Simultaneous bilateral forearm revascularization

A successful simultaneous bilateral forearm revascularization was performed on a 17-year-old boy. Functional recovery of both forearms was evaluated 42 months after injury. The patient can use both hands for the activities of daily living. So far, he has been employed and has no significant psychological problems. Temporary intraluminal silicone shunts are extremely helpful for reducing ischemic damage to the injured limb. The sufficient skeletal shortening of the upper limb replantation is crucially important. The wounds must be managed by aggressive and repeated debridement. Accurate primary nerve repair is essential, and the early postoperative rehabilitation is also important to achieve a satisfactory functional return. The functional replanted or revascularized upper extremity is superior to an amputation or prosthesis, especially in the cases of bilateral upper extremity amputation or devascularization.     

Hydrotropism and Its Interaction with Gravitropism in Maize Roots

We have partially characterized root hydrotropism and its interaction with gravitropism in maize (Zea mays L.). Roots of Golden Cross Bantam 70, which require light for orthogravitropism, showed positive hydrotropism; bending upward when placed horizontally below a hydrostimulant (moist cheesecloth) in 85% relative humidity (RH) and in total darkness. However, the light-exposed roots of Golden Cross Bantam 70 or roots of a normal maize cultivar, Burpee Snow Cross, showed positive gravitropism under the same conditions; bending downward when placed horizontally below the hydrostimulant in 85% RH. Light-exposed roots of Golden Cross Bantam 70 placed at 70° below the horizontal plane responded positively hydrotropically, but gravitropism overcame the hydrotropism when the roots were placed at 45° below the horizontal. Roots placed vertically with the tip down in 85% RH bent to the side toward the hydrostimulant in both cultivars, and light conditions did not affect the response. Such vertical roots did not respond when the humidity was maintained near saturation. These results suggest that hydrotropic and gravitropic responses interact with one another depending on the intensity of one or both factors. Removal of the approximately 1.5 millimeter root tip blocked both hydrotropic and gravitropic responses in the two cultivars. However, removal of visible root tip mucilage did not affect hydrotropism or gravitropism in either cultivar.     

Normal mouse strains differ in the site of initiation of closure of the cranial neural tube

The scanning electron microscopic study of day 9 embryos reported here documents differences among normal mouse strains in morphology of cranial neural tube closure. The site of initiation of contact and fusion of the cranial neural folds, previously defined as Closure 2 (Macdonald et al., '89), is located in the region of the junction between the forebrain (prosencephalon) and midbrain (mesencephalon) in three normal strains: LM/Bc, AEJ/RkBc, and ICR/Bc. However in a fourth normal strain, SWV/Bc, Closure 2 is initiated much further rostral, in the prosencephalic region. In addition, the anterior neuropore, rostral to Closure 2, closes late in ICR/Bc embryos, relative to the posterior progress of development of the Closure 2 seam. Initiation of closure from the most rostral end of the neural tube (Closure 3) appears to be relatively delayed in ICR/Bc embryos. We hypothesize that the observed genetic polymorphism in location of the first site of fusion between the cranial neural folds in normal mouse embryos may be one basis for differences among normal strains in liability to exencephaly induced by teratogens.     

Studies of the effect of retinoic acid on anterior neural tube closure in mice genetically liable to exencephaly

Previously we have shown that all SELH/Bc mouse embryos close their anterior neural tubes by an abnormal mechanism and that 10-20% of SELH/Bc embryos are exencephalic. The purposes of these studies were (1) to observe the effects of retinoic acid on the frequency of exencephaly in SELH/Bc embryos; (2) to compare the SELH/Bc response with those of normal strains and of other neural tube mutants; and (3) to compare, between SELH/Bc and a normal strain (SWV/Bc), the effects of retinoic acid on morphology of the closing anterior neural tube. SELH/Bc was more liable to retinoic acid-induced exencephaly than were normal strains. After maternal treatment with 5 mg/kg retinoic acid on day 8.5 of gestation, 53% of SELH/Bc embryos had exencephaly, compared with 22% in ICR/Bc and 14% in SWV/Bc. When these results were transformed according to the assumptions of the developmental threshold model, the effects of genotype and retinoic acid appeared to be additive. Similar treatment on day 9 or 10 of gestation had little or no effect on the frequency of exencephaly in SELH/Bc mice. These results are similar to the reported responses of the curly-tail and Splotch mutants, where frequencies of spina bifida but not exencephaly were decreased. This pattern suggests that studies of effects of periconceptional vitamin treatment on risk of human neural tube defects should consider anencephaly and spina bifida separately. The study comparing the morphology of anterior neural tube closure in SELH/Bc and normal SWV/Bc embryos showed that retinoic acid delays the elevation of the mesencephalic neural folds. This results in a "stalling" of many embryos in the first steps of neural tube closure, with their neural folds remaining convex and splayed wide apart. The delay in fold elevation was superimposed on the different closure patterns of the two strains. The overall conclusion is that there is no nonadditive interaction in the parameters studied between retinoic acid treatment and the SELH/Bc genotype.     

Influence of mefluidide on growth,development, and cell wall digestibility of sorghum

Application of mefluidide (N-[2,4-dimethyl-5-([(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]amino) phenyl]acetamide) inhibits plant development in perennial grasses. This study examined the effect of mefluidide on the morphological development and digestibility of sorghum. In the greenhouse, 5.9 × 10^–5 g active ingredient (a.i.) plant^–1 applied at the seedling, eight-leaf and boot stages reduced mean plant height 70%, 59%, and 2%, respectively. Heights were also reduced 14%, 15% and 35% by 5.9 × 10^–8, 5.9 × 10^–7 and 5.9 × 10^–6 gram a.i. plant^–1 applied at the eight-leaf stage. Field application of 0.26 or 0.52 kg ha^–1 mefluidide at either the eight-leaf or flagleaf stage reduced mean plant height of all cultivars. Basal tiller numbers increased 319% 28 d, and dry matter production was reduced 65% 42 d following mefluidide application at the eight-leaf stage. Treated stems were 34% higher and treated leaves were 7% higher in cellulase dry matter digestibility than control plants following mefluidide application at the eight-leaf stage. These results indicate that mefluidide application to vegetative stages in sorghum may enhance the forage value of the plants while it inhibits normal plant growth.