At the time of surgery, posterolateral rotatory elbow instability, if present, was due to the crista fracture. At the time of follow-up, all elbows were clinically stable and had radiographic concentric reductions. Elbow

flexion and extension were a mean (and standard deviation) of 136 degrees +/- 6 degrees and 5 degrees +/- 8 degrees, respectively. The mean PREE score was 15 +/- 20, and the mean DASH was 13.5 +/- 18.

Conclusions: Crista supinatoris fractures are difficult to identify on standard elbow radiographs. Fracture management is based on an assessment of elbow stability and on appropriate treatment of the associated injuries.”
“Recently tissue engineering has become available as a

regenerative treatment for bone defects; however, little has been reported on the application of tissue engineering for this website regeneration of cleft defect tissues. Mesenchymal-derived stem cells were applied to different kinds GW4869 cell line of bone substitute and compared in different animal models, but their usage in human critical defects remained unclear. In this study we report 2 patients with unilateral alveolar cleft, treated with the composite scaffold of demineralized bone mineral and calcium sulphate (Osteoset) loaded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Computed tomograms showed 34.5% regenerated bone, extending from the cleft walls and bridging the cleft after 4 selleck screening library months in one case and in the other there was 25.6% presentation of bone integrity. The available data revealed the conventional bone substitute was not a suitable scaffold for the MSC-induced bone regeneration. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2009; 108:e1-e6)”
“Tunable cylindrical TE01n mode cavity has been used for the measurement of the dielectric and magnetic properties of planar anisotropic metamaterials as a function of frequency. Experiments have been performed on

low loss dielectric samples covered with thin metal patterns consisting split-ring resonators (SRRs), creating a regular hexagonal lattice. In order to determine the two complex quantities, namely the effective permittivity in the plane of metamaterial and the effective permeability in the direction perpendicular to that plane, two metamaterial samples have been used one small sample consisting of only seven SRRs at the center of the substrate and another large sample, with a diameter larger than the diameter of the cavity, completely covered with SRRs. It has been shown that determination of the effective permittivity and permeability, that are three-dimensional quantities, requires an assumption of the effective thickness of the metamaterial samples. The resonance behavior of the permittivity and permeability for metamaterials consisting of a SRR lattice has been experimentally confirmed. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.

Two of 3 cases of AMHRII -482 A > G homozygote mutation were poor responders, and the distribution and frequency of each allele of naturally pregnant women showed no statistical difference compared with infertile women.

This

study revealed the possible involvement of AMHRII -482 A > G polymorphism on the malfunction of follicular development in Japanese women.”
“We recently proposed a role for the 2-pore-domain K+ (K2P) channel TREK-1 in the PI3K inhibitor regulation of cytokine release from alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) by demonstrating decreased IL-6 secretion from TREK-1 deficient cells, but the effects of altered TREK-1 expression on other inflammatory mediators remain poorly understood. We now examined the role of TREK-1 in TNF-alpha-induced MCP-1 release from human A549 cells. We hypothesized that TREK-1 regulates TNF-alpha-induced MCP-1 secretion via c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK)- and protein kinase-C (PKC)-dependent pathways. In contrast to IL-6 secretion, we found that TREK-1 deficiency resulted in increased MCP-1 production and secretion, although baseline MCP-1 gene expression was unchanged in TREK-1 deficient cells. In contrast to TREK-1

deficient AECs, overexpression of MCP-1 SB203580 nmr had no effect on MCP-1 secretion. Phosphorylation of JNK1/2/3 was increased in TREK-1 deficient cells upon TNF-alpha stimulation, but pharmacological inhibition of JNK1/2/3 decreased MCP-1 release from both control and TREK-1 deficient cells. Similarly, pharmacological inhibition of PKC decreased MCP-1 secretion from control and TREK-1 deficient cells, suggesting that alterations in JNK and PKC signaling pathways were

unlikely the cause for the increased MCP-1 secretion from TREK-1 deficient cells. Furthermore, MCP-1 secretion from control and TREK-1 deficient cells was independent of extracellular Ca2+ but sensitive to inhibition of intracellular Ca2+ reuptake mechanisms. In summary, we report for the first time that TREK-1 deficiency in human AECs resulted in increased MCP-1 production and secretion, and this effect appeared unrelated to alterations in JNK-, PKC- or Ca2+-mediated signaling pathways in TREK-1 deficient cells.”
“OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the hemodynamic effects of epinephrine intravenous injection in healthy and learn more hemorrhagic shock rats.

METHODS: Forty Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 250 to 300 g were randomly assigned to 4 groups: group NE, healthy rats receiving epinephrine 2 mu g/kg; group NS, healthy rats receiving normal saline; group SE, hemorrhagic shock rats receiving epinephrine 2 mu g/kg; and group SS, hemorrhagic shock rats receiving normal saline. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at the following time points: 0 seconds (baseline), 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes, and 10 minutes (T(0-9)) after intravenous injection.

Then, we apply a max-margin hidden conditional random field (MM-HCRF) classifier learned from human-annotated mitotic and nonmitotic sequences to classify each candidate subsequence as a mitosis or not.

Finally, a max-margin semi-Markov model (MM-SMM) trained on manually-segmented mitotic sequences is utilized to reinforce the mitosis classification results, and to further segment each mitosis into four predefined temporal stages. The proposed method outperforms the event-detection CRF model recently reported by Huh et al. as well as several other competing methods in very challenging image sequences of multipolar-shaped selleck C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells. For mitosis detection, an overall precision of 95.8% and a recall of 88.1% were achieved. For mitosis segmentation, the mean and standard deviation for the localization errors of the start and end points of all mitosis stages were well below 1 and 2 frames, respectively. In particular, an overall temporal location error of 0.73 +/- 1.29 frames was achieved for locating daughter cell birth events.”
“CABG

surgery is an effective way to improve symptoms and prognosis in patients with advanced coronary atherosclerotic disease. Despite multiple improvements in surgical technique and patient treatment, graft failure after CABG surgery occurs in a time-dependent fashion, BIIB057 in vivo particularly in the second decade after the intervention, in a substantial number of patients because of atherosclerotic progression and saphenous-vein graft (SVG) disease. Until 2010, AG-881 concentration repeat

revascularization by either percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or surgical techniques was performed in these high-risk patients in the absence of specific recommendations in clinical practice guidelines, and within a culture of inadequate communication between cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists. Indeed, some of the specific technologies developed to reduce procedural risk, such as embolic protection devices for SVG interventions, are largely underused. Additionally, the implementation of secondary prevention, which reduces the need for reintervention in these patients, is still suboptimal. In this Review, graft failure after CABG surgery is examined as a clinical problem from the perspective of holistic patient management. Issues such as the substrate and epidemiology of graft failure, the choice of revascularization modality, the specific problems inherent in repeat CABG surgery and PCI, and the importance of secondary prevention are discussed.

Escaned, J. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 9, 540-549 (2012); published online 10 July 2012; doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2012.100″
“The purpose of this study was to evaluate the guiding effect of computer-assisted design technique in local resection of exostosis osteochondroma (EOC) from the mandibular condyle.

In the present study, three polymorphisms have been genotyped, namely, -52G/A, -44C/G and 20G/A, of DEFB1 gene, coding for hBD-1, in 40 ALL patients and 40 healthy children, and tested for an association between genetic variants of the protein and seroprevalence of antibodies for herpes viruses. The seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex viruses (HSV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) IgG antibodies in leukemic children was higher than that in controls (CMV: 61.5 vs. 27.3%, p = .008; HSV: 50 vs. 24.2%, p = .04; EBV: 61.3 vs. 46.2%, p = ns, respectively). Carriers of the GCA haplotype were found to have a significantly higher rate of immunization against CMV and HSV in

ALL children compared to controls (CMV: 68 vs. 29%, p = .006; HSV: 56 vs. 26%, p = .04, respectively). Selonsertib order No such observation

was made when we analyzed the immunization against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) by GCA haplotype in case and controls (58 vs. 40%, p = ns). These findings suggest that leukemic patients carrying untranslated variants of hBD-1 display a higher susceptibility to herpes viruses infections than controls.”
“Background-Atherosclerosis in different vessel beds shares lifestyle and environmental risk factors. It is unclear whether this holds for genetic risk factors. Hence, for the current study genetic loci for coronary artery calcification and serum lipid levels, one of the strongest risk factors for atherosclerosis, were used to assess their selleck screening library relation with atherosclerosis in different vessel beds.

Methods and Results-From 1987 persons of the population-based Rotterdam Study, 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for coronary artery calcification and 132 SNPs for total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or triglycerides were used. To quantify atherosclerotic calcification

as a marker of atherosclerosis, all participants underwent nonenhanced computed tomography of the aortic arch and carotid arteries. Associations between genetic risk scores of the joint effect of the SNPs and of all calcification were investigated. The joint effect of coronary artery calcification-SNPs was associated with larger SHP099 research buy calcification volumes in all vessel beds (difference in calcification volume per SD increase in genetic risk score: 0.15 [95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.20] in aorta, 0.14 [95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.18] in extracranial carotids, and 0.11 [95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.16] in intracranial carotids). The joint effect of total cholesterol SNPs, low-density lipoprotein SNPs, and of all lipid SNPs together was associated with larger calcification volumes in both the aortic arch and the carotid arteries but attenuated after adjusting for the lipid fraction and lipid-lowering medication.

Haplotype analysis showed that the “”GCAGCG”" haplotype (HAP2) was overrepresented in LSS patients (P = 0.023, odds ratio [OR] = 1.86), especially in those with severe stenosis (P = 0.018, OR = 1.98). In addition, the “”TCAGCG”" haplotype (HAP4) was overrepresented selleck chemicals llc in controls (P = 0.042, OR = 0.52).

Conclusion. Although no SNPs in COL9A2 were associated with LSS, a COL9A2 haplotype (HAP2) was significantly associated with LSS in

the Korean population, whereas another haplotype (HAP4) may play a protective role against LSS development. However, the genetic functions of COL9A2 haplotypes in LSS remain to be determined.”
“The adaptational characteristics due to long-term adaptation in the natural habitats of common reed (Phragmites communis Trin.) contrasted considerably among three different

ecotypes: dune reed (DR), Gobi salt reed (GSR) and swamp reed (SR). The micromorphologies of leaf adaxial surfaces showed tapered setae and a non-smooth surface in DR, compound papillose structures with wax and hairs in GSR, but only papillose structures for the smooth surface of SR. Anatomical analysis showed that DR and GSR had higher bundle-sheath cell areas and a lower xylem/phloem ratio than SR. There were many sclerenchyma cells in vascular bundle of DR and GSR and crystal idioblasts in all ecotypes. Chloroplasts had ellipsoid shape in SR, but they were attached to the cell wall with click here oblong shape and contained many starch grains in DR and GSR. Higher concentrations of NO, H2O2 and lipid peroxidation, higher AZD1480 ratio of carotenoids/chlorophyll and higher activities in T-AOC and SOD were found in DR and GSR. Na+/K+-ATPase and Ca2+/Mg2+-ATPase activities were greatest in GSR. All these data suggested that the greater relative stress tolerance of DR and GSR was due to a combination of morpho-anatomical adaptational characteristics and physio-chemical responses, and indicated the different mechanisms in their respective natural habitats. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.”
“Introduction:

Rotavirus vaccines were introduced into the funded Australian National Immunization Program (NIP) in July 2007. Due to purchasing arrangements, individual states and territories chose either a 2-dose RV1 (Rotarix, GSK) regimen or 3-dose RV5 (Rotateq, Merck/CSL) regimen. This allowed comparison of both vaccines in similar populations with high infant vaccination coverage.

Methods: Admission and rotavirus identification data from the major pediatric hospitals in 3 states (2 using RV5, 1 RV1), together with state-based hospitalization and vaccination data from Queensland (RV5) were analyzed for the years before, and up to 30 months following rotavirus vaccine introduction. Emergency encounters and short-stay unit admissions for gastroenteritis are also described.

Results: Rotavirus vaccine coverage in Australia is high, with 87% of infants receiving at least I dose.

The participants were requested to score the sounds as pharyngeal, supraglottic, glottic, subglottic or tracheal in both situations. The scores were analyzed per group of participants, per location of obstruction and per diagnosis in the different situations.

Results: The performance of the total group was just above chance

level with an average JNK-IN-8 concentration score of 29.6%. The total results improved slightly with the additional information present, although not significantly. No significant difference was found between the three categories of participants. The supraglottic sounds were significantly better differentiated from the other locations in both assessment types (p < 0.001). The tracheal region (p < 0.01) and the supraglottic region (p < 0.05) received significantly higher scores when the additional information was present. Laryngomalacia was significantly better differentiated (p < 0.001) from the other diagnoses. The improvement in assessment with and without additional information present was significant for laryngomalacia (p

= 0.002) and tracheomalacia (p < 0.035).

Conclusion: The clinical observation of stridor in children shows poor levels of localization. Even though the two most common diagnoses, laryngomalacia and tracheomalacia are localized more correctly, the general performance is not significantly higher than random. No evidence was found in this study for differences in results by the observer’s level of experience. We would recommend that an observational policy selleck screening library is only adequate when clear clinical signs are present that indicate laryngomalacia as first differential diagnosis. In other cases rigid and flexible endoscopy is indicated to locate the site and nature of obstruction. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“A best evidence topic in cardiothoracic surgery was written

according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was: is it safe to stop anticoagulants after successful surgery for atrial fibrillation? Altogether, 177 papers were OSI-906 manufacturer found using the reported search, of which 14 were selected that represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. Selection criteria included study relevance, primary outcome, size of study population and length of follow-up. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. The weight of evidence, including over 10,000 patient-years of follow-up, supports the discontinuation of warfarin following atrial fibrillation correction procedures as being safe, with an associated annual thromboembolic stroke rate of 0-3.8% off warfarin, in studies where warfarin was stopped at a mean of 3.

Our results further indicate that these pH responses require auxin-dependent changes in cytosolic Ca2+ levels that operate independently of the TIR1 auxin perception system. These results demonstrate a methodology that can be used to visualize vectorial auxin responses in a manner that can be integrated with the rapid plant growth responses to environmental stimuli.”
“In vitro susceptibility of 141 clinical isolates of Candida species to caspofungin and anidulafungin is reported. The Etest was performed according to recommended procedure and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were

read after 24 h of incubation at 35 degrees C. Applying a breakpoint of <= 2 mu g/ml, all Candida spp. isolates, except those belonging to C. parapsilosis complex, were susceptible. The geometric mean for caspofungin and anidulafungin for different Candida spp. were as follows: Candida parapsilosis, BMN 673 0.438 and 3.355 mu g/ml; Candida orthopsilosis, 0.210 and 1.456 mu g/ml; Candida albicans, 0.049 and 0.007 mu g/ml; Candida dubliniensis, 0.077 and 0.009 mu g/ml; Candida tropicalis, 0.061 and 0.027 mu g/ml; Candida glabrata, 0.120 and 0.032 mu g/ml; and Candida krusei, 0.288 and 0.052 mu g/ml, respectively. Anidulafungin was significantly more active than caspofungin (p https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Bortezomib.html <0.001) except for C. parapsilosis

complex spp. isolates. In conclusion, our Etest MICs compared well with epidemiological cutoff values derived

from a large number of Candida spp. isolates tested by CLSI method in previous studies. However, considering the differences in MICs of the two echinocandins Sapitinib for C. parapsilosis complex isolates, the Etest needs further evaluation for its suitability.”
“Background: High maternal dietary intakes in pregnancy may lead to increased fetal growth and program neuroendocrine pathways that result in greater appetite, energy intake, and adiposity in offspring later in life. Few prospective dietary studies have explored this relation.

Objective: The objective was to assess associations of maternal dietary intake in pregnancy and maternal and paternal dietary intake postnatally with child dietary intake and adiposity.

Design: Dietary intakes of energy, protein, total fat, and carbohydrate were assessed prospectively in mothers during pregnancy, in mothers and their partners at 47 mo postnatally, and in children at 10 y (n = 5717 mother-child pairs prenatally, 5593 mother-child pairs postnatally, and 3009 father-child pairs). Child body composition was assessed at 9 and 11 y (n = 5725).

Results: Maternal dietary intakes of protein, fat (when adjusted for energy intake), and carbohydrate in pregnancy were positively associated with child dietary intakes of the same nutrients, and these associations were greater than those observed for paternal dietary intake, which was not strongly associated with offspring diet.

The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act has provided funding

to expand public banking initiatives in the United States and to create a more ethnically diverse inventory of units. Private storage is not advocated unless there is an identified need in the family such that banked cord blood would offer a benefit. A recent report outlined the challenges of increasing participation and inventory, particularly among minority groups. Obstetricians and other health care practitioners should have a primary role in efforts to increase awareness of umbilical cord blood donation and be involved in initiatives to expand current public banking activities. (Obstet Gynecol 2013;121:851-5) DOI: http://10.1097/AOG.0b013e31828882aa”
“Objective.

To Momelotinib inhibitor assess the effects of preclinic group education sessions and system redesign on tertiary pain medicine units and patient outcomes.

Design.

Prospective

cohort study.

Setting.

Two public hospital multidisciplinary pain medicine units.

Patients.

People with persistent pain.

Interventions.

A system redesign from a “”traditional”" model (initial individual medical appointments) to a model that delivers group education sessions prior to individual appointments. Based on Patient Triage Questionnaires patients were scheduled to attend Self-Training Educative AZD8186 manufacturer Pain Sessions (STEPS), a two day eight hour group education program, followed by optional patient-initiated clinic appointments.

Outcome Measures.

Number of patients completing Selleck BTSA1 STEPS who subsequently requested individual outpatient clinic appointment(s); wait-times; unit cost per new patient referred; recurrent health care utilization; patient satisfaction; Global Perceived

Impression of Change (GPIC); and utilized pain management strategies.

Results.

Following STEPS 48% of attendees requested individual outpatient appointments. Wait times reduced from 105.6 to 16.1 weeks at one pain unit and 37.3 to 15.2 weeks at the second. Unit cost per new patient appointed reduced from $1,805 Australian Dollars (AUD) to AUD$541 (for STEPS). At 3 months, patients scored their satisfaction with “”the treatment received for their pain”" more positively than at baseline (change score = 0.88; P = 0.0003), GPIC improved (change score = 0.46; P < 0.0001) and mean number of active strategies utilized increased by 4.12 per patient (P = 0.0004).

Conclusions.

The introduction of STEPS was associated with reduced wait-times and costs at public pain medicine units and increased both the use of active pain management strategies and patient satisfaction.”
“Leiomyomas are the most common pelvic tumors in women. These tumors are not always symptomatic but can cause abnormal uterine bleeding and anemia, pelvic pressure and pain, urinary frequency, and adverse reproductive outcomes-symptoms that can diminish the quality of life of women.

Methods: The data of 506 incident CD patients were analyzed (age-at-diagnosis: 31.5, SD: 13.8 years). Both hospital and outpatient records were collected and comprehensively reviewed.

Results: CRC was diagnosed in five patients (5/5758 person-year-duration) during follow-up, while no patients developed SBA in this cohort. Standardized incidence

ratio (SIR) of CRC was not increased overall with five cases observed vs. 5.02 expected (SIR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.41-2.39); however, there was a tendency for increased incidence in males (five cases observed vs. 2.56 expected; SIR: 1.95, 95% CI: 0.81-4.70). Age at onset of CD (p<0.001), male gender (p=0.022) and stenosing disease behavior at diagnosis (p<0.001) but not disease location were identified as risk factors for developing CRC in univariate analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis. The cumulative learn more risk for developing CRC after a disease duration of 20 years was 1.1% (95% CI: 0.6-1.7%).

Conclusions: The incidence of CRC and SBA was not increased in this population-based CD cohort. Age at onset of CD, male

gender and stenosing disease behavior at diagnosis were identified as risk factors of CRC. (C) 2010 European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Background: Understanding the etiology, presentation, evaluation, and management of selected non-endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinomas of the uterine selleck inhibitor corpus is needed to define optimal treatment regimens.

Methods: The pathology and treatment of selected non-endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinomas of the uterus are reviewed and summarized.

Results: The most common non-endometrioid selleck chemical histology is papillary serous (10%), followed by clear cell (2% to 4%), mucinous (0.6% to 5%), and squamous cell (0.1% to 0.5%). Some non-endometrioid endometrial carcinomas

behave more aggressively than the endometrioid cancers such that even women with clinical stage I disease often have extrauterine metastasis at the time of surgical evaluation. Therefore, when technically and medically feasible, comprehensive surgical staging is helpful for women with non-endometrioid endometrial cancer histology. Comprehensive surgical staging includes hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy, and cytological evaluation of the abdominal cavity. While whole abdominal radiotherapy has a limited role in early-stage uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) and clear cell carcinoma (CC), there may be a role for postoperative chemotherapy and volume-directed radiotherapy in both early-stage UPSC and CC. In the setting of optimally debulked advanced-stage disease, a combination of radiation and chemotherapy may be indicated. In the setting of recurrent disease or in women with residual disease after surgery, a platinum-based regimen or enrollment in a clinical trial is recommended.

037). The latter had a median survival of only 6 months compared with 21 months for patients with limited stages of bronchial carcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS: Bronchial carcinoma, especially of the native lung after single LTx, is a significant problem and the survival after diagnosis is very poor, although patients with limited (operable) disease tend to have better results. J Heart Lung Transplant 2012;31:585-90 (C) 2012 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. All rights Sapitinib concentration reserved.”
“Granivorous

rodents and birds are both predators and dispersers of the nuts produced by many woody plants. This study examines the role of granivores as predators and dispersers of Corylus avellona L and the consequences of this interaction for Corylus regeneration and scrub encroachment into grassland.

In the Cressbrook Dale nature reserve (Derbyshire, UK), Corylus nuts were buried in the grassland at two distances (<15 and >70 m) from scrub vegetation (the main source of nuts, and habitat of the granivores) to estimate the rate of seed removal selleck products over 3 years, assessing also the success of dispersal and seedling establishment in the grassland. The rate of nut removal at close sites (<15 m from scrub) was consistently higher than at far sites (>70 m) over the 3 years. All sown nuts were removed over 2 years at close sites, while at the far sites around 20% of the sown nuts were still present the following spring. Grassland close to the scrub had the highest intensity of nut predation but also had the highest density of Corylus seedlings. Sciurus carolinensis was the most important disperser

of hazelnuts into the grassland. This squirrel scatter-hoarded 10-12 thousand hazelnuts in 1.5 ha of grassland adjacent to scrub. in this reserve, two vertebrates – both non-native – are largely responsible for maintaining the dynamic balance between the scrub and grassland habitats. American grey squirrels disperse hazelnuts into the grassland and sheep slow the encroachment of scrub by repeated browsing. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The goal of this study is to determine and compare the beta-endorphin levels in the synovial fluid of patients with different joint disorders (avascular necrosis, AVN; osteoarthritis, Alpelisib manufacturer OA; and rheumatoid arthritis, RA of the hip or knee). Eighty-seven patients were involved in our study with an average age of 62 years. Thirty-three patients had AVN (18 hips, 15 knees). Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with OA (14 hips, 9 knees), and 31 patients suffered from RA (12 hips, 19 knees). We measured the beta-endorphin levels of the synovial fluids -harvested from surgery-with radioimmunoassay. No significant difference was found in the beta-endorphin levels of the synovial fluid from AVN comparing to OA and RA, however beta-endorphin level was significantly higher in RA group than among patients with OA (p = 0.01). Synovial beta-endorphin level was slightly lower in knee comparing to hip joint p = (0.