The anterior temporal lobe and the frontotemporal region contain several important white matter tracts that can be uniquely understood by performing a white matter dissection of the region. Surgical procedures on the anterior temporal lobe differ substantially as to their repercussions on the subcortical white matter tract anatomy, as shown by the findings in this study.

Between June 1984 and April 1988, 41 patients with severe posttraumatic lesions of the cervical spine between the C2-C3 and the C7-T1 level seen consecutively were treated by an anterior cervical fusion and osteosynthetic stabilization according to Caspar. These patients were prospectively studied. Seven patients had a bilateral facet dislocation, 5 a unilateral facet dislocation, 9 an anterior subluxation, 9 an anterior compression fracture, 5 a hangman's fracture, and 6 a hyperextension injury at a lower cervical level. From a neurological point of view, there were 12 patients with an initial complete transverse lesion and 14 with an incomplete transverse lesion, and the remaining 15 patients did not have any deficit initially. Four patients died during the first 3 months after the operation. In 38 patients good anatomical position was obtained, generally by the intraoperative use of the vertebral distractor of Caspar. In all patients excellent immediate postoperative stability of the spine was obtained, although in 2 patients a second operation was necessary a few days after the first one. Postoperatively all patients were “immobilized” by a soft collar for 3 months. Four patients with an initial complete transverse lesion showed some neurological recovery in the postoperative period, and all patients with an incomplete transverse lesion improved. There were no postoperative neurological disturbances in the group of patients who were neurologically normal from the beginning. The mean postoperative hospitalization time was 13.6 days. These results were compared to the results from the literature, concerning other conservative and operative treatments for posttraumatic lesions of the cervical spine.

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The aims of this prospective study were to quantify steatosis in dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts using a fat-specific stain, to compare the amount of steatosis in different lobes of the liver, and to evaluate intra- and inter-Observer variability in lipid point counting. Computer-assisted point counting of lipid droplets was undertaken following Oil-Red-O staining in 21 dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts and 9 control dogs. Dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts had significantly more small lipid droplets (< 6 μ) than control dogs (p = 0.0013 and 0.0002, respectively). There was no significant difference in steatosis between liver lobes for either control dogs and CPS dogs. Significant differences were seen between observers for the number of large lipid droplets (> 9 μ) and lipogranulomas per tissue point (p = 0.023 and 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, computer-assisted counting of lipid droplets following Oil Red O staining of liver biopsy samples allows objective measurement and detection of significant differences between dogs with CPS and normal dogs. This method will allow future evaluation of the relationship between different presentations of CPS (anatomy, age, breed) and lipidosis, as well as the impact of hepatic lipidosis on outcomes following surgical shunt attenuation.

A system is described which enabled the selection of a heterologous lep gene, encoding signal peptidase I, in Escherichia coli. It is based on complementation of an E. coli mutant, in which the synthesis of signal peptidase I can be regulated. With this system the lep gene of Salmonella typhimurium was cloned and the nucleotide sequence was determined. The S. typhimurium lep gene encodes a protein of 324 amino acids. Expression of the gene in the E. coli mutant resulted in suppression of growth inhibition and in the restoration of processing activity under conditions where synthesis of E. coli signal peptidase I was repressed. The cloned S. typhimurium signal peptidase I had an apparent molecular weight of 36,000 daltons, which is in agreement with the calculated molecular weight of 35,782 daltons. The system described for selection of the S. typhimurium lep gene may permit the cloning and expression of other heterologous signal peptidase I genes.