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A 13‐month‐old female Toy Poodle was presented for progressive ataxia and intention tremors of head movement. The diagnosis of Sandhoff's disease (GM2 gangliosidosis) was confirmed by deficient β‐N‐acetylhexosaminidase A and B activity in circulating leukocytes and identification of the homozygous mutation (HEXB: c.283delG). White matter in the cerebrum and cerebellum was hyperintense on T2‐weighted and fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance images. Over the next 2 years, the white matter lesions expanded, and bilateral lesions appeared in the cerebellum and thalamus, associated with clinical deterioration. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed progressive decrease in brain N‐acetylaspartate, and glycine‐myo‐inositol and lactate‐alanine were increased in the terminal clinical stage. The concentrations of myelin basic protein and neuron specific enolase in cerebrospinal fluid were persistently increased. Imaging and spectroscopic appearance correlated with histopathological findings of severe myelin loss in cerebral and cerebellar white matter and destruction of the majority of cerebral and cerebellar neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a patient who developed acute rhabdomyolysis after taking cerivastatin. A 74-year-old hypercholestrerolaemic woman taking cerivastatin (0·15 mg/day) for 22 days complained of general muscle weakness and muscle pain. Her serum creatinine phosphokinase level was 19 190 IU/L. Serum myoglobin was over 3000 ng/mL. Serum concentration of cerivastatin at 6 h after taking the last dose (0·15 mg) was 8062·5 ng/L, which was almost 5·7 times higher than that of normal persons. The serum concentration of cerivastatin showed that the half-life of cerivastatin in this patient was 22·4 h, compared with 2·4 h for normal controls. Cerivastatin is catabolized by cytochrome P450, 3A4 and 2C8 to M-1, and by 2C8 to M-23. The ratio of M-23 to M-1 in her serum was much lower than that of control persons (0·64 vs. 2·08). She had previously taken simvastatin which is metabolized by CYP3A4, without any sign and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis. These results suggest that the slowed clearance of cerivastatin in this patient might have been compounded by cytochrome P450, 2C8 dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Magnetization configurations within a multi-layered pole tip (PT), which is composed of ferromagnetic layers and non-magnetic layers, of a single-pole writer have been examined through a micromagnetic computer simulation based on the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation. The magnetization configuration and perpendicular component of the remanent head field were found to be strongly dominated by the number of magnetic layers in the PT and the exchange coupling field between magnetic layers. The maximum intensity of was decreased as and the number of magnetic layers were increased. These results show that a multi-layered PT is an effective structure reducing , which enables suppressing head-induced data erasure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the case a 12-year-old girl with autosomal dominant disease. It notes that the girl was presented with thickened nails and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis with a complaint of plantar pain during exercising. The patient's family pedigree presented six persons affected over three generations,an inheritance pattern that is compatible with the disease. The article explores the nature, cause, and involving factors in the mutation of the gene.

This study investigated causes of attenuation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) signal on heavily T2-weighted (T2W) images in dogs with thoracolumbar disc extrusion. Medical records and magnetic resonance images were retrospectively reviewed. Dogs were classified into the following grades; grade 1, non-ambulatory paraparesis; grade 2, paraplegia with deep pain perception and grade 3, paraplegia without deep pain perception. The length of intramedullary T2W hyperintensity of the spinal cord, cranial/ caudal expansion of extradural compressive materials (ECM), and the CSF signal attenuation were measured. Ratios to the second lumbar vertebra (L2) were calculated for the length of intramedullary T2W hyperintensity (T2W:L2), cranial/caudal expansion of ECM (ECML:L2), and CSF signal attenuation (CSF:L2). The dogs were classified into focal or extended T2W hyperintensity groups according to the length [focal, shorter than length of L2; extended, longer than L2]. The area of EMC and the spinal canal were measured on transverse images at the lesion deriving occupancy ratio. The correlation between CSF:L2 and other data were analysed, and CSF:L2 was compared between the grades. In dogs with intramedullary T2W hyperintensity, the locations of CSF attenuation and the hyperintensity were compared if those locations were matched. Fifty-five dogs were included, 36 of which showed intramedullary T2W hyperintensity. Twenty-two of 36 dogs were considered as match of the location of the CSF attenuation and hyperintensity. CSF:L2 was significantly correlated with T2W:L2 in dogs with extended T2W hyperintensity (p = 0.0002), while CSF:L2 was significantly correlated with ECML:L2 in dogs with focal or no T2W hyperintensity (p = 0.0103 and p = 0.0364, respectively). CSF:L2 in grade 3 was significantly greater than those in patients who were grade 1 or 2 (both p < 0.001). In conclusion, higher CSF:L2, which was frequently seen in grade 3, would be most consistent with a higher T2W:L2 which might indicate spinal cord swelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an abstract of a study that investigated the sensitivity distribution profiles of magnetoresistive heads using a microtrack technique and computer simulation.

In order to evaluate gastric motility and its circadian rhythm in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and healthy control subjects, we measured gastric myoelectrical activity (GMA) for 24 hours using a cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) recorder in 14 MSA patients and 9 age-matched controls.We analyzed six 10-minute segments of EGG before and after each meal and two 20-minute EGG segments during sleep; three parameters were used for the analysis: dominant frequency (DF), instability coefficient of dominant frequency (ICDF), and dominant power (DP). DF increased during daytime and decreased during sleep in the control, while this circadian variation was blunted in the patients with MSA. The average DF of the eight segments in the MSA patients did not differ from that of the control. Both MSA patients and control subjects did not show the circadian variation of ICDF and DP. The average ICDF of the eight segments in the patients with MSA was significantly decreased when compared with that of the control (p<0.01). No differences were observed in DP between the two groups. This study indicates that the healthy subjects appear to have a circadian rhythm of DF, and the patients with MSA appear to have impaired circadian rhythm of DF and decreased ICDF possibly due to the degeneration of the central autonomic neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), an aggressive neoplasm etiologically associated with human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1), is resistant to treatment. In this study, we examined the effects of a new inhibitor of deacetylase enzymes, LBH589, on ATLL cells. LBH589 effectively induced apoptosis in ATLL-related cell lines and primary ATLL cells and reduced the size of tumors inoculated in SCID mice. Analyses, including with a DNA microarray, revealed that neither death receptors nor p53 pathways contributed to the apoptosis. Instead, LBH589 activated an intrinsic pathway through the activation of caspase-2. Furthermore, small interfering RNA experiments targeting caspase-2, caspase-9, RAIDD, p53-induced protein with a death domain (PIDD) and RIPK1 (RIP) indicated that activation of RAIDD is crucial and an event initiating this pathway. In addition, LBH589 caused a marked decrease in levels of factors involved in ATLL cell proliferation and invasion such as CCR4, IL-2R and HTLV-1 HBZ-SI, a spliced form of the HTLV-1 basic zipper factor HBZ. In conclusion, we showed that LBH589 is a strong inducer of apoptosis in ATLL cells and uncovered a novel apoptotic pathway initiated by activation of RAIDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteophytes of the cervical spine are usually seen in elderly adults. When prominent, they have been blamed for dysphagia, cough, dysphonia and dyspnoea. This paper reports on an obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patient with cervical spinal osteophytes, one cause of airway obstruction. A 75-year-old male complained of pronounced snoring. The diagnosis was mild OSA, apnoea hypopnoea index was 9·4. Patient reported no restrictions in neck movements, experiences of neck pain or neck trauma. Previously, patient underwent a tonsillectomy due to discomfort in the pharyngeal region. A lateral cephalometric image was taken to observe airway before oral appliance therapy. The image revealed the presence of large osteophytes or sclerotic enthesopathy, lying on anterior surfaces from the fourth to seventh cervical vertebrae. A computed tomography (CT) image revealed the relationship of airway position to the spine. In the reconstructed three-dimensional (3D) image, the airway appeared displaced to the right of the craniomandiblar bone, with the hyoid bone similarly displaced in a manner to that of the airway. The spine also appeared displaced to the left side ofcraniomandiblar bone. Additionally, the 3D image revealed calcification of the stylohyoideum ligament and ligamentum nuchae. This present case highlights the necessity of CT examination for OSA patients. There were several ligament calcifications in the head and neck region. Cervical spine osteophytes, as a component of Forestier’s or cervical spine disease, have been associated with dysphagia and dysphonia. It was reported that bilateral vocal cord paralysis was caused by osteophytes compressing the post-cricoid area of larynx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-pole writers and tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) readers for 140-Gb/in[SUP2] perpendicular recording were fabricated and their recording performance was tested. Data erasure, which is observed as write instability in a repeated read-write operation, can be suppressed by combining a laminated pole and low throat height. Fe-Co/Ni-Cr laminated film was used to reduce the remanent magnetization of the main pole after patterning. Narrow track writers with a 120-nm-wide trapezoidal pole showed a good write ability of 30 dB or more in overwrite for media with high coercivity of up to 7 kOe. Also, negligibly small skew writing was confirmed. TMR heads with a sensor width of 85 nm and a head resistance of 250 Ω showed approximately 30dB of head signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A potentially higher SNR with a higher operating voltage was suggested from a measured output versus sensing current curve. Calculations showed that the side reading was suppressed in a side-shielded design. A 10% amplitude width of the microtrack profile of a 100-nm-wide reader was reduced from 198 to 162 nm by applying the side shields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]