Validity of shape memory NiTi colon ring BioDynamix ColonRing™ (or NiTi CAR 27™) to prevent anastomotic colorectal strictures. Preliminary results.

PURPOSE: Anastomotic strictures occur in 3-30% of colorectal anastomosis and one of the main causes may be a reaction to the presence of the metal staples used for suturing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a compression anastomosis ring using the memory shaped device in initial, i.e. nickel-titanium alloy (NiTi) for the prevention of colorectal anastomotic strictures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A compression anastomosis ring device (NiTi CAR 27™) was used to perform compression anastomosis in 20 patients underwent left hemicolectomy and anterior resection of the rectum for carcinoma. An endoscopic check of the anastomosis was carried out at one month and at six months after surgery. RESULTS: In 2 patients (10%) a dehiscence of the anastomosis occurred on the fifth and the eighth postoperative day. No anastomotic strictures were observed in any of the other 18 patients at six months follow-up after surgery. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results suggest that the use of a compression anastomosis ring might well be a valid method of preventing anastomotic strictures in colorectal surgery. Further studies involving a larger number of patients are needed in order to confirm these preliminary results.

Smoking, polyuria and impaired vision.

The pituitary gland can be involved in a variety of medical conditions, including metastatic tumors. Metastases to the pituitary gland, although absolutely rare, more commonly affect the posterior pituitary lobe and so frequently present with diabetes insipidus. We report on a 48-year-old male heavy smoker patient suffering from sudden onset of polyuria and persistent thirst. Laboratory results revealed central diabetes insipidus. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain showed a mass located in the sella turcica and in the suprasellar region. CT scan of the chest showed a mass in the right superior lobe with mediastinal lymphadenopathy, with bronchoscopy and biopsy features of pulmonary adenocarcinoma. The patient received radiotherapy on the pituitary gland and adjuvant chemotherapy, and as intrasellar and suprasellar mass decreased in size, urinary output was accordingly reduced. Therefore, is that in patients with risk factors for cancer and sudden onset of diabetes insipidus pituitary metastasis should be taken into account in differential diagnosis.

The segmentation of cursive handwriting: an approach based on off-line recovery of the motor-temporal information.

This paper presents a segmentation method that partly mimics the cognitive-behavioral process used by human subjects to recover motor-temporal information from the image of a handwritten word. The approach does not exploit any thinning or skeletonization procedure, but rather a different type of information is manipulated concerning the curvature function of the word contour. In this way, it is possible to detect the parts of the image where the original odometric information is lost or ambiguous (such as, for example, at an intersection of the handwritten lines) and interpret them to finally recover a part of the original temporal information. The algorithm scans the word, following the natural course of the line, and attempts to reproduce the same movement as executed by the writer during the generation of the word. It segments the cursive trace where the contour shows the slow-down of the original movement (corresponding to the maximum curvature points of the curve). At the end of the scanning process, a temporal sequence of motor strokes is obtained which plausibly composed the original intended movement.

A neural model for generating and learning a rapid movement sequence.

In this article, a neural model for generating and learning a rapid ballistic movement sequence in two-dimensional (2D) space is presented and evaluated in the light of some considerations about handwriting generation. The model is based on a central nucleus (called a planning space) consisting of a fully connected grid of leaky integrators simulating neurons, and reading an input vector [symbol: see text] (t) which represents the external movement of the end effector. The movement sequencing results in a succession of motor strokes whose instantiation is controlled by the global activation of the planning space as defined by a competitive interaction between the neurons of the grid. Constraints such as spatial accuracy and movement time are exploited for the correct synchronization of the impulse commands. These commands are then fed into a neuromuscular synergy whose output is governed by a delta lognormal equation. Each movement sequence is memorized originally as a symbolic engram representing the sequence of the principal reference points of the 2D movement. These points, called virtual targets, correspond to the targets of each single rapid motor stroke composing the movement sequence. The task during the learning phase is to detect the engram corresponding to a new observed movement; the process is controlled by the dynamics of the neural grid.

Sexual behaviour in relation to age: a study of 205 puerperal women.

Sexual desire, frequency of coitus, frequency of orgasm, which partner took the first sexual initiative, and the level of sexual satisfaction were studied in 205 women in puerperium in relation to age in the year preceding pregnancy and during pregnancy. It seems evident that sexual desire and the frequency of coitus and orgasm diminish during pregnancy independently of age. The group of younger women (16 to 20 years old) in our study maintained a relatively higher level of sexual activity especially in comparison to older women (36 to 40 years old). The number of women who took the first sexual initiative increased considerably in pregnancy.

Intravenous 16-phenoxy PGE2 methylsulfonylamide for induction of labor in cases of fetal death.

Labor was induced via intravenous infusion of 16-phenoxy-prostaglandin-E2-methylsulphonylamide in 13 cases of missed abortion and 19 cases of intrauterine fetal death. In all cases Bishop score was less than 4. Delivery occurred within 24 hours in all cases, with a minimal frequency of side effects (six cases of erythema above the incannulated vein and 1 case of diarrhea). The interval between the beginning of the infusion and delivery was 9.42 minutes. Uterine curettage was performed in 9 cases.

Phospholipid composition of dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae. I. Isolation of a unique lipid in dystrophic erythrocyte membranes.

Several structural and functional properties are characterized in nucleated erythrocyte plasmalemmae of age- and sex-matched dystrophic (line 413) and normal (line 412) chickens obtained from the University of California at Davis. Plasmalemma purity is assessed through marker enzymes. Significant differences are observed in the phospholipid content between dystrophic and normal chickens. The dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemma has an increased concentration of phosphatidylserine and a decreased concentration of phosphatidylethanolamine compared with control birds. Also, a measurable and distinct polar lipid, observed only on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates spotted with dystrophic preparations, is visualized adjacent to phosphatidylethanolamine. These abnormalities in the dystrophic chicken erythrocyte may signal a general defect in membrane structure for chicken dystrophy.

Phospholipid composition of dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae. II. Characterization of a unique lipid from dystrophic erythrocyte membranes as ethanolamine plasmalogen.

The phospholipid content of normal (line 412) and dystrophic (line 413) chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae has been quantified on a developmental basis using sex matched controls. A specific minor phospholipid component, ethanolamine plasmalogen, is identified from dystrophic erythrocyte membrane preparations. To arrive at this identification, data from studies utilizing gas-liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, [14C]ethanolamine incorporation, and biochemical assay for specific organic moieties were correlated. This phospholipid has the potential to alter and regulate membrane fluidity and thus membrane function. The possible presence of significant concentrations of plasmalogen in human dystrophic tissues may serve as a marker for dystrophy and thus be of clinical importance.

An elevated content of a unique lipid in dystrophic chicken embryonic myoblast membranes.

A unique lipid, ethanolamine plasmalogen, is not only present abnormally in the plasmalemmae of erythrocytes from ex ovo dystrophic chickens but is also present abnormally in the membranes from embryonic myoblasts of in ovo dystrophic chickens.

Plasmalogenase activity in normal and dystrophic chicken erythrocytes.

The enzyme kinetics for plasmalogenase have been analyzed on a developmental basis and correlated with the presence of ethanolamine plasmalogen (1-alkyl,1'-enyl,2-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoryl-ethanolamine) in dystrophic chicken erythrocyte membranes. At day 15 ex ovo, both dystrophic (Line 413) and normal (Line 412) chicken erythrocyte enriched microsomal preparations manifest high Km forms of plasmalogenase. However, with time, the Km of this enzyme from normal erythrocyte preparations drops significantly whereas the Km of the enzyme from dystrophic preparations remains high. This observation may account for elevated concentrations of plasmalogen observed in dystrophic chicken tissues.

Zinc effects on LDH, MDH and alkaline phosphatase from cultures of fathead minnow cells.

1. Three purported zinc metalloenzymes have been investigated from cell cultures of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). 2. With the addition of increasingly higher concentrations of zinc to the tissue culture medium, the specific activity of LDH increased. 3. The results with MDH were equivocal. 4. The specific activity of alkaline phosphatase decreased in the presence of increasing amounts of zinc in the growth medium. 5. Zinc exogenously added to the LDH enzyme assay did not alter the LDH enzyme activity of cells grown without zinc.

The effect of hypothalamic thermal stimulation on respiration in the turtle.

Cumulative Oxygen Consumption (VO2) and Oxygen Consumption per Unit Time were measured for fresh water turtles (Pseudemys scripta elegans) as hypothalamic stimulation was applied. Stimulation was provided by means of a thermode at 9-2o C (cold), 27o C (sham), and 55-60 degrees C (HOT). A statistically significant increase in mean cumulative oxygen consumption was noted for hot stimulation as compared to control value. A less dramatic but significant decrease in mean cumulative oxygen consumption was noted for cold stimulation. Both the increase and decrease, for hot and cold application, respectively, were proportional to the temperature of the thermode. Mean cumulative oxygen consumption per unit time did not show any corresponding statistically significant increase or decrease for hot or cold stimulation, respectively. Application of thermode at room temperature (sham) produced no significant change in respiration. This study indicates that reptiles have evolved a neural input mechanism sensitive to temperature change before mammalian and avian endothermy had developed.