BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical feasibility of an electric nerve stimulator in a lumbar transforaminal epidural block. METHODS Using an electric nerve stimulator, transforaminal epidural blocks were performed in 105 segments of 49 patients who presented with lower back pain with radiating pain to lower extremities. The contrast medium was injected to delineat...

Using alleles of the maize purple plant locus (pl), which encodes a transcriptional regulator of anthocyanin pigment synthesis, we describe a case of single-locus heterosis, or overdominance, where the heterozygote displays a phenotype that is greater than either homozygote. The Pl-Rhoades (Pl-Rh) allele is subject to epigenetic changes in gene expression, resulting in quantitatively distinct e...

Nanocomposites based on polyamide 6 (PA6) and poly(ethylene-co-1-butene)-graft-maleic anhydride (EB-g- MAH) blends have been prepared via melt mixing. The effect of blend ratio and organoclay concentration on the crystallization and melting behavior of specimens were studied. Three types of commercial organo-modified clay (Cloisite 30B, Cloisite 15A and Cloisite 20A) were employed to assess the...

Although many rhodamine based fluorescence sensors were reported to detect metal ions with high sensitivity and selectivity, there are very few reports available to study the mechanisms of detection and the interaction between probe and metal ions. This paper aims to detect ferric ions by novel fluorescence chemosensors and study the mechanisms in detail. A novel probe AD-MAH-RhB was designed a...

'Mah-jong epilepsy' is a rare reflex epilepsy syndrome, manifesting as recurrent epileptic seizures triggered by either playing or just watching mah-jong. We present three patients with this condition and review all the reported cases. Mah-jong-induced seizures can be considered a subtype of cognition-induced epilepsy. Nonetheless, these patients have distinctive clinical and electrophysiologic...

Effect of isoniazid (INH) and its metabolites e.g. mono and diacetyl hydrazines (MAH and DAH respectively) was studied on circulating and tissue folates in mice (a species susceptible to INH tumorigenicity) and rats (a species resistant to INH carcinogenicity). It was observed that ip injection of INH, MAH and mydrazine sulfate (HS, 0.18 mg/g) decreased blood folates in mice while only HS and M...

The variation in the morphology of monolayers at the air/water interface is investigated for two kinds of radiation-modified polysilanes with different structures: poly(diethyl fumarate)-grafted poly(methyl-n-propylsilane) (PMPrS-g-PDEF) and maleic anhydride-grafted PMPrS (PMPrS-g-MAH). PMPrS-g-PDEF has long but sparsely-attached PDEF graft chains, while PMPrS-g-MAH has short but densely-attach...

A high full-electrode basis capacity secondary battery anode consisting of a template-free 3D nanostructured Fe3O4/C composite is presented. On a full electrode basis, the nanocomposite exhibits attractive electrochemical performance including a volumetric capacity of 1064 mAh cm(-3), which significantly exceeds both the practical (≈300 mAh cm(-3)) and theoretical (837 mAh cm(-3)) capacity of a...

The properties of blends of polycaprolactone and starch (PCL/starch) and maleic anhydride (MAH)-grafted-polycaprolactone and starch (PCL-g-MAH/starch) were examined using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, H nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and mechanical testing. Mechanical and thermal properties of PCL became noticeably worse when it wa...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) is one of the most common nontuberculous mycobacterial species responsible for chronic lung disease in humans. Despite increasing worldwide incidence, little is known about the genetic mechanisms behind the population evolution of MAH. To elucidate the local adaptation mechanisms of MAH, we assessed genetic population structure, the mutual homologous...