Disturbances in Lipid Metabolism Associated with Chylothorax and its Management

Changes in circulating lipid status were studied in a 70-year-old woman during management of chylothorax that included chest drainage, pleuroperitoneal shunting, and a successful thoracic duct ligation. Hypolipidemia with a relative decline in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was apparent at presentation. Following recovery, serum HDL cholesterol rose to the upper limit of normal. Apolipoprotein A-l (Apo A-l) was discordantly raised during the period of pleuroperitoneal shunting. We speculate that diversion of chylomicrons to the liver with subsequent hydrolysis accounted for a release of Apo A-l particles into the circulation at a time when the formation of HDL was compromised by a state of starvation

A Case of IgE Myeloma: Methodology and Review of the Literature

A 56-year-old man presented with a one-year history of progressive weakness predominantly affecting his extremities and persistent low back pain. Ouchterlony immunodiffusion of the concentrated urine detected a marked increase in lambda light chains. A sternal bone marrow documented a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Screening high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis revealed diffuse hypogammaglobulinemia and, retrospectively, an equivocal, faint band which migrated in the fast gamma region. By using a combination of Immunoelectrophoresis and immunofixation electrophoresis, this questionable band was determined to represent an IgE lambda monoclonal protein. Radioimmunoassay for IgE documented a serum concentration of 50.6 mg/dl. No intact IgE was found in the urine. Following chemotherapy, the patient\u27s serum IgE level decreased significantly, and he is presently asymptomatic. Features of special interest in this case include the low serum IgE level on presentation, which was difficult to detect on the screening electrophoretogram, and the use of immunofixation electrophoresis in the detection and characterization of these difficult gammopathies

Comparison of Cortical Bone Trajectory to Pedicle-Based Dynamic Stabilization: An Analysis of 291 Patients

Objective Pedicle-based dynamic stabilization (DS) has gained popularity outside of America. Although pedicle screw (PS) loosening has always been a concern, it is reportedly innocuous. Cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw is an emerging option with less invasiveness and similar effectiveness to PS in short-segment lumbar fusion. This study aimed to verify the use of CBT for DS by comparing the outcomes between pedicle- and CBT-based DS. Methods Consecutive patients with lumbar spondylosis or low-grade spondylolisthesis who underwent 1- or 2-level DS between L3–5 with a minimum follow-up of 24 months were reviewed. Screw loosening was determined by computed tomography and the incidences were compared. Results A total of 291 patients who underwent Dynesys DS (235 pedicle- and 56 CBT-based, respectively) were compared. The demographics and preoperative conditions were similar. All the clinical outcomes improved at 24-month postoperation, while the CBT-based group had less operation time and blood loss than the pedicle-based group. The rates of screw loosening were lower in the CBT-based (5.4% per screw and 12.5% per patient) than the pedicle-based group (9% per screw and 26.4% per patient). Furthermore, there were no differences in the clinical outcomes and complication profiles. Conclusion The CBT-based DS for 1- or 2-level lumbar degeneration demonstrated equivalent clinical improvement as the pedicle-based DS. The adaption of CBT-based screws for DS could be a less invasive approach (shorter operation time and less blood loss), with lower chances of screw loosening than the conventional PS-based DS

Measurement of Deformity at the Craniovertebral Junction: Correlation of Triangular Area and Myelopathy

Objective Diseases of the craniovertebral junction (CVJ) are commonly associated with deformity, malalignment, and subsequent myelopathy. The misaligned CVJ might cause compression of neuronal tissues and subsequently clinical symptoms. The triangular area (TA), measured by magnetic resonance imaging/images (MRI/s), is a novel measurement for quantification of the severity of compression to the brain stem. This study aimed to assess the normal and pathological values of TA by a comparison of patients with CVJ disease to age- and sex-matched controls. Moreover, postoperative TAs were correlated with outcomes. Methods Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for CVJ disease were included for comparison to an age- and sex-matched cohort of normal CVJ persons as controls. The demographics, perioperative information, and pre- and postoperative 2-year cervical MRIs were collected for analysis. Cervical TAs were measured and compared. Results A total of 201 patients, all of whom had pre- or postoperative MRI, were analyzed. The TA of the CVJ deformity group was larger than the healthy control group (1.62 ± 0.57 cm2 vs. 1.01 ± 0.18 cm2, p < 0.001). Moreover, patients who had combined anterior odontoidectomy and posterior laminectomy with fixation had the greatest reduction in the TA (1.18 ± 0.58 cm2). Conclusion In CVJ deformity, the measurement of the cervical TA could indicate the severity of brain stem compression. After surgery, the TA had a varying degree of improvement, which could represent the efficacy of surgery

Atomistic nucleation sites of Pt nanoparticles on N-doped carbon nanotubes

[[abstract]]The atomistic nucleation sites of Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) on N-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) were investigated using C and N K-edge and Pt L3-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES)/extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy and XANES/EXAFS results revealed that the self-organized Pt NPs on N-CNTs are uniformly distributed because of the relatively high binding energies of the adsorbed Pt atoms at the imperfect sites. During the atomistic nucleation process of Pt NPs on N-CNTs, stable Pt–C and Pt–N bonds are presumably formed, and charge transfer occurs at the surface/interface of the N-CNTs. The findings in this study were consistent with density functional theory calculations performed using cluster models for the undoped, substitutional-N-doped and pyridine-like-N-doped CNTs.[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]GB

酚／雙酚A液化柳杉製備Novolac型酚醛樹脂之性質

本研究將柳杉木粉以酚及重量比6/4之酚／雙酚A混合液為液化藥劑，H_2SO_4為催化劑，以150oC加熱60 min進行液化處理，分別獲得PLW及BLW兩種液化柳杉，再將PLW、BLW及化石酚與甲醛於酸性環境下反應製備PF、PLW-PF及BLW-PF三種novolac型PF樹脂。由試驗結果顯示，木材組成分可與液化藥劑結合形成衍生物，其中PLW有較低之平均分子量及分子量分散度。三種novolac型PF樹脂均具備熱熔融特性，其中PF樹脂之熔點及平均分子量較低。未添加硬化劑之novolac型PF樹脂在DSC熱掃描過程出現吸熱現象，添加六亞甲基四胺則出現架橋反應之明顯放熱峰，其中以PF樹脂之熱活動現象及熱架橋反應較PLW-PF樹脂及BLW-PF樹脂明顯。將重量比100/0、70/30、50/50之PF/BLW-PF樹脂混合麻六甲合歡木粉、六亞甲基四胺所製作成型板具備優良之尺寸安定性。然成型板之內聚強度及抗彎強度隨BLW-PF所占比例增加而降低。In this study, wood powders of ＂Cryptomeria japonica＂ (Japanese cedar) were liquefied in phenol and the mixture of phenol/bisphenol A (6/4, wt/wt) with H2SO4 as a catalyst at 150oC for 60 min to obtain the liquefied wood of PLW and BLW, respectively. The fossil phenol, PLW and BLW were reacted with formaldehyde under acid condition to prepare three kinds of novolac resins, named PF, PLW-PF and BLW-PF. The results show that wood components could combine with liquefaction reagents to form derivatives. The PLW had lower average molecular weight and molecular weight dispersity than the BLW. All of these three novalac-type PF resins had the behavior of hot-melting. Among them, PF resin had lower melting point and less average molecular weight than others. Novalac-type PF resins without hardener showed an endothermic phenomenon during DSC heat scanning. However, an obvious exothermic peak due to crosslinking reaction appeared when hexamethylene tetramine was added. The phenomenon of thermal activity and thermal crosslinking were more obvious for PF resin than PLW-PF and BLW-PF. Molding plates made with the mixture of PF/BLW-PF resins that had the weight ratio of 100/0, 70/30 and 50/50, ＂Albizzia falcate＂ wood flour and hexamethylene tetramine had good dimensional stability. However, the internal bonding strength and bending strength of molding plates decreased with increasing the weight ratio of BLW-PF