Genetic differences in the elevated plus-maze persist after first exposure of inbred rats to the test apparatus

The elevated plus-maze (EPM) is an anxiety model thought to assess different types of emotional states depending on whether or not the animals have been previously exposed to the test apparatus. Accordingly, benzodiazepine-treated rodents generally differ from controls in the first but not in the second EPM trial. Inbred Lewis and SHR rats of both sexes (N=10) were submitted twice (test and retest) to the EPM with a 24 h interval between trials. Overall strain differences (Lewis<SHR) were observed in both males and females concerning anxiety-related measures (time spent and percent of entries in the open arms) regardless of previous maze experience. Moreover, prior exposure to the test apparatus produced an overall decrease in the approach towards the open arms in both strains and sexes. The fact that genetic differences did not diminish or disappear in the second trial, suggests that test and retest in the EPM are likely to share some common emotional components and that differences between naïve LEW and SHR rats are not similar to those observed between control and benzodiazepine-treated animals.

Xanthogranuloma of the choroid plexus of the third ventricle: case report and literature review

Xanthogranulomas of the choroids plexus (XG) are benign tumours of debatable etiology which become rarely symptomatic. Only few cases have been studied with MRI. A new case of xanthogranuloma of the third ventricle showing unusual features in the CT and MRI studies in a 47-year-old man with a 2-month history of gait and urinary disturbances and cognitive impairment is reported. The literature concerning clinical and neuroradiological presentation of intracranial xanthogranulomas is reviewed.

Solid industrial wastes and their management in Asegra (Granada, Spain)

ASEGRA is an industrial area in Granada (Spain) with important waste management problems. In order to properly manage and control waste production in industry, one must know the quantity, type, and composition of industrial wastes, as well as the management practices of the companies involved. In our study, questionnaires were used to collect data regarding methods of waste management used in 170 of the 230 businesses in the area of study. The majority of these companies in ASEGRA are small or medium-size, and belong to the service sector, transport, and distribution. This was naturally a conditioning factor in both the type and management of the wastes generated. It was observed that paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, and metals were the most common types of waste, mainly generated from packaging (49% of the total volume), as well as material used in containers and for wrapping products. Serious problems were observed in the management of these wastes. In most cases they were disposed of by dumping, and very rarely did businesses resort to reuse, recycling or valorization. Smaller companies encountered greater difficulties when it came to effective waste management. The most frequent solution for the disposal of wastes in the area was dumping.

Implante coclear en malformaciones congénitas

OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to evaluate the complications and problems encountered in a population with inner ear congenital malformation undergoing cochlear implantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present study includes 33 patients with congenital inner ear malformation, from a total population of 346 cochlear implant patients, implanted from February 1993 to March 2004. Radiological evaluation and neurological exams were performed to all these patients in order to evaluate all the preoperative conditions.

RESULTS

The most common cochlear anomalies we found were: cochlear hypoplasia, Incomplete partition and Common cavity (n=15). In 4 cases an enlarge aqueduct was also associated to the cochlear anomaly. We also found 6 cases with labyrinthine anomalies. The surgical procedure was performed in 23 cases, and in 18 of them we obtained an electrical stimulation of the neural elements.

CONCLUSIONS

There are no differences between patients with Incomplete Partition of the cochlea and mild Cochlea hypoplasia, if compared with those with normal cochlea. Severe malformations as Common Cavity or severe hypoplasia may have a higher rate of surgical complications and the outcome cannot be predicted.

Coagulation-flocculation pretreatment of a partially stabilized leachate from a sanitary landfill site at Alhendin (Granada, Southern Spain)

Leachate recirculation, biological, and physicochemical treatment processes are used to treat leachate landfill, but all treatment technologies seem to need a combination of two or more methods to obtain an effluent with suitable properties to eliminate environmental problems. In spite of the considerable literature focused on the coagulation-flocculation applied to landfill leachate before biological treatments, most investigations are developed to study different operating variables as leachate characteristics, type, and concentrations of chemical products applied. Two ferric coagulants (ferric chloride and Ferriclar), two aluminum coagulants (PAX-18 and SAL-8.2), an organic coagulant and flocculant (Chemifloc PA-15), several anionic flocculant (Chemifloc A05.L, A10.L, A20L, and A30.L), and a non-ionic flocculant (Chemifloc N01) were used in jar-test experiments to determine the best conditions for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total solids (TS) from a partially stabilized leachate collected at a sanitary landfill site at Alhendín (Granada, Southern Spain). The organic coagulant-flocculant PA-15 showed highest (17%) COD and TS removal efficiencies at a concentration of 2 mL/L. All combinations of coagulants and flocculants enhanced the COD removal efficiency. The best results (more than 25% COD removal) were obtained with a combination of ferric or aluminum-based salts in combination with high molecular weight flocculants.

[Total IgE in the sputum and serum of patients with asthma]

BACKGROUND

The correlation between total IgE in induced sputum (IS) and serum is not well defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between total IgE in IS and total IgE in serum and airway inflammation.

METHODS

Twenty-one patients with stable asthma and thirteen healthy controls were studied. Clinical and spirometric data were collected and a skin prick test to the 13 most common aeroallergens in our area was performed in all subjects. Total IgE in IS and serum was determined by the UNICAP immunoanalysis system (Pharmacia Uppsala, Sweden) while albumin concentration in IS and serum was determined using the Cobas Integra turbidimetric method (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland).

RESULTS

The percentage of eosinophils in EI was 8.7 (11.8) in asthmatic subjects and was 0.5 (1) in healthy controls. Total IgE (KU/L) was 43.2 (23) in asthmatics vs 25.6 (3) in healthy controls in IS, and was 329 (413) in asthmatics vs 57 (78) in controls in serum. Total IgE in IS was significantly correlated with total IgE in serum; r = 0.71 (p = 0.048), but not with the albumin relative index. No correlation was found between IgE and the number of eosinophils in IS.

CONCLUSIONS

Total IgE can be measured in IS. Total IgE in IS is mildly correlated with total IgE measured in serum. The lack of correlation between total IgE and albumin in IS suggests that IgE in IS could be locally produced, at least in part.

[Anticoagulant treatment in hemorrhagic brains infarts due to large sinus venous thrombosis]

Cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis is an infrequent condition which presents with a wide spectrum of signs and a variable mode of onset. Sinus thrombosis may cause isolated intracranial hypertension but also may cause cerebral venous infarcts, which are frequently hemorrhagic. Treatment with antithrombotic agents is controversial because there is only one randomised controlled trial with unfractionated heparin. We report a 46- years-old man complaining of progressive headache, paraparesis and dysphasia. After admission, his neurological status worsened and he developed tetraparesis, depressed level of consciousness and seizures. A cranial computarized tomography (CT) scan showed multiple hyperdensities suggestive of hemorrhagic infarcts. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study confirmed extensive cerebral venous thrombosis. Unfractionated heparin was administered for two weeks followed by acenocumarol. Within a few days his neurological status improved, and five weeks after admission the patient only hadd slight neurological deficit. After 11 years of follow-up, he has had a complete recovery. The G20210A mutation in the prothrombin gene was detected as a likely risk factor for venous thrombosis. Therapeutical and diagnosis aspects are discussed. We review the previous literature on the topic.

High-efficiency detection of a single quantum of angular momentum by suppression of optical pumping

We propose and demonstrate experimentally the discrimination between two spin states of an atom purely on the basis of their angular momentum. The discrimination relies on angular momentum selection rules and does not require magnetic effects such as a magnetic dipole moment of the atom or an applied magnetic field. The central ingredient is to prevent by coherent population trapping an optical pumping process which would otherwise relax the spin state before a detectable signal could be obtained. We detected the presence or absence of a single quantum (h) of angular momentum in a trapped calcium ion in a single observation with success probability 0.86. As a practical technique, the method can be applied to read out some types of quantum computer.

[Spontaneous spinal cord herniation]

Spontaneous spinal cord herniation through a dural defect is an unusual condition. This entity has been probably underestimated before the introduction of MRI. We report a case of a 49-year-old man with a progressive Brown-Sequard syndrome. MRI and CT myelogram showed a ventrally displaced spinal cord at level T6-T7 and expansion of the posterior subarachnoid space. Through a laminectomy, a spinal cord herniation was identified and reduced. The anterior dural defect was repaired with a patch of lyophilized dura. The patient recovered muscle power but there was no improvement of the sensory disturbance. The diagnosis of spontaneous spinal cord herniation must be considered when progressive myelopathy occurs in middle-aged patients, without signs of spinal cord compression and typical radiological findings. Surgical treatment may halt the progressive deficits and even yield improvement in many cases.

Comparison of voluntary ethanol intake by two pairs of rat lines used as genetic models of anxiety

The relationship between anxiety-related behaviors and voluntary ethanol intake was examined in two pairs of rat lines by the oral ethanol self-administration procedure. Floripa high (H) and low (L) rats selectively bred for contrasting anxiety responses in the open-field test, and two inbred strains, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Lewis rats which are known to differ significantly when submitted to several behavioral tests of anxiety/emotionality, were used (9-10 animals/line/sex). No differences in the choice of ethanol solutions (2%, days 1-4, and 4%, days 5-8, respectively) in a 2-bottle paradigm were detected between Floripa H and L rats (1.94 +/- 0.37 vs 1.61 +/- 0.37 g/kg for ethanol intake on day 8 by the Floripa H and L rat lines, respectively). Contrary to expectations, the less anxious SHR rats consumed significantly more ethanol than Lewis rats (respective intake of 2.30 +/- 0.45 and 0.72 +/- 0.33 g/kg on day 8) which are known to be both addiction-prone and highly anxious. Regardless of strain, female rats consumed more ethanol than males (approximately 46%). The results showed no relationship between high anxiety and voluntary intake of ethanol for Floripa H and L rats. A negative association between these two variables, however, was found for SHR and Lewis rat strains. Data from the literature regarding the association between anxiety and alcohol intake in animal models are not conclusive, but the present results indicate that factors other than increased inborn anxiety probably lead to the individual differences in ethanol drinking behavior.

Prolonged Survival of an HIV-Infected Patient with Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium bovis Infection Treated with Surgical Resection

We describe a case of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium bovis in a human immunodeficiency virus-infected woman with good immunologic status. The patient presented with a hard mass measuring 10 cm in diameter on the lower left ribs and a lung nodule measuring 3 cm in diameter in the left superior lobe. No adequate pharmacological treatment was available. Both lesions were surgically resected. The patient has remained asymptomatic (without fever, cough, lymphadenopathy, or cutaneous masses) for 20 months, after discharge from the hospital.

Lhermitte-Duclos disease and Cowden disease: clinical and genetic study in five patients with Lhermitte-Duclos disease and literature review

BACKGROUND

Lhermitte-Duclos Disease (LDD) is an infrequent cerebellar disorder characterized by focal or diffuse enlargement of cerebellar folia presenting as a slowly growing mass in the posterior fossa. Over the past decade its association with Cowden disease (CD) has been recognized with increasing frequency. This latter disease is a genetic condition leading to the presence of multiple hamartomas and neoplasias which affect mainly the skin, thyroid, breast and genito-urinary and gastro-intestinal tracts. It has even been hypothesized that LDD and CD constitute a single entity. This work is aimed to analyse to what extent this association was present in patients treated for LDD at our institution.

METHOD

We reviewed the medical records of five patients and performed clinical studies for CD manifestations, among them, genetic investigation for PTEN mutations. The International Cowden Consortium Criteria were applied for the diagnosis of CD.

FINDINGS

Four of the five patients treated for LDD were also diagnosed of CD. The genetic study found PTEN mutations in two of them. Interpretation. LDD has been found to be closely related to CD in this series, in accordance with previous literature. However, the absence of CD diagnosis in one of the patients led us to suggest that, despite the strong association between these two diseases, LDD can also appear as an isolated condition.

Long-standing Morel-Lavallée lesions of the trochanteric region and proximal thigh: MRI features in five patients

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to review and describe the MRI features of long-standing Morel-Lavallée lesions of the trochanteric region and proximal thigh in five patients with a history of trauma.

CONCLUSION

Long-standing Morel-Lavallée lesions of the trochanteric region and proximal thigh may present various MRI patterns that reflect their variable composition and stage of development. MRI may prove especially useful for characterizing these lesions when the trauma is remote and progressive growth or pain is present.

Solitary fibrous tumor of the tentorium cerebelli. Case report

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is a mesenchymal neoplasm that has been recognized to occur almost all along the organism. Since its description in 1996 at the meninges, a total of 59 cases of meningeal SFT have been reported. Different authors have emphasized the difficulties in the differential diagnosis with other more frequent meningeal neoplasms such as meningioma or hemangiopericytoma, as the clinico-radiological characteristics of this lesion seem to be non specific and the morphological features on pathological study may resemble other spindle cell neoplasms. The diffuse and strong reactivity for CD34 and the negativity for EMA and S-100 are data allowing the diagnosis of SFT. We report the case of a 50-year-old woman suffering from headache, in whom MRI study showed a tentorial lesion initially thought to be a meningioma. In spite of morphological similarities with a fibrous meningioma, inmunohistochemical study finally led to the diagnosis of SFT. As occurred in previous cases, the findings in our patient reflect the similarities in clinico-radiological and pathological characteristics between meningeal SFT and other spindle cell meningeal neoplasms, mainly fibrous meningioma. When a clear diagnosis cannot be done based on typical findings on conventional hematoxylin-eosin study, inmunohistochemical study should be performed in meningeal spindle cell lesions to exclude SFT.

[Silent corticotroph adenomas: presentation of two cases that presented with pituitary apoplexy]

Among the group of pituitary adenomas surgically treated, about 25-30% are not associated with clinical or analytical findings of hormonal hypersecretion. The development of immunohistochemical techniques has allowed the demonstration of a subgroup of adenomas that show immunoreactivity against several hormones among the group of, apparently, non-functioning adenomas. This subgroup has been called silent adenomas. Silent adenomas positive for ACTH show a singular clinical picture and different from those adenomas producing Cushing's disease, as they present more frequently as macroadenomas, with more frequent pituitary apoplexy, invasion of cavernous or sphenoidal sinus and recurrences. We present two new cases of silent corticotroph adenomas in two female patients that presented with pituitary apoplexy, one of them after giving birth after a normal full-term pregnancy. Both of them presented with macroadenomas that invaded the sphenoidal and cavernous sinus. Although both tumors were immunoreactive for ACTH, none of the patients presented clinical or analytical findings compatible with Cushing's disease.

[Patient preference in the choice of dry powder inhalers]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate a group of patients' preferences among 3 dry powder inhalers--Accuhaler, Easyhaler, and Turbuhaler--and to analyze the features that were most important for motivating choices.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The study enrolled 30 patients with stable asthma with a mean (SD) age of 40 (13) and who habitually used inhaled corticosteroids. The patients were shown in detail how to use each of the devices and were randomized to begin using them in different orders. After using each inhaler for a week, the patients assessed 9 different features on a scale of 0 to 10 with an independent observer. The patients were asked to put the inhalers in order of preference, and finally to demonstrate they could use them correctly.

RESULTS

All patients correctly performed the inhalation maneuver at the beginning and the end of the study. The mean final scores out of 90 of the 9 features evaluated were 75 (13) for the Easyhaler, 67 (12) for the Accuhaler, and 65 (14) for the Turbuhaler. Differences were statistically significant between the first and the second device (P=0.02) and the first and the third (P=.001) but not between the Accuhaler and the Turbuhaler (P=.376). Mean rating scores were 8.6 (1.4) for the Easyhaler, 7.3 (1.9) for the Turbuhaler, and 7.1 (1.6) for the Accuhaler. The Easyhaler was the first choice for 53% of patients, the Turbuhaler for 27%, and the Accuhaler for 20%.

CONCLUSIONS

The Easyhaler was rated the highest by the patients in the study. The scores were a long way from the maximum score, so research into developing an ideal inhaler must continue.

MR imaging of spinal infection: atypical features, interpretative pitfalls and potential mimickers

The wide variability of MR features in spinal infection reflects rare distribution of discovertebral involvement, unexpected soft-tissue and bone abnormalities, un-usual complications or uncommon pathogens. In addition, several de-generative and inflammatory entities can clinically and radiologically resemble spinal infection. In this pictorial review, we illustrate the various atypical features that may be found in MR imaging of spinal infection,with emphasis on interpretative pit-falls and common mimickers.

Ultrasonic flaw detection in NDE of highly scattering materials using wavelet and Wigner-Ville transform processing

In ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation of highly scattering materials the backscattering noise may attain peak values greater than the searched flaw pulse and the mean value of noise spectrum is very similar to the searched echo spectrum. Several specific methods have been proposed for the reduction of this type of noise, but the comparison of the performance of different methods is still an open problem. In this paper, we make a comparison among some methods based on simultaneous representations in time and frequency/scale domains of the ultrasonic traces. Synthetic and experimental traces are de-noised using a discrete wavelet processor with decomposition level-dependent threshold selection and a method that combines Wigner-Ville transform and filtering in the time-frequency domain. The results are comparatively evaluated in terms of signal to noise ratio and probability of detection.

Estimation of some transducer parameters in a broadband piezoelectric transmitter by using an artificial intelligence technique

An estimation procedure to efficiently find approximate values of internal parameters in ultrasonic transducers intended for broadband operation would be a valuable tool to discover internal construction data. This information is necessary in the modelling and simulation of acoustic and electrical behaviour related to ultrasonic systems containing commercial transducers. There is not a general solution for this generic problem of parameter estimation in the case of broadband piezoelectric probes. In this paper, this general problem is briefly analysed for broadband conditions. The viability of application in this field of an artificial intelligence technique supported on the modelling of the transducer internal components is studied. A genetic algorithm (GA) procedure is presented and applied to the estimation of different parameters, related to two transducers which are working as pulsed transmitters. The efficiency of this GA technique is studied, considering the influence of the number and variation range of the estimated parameters. Estimation results are experimentally ratified.

Modeling NDT piezoelectric ultrasonic transmitters

Ultrasonic NDT applications are frequently based on the spike excitation of piezoelectric transducers by means of efficient pulsers which usually include a power switching device (e.g. SCR or MOS-FET) and some rectifier components. In this paper we present an approximate frequency domain electro-acoustic model for pulsed piezoelectric ultrasonic transmitters which, by integrating partial models of the different stages (driving electronics, tuning/matching networks and broadband piezoelectric transducer), allows the computation of the emission transfer function and output force temporal waveform. An approximate frequency domain model is used for the evaluation of the electrical driving pulse from the spike generator. Tuning circuits, interconnecting cable and mechanical impedance matching layers are modeled by means of transmission lines and the classical quadripole approach. The KLM model is used for the piezoelectric transducer. In addition, a PSPICE scheme is used for an alternative simulation of the broadband driving spike, including the accurate evaluation of non-linear driving effects. Several examples illustrate the capabilities of the specifically developed software.