[en] Short communication

[en] Congenital unilateral hydrocephalus is extremely uncommon with 18 cases previously reported in the English literature. Two additional newborns with unilateral hydrocephalus are presented. The second baby also presented a mega cisterna magna. This unusual association between Dandy-Walker variant and unilateral hydrocephalus has not been previously reported. Following ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, the babies had a normal cognitive neurodevelopment. The role of cranial computed tomography (CT) in diagnosis and follow-up is emphasized

[en] Thirteen patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) were treated with low-dose cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) 20 mg/m²/day by continuous intravenous infusion for 21 days in conjunction with radiation therapy. Seven patients attained complete remissions (CR) and two patients had partial remissions (PR). Two patients required two courses of treatment before attaining CR. Two of four patients with abnormal cytogenetics also achieved complete response with reversion of cytogenetic abnormalities to normal. All patients who responded showed profound pancytopenia with marked hypoplasia of bone marrow. The universal occurrence of pancytopenia and reversion of cytogenetic abnormalities to normal suggests that lowdose Ara-C is cytotoxic and may not act as a differentiating agent

[en] Studies of heavy-ion collisions at E/A ∼ 10 MeV/u to 20 MeV/u with the production of nucleons and other particles at forward angles with velocities several times that of the projectile have been observed by many groups (TAM, ORNL, MSU, HMI). This is usually attributed to projectile fragmentation with Fermi motion of the light particle which is often described by a source temperature T/sub s/, accounting for the additional velocity component. However, experiments reported by Borcea et al. and those done at the Hahn-Meitner Institute (VIKSI) have suggested that high-energy alpha particles observed near theta = O⁰ in ²⁰Ne-induced collisions, E/A ≤ 20 MeV/u, may arise from mechanisms such as cluster transfer reactions. Here we report observation of a similar phenomenon with a variety of projectiles (Z ≥ 8), E/A = 9 to 40 MeV/u

[en] A case is presented in which a portable nuclear scintillation probe was used to detect tricuspid regurgitation. An electrocardiographically-gated scintigraphic collection obtained over the liver was correlated with findings from contrast echocardiography and jugular venous pulse tracings. The nuclear probe may provide a simple means for the detection of tricuspid insufficiency. It remains to be determined if quantification of severity will be possible

[en] This paper identifies pancreatic tumors with positron emission tomography (PET) using F-18 2-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). PET studies were performed in 13 patients with pancreatic tumors (11 adenocarcinomas; two islet cell tumors) using FDG. Data were acquired for 1 hour and in 14 contiguous 7-mm sections after attenuation correction. Suspicious areas were evaluated using quantitative techniques. In seven of 11 patients with adenocarcinomas, focal increase in FDG uptake correlated with pancreatic tumor shown on CT scans or MR images. Of the remaining four, one had a previous Whipple procedure, another had completed chemotherapy, and in two the tumor was out of the limited region imaged; in these four patients, liver metastases were identified in three

[en] The retention of iron and chromium ions on a strong base anion exchange resin (Lewatit M500 KR) in oxalic solution was studied by means of batch and column experiments. The tests performed indicate that more than 99% of the iron is uptaken by the resin, while chromium retention depends on the formation rate of the tri-oxalate complex. The experimental conditions required to improve chromium retention, such as temperature, pH, aging time, etc., were investigated and their consequences on the practical decontamination process are discussed. The available thermodynamic information for Fe(III) and Cr(III) oxalate complexes was reviewed and extended in order to determine the speciation in aqueous solutions in the range from 25 to 100 C. That information would help in searching for the optimal experimental conditions for ion exchange removal of these ions. (orig.)