Continuous passive motion following total knee replacement: a prospective randomized trial with follow-up to 1 year

We have carried out a prospective randomised, single blind clinical trial to investigate the effect of continuous passive motion on range of knee flexion, lack of extension, pain levels and analgesic use after total knee replacement surgery. 85 subjects were randomly allocated to control or study group. All subjects followed the existing rehabilitation protocol, which permits immediate active range of motion exercises and mobilisation with the study group using continuous passive motion for 1 h, twice a day. Outcome measures employed were range of motion, pain assessed on a visual analogue scale and analgesic use according to the WHO ladder. Blinded evaluation was carried out preoperatively, at time of discharge from hospital, 6 weeks, 6 and 12 months postoperation. No significant difference was observed between groups at all time intervals for each outcome variable using Wilcoxon Rank sum tests. The results substantiate previous findings that short duration continuous passive motion following total knee arthroplasty does not influence outcome of range of motion or reported pain.     

Management of pediatric pontine gliomas

We present 36 consecutive patients with intrinsic glioma of the pons. Tumors with exophytic expansion were excluded. There were 16 females and 20 males, ranging in age from 2 to 13 years, median 6 years. The most common presenting symptoms were cranial nerve dysfunction. unsteadiness of gait, and hemiparesis. Computed tomography (CT) showed a hypodense (17/21) or isodense (4/21) expansion of the pons. Five tumors had areas of contrast enhancement. Following information about prognosis and possible types of management, parents decided for or against radiation therapy: twentyfour children underwent irradiation and 12 did not. Median survival among children receiving a full course of irradiation was 280 days, compared to 140 days in an equivalent group of non-irradiated children. Hemiparesis presenting without cranial nerve symptoms and contrast enhancement on CT scan were poor prognostic factors, whereas sex, age, and duration of symptoms at diagnosis were unrelated to prognosis.     

Effects of neurosurgical titanium mesh on radiation dose

The purpose of this study was to determine the dosimetric impact of a neurosurgical titanium mesh in patients treated with 6- and 18-MV photon beams. The effects of a 0.4-mm-thick titanium mesh on the dose profile at 3 regions within a solid water phantom were measured using extended dose range-2 (EDR2) film for 6- and 18-MV photon beams. All measurements were performed with the titanium mesh placed at a depth of 1.5 cm in the phantom. Films were exposed immediately above the mesh, immediately below the mesh, and at a depth of 5 cm from the surface of the phantom. The films were scanned using a scanning densitometer. In the region directly above the titanium mesh, there was an increase in dose of 7.1% for 6-MV photons and 4.9% for 18-MV photons. Directly below the titanium mesh, there was an average decrease in dose of 1.5% for 6-MV photons and an increase of 1.0% for 18-MV photons. At 5-cm depth, for 6- and 18-MV photons, there was a decrease in dose of 2.2% and 0.6%, respectively. We concluded that for cranial irradiation with high-energy photons, the dosimetric impact of a 0.4-mm titanium mesh is small and does not require modification in treatment parameters.     

缺氧对卵巢癌细胞Caov-3转移特性的影响

目的探讨缺氧条件对卵巢癌细胞Caov-3体外黏附和迁移能力的影响。方法在常氧和缺氧条件下培养卵巢癌细胞Caov-3,分别用四甲基偶氮唑蓝(MTT)比色法和细胞迁移试验测定常氧和缺氧条件下培养的Caov-3细胞体外黏附和迁移能力。结果缺氧条件下,Caov-3细胞在Matrigel和纤维连接蛋白Fn基质上黏附数量增加,黏附促进率分别为17.1%和15.2%,与常氧条件下比较有显著性差异(P<0.05)。缺氧条件下,Caov-3细胞在Matrigel基质上迁移距离增大,分别为258.8±19.5μm和331.3±24.4μm,迁移促进率为28.0%,与常氧条件下比较有显著性差异(P<0.05)。结论缺氧环境对卵巢癌细胞Caov-3体外黏附和迁移具有明显的促进作用。     

Cardiokymograph system with a capacitance transducer and its preliminary application in the measurement of heart wall movement

A novel cardiokymograph system is introduced. The new system features a capacitance transducer with increased sensitivity and can be used in multichannel measurements. The novelty of this technique is the injection of a current into the patient coupled with the use of a capacitive displacement transducer and the possibility of multichannel monitoring. It provides for the possibility of removing breath noise when some signal processing technique, such as adaptive filtering, is used. Further investigation is needed to demonstrate clinical significance and pathologies.     

An analysis of paramagnetic centers in irradiated dentin using electron spin resonance

Summary The ESR spectra produced in irradiated dentin have been studied over a range of incident radiation energies from 50 kVp to 25 MVp. The behavior of the dentin ESR signal strength is similar to that of enamel as a function of the energy of the incident radiation. The magnitude of the dentin ESR signals are, however, up to 10 times smaller than the signals of dental enamel for a given radiation energy. The possible contributions of radiation interaction coefficients, chemical structure, and crystallite size to the differences in ESR spectra are discussed.     

GABAergic and glycinergic inputs to the rabbit oculomotor nucleus with special emphasis on the medial rectus subdivision

Contradictory results have been reported about the inhibitory input to the medial rectus subdivision of the oculomotor nucleus of the cat. In the present ultrastructural study, we quantified the GABAergic and glycinergic terminals in the various subdivisions of the rabbit oculomotor nucleus with the use of post-embedding immunocytochemistry combined with retrograde tracing of horseradish peroxidase. The density of the GABAergic input to the medial rectus subdivision was as substantial as that to the other subdivisions and the postsynaptic distribution of the GABAergic and glycinergic innervation did not differ among the different oculomotor subdivisions.     

Model parameters of the smooth pursuit eye movement system with electrooculogram

The visual pursuit test is a method that collects and analyzes the characteristics of pursuit eye movements and examines the function of the eye movement system. This paper analyzes the model parameters of the smooth pursuit eye movement system in order to explore a method for improving the analysis. The input-output relationship of the smooth pursuit system can be expressed by a quasilinear model. We compute the model parameters (gain, phase, spectral purity, cross covariance) by digital signal processing. Eye movement is recorded by electrooculogram. Both eyes are tested individually. The visual target moves at frequencies of 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 Hz. Ranges are gain, 1.01 to 0.70; phase, -0.1 ° to -66 °; spectral purity, 0.97 to 0.70; and cross covariance, 0.99 to 0.26. We tested 40 normal subjects as well as patients with ataxia (8), vertigo (18), and ophthalmoplegia (9). The oculomotor system of normal subjects functions as a linear system in the performance of this test at 0.2 to 0.8 Hz. The spectral purity dropped to about 0.70 at 1.6 Hz. The variability of all measures increases greatly at 1.6 Hz, which indicates that this target motion exceeds the tracking ability of many normal subjects and that the oculomotor system of normal subjects functions as a nonlinear system in this condition. Statistical tests show no significant differences between sex, age, and the two eyes. The model parameters tentatively proved effective in clinical application.