Selenoproteins in human thyroid tissues.

The aim of the present work was to clarify whether the activities of selenoenzymes can serve as markers for different tumors or goiters, as classified by histological criteria. The following parameters were determined: 1) selenium content of plasma (Se), 2) activities of the selenoenzymes: plasma glutathione peroxidase (plGSHPx), cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (cGSHPx), type I and type II iodothyronine deiodinases (ID-I, ID-II), thioredoxin reductase (THRR) in human thyroid tissues. The material came from follicular neoplasm, papillary carcinoma, struma nodosa, struma lymphomatosis Hashimoto, other thyroid surgery specimens, and normal tissues. There was no difference in Se nor in plGSHPx between patients and healthy volunteers. No significant differences were found for any parameter in thyroid carcinoma versus normal or goitrous thyroid tissue. In the whole group of thyroid surgery specimens the statistically significant correlations were found between ID-I and ID-II and between THRR and selenoperoxidases. Principal components analysis confirmed the above correlation and moreover revealed correlation between Se and plGSHPx, but did not detect any clear distinction between patients with the different diagnoses.

Effects of continuous microchip (MC) vagal neuromodulation on gastrointestinal function in rats.

Afferent fibers from gastrointestinal tract outnumber efferents ten times in vagal nerves. Modifying the afferent input makes possible to change discharge of vagal efferents affecting gastrointestinal functions in process known as neuromodulation (NM). Lately it has been used in the treatment of pain and hyperactive neurogenic bladder in urology. MC induced NM may therefore provide a concurrent to pharmacology tool, in treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of long term neuromodulation procedure with use of MC on gastric motility, secretion and weight control in conscious rats. Experiments were performed on 30 Wistar male rats (250-350 g) divided in two groups: sham operated and microsurgically implanted with MC on left vagal nerve below diaphragm. Following stimulation parameters were used: frequency of 0.5-30 Hz, amplitude of 0.55 V, impulse duration of 10 ms in monophasic fashion. In both groups food intake and body weight were measured through the period of 2 weeks after recovery period. Then gastric fistula was implanted in gastric antrum and fasted gastric motility recorded with use of PowerLab system (Australia). Gastric emptying and secretion were also tested with use of phenol red and automatic titration methods. On the daily basis glucose level with standard test and leptin after MC implantation were measured. Recording of vagal activity in fasted rats showed burst of action potentials about 5 +/- 2.5 in period of 5000 sec, each burst with spike frequency up to 35 Hz. Food (5 ml of Intralipid--intragastrically) almost doubled amount of bursts to 12 +/- 5 in period of 5000 sec with increase in frequency at spike up to 50 Hz. MC induced vagal activity showed continuous spike activity similar to fed pattern. MC induced NM decreases daily food intake by 6% (33.6 +/- 4.8 vs control 35.5 +/- 4.8 g, p < 0.01). Body weight gain in rats before MC implantation decreased by 20% within 2 weeks after recovery (34.8 +/- 9.08 vs control 23.56 +/- 4.15 g). Fasting control glucose level also decreased of 5.5% (93.15 +/- 9.3 vs control 98.5 +/- 11.2 mg%, p < 0.05). Frequency of gastric contractions did not change significantly in MC versus control but amplitude of contractions increased of about 66.7% (2.0 +/- 0.8 vs 1.17 +/- 0.52) at the dominant frequency 0.08 Hz range and about 71.5% (1.17 +/- 0.35 vs 0.68 +/- 0.47, p < 0.05) at the frequency 0.12 Hz. in FFT analysis PowerLab (chart v = 4.01). BAO decreased by 29.25% without H+ concentration changes (0.2 +/- 0.14 vs 0.14 +/- 0.12 mmol/30 min, p < 0.05) but MAO did not change in MC rats (0.37 +/- 0.25 vs 0.42 +/- 0.28 mmol/30 min, p 0.05). Gastric emptying of isotonic solution increased by 10% (90.46 +/- 5.34 vs 80.39 +/- 9.95) percent of marker passing to duodenum/5 min, p < 0.0001). Our results suggest that MC induced NM affect brain-gut axis via influencing metabolic and gastric function and decreases body weight.

[The role of the autonomic nervous system on malfunction of gastric motor and myoelectric activity in patients with hyperthyroidism]. / Rola ukladu autonomicznego w zaburzeniach czynnosci motorycznej i mioelektrycznej zoladka u chorych z nadczynnoscia tarczycy.

The aim of this study was to determine both the type of gastric mioelectric and emptying disorders in correlation to degree of severity of hyperthyroidism (clinical and thyroid hormones' blood levels) and ANS function estimated in HRV analysis. The study was performed on a group of 50 patients (35 with multinodular toxic goitre and 15 with Graves' disease, 45 females and 5 males, mean age 39.6 years, mean BMI 23.72) with newly diagnosed and so far untreated hyperthyroidism. The control group were 50 healthy volunteers age-, sex-, and BMI-matched to the studied group. Patients were studied twice, within newly diagnosed thyreotoxicosis and after treatment (Metizol) and reaching stable euthyroid state. The study consisted of: a) percutaneous EGG analysis (Synectics): 30 minutes before and after a test meal (ENRICH Liquid 250 ml), b) HRV analysis (ECG POSTER 2002): 10 minutes at rest and during deep breathing test, c) ultrasound measurement of gastric emptying by Bolondi method. Statistical analysis of collected data was performed. In hyperthyroid patients significant both preprandial and postprandial dysrhythmia (33.01% of bradygastria and 16.49% of tachygastria) was found. In some patients decrease of amplitude of EGG signal was marked as a result of antral hypomotility with coexisting significantly prolonged gastric emptying (110 min). Among severe hyperthyroid patients both the antral food distribution (antrum 35% bigger than in a control group) and impaired proximal stomach relaxation were evident. The degree of gastric mioelectric activity and emptying disorders was proportional to the degree of both severity of clinical manifestation of hyperthyroidism in Zgliczynski scale (from I degree to III degrees) and free thyroid hormones' blood levels (positive correlation). In HRV analysis at rest in hyperthyroid patients comparing to a control group the decrease of both the heart rate variability and a total power was found particularly in HF component resulting in relative sympathetic activation. In HRV analysis during deep breathing test the decrease of heart rate variability was present mostly in LF component. It indicates on reduction of vagal regulation (and vagal excitability) of sinus node and gastric pacemaker function. Coexistence of the increase and decrease of a gastric basic electrical rhythm with delay of gastric emptying indicates on a complex mechanism of their formation. Both neurogenic regulation dysfunction and primary miogenic autoregulation disorders as a result of tyreotoxicosis seem to be the possible causes. All the found changes were functional and disappeared after reaching the stable euthyroid state within 3 months of pharmacological treatment.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase isoenzymes in tumours--assay with possible prognostic value for oxazaphosphorine chemotherapy.

A novel fluorimetric assay, allowing independent measurement of the activities of two principal cytosolic forms of human aldehyde dehydrogenase, ALDH-1 and ALDH-3 (known as a tumour-associated ALDH) was applied to estimate the activities of these isoenzymes in human liver and thyroid tumours. The assay is based on two artificial substrates, 6-methoxy-2-naphthaldehyde (MONAL-62) and 7-methoxy-1-naphthaldehyde (MONAL-71), exhibiting excellent substrate properties toward various forms of human ALDH (see Wierzchowski et al., 1997, Anal. Biochem. 245, 69-78). We have found significant differences in ALDH activities between malignant and non-malignant tissue fragments, particularly in cancerous livers. Out of 16 tumours examined, only 4 exhibited ALDH-1 activities comparable to that found in the tumour-free tissue (0.5-2.5 U/g), while in the remaining 12 this activity was at least 10-fold lower. The ALDH-3 activity was detectable in about 40% of both tumour and tumour-free liver samples (maximum value 1.5 U/g). Comparison of 13 pathological thyroid fragments revealed ALDH activities in the range of 0.02 to 0.35 U/g, with two malignant samples showing activities of 0.27 and 0.18 U/g. Both substrate specificity and kinetic behaviour of the thyroid ALDH (Km values for the fluorogenic naphthaldehydes as well as propanal inhibition profile) were similar to those of the purified ALDH-1. In 5 thyroid samples traces of ALDH-3 activity was detected, using MONAL-62 and NADP+ as substrates (maximum value 0.04 U/g). Possible prognostic value of the foregoing measurements for cyclophosphamide chemotherapy is discussed.

Techniques to accelerate dynamic psychotherapy.

The techniques described above outline specific ways to deepen the patient's affective experience within an emotionally close therapeutic relationship. When effective, they all enhance the patient/therapist bond, raise self-esteem, reduce defensiveness and anxiety, and facilitate emotional healing. Psychodynamic treatment, long or short, is a complex process uniquely constructed by each therapist/patient pair. AEDP strategies are not intended as recipes for treatment. Good dynamic work depends on the therapist's ability to grasp the patient's capacities and limitations, understand relational dynamics, and interact with the patient in an empathically attuned, emotionally receptive, and flexible way. In that context, these strategies can be helpful tools to facilitate and accelerate the process. The choices made by AEDP--privileging adaptive strivings over defensive reactions, the stance of emotional engagement rather than neutrality and abstinence, the focus on health and change over pathology and stasis--are informed by traditional STDP aims to maximize depth, effectiveness, and efficiency. AEDP's contribution is a set of techniques relying on a response repertoire that is available to a wide range of therapists. Therapists can use these techniques to be more effective while simultaneously retaining the experience of speaking with patients in an authentic voice.

[Wound dehiscence as a problem of the surgery department]. / Wytrzewienie jako problem oddzialu chirurgicznego.

UNLABELLED: Eventration is still the great surgical problem. Although it is not very often, but may course serious complication leading to death. The aim of this study is the retrospective analysis of patients undergone surgery in the III Department of Surgery in 1982-1995 (14 years). During this period eventration was observed with 61 patients, constituting 1% of laparotomies performed in this period. Among the re-operated on, there were 40 males and 21 females. In 6 cases this complication occurred twice and in 1 case - three times. The age of patients ranged from 29 to 95, the average being 61.5. The usual time spent in the Hospital was 35.9 days. There were 51 patients (83.6%) admitted and operated in the surgical casualty. Among those there were cases of diffuse peritonitis, bowel obstruction, gastro-intestinal hemorrhage etc. In 40% of patients the eventration occurred in 5 days after surgery (the average time was 6.5 days). Eventration was not found after 2 weeks following the operation. Wound infection, the most common cause of dehiscence, was observed in 29 cases (47.5%). During the reoperation, in 10 patients we diagnosed bowel obstructions, in 6 - jejunal fistula and in other 6 - abdominal abscess. 24 (39.3%) patients died in the period following the operation because of septicemia, cardiovascular and respiratory deficiency. In 1/3 cases there were pulmonary complications. Authors draw attention to the prevention of wound dehiscence as well as to the additional suturing procedure which has been successfully used in their Department. CONCLUSION: Wound dehiscence is the surgical complication with the high risk of death.

[Treatment of goiter in adolescents in surgical practice--personal observations]. / Leczenie wola u mlodocianych w praktyce chirurgicznej--spostrzezenia wlasne.

Fifty one patients 12-19 years old were operated on because of different thyroid diseases (1.7% of total amount 3029 patients after surgical treatment). There was no post-operative complication (except of 2 cases of temporary vocal cord paresis). Late results of surgical treatment in adolescents were not significantly different then in other groups. Presence of the symptoms of clinical or subclinical hypothyreosis or rarely recurrence of thyrotoxicosis in patients with toxic nodular goitre after surgical treatment, however, makes the treatment worst, particularly important in this age group. Suppression therapy of thyroid hormones was administrated in all patients with simple nodular goitre and with thyroid cancer. All patients were followed up in our outpatient clinic. During the follow-up from 6 months to 10 years no recurrence of goitre or thyroid cancer was observed.

[Wrong diagnoses of acute appendicitis in women]. / Nieprawidlowe rozpoznania ostrego zapalenia wyrostka robaczkowego u kobiet.

In the years 1988 through 1992, 434 patients with acute appendicitis were operated at Third Department of Surgery, Medical Academy, in Kraków. The group included 201 females aged 14 to 90 years of life. In 159 women the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was confirmed, whereas 42 patients were subjected to surgical procedures due to other than appendicitis conditions located within the abdominal cavity. Surgeries prompted by symptoms suggesting appendicitis were most often performed in women with gynecological diseases. Only in several cases laparotomies were performed for other reasons. Wrong diagnoses were most often noted in women below 20 years of life and in the group between 40 and 60 years of life. The introduction of routine ultrasound examinations into the diagnostic management of acute peritonitis and diseases of the reproductive system might result in decrease of the number of diagnostic errors in acute appendicitis in women. An emergency procedure performed when the diagnosis is unclear is recommended rather than prolonged observation. The latter often results in delayed diagnosis of acute appendicitis when diffuse peritonitis develops.

Parents' involvement in children's schooling: a multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model.

This study had 2 goals. The first was to examine a multidimensional conceptualization of parent involvement in children's schooling, defined as the allocation of resources to the child's school endeavors. A second goal was to evaluate a model in which children's motivational resources (i.e., perceived competence, control understanding, and self-regulation) are mediators between parent involvement and children's school performance. 300 11-14-year-old children and their teachers participated. Factor analyses of a set of parent involvement measures supported the hypothesized 3 dimensions of parent involvement: behavior, intellectual/cognitive, and personal. Path analyses revealed indirect effects of mother behavior and intellectual/cognitive involvement on school performance through perceived competence and control understanding, and indirect effects of father behavior on school performance through perceived competence. The results argue against a unidimensional understanding of parent involvement and support the view of the child as an active constructor of his or her school experience.

Gastric acid, gastrin and pancreatic polypeptide responses to modified sham feeding in duodenal ulcer patients before and after highly selective or truncal vagotomy.

Gastric acid secretion, as well as gastrin and pancreatic peptide release into the bloodstream before and after TV or HSV were observed in 28 patients following modified sham feeding (MSF) and pentagastrin tests. Prior to surgery the majority of patients showed stimulation of gastric acid secretion and hormone release into the bloodstream as the result of the employed tests. The MSF-induced acid output (SAO) and pentagastrin-induced acid output (PAOpg) values were mainly observed immediately following the stimulus. In the majority of patients MSF triggered an increase in blood gastrin and PP concentrations. Nevertheless, the peak concentration values for the two hormones occurred at different time intervals following the stimulus. For gastrin the peak values appeared later than SAO, whereas for PP they occurred either in the course of or immediately after MSF. Irrespectively of, the type of surgical procedure used and the completeness of vagotomy, the values of BAO, PAO, SAO and PAOpg were significantly lower following the procedure. Blood hormone concentration, however, showed greater variations. The test stimulated gastrin release showed the peak values were greater after, than prior to, the surgery, whereas PP release was markedly inhibited. No correlation was found between gastric acid secretion, blood serum gastrin and PP levels.

Prosodic structure in language understanding: evidence from tone sandhi in Mandarin.

Two experiments show that prosodic information plays a crucial role in the processing of sentences of Standard Mandarin Chinese, where local lexical ambiguities may occur due to the operation of a tone sandhi rule. In Chinese, each word is associated with a tone; in this paper, the term "Mandarin tone sandhi" refers to a phonological rule that changes the first of two consecutive low tones (Tone 3) to a rising tone (Tone 2). As a result, a two-syllable sequence with a rising tone followed by a low tone is ambiguous. In Experiment 1, listeners identified lexical tones for ambiguous, unambiguous, and nonsense words in phrasal contexts where the tone sandhi rule might have applied. Comparable results in the lexical versus nonsense conditions indicate that judgments did not rely simply on lexically stored tonal information, but also made reference to the tonal context of the phrase. In Experiment 2, subjects chose the most likely written English translation for auditory sentences of Mandarin. Global prosodic information was manipulated to create different levels of "prosodic closeness" between two critical items in a tone sandhi environment, while the syntactic relation between these items was held constant. Results show that listeners relied on the prosodic structure of the phrases to determine whether or not the tone sandhi rule had applied, and consequently to identify individual lexical items. The evidence is taken to support the notion that prosodic structure influences auditory language comprehension processes.

Gastric acid and pancreatic polypeptide responses to modified sham feeding. Effects of truncal and parietal cell vagotomy.

The effects of truncal vagotomy and parietal cell vagotomy on gastric acid secretion and plasma gastrin and pancreatic polypeptide release were studied in 28 duodenal ulcer patients under basal conditions and after modified sham feeding and infusion of pentagastrin (2 micrograms/kg/h). Before vagotomy gastric acid output in response to modified sham feeding was significantly higher than basal acid secretion in all subjects tested and reached about 45% of the pentagastrin maximum. No difference in the increase in acid response, or in the pancreatic polypeptide response to modified sham feeding was found between patients with high and low basal secretion. Plasma gastrin concentration was unaltered by modified sham feeding before and after truncal vagotomy or parietal cell vagotomy, although after vagotomy it tended to reach higher values than before this procedure. After truncal vagotomy, basal pancreatic polypeptide concentration was decreased and modified sham feeding-induced pancreatic polypeptide increment was completely eliminated. Four weeks after parietal cell vagotomy, the modified sham feeding-induced increment in plasma pancreatic polypeptide was significantly decreased and observed only in seven of 12 patients. Four to five years after parietal cell vagotomy all subjects responded to modified sham feeding with pancreatic polypeptide increment similar to that before vagotomy and in three of 12 patients acid response to modified sham feeding was seen. This study indicates that truncal vagotomy eliminates gastric acid and plasma pancreatic polypeptide responses to vagal excitation while parietal cell vagotomy abolishes gastric acid response and reduces temporarily the pancreatic polypeptide response to modified sham feeding (possibly because of transient impairment of the vagal innervation of the pancreas). (2) A high ratio of basal to maximal acid output in non-operated duodenal ulcer patients is not associated with a low acid response to modified sham feeding, nor with a high pancreatic polypeptide concentration, and (3) Restitution of the pancreatic polypeptide response to modified sham feeding five years after parietal cell vagotomy does not indication ineffective denervation of the parietal cells.

Latency of sequential eye movements: implications for reading.

The best available estimates indicate that the average minimum latency of saccadic eye movements (175-200 msec) approaches the mean duration of fixations in reading (200-250 msec). This fact presents a problem for models of reading which assume that an eye movement is initiated only after substantial information is processed on a fixation. Three experiments are reported that support earlier estimates of saccadic latency; the experiments were conducted under conditions in which the length of measured latencies could not reflect a motoric refractory period, spatial uncertainty, or temporal uncertainty.

Masking of foveal and parafoveal vision during eye fixations in reading.

A window or visual mask as moved across text in synchrony with the reader's eye movements. The size of the window or mask was varied so that either information in foveal or parafoveal vision was masked on each fixation. In another experiment, the onset of the mask was delayed for a certain amount of time following the end of the saccade. The results of the experiments point out the relative importance of foveal and parafoveal vision for reading and further indicate that most of the visual information necessary for reading can be acquired during the first 50 msec that information is available during an eye fixation.

Visual significance of pupillary response to an auditory task.

Subjects simultaneously performed visual and auditory detection tasks. Pupillary dilation accompanies increased cognitive load such as that caused by the auditory tasks. Errors in the visual task increased when the auditory task became more difficult. The increase was greater when the effects of pupillary dilation were blocked by an artificial pupil.