Nasal Morphology of the Chinese: Three-Dimensional Reference Values for Rhinoplasty

OBJECTIVE: To determine normative nasal measurements for Chinese young adults, conditioned on demographics. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: A university hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three-dimensional (3D) photographs were captured from 103 Chinese subjects between 18 and 35 years of age using a commercial stereophotographic system. Anthropometric landmarks were identified on these 3D surface images, and measurements suitable for nasal analysis were performed and contrasted against established Caucasian norms. Gender differences in anthropometric dimensions were also analyzed. RESULTS: Normative data for these measurements are made available. Linear nasal measurements, except those for mid-columella length, were significantly larger in men than in women; further, the nasal tip angle and nasofrontal angle were significantly larger in Chinese women. Contrasts of these new data against published Caucasian norms revealed dimensions that differ for these 2 groups. The Chinese normative mean values for morphological nose width, nasal tip angle, nasofrontal angle, and alar slope angle exceeded those reported for North American Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: Gender-specific normative data for the Chinese nose were established in this study to provide a useful tool for surgeons in dealing with rhinoplasty. Moreover, the Chinese nasal anthropometric measurements in this study are broader and flatter than those reported for North American Caucasians. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2014.postprin

Sensitivity analysis of circadian entrainment in the space of phase response curves

Sensitivity analysis is a classical and fundamental tool to evaluate the role of a given parameter in a given system characteristic. Because the phase response curve is a fundamental input--output characteristic of oscillators, we developed a sensitivity analysis for oscillator models in the space of phase response curves. The proposed tool can be applied to high-dimensional oscillator models without facing the curse of dimensionality obstacle associated with numerical exploration of the parameter space. Application of this tool to a state-of-the-art model of circadian rhythms suggests that it can be useful and instrumental to biological investigations.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures. Correction of a mistake in Definition 2.1. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1206.414

The Intrinsic Fundamental Group of a Linear Category

We provide an intrinsic definition of the fundamental group of a linear category over a ring as the automorphism group of the fibre functor on Galois coverings. If the universal covering exists, we prove that this group is isomorphic to the Galois group of the universal covering. The grading deduced from a Galois covering enables us to describe the canonical monomorphism from its automorphism group to the first Hochschild-Mitchell cohomology vector space.Comment: Final version, to appear in Algebras and Representation Theor

Update on emergency contraception

pre-printEmergency contraception (EC) is any method used after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy. This article provides an overview of the history of EC methods and describes the current availability of oral and intrauterine EC. Oral forms include the Yuzpe regimen (combining ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel), levonorgestrel-only pills, and ulipristal acetate, which is a new emergency contraceptive drug recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The copper T-380A intrauterine device can also be used for EC. Information about dosing, timing, access, and other considerations in the provision of EC is covered. Clinicians should be aware of all available options in order to counsel women in need of EC appropriately

Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) for malignant phenotype Leydig cell tumours of the testis: a 10-year experience.

Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) is a prognostic, palliative, and potentially therapeutic procedure for patients with malignant phenotype Leydig cell tumours of the testis. We reviewed the records of patients diagnosed with malignant phenotype Leydig cell tumours of the testis treated by RPLND. Modified template dissection was performed in all cases with extra-template excision of tumour mass in Stage II disease. Routine clinico-radiological follow-up was performed. Six open RPLNDs (1 re-do procedure) were performed on 5 patients diagnosed with Stage I (n = 3) and Stage II (n = 2) malignant phenotype Leydig cell tumour of the testis. Median age = 63 years (range = 55-72). Median peri-operative blood loss = 1500 ml (range = 500-1500 ml). Median operating time = 6 h (range = 4.5-6.5). Two patients with Stage II disease developed post-operative complications of acute kidney injury (n = 1) and pneumonia (n = 1). Median length of stay was 8 days (range = 6-11). RPLND specimens from patients with Stage I were tumour-free, whilst patients with Stage II disease had evidence of metastatic tumour. At latest follow-up (median = 13 months, range = 7-22), no patient with Stage I disease had radiological evidence of recurrence, however the two patients with Stage II disease had died due to tumour recurrence at 13 months and 36 months. RPLND for malignant phenotype Leydig cell testicular tumours appears to be well tolerated. Despite surgery, overall outcomes for Stage II appear to be poor due to the disease phenotype. Larger prospective multi-centre studies are required to determine the definitive criteria for surgery in Stage I disease

The modified 2VO ischemia protocol causes cognitive impairment similar to that induced by the standard method, but with a better survival rate

Permanent bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (2VO) in the rat has been established as a valid experimental model to investigate the effects of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion on cognitive function and neurodegenerative processes. Our aim was to compare the cognitive and morphological outcomes following the standard 2VO procedure, in which there is concomitant artery ligation, with those of a modified protocol, with a 1-week interval between artery occlusions to avoid an abrupt reduction of cerebral blood flow, as assessed by animal performance in the water maze and damage extension to the hippocampus and striatum. Male Wistar rats (N = 47) aged 3 months were subjected to chronic hypoperfusion by permanent bilateral ligation of the common carotid arteries using either the standard or the modified protocol, with the right carotid being the first to be occluded. Three months after the surgical procedure, rat performance in the water maze was assessed to investigate long-term effects on spatial learning and memory and their brains were processed in order to estimate hippocampal volume and striatal area. Both groups of hypoperfused rats showed deficits in reference (F(8,172) = 7.0951, P < 0.00001) and working spatial memory [2nd (F(2,44) = 7.6884, P < 0.001), 3rd (F(2,44) = 21.481, P < 0.00001) and 4th trials (F(2,44) = 28.620, P < 0.0001)]; however, no evidence of tissue atrophy was found in the brain structures studied. Despite similar behavioral and morphological outcomes, the rats submitted to the modified protocol showed a significant increase in survival rate, during the 3 months of the experiment (P < 0.02)

Migraine aura: retracting particle-like waves in weakly susceptible cortex

Cortical spreading depression (SD) has been suggested to underlie migraine aura. Despite a precise match in speed, the spatio-temporal patterns of SD and aura symptoms on the cortical surface ordinarily differ in aspects of size and shape. We show that this mismatch is reconciled by utilizing that both pattern types bifurcate from an instability point of generic reaction-diffusion models. To classify these spatio-temporal pattern we suggest a susceptibility scale having the value [sigma]=1 at the instability point. We predict that human cortex is only weakly susceptible to SD ([sigma]&#x3c;1), and support this prediction by directly matching visual aura symptoms with anatomical landmarks using fMRI retinotopic mapping. We discuss the increased dynamical repertoire of cortical tissue close to [sigma]=1, in particular, the resulting implications on migraine pharmacology that is hitherto tested in the regime ([sigma]&#x3e;&#x3e;1), and potentially silent aura occurring below a second bifurcation point at [sigma]=0 on the susceptible scale

Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents : an in vitro study

Adenosine acting in the basal forebrain is a key mediator of sleep homeostasis. Extracellular adenosine concentrations increase during wakefulness, especially during prolonged wakefulness and lead to increased sleep pressure and subsequent rebound sleep. The release of endogenous adenosine during the sleep-wake cycle has mainly been studied in vivo with microdialysis techniques. The biochemical changes that accompany sleep-wake status may be preserved in vitro. We have therefore used adenosine-sensitive biosensors in slices of the basal forebrain (BFB) to study both depolarization-evoked adenosine release and the steady state adenosine tone in rats, mice and hamsters. Adenosine release was evoked by high K+, AMPA, NMDA and mGlu receptor agonists, but not by other transmitters associated with wakefulness such as orexin, histamine or neurotensin. Evoked and basal adenosine release in the BFB in vitro exhibited three key features: the magnitude of each varied systematically with the diurnal time at which the animal was sacrificed; sleep deprivation prior to sacrifice greatly increased both evoked adenosine release and the basal tone; and the enhancement of evoked adenosine release and basal tone resulting from sleep deprivation was reversed by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, 1400 W. These data indicate that characteristics of adenosine release recorded in the BFB in vitro reflect those that have been linked in vivo to the homeostatic control of sleep. Our results provide methodologically independent support for a key role for induction of iNOS as a trigger for enhanced adenosine release following sleep deprivation and suggest that this induction may constitute a biochemical memory of this state

The study of expanded tri-lobed flap in a rabbit model: possible flap model in ear reconstruction?

BACKGROUND: Local flaps are widely used in reconstructive surgery. Tri-lobed skin flap is a relatively new flap and there has been no experimental model of this flap. This flap can be used for repair of full thickness defects in the face, ears and alar region. Based on the size of ears in a rabbit, we designed a model of ear reconstruction using expanded tri-lobed flap. Local flaps are more advantageous in that they provide excellent color and texture matching up with those of the face, adequately restore ear contour, place scars in a favorable location and ideally accomplish these goals in a single stage with minimal donor site morbidity. METHODS: Eight adult New Zealand rabbits were divided into two groups. 50 ml round tissue expander were implanted to four rabbits. After completion of the expansion, a superiorly based tri-lobed flap was elevated and a new ear was created from the superior dorsal skin of each rabbit. Scintigraphy with Technetium-99m pertecnetate was performed to evaluate flap viability. RESULTS: Subtotal flap necrosis was seen in all animals in non-expanded group. New ear in dimensions of the original ear was created in expanded group without complication. Perfusion and viability of the flaps were proved by Technetium-99m pertecnetate scintigraphy. CONCLUSION: According to our knowledge this study is the first to demonstrate animal model in tri-lobed flap. Also, our technique is the first application of the trilobed flap to the possible ear reconstruction. We speculated that this flap may be used mastoid based without hair, in human. Also, tri-lobed flap may be an alternative in reconstruction of cylindrical organs such as penis or finger