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The authors found that MER can be adequately performed while the patient receives a desflurane anesthetic, and the results can serve as a guide for STN electrode implantation. This may be a good alternative surgical method in patients with PD who are unable to tolerate deep brain stimulation surgery with local anesthesia.

8-Oxoguanine has been shown to be a dominant cause of oxidative DNA damage by oxygen free radicals in eukaryotic cells. The 8-oxoguanine repair-specific enzyme 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase (hOgg1) was recently cloned and was observed to conduct mainly short-patch base-excision repair. It has also been suggested that reactive oxygen species play an important role in the cellular aging process. We explored the association between the hOgg1 enzyme activity in somatic cells of human subjects of various ages and the role of hOgg1(326) genetic polymorphism. An 8-oxoguanine-containing 28 mer oligonucleotide was end-labeled with gamma-32P ATP and incubated with protein extracts from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from 78 healthy individuals ranging in age from newborn to 91 years old. The hOgg1 repair activity toward the radiolabelled 8-oxoguanine-containing DNA was determined, and the results indicated a significant age-dependent decrease in the hOgg1 activity in their lymphocytes. Significantly reduced activity was also shown in those with Cysteine/Cysteine genotypes. The genders of the subjects were not shown to be associated. These results provide an important observation regarding the cellular hOgg1 activity in somatic cells during the normal human aging processes.

Radiation effects on cancer risks in a cohort of Taiwanese residents who received protracted low-dose-rate gamma-radiation exposures from (60)Co-contaminated reinforcing steel used to build their apartments were studied, and risks were compared to those in other radiation-exposed cohorts. Analyses were based on a more extended follow-up of the cohort population in which 117 cancer cases diagnosed between 1983 and 2005 among 6,242 people with an average excess cumulative exposure estimate of about 48 mGy. Cases were identified from Taiwan's National Cancer Registry. Radiation effects on cancer risk were estimated using proportional hazards models and were summarized in terms of the hazard ratio associated with a 100-mGy increase in dose (HR(100mGy)). A significant radiation risk was observed for leukemia excluding chronic lymphocytic leukemia (HR(100mGy) 1.19, 90% CI 1.01-1.31). Breast cancer exhibited a marginally significant dose response (HR(100mGy) 1.12, 90% CI 0.99-1.21). The results further strengthen the association between protracted low-dose radiation and cancer risks, especially for breast cancers and leukemia, in this unique cohort population.

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