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[The role of computed tomography in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses and nasopharynx].

We studied the value of computed tomography (CT) in diagnosis and treatment of primary malignant tumors of the sinonasal cavities and nasopharynx, and reached the following conclusions. 1) In maxillary carcinomas, bone destruction is always seen on CT. When bone destruction is not apparent despite invasion to the adjacent site, malignant lymphoma or plasmacytoma is suggested. 2) In defining the tumor extent of maxillary SCC, CT is more reliable than maxillotomy, and is equal to maxillectomy. However, clouding of the sinus without bone destruction remains a problem, since this finding can be caused by either tumor invasion or obstructive sinusitis. 3) In maxillary and nasopharyngeal SCC, CT frequently reveals tumors to be more extensive than previously suspected following physical and conventional x-ray examinations. Therefore, the T-stages of these tumors are often upstaged to more advanced ones. 4) CT is of great help in identifying candidates for surgery in maxillary SCC, and in planning radiation therapy for nasopharyngeal and sinonasal tumors. Dose distribution curves displayed directly on the CT slices are becoming essential tools for radiation oncologists. After the introduction of CT, treatment results in cases of nasopharyngeal SCC have improved, probably due to better definition of the tumor volumes. 5) CT is also used for observing tumor response after therapy and for follow-up. In summary, CT is now indispensable in the management of malignant tumors of these sites.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Vaginal discharge due to undiagnosed bilateral duplicated collecting system with ectopic ureters in a three-year-old female: an initial high index of suspicion for sexual abuse.

In prepubertal girls with vaginal discharge, consideration of the etiology must be given to respiratory pathogens (Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis), enteric pathogens (Escherichia coli, Shigella, and Yersinia), poor hygiene, foreign body, nonabsorbent undergarments, irritants, vulvar skin disease, anatomic abnormalities (double vagina with fistula, pelvic abscess, and ectopic ureter), and sexual abuse. Prepubertal girls, outside the newborn period, with suspected gonococcal infection should be strongly considered to be victims of sexual abuse, once congenital and other newborn acquired forms of gonorrhea are excluded. We present a case of a three-year-old female with vaginal discharge and fever with a clouded social history, disproportionate distress on physical exam, and initial laboratory gram stain suggestive of gonococcus.

Child Abuse, Sexual↗

[Sonographic follow-up of pronounced brain concussion in a 3-week-old infant following trauma caused by shaking].

Cerebral sonography was performed in a 3 week old whiplash shaken baby who had no external marks of injury and no skull fracture. On the day of admission, increased echogenicity in the white matter could be correlated with hypodense contusional lesions in the cranial computerized tomography. Sonographic follow-up showed multiple cystic defects in the white matter and later on marked dilatation of the adjacent lateral ventricle. In all infants with open anterior fontanel presenting with unexplained clouding of consciousness and/or external marks of child abuse, cerebral sonography should be a basic diagnostic method.

Brain↗

Multiplatform optical monitoring of eutrophication in temporally and spatially variable lakes.

Representative spatial patterns of eutrophication variables cannot be produced using traditional in situ sampling techniques. Spatial heterogeneity complicates the study of seasonal and long-term trends and the evaluation of water management policies. Remote sensing, however, with its broad view has the potential to deliver the relevant information. This paper will address the added value of synoptic eutrophication maps to the standard monitoring program of two large, spatially and temporally variable lakes in the Netherlands, Lakes IJssel and Marken. Remote sensing images were obtained from SeaWiFS; and combined with hyperspectral reflectance data from the airborne EPS-a sensor and the shipboard PR-650 spectroradiometer. The PR-650 data were used in selecting the most appropriate algorithms for SeaWiFS and EPS-a. A special algorithm for case II waters with high chlorophyll content was applied to SeaWiFS data to obtain chlorophyll concentrations. Synoptic maps of suspended matter were retrieved using inversion of a model for irradiance reflectance. For the airborne sensor inversion of reflectance was used for both suspended matter and chlorophyll. Satellite and airborne sensors clearly are complementary to each other. Comparison of satellite data with the airborne data and the (scarcely available) in situ data reveal underlying problems with: (i) validation of remote sensing images; and (ii) comparing data at different spatial and temporal scales. In our study, we found a reasonable agreement between different data sources at seasonal time scales, but at shorter time scales the differences can be (much) larger. In situ data suffer from poor reproducibility, related to the natural variability at small spatial scales (patchiness), combined with a significant temporal variability. The standard in situ monitoring program in Lakes IJssel and Marken lacks both the necessary spatial coverage as well as an appropriate sampling frequency. This indicates that for reliable monitoring, a synoptic data set, sampled at a high frequency is required. Remote sensing can partially fulfil this demand but still lacks the demanded frequency, mainly due to regular cloud cover. The answer may be in a multiplatform monitoring approach, as used in our study (combining in situ data with shipboard, airborne and satellite optical data) and in combining monitoring data with models. Satellite remote sensing is most powerful in determining properties that are inherent to the whole lake system, like the overall mean chlorophyll-a concentration. Computational models may meet the demand for a sufficiently high sampling frequency by deterministic interpolation of the data in time.

Chlorophyll↗

Computer modeling demonstrates that electrostatic attraction of nucleosomal DNA is mediated by histone tails.

We conducted molecular dynamics computer simulations of charged histone tail-DNA interactions in systems mimicking nucleosome core particles (NCP) . In a coarse-grained model, the NCP is modeled as a negatively charged spherical particle with flexible polycationic histone tails attached to it in a dielectric continuum with explicit mobile counterions and added salt. The size, charge, and distribution of the tails relative to the core were built to mimick real NCP. In this way, we incorporate attractive ion-ion correlation effects due to fluctuations in the ion cloud and the attractive entropic and energetic tail-bridging effects. In agreement with experimental data, increase of monovalent salt content from salt-free to physiological concentration leads to the formation of NCP aggregates; likewise, in the presence of MgCl2, the NCPs form condensed systems via histone-tail bridging and accumulation of counterions. More detailed mechanisms of the histone tail-DNA interactions and dynamics have been obtained from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations (including water), comprising three DNA 22-mers and 14 short fragments of the H4 histone tail (amino acids 5-12) carrying three positive charges on lysine+ interacting with DNA. We found correlation of the DNA-DNA distance with the presence and association of the histone tail between the DNA molecules.

Binding Sites↗

[Computer technology of genogeographic study of the gene pool. IV. Population in the space of principal components].

On the basis of maps of principal components ("synthetic maps"), populations were arranged in the space of principal components. In terms of the applied model, nodes of a dense, uniform grid represented human populations. For each node, the frequency of a given gene was interpolated from these values for all original populations. Principal components were estimated and mapped on the basis of maps for all genes. Each population (grid node) was assigned a marker of an ethnic or some other group of populations and was positioned in the space of principal components according to the values from the original maps. The resultant "ethnic clouds" of populations and "ethnic centroids" of principal components provide some new possibilities for explaining the patterns of changes in gene pools. The maps of reliability of principal components allow the researcher to eliminate the information on populations which is unreliable and turn to the "reliable" space of principal components. The method was tested with the use of the maps of principal components for the gene pool of the East European population. Eastern Slavonic (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians) and western and eastern Finno-Ugrian (Estonians and Mordovians, respectively) ethnic groups were mapped to the space of principal components. The relative positions of the populations of these ethnic groups was analyzed in the spaces of the first and the second, the first and the third, and the second and the third principal components of the East European gene pool.

Commonwealth of Independent States↗

Spatial-temporal dynamics of cavitation bubble clouds in 1.2 MHz focused ultrasound field.

Cavitation bubbles have been recognized as being essential to many applications of ultrasound. Temporal evolution and spatial distribution of cavitation bubble clouds induced by a focused ultrasound transducer of 1.2 MHz center frequency are investigated by high-speed photography. It is revealed that at a total acoustic power of 72 W the cavitation bubble cloud first emerges in the focal region where cavitation bubbles are observed to generate, grow, merge and collapse during the initial 600 micros. The bubble cloud then grows upward to the post-focal region, and finally becomes visible in the pre-focal region. The structure of the final bubble cloud is characterized by regional distribution of cavitation bubbles in the ultrasound field. The cavitation bubble cloud structure remains stable when the acoustic power is increased from 25 W to 107 W, but it changes to a more violent form when the acoustic power is further increased to 175 W.

Acoustics↗

Time-resolved backscattering of circularly and linearly polarized light in a turbid medium.

Time-resolved backscattering profiles of circularly and linearly polarized light were measured from a turbid medium composed of small and large polystyrene sphere particles in water. It is shown that, based on the measurements of the time-resolved backscattered copolarized and cross-polarized components of the incident polarized light, either linearly or circularly polarized light can be used to effectively image an object that is deep inside a turbid medium composed of small particles, depending on the depolarization properties of the object itself. For large particles such as in tissue, fog, and clouds, the experimentally observed polarization memory effect on the backscattering temporal profiles suggests that a significant improvement in the image contrast can be achieved by use of circularly polarized light.

Colloids↗

Overcharging in colloids: beyond the Poisson-Boltzmann approach.

A broad range of manufactured products and biological fluids are colliods. The ability to understand and control the processes (of scientific, technological and industrial interest) in which such colloids are involved relies upon a precise knowledge of the electrical double layer. The traditional approach to describing this ion cloud around colloidal particles has been the Gouy-Chapman model developed on the basis of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Since the early 1980s, however, more sophisticated theoretical treatments have revealed both quantitative and qualitative deficiencies in the Poisson-Boltzmann theory, particularly at high ionic strengths and/or high surface charge densities. This review deals with these novel approaches, which are mostly computer simulations and approximate integral equation theories based on the so-called primitive model. Special attention is paid to phenomena that cannot be accounted for by the classic theory as a result of neglecting ion size correlations, such as overcharging, namely, the counterion concentration in the immediate neighborhood of the surface is so large that the particle surface is overcompensated. Other illustrative examples are the nonmonotonic behavior of the electrostatic potential and attractive interactions between equally charged surfaces. These predictions are certainly remarkable and, on paper, they can have an effect on experimentally measurable quantities (for instance, electrophoretic mobility). Even so, these new approaches have scarcely been applied in practice. Thus a critical survey on the relevance of ion size correlation in real systems is also included. Overcharging of macroions can also be brought about by adsorption of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Noteworthy examples and theoretical approaches for them are also briefly reviewed.

Colloids↗

Coastal pollution hazards in southern California observed by SAR imagery: stormwater plumes, wastewater plumes, and natural hydrocarbon seeps.

Stormwater runoff plumes, municipal wastewater plumes, and natural hydrocarbon seeps are important pollution hazards for the heavily populated Southern California Bight (SCB). Due to their small size, dynamic and episodic nature, these hazards are difficult to sample adequately using traditional in situ oceanographic methods. Complex coastal circulation and persistent cloud cover can further complicate detection and monitoring of these hazards. We use imagery from space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR), complemented by field measurements, to examine these hazards in the SCB. The hazards are detectable in SAR imagery because they deposit surfactants on the sea surface, smoothing capillary and small gravity waves to produce areas of reduced backscatter compared with the surrounding ocean. We suggest that high-resolution SAR, which obtains useful data regardless of darkness or cloud cover, could be an important observational tool for assessment and monitoring of coastal marine pollution hazards in the SCB and other urbanized coastal regions.

California↗

Coordination complexes of 1-(4-[N-tert-butyl-N-aminoxyl]phenyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole with paramagnetic transition metal dications.

1-(4-(N-tert-Butyl-N-aminoxylphenyl))-1H-1,2,4-triazole (NIT-Ph-Triaz) forms isostructural cyclic 2:2 dimeric complexes with M(hfac)(2), M = Mn, Ni, Co, hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate. For M = Cu, only a sufficient sample for crystallographic analysis was isolated. For M = Mn, Ni, and Co, the M-NIT exchange is strongly antiferromagnetic. The intradimer exchange coupling between M-NIT units is J/k = +0.53 K for M = Mn, J/k = (-)3.5 K for M = Ni. For M = Co, J/k < 0 K, with the magnetic susceptibility tending toward zero at low temperatures. The exchange behavior is consistent with an intradimer spin polarization mechanism linking M-NIT units through the conjugated pi-system of the radical. Computational modeling of NIT-Ph-Triaz gives Mulliken spin populations in good accord with experimental electron spin resonance hyperfine coupling constants, and is consistent with the presumed radical spin density distribution in the complexes. The results provide useful guidelines to anticipate spin polarization effects in organic pi-radical building blocks in magnetic materials, particularly when qualitative connectivity-based analyses are clouded by nonalternant molecular connectivities.

Journal Article↗

Underwater refraction-polarization patterns of skylight perceived by aquatic animals through Snell's window of the flat water surface.

The grass shrimp (Palaemonetes vulgaris) orients itself by means of the polarization pattern of the sky visible through Snell's window of the water surface. The celestial polarization pattern viewed from water is distorted and modified because of refraction and repolarization of skylight at the air-water interface. This work provides a quantitative account of the repolarization of skylight transmitted through a flat water surface. The degree and direction of linear polarization, the transmissivity and the shape of the refraction-polarization oval are calculated at the air-water interface as functions of the polarization characteristics and the incident angle of partially linearly polarized incoming light. Two-dimensional patterns of linear polarization ellipses and of the degree and direction of polarization of skylight are presented for different zenith distances of the sun. The corresponding underwater refraction-polarization patterns are computed. Transmissivity patterns of a flat water surface are calculated for unpolarized light of an overcast sky and for partially polarized light of clear skies as a function of the zenith distance of the sun. The role of these refraction-polarization patterns in orientation and polarization vision of the grass shrimp (P. vulgaris) and rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) is reviewed. The effects of cloud cover, surface waves and water turbidity on the refraction-polarization patterns are briefly discussed.

Animals↗

A crossed beams study of the reaction of carbon atoms, C(3Pj), with vinyl cyanide, C2H3CN(X 1A')--investigating the formation of cyano propargyl radicals.

The chemical dynamics of the reaction of ground state carbon atoms, C(3Pj), with vinyl cyanide, C2H3CN(X 1A'), were examined under single collision conditions at collision energies of 29.9 and 43.9 kJ mol(-1) using the crossed molecular beams approach. The experimental studies were combined with electronic structure calculations on the triplet C4H3N potential energy surface (H. F. Su, R. I. Kaiser, A. H. H. Chang, J. Chem. Phys., 2005, 122, 074320). Our investigations suggest that the reaction follows indirect scattering dynamics via addition of the carbon atom to the carbon-carbon double bond of the vinyl cyanide molecule yielding a cyano cyclopropylidene collision complex. The latter undergoes ring opening to form cis/trans triplet cyano allene which fragments predominantly to the 1-cyano propargyl radical via tight exit transition states; the 3-cyano propargyl isomer was inferred to be formed at least a factor of two less; also, no molecular hydrogen elimination channel was observed experimentally. These results are in agreement with the computational studies predicting solely the existence of a carbon versus hydrogen atom exchange pathway and the dominance of the 1-cyano propargyl radical product. The discovery of the cyano propargyl radical in the reaction of atomic carbon with vinyl cyanide under single collision conditions implies that this molecule can be an important reaction intermediate in combustion flames and also in extraterrestrial environments (cold molecular clouds, circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars) which could lead to the formation of cyano benzene (C6H5CN) upon reaction with a propargyl radical.

Journal Article↗

Stroke registry in Malmö, Sweden.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A stroke registry covering the city of Malmö, Sweden (population 232,000) was started in January of 1989 to prospectively follow up stroke incidence, recurrence, and fatality rates. METHODS: Patients with presumed stroke were interviewed within 1 week after admission to the hospital, and their medical records were examined. Continuous validation against hospital diagnosis showed well over 90% of all stroke cases in Malmö to have been included. RESULTS: Incidence rates per 100,000 residents were 300 for all stroke events and 225 for first-ever stroke, lower than those reported from other studies. The distribution of stroke diagnostic categories was 3% subarachnoid hemorrhage, 10% intracerebral hemorrhage, 50% cerebral infarction, and 38% unspecified stroke. The diagnosis was based on computed tomography in 51% of first-ever stroke cases. Median age was 73.1 years for men and 79.7 years for women. Incidence rates for all stroke diagnostic categories except subarachnoid hemorrhage increased with age. Prior stroke, hypertension, smoking, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes mellitus were major risk factors for all stroke events. The presenting symptoms were hemiparesis in 74%, speech disorder in 49%, and clouded consciousness in 19% of the patients. The overall case-fatality rate at 30 days was 15%; the rate for intracerebral hemorrhage was 37% and that for cerebral infarction was 10%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the value of a stroke registry for stroke epidemiology purposes and as a tool for specific stroke research.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

Geometries of functional group interactions in enzyme-ligand complexes: guides for receptor modelling.

An approach is described which makes use of X-ray structural data from enzyme-ligand complexes in order to obtain information for application in receptor modelling. The atomic surroundings of five different ligand functional groups were determined for all complex structures recorded in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. These atomic surroundings were then superimposed with respect to the atoms of the functional groups of the ligands in order to obtain clouds of neighbouring atoms. General principles were sought to describe the orientation or favoured position of groups or atoms around those functional groups when bound to a macromolecule. Some simple conclusions and leads for further modelling were thus derived.

Computer Simulation↗

13C solid-state NMR chemical shift anisotropy analysis of the anomeric carbon in carbohydrates.

(13)C NMR solid-state structural analysis of the anomeric center in carbohydrates was performed on six monosaccharides: glucose (Glc), mannose (Man), galactose (Gal), galactosamine hydrochloride (GalN), glucosamine hydrochloride (GlcN), and N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc). In the 1D (13)C cross-polarization/magic-angle spinning (CP/MAS) spectrum, the anomeric center C-1 of these carbohydrates revealed two well resolved resonances shifted by 3-5ppm, which were readily assigned to the anomeric alpha and beta forms. From this experiment, we also extracted the (13)C chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensor elements of the two forms from their spinning sideband intensities, respectively. It was found out that the chemical shift tensor for the alpha anomer was more axially symmetrical than that of the beta form. A strong linear correlation was obtained when the ratio of the axial asymmetry of the (13)C chemical shift tensors of the two anomeric forms was plotted in a semilogarithmic plot against the relative population of the two anomers. Finally, we applied REDOR spectroscopy to discern whether or not there were any differences in the sugar ring conformation between the anomers. Identical two-bond distances of 2.57A (2.48A) were deduced for both the alpha and beta forms in GlcNAc (GlcN), suggesting that the two anomers have essentially identical sugar ring scaffolds in these sugars. In light of these REDOR distance measurements and the strong correlation observed between the ratio of the axial asymmetry parameters of the (13)C chemical shift tensors and the relative population between the two anomeric forms, we concluded that the anomeric effect arises principally from interaction of the electron charge clouds between the C-1-O-5 and the C-1-O-1 bonds in these monosaccharides.

Anisotropy↗

[Neoplastic space-occupying lesions of the orbit. I. Review; hemangioma, lymphangioma and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma].

From 1987 to 1990 182 patients were treated for orbital lesions in the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Zürich. 37% were tumors (without tumors of the vascular system), 20% inflammatory lesions, 12% lesions of the vascular system and tumors of it, the rest was not diagnosed. On this background the first of two chapters on orbital tumors deals with diagnosis, differential diagnosis, therapy and follow up of the capillary hemangioma, cavernous hemangioma, lymphangioma and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Although ultrasound echography, CT, MRI and angiography have greatly changed the diagnostic work up of orbital lesions, diagnosis is by far not made straight forward but often only after errors. To enhance diagnosis in the future this study is meant to analyse our misinterpretations. In the case of capillary hemangioma only complications justify an active treatment, normally the lesion resolves spontaneously. The infiltration of the upper eyelid with ptosis needs to be treated because of the risk of amblyopia. Our cases demonstrate, that the attempt of treatment with steroids is justified. Embolisation in the region of the a. ophthalmica is quite dangerous. The cavernous hemangioma only needs treatment in the case of compression of the optical nerve and total excision is not mandatory. The lymphangioma, although classified as benign tumor, can only be excised subtotally and with the danger of traumatising important structures of the orbit. The infiltrative growth and tendency of recurrence in fact is dangerous. It is important to diagnose the tumor without biopsy and to wait with surgical treatment as long as possible. The embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma itself is rare but it is the most frequent primary malignant tumor in childhood. Even accounting for being familiar with mimikri-false history of trauma, inflammation, hemangioma-like angiography-the diagnosis is often made rather late. Our cases demonstrate this and also the change of treatment in the last 30 years. Unfortunately the prognosis of the good results of chemotherapy in combination with radiation if necessary is clouded by the occurrence of secondary malignant tumors.

Adolescent↗

Progressive peripheral agraphia.

We describe RW, a patient who presented with writing difficulty that deteriorated over time. While her graphemes were typically legible, her writing was extremely slow, and her letters were written in an inconsistent and heterogeneous manner (e.g. each "a" in the word "banana" was produced in a different way). Her mental imagery of letters was impoverished, and she also produced allographic errors in her writing. She had some spelling errors as well, but many of these were due to omissions, perseverations, and motor operations. A positron emission tomography scan demonstrated superior parietal occipital and superior frontal defects that were more evident on the left than the right. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that RW has a deficit retrieving physical letter forms as manifested by her heterogeneous and slow production of letter forms. This disruption of grapheme retrieval is associated with interruption of a superior frontal-parietal system in the left hemisphere.

Aged↗