Biomedical subjects
J Lang
Publications and source records attributed to J Lang.
[The hypoglossal channel and its contents in the posterolateral access to the petroclival area].
Measurements of the hypoglossal canal: The midpoint of the inner orifice of the hypoglossal canal is on average somewhat over 26 mm away from the opisthion. The distances of the canal centre come to approximately 30 mm, those of the outer canal orifice to 34 mm. The distance of the intracranial pores from each other amounts to 28 xmm. The medial portal for the extracranial pore is on an average 33 mm away from the portal of the opposite side, the lateral 40 mm from the lateral portal of the opposite side. The intracranial pore of the canal for the XII. nerve is situated on an average 13 mm in front of the posterior rim of the occipital condyle, the midpoint of the canal is 15.85 mm in front of this measuring zone, and the exit of the canal 19 mm. Some differences between the sexes and measurements of the postnatal increase of these distances have been included in this investigation. The diagnostic and surgical importance of the hypoglossal canal are discussed.
[Relative postnatal growth of the basal regions of the cranial fossa].
The relative postnatal growth of the bony floor parts was calculated from previous measurements and planimetrically determined on 21 adults and 13 skulls of children. As expected 1) the percentage rise in length and breadth values was lower than that of the area values. 2) The greatest postnatal area rise (63%) was determined in the hypophyseal region. 3) The growth of the individual skull areas terminates at a variable period after birth, e.g. a) between the foramen caecum and the tuberculum sellae in the 8th year of life; the planum sphenoidale, however, grows after the 9th year of life by approx. 27%! b) In children of 8 years of age, the lateral length of the middle cranial fossa is about 98% of the adult value. c) Between the 6th year of life and adult age a length increase of 18.5% takes place (tuberculum sellae--dorsum sellae). d) In 5-year old children the lateral length of the posterior cranial fossa is 97.5%, in 8-year-olds 99.9% of the adult value. e) After the 8th year of life the breadth increase is e.g. 6.4% in the region of the anterior cranial fossa, 3.5% in the middle fossa, and 10% in the pituitary region.
A mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 in which the UL13 protein kinase gene is disrupted.
Gene UL13 of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has previously been proposed to encode a protein kinase. An HSV-1 mutant with UL13 inactivated by insertion of the Escherichia coli lacZ gene was constructed. This UL13-lacZ mutant was found to grow to near wild-type (wt) titres in tissue culture. Comparison of silver-stained SDS-PAGE profiles of wt and UL13-lacZ virions demonstrated that the UL13 protein is a readily detectable component of wt virions, located in the tegument and probably equivalent to the previously described species VP18.8. Studies of in vitro phosphorylation with nuclear extracts of virus-infected cells and with detergent-treated virions showed that the UL13 protein is involved in phosphorylation of the tegument protein VP22. Extracts of cells engineered to express UL13, and infected with UL13-lacZ virus, were also capable of VP22 phosphorylation.
Measuring and predicting outcomes in ESRD patients.
To test the feasibility of using general health status as a practical dialysis outcome measure, in a longitudinal pilot study, two well-validated instruments were administered to patients from our dialysis unit or clinic. The instruments were administered three times, at eight-week intervals for seven months to 41 hemodialysis (HD) patients. Forty-five transplant (Tx) patients were surveyed once as a validating control. Sociodemographic, imaging and biochemical data were tested as outcome predictors. Unexpected hospitalizations and adverse intercurrent events were used as additional outcome measures. Preliminary analysis shows HD patients scoring low, while Tx patients scored higher (healthier). These preliminary results suggest that assessment of general health status is a valid and practical outcome measure.
Surgical anatomy of the brain stem.
Successful surgery within the brain stem parenchyma demands precise knowledge of the surface anatomy, relationship between surface and deep structures, microscopic anatomy, and functional anatomy of the brain stem. Emphasis on correlative knowledge of these aspects of brain stem anatomy will improve the success of brain stem surgery.
[Clinical anatomy of the anterior cranial fossa and adjacent areas].
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[Cushing syndrome in ACTH-producing neuroendocrine tumor of the hepatic duct].
We present a patient with an ACTH producing neuroendocrine tumor of the hepatic bile duct which was detected by chance during abdominal surgery for Cushing's syndrome. Diagnostic strategy and surgical therapy in patients with neuroendocrine tumors are discussed. The diagnostic problems caused by combination with an endocrine function disorder like Cushing's syndrome are pointed out.
[Kinetic studies of the lumbar vertebrae and the lumbosacral transition in the German shepherd dog. 2. Our personal investigations].
The range and type of ventrodorsal motion between two adjacent vertebra (L3-S1) was analyzed on isolated vertebral columns of 13 German Shepherd Dogs. All except one were neurologically normal dogs. The movement from maximal flexion to maximal extension was divided into 5 degree steps. For each step, the center of motion was determined on laterolateral radiographs. It could be shown that mobility between two adjacent vertebra within the lumbar spine increases towards the lumbosacral region with the highest mobility in this joint. In the cranial portion of the lumbar spine, rotation and ventrodorsal (parallel) displacement between two adjacent vertebra was seen. Rotation dominated in the lumbosacral joint in 11 dogs, whereas parallel displacement was mainly seen in 2 dogs. Further studies on pathologic and surgically modified vertebral columns are necessary to clarify the significance of these findings in the pathogenesis of lumbosacral instability and cauda equina compression in the German Shepherd Dog.
Gemfibrozil-lovastatin therapy for primary hyperlipoproteinemias.
The specific aim of this retrospective, observational study was to assess safety and efficacy of long-term (21 months/patient), open-label, gemfibrozil-lovastatin treatment in 80 patients with primary mixed hyperlipidemia (68% of whom had atherosclerotic vascular disease). Because ideal lipid targets were not reached (low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol less than 130 mg/dl, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol greater than 35 mg/dl, or total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol less than 4.5 mg/dl) with diet plus a single drug, gemfibrozil (1.2 g/day)-lovastatin (primarily 20 or 40 mg) treatment was given. Follow-up visits were scheduled with 2-drug therapy every 6 to 8 weeks, an average of 10.3 visits per patient, with 741 batteries of 6 liver function tests and 714 creatine phosphokinase levels measured. Only 1 of the 4,446 liver function tests (0.02%), a gamma glutamyl transferase, was greater than or equal to 3 times the upper normal limit. Of the 714 creatine phosphokinase levels, 9% were high; only 1 (0.1%) was greater than or equal to 3 times the upper normal limit. With 2-drug therapy, mean total cholesterol decreased 22% from 255 to 200 mg/dl, triglyceride levels decreased 35% from 236 to 154 mg/dl, LDL cholesterol decreased 26% from 176 to 131 mg/dl, and the total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio decreased 24% from 7.1 to 5.4, all p less than or equal to 0.0001. Myositis, attributable to the drug combination and symptomatic enough to discontinue it, occurred in 3% of patients, and in 1% with concurrent high creatine phosphokinase (769 U/liter); no patients had rhabdomyolysis or myoglobinuria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Randomised comparison of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and nasogastric tube feeding in patients with persisting neurological dysphagia.
OBJECTIVE: To compare percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and nasogastric tube feeding in patients with persisting neurological dysphagia. DESIGN: Randomised 28 day study of inpatients requiring long term enteral nutrition. SETTING: Three Glasgow teaching hospitals. SUBJECTS: 40 patients with dysphagia for at least four weeks secondary to neurological disorders: 20 patients (10 women) were randomised to nasogastric feeding and 20 (eight women) to endoscopic gastrostomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Treatment failure (blocked or displaced tubes on three or more occasions or refusal to continue treatment); duration of feeding; intake of liquid diets; complications; nutritional status at end of trial. RESULTS: One patient in each group died before starting feeding. Treatment failure occurred in 18 of the 19 nasogastric patients and in none of the gastrostomy group. The mean (SE) duration of feeding for the nasogastric group was 5.2 (1.5) days. No complications occurred in the nasogastric group but three (16%) of the gastrostomy group developed minor problems (aspiration pneumonia (two patients) wound infection (one)). Gastrostomy patients received a significantly greater proportion of their prescribed feed (93% (2%)) compared with the nasogastric group, (55% (4%); p less than 0.001) and also gained significantly more weight after seven days of feeding (1.4 (0.5) kg v 0.6 (0.1) kg; p less than 0.05). Analyses at days 14, 21, and 28 were not possible due to the small numbers remaining in the nasogastric group. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube feeding is a safe and effective method of providing long term enteral nutrition to patients with neurological dysphagia and offers important advantages over nasogastric tube feeding.
Heat shock protein Hsp60-reactive gamma delta cells: a large, diversified T-lymphocyte subset with highly focused specificity.
Previously, we detected a subset of gamma delta T cells in the newborn mouse thymus that responded to the mycobacterial heat shock protein Hsp60, as well as with what seemed to be a self-antigen. All of these cells expressed V gamma 1, most often in association with V delta 6+. It was not clear, however, whether similar, mature gamma delta cells with Hsp60 reactivity are common outside of the thymus, or rather, whether they are largely eliminated during development. From the data presented here, we estimate that gamma delta cells responding to Hsp60 comprise 10-20% of normal splenic and lymph node gamma delta T cells. Such cells, derived from adult spleen, always express a V gamma 1-J gamma 4-C gamma 4 gamma chain, although not all cells with this gamma chain show Hsp60 reactivity. Many of these V gamma 1+ cells also express V delta 6-J delta 1-C delta, though fewer than in V gamma 1+ cells from the newborn thymus. Extensive diversity is evident in both the gamma and delta chain junctional amino acids of the receptors of these cells, indicating that they may largely develop in the thymus of older animals or undergo peripheral expansion. Finally, we found that all such cells responding to both a putative self-antigen and to mycobacterial Hsp60 respond to a 17-amino acid synthetic peptide representing amino acids 180-196 of the Mycobacterium leprae Hsp60 sequence. This report demonstrates that a large subset of Hsp60-reactive peripheral lymphoid gamma delta T cells preexists in normal adult mice, all members of which respond to a single segment of this common heat shock protein.
Search for Time-Reversal Violation in the Beta Decay of Li8.
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Prism adaptation in acquired esotropia.
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Topographic anatomy of preformed intracranial spaces.
This article gives descriptions and measurements of the cerebral ventricles, especially our measurements of the interventricular foramen and the third ventricle. Included are measurements of previous and recent research. The results of endoscopic reviews of the lateral, third and fourth ventricles are also discussed. The subarachnoid spaces are described and illustrated by our corrosion casts. During endoscopic inspection of the subarachnoid spaces, the transcisternal veins are extremely vulnerable. Therefore, these veins in the anterior, middle and posterior cranial fossae are described.
[Treatment of dyslexia with occlusion or prisms].
In the German speaking part of Switzerland in the last few years there have been two singular trends in orthoptic and surgical treatment of dyslexia. Professor Otto performs occlusion to achieve dominance in one eye. Of 300 cases treated he has operated on 147 for an exodeviation. Dr. Pestalozzi prescribes prismes based on the Polatest to reach perfect binocular vision. In 175 cases he operated on 43 dyslectic children for an esodeviation. Both treatments are critically analysed and refused.
Absolute calibration of the transverse analyzing power in proton-carbon elastic scattering at 50.24 MeV.
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Expression and characterization of ovine major histocompatibility complex class II (OLA-DR) genes.
Previous work made use of nucleic acid probes corresponding to different subtypes of the class II regions of the human and murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) to isolate seven different alpha and 24 different beta genes of the ovine MHC from two cosmid libraries. In an attempt to identify pairs of alpha and beta genes capable of cell surface expression, all permutations of alpha and beta genes were in turn transfected into mouse L-cells. Two pairs of alpha and beta genes co-expressed and stable ovine MHC class II L-cell lines were developed. The expressed alpha genes had previously been defined as DR-alpha homologues (DRA) by differential Southern hybridization to human subtype specific class II probes. The expressed ovine beta genes were also assigned as ovine DR-beta homologues (DRB) on the basis of their sequence having a higher degree of similarity with human DRB than any other subtype. A total of eight out of 23 anti-sheep class II specific monoclonal antibodies were typed OLA-DR specific by FACScan analysis using the L-cell lines.