Relationships of Posterior Condylar Offset Change to Condylar Length and Pre/Postoperative Range of Motion in Total Knee Arthroplasty

This study investigated the relationships of pre- to postoperative changes in posterior condylar offset（PCO）to differences in condylar length and range of motion in posterior stabilized（PS）-type total knee arthroplasty（TKA）. Subjects and Methods: We studied 40 knees of 40 patients（10 males and 30 females）treated by PS-type TKA. Slide calipers were used to measure condyle lengths intraoperatively and PCO was measured by standard X-ray. The patients were divided into two groups based on a pre- to postoperative change in PCO of ≥ 3mm or＜3mm, with the differences in both condylar length and range of motion compared between groups. The mean differences in condyle lengths were 2.6mm（33 knees）and 4.3mm（7 knees）in cases with PCO changes of＜3mm and ≥ 3mm, respectively. The means in the respective groups were −6° and −7° for preoperative extension, 116° and 118° for preoperative flexion, −3° and −4° for postoperative extension, and 131° and 129° for postoperative flexion. There was no significant difference in the range of motion between the groups. Cases with a large difference in condylar lengths were likely to have a small PCO postoperatively; however, the postoperative range of knee flexion was not significantly related to a small postoperative PCO. These findings suggested that preoperative range of knee motion, age, and type of TKA could influence both the postoperative range of motion and PCO

Detection of hepatitis B surface antigen subtype adr in an epidemic of papular acrodermatitis of childhood (Gianotti's disease).

Papular acrodermatitis of childhood (PAC) has recently been reported to be associated with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) subtype ayw. Between September, 1978, and June, 1979, we saw 14 patients with PAC in a small epidemic occurring in Iwakuni City, Japan. HBsAg was detected in sera from all patients. Subtyping of HBsAg in 11 patients showed that 8 had a determinant adr and 3 had no detectable determinant because of low antigen titers. The result suggests that factors other than the specific HBsAg subtype contribute to the development of PAC.</p

Alpha-CaMKII deficiency causes immature dentate gyrus, a novel candidate endophenotype of psychiatric disorders

Elucidating the neural and genetic factors underlying psychiatric illness is hampered by current methods of clinical diagnosis. The identification and investigation of clinical endophenotypes may be one solution, but represents a considerable challenge in human subjects. Here we report that mice heterozygous for a null mutation of the alpha-isoform of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (alpha-CaMKII+/-) have profoundly dysregulated behaviours and impaired neuronal development in the dentate gyrus (DG). The behavioral abnormalities include a severe working memory deficit and an exaggerated infradian rhythm, which are similar to symptoms seen in schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder and other psychiatric disorders. Transcriptome analysis of the hippocampus of these mutants revealed that the expression levels of more than 2000 genes were significantly changed. Strikingly, among the 20 most downregulated genes, 5 had highly selective expression in the DG. Whereas BrdU incorporated cells in the mutant mouse DG was increased by more than 50 percent, the number of mature neurons in the DG was dramatically decreased. Morphological and physiological features of the DG neurons in the mutants were strikingly similar to those of immature DG neurons in normal rodents. Moreover, c-Fos expression in the DG after electric footshock was almost completely and selectively abolished in the mutants. Statistical clustering of human post-mortem brains using 10 genes differentially-expressed in the mutant mice were used to classify individuals into two clusters, one of which contained 16 of 18 schizophrenic patients. Nearly half of the differentially-expressed probes in the schizophrenia-enriched cluster encoded genes that are involved in neurogenesis or in neuronal migration/maturation, including calbindin, a marker for mature DG neurons. Based on these results, we propose that an "immature DG" in adulthood might induce alterations in behavior and serve as a promising candidate endophenotype of schizophrenia and other human psychiatric disorders