Intracranial internal carotid artery stenosis with vulnerable plaques successfully treated by stenting under cerebral protection.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting (PTA/stenting) for intracranial atherosclerotic stenoses is usually performed without any protection devices. We report a unique case of atherothrombotic stenosis with the vulnerable plaque in the cavernous portion of the internal carotid artery (ICA), which was successfully treated by PTA/stenting under cerebral protection with the flow reversal system. A 68-year-old woman presented repetitive transient ischemic attacks in the right ICA territory. Cerebral angiography revealed 80% stenosis in the cavernous portion of the right ICA. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) demonstrated lipid-rich plaques at this lesion. PTA/stenting was performed with a proximal protection device under flow reversal. A filter device captured much amount of atherothrombotic debris with lipid-rich macrophages and leukocytes, which was consistent with HR-MRI findings. Some selected cases of intracranial atherothrombotic ICA stenoses may need endovascular treatment with cerebral protection system. HR-MRI is useful to evaluate plaque characteristics even in the cavernous portion of the ICA

Description and recognition methods for sign language based on gesture components

Sign language gestures are inflected in accordance with the context. To recognize such sign language properly, the structure of sign kmgoage must be made clear. It is well known that the structure of sign Iangoage is represented as a combination of basic components of gestures. Sign language can be recognized by using such components. In this paper, a format to describe sign language gestures and a method to recognize the meaning of the gesture based on the components of gestures are discussed

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of putative RNA 3′-terminal phosphate cyclase from the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus tokodaii

RNA 3′-terminal phosphate cyclase from the crenarchaeon S. tokodaii has been overexpressed and purified. The apo form, its selenomethionine derivative and their complexes with ATP under different conditions have been crystallized. The structure of the selenomethionine-labelled form has been successfully solved by the Se-MAD method