Stage I seminoma in a 15-year-old boy.

Seminomas are very rare tumours in children and adolescents. We describe a case of seminoma in a 15-year-old boy who was managed with orchidectomy but no adjuvant therapy. He remains relapse-free 8 years after surgery as determined by clinical, radiological and serological surveillance. This study emphasizes the uncertainty over the need for adjuvant treatment in the management of seminoma in the adolescent patient, in particular in prepubescent children.

Glomus tumour in a child.

Glomus tumours are uncommon neoplasms. Very rarely do they present in the paediatric age group. We describe a case of bilateral glomus tumours in a 13-year-old girl that were successfully treated with radiotherapy. The patient remains well 8 years after completion of treatment.

The osteoclastogenic molecules RANKL and RANK are associated with periprosthetic osteolysis.

Extensive osteolysis adjacent to implants is often associated with wear particles of prosthetic material. We have investigated if RANKL, also known as osteoprotegerin ligand, osteoclast differentiation factor or TRANCE, and its natural inhibitor, osteoprotegerin (OPG), may be important in controlling this bone loss. Cells isolated from periprosthetic tissues containing wear particles expressed mRNA encoding for the pro-osteoclastogenic molecules, RANKL, its receptor RANK, monocyte colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha, IL-6, and soluble IL-6 receptor, as well as OPG. Osteoclasts formed from cells isolated from periprosthetic tissues in the presence and absence of human osteoblastic cells. When osteoclasts formed in the absence of osteoblastic cells, markedly higher levels of RANKL mRNA relative to OPG mRNA were expressed. Particles of prosthetic materials also stimulated human monocytes to express osteoclastogenic molecules in vitro. Our results suggest that ingestion of prosthetic wear particles by macrophages results in expression of osteoclast-differentiating molecules and the stimulation of macrophage differentiation into osteoclasts.

Fetuin expression in the dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia of perinatal rats.

Fetuin, a fetal plasma glycoprotein, has been shown previously to be present in sub-populations of neurons in the developing central and peripheral nervous system. To gain a more complete description of the time course of the appearance of fetuin during neurogenesis we have examined fetuin immunoreactivity, and the presence of fetuin mRNA, in the developing rat trigeminal and dorsal root ganglia. Fetuin immunoreactivity and its mRNA were first seen at embryonic day 15 in the trigeminal ganglia, and at embryonic day 16 in dorsal root ganglia. In both trigeminal and dorsal root ganglion, fetuin appeared to be present up until around the time of birth, and then again between postnatal days 3 and 16. The results suggest that fetuin first appears at around the time that ganglion cell axons reach their central targets, which is also approximately when the cell-death period begins. The proportion of ganglion neurons that were fetuin immunoreactive at different ages was inversely related to the amount of cell death that is known to occur in these populations, thus it seems that fetuin is more likely to be associated not with dying cells, but with those that survive the cell-death period.

Development of a measure examining children's roles in alcoholic families.

A measure assessing the roles played by children in their alcoholic families is presented. In Study 1, an item pool was generated targeting four distinct roles discussed in the alcohol literature, and the items were reviewed by a panel of experts. The Children's Roles Inventory (CRI) was then administered to 140 adult children of alcoholics and their responses were used to refine the measure. Observed levels of internal consistency seemed adequate (Cronbach's alpha ranged from .89 to .95). In a replication effort (Study 2), the CRI was administered to 142 adult children of alcoholics. Internal consistency remained at acceptable levels, ranging from .90 to .95. Study 3 examined the CRI's convergent and discriminant validity. A sample of 138 adult children of alcoholics as well as a sample of 105 adults from nonalcoholic families completed the CRI, a measure of self-esteem and an index of one's use of social support. Reliability results from Studies 1 and 2 were replicated (in both samples). Likewise, in both samples the CRI subscales were differentially predictive of self-esteem as well as size of and satisfaction with one's social support network.

Evidence for magnetospheric effects on the sodium atmosphere of mercury.

Monochromatic images of Mercury at the sodium D(2) emission line showed excess sodium emission in localized regions at high northern and southern latitudes and day-to-day global variations in the distribution of sodium emission. These phenomena support the suggestion that magnetospheric effects could be the cause. Sputtering of surface minerals could produce sodium vapor in polar regions during magnetic substorms, when magnetospheric ions directly impact the surface. Another important process may be the transport of sodium ions along magnetic field lines toward polar regions, where they impact directly on the surface of Mercury and are neutralized to regenerate neutral sodium atoms. Day-to-day variations in planetary sodium distributions could result from changing solar activity, which can change the magnetosphere in time scales of a few hours. Observations of the sodium exosphere may provide a tool for remote monitoring of the magnetosphere of Mercury.

Discovery of sodium and potassium vapor in the atmosphere of the moon.

Spectra of the region just above the bright limb of the Moon show weak emission features that are attributed to resonant scattering of sunlight from sodium and potassium vapor in the lunar atmosphere. The maximum omnidirectional emission flux above the bright limb is 3.8 +/- 0.4 kilorayleighs for sodium and 1.8 +/- 0.4 kiloray-leighs for potassium. The zenith column densities above the subsolar point are estimated to be 8 +/- 3 x 10(8) atoms cm(-2) for sodium 1.4 +/- 0.3 x 10(8) atoms cm(-2) for potassium. Corresponding surface densities are 67 +/- 12 atoms cm(-3) and 15 +/- 3 atoms cm(-3), respectively. The scale height for the sodium atmosphere is 120 +/- 42 kilometers, and for potassium 90 +/- 20 kilometers, which implies that the effective temperature of the sodium and potassium is close to the lunar surface temperature. The sodium density at the south polar region was found to be similar to that at the subsolar point, indicating wide-spread distribution of sodium vapor over the lunar surface. The ratio of the density of sodium to the density of potassium is (6 +/- 3) to 1, which is close to the sodium to potassium ratio in the lunar surface, suggesting that the atmosphere originates from the vaporization of surface minerals.

Extensive extrapontine and central pontine myelinolysis associated with correction of profound hyponatraemia.

The relationship between correction of hyponatraemia and the development of central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) remains controversial. A case of CPM associated with extensive extrapontine demyelination is described. Profound hyponatraemia and its subsequent correction are documented. It is suggested that the extent of demyelination reflects the degree of hyponatraemia noted prior to correction, supporting current hypotheses regarding the role of hyponatraemia in CPM. This case is unusual in that other recognized risk factors for the development of CPM are absent.

Reaction rate of vibrationally excited hydroxyl with ozone.

The reaction of vibrationally excited hydroxyl with ozone was studied in a fast-flow system by observing the effect of ozone concentration on the intensity of hydroxyl emission bands in the 1.4-micro to 2.2-micro wavelength region. Fourier transform spectroscopy was used to obtain spectra of the faint emissions from the excited hydroxyl. Rate constants for the ozone-hydroxyl reaction were calculated for vibrational levels nu = 2 to nu = 9. The rate constants increased with vibrational level in a regular manner up to nu = 5. An abrupt increase occurred for nu = 6 relative to nu = 5, which may suggest a change in mechanism beginning at nu = 6.