastic angina.     

Epidemiological observations in a Corriedale flock affected by Brucella ovis

Brucellosis in sheep, caused by Brucella ovis, is primarily a chronic infectious disease of rams with epididymitis as its most characteristic lesion. Six hundred rams from an infected farm were clinically and serologically examined once a year, over a 3-year period. An increase from 2.1% to 6.3% in the prevalence of animals serologically positive to B. ovis occurred over the 3 years. However, the prevalence of rams with lesions in the reproductive tract declined from 14.2% to 6.5% in the third year following one year of strict culling of clinically affected and rams that were serologically positive for B. ovis. Clinical lesions found in the 179 affected rams fell into two main categories: rams with epididymitis and rams with affected lymph nodes. These results suggest that the prevalence of the disease relates mainly to the sexual activity of the animal and not to age in itself. A single cull based on the results of clinical examination and serological test results was unable to decrease the prevalence of B. ovis in an extensive Corriedale sheep flock.     

Treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The medical management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is reviewed. Four cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are presented, and serve to describe the currently available invasive treatment modalities, i.e. septal myectomy, dual chamber pacing, cardioverter defibrillator implantation and heart transplantation. These different invasive treatments all seem to be symptomatically effective in carefully selected patients, but studies of prognostic effects are not available. Finally, new experimental procedures are presented.     

Spectral Analysis in EUV Range for Study of Core Impurity Behavior in HL-2A

Extreme ultraviolet （EUV） spectroscopy has been developed for impurity diagnostics in HL-2A tokamak. The EUV spectrometer consists of an entrance slit, a holographic varied-line- space （VLS） grating, a back-illuminated charge-coupled device （CCD） and a laser light source for optical alignment. Spectral lines in wavelength region of 20-500 A observed from HL-2A plasmas were analyzed to study the impurity behavior. Spectral and temporal resolutions used for the analysis were 0.19A at CV （2×33.73 ,h,） and 6 ms, respectively. It was found that carbon, oxygen and iron impurities were usually dominant in the HL-2A plasma. They almost disappeared when the siliconization was carried out. Although the EUV spectra were entirely replaced by the silicon emissions just after the siliconization, the emissions were considerably decreased with accumulation of discharges. Aluminum and neon were externally introduced into the HL-2A plasma based on laser blow-off （LBO） and supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） techniques for a trial of the impurity transport study, respectively. The preliminary result is presented for time behavior of EUV spectral lines.