Search

Reeko Osada,1 Chiyako Oshikata,1– 3 Yuichi Kurihara,4 Kosuke Terada,1 Yuka Kodama,1 Yuga Yamashita,1 Ryo Nakadegawa,1 Hinako Masumitsu,1 Yuto Motobayashi,1 Hirokazu Takayasu,1 Nami Masumoto,1,3 Saki Manabe,1 Yingyao Zhu,4 Ryo Tanaka,4 Takeshi Kaneko,3 Aya Sasaki,5 Naomi Tsurikisawa1– 3 1Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan; 2Department of Allergy and Respirology, Hiratsuka City Hospital, Hiratsuka, Japan; 3Department of Pulmonology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan; 4Department of Dermatology, Hiratsuka City Hospital, Hiratsuka, Japan; 5Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital, Ichikawa, JapanCorrespondence: Naomi Tsurikisawa, Department of Respirology, National Hospital Organization Yokohama Medical Center, 3-60-2 Harajuku, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, 245-8575, Japan, Tel +81-45-851-2621, Fax +81-45-851-3902, Email User831328@aol.comAbstract: Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a salt form of a non-essential amino acid, is widely used as a food additive, particularly in Asian cuisines, due to its unique flavor-enhancing qualities. Type I allergic reactions to MSG have not previously been reported. Our patient, a 21-year-old woman, was 14 years old when she first noticed swelling of her tongue (but no oral itching, diarrhea, or abdominal pain) after eating various snack foods. Current skin prick testing elicited a weak positive reaction to MSG. We then performed an oral challenge test during which our patient ingested potato snacks. Subsequent histology showed telangiectasia of the buccal mucosa, interstitial edema in the subepithelial submucosa, and mast cell infiltration. Oral mucosal challenge tests using sodium glutamate confirmed oral swelling in this patient. This report is the first to confirm a case of type 1 allergy to MSG by combining pathology findings with the results of challenge testing.Keywords: food additive, mast cell, monosodium glutamate, food allergy

Introduction: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) have more severe sinus disease than those without AERD. CRSwNP associated with type 2 inflammation and AERD can be difficult to control with standard medical therapy and sinus surgery., Case Study: 74-year-old Japanese woman with chronic sinusitis since age 50 and asthma since age 60. At age 64, she began to experience asthma exacerbations and was started on short-term corticosteroid therapy with prednisolone. At age 70, she experienced urticaria, nasal congestion, and wheezing after taking an NSAID; based on an NSAID provocation test, we diagnosed the patient with AERD and CRSwNP. A diagnosis of severe eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis was also made based on the scoring system and algorithm used in the Japanese Epidemiological Survey of Refractory Eosinophilic Chronic Rhinosinusitis., Results: Treatment with benralizumab (30 mg), formoterol-fluticasone combination via pressurized metered inhaler (1000 μg), and leukotriene receptor antagonist improved the asthma symptoms and exacerbations so the short-term prednisolone was stopped; however, nasal congestion and olfactory dysfunction (hyposmia) persisted, and peripheral blood eosinophil count (peak, 1500 cells/μL) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (peak, 42 ppb) became elevated. Swapping the benralizumab for monthly tezepelumab (210 mg) improved not only the asthma symptoms but also the nasal congestion, olfactory dysfunction, eosinophil count (<300 cells/μL), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide level [8ppb]., Conclusion: Changing from benralizumab to tezepelumab improved asthma symptoms, nasal obstruction, and olfactory dysfunction in elderly, female, Japanese patient with AERD and CRSwNP., Competing Interests: Have no conflicts of interest to disclose about this study., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Treating ocular involvement in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) can be challenging. We present the case of a 37-year-old woman with EGPA who had severe bilateral visual field defects. Laboratory results showed leukocytosis (17,500 WBC/μL, 25.8 % eosinophils), negative MPO-ANCA titer, and elevated PR3-ANCA level (33.2 IU/mL). Diffusion-weighted MRI revealed bilateral hyperintense occipital lesions, which were more prominent on the left. Her therapy initially included a steroid pulse, followed by daily prednisolone, but her visual field defects remained refractory. The addition of intravenous cyclophosphamide (5 courses) and intravenous immunoglobulin decreased her optic neuropathy and resolved her visual field defects., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Introduction: Many studies have reported a poor prognosis for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) patients with cardiac involvement., Case Study: A woman developed EGPA at 37 years of age, with weight loss, numbness in the right upper and lower extremities, muscle weakness, skin rash, abdominal pain, chest pain, an increased peripheral blood eosinophil count (4165/µL), and necrotizing vasculitis on peroneal nerve biopsy. The patient was treated with prednisolone, immunosuppressants, intravenous immune globulin, and mepolizumab, but she experienced many relapses, with chest pain, abdominal pain, numbness, and paralysis, over a long period. The patient died from aspiration pneumonia at 71 years of age after undergoing left total hip arthroplasty for left hip neck fracture., Results: Autopsy showed bronchopneumonia in the lower lung lobes on both sides, as well as infiltration of inflammatory cells, including neutrophils and lymphocytes. There was no evidence of active vasculitis in either the lung or colon. At autopsy the heart showed predominantly subendocardial fibrosis and fatty infiltration, but no active vasculitis or eosinophilic infiltration., Conclusion: To our knowledge, there have been no autopsy reports of EGPA patients who have survived for 34 years with recurrent cardiac lesions. In this case, the cardiac involvement (active vasculitis and eosinophilic infiltration) had improved by the time of death.

To determine if the MCC, DCC or p53 gene is associated with susceptibility to hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), these genes in normal cells from 12 HNPCC patients were analysed by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. No changes which may alter the amino acid sequences of these genes were detected, suggesting that these genes are not associated with the susceptibility to HNPCC. Only one of nine HNPCC cancers showed mutations in the MCC and p53 genes on the same analysis. Loss of heterozygosity in chromosomes 5q, 17p, 18q and 22 was detected in four of the nine cancers, all of them being positive as to metastasis to lymph nodes. Abnormalities of the (CA)n repeat were found in six cancers, including all four without metastasis. These data indicate that tumor suppressor genes in chromosomes 5q, 17p, 18q and 22 are associated with the late stage of colorectal tumorigenesis in HNPCC, whereas the (CA)n repeat abnormalities are an early event of tumorigenesis and more essential to HNPCC.

Simple Summary: The muscular adaptations that facilitate the differing biomechanical functions of the leading (Ld) and trailing (Tr) limbs during canter in horses remains largely unknown. We conducted the first comparative study of muscle activation and movement within the leading and trailing fore- (F) and hindlimbs (H) during overground canter. Surface electromyography and three-dimensional motion capture data were collected from the right fore- and hindlimbs, as well as the splenius muscle, of ten horses ridden in left- and right-lead canter, when the limbs functioned as TrF/TrH and LdF/LdH, respectively. The TrH is first to make ground contact and exhibited significantly greater gluteal activation than LdH to stabilize the more extended hip joint and to generate greater limb retraction and a strong forward push-off during stance. Then, during TrF and LdH diagonal support, bilateral splenius activation occurred, possibly to counteract downward head and neck movement. The LdF was the last to make contact and was more protracted than the TrF through greater elbow flexion during swing, but triceps activity did not significantly differ between forelimbs. Inter-limb differences in movement and muscle activity provide an objective justification for working the horse equally on both canter leads to promote balanced muscular development. This study compared muscle activity and movement between the leading (Ld) and trailing (Tr) fore- (F) and hindlimbs (H) of horses cantering overground. Three-dimensional kinematic and surface electromyography (sEMG) data were collected from right triceps brachii, biceps femoris, middle gluteal, and splenius from 10 ridden horses during straight left- and right-lead canter. Statistical parametric mapping evaluated between-limb (LdF vs. TrF, LdH vs. TrH) differences in time- and amplitude-normalized sEMG and joint angle–time waveforms over the stride. Linear mixed models evaluated between-limb differences in discrete sEMG activation timings, average rectified values (ARV), and spatio-temporal kinematics. Significantly greater gluteal ARV and activity duration facilitated greater limb retraction, hip extension, and stifle flexion (p < 0.05) in the TrH during stance. Earlier splenius activation during the LdF movement cycle (p < 0.05), reflected bilateral activation during TrF/LdH diagonal stance, contributing to body pitching mechanisms in canter. Limb muscles were generally quiescent during swing, where significantly greater LdF/H protraction was observed through greater elbow and hip flexion (p < 0.05), respectively. Alterations in muscle activation facilitate different timing and movement cycles of the leading and trailing limbs, which justifies equal training on both canter leads to develop symmetry in muscular strength, enhance athletic performance, and mitigate overuse injury risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical ground reaction force (GRFz) measurements are the best tool for assessing horses' weight-bearing lameness. However, collection of these data is often impractical for clinical use. This study evaluates GRFz predicted using data from body-mounted IMUs and long short-term memory recurrent neural networks (LSTM-RNN). Twenty-four clinically sound horses, equipped with IMUs on the upper-body (UB) and each limb, walked and trotted on a GRFz measuring treadmill (TiF). Both systems were time-synchronised. Data from randomly selected 16, 4, and 4 horses formed training, validation, and test datasets, respectively. LSTM-RNN with different input sets (All, Limbs, UB, Sacrum, or Withers) were trained to predict GRFz curves or peak-GRFz. Our models could predict GRFz shapes at both gaits with RMSE below 0.40 N.kg−1. The best peak-GRFz values were obtained when extracted from the predicted curves by the all dataset. For both GRFz curves and peak-GRFz values, predictions made with the All or UB datasets were systematically better than with the Limbs dataset, showing the importance of including upper-body kinematic information for kinetic parameters predictions. More data should be gathered to confirm the usability of LSTM-RNN for GRFz predictions, as they highly depend on factors like speed, gait, and the presence of weight-bearing lameness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we study a role of baryon load and interstellarmediumdensity to explain the nature of peaks in the ultra-relativistic prompt emission (UPE) phase of Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs). We study the behavior of their Γ Lorenz factor fromthe moment of transparency all the way up to interstellarmedium. We finally study the characteristic of equitemporal surfaces in the UPE phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conventional high-resolution screen-film system was compared with a digital detector system. A total of 20 birds (14 pigeons and six psittacine birds) with an average body mass of 533 g were examined in dorsoventral as well as lateral projections. Digital radiographs were acquired with the same mAs as well as half the mAs used for the conventional radiographs. Three criteria and one overall assessment were defined for each of four anatomic regions and assessed by five veterinarians using a score system. Comparison of the ratings was done by visual grading analysis. For the majority of criteria, there was no significant difference regarding image quality between the digital and screen-film projections. However, for certain criteria the quality of the digital images was significantly superior. Using the same mAs as for the conventional radiographs, the humeral joint surfaces and the honeycomb structure of the lung were assessed as superior with the digital imaging system. The tracheal rings and the delineation of the trachea from the surrounding tissue were also superior with the digital system. Assessment of the trabecular structure of the humerus was superior when the full mAs was used compared with the reduced mAs. In conclusion the digital technique is equal or superior to the conventional screen-film high-resolution system for pet birds of a medium size. With some limitations, a dose reduction is possible with the digital system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of American Journal of Physical Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary Reasons for performing study: It has been suggested that the heel of the horse's hoof expands in the stance phase and this reduces the concussion at impact and helps pump blood into the hoof. Therefore, farriers usually leave a gap in the heel region when using the traditional nailed shoe. Recently glued shoes which are attached firmly to the heel have been developed and these could restrict heel movement. Objective: To compare the degree of mediolateral heel movement between glued and nailed shoes. Methods: Seven Thoroughbreds were used. Either their fore- or hind hooves were shod with plain aluminium shoes, attached first with glue and later with nails. Measurements were collected continuously with a displacement sensor fixed between the medial and lateral hoof walls at the heel. The horses ran on a treadmill at a walk (1.8 m/s), trot (3.5 m/s), canter (8 m/s) and gallop (12 m/s). The mediolateral heel movement in a nonweightbearing position was set at zero for each hoof and thus positive and negative numbers represented expansion and contraction, respectively. Average values of 10 consecutive strides at each speed were compared between the 2 shoeing methods by paired t test. Results: At all running speeds, the heels expanded in the first 70-80% of the stance phase and contracted at breakover. The total heel movement calculated as the sum of the maximum expansion and contraction value was less with glued shoeing than with nailed shoeing for walking (all limbs), trotting (all limbs), cantering (leading forelimb and both hindlimbs) and galloping (both hindlimbs). Conclusions: Glueing restricted heel movement, suggesting possible interference with shock absorption and blood pumping in the hoof. Further study is needed to evaluate the influence of glued shoeing on hoof mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several developments related to the steel industry as of December 1, 2003. It also focuses on the 4th European Oxygen Steelmaking Conference held between May 12 to 15, 2003 in Austria. The conference focused on LD steelmaking process. Faced with growing concerns from members about the ability to recruit high calibre metallurgists, the International Iron and Steel Institute has confirmed its support for a comprehensive package of advanced and sophisticated e-learning resources on steel processes and applications. Steel product manufacturer AK Heavy Engineering, formerly known as the Manufacturing Division of Aker Kvaerner Engineering & Construction, is nearing completion of a contract for 22 stainless steel knife-gate valves for Singapore-based Changi Water Reclamation Plant.

The specialized design of the bipedal system towards forward locomotion has been assessed by measuring the metabolic cost and the mechanical work of both forward and backward walking on a treadmill at seven gradients from 0 to +32%. With respect to forward locomotion, backward walking implies: (1) a higher metabolic cost particularly at level gradient, while at steeper inclines the difference decreases, (2) the same mechanical internal work despite an increased stride frequency, (3) higher mechanical external work within a gradient range from 0 to +15%, (4) lower "energy recovery", i.e. the ability to save mechanical energy by moving as an inverted pendulum, mainly in level walking, and (5) as a consequence of the above results, a decrease of the efficiency of locomotion particularly at the 0% gradient. The transmission efficiency of backward walking, relative to the forward progression, was found to be about 65% in level locomotion, while at higher gradients it increased to and was maintained at a value of about 93%. The poorer economy of level backward walking could also be explained by an impaired elastic contribution in the last part of the double contact phase, while the similarity of the two gaits on higher gradients is caused by disruption of the pendulum-like paradigm due to the trajectory geometry of the body's centre of mass progressively losing its downward portion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: A comparison of the pattern of growth in the horse with definitions used to describe growth and development in humans demonstrates the same general pattern of growth. In the horse, these development periods are completed very early in life, generally by 2 years of age. Using a variety of measures to define the completion of growth and bone development, the horse enters skeletal maturity by the time it is 2 years old. There is little variation in the age of maturity across different horse breeds. These data support the hypothesis that the horse evolved to be a precocious cursorial grazer and is capable of athletic activity, and used in sport, relatively early in life. Within the lay literature, and social media in particular, there is often debate about the age at which a horse should be started and introduced to racing or sport. To optimize the welfare and longevity of horses in racing and sport, it is important to match exercise with musculoskeletal development and the ability of the musculoskeletal system to respond to loading. The justification for not exercising horses at a certain age is often in contrast to the scientific literature and framed, with incorrect generalizations, with human growth. This review provides a relative comparison of the growth and development of the horse to the descriptors used to define growth and development in humans. Measures of physeal closure and somatic growth demonstrate that the horse completes the equivalent of rapid infant growth by weaning (4–6 months old). At approximately 11 months old, the horse completes the equivalent of the childhood phase of growth and enters puberty. At 2 years old, the horse has achieved most measures of maturity used within the human literature, including the plateauing of vertical height, closure of growth plates, and adult ratios of back length:wither height and limb length:wither height. These data support the hypothesis that the horse evolved to be a precocious cursorial grazer and is capable of athletic activity, and use in sport, relatively early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemi-parkinsonian rats have preserved postural reflexes but are impaired in initiation of voluntary movements. Surprisingly, these rats can walk and run, suggesting that they can access some compensatory strategy to overcome the rigidity in their impaired limbs. The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the locomotor compensations made by hemi-parkinsonian rats by measuring the forces exerted by the limbs on the ground throughout the stride during trotting. Rats with unilateral dopamine depletion produced by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the nigrostriatal bundle were trained to run back and forth in an alley for food reinforcement. Ground reaction forces were measured in three orthogonal directions using a force plate embedded in the runway. Rats were also videotaped so that limb movements were synchronized with force recordings. Although locomotion was obviously impaired, the affected limbs could support weight and provide some braking forces. In addition, the impaired hindlimb provided significant propulsive force, and a relatively large laterally directed force. Analysis of vertical movement of the centre of mass suggested that the impaired hindlimb was being used partly as a spring. The most significant abnormalities were seen during the diagonal couplet of the impaired forelimb and the unimpaired hindlimb, partly reflecting the important compensatory role of the unimpaired hindlimb. These results demonstrate that this method is useful in the analysis of hemi-parkinsonian gait and provide insights as to how rats can use an impaired limb to produce weight support and propulsion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two apparently independent mechanisms of instability are recognized in colorectal cancer, microsatellite instability and chromosomal instability. Evidence from colorectal cancer cell lines indicates the presence of either, or both, types of instability in the vast majority. Here, we sought to determine the prevalence of such instability in primary sporadic colorectal cancers. Microsatellite instability was established by demonstration of ovel clonal, nongerm-line alleles in at least two of four tested loci. Chromosomal abnormalities were identified by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and flow cytometric analysis of nuclear DNA content. Tumours harbouring chromosomal instability were distinguished from those with stable but aneuploid karyotypes by comparing chromosomal defects at multiple sites throughout each cancer. This analysis allowed assessment of both the number of chromosomal abnormalities and their heterogeneity throughout the tumour. The results confirm that microsatellite instability is consistently associated with multiple, repeated changes in microsatellites throughout the growth of the affected colorectal carcinomas. There were also several carcinomas in which major structural or numerical abnormalities in chromosomes had clearly continued to arise during tumour growth. However, a substantial subset of tumours showed neither microsatellite instability nor multiple, major chromosomal abnormalities. We suggest that the development of a proportion of colorectal cancers proceeds via a different pathway of carcinogenesis not associated with either of the currently recognized forms of genomic instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the molecular mechanism of gastric carcinogenesis, we analyzed genetic instability and p53 gene mutations in 40 primary gastric carcinomas. Tumor samples were from untreated patients with no family history suggestive of genetic predisposition to cancer. We screened six microsatellite loci by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, and exons 5-8 of the p53 gene by the PCR-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and sequencing techniques. Microsatellite instability was detected in 32.5% (13/40), and gene mutations in 40% (16/40), of the tumors analyzed. No statistically significant associations were found between genetic alterations and clinico-pathological variables (with the exception of diffusion of lymph node metastases, which was inversely associated with the presence of microsatellite alterations; P < 0.01). Interestingly, a negative association was found between genetic instability and p53 gene mutations: 11 out of 13 tumors showing instability proved to carry a nonmutated p53 gene versus 2/13 carrying a mutated gene ( P = 0.03). These observations suggest that genetic instability and p53 gene mutations play a crucial role in the gastric carcinogenic process, but likely act through distinct pathways during cancer development. However, genetic instability is not in and of itself neoplastic. Therefore, we investigated whether insertion/deletion mutations of the polyadenine tract within the transforming growth factor-β type II receptor gene (TGF-β RII) were frequently present in gastric tumors with an RER+ (replication error) phenotype. We found RII mutations in 8/40 (20%) samples: mutations were present in 7/13 (54%) RER+ tumors versus 1/27 (4%) RER- cases ( P < 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hemopoietic system c-myb expression is required for proliferation of immature cells and its down-regulation is required for differentiation. In colonic mucosa c-myb expression occurs at levels comparable to immature hemopoietic cells. Inhibition of c-myb expression in colon cell lines, using anti-sense oligonucleotides, indicates that c-myb expression is required for proliferation. However, the mechanism of c-myb regulation during colon cell differentiation has not been explored. Using the LIM1215 and CaCo-2 colon carcinoma cell lines induced to differentiate with sodium butyrate, we demonstrate that c-myb mRNA is down-regulated as an early event in differentiation by a mechanism involving transcriptional attenuation in intron 1. By analogy with procaryotic and eucaryotic genes, transcriptional attenuation probably occurs in a region containing nineteen consecutive thymidine residues. Computer prediction of the secondary structure of the nascent mRNA chain encoded by this region suggests a strong potential for stem-loop formation. Sequence analysis of several colon tumour cell lines reveals mutations in this region that may disrupt transcriptional attenuation and result in the increased c-myb expression observed in colon tumours and tumour cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the patterns of strain in the Macaque Ulna during functional activity. Methodology used in the examination process; Reference made to the measured distribution of strains; Information on the lack of buttressing in the loaded plane; Indications of the findings.

Summary This report relates to cases of osteochondritis dissecans from my surgical case records. Two categories of OCD were recognised: (1) those showing clinical and radiographic signs, and (2) those showing clinical without radiographic (but arthroscopic) signs. Case material examined included OCD in 318 tarsocrural joints in 225 horses, 261 femoropatellar joints in 161 horses, 170 fetlock joints in 71 horses, and 49 shoulder joints in 43 horses. In 64 tarsocrural joints, other lesions accompanied the OCD lesion including articular cartilage fibrillation (31 joints) and degenerate or eroded articular cartilage (24 joints). In 13 joints, lesions of OCD were present at arthroscopy without being identified by radiographic examination. There was discrepancy in the radiographic demonstration of lateral trochlear ridge lesions and their arthroscopic manifestations. Lesions in femoropatellar joints were divided into three grades and it was common for the arthroscopic lesion to be of a higher grade than the radiographic lesion. Lesions on the medial trochlear ridge with no radiographic manifestations and where the separated articular cartilage was the same thickness as normal articular cartilage were recognised commonly. In the shoulder, the humeral head alone was involved in 12 joints, the glenoid alone in 11 and both humeral head and glenoid were involved in 26 joints. Osteochondritis dissecans of the dorsal aspect of the distal metacarpus and metatarsus was divided into type I, II and III lesions. Type I lesions usually resolved with conservative treatment but type II lesions did not. Based on the arthroscopic findings of these cases, it is noted that instances do occur where there is no thickening of the cartilage, which is inconsistent with previous statements regarding pathogenesis. Breed predispositions were apparent (Standardbred in the hocks, Thoroughbred in the femoropatellar, and metacarpophalangeal/ metatarsophalangeal joints, Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred in the shoulder). The consistent location of lesions within the joint (very close to the limits of articulation) suggests that physical factors may be involved in the pathogenesis. The frequent bilateral nature of lesions in the femoropatellar and tarsocrural joints (and quadrilateral nature in the fetlock joint) while infrequently involving different joints is consistent with a 'window of vulnerability' in the endochondral ossification of that specific joint when an environmental insult occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The amplitudes, impulses and times of occurrence of a number of selected peaks in the ground reaction force tracings of 17 horses with various clinical histories were compared with those of 20 horses used to establish values for the 'standard' Dutch Warm blood horse. The resulting factors were combined, using different weighting factors, into indices characterising each limb. The symmetry between the loading of the forelimbs and the hindlimbs was used to calculate amplitude and peak-time symmetry indices. Limb and symmetry indices were combined in one H(orse) INDEX. This method of quantifying the ground reaction force pattern, together with appropriate graphic display of the tracings, was useful in clinical evaluation of force plate measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The ground reaction force patterns from 20 clinically sound Dutch Warmblood horses (Group A) were recorded at the normal walk. The data from four to 10 stance phases of each limb were computer averaged after normalisation to the animal's body mass and to the stance time. This analysis method allowed comparison of data from left and right fore- and hind-limbs within and between horses. The left-to-right symmetry in the reaction force peaks of contralateral limbs of one horse exceeded 90 per cent. The time in the stance phase at which the peaks occur were even more symmetrically distributed. A characteristic force-force diagram was constructed by plotting the longitudinal horizontal and the vertical ground reaction forces against each other; in this way the symmetry of loading of contralateral fore- and hindlimbs could be interpreted easily. Force plate tracings were obtained from eight horses (Group B) in three succesive years. The similarity of the tracings from a sound, well-trained horse over that period was better than the differences between horses of the same breed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 53-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of the appearance of a positive fecal occult immunological reaction. We found a domed lesion 0.4 cm in diameter in the sigmoid colon. Bleeding spots were observed on the surface of the lesion on endoscopy. We performed endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion, which was found to contain well-differentiated adeno-carcinoma and cancer cells infiltrating to the cut-end of resected specimen. Laparoscopy-assisted sigmoidectomy was then performed with dissection of the lymph nodes. The dissected lesion was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma with moderate fibrosis and massive cancerous involvement. The patient died of recurrent cancer 3 years after the operation. In the minute sessile lesion, bleeding spots on the surface may suggest invasive cancer with massive cancer involvement within the submucosal layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]