Expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in barrel field of mouse and rat somatosensory cortex.

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) consist of chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and core protein and regulate the migration, axonal outgrowth, and synaptogenesis in mammalian brains. In the present study, we investigated the localization of CSPGs, the effects of sensory deprivation on the density of perineuronal nets (PNNs), and the effects of chondroitinase ABC (Chase) on the formation of barrel structures in the posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF). In developing mouse and rat brains, the immunoreactivity of chondroitin-6-sulfate containing proteoglycan (CS-6-PG), phosphacan, and neurocan was stronger at barrel septa as compared with barrel hollows and surrounding cortex, while the labeling of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) was observed at barrel hollows. In adult brains, CS-6-PG-immunoreactive and WFA-labeled PNNs were observed mainly at barrel hollows of mouse, but they were seen chiefly at barrel septa of rats. Sensory deprivation of facial vibrissae reduced the number of WFA-labeled PNNs at barrel hollows but not at barrel septa. Intracerebral injection of Chase did not affect the formation of barrel structures in the PMBSF. These data indicate species-dependent heterogeneity of CSPG expression and activity-dependent formation of PNNs in the PMBSF, but CS GAGs have no crucial function in constructing the barrel structures during early postnatal development.

[Laboratory examinations performed in rural practice].

Graduates from Jichi Medical School are obligated to work at rural clinics or hospitals, where most of them are the only medical doctor in the house. To understand how these graduates actually use laboratory examinations, what examinations they found most important in their practice, and when they were confident of their laboratory techniques, we designed a questionnaire to address these questions. Many respondents reported that their institutions had electrocardiographs, abdominal and/or cardiac ultrasonographs, urinalysis test paper, and portable blood glucose meters, and more than half of them reported having used these instruments without assistance in emergency situations. Moreover, a majority of the respondents said that they considered it important that a physician is able to use these instruments without the help of other staff members. Proficiency in many laboratory techniques was obtained and physicians were confident during their first postgraduate clinical practice. These responses clearly show the importance and usefulness of covering examination techniques and the principles of laboratory medicine in medical education and the first postgraduate clinical practice.

Sonographic measurement of renal length in children: Variation associated with body position.

We ultrasonographically measured renal length in the major axis in children. Here we discuss the differences in measured lengths in the supine and prone positions. In study 1, which included 214 children, more than 60 percent of the kidneys measured longer in the supine than in the prone position. The difference (S-P: length in the supine position minus length in the prone position) was substantially greater in the left kidney. In study 2, we observed the relation between the kidney and the liver or spleen in 60 children prospectively to determine if artifacts had contributed to the observed differences. When the location of the liver or spleen was above the ki dney, which may induce velocity displacement and renal duplication artifacts, the kidney tended to measure longer. We conclude that kidneys tend to measure longer in the supine than in the prone position. Difference in renal length in different positions was greater in the left kidney than in the right kidney. Sonographic artifacts are presumed to contribute to differences in measured length.

Diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation of the internal iliac vessels by color Doppler ultrasonography: A case report.

A 13-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital because of cardiomegaly found incidentally at regular medical checkup at her school. Although dilated cardiomyopathy was suspected, the girl showed no symptoms. chest x-ray film showed cardiomegaly (cardiothoracic ratio, 67%), and echocardiogram demonstrated a dilatation of the left ventricle without thinning of the wall. While contraction was diffusely decreased, estimated cardiac output was increased to 13l/minute. Abdominal ultrasonography conducted to clarify the cause of this high output showed a multicystic lesion (8×6×4 cm) at the back of the left common iliac artery. Color Doppler ultrasonography revealed abundant blood flow within the lesion, establishing the diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation. Aortography delineated the arteriovenous malformation being supplied from the left internal iliac artery and from the left third and fourth lumbar arteries and drainage into the left common iliac vein and the right internal iliac vein. Although it did not show the precise location of the feeding and draining vessels, color Doppler ultrasonography was useful for the diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation.

Studies on tissue characterization by texture analysis with co-occurrence matrix method using ultrasonography and CT imaging.

We used texture analysis with the co-occurrence matrix method to analyze ultrasonograms from normal and diseased livers, and X-ray CT images obtained from normal cases and cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. Ten cases of normal, fatty, and cirrhotic livers; 10 cases of normal lungs; and 10 cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, all confirmed by clinical findings, laboratory data, surgery, or biopsy, were the subjects of this study. We compared the results of texture analysis in normal and diseased livers under the same conditions of gain, focus, magnification rate, probe frequency, and depth of the region of interest. Here we discuss the relationship between Fisher ratio of texture analysis and pathological character. Although the normal and diseased liver groups did not differ significantly, the different pathological grades of fibrosis and the different size of nodules in the cirrhotic and normal liver groups did have different Fisher ratios. We compared the results of texture analysis with images obtained from normal cases and cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. Significant differences between normal lungs and those with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia were also found. We thus think that texture analysis can be used to analyze ultrasonograms obtained from lesions of different pathological grades and to classify CT images as well.