The Stenting to Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis (ICS) in Petrous Portion. The Evaluation of Plaque Figures in Magnetic Resonance Image.

SUMMARY: In the safety stenting, it is important to get to know the characteristics of a plaque. In petrous carotid artery stenosis, it is difficult to know the characteristics of the plaque.We paid our attention to the MPRAGE (Magnetization Prepared Rapid Acquisition with Gradient Echo) method on high resolving power MRI. By the MPRAGE method, low intensity was observed in these lesions of all cases. This result suggested that the plaque in petrous portion was a fibrous plaque. This method is useful to get to know the characteristics of a plaque in petrous portion before endovascular treatment.

[Surgical management for an unruptured cerebral aneurysm accompanied by anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome: a case report].

Anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome(APS) is characterized by the presence of antibodies to phospholipids and various symptoms including those derived from thrombosis. APS has been shown to be frequently accompanied by multiple and recurrent cerebral ischemic lesions, suggesting that APS may play a critical role in developing cerebral ischemia of unknown etiology. Here, we present a case with an unruptured cerebral aneurysm accompanied by a severe stenosis of the middle cerebral artery as a manifestation of APS. The aneurysm was successfully treated surgically employing the following precaution to prevent potential damage on the fragile ischemic brain: preoperative administration of anticonvulsant, intermittent brain retraction, intraoperative SEP monitoring, and postoperative administration of anticoagulant. Our experience suggests that unruptured cerebral aneurysms accompanied by APS could be safely treated by strict paraoperative management.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of lead accumulated in aquatic bryophytes.

Lead accumulated in aquatic bryophytes, Pohlia ludwigii, Scapania undulata and Pellia endiviifolia, has been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The well resolved pb 4f (4f(7 2 ) and 4f(5 2 )) spectra indicate that the bonding state of lead in each bryophyte is that giving a fairly narrow distribution in the binding energy. The Pb 4f(7 2 ) binding energy depends on the bryophyte species and is lower than that for lead sulphate. It is also possible to use XPS to detect zinc and copper accumulated in bryophytes.

Characterization of sediment reference materials by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

The chemical composition of surface layers of three sediment reference materials, Pond Sediment (Japan NIES CRM No. 2), River Sediment (US NBS SRM 1645) and Estuarine Sediment (US NBS SRM 1646), has been studied comparatively by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The composition of River Sediment as determined by XPS is peculiar in that the concentration of Cr is much higher but that of Si is much lower than that expected from the bulk composition of the sample. This can be attributed to the structure of the sediment particles, which consist of silica-rich cores covered by surface layers rich in Cr(III). Organic substances are predominant in the surface layers of all three materials, as indicated by the C 1s and N 1s lines. The elemental composition of the surface layers can be reasonably related to the origin of the sediments. The bonding states of some elements in the sediment samples, deduced from the photoelectron binding energies, are briefly discussed.