Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M J Gu.
Clear cell sarcoma is a rare soft tissue sarcoma of young adults with melanocytic differentiation. It occurs predominantly in the soft tissue of extremities, typically involving tendons and aponeuroses. Primary clear cell sarcoma of bone is extremely rare. We report a case of primary clear cell sarcoma of the right first metatarsal in a 48-year-old woman and provide a literature review of the entity.
Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP) is a rare benign lesion predominantly involving the small bones of the hands and feet. Malignant transformation in BPOP has not been documented in the English literature. This report presents the coexistence of fibrosarcoma with BPOP in the right distal fibula of an 18-year-old woman.
Responses in maintaining or restoring standing balance were measured in 24 healthy young and 15 healthy elderly adults (mean ages 26 and 72) under four task conditions: two involving self-generated motions and two involving imposed disturbances. The two primary objectives of the study were to quantify the whole-body dynamics of these responses and to identify any age related differences in those dynamics. Response dynamics were analyzed using a seven-link biomechanical model. In terms of approximate population-mean values, maximum whole-body center of mass (CM) excursions ranged to 3 cm, maximum center of support-surface reaction (CR) excursions ranged to 8 cm, vertical reaction force changes ranged to 50 N, anteroposterior support surface reactions ranged to 30 N, maximum joint torques used per side ranged to 20 Nm and peak angular momenta about a transverse axis through the ankles ranged to 6 kg m2 s-1. The elderly adults, compared to the young tended to exhibit higher-frequency oscillations in excursions and larger horizontal excursions of their CM and CR, tended to develop larger support surface reactions and use larger response joint torques, and tended to arrest less of their angular momentum in their first cycle of response during the two imposed-disturbance tasks. Only some of these tendencies proved statistically significant. The results suggest that healthy elderly subjects with no apparent musculoskeletal or neurological impairments differ from healthy young adult subjects in their responses to modest perturbations of upright stance. However, the differences are generally not large and their magnitudes are perturbation-specific.
UNLABELLED: In this study, chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) has been developed for the measurement of estrogen receptor (ER) in 34 gynecological oncological tissues from 15 cases of endometrial carcinoma, 15 cases of ovarian tumors and 4 cases of other gynecological tumors. The accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of CLEIA for ER were compared with that of dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA). RESULTS: (1) the standard curve of ER-CLEIA showed a significant linear correlation between the luminosity and ER concentration (r = 0.9786, P < 0.001); (2) The results of CLEIA and that of the other two methods were compared; the correlation coefficients were > 0.8 and their corresponding rates were > 90%; (3) the positive rate of ER determined by these three methods showed no significant differences, however, the mean value of ER-CLEIA was the highest among them. It is concluded that the CLEIA has a higher sensitivity than that of the other two methods for the measurement of ER.
Hepatocytes isolated from male F344 rats were exposed to elevated temperatures (40 degrees C to 45 degrees C), and the incorporation of [35S]-L-methionine into proteins was measured from fluorograms of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels. The synthesis of two proteins was induced by temperatures of 40 degrees C to 42.5 degrees C; however, 45 degrees C inhibited the synthesis of all proteins. Based on their apparent molecular weights and pI values and their recognition by a monoclonal antibody to the HSP70 gene family, the two proteins induced by hyperthermia were found to be the highly heat-inducible hsp70 and the constitutive hsc70. Because a heat shock of 42.5 degrees C for 30 minutes had very little effect on cell viability and induced the synthesis of hsp70 and hsc70, this heat shock was used to study the effect of age on the ability of hepatocytes to respond to the stress of hyperthermia. Neither hepatocytes isolated from young adult (5-7 months) nor old (25-27 months) rats synthesized detectable amounts of hsp70 when incubated at 37 degrees C. However, heat shock induced the synthesis of both hsp70 and hsc70 in hepatocytes isolated from young adult and old rats. The induction of hsp70 synthesis was significantly lower (37%) for hepatocytes isolated from old rats compared to hepatocytes isolated from young adult rats. However, neither the basal level nor the induced level of hsc70 synthesis changed significantly with age. Thus, aging resulted in a decrease in the ability of hepatocytes to synthesize hsp70 in response to hyperthermia; this effect, however, was specific for hsp70.
The use of dynamic posturography (EquiTest) for the characterization of postural control biomechanics would be aided by specific knowledge of what the measured data imply about body segment movements. To investigate this issue, the biomechanics of a group of 15 healthy elderly subjects were compared to those of healthy young subjects by using both dynamic posturography and a laboratory movement and force measuring system. The results from EquiTest were analyzed by 1) routine clinical interpretation of data and 2) a clinical research interpretation by subjecting the EquiTest parameters to additional statistical comparison of mean performance of the young and elderly groups. The young-elderly differences from the 2 EquiTest analyses were then compared to the young-elderly differences derived from the laboratory protocol. The routine clinical interpretation of EquiTest data identified the same increases in sway shown by the laboratory study, but did not reveal the more subtle differences indicated by the laboratory study. When the EquiTest data were subjected to additional statistical analysis, the characterization of difference between young and elderly subjects was the same as that of the laboratory study, with the exception of issues of head versus trunk movement, a measure not made by EquiTest. This essential similarity in the characterization of elderly compared to young subjects by both systems suggests 1) that EquiTest is able to detect subtle differences in biomechanics of postural control between young and elderly healthy adult groups and 2) that implied movements of center of gravity, trunk versus lower limbs, and strength of reaction measures are consistently detected by both EquiTest and the laboratory kinematics and dynamics measurement systems.
The toxic effect of cyclosporine A (CsA) on pancreatic islet beta-cells and the preventive effect of ligustrazine (LIG) on CsA-associated beta-cell toxicity in SD rats were investigated. The oral administration of CsA 50 mg/kg/day for ten days caused hyperglycaemia and lowering of plasma and pancreatic insulin levels that were prevented and/or minimized by the combined intra-peritoneal administration of LIG 50 mg/kg/day. An increase of urinary thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and urinary TXB2/6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-k-PGF1 alpha) ratio in CsA-treated rats could also be prevented and/or minimized by the administration of LIG. The results suggested that the preventive effect of LIG on CsA-associated islet beta-cell toxicity was relevant to the improvement of prostacyclin-thromboxane A2 imbalance.
The reproductive function and their offspring health in 30 patients with ovarian neoplasms following preservation of tubo-ovarian and uterine functions operation, and adjuvant or preventive chemotherapy were studied. All the patients were followed up for 2-18.5 years, 65.5% of the patients showed normal cycle of menstruation. The patients under 25 years old, they were demonstrated a significant higher frequency of abnormal menstruation than that over 25. In this series 15 patients wish to have child, 12 of them were pregnant (a gestational rate of 80%), totally there are 20 gestations, including 13 fullterm deliveries, 1 premature delivery, and 7 artificial abortions, however, no spontaneous abortion occurred. Fourteen healthy offsprings were followed up to date, 11 of them are normal in health, the Gesell tests of intelligence were also normal, as well as the G-band karyotype analysis. Only the SCE frequencies of 3 objects in one family comprised the mother and her two daughters were significant higher than that of the control. We recommend that women who preserving reproductive function desired to be pregnant at least 2 years later following chemotherapy, SCE determination must be studied before any attempt to become pregnancy.
Increased postural sway and falling are associated with aging and are likely related to problems with postural control in the elderly. We investigated the motions of individual body segments in 24 healthy young adults and 15 healthy elderly adults (mean ages 26 and 72) in response to four tasks: (a) standing with feet flat on an anteriorly accelerating platform (Flat Translation); standing on a narrow beam support that was (b) stationary (Beam Standing) and (c) accelerating anteriorly (Beam Translation); and (d) standing on a rotatable but otherwise stationary springboard (Springboard Standing). An optoelectronic camera system was used to measure rotations of body segments, particularly regarding their maximum excursions, time to first rotation response, direction of initial rotation, and time to first rotation reversal. In general, larger rotation excursions were noted in the elderly compared to the young group, particularly in the Beam Standing and Beam Translation tasks, but the magnitude of rotation difference was small. All rotation magnitudes were well within the available ranges of motion of the body joints. In both excursion magnitudes and directions of initial rotation, the elderly showed greater variability than the young. In the Beam Translation task, the elderly group, compared to the young, tended to rotate their upper body segments more than in the Flat Translation task. These data suggest that healthy elderly adults with no apparent musculoskeletal or neurological impairments have small but consistent differences in postural control kinematics, particularly when more challenging conditions are presented. Moreover, these data provide the basis for biomechanical analyses of joint torques and other dynamic requirements of these responses.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in histological sections from 94 patients with ovarian malignancies were quantitated for their relation to the prognosis of the patients. It was found that the degree of lymphocyte infiltration directly affected the patients' survival rate and also related to clinical staging of the patients, as well as grading and histologic typing of the tumor. T lymphocytes characterized by alpha-naphthyl acetate (ANAE) staining were the major cells in the stroma of ovarian malignancies. Ultrastructural study of TIL and cancer cells suggested that tumor cell degeneration is related to the effect of TIL.
A release assay of 125IUdR-labelled K562 cells as target cells was performed for measuring natural killer (NK) activity of mononuclear cells in the peripheral blood of 92 cases, including 42 healthy women, 22 patients with gynecological benign tumors, and 28 patients with gynecological malignancies. The NK activity of malignant tumor group was obviously lower than that of healthy women and of benign tumor group, suggesting that a defective NK activity was present in the patients with gynecological malignancies. The NK activity in patients with ovarian malignant tumors was much lower than in those with cervical cancer, the difference being of statistical significance. In this study the leukocyte interferon was investigated for its effects on the NK activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 4 cases of gynecological malignancies. The level of NK activity ascended significantly in every case nearly to normal. The augmentation of NK activity by interferon may be used as a new immunotherapy for gynecological malignancies.
The main factors influencing prognosis (staging, histologic classification and grading, lymphocyte infiltration etc.) in 110 patients with epithelial ovarian cancers were analysed by life table technique to obtain 5 year cumulative survival rate. Multivariate statistical analysis (Cox Model) was used in 88 patients in order to find out the most important prognostic factor. The results showed that degree of lymphocyte infiltration in the tumor was the most important; the next was clinical factors; moreover, the amount of residual tumor was more significant than staging. Specimen from reoperation revealed less lymphocyte infiltration than that from the first operation. The degree of lymphocyte infiltration as an expression of the local host defence can be used as a good prognostic indicator.
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