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Measurements of resting potential carried out in vivo in the dystrophic hamster and also measurements of muscle excitability showed no difference between dystrophy and healthy animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meltwaters collected from boreholes drilled to the base of the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland have chemical compositions that can be classified into three main groups. The first group is dilute, whereasthe second group is similar to, though generally less concentrated in major ions, than contemporaneous bulk glacial runoff. The third group is more concentrated than any observed bulk runoff, including periods of flow recession. Waters of the first group are believed to represent supraglacial meltwater and ice melted during drilling. Limited solutes may be derived from interactions with debris in the borehole.The spatial pattern of borehole water levels and borehole water column stratification, combined with the chemical composition of the different groups, suggest that the second group represent samples of subglacial waters that exchange with channel water on a diurnal basis, and that the third group represent samples of water draining through a 'distributed' subglacial hydraulic system. High NO{sub}3{end}{sup}-{end} concentrations in the third group suggest that snowmelt may provide a significant proportion of the waters and that the residence timeof the waters at the bed in this particular section of the distributed system is of the order of a few months. The high NO{sub}3{end}{sup}-{end} concentrations also suggest that some snowmelt is routed along different subglacial flowpaths to those used by icemelt. The average SO{sub}4{end}{sup}2-{end}: (HCO{sub}3{end}{sup}-{end} + SO{sub}4{end}{sup}2-{end}) ratio of the third group of meltwaters is 0.3, suggesting that sulphide oxidation and carbonate dissolution (which gives rise to a ratio of 0.5) cannot provide all the HCO{sub}3{end}{sup}-{end} to solution. Hence, carbonate hydrolysis may be occurring before sulphide oxidation, or there may be subglacial sources of CO{sub}2{end}, perhaps arising from microbial oxidation of organic C in bedrock, air bubbles in glacier ice or pockets of air trapped in subglacial cavit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe's newest hospital, and the UK's largest ever PPP-funded and operated healthcare facility--the 650 pounds sterling million Royal London in Whitechapel--opened its doors on 1 March--following years of hard work and planning which has seen doctors and nurses involved throughout, working under the guidance of a 30-strong Barts and the London NHS Trust New Hospitals Programme team to create an optimal healing environment. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, discussed with New Hospitals Programme director, Matthew Tulley, the challenges of overseeing the design, planning, and construction, of the 'new' Royal London as part of a wider 1 billion pounds sterling PFI project to transform and modernise facilities at both the Barts and the Royal London sites, and of smoothly moving over 3,000 staff and patients from old to new accommodation.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is widely used to treat advanced Parkinson's disease, other movement and psychiatric disorders. DBS implantation requires application of a stereotactic frame throughout a lengthy procedure, making it uncomfortable and tiring. We designed a stereotactic cube to stage the operation, perform frameless microelectrode recording (MER) and fix the DBS., Methods: The 15-mm cube is implanted in a burr hole using bone cement. It contains 5 parallel trajectories (central + 4 around). It is aligned by stereotactic frame so that central trajectory reaches the target. Frameless MER is performed by attaching a micro-driver to the cube using 2-5 cannulae (4 cm). The DBS is fixed to the cube by a mini-plate and 1 screw. Ninety-six cubes were compared with 43 Bennet spheres (BS)., Results: No cube moved compared to 2 (5%) BS (p < 0.05). The final trajectory was central in 64.4% of cubes compared to 47.5% of BS, and the final target was >2 mm out in no cubes compared to 12.5% of BS (p < 0.01). Infection and haemorrhage were observed in 2.5% and 3.3% of cubes, respectively, while 5% of BS developed infection, 5% haemorrhage and 7.5% skin erosion., Conclusions: This method is simple and effective in staging DBS procedures, performing frameless MER and DBS implantation, fixation and revision., (Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The unforgiving nature of the thalamus, the globus pallidus and the subthalamic nucleus necessitates precise localization of functional targets. This requires the total attention of both the patient and the surgeon. To maximize the concentration of the patient and provide the most accurate localization, we performed staged stereotactic functional procedures. The first stage was performed under general anesthesia to abolish any head movement. We fused CT and MRI images and correlated the fused images with a digitized Talairach brain atlas. We calculated the target coordinates and fixed a modified Bennett Sphere to the skull with the central hole defining the trajectory to the target. The surrounding 12 holes gave parallel trajectories to targets surrounding the anatomical target at 2-mm intervals. The second stage was performed at least a week later under local anesthesia. Microelectrode recording using three simultaneous channels was used to refine the target. Once the microelectrode recordings and macrostimulation confirmed the desired target, a lesion was created or an Activa neurostimulator was inserted. Our early results using this technique in 28 procedures (in 19 patients) indicate a good outcome in 86% and a technical failure in 1 patient., (Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel)