Colchicine: an ancient drug with novel applications.

Colchicine is a treatment for gout that has been used for more than a millennium. It is the treatment of choice for familial Mediterranean fever and its associated complication, amyloidosis. The 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of colchicine as a new drug had research consequences. Recent investigations with large cohorts of patients with gout who have been taking colchicine for years have demonstrated novel applications within oncology, immunology, cardiology and dermatology. Some emerging dermatological uses include the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, leucocytoclastic vasculitis, aphthous stomatitis and others. In this work we relate the history and the new horizon of this ancient medicine.

CT-generated 3-dimensional models for complex acetabular reconstruction.

Before undergoing complex acetabular reconstruction, 10 patients who met prospectively established criteria for severe acetabular bone deficiency received plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT) scans, and CT-generated 3-dimensional pelvic models. The radiographs, CT scans, and models each were graded according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS) classification for acetabular deficiency. The classifications for the radiographs, CT scans, and models were then compared with findings at surgery. The models predicted acetabular deformity and AAOS classification significantly better than the other imaging modalities. The models agreed with the surgical findings in 9 of 10 cases, compared with 2 of 10 for the CT scans (P = .016) and 4 of 10 for the plain radiographs (P = .063). The models closely predicted the available space for the hemispheric acetabular shells, based on the size of the last reamer used, for the 6 hips reconstructed with standard components. Four patients required custom acetabular components; in 2 of those 4, the need for custom components was not anticipated by plain radiographs or CT scans. Three-dimensional CT-generated acetabular models were found to be useful in preoperative planning of complex acetabular reconstructions.

Fixed bit-rate image compression using a parallel-structure multilayer neural network.

Picture compression algorithms, using a parallel structure of neural networks, have recently been described. Although these algorithms are intrinsically robust, and may therefore be used in high noise environments, they suffer from several drawbacks: high computational complexity, moderate reconstructed picture qualities, and a variable bit-rate. In this paper, we describe a simple parallel structure in which all three drawbacks are eliminated: the computational complexity is low, the quality of the decompressed picture is high, and the bit-rate is fixed.

Melanoma cell lines from different stages of progression and their biological and molecular analyses.

The biological and molecular characteristics of cell lines from metastatic melanomas have been extensively studied but less is known about cells from the biologically earliest stage of primary melanoma. The overall success rate of establishing permanent cell lines from such lesions is only 10% of that for biologically late primary or metastatic melanomas, although our laboratory now has eight cell lines available. The cells are immortal but show reduced or no proliferation in soft agar and immunodeficient mice when compared with primary melanomas from the biologically advanced vertical growth phase. Metastatic melanoma cell lines from patients with familial melanoma or xeroderma pigmentosum are biologically similar to those from patients with spontaneous melanomas. Irrespective of the malignant stages, deletions and mutations can occur in exons 1-3 of the p16INK4A gene. DNA fingerprinting was then employed to demonstrate the uniqueness of individual cell lines and to confirm the identity of cell lines derived from same patients. These cell lines are an excellent resource to investigate melanoma progression.