Warfarin or Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin Therapy does not Prolong Pig-To-Primate Cardiac Xenograft Function

Microvascular thrombosis is a prominent feature in cardiac delayed xenograft rejection (DXR). We investigated the impact of warfarin or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) anti-coagulation on xenograft function using a heterotopic pig-to-primate model. Donor hearts were from CD46 transgenic pigs and baboon immunosuppression included tacrolimus, sirolimus, anti-CD20 and TPC, an alpha-galactosyl-polyethylene glycol conjugate. Three groups of animals were studied. Group 1 (n = 9) was treated with warfarin, Group 2 (n = 13) with LMWH and Group 3, received no anti-coagulant drugs. The median duration of xenograft function was 20 days (range 3-62 days), 18 days (range 5-109 days) and 15 days (range 4-53 days) in Groups 1 to 3 respectively. Anti-coagulation achieved the targeted international normalized prothrombin ratio (INR) and anti-factor Xa levels consistent with effective in vivo therapy yet, no significant impact on median xenograft function was observed. At rejection, a similar histology of thrombosis and ischemia was apparent in each group and the levels of fibrin deposition and platelet thrombi in rejected tissue was the same. Anti-coagulation with warfarin or LMWH did not have a significant impact on the onset of DXR and microvascular thrombosis. However, a role for specific anti-coagulant strategies to achieve long-term xenograft function cannot be excluded.     

乳腺影像学报告及数据系统:超声良恶性病变鉴别诊断初探

1992年美国放射学会制定了乳腺影像学报告及数据系统(breast imaging reporting and data system,BI-RADS),2003年第四版修订时包括了超声诊断(BI-RADS-US)。本文旨在初步探讨BI-RADS-US对于乳腺良恶性病变鉴别诊断的能力。我们收集了2006年1月至2007年3月期间、获得病理诊断的乳腺占位性病变共69例72灶。均为女性,年龄14-83岁,平均41.6岁。首先根据一般的非BI-RADS标准,做出良恶性鉴别。然后用BI-RADS-US标准进行鉴别和分级(0-6级),其中2级和3级为良性和良性可能性大,4级为性质待定,5级为恶性可能性大。计算并比较上述两种方法的准确性、敏感性、特异性。结果在72病灶中,根据非BI-RADS标准,诊断为良性者40灶,符合病理诊断者38灶(95.0%),诊断为恶性者23灶,符合病理者18灶(78.3%);诊断为性质待定者9灶。根据BI-RADS-US标准和分级,2级和3级共有37灶,与病理结果符合者为36灶(97.2%);5级有31灶,与病理符合者为22灶(71.0%);4级有4灶。非BI-RADS和BI-RADS-US的准确性各为83.3%和81.9%(P=1.000),敏感性各为91.7%和95.8%(P=1.000),特异性各为79.2%和75.0%(P=0.754)。总之,第一版BI-RADS-US在乳腺良恶性病变鉴别诊断方面的初步应用表现出较高的敏感性,而与非BI-RADS方法比较则尚无明显差别。     

Teaching scholars programs: faculty development for educators in the health professions.

OBJECTIVE: This article 1) provides an overview of formal Health Sciences Teaching Scholars Programs as presented in medical education literature and 2) presents information about an innovative multidiscipline Teaching Scholars Program. METHOD: Health Sciences Teaching Scholars Programs and similar programs were reviewed in the medical education literature to identify similar and dissimilar characteristics. The WVU Teaching Scholars Program highlighted in this article is presented with a discussion of goals, objectives, target audiences, course length, session frequency, program topics, learning methods, and assessments of the programs. A summary of the WVU Teaching Scholars Program and two Teaching Scholars Programs at McGill University and the University of Toronto were presented at the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual meeting in 2006 for input from the general medical education audience. RESULTS: Comparisons of Health Sciences Teaching Scholars Programs reveal that successful programs are uniquely shaped by their educational environments. Scholars report that they value learning new teaching methods and improving their educational careers. CONCLUSION: Teaching Scholars Programs are valuable for the development of enhancing both teaching and scholarship in Health Sciences Programs and must adapt to the uniqueness of their respective educational environments and must continue to nurture scholars beyond graduation.     

Controlled release of lidocaine hydrochloride from the surfactant-doped hybrid xerogels.

We investigate the controlled release of lidocaine hydrochloride from the doped silica-based xerogels. In the xerogel preparation, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), and propyltriethoxysilane (PTES) are used as precursors, and a nonionic surfactant Igepal CO 720 is used as a dopant. The experimental results suggest that the release of lidocaine hydrochloride can be easily controlled by partially substituting TEOS with the organosilanes, and/or by adding the dopant. Adding the organosilane precursors lowers the release of both the drug and the surfactant in the order of TEOS, MTES/TEOS, and PTES/TEOS xerogels. The release from the PTES/TEOS xerogels is much lower than that from the other xerogels. The release of lidocaine hydrochloride is obviously suppressed by the addition of Igepal CO 720, while the release of Igepal CO 720 is slightly promoted by the addition of the drug. The overall release process is found to be diffusion-controlled, and the release behaviors can be well explained by considering the effects of the textual properties of the xerogels and the interactions among the drug, the surfactant, and the xerogel matrices.     

Behavioral state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta activity

Although there has been extensive examination of the behavioral and physiologic correlates of hippocampal theta activity in animals, the human literature consists of a single case study. We investigated the differential effects of four behavioral states on human hippocampal theta activity in 16 epilepsy surgery patients. Behavioral conditions included resting eyes closed (RC), resting eyes open (RO), eyes open with auditory word activation (AW), and eyes open with visuospatial activation (VS). Hippocampal theta activity decreased during both RO and VS compared to both RC and AW. There were reciprocal changes in delta activity. Comparisons of RO to VS and of RC to AW were nonsignificant. The results demonstrate state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta and are consistent with the animal literature that relates hippocampal theta to sensorimotor integration and forebrain volitional mechanisms.     

自制32P敷贴器治疗瘢痕疙瘩

目的：观察自制32P敷贴器局部敷贴治疗不同类型瘢痕疙瘩的临床疗效。 方法：105例瘢痕疙瘩患者中，39例病变厚度≤ 0.3 cm的行单纯敷贴治疗，病变厚度> 0.3 cm的66例随机分为2组，单纯敷贴组36例，手术+敷贴组30例。单纯敷贴根据病变表面积大小及形状剪取敷贴片，根据剂量率和衰变校正计算每天敷贴时间，直接贴于病变表面，每天4.0~5.0 Gy/(部位•次)，连续4 d为一疗程，每疗程间隔4周，总治疗4~6个疗程。幼儿单次剂量控制在每天4 Gy/(部位•次)以下。手术+敷贴组患者手术切除瘢痕疙瘩，待手术伤口无渗出后根据伤口形状剪取敷贴片对准伤口敷贴，剂量及疗程同单纯敷贴组。 结果：单纯敷贴治疗对病变厚度≤0.3 cm的39例瘢痕疙瘩治愈32例(82%)，总有效率98%；对病变厚度> 0.3 cm的瘢痕疙瘩单纯敷贴和手术+敷贴两组治疗总有效率分别为56%和93% ，两组差异有显著性意义(P < 0.01)，其中病程< 9个月的患者治疗有效率分别为25%和75%，病程较长患者治疗有效率分别为13%和77%。治疗过程中有26例在敷帖过程中出现局部皮肤烧灼和刺痛感，均以炉甘石洗剂局部外用处理后缓解；5例出现Ⅰ度放射性皮炎，2例出现Ⅱ度放射性皮炎，以百多邦软膏局部外用后缓解，无出现Ⅲ度以上放射性皮炎病例。治愈患者局部皮肤均有不同程度的色素沉着或皮肤颜色改变。 结论：32P敷贴治疗瘢痕疙瘩治疗安全有效，对病程较短或病变厚度小于0.3 cm的患者可单纯敷贴治疗，病程较长或病变厚度大于0.3 cm患者建议先手术后再敷贴治疗。     

Syringomatous adenoma of the nipple occurring within a supernumerary breast: a case report

Originally described by Rosen in 1983, syringomatous nipple adenoma (SAN) is a tumor of disputed histogenesis, which can be problematic both diagnostically and therapeutically. ¹ It is a benign primary tumor of breast epithelium with histology similar to that of the syringoma. In the current case, we describe a 40-year-old female with this lesion occurring within a supernumerary breast. This case represents, to our knowledge, the first such reported case, and represents a significant finding as its presence could lend some confusion as to whether or not this represents a benign primary process of breast or a potentially infiltrative tumor of the skin.     

A study of a method for distribution analysis of skin color

Background/aims: The objective and quantitative assessment of the skin is important in medical and cosmeceutical research. Assessment of color is an important element for analyzing the surface of the skin, which is usually determined subjectively by a doctor or using color analysis devices. These devices, however, cannot provide correct color information because color is construed from the mean value of the observation region, and analysis of color distribution is impossible. The purpose of this paper is to develop an objective analysis method to permit skin color measurement of each pixel unit of an image and analyze the distribution of skin surface color. Methods: The Skin Color Distribution Analyzer (SCDA) is an analysis method newly developed at the Research Institute for Skin Image at Korea University. The SCDA system presented in this paper performed a novel form of quantitative and objective analysis of skin color distribution using each pixel color model parameter found in image wavelength information. In this paper, distribution analysis was conducted on normal skin and skin lesions and skin affected by artificially induced irritant contact dermatitis and pigmented nevous. The method selected a grade using a color model parameter. Twenty healthy Korean males participated in this study. A comparative study of the eight anatomical areas was performed, including the exposure and non‐exposure parts and the medial aspect and the lateral aspect of the forearm. A reliability test for the SCDA system was also conducted with a spectrometer (SPEC) using the color analysis method. Results: Each skin lesion was precisely segmented by grade and each parameter hada different statistical significance for results of analysis of distribution in pigmented nevous and the artificially induced irritant contact dermatitis. Parameters L^*, b^*, a^*, and EI showed salient traits. Showed resemble measured result in the SCDA system and the SPEC of normal skin. The exposed site, in comparison with the non‐exposed site, showed a notable difference in the L^* parameter and a significant statistical difference in the x and z parameters, except b^*. The comparison of the medial and lateral aspects of the forearm showed a notable difference in the L^* parameter and a significant statistical difference in the parameters except y and b^*. In the reliability test result using the SCDA system and the SPEC, the SCDA system was highly reliabile in terms of the CV value in all color model parameters. Conclusions: The color distribution analysis method using the SCDA system has revealed an aspect that the existent method of medical research has not shown, and is considered to be more reliable than other methods. This method can provide better study findings because it can be applied to other fields in addition to the medical science field and the ripple effect is thought to be bigger in other science field too.