The cognitive neuroscience of prehension: recent developments

Prehension, the capacity to reach and grasp, is the key behavior that allows humans to change their environment. It continues to serve as a remarkable experimental test case for probing the cognitive architecture of goal-oriented action. This review focuses on recent experimental evidence that enhances or modifies how we might conceptualize the neural substrates of prehension. Emphasis is placed on studies that consider how precision grasps are selected and transformed into motor commands. Then, the mechanisms that extract action relevant information from vision and touch are considered. These include consideration of how parallel perceptual networks within parietal cortex, along with the ventral stream, are connected and share information to achieve common motor goals. On-line control of grasping action is discussed within a state estimation framework. The review ends with a consideration about how prehension fits within larger action repertoires that solve more complex goals and the possible cortical architectures needed to organize these actions

Nierentrauma

Most renal injuries are blunt, involve a young patient population, and are caused by motor vehicle accidents or sport injuries. Renal trauma is classified into five grades with the majority of injuries being minor. CT scan has become the standard investigation method and should be performed in blunt trauma with macroscopic hematuria. Open trauma requires a radiological work-up in all forms of hematuria and in cases of clinical suspicion due to the wound entrance. Treatment management of most injuries has become conservative. Absolute indications for surgical revision are persistent life-threatening bleeding, renal pedicle injuries as well as an expanding, pulsatile retroperitoneal hematoma. Indications become relative in the presence of large devitalized renal tissue with urinary extravasation and other abdominal injuries, particularly of the pancreas and the colon. Surgical revision is more often indicated in open trauma, but surgery should enable renal reconstruction in the majority of cases

Hand-assisted laparoscopic bilateral nephrectomy

Open bilateral nephrectomy in renal transplant patients may be indicated for various reasons and is associated with a significant rate of morbidity and mortality. Laparoscopic bilateral nephrectomy may favorably influence postoperative recovery but is technically difficult. This case report is the first description of hand-assisted laparoscopic bilateral nephrectomy. We believe this technique significantly shortens the operative time, increases the safety of the procedure, and assures the patient the benefits of minimal invasive surgery in terms of postoperative pain and recovery

Cerium chloride application promotes wound healing and cell proliferation in human foreskin fibroblasts

This study investigated the effect of cerium chloride (CeCl₃) on cell migration and gene expression of human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF). HFF were exposed to three different CeCl₃ solutions (1%, 5% and 10%, w/v %) for three different time durations (1, 5 and 10 min). 72 h after exposure to CeCl₃, cell viability was assessed by MTT test. A scratch-wounded assay determined the cell migration and the width of the wound, measured at 24 h. Gene expression patterns for cyclins B1, D1 and E1 were analyzed by RT-PCR (p < 0.05, t-test). The viability proliferation increased at 1- and 5-min exposures for all CeCl₃ concentrations, in contrast to no treatment (p < 0.05 at 24 h). No influence of CeCl₃ was found after 10 min. The scratch assay showed increased cell migration up to 60% at 1 and 5 min after 24 h at 5% and 10%. Cyclin B1, D1 and E1 all showed upregulation, confirming an increase in cell proliferation. This study demonstrates that exposure time and concentration of CeCl₃ may have a positive effect on fibroblast viability and migration. Application of CeCl₃ may be beneficial as a cell-stimulating agent leading to therapeutic tissue fibrosis or more resistant tissue around teeth, when warranted, during different periodontal therapies

Blunt abdominal trauma in adults: role of CT in the diagnosis and management of visceral injuries. Part 2: Gastrointestinal tract and retroperitoneal organs

Computed tomography plays an important role in the detection and management of blunt visceral injuries in adults. Current standard examination techniques enable detection of the majority of perforating or devascularizing bowel injuries, although diagnostic findings are often subtle and meticulous inspection is required. Computed tomography may demonstrate pancreatic contusions and lacerations and help in distinguishing minor traumatic lesions without involvement of the pancreatic duct (organ injury scale, grades I and II) from deep lacerations with ductal involvement (grades III and V). Computed tomography enables distinguishing renal contusions and minor cortical lacerations that can usually be managed conservatively (injuries of grades I-III) from corticomedullary lacerations and injuries of the major renal vessels (grades IV and V) that have a less favorable prognosis and more commonly require surgical repair. In addition, CT is well suited for the detection of active renal hemorrhage and guidance of transcatheter embolization treatment and delineation of preexisting benign or malignant pathologies that may predispose to posttraumatic hemorrhage. The radiologist's awareness of the diagnostic CT findings of abdominal visceral injuries as well as their clinical and surgical implications are important prerequisites for optimal patient management