Experimental intraspinal trypanosoma equiperdum infection in a horse. To establish the ability of Trypanosoma equiperdum to cross the blood-brain-barrier in the horse, a susceptible stallion was infected via the cerebrospinal fluid of the subarachnoid space by lumbosacral puncture. Cerebrospinal fluid with low detectable levels of trypanosomes removed from a dourine-infected mare by lumbosacral puncture was used for infecting the animal. The parasite was detected in blood smears of the recipient 13 days after infection and the subsequent parasitaemia and clinical course of the disease followed that of naturally infected horses.


A gel electrophoretic study of the protein and nucleic acid components of African horsesickness virus. The physico-chemical structure of African horsesickness virus (AHSV) is compared with that of some of the other members of the Reoviridae, and in particular with that of bluetongue virus (BTV), the type strain of the orbivirus genus. This study adduces evidence of a great similarity between the gel electrophoretic patterns of the polypeptides of AHSV and BTV. The molecular mass values of the 7 AHSV polypeptides range between 0,30 x 10(5) and 1,46 x 10(5) dalton, a variation similar to that of BTV. The close relation between AHSV and BTV is further affirmed by the gel electrophoretic resolution of the AHSV double-stranded RNA genome into 10 segments.


Acid-labile amino acid precursors in the Murchison meteorite. 1: Chromatographic fractionation. The amino acid content of a hot water extract of the Murchison meteorite can be increased by over 100 per cent by subjecting the extract to acid hydrolysis. The acid-labile compounds in the extract that account for this increase were fractionated by column chromatography on a cation exchange resin. Seventy mole per cent behaved as neutral or acidic compounds and were eluted from the column with an initial water wash. The remaining 30 mole per cent (basic precursors) were retained on the column and were eluted with the free amino acids by aqueous NH4OH. The acid-labile amino acid precursors in the water eluate could be retained and further fractionated on an anion exchange column, indicating that they are acidic compounds.


Acid-labile amino acid precursors in the Murchison meteorite. II: A search for peptides and amino acyl amides. The basic fraction of the acid-labile amino acid precursors found in hot water extracts of the Murchison meteorite was treated with ninhydrin under conditions that give destruction of free amino acids but allow nearly complete recovery to peptides and amino acylamides. After this treatment and a subsequent acid hydrolysis, the amount of amino acids found corresponded to less than 30 per cent of the precursor content of the basic fraction. Since only 30 percent of the total extract precursors are found in the basic fraction, these results indicate that such compounds, if present, account for no more than 9 mole per cent of the total acid-labile amino acid precursors of the meteorite hot water extract.


Chemical evolution: effect of high energy radiation. Quantitative estimation - based on extrapolated data of radioactivity and reasonable assumptions about the radiolytic effect of beta-particles on amino acids- shows that an assymmetry greater than the statistical fluctuation in the number of L-, and D-amino acid molecules could have been produced by beta-decay during chemical evolution.


Clays as possible catalysts for peptide formation in the prebiotic era. From the point of view of prebiotic synthesis, clays might have performed functions of concentration, catalysis, and protection of molecules. The degree of polymerization obtained when amino acid adenylates are added to montmorillonite suspensions in water, are much iigher than those obtained by polymerization in the absence of such a clay. In addition, they are of a discrete spectrum, usually multiplies of 6 or 7, and reach values of up to 40 mers. In the absence of clay a continuous spectrum of degrees of polymerization is obtained, and usually up to 4-6 mers only. Copolymerization in the absence of clays yields mostly random copolymers in their presence mostly block copolymers are obtained. Optical density measurements show that after adsorption has taken place on the clay, stacking of its layers occurs. Polymerization starts only after these stacked layers have been formed. The distance between the layers - as measured by X-rays - increase during polymerization, probably because the resulting polymers settle in their interspace, while the adsorption site of the active monomers is at the edges of the clay.


Volcanic processes and synthesis of simple organic compounds on primitive earth.


Polarized bremsstrahlung not the source of optical activity. An evaluation is made of the previously proposed scheme (polarized beta-particles leads to circularly polarized bremsstrahlung leads to optically active molecules) by which dissymmetry at the elementary particle level may be transmitted to the molecular level. The calculations suggest that much too small a fraction of the total energy of the electron appears as light, capable of causing photochemical resolution, to explain results obtained in the laboratory on the preferential radiation-induced decomposition one enantiomer of chiral amino acids.


A speculation on the origin of protein synthesis. It is suggested that protein sythesis may have begun without even a primitive ribosome if the primitive tRNA could take up two configuration and could bind to the messenger RNA with five base-pairs instead of the present three. This idea would impose base sequence restriction on the early messages and on the early genetic code such that the first four amino acids coded were glycine, serine, aspartic acid and aspargine. A possible mechanism is suggested for the polymerization of the early message.


Scavenging of soluble organic matter from the prebiotic oceans. The existence of hot or cold "nutrient broth" or "primeval soup" is challenged on the basis of the recent geochemistry of soluble organic carbon in the oceans. Most of the dissolved organic carbon is recycled quickly by organisms, but the residual, biologically refractive, organic matter is efficiently scavenged from the oceans (residence time of 1000 to 3500 years) by nonbiologically mediated chemical and physical processes, such as adsorption on sinking minerals, polymerization and aggregation to humic type polymers or by aggregation to particulate matter through bubbling and sinking of this material to the ocean bottom. Since there is no reason to believe that such nonbiological scavenging was not operative in the prebiotic oceans as well, then the prolonged existence of "organic soup" is very doubtful. The question of the origin of life is thus assumed to be related to solid-liquid interfacial activity, and the answer may be associated with sediment-water interaction rather than with solution chemistry.


Prebiotic phosphorylation of nucleosides in formamide. A possible prebiotic phosphorylation method has been investigated in which formamide served as the reaction medium. Nucleotides and nucleotide derivatives were formed when nucleosides were allowed to react with different orthophosphate, hydrogen phosphate or dihydrogen phosphate salts or with different condensed phosphate salts. The reaction products obtained from the phosphorylation of adenosine were 2'3' and 5'-AMPs, 2',5' and 3',5'-ADPs and 2',3'-cyclic AMP. The extent of phosphorylation in formamide exceeded 50% under favorable conditions after 15 days at 70 degrees. The acidic dihydrogen phosphates and condensed hydrogen phosphates proved to be the best phosphorylating agents. The presence of water in the medium decreased the yield of nucleotide derivatives, but some phosphorylation of adenosine was detected using dihydrogen phosphate in formamide containing water. The phosphorylation reactions were also observed for deoxynucleosides. Little decompression of the nucleosides was detected during the reaction time needed to form nucleotide derivatives. The facility with which phosphorylation takes place in formamide under very mild conditions may justify further studies both of prebiotic phosphorylation and synthetic phosphorylation using this solvent.


A systems approach to the multiple trauma victim.


Problems in human sexuality encountered in primary care.


The natural history of prostatic cancer. There are inner and outer gland groups in the human prostate. Benign nodular hyperplasia develops from the inner group of glands. Cancer develops from the outer gland group and consequently spreads beyond the prostate at an early stage in the disease. The biological malignancy of prostatic cancer varies from patient to patient and from part to part of the same tumor. Some tumors remain biologically inactive or latent so that there must be some naturally-occurring factor which controls tumor growth in these cases. Prostatic cancer patients may be divided into groups which differ in their response to endocrine treatment. These differences in response may be due to changes in the host or in the tumor cells. The temporary state of tumor retardation or latency follows endocrine treatment - generally anti-androgenic - in about 70 - 80% of all cases of prostatic cancer, but whatever form of treatment is used, about 75% of all cases die within 3 years. Even in tumors which show a marked response, endocrine treatment does not destroy all tumor cells. Hormone sensitivity therefore is not a property of the tumor as a whole but may vary from part to part of the same tumor. We need adequate well controlled clinical trials before we can decide which method of teatment is best but before we can do this satisfactorily we need methods to allow us to assess the stage and biological activity of individual tumors, before treatment begins.


Pathology and classification of prostatic carcinoma.


Measurement of androgen receptors in human prostatic tissue: methodological considerations.


Radical perineal prostatectomy for prostatic cancer.


The use of cryosurgery in the management of carcinoma of the prostate.


Retropubic implantation of I125 in the treatment of prostatic cancer.


Radiation therapy for carcinoma of the prostate.


Radiotherapy of prostatic cancer.

Radiotherapy of prostatic cancer. The methods of treatment and the general guidelines in the treatment of prostatic cancer are discussed. Emphasis is placed upon treatment planning with the help of ultrasonography and the use of high energy photons.


Radiotherapy in prostatic carcinoma preliminary report of lymph node involvement and its prognostic significance.


Intraurethral irradiation of prostatic cancer using afterloading technique.


Treatment of advanced carcinoma of the prostate with Estracyt.


Evaluation of prostatic cytology in primary diagnosis and clinical course of prostatic carcinoma. Franzén's method of transrectal aspiration biopsy, capable of being performed without narcosis or hospitalization of the patient, is an ideal method of early recognition of prostatic carcinoma, and its reliability is equal to the more elaborate transrectal or transperineal needle biopsy. For the appraisal of the local therapy-effect, transrectal aspiration biopsy can be successfully used if no high-voltage radiation treatment of the primary tumour has been administered. For local progress-checks on radiologically treated prostatic carcinomas, however, needle biopsy with the Tru-Cut needle is clearly superior to aspiration biopsy. Cytologic and histologic progress-checks reveal that the local therapy-effect of the measures were applied were directly dependent on the primary degree of differentiation. No improvement in the therapy-effect is to be achieved by the use of high-voltage radiation, especially in cases of undifferentiated carcinoma of the prostate. The clinical course is also largely determined by the primary degree of differentiation, and 20 % of stage C patients tend, with or without radiation-treatment, to rapid metastasisation, although the local tumour may have partically disappeared after such treatment. The plasmatestosterone level could be related neither to the local therapy-effect nor to the clinical course, whereas the enzyme-status in numerous cases coincided with the clinical history, though not with the cytologically or histologically determined therapy-effect. We could not establish any radiologically induced typical therapy-effect on the prostatic carcinoma either by cytological or histologic means.


A critical review of histochemical and electromicroscopical studies of total prostatectomy specimens.


Prostatitis.

Prostatitis.


Prostatitis: congestion, T-mycoplasma infection.


The prostatic antibacterial factor: identity and significance.


Difficulties of treatment in the chronic prostatitis.


Anatomy and dynamics of bladder neck.

Anatomy and dynamics of bladder neck.


Lecithin as an antifoaming agent.

Lecithin as an antifoaming agent.


The determination of certain delta4-3-ketosteroids in some parenteral formulations by differential pulse polarography.


Effects of food restriction and mutation on central catecholamine levels in genetically obese mice. Norepinephrine (NE) levels in the hypothalamus and telencephalon of genetically obese mice with the OBOB and DBDB mutations are significantly higher than those of their lean littermates. Obese mice with the viable yellow mutation failed to show this increase. Restricting the diets of OBOB animals to prevent excessive weight gain does not affect NE levels in the hypothalamus, telencephalon or brainstem.


Actions of repeated injections of LSD and apomorphine on the copulatory response of female rats. LSD, a serotonin receptor stimulating agent, inhibits copulatory behavior (lordosis response) in the ovariectomized and estrogen + progesterone treated female rat. The same effect is obtained by apomorphine, a dopamine receptor stimulating compounds. The lordosis has been shown to be dependent on serotonin, but also dopamine has been implicated in its mediation. Tolerance develops to certain responses after repeated injections of LSD and in the present study the influence of apomorphine and LSD was compared, when given in repeated doses. Possible cross-tolerance between the two compounds was also tested on the frequency of lordosis responding in ovariectomized and hormone treated female rats. Tolerance to LSD develops over seven days, while the suppressing influence of apomorphine on lordosis in seven repeated doses is not significantly altered from that of a single dose. No cross-tolerance was observed on the lordosis response with either order of treatments. Repeated doses of LSD did not influence locomotor activity differently from a single dose, while repeated doses of apomorphine enhanced this response in comparison with the effect of an acute dose. These results indicate differential sensitivity to the repeated treatments and further support an interpretation of the LSD effects on lordosis responding to be primarily on serotonergic rather than dopaminergic receptors.


Drinking induced by parenteral injections of pilocarpine. Parenteral (IP) injections of pilocarpine, in doses from 3.75 - 30 mg/kg, reliably produced drinking in water-satiated rats. This effect was not diminished by pretreatment with either centrally active (scopolaime, atropine) or peripherally active (methyl scopolamine, methyl atropine) cholinergic blocking agents, suggesting that pilocarpine does not induce drinking via a cholingergic meachnism. Repated injections of low doses, but not high doses, of pilocarpine augments drinking over trials.


Marijuana and memory impairment: the effect of retrieval cues on free recall. In an attempt to ascertain the effect of retrieval cues on recall deficits which occur following intoxication with marijuana, 40 male volunteers were presented with word lists following the smoking of a single one gram marijuana (0.94% delta 9 -THC) or placebo cigarette and then were required to recall these words immediately after presentation. Recall occurred under a condition in which cues representative of to-be-remembered words were present or in an uncued condition. Results indicated that recall was depressed following marijuana administration under both cued and uncued conditions with cues being only mildly effective in reversing the recall deficit. There was no increase in the number of internal intrusions under marijuana, but the number of external intrusions was significantly elevated under the cued conditions.


Does tolerance develop to low doses of d- and l-amphetamine on locomotor activity in rats? An observational study of the behavioural effects of chronic regimens of d- and l-amphetamine was designed to investigate possible mechanisms underlying any parallel behavioural changes: (1) Accumulation of p-hydroxynorephedrine in noradrenergic nerve terminals; (2) Altered sensitivity of dopaminergic receptors. The study revealed that locomotor activity seen with low doses of both isomers (2.0 mg/kg d- and 6.0 mg/kg l-) decreased with chronic once daily treatment. However, this was accompanied by an increase in directed sniffing activity and the behaviour came to resemble that seen with higher doses of amphetamine (8.0 mg/kg d- and 16.0 mg/kg l-). Nonsignificant decreases in locomotor activity and increases in directed sniffing to apomorphine administration were observed during chronic amphetamine treatment. These findings suggest that (1) p-hydroxynorephedrine, a metabolite of d- but not 1- amphetamine, does not play an important role in these alterations in behaviour with chronic treatment and (2) the tolerance to amphetamine observed under these conditions is due to an increased, rather than decreased, sensitivity of the rats to amphetamine.


Effects of response requirement upon human sedative self-administration and drug-seeking behavior. Five male volunteers with histories of sedative drug abuse were given the opportunity to self-administer up to 20 oral doses per day of either diazepam (10 mg per dose) or sodium pentobarbital (30 mg per dose). Each dose was purchased with tokens earned by exercising on a stationary exercise bicycle. Each two minutes of exercise earned one token. In a mixed order across days the number of tokens required to purchase each dose was varied among 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10. Drug intake decreased as a function of increased response requirement for purchasing the drug. Response output for drug tended to be an inverted-U shaped function of the response requirement. Thus, the cost of drug doses act as a powerful environmental influence upon both of these aspects of drug abuse behavior - amount of drug consumed and amount of drug-seeking behavior.


Enkephalin and a potent analog facilitate maze performance after intraperitoneal administration in rats. Met-enkephalin and its analog [D-Ala2]-Met-enkephalin-NH2 were administered intraperitoneally (IP) at a dose of 80 microng/kg body weight to hungry rats which were tested over 3 days for their ability to run a complex, 12 choice Warden maze for a reward of food. Animals receiving either peptide negotiated the maze significantly (p less than 0.01) faster (74.1 and 73.5 vs. 128.8 sec) and made significantly (p less than 0.01) fewer errors (5.5 and 5.4 vs 9.1) than animals receiving the diluent vehicle. These findings did not seem to be explained by differences in appetite, thirst, olfaction, or general activity. Rats injected in a preliminary study with an analog, [D-Phe4]-Met-enkephalin, which has essentially no opiate activity appeared to run the maze as fast as rats injected with [D-Ala2]-Met-enkephalin-NH2 and with just as few errors. Injection of morphine seemed to result in slower running times and more errors in the maze. These results demonstrate that enkephalin and some of its analogs can exert significant behavioral changes after IP administration and that these behavioral effects probably can be dissociated from the opiate effects.


Cocaine and morphine self-administration: effects of differential rearing. Two groups of Wistar rats were reared in either enriched or impoverished conditions for 100 days postweaning. These two groups were further divided and tested for cocaine or morphine preference in a two-bottle choice (water alternative) for 16 days. Enriched and impoverished rearing has previously been found to alter emotionality, conditionability, and body weight of adult rats. Validating previous reports of differential rearing effects on body weight, the enriched animals in the present study weighed less than their litter mates reared in impoverished conditions. Animals reared in the enriched environment consumed significantly more cocaine than animals reared in an impoverished one. No significant differences were observed for morphine self-selection as a result of differential rearing.


Differences in cytochrome P-450 of various strains of rats following chronic administration of pentobarbital. Cytochrome P-450 levels were analyzed in rats of two pigmented (black Long-Evans and ACI) and two albino strains (Fischer 344 and Sprague-Dawley) following the administration of pentobarbital sodium and physiological saline. Differences between the albino vs pigmented strains were observed following injections of saline. The Fischer 344 albino strains responded similarly to the pigmented strains following a progressively increasing dose schedule of pentobarbital sodium.


Synthesis and screening of some substituted 3.5-dioxopyrazolidines. Seven new 3.5-dioxopyrazolidine derivatives, incorporating in their molecule a p-substituted benzoyl grouping, were synthesized. The preliminary screening of four selected compounds showed that 1-phenyl-2-[p-nitrobenzoyl]-4.4-diethyl-3.5-dioxopyrazolidine possesses a low order of antiinflammatory activity.


On the solubilization properties of surfactant-polymer complexes. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) affect the solubilization properties of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). When these polymers are added to SDS solution, its solubilization power for riboflavin, khellin and propyl p-hydroxybenzoate is markedly decreased. In case of riboflavin and khellin, the polymer effect is more pronounced at high surfactant concentrations; for propyl p-hydroxybenzoate, the polymer effect is inversely proportional to the surfactant concentration. On the other hand, the solubilization power of SDS towards methyl and butyl p-hydroxybenzoate is greatly enhanced by PEG or PVP. In case of methyl p-hydroxybenzoate the effect of PEG is more pronounced at high surfactant concentrations; the effect of PVP is not significantly dependent on the surfactant concentration. For butyl p-hydroxybenzoate, the polymer effect decreases markedly with increasing surfactant concentration.


Phytochemical and botanical study of Gynandropsis spp. Part 1: Gynandropsis glucosinolates.


Furocoumarins part 3: Esters and ethers with predictable skin-photosensitizing activity.


Volumetric determination of hexamine in some pharmaceutical preparations containing peperazine.


Synthesis of 1.4-naphthoquinones-4-aryl(aroyl)hydrazones of potential antimicrobial activity. The isolation of phthiocol (3-hydroxy-2-methyl-1.4-naphthoquinone) from the acetone-soluble fat fraction of tubercle bacilli [1, 2] and the confirmation that it had antituberculous activity against H-37 R.V. strain [20] in vitro and in mice [12], prompted the synthesis of some 2-alkyl-3-hydroxy-1.4-naphthoquinone-4-aryl(aroyl)hydrazones as possible tuberculostatic agents.


Polysalt flocculates as a physicochemical approach in the development of controlled-release oral pharmaceuticals. In the field of pharmaceutical formulation, polysalt flocculates have received relatively little attention in the literature. Accordingly this investigation could be considered an approach towards the development of oral controlled release dosage forms by polysalt flocculates. The polymer selected for this study was sodium carboxymethylcellulose. This was based on the fact that it forms an insoluble complex with aluminium sulphate, which could be of value in controlling the liberation of the entrapped drug. Drug entrapment was effected by polymeric flocculation, induced by the addition of a physiologically inert electrolyte. Results of this study indicated that this approach provided a physicochemical method for controlling drug release from oral pharmaceuticals, that could be claimed to replace the earlier empirical mechanical methods.


The fate of Depogen in rats.

The fate of Depogen in rats. Studying the metabolism of Depogen in rats we have worked out a method for the purification, isolation and separation of the drug and its potential metabolites. In the basic fraction we have found the same metabolic pathway of Drotaverin published earlier by us. In the focus of our recent work was the fate of the theophylline-7-acetic acid and its eventual biotransformed products. We have stated that theophylline-7-acetic acid contrasts with the theophylline excresa in unchanged form, which has been confirmed by several methods.


Thin layer chromatographic technique for the separation and identification of 1.4-benzodiazepine drugs in biological material.


Isolation of two flavonoids from Achillea santolina L. growing in Egypt.


Pitch control and pharynx with in Twi: an electromyographic study. The author examined electromyographic tracings from four muscles--genioglossus (GG), anterior belly of the digastric (D) sternothyroid (ST) and thyrohyoid (TH)--for 210 Twi syllables selected so as to give information on seven parameters: tense/lax vowels, long/short vowels, close/open vowels, front/back vowels, high-tone/low-tone vowels, vowels preceded by a fricative/plosive consonant and vowels preceded by a voiced/voiceless consonant, and concluded, inter alia (1) that GG and D functioned as pitch control muscles but that it is not clear why raising of the larynx should accompany an increase in pitch; (2) that GG did not play the major role in tongue root fronting that was expected of it but that we may have to consider GG to consist of at least four functional muscles; (3) that GG and D offered little evidence to support a prosodic view of vowel harmony in Twi, and (4) that features may be ranked by the muscle activity associated with them and that 'high-tone', 'fricative' and 'voiced' dominated for GG, D and ST.


Hospital smoking: policies, programs, and problems.


The role of the medical director of respiratory therapy.


The impact of materials shortages on the respiratory therapist.


The employment market.

The employment market.


Research funding.

Research funding.


Cystic fibrosis: a new challenge for the patient-care team.


The malpractice threat: therapists are not immune.


All in the family: treating lungs or testing them--it's still RT.


RT education: role for proprietary schools? Part I.


Cytochemical investigation on lipids in human major salivary glands. A light and electron microscope study. The localization of lipids in the secretion of human parotid and submandibular glands has been here investigated. Ultrastructural observations following lipid extraction and histochemical data showed that lipid components are not present in the secretory granules. In fact, while histochemical reactions are completely negative, secretory granules from lipid-depleted glands retain all their morphological characters. These results led us to emphasize that, at least in human seromucous cells, lipids are not directly involved in the salivary secretion. This conclusion, which is supported by the biochemical data concerning the lipid content in human saliva, disagrees with the findings obtained in rat and guinea pig salivary glands. However, this discrepancy may be ascribed to the specific biochemical and ultrastructural differences found in the salivary glands of the various mammalian species.


Health benefits for laidoff workers.

Health benefits for laidoff workers.


Social security in the coming decade: questions for a mature system.


Foreign health programs: changes in population covered.


Born to be poor: birthplace and number of brothers and sisters as factors in adult poverty. Household heads who grew up as members of large families and/or as natives of small towns or rural areas tend to have less education and are more likely to be poor than those coming from small families and/or large cities. Data to support these conclusions have been drawn from two independent sources--a special Social Security Administration supplement to the April 1968 Current Population Survey and findings from the Retirement History Study conducted by the Social Security Administration.


Self-employment income at low earnings levels. If self-employment were much more prevalent at moderate and high earnings levels than at low levels and if the incidence of both the employee and employer taxes on wages is on the employee, then the social security tax structure would be regressive relative to taxable earnings. Analysis shows, however, that this is the case only in a very limited sense. For 1970, 6.5 percent of taxable earnings derives from self-employment. At least 6.3 percent of taxable earnings consists of self-employment income in each observed interval from $400 to $3,600. The proportion declines slightly with rising earnings until near the taxable maximum, when it begins to rise. If the average tax rate on earnings up to the maximum were tabulated by earnings both below and above the maximum, it appears very likely that mild regressivity would be shown beyond the taxable maximum, but of not more than a few tenths of a percent.


New retirement options in Sweden.

New retirement options in Sweden.


SSI payments in metropolitan areas.

SSI payments in metropolitan areas.


Hospital organization: effectiveness of patient care.


Women's worklives and future social security benefits. More women will earn social security benefits in their own right in the next 30 years than do so at present; their benefits will not necessarily rise in relation to men's benefits. For this to occur, the ratio of women's earnings to men's would have to rise markedly or young women would have to work most of their lives. The earnings ratio has stayed nearly constant, for 25 years at least. In this article, worklives of younger women are estimated from their own early experience plus the completed careers of women now retired. Though their total labor-force activity before retirement age will be greater than that of these older women, the increase will not be sufficient to compensate for the lengthening benefit-computation period. Benefits earned on their own records therefore will not supplant dependent and survivor benefits.


Administrative costs for social security programs in selected countries.


Private pension plans, 1950-74.

Private pension plans, 1950-74. During the past quarter century, private pension plans have enjoyed a healthy growth. Although the rate of growth has slackened somewhat during recent years, the private pension movement is now a major contributor to the income maintenance needs of the American worker during retirement. The passage of pension reform legislation in 1974 offers an appropriate milestone year for measuring the current status of pension plans and the progress that has been made to date.


Social security funding practices in selected countries.


Demographic characteristics of disability applicants: relationship to allowances. This article highlights some of the causes underlying differences in disability allowances by sex and race. Among the causes are differences in labor-force patterns, the educational background, and the age distributions of the insured and applicant populations. More than half of the differences between the black and white applicants in the proportion of claims allowed is explained by differences in their age distributions. The lower proportion of claims allowed for black applicants may reflect the greater tendency fo the black insured population to apply for disability insurance benefits.


Worker and caller variety in three crisis centers. Worker and caller behaviors are studied and compared in an available sample of 100 suicidal calls to three crisis intervention centers. Caller-Worker Interaction Program results were compared among the three centers. Worker and caller differences across centers were significant in 32 of 41 categories (p less than .05); using four discriminant functions, 2 of 18 hit percentages exceeded p less than .01. The verbal behaviors of workers and callers at the three centers are substantially different, leading to the conclusion that crisis intervention is dissimilarly practiced between centers but similar within them.


Suicide survivors: psychotherapeutic implications of egocide. Interviews with seven of ten known survivors of jumps from the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge revealed that all of them experienced transcendence and spiritual rebirth phenomena. The psychotherapeutic implications of these findings lie in helping depressed and suicidal individuals confront death in a symbolic and meaningful way. The issue is one of "egocide" (symbolic suicide) and aiding individuals in the rebirth process. In this way actual suicides can be prevented. When individuals experience partial "deaths" (like loss, failure, rejection, depression, suicidal states, or negative parts of their egos), there is opportunity for "rebirth" (positive transformation, creative change, growth, and significant spiritual reawakening). The therapeutic task is to help individuals differentiate between "ego death" and total death and to discover through the creative process of psychotherapy that overt suicide need not be a solution.


Understanding life and death from a dialectical perspecitve.


Suicide prevention for high-risk persons who refuse treatment. A program was developed to exert a suicide prevention influence on high-risk persons who decline to enter the health care system. There were 3,006 patients admitted to a psychiatric in-patient service because of a depressive or suicidal state who were contacted to determine if the post-discharge plan was followed. Half of those who refused their treatment program were contacted by telephone or letter on a set schedule. The contact was limited to expressing interest in the person's well-being. Mortality in the contact group was compared with the no-contact subjects and with the subjects who had accepted treatment, after 1, 2, 3, and 4 years. Suicidal deaths were found to diverge progressively in the three groups, the treatment subjects showing the highest rates, the no-contact group coming next, and the contact subjects showing the lowest. The observed divergence between the contact and no-contact groups provides tentative evidence that a high-risk population for suicide can be identified and that a system-atic approach to reducing that risk can be applied.


Suicide and blacks: a conceptual framework. Suicide among black Americans has risen sharply in this decade. The suicide pattern differs from that of white Americans in that black suicide is mainly a youth phenomenon and the rates between black females and black males are relatively equal. The lack of research into these phenomena is highlighted along with an exploration of current explanations. A specific conceptual framework is proposed that includes extragroup pressure, intragroup pressure, and value orientation. The framework is extended into the area of mental health planning, as well as behavioral science practice.


Why corporate planning should get top billing.


What trustees should know--and do--about ERISA.


The statement of mission: essential ingredient in planning.


Think the plan before you write it.

Think the plan before you write it.


The health educator as a suicidologist.

The health educator as a suicidologist.


Electrophysiological analyses of motoneuron properties in dystrophic mice.


Blind studies on the effect of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis sera on motor neurons in vitro.


Immunogenetics and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Immunological capability is to a substantial extent genetically determined. Because genetic linkage exists between histocompatibility gene loci and certain immune response gene loci, histocompatibility specificities can serve as indicators for the presence of particular inherited immunological traits. In man, certain HLA antigens seem to be associated with immunogenetic traits which result in altered susceptibility to disease with known or suspected viral or autoimmune etiologies. We have found an association between HLA-A3 and "classic" cases of ALS. The A3 antigen was present in 49% of these cases, but not in the more chronic or benign form of the disease. Five out of six "benign" cases carried HLA-B12, suggesting perhaps the presence of a trait conferring resistance to the disease. Epidemiological surveys provide evidence both for and against a correlation between the incidence of ALS and that of HLA-A3 in various population groups. Because of the multiplicity of immune response genes, susceptibility or resistance to ALS in different populations may depend on different immune response genes. The association of a disease with selected HLA antigens or phenotypes might be suggestive of a viral-allergic etiology. Evidence that bears on this hypothesis has been reviewed.


Theiler's virus-induced central nervous system disease in mice. Theiler's viruses, which are common enteric pathogenes of mice, produce an unusual buphasic disease in the natural host following IC inoculation. There is an early phase of virus growth in CNS gray matter resulting in motor neuron degeneration and microglial proliferation. Since the spinal cord is the principal site of involvement, infected animals develop flaccid limb paralysis (early disease). Immunosuppression of the host during the early phase of infection augments virus growth and pathological lesions in gray matter, suggesting that TV causes a cytocidal infection of neurons. More importantly, surviving mice have persistent infection and pathological change limited to the spinal cord. There is marked mononuclear cell infiltration in the leptomeninges and white matter and concomitant primary demyelination. These changes are associated  with a distinctive late-developing neurological disorder characterized by general inactivity, slowed movement, poor righting ability, and stimulus-sensitive extensor spasms. It appears that there are differences in host susceptibility to the development of late disease with the SJL/J inbred strain of mouse regularly showing the most severe clinical manifestations. Both humoral and cell-mediated immunity to TV antigen are delayed, reaching a maximum after 2 months; hence, this temporal sequence of the immune response is atypical  of acute virus infections. Certain features of the late disease process favor an immune-mediated mechanism for demyelination, and this possibility is currently under investigation. The cells chronically supporting virus replication and the mechanisms of persistent infection remain to be elucidated.


Clinical trial of pivampicillin hydrochloride (alphacillin) in gonorrhoea [proceedings].


Medical treatment of late complications of Lymphogranuloma venereum [proceedings].


Cardiovascular reactivity to noradrenaline and angiotensin in normotensive, hypertensive and 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats. Blood pressure responses to intravenous noradrenaline and angiotensin in the pithed rat preparations from normotensive, chronically hypertensive and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) treated groups were found to follow different patterns. 6-OHDA treated rats were very sensitive to the effects of the two pressor agents and repeated administration of the two drugs invariably led to cardiovascular collapse.


A study of indigenous plants with laxative activity [proceedings].


Some pharmacological effects of cow's urine concoction in experimental animals [proceedings].


Pharmacological studies on the isolated taenia coli from the horse [proceedings].


The pharmacology of the alimentary system of the rainbow lizard, Agama agama [proceedings].


Dopaminoceptor agents and electroshock [proceedings].


Anti-convulsant effects of 2-benzylidene aminooxypropionic acid in young chicks [proceedings].


Chloroquine induced pruritus-immunoglobulin level [proceedings].


Anaphylatoxin(AT-induced release of rabbit aorta contracting substance (RCS) in isolated perfused guinea-pig lungs [proceedings].


The action of phlorizin on the handling of glucose sodium and potassium by rat kidney [proceedings].


Potentiation of pentobarbitone sleeping time by chloroquine in the rat [proceedings].


Preliminary report on the pharmacology of i-ethyl-B-carboline [proceedings].


Effect of chloroquine on isolated guinea-pig atria [proceedings].


The oxytocic effects of an extract from Sida veronififolia on the non-pregnant and the pregnant uterus [proceedings].


Effects of reserpine on the responses of the isolated rat fundus strip to catecholamines and specific adrenoceptor antagonists. The effects of reserpine on the sensitivity to catecholamines and adrenoceptor antagonists propranolol and azapetine were studied on the fundus strips of the rat. The results obtained in this study would support the view that reserpine may increase the sensitivity of beta receptor to isoprenaline and adrenaline by the mechanism which may be independent of the uptake of catecholamines in the sympathetic nervous system.


Structure of synapes in the supraoesophageal ganglion of the water beetle (Dytiscus marginalis). 1. Light- and electron microscopic investigations prove that synapses, without any exception, are confined to the neuropil. 2. Under the light-microscope, synapses display the shape of terminal boutons at the ends of the nerve fibres; in some cases they appear as smaller or larger plates. Electron microscopic investigations suggest that also varicosities of nerve fibres can be regarded as synapses, though these might have possible arisen from axoplasmatic peristalsis. 3. Electron microscopically the overwhelming majority of the synapses are axodendritic contacts; axo-axonic contacts occur less often. 4. The generally accepted characteristics of synapses are defective. Membrane thickenings and intersynaptic spaces are missing. Accordingly, synapses in the supraoesophageal ganglion of the water beetle differ markedly from those described in Vertebrates. 5. Synaptic vesicles sometimes fill the axoplasm of the nerve fibre completely. In other cases, clusters of synaptic vesicles can be seen, on both sides of the contact. 6. Synaptic vesicles are mixed with neurosecretory granules. Synaptic vesicles may appear also in the dendrites.


Histochemical study of distribution of esterases in the pharyngeal bulb of earthworms. The esterases are studied histochemically in the pharyngeal bulb of local earthworms using tweens, naphthols and indoxyl substrates. Lipase and esterases are located mainly in the pharyngeal epithelial cells and chromophill cells. No activity is seen in the nonchromophill cells. The connective tissue and musculo-vascular tissue contain some esterases activity. Possible role of the esterases in the cellular elements of pharynx has been discussed.


Histochemical mapping of certain enzymes in few fresh water teleosts. I. Acid phosphatase. A detailed investigation of the distribution pattern of acid phosphatase in the different parts of alimentary canal and associated glands of Colisa fasciatus, Macrognathus aculeatus, Notopterus notopterus and Nandus nandus has been made. Though this enzyme shows its hydrolytic activity in all the parts of the digestive system yet its intense activity has been noted in the intestine, pyloric caeca, liver and pancreas of all the 4 fishes. Mucosal and submucosal layers of all the parts of the alimentary canal are the main seat of localization of this enzyme.


Effects of dactinomycine (actinomycine D) on budless hydra and during its budding process. The effect of dactinomycine (actinomycine D) is manifested in various ways, which depends upon its concentration and animal condition at the time of treatment. Dactinomycine is citotoxic in stronger concentations so hydra dies quickly. In thinner concentrations it stops the mitotic activity of the cell, but the basic metabolic processes continue as before. Interstitial cells differenciate into cnidoblasts for some time, the cnid production is not halted, but all of these cells disappear as well as zimogen cells which dedifferentiate into gastrodermal interstitial and into mucous cells. Such animals live longer but die eventually. The effect of dactinomycine is generally milder on animals with a larger cell mass, in hydras with the budding tendency where exist such reserves and in those hydras in which the budding process has begun. In these a part of mobile undamaged zimogen cells can remain. They keep their reproduction ability. These animals can survive and keep on growing normally.


Occurrence and frequency of enterochromaffin cells in the intestine of birds. The occurrence and frequency of enterochromaffin cells in the intestine of 14 separate species of birds, the quantitative variations in the several sections of the intestine and the quantitative changes in the embryonic and postembryonic development of Anas platyhynchos have been investigated by the Protargol-reaction of Bodian and the fluorescence method of Falck and Hillarp. Enterochromaffin cells are concentrated in the crypts of Lieberkühn in first line. They have been found in all investigated species but in various frequency. The enterochromaffin cells exist frequently in herbivorous species, scarcely in carnivorous. The number of enterochromaffin cells increase from the duodenum to the colon. The enterochromaffin cells appear in the intestine of the duck embryo beginning with the 15th day of embryonic life. The number increase related with the age of the duckling. The content has been identified as 5-hydroxy-tryptamine by the colour of fluorescence and depletion of all enterochromaffin cells following reserpine administration.


Histochemical localization of lipid in the respiratory muscles of a fresh water air-breathing siluroid fish, Clarias batrachus (Linn.). The histochemical localization of lipids in the respiratory muscles of Clarias batrachus (Linn.) has been studied. The muscles innervated by the facialis (VIIth) nerve contain more lipid than those innervated by the trigeminal (Vth). The muscles directly concerned with the opercular suction pumps (Inferior and Superior hyohyoideus, Adductor, Levator and Dilator operculi) have more lipids and suggest their sustained role in the maintainance of efficiency of the opercular suction pumps. The Retractor tentaculi associated with the movements of barbels also have lipid droplets in good quantity.


The ossification centers in the lower end of tibiotarsus in domestic fowl. The morphogenesis of lower end of tibia in chick is studied commonly but the process of ossification of the same has received very little attention so far. The present study is directed to throw some light on the appearance of ossification centers in the lower end of tibiotarsus of chick. The histology of lower end of tibiotarsus was studied by procuring developing tibiotarsi from chick embryos (20) of 6th day incubation till hatching and 3 post hatched chicks. The transparancies of chick embryos at different incubation periods and post hatched chicks were prepared by Dawson's Alizarin staining method. Three cartilage center (tibial, fibulare and intermedium) appeared in 6...9 days of incubation period in the tarsal region. These gradually fused with the lower end of tibia. Three ossification centres developed in the lower end of tibiotarsus. One for intermedium appeared on 16th day and two fotibial and fibulare on 20th day. All these three centres could be located in the transparancies of the chick embryos in tarsal region. The present study proves that the three cartilages centres maintain their individuality during the ossification process even though those fuse completely with the lower end of tibia in chick. The centers for tibial and fibulare are similar to epiphyseal centres of mammals in histological details.


Effect of indoleamine derivates administered at birth on growth and plasma growth hormone levels in the rat.


Effects of hemicastration, testis implantation and administration of testosterone propionate on the female embryonic genital tract in various breeds and strains of chickens.


Olfactory and temporal projections to the amygdala.


Early prenatal ontogenesis of the neuronal connections in the interhemispheric cortex of the human gyrus cinguli.


[Some observations on the ultrastructure of the amygdala].


Urinary bladder tumours in Zambia.

Urinary bladder tumours in Zambia. The clinical picture of bladder cancer as seen in Zambia is presented. The majority of lesions were squamous carcinoma and although all cases were first seen at a late stage it was possible to undertake a potentially curative operation in 16%. Operation provides excellent palliation and should be considered wherever possible.


Assessment of transvenous right atriography in the diagnosis of pericardial effusion. From our results, we feel that transvenous right atriography is a reliable confirmatory investigation of pericardial effusion. The procedure is simple and can be carried out in any hospital. Spurious positive results may arise from faulty technique or due to marked pericardial thickenning whilst false negatives may be enountered with viscid, inspissated or loculated pericardial effusion.


Vasopressin-sensitive diabetes insipidus-a case report. This is a case report of Vasopressin - Sensitive Diabetes Insipidus in a 5 year old Zambian Coloured male child together with a brief review of etiology, diagnosis and management of the condition.


Antenatal care and eclampsia.

Antenatal care and eclampsia.


Schistosomiasis and bladder cancer.

Schistosomiasis and bladder cancer.


Impact of piped water supply on the incidence of typhoid fever and diarrhoeal diseases in Lusaka. The effect of piped water supply on the incidence of typhoid fever and diarrhoeal diseases in the City of Lusaka is reported. The incidence of typhoid fever and diarrhoeal diseases reduced in the City as the piped drinking water was extended to the Urban and peri Urban self-help settlements.


[Group effect on learning in fish (Rasbora trilineata)].


Chronic endometritis. A clinical and histopathological study. Chronic endometritis is not an uncommon diagnosis in our biopsy material and we believe should be diagnosed more frequently. There seems to be no correlation however between clinical symptomalogy and severity of plasma cell infiltration of the endometrial stroma as observed histologically. Pelvic inflammatory disease is the condition most commonly associated with chronic endometritis. The precise etiology of pelvic inflammatory disease is not clear. No clinical cause could be found in 37.5% of our cases with histopathological diagnosis of chronic endometritis.


[Experimental studies on the anti-inflammatory action of penicillamines].


The EMI general purpose scanner in the evaluation of pancreatic disease.


Computerized tomography and ultrasonography in pancratitis.


Ultrasonic diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.


The pancreas, a correlation of function, structure and histopathology.


Iron turnover in chronic hepatitis.

Iron turnover in chronic hepatitis. Radioisotope studies of iron kinetics carried out in patients with chronic hepatitis yielded the following results. Serum iron level and free iron binding capacity showed little difference from the normal mean value. All three types studied (chronic persistent hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis) revealed an abnormal distribution of iron in the first 24 hours. Normalization of iron distribution ensued in persistent hepatitis and in chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis, but in chronic active hepatitis the abnormal distribution persisted, as reflected by a decreased iron utilization and an increased iron storage in the liver. The cause of this is attributed to a transitory accumulation of ferritin in the liver.


The distribution of 3H-gastrin and 14C-pentagastrin in the blood and lymph of rats. 3H-gastrin (0.83 mug/rat) or 14C-glycine-pentapeptide amide (100 mug/rat) were injected into the femoral vein in various groups of rats and radioactivity was measured in the arterial blood plasma and thoracic duct lymph in consecutive 5--10 min. periods for 60 minutes. Radioactivity excreted in the bile for 30 minutes was injected into the blood and lymph was followed for 120 minutes. It has been observed that labelled gastrin or pentagastrin activity reaches its peak in the plasma in the 5th minute after intravenous injection. Next, activity in  the plasma decreased after the injection of labelled gastrin, but remained unchanged after the injection of labelled pentagastrin. In the lymph, radioactivity reached its peak value between 5--15 min. after the injection of the labelled hormones. This peak value was two- to threefold of plasma radioactivity measured at the  same periods.  After the intravenous injection of labelled pentagastrin radioactivity was excreted in the bile; injecting this radioactive bile into the jejunal lumen, radioactivity was reabsorbed mainly into the blood circulation.


Surgical treatment of Cushing's disease caused by adrenocortical hyperplasia: experiences with bilateral adrenalectomy. Experience with the surgical treatment of hypercorticism caused by bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia in 16 patients is discussed. The treatment of choice is bilateral total adrenalectomy. Following subtotal adrenalectomy recurrence occurred in three of six patients; a third operation was needed in two cases, while permanent hypadrenia developed in the third. There was no operative mortality. One patient died 9 years after surgery, but the death was not related to the original disease. The clinical symptoms of hypercorticism subsided in every totally adrenalectomized patient. Indication and contraindication of adrenalectomy, the surgical method, and the problems of pre- and postoperative treatment are discussed.


Immune reactivity in subjects remaining tuberculin-negative after repeated BCG vaccination. Thirty-four children of 12 years mean age having had 3 to 5 BCG vaccinations owing to tuberculin negativity, were subjected to cellular and humoral immune assays (tuberculin skin test, leucocyte migration test, lymphocyte transformation test, estimation of serum IgG, IgA, and IgM levels). It was found that nonreactivity may cease by the age of 11 to 12 years. At the time of study 21 of the 34 children were already tuberculin-positive and only 13 failed to react to 5 TU. The studies confirmed the presence of combined immune deficiencies (negative tuberculin test, negative leucocyte migration test, abnormal immunoglobulin levels) as well as of changes confined to the individual immunoglobulin classes. In the case-history recurrent febrile diseases were found to occur more frequently between the 1st and 6th year of life than between 6 and 12 years of age. It is suggested that nonreactivity to tuberculin results from a congenital partial cellular immune deficiency.


Distribution of caries among tooth types in fluoride and non-fluoride areas. A method is described for estimating the preferential caries protective action of fluoride on certain morphological types of permanent teeth. The results  of an analysis by this method, applied to data for 1164 Austrian school-children aged 6--14 years, are reported. There was no indication that fluoride would exert its caries inhibitory effect selectively on certain types of teeth. Tentative explanations are put forward for the only inconsistency within the general results observed in 11--14-year-old children having a total of 3 carious teeth.


Enzyme inducing effect of muscular exertion in the rat. The activity of hexobarbital oxidase in vivo was found to be higher in rats forced to swim regularly (sleeping time studies). The enzyme inducing effect of spironolactone and norandrostenolone was reduced in trianed animals. Inactivation of the inducing agents is suggested to be faster in animals trained by swimming. The difference observed between test and control sleeping times was ascribed to an increased capacity of the liver to inactivate hexobarbital, while an alteration of central nervous responsiveness could  be excluded since the difference in serum hexobarbital concentratios was negligible when the animals awoke. Elimination of canrenone (dethioacetylated spironolactone) was faster in trained rats. Immediately after the swimming exercise hexobarbital elimination was slower in both the trained and the control groups. Accelerated elimination, a characteristic of physical fitness, could be observed to return 5 hours after terminating the exercise.


The mast cells of the inner ear.

The mast cells of the inner ear. The presence of mast cells in the subepithelial connective tissue of the human endolymphatic sac has, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, been described. A hypothesis has been put forward in which these cells, which are known to contain histamin, heparin and serotonin, play an important role in the physiologic functions of the endolymphatic sac as well as in some pathologic states of the inner ear.


Functional exploration of chronic pancreatitis by duodenal intubation. Comparative study of the Lundh meal and duodenal hormones based on a survey of literature. Secretin-caerulein test carried out by the authors. Prospective conclusions.


The prevention of coronary atherosclerosis.


Fatal tubulo-intestitial nephropathy with chronic cholestatic liver disease.


Oxygen tension in arterialized cutaneous blood and lung function in asthmatic children.


Obligatory poliovaccination in Belgium: ten years after.


Association of asymmetric crying facies, malformation of the ear and pulmonary agenesis.


Complete type of double-inlet inverted left ventricle with L-transposition of the great vessels.


DNA and RNA tumor viruses--molecular events of virus replication and cell transformation and role in human cancer.


Intraneuronal indolamines in the central nervous system.


Steroid hormone regulation of gene expression.


Molecular and cellular mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis. Clearly, the technics of transformation in epithelial cell cultures bring us closer to understanding chemical carcinogenesis. Also clear is the need to develop new technics to evaluate the significance of viral particles found in tumors and to answer the basic question as to whether mutation or aberrant differentiation is the mechanism of chemical carcinogenesis.


The scientific base and challenge of cancer diagnostic research. A multi-approach study of the diagnosis of the common malignancies is underway. Screening of asymptomatic patients and early diagnosis, with the aid of new and sophisticated methodologies may arrive at the diagnosis of cancer at an earlier stage (i.e., before the tumor has metastasized). Table 2 summarizes many of the newer methods which might be incorporated into such a study.


Influence of geometry on growth of normal and malignant cells.


The resting and growing states of the fibroblast.


Tumor-specific immunity.

Tumor-specific immunity.


Cancer treatment combined modality approach. Other approaches to determine whether patients have a high probability of metastases (and therefore no need for axillary dissection) have been the measurements of several circulating substances (e.g., polyamines, nucleosides, CEA and HCG). None of these are by themselves useful. There is a high percentage positive in those patients with metastatic disease (with up to 97% positive for either HCG, CEA, or guanosine (nucleoside). What we need is a correlation or a parameter of what the tumor cell number is, who to treat, and how long. Today's therapy is larger empiric. The ultimate goal is to individualize therapy. Figure 1 summarizes a planned treatment for a woman with a breast cancer in 1974.


The development of meninges in chicken embryos.


Medical dominance. Psychoactive drugs and mental health policy.


"Civil" commitment of the mentally ill and the need for data on the prediction of dangerousness.


Some physiological aspects of genetic variation in the blood of sheep. The principal genetic variants in sheep red cells and plasma are listed. Current hypotheses as to how the L blood group antigen affects active potassium transport across the red cell membrane are summarized. Recent work on an inherited defect in amino acid transport which results in a red cell GSH deficiency is also described.


The contribution of isozymes to alkaline phosphatase activity in chicken plasma. The contribution of different isozymes to plasma alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity was investigated in a White Plymouth Rock strain. No significant difference in AP acitivity between FF and FS genotypes was observed in both young chick and laying hen. As previously reported in young chickens, a significant difference in AP activity between F and S types was observed in laying hens. Of the total variance of AP activity 53%, 9% and 5% were explained by isozyme type, family and sex, respectively. The higher activity of the F band was responsible for the higher activity of the F type in the young chicken, while the activity of the B band of either type did not contribute to activity difference. The hypotheses are proposed so as to the activity difference.


Observations on blood plasma postalbumins and hatchability of chickens. In chicken blood plasma two bands have been observed in the region of postalbumins. The genetically determined faster migrating band PasA was present in the blood plasma of all tested males in the plasma of a majority of the females. The slower migrating band (PasB) was only observed in the blood plasma of laying females and never in the blood plasma of males and non-laying females. The genotype of individuals of which the faster migrating band was present was determined as AA and Aa and of those lacking this postalbumin as aa. An excess of females over males was found from mating of male Aa x female Aa and male Aa x female aa. At the same time the percentage of hatched eggs was lowered respectively.


Biochemical gene markers in the gerbil Tatera brantsii from Lesotho. Several geographically separated populations of the gerbil Tatera brantsii were investigated with protein and enzyme gene markers. Genetic variation was found in the following systems: serum albumin, 6-PGD, haemoglobin, esterase, IDA and GPI. No variation was found in the SDH and LDH systems. There appeared to be only slight differences in gene frequencies between populations. No real seasonal variation in any of the frequencies could be established.


Infection of congenitally athymic (nude) mice with Toxoplasma gondii. Nude mice, congenitally lacking most thymus-derived lymphocytes, are neither more susceptible nor more resistant against primary infection with virulent T. gondii cells than normal control mice. Both mouse groups died at the same time after intraperitoneal infection. Treatment with sulfadiazine protected both mouse groups against acute fatal disease. After termination of treatment with sulfadiazine the Nude mice gradually died, whereas the normal hairy mice survived. The latter had developed high amounts of antibodies and protective immunity to an otherwise lethal challenge infection. In the serum of Nude mice no antibodies could be detected. Pathologic alterations existed in the livers of Nude mice at the time of death.


Motor function of the stomach of non ruminant mammals in comparison to the molity of the abomasum.


Laboratory investigations on neuroparalytic accidents associated with suckling mouse brain rabies vaccine. III. -- Preservation of vaccine potency after elimination of murine brain myelin by centrifugation. Myelin, which has been found in nine day-old mouse brain, was eliminated from weanling mouse brain suspensions by centrifugation at 17,000 g for 10 min, as demonstrated by electron microscopy and guinea-pig inoculation tests for encephalitogenic activity. This centrifugation procedure did not affect the potency of seven batches of suckling mouse brain vaccine, when centrifuged and non-centrifuged samples of the same batches were compared by a modified NIH potency test (t = 0.17). The present results with weanling mouse brain preparations suggest that centrifugation at 17,000 g be used in the preparation of rabies suckling mouse brain vaccine instead of the 1,900 g currently employed, which does not eliminate myelin. This new procedure would be expected to reduce the number of postvaccinal reactions which are attributable to the small amount of myelin which remains in vaccines prepared with new-born animal brains following the current procedure.


Retained placenta problems with induced labour in cattle.


The effect of prostaglandin E2 on thyroidal secretion of hormonal iodine in the pig. The thyroid gland isolated in situ in 4 pigs was perfused with PGI2 given at increasing rates (1.38, 2.75, 13.8, 27.5 and 138 ng/mn). In the all animals a significant dose-dependent reduction in hormonal iodine secretion rate was observed. These results confirm in vitro experiments with PGE1 (Burke et al., 1972).


The surgeon and his complications.

The surgeon and his complications.


Mortality and complications in a department of surgery (1969-1974).


Thoracotomy under local anaesthesia: personal experiences in 215 cases. The underlying pathophysiology and technic of thoracotomy with local anaesthesia for the surgical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis and other intra- and extrapulmonary diseases is described. The immediate as well as the long term results in 187 patients with 215 operations were favourable. In view of these results the described method of thoracotomy with local anaesthesia  is to be preferred to an incorrectly administered general anaesthesia. However, it is beyond any doubt that in the presence of qualified anaesthetists and adequate equipment thoracotomy with general anaesthesia is preferable to local anaesthesia. However, wherever the conditions for expert application of general anaesthesia are lacking and surgical treatment of lung diseases is necessary, thoracotomy with local anaesthesia is an acceptable and reliable substitute.


Popliteal artery entrapment; claudication during youth. We report four patients who presented early in life with intermittent claudication, caused by popliteal artery entrapment. In three of them this was the result of an abnormality in the anatomy of the popliteal fossa. In the fourth, however, muscular hypertrophy alone led to arterial entrapment. Three patients were successfully treated by simple myotomy. In the fourth arteriography showed a total occlusion of the popliteal artery. An arteriotomy was performed. In was then seen that the vessel was still patent, and the opening was closed with a vein patch. The result of this procedure was also satisfactory. It is the authors' opinion, based on their own experience and that of other workers as reported in the literature, that vascular reconstruction is only indicated when irreversible vascular changes have occurred, or where other lesions have complicated the condition.


The alveolar soft-part sarcoma. A clinically malignant, neuro-endocrine tumor, possibly originating from the tissue composing the paraganglia. The cases of two young women with alveolar soft-part sarcomas (ASPS) in one of the upper extremities are reported. The ASPS is a relatively rare malignant tumor of the soft parts that grows slowly and shows a predilection for the extremities; it occurs most often in young women. The tumor is deceptive in that the clinical impression is benign. So far, the only method of treatment is ample surgical excision. The tumor appears to be scarcely radio-sensitive and primary cytostatic therapy gives very little response. Histogenetically, the tumor is related to the neuro-endocrine paraganglion system. The long-term prognosis of the tumor is unfavorable.


Ascites in benign disease of the pancreas. Ascites in benign disease of the pancreas is a rare observation. One patient with this condition is discussed. The key to the diagnosis is the raise of the amylase and protein content of the ascitic fluid. The condition is caused by pancreatic juice oozing into the free abdominal cavity through a rupture of the pancreatic duct or a pancreatic cyst. Surgical treatment may result in recovery.


Reduction mammaplasty followed by development of a bilateral non-synchronous carcinoma of the breast. Case report of a woman who at the age of 26 underwent mammary reduction (strmbeck) for macromastia. A primary bilateral non-synchronous carcinoma of the breast was discovered 20 months and 5 years after the plastic surgery. On pathological examination lymph node metastases were not found in both instances. There was a positive family history of the occurrence of carcinoma. Mammography prior to mammary reduction is recommended.


The conformational stabilities of tropomyosins. The stability to denaturation by heat and guanidine hydrochloride of seven vertebrate (including skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle) tropomyosins and three invertebrate tropomyosins was examined. The transition profiles were discontinuous and in many cases distinct plateaux were observed which indicated the presence of unique partially unfolded states at intermediate temperatures and guanidine hydrochloride concentrations. The denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride could be described in the majority  of cases by a model in which the native state unfolds to a partially unfolded stable intermediate which then unfolds to the completely denatured state. On this basis it was possible to estimate the free energies of unfolding in water. It was shown that part of the alpha-helical structure of tropomyosin is only marginally stable and the free energy of unfolding in water of this segment is less than values found for globular proteins, whereas another segment (or segments) has a stability comparable to that found for globular proteins. The stepwise unfolding may be explained in terms of the coiled-coil interactions in tropomyosin. Differences in stability were found between tropomyosins from different muscles of the same species as well as between species, no two tropomyosins giving the same denaturation profiles. The invertebrate tropomyosins showed a wider range of stabilities, that from scallop striated muscle being far more easily denatured than all the others. No correlation was found between the stability of tropomyosin and the type of regulatory system of the muscle. A comparison of the results from vertebrate and invertebrate species suggests that there has been no selection for proteins of higher or lower stability during the evolutionary time scale.


Fatty liver and kidney syndrome in chicks. I. Effect of biotin in diet. Fatty liver and kidney syndrome, a disorder of young chicks, was studied under laboratory conditions. Affected chicks had enlarged livers (hepatomegaly), an increased content of lipid in the liver, and an increased level of palmitoleic acid in the liver lipids. The disorder was observed mainly in chicks from young parent flocks, and was associated either with commerical diets which were subsequently found to be low in biotin, or with specially formulated low-biotin diets. A third factor, imposition of stress, was required to initiate the disorder. There was evidence of increased lipogenesis causing an increase of triacylglycerols in the liver lipids and an increased production of saturated fatty acids, particularly palmitic acid. Increased levels of palmitoleic acid resulted from an increased desaturation of palmitic acid. Under stress, affected chicks had low blood glucose levels, suggesting that gluconeogenesis was impaired. Since biotin-dependent enzymes are involved in both gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis, it would appear that the relevant enzymes respond differently to a deficiency of biotin.


Preparation of metabolically active cell suspensions from wool roots. A method is described for the preparation of metabolically active cell suspensions from plucked wool roots using the proteolytic enzyme trypsin. The suspensions consist of a heterogeneous population of cells which appear similar in morphology to follicle bulb cells, differentiating keratinocytes and possibly cells of the inner root sheath. The concentrations of trypsin and of inorganic ions for optimum activity of the suspensions have been determined, and the inclusion of EGTA was found to increase the yield of cells. The cell suspensions incorporate [14C]leucine, [3H]uridine and [3H]thymidine into acid-insoluble products, and are sensitive to the action of cycloheximide and emetine, but not to chloramphenicol or rifampin. Autoradiography has shown that the cells believed to be derived from the follicle bulbs show the greatest activity.


Sedimentation equilibrium studies on protein from kookaburra beak. Fractionated samples of the soluble S-carboxymethyl proteins from kookaburra beak (Frenkel and Gillespie 1976) were examined by equilibrium sedimentation. The molecular weight was found to be 11,300 when the photoelectric scanning absorption optical system was employed and 13,700 when Rayleigh interference optics were used. Possible explanations for this difference are considered and it is concluded that it must arise from heterogeneity of the protein. Optical rotatory dispersion measurements indicate that the proteins probably exist as random coils in dilute aqueous buffer.


The proteins of the keratin component of bird's beaks. Birds' beaks have an outer shell of hard keratin which consists almost entirely of proteins which are very rich in glycine [about 30 residues per 100 residues (residues %)], contain moderate levels of tyrosine and serine (each about 8 residues %), and which have relatively low contents of cystine (about 2-5 residues %), lysine, histidine, isoleucine and methionine. Major protein fractions in the S-carboxymethyl form isolated from the beaks of six different orders of birds have similar amino acid compositions, isoelectric points (pH 4-2-4-9) and molecular weights (13,000-14,500). Detailed chromatographic electrophoretic and compositional studies of the proteins of kookaburra beak reveal them to be a family of closely related proteins with only limited heterogeneity, in contrast to mammalian keratin systems. The major kookaburra beak fraction is similar in overall composition and molecular weight to fowl epidermal scale, kookaburra claw and turtle scute proteins and shows some resemblance to reptile claw protein. Beaks also contain small amounts of protein which are distinctly different from the major fraction but which resemble feather keratin proteins in composition and size.


Boophilus microplus: cellular responses to larval attachment and their relationship to host resistance. The histology of early feeding lesions of the cattle tick B. microplus has been studied using 32P labelled larvae to standardize the duration of attachment. Critical studies were made on 3-h lesions in six separate experiments on different groups of British breed animals. Each group consisted of three animals--one previously unexposed to ticks, one of high resistance and one of low resistance. The degree of mast cell disruption, eosinophil concentration and degranulation, and the extent of epidermal vesiculation were all significantly greater at the site of attachment on highly resistant hosts. In previously unexposed animals there was no mobilization of eosinophils nor mast cell breakdown and no epidermal vesiculation. Possible immune mechanisms producing mast cell disruption and the infiltration and concentration of eosinophils are suggested, and the effect of eosinophil degranulation on larval attachment and feeding is discussed.


Metabolism of cystine by Merino sheep genetically different in wool production IV. Rates of entry of cystine into plasma, measured with a single intravenous injection of L-[35S]cystine, and the subsequent incorporation of 35S into wool fibres. Ten, 2-year-old Merino ewes from a flock selectively bred for high clean fleece weight (Fleece Plus) and ten from a flock bred for low clean fleece weight (Fleece Minus) were randomly divided between two dietary treatments: 600 or 1100 g/day of pelleted lucerne hay. After 14 weeks, each ewe received an intravenous injection of L-[35S]cystine (66-4 muCi). Venous blood samples were collected at 15 specified times until 8 h after the injections, and wool fibres were plucked until 65-75 days after the injections. Protein-free filtrates prepared from blood plasma were bulked within sample times for ewes from the same flock and dietary treatment. Equations relating the specific radioactivity of free cystine isolated from the bulked filtrates to time after injection contained three exponential terms. The entry rate and pool size of cystine estimated from these equations were greater in Fleece Minus than in Fleece Plus ewes (by 25 and 44% respectively for entry rate and pool size). Both traits were also higher in ewes offered 1100 g lucerne/day than in those offered 600 g/day (58-7 v. 33-9 mg/h for entry rate and 19-2 v 11-8 mg for pool size). The concentration of free cystine in plasma was greater in ewes offered 1100 g lucerne/day (3-0 v 2-1 mg/1; P less than 0-05), and greater in Fleece Minus ewes (3-0 v. 2-1 mg/l; P less than 0-05). The percentage of the injected radioactivity recovered in the wool clipped to day 70 post-injection differed between genotypes and between dietary treatments (P less than 0.05), being greater in Fleece Plus than in Fleece Minus ewes, and greater in those offered 1100 g lucerne/day than in those offered 600 g/day. The relationships between 35S incorporated per 1000 fibres (R) and time after injection (t) were best fitted by equations of the form (formula: see text). For all sheep, n = 3. The coefficient of the second term was significantly greater (P less than 0-05) in ewes offered 1100 g lucerne/day, whilst the constant of this term was significantly greater in Fleece Minus ewes. The specific radioactivities of cystine incorporated into wool fibres (SRf) during various intervals of time after injection were derived from these equations and from the measured rates of output of cystine in wool. The equations computed to relate SRf to time after injection (t) were of the form (formula: see text). Again there were three components. The coefficient of the third component was significantly greater (P less than 0-05) in ewes offered 1100 g lucerne/day, whilst the constant of the second term was significantly greater in Fleece Minus ewes.


Transfer of sulphur to the digestive tract of sheep. The transfer of sulphate from plasma to digestive tract and from digestive tract to plasma in crossbred sheep was estimated by the use of isotope dilution techniques with Na235SO4. The passage of 35S along the digestive tract was simultaneously measured by reference to two inert radioactive markers infused intraruminally. In the first experiment, three sheep given a roughage-based diet containing 174 +/- 7 mg S/day received an intravenous infusion of Na235SO4 for 7 days before collections were made of plasma and of digesta from the rumen, abomasum and terminal ileum. Similar collections were made in the second experiment in which four sheep received intraruminal infusions of Na235SO4. From estimates of infusion rate of 35S, specific radioactivity of 35S in plasma and digesta and rate of flow of sulphur in the digestive tract the following calculations were made: The transfer of sulphate from the plasma to the rumen was calculated as 29 mg S/day. Of this only 12 mg S/day passed as organic sulphur in digesta from the stomach. As the net gain of sulphur in the stomach in this experiment was 153 mg/day, sulphate transferred from the plasma contributed only a small amount of sulphur derived from endogenous sources in the stomach. In contrast, the substantial passage of 35S into the intestinal lumen during intravenous infusion of 35SO4 suggested that 38 and 41 mg S/day of the 236 and 145 mg organic S/day flowing from the small and large intestine respectively was derived from plasma sulphate, corresponding to about 26% of the dose.


Changes in plasma volume and haematocrit in intact and splenectomized sheep during feeding. Changes in jugular haematocrit during daily 2-h feeding periods in trained sheep with and without spleens were compared with changes in the concentration of the plasma tracer radio-iodinated human serum albumin. Jugular haematocrit was increased by 16% in intact sheep and 9% in splenectomized sheep 20 min after they started to eat dry rations. The dilution of tracer in plasma, studied after mixing in the vascular system had been completed, showed four phases. Phase 1 was the rate of removal of tracer in the period before eating began. Phase 2 was the sudden increase in plasma radioactivity that occurred in the first 20 min of eating, indicating a loss of plasma from the circulation. Phase 3 was the decrease in tracer concentration during the remaining feeding period and phase 4 was a post-feeding phase, characterized by a slower rate of decrease of tracer than during phase 3, implying that there was significant recycling of tracer during this phase. The sudden increase in plasma radioactivity, initiated by the onset of feeding, represented a reduction in plasma volume of 10-12%. Minimum plasma volume coincided with peak haematocrit values. The reduced plasma volume accounted for the increased haematocrit in splenectomized sheep, but only accounted for about half of the increase in intact sheep. The residual increase in haematocrit in intact sheep was most likely the result of splenic contraction.


Disruption of the metabolism, motility and morphology of spermatozoa by injection of alpha-chlorohydrin into rams. Ejaculated spermatozoa from rams given intramuscular injections of alpha-chlorohydrin (25 mg/kg, daily for 5 days) were studied. Respiratory and glycolytic activity of the spermatozoa was almost entirely suppressed within 1 day and motility had decreased within 4 days of the first injection. Morphologically abnormal spermatozoa appeared in ejaculates after 2 weeks. The most common abnormality was an increase in the number of spermatozoa with looped or bent tails. There was little change in the fructose or amino acid concentration of the seminal plasma. All effects of alpha-chlorohydrin were fully reversible. It is suggested that the initial primary mode of action of alpha-chlorohydrin is to disrupt the metabolism of spermatozoa in the cauda epididymis.


Boophilus microplus: characterization of enzymes introduced into the host. A number of enzymes, presumably secreted by larvae of B. microplus under natural feeding conditions, have been investigated in the skin of previously unexposed calves 4 h after infestation at the attachment site. Carboxylic ester hydrolase activity was demonstrated in the dermis, immediately adjacent to the mouthparts, or in the attachment cone, depending on substrate and reaction pH. The carboxylic ester hydrolase acting on naphthol AS-D acetate (2-acetoxy-3-naphthoic-O-toluidide) at pH 7-1 was characteristically found in the dermis and not in the attachment cone. The use of specific inhibitors showed that this enzyme was primarily a B-esterase or carboxylesterase with possibly a small portion of C-esterase or acetylesterase. It is postulated that carboxylic ester hydrolase could contribute to the dilation observed in the subepidermal capillaries adjacent to the attachment sites of unexposed animals, through the formation of plasma kinins. Other enzymes demonstrated in the dermis, adjacent to the mouthparts, were triacylglycerol lipase, as an aggregated deposit, and small amounts of aminopeptidase (microsomal) and monophenol monooxygenase. Aminopeptidase (microsomal) was also demonstrated in the attachment cone or adjacent epidermis, according to the substrate used. No activity was found in the host tissue, in association with the attachment site, for either alkaline or acid phosphatase, acetylcholinesterase or cholinesterase, peroxidase or amine oxidase (flavin-containing), despite the intense histochemical reaction for the latter in the tissues of larvae.


Immunological testing in dermatitis.

Immunological testing in dermatitis.


Oxygen uptake, glucose utilization, lactate release and adenine nucleotide content of sheep ovarian follicles in culture: effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin. A study has been made of the oxygen uptake, glucose utilization, lactate release and cellular content of adenine nucleotides of isolated sheep ovarian follicles (4-6 min in diameter) maintained in organ culture, and of the effects on these parameters of the addition of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). The mean oxygen consumption of the entire follicles when freshly isolated and of the theca and membrana components was 0-56, 1-08 and 0-05 mumol per milligram wet weight of tissue per hour respectively. About 8 mumol of glucose was taken up and 16 mumol of lactate released per milligram wet weight of follicular tissue per hour during the first 24-h period of culture. This rate reduced by about 30% for each subsequent day of culture, but was significantly increased by the addition of hCG. The mean ATP content of theca and granulosa tissues was 4-6 and 2-8 nmol/mg wet weight of tissue respectively. There was no discernable change in tissue adenine nucleotide content or energy charge ratio during the 3-day culture period, and prolonged exposure to hCG was without effect. Untreated follicles produced both oestrogen and androgens throughout the culture period. The addition of hCG resulted in a transitory stimulation in oestrogen secretion, inhibition of androgen secretion, and a marked and sustained rise in progestin secretion. It is proposed that the increase in glycolytic activity following exposure to hCG may relate to the activation of the granulosa cells coincident with a transference of steroid synthetic capacity from theca interna to membrana granulosa.


Effects of progesterone and oestradiol on RNA and protein metabolism in the genital tract and on survival of embryos in the ovariectomized ewe. The hormonal regulation of metabolism in the genital tract and the development of embryos during early pregnancy in the ewe have been examined. Ovariectomized ewes received injections of maintenance progesterone, oestrous oestradiol and priming progesterone according to schedules designed to simulate endogenous ovarian secretion during early pregnancy, around the time of oestrus and during the luteal phase of the oestrous cycle immediately preceding oestrus. The survival and development of embryos was dependent upon the dose of maintenaince progesterone and the duration of treatment at the time of transfer, but changes in progesterone dose did not change endometrial protein or RNA metabolism on particular days. Both priming progesterone and oestrous oestradiol were required for normal embryo development. Priming progesterone and oestrous oestradiol each increased endometrial RNA/DNA ratios during early pregnancy. There were no interactions between priming progesterone and oestrous oestradiol, their effects being simply additive. Neither maintenance nor priming progesterone had any effect on protein and RNA metabolism in the oviduct. It is suggested that in the intact ewe oestrogen secreted at oestrus and progesterone secreted prior to oestrus play important roles in the establishment of a uterine environment suitable for the subsequent normal development of embryos.


Clofazimine (laprene) in the treatment of discoid lupus erythematosus.


Whither dermatology?

Whither dermatology?


Mycobacterium marinum infection.

Mycobacterium marinum infection.


Dermatology in Penang, Malaysia.

Dermatology in Penang, Malaysia.


Sweating--physiology and pathophysiology.


Cutaneous melanocytes in Queensland patients.


The psychological aspects of sweating.

The psychological aspects of sweating.


The management of psoriasis. Current practice at the Royal Adelaide Hospital Skin Clinic.


Surgical aspects of hyperhidrosis.

Surgical aspects of hyperhidrosis.


Clinical usefulness of CEA assay.

Clinical usefulness of CEA assay. CEA is a normal constituent of fetal cells, which can reappear in entodermally-derived neoplasms, following a de-repression process. In order to evaluate the correlation between CEA serum levels, pathological stage and histological type of tumour, and to define the usefulness of CEA in monitoring the patients with gastroenteric neoplasms, 177 patients (62 with gastric heteroplasia and 115 with large bowel carcinoma) were tested for CEA; 83 patients had pre-surgical CEA tests. It was observed that CEA positivity (serum levels greater than or equal to 5 ng/ml, employing the technique here outlined), is higher in colonic than in gastric neoplasms, and in adenocarcinomas in comparison with undifferentiated forms, moreover depending on the pathologic stage. 108 patients were tested for CEA several times and a correlation between CEA variations and clinical evolution was observed. This investigation bears out the importance to monitor the patients with gastrointestinal neoplasms with CEA test, before and after surgery, to evaluate the usefulness of surgery and, when necessary, chemotherapy and, eventually, to adopt more suitable chemotherapeutic modalities.


Circulating IgE levels in hydatid disease.


Effect of some antiblastic drugs on HeLa cells. The antiblastic effects of the antimetabolites MTS, Ara-C, Bleomycin of the alkylating Thiotepa, of Peptichemio (alkylating and antimetabolic) and of Peptichemio-Bleomycin combination, were compared after 24 and 48 hr of treatment on HeLa cells. Ara-C, which inhibits typical mitoses, Peptichemio and MTX, which inhibit atypical mitoses, Thiotepa, which induces the highest percentage of pyknotic nuclei, showed a considerable effect on the nucleus. Peptichemio, and the combination Peptichemio-Bleomycin showed a significant effect on the cytoplasm (induction of vacuoles). After MTX and Peptichemio treatments, and after Peptichemio-Bleomycin combination (1 mug/ml), eosinophilic inclusions were evident both after 24 and 48 hr.


Colony forming activity, density distribution and morphological features of the stem cell population in primary myelofibrosis. In four patients with untreated primary myelofibrosis, the peripheral-blood cell growth in agar culture (frequency of clusters and colonies) was studied. As cell sources, were used either the buffy coat or the fractions obtained from an albumin discontinuous density gradient, prepared according to Dicke's technique. Besides the agar culture, also morphological features of the blasts of the granulocytic cell series of the gradient fractions were investigated, in order to relate the above-mentioned cell parameters. The results, taken as a whole, pointed out: a) increase in circulating CFUc's (expressed as the number/10(5) nucleated cells) in the patients, when compared to the controls; b) high percentage of CFUc's with an abnormal specific density (below 1.062 in 3 out of 4 patients); c) presence in 3 out of 4 patients, of two populations of blasts: one showing low specific density, small size, high N/C rate, high plating efficiency and no nucleoli; the other with a higher specific density and low plating efficiency, showing the typical morphological features of the myeloblasts.


Immunological studies in cerebrospinal fluid of acute viral and tubercular meningitis. The Authors studied the immunological characteristics of lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid, from children affected by acute viral or tubercular meningitis. A reduced P.H.A. response of C.S.F. lymphocytes was observed. The Authors emphasize the usefulness of applying some other specific markers of T and B lymphocytes to achieve further informations on immunological traffic of lymphocytes.


Co-antibodies in human leptospirosis.

Co-antibodies in human leptospirosis. Investigations concerning the co-antibodies formed in the course of human leptospirosis and the extractive antigens of leptospiras were reviewed. As a whole, the results concerning leptospira antigens point, next to antigens of serotype, to genus-specific and intertype antigens deeply seated in the cells. These cannot be identified by the MAL test, and therefore are not related to the co-agglutinins in human leptospirosis. The associations of co-antibodies in human leptospirotic sera were analyzed, using the MAL and CF tests performed with 20 pathogenic and water serotypes of leptospira. The results showed that in the course of human leptospirosis high titer co-antibodies are formed, both agglutinating and complement fixing, variably associated for one or more serotype antigens not belonging to the infecting strain. The various biological interpretations of the phenomenon were discussed and the hypothesis of antigenic changes of leptospira strains in vivo as well as in vitro was discussed, as a determining factor in the formation co-antibodies in leptospirosis.


Correlation between clinical course and CEA levels during chemotherapy. In order to evaluate the correlation between clinical progress and CEA levels in gastroenteric tumours, particularly during chemotherapeutic treatment, CEA assay was performed on 330 patients (126 with gastric neoplasms, 204 with large bowel carcinoma). 175 out of these had a pre-operative assay. Moreover CEA test positivity (CEA larger than or equal to 5 ng/ml according to the technique employed by us) is higher in colon neoplasms compared with gastric neoplasms and in adenocarcinomas in comparison with undifferentiated forms; besides it depends on the pathologic stage. In colon tumours CEA test showed a higher positivity for left than for right forms (66.6% versus 38%). 240 patients were followed up with repeated CEA assays: the following observations were made: a - After radical surgery 72% of the patients shows normalized CEA values. b - In 198 patients who underwent radical surgery, not requiring chemotherapy, there was a close correlation between CEA levels and clinical evolution in 98% of the cases. c - 60 out of 68 patients (88%) submitted to chemotherapy for advanced neoplasms show a close correlation between CEA response to the chemotherapy and clinical response (p less than 0.001). These investigations stress, above all, the importance of CEA test to monitor the treatments performed (surgical and chemotherapeutic) and to adopt, eventually, more effective chemotherapeutic modalities.


Mycoplasmas in pregnant women and in newborn infants. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 96 of 143 vaginal swabs of pregnant women on their first visit at the Prenatal Center. Ureaplasmas alone were isolated in a higher percentage than M. hominis alone or combination with Ureaplasmas. The isolated cultures at 36 weeks of gestation show no significant difference with the first visit isolation. Colonization of mycoplasmas were found in a higher percentage (93.3%) in the abnormal deliveries than in normal ones. Mycoplasmas were isolated also from throat swabs of 19 out of 141 newborn infants: the proportion of mycoplasmas positive infants was higher in low birth, weight children.


Cytomorphologic changes in the cerebrospinal fluid sediment; a comparative study by cytocentrifugation and cytosedimentation techniques.


The action of the cerebral extracts of conditioned donors in the learning of avoidance responses.


Porcine malignant hyperthemia IV: Neuromuscular blockade. The effect of tubocurarine and pancuronium on the initiation or prevention of porcine malignant hyperthermia (MH) was investigated in Pietrain pigs. Tubocurarine 0.6 mg/kg body weight inhibited a suxamethonium-induced response in three pigs, but failed to prevent a fatal halothane-induced response in a further four pigs. Pancuronium 0.2 mg/kg body weight was given to six pigs before a halothane challenge. Three animals developed MH and died; the remainder succembed only after reversal of the neuromuscular blockade. The partial protection afforded by large doses of pancuronium is discussed in relation to the ability of previous muscle activity to influence the sensitivity to halothane.


Pancuronium bromide: an indirect sympathomimetic agent. In the dog, pancuronium 0.2 mg/kg increased left ventricular systolic pressure and systemic arterial pressure, but did not change central venous pressure. Repeated doses produced diminishing responses and eventually no change in arterial pressure. After tachyphylaxis was established, a pressor response to pancuronium could be induced by an i.v. infusion of noradrenaline. Desipramine, a noradrenaline blocking agent, prevented the restoration of the pressor effect of noradrenaline. Guanethidine and reserpine abollished the restoration of the pressor response to pancuronium by noradrenaline. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that pancuronium acts on the postganglionic nerve endings and causes release of noradrenaline.


A study of the effects of dexclamol as the neuroleptic component in neuroleptanaesthesia. In a double-blind cross-over study in dogs, dexclamol was compared with droperidol as the neuroleptic component of a neuroleptanalgestic combination. Fentanyl was the narcotic analgessic. Neuroleptanaesthesia was induced with a mixture of the neuroleptic, the analgesic and nitrous oxide in oxygen. Dexclamol 200 microng/kg i.v. was as effective as droperidol at the same dose in inducing neurolepsy and in supplementing nitrous oxide anaesthesia. Changes in heart rate, respiratory rate and rectal temperature in the animals treated with dexclamol were not different from those observed in the animals treated with droperidol. A comparison of the adrenolytic properties of dexclamol and droperidol was made on the isolated rabbit aortic strip. Both compunds produced a parallel shift to the right of the noradrenaline cumulative dose-response curves, indicating competitive antagonism. The pA2 values showed dexclamol to be approximately 15 times less potent than droperidol in inhibiting the noradrenaline-induced contraction of the rabbit aortic strip.


Reactions to intravenous injections of diazepam. Local reactions during and after i.v. injection of two different formulations of diazepam were studied. Two-thirds of the patients felt pain during the injection. Verfied or probable thrombophlebitis occurred with increasing frequency following operation, indicating a late onset. One month after discharge, 29% of those who had received diazepam in glycoferol-alcohol-benzoic acid complained of tender injection sites, compared with only 10% of the patients who received diazepam in cremophor EL. The difference is significant, indicating an influence of the solvent system.