Developmental regulation of insulin in the mammalian central nervous system. We delineated the ontogeny of rabbit brain insulin concentrations to define the regulatory role of development on this hormone in the central nervous system. Employing a sensitive ELISA, we observed higher concentrations in the late gestation fetal brain (approximately 80-90 ng/g) and early neonatal brain (approximately 195 ng/g) in comparison to the adult (approximately 32 ng/g; P less than 0.01). Further, we characterized this hormone to determine the identity of insulin (or an insulin-like substance) in brain. Employing porcine/bovine or rabbit insulin as standards, we observed that brain insulin mimicked authentic insulin in its migration on SDS-polyacrylamide and native gel electrophoresis, immunogenicity on Western blot analysis, and its elution profile on immunoaffinity column chromatographic, and high performance liquid chromatographic separation. We then examined the developmental effects on circulating and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) radioimmunoassayable insulin levels. No statistically significant differences (ANOVA) existed through development in either the serum or CSF insulin levels. Employing multiple regression analysis, no correlation was evident between brain and either serum or CSF insulin concentration. A search for insulin mRNA by Northern blot analysis yielded minute amounts of atypical large sized transcripts. We conclude that the insulin peptide in the central nervous system closely resembles (or is identical to) circulating insulin in many properties and that there is a developmental increase in brain insulin concentrations, the maximal peak occuring in the late gestation fetus and early neonate. Insulin concentrations in brain demonstrate no conventional relationship to either the serum or CSF insulin levels, suggesting an additional source of peptide, which contributes beyond that which is available via the circulation. The amounts of insulin present within the central nervous system are minute (difficult to detect) but in the range (10-100 ng) where the hormone can interact with either insulin or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) receptors that are abundantly present on developing brain cells, thereby executing the biological function of the hormone.


Phasic modulation of vestibulospinal neuron activity during fictive locomotion in lampreys. This study was aimed at characterizing the activity of vestibulospinal neurons recorded intracellularly during fictive locomotion in lampreys. The majority (78%) of identified vestibulospinal neurons showed rhythmic fluctuations of their membrane potential correlated with locomotor discharges recorded in pairs of rostral ventral roots. Of the rhythmically modulated vestibulospinal cells, most (72%) were maximally depolarized during ipsilateral ventral root discharges and showed a minimum during contralateral activity. Other cells (20%) showed an opposite pattern, that is their peak of depolarization occurred during contralateral activity. Finally, a third category of cells (8%) showed a more complex pattern of activity. Two waves of depolarization could occur per locomotor cycle, one during each burst discharge. The pattern of fluctuation recorded in vestibulospinal neurons appears to be related to the side of the spinal cord onto which the cells are projecting.


Diagnostic and therapeutic technology assessment. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of aberrant conducting pathways of the heart. Radiofrequency catheter ablation has very quickly generated considerable enthusiasm among electrophysiologists because it offers a less invasive alternative to an open surgical procedure and potentially offers an alternative to lifelong drug therapy. Early literature on RF catheter ablation focused on the technical aspects of the procedure. In contrast, the literature of the past several years is dominated by very favorable reports of large series of patients and the experience of individual institutions. The larger series have focused on the treatment of accessory pathways as opposed to AV nodal reentry pathways. The opinions of the DATTA panelists parallel the literature. The panelists considered the technology to be established in terms of its safety and effectiveness as a curative treatment of accessory pathways, and promising in terms of its safety and between promising and established in terms of its effectiveness as a treatment of AV nodal reentrant tachycardias.


Treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in childhood and adolescence. A report of the German Cooperative Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study. In the first German soft tissue sarcoma (STS) study, CWS-81, 344 patients younger than 19 years of age who had previously untreated soft tissue sarcoma were studied. For this analysis, there were 218 patients with chemosensitive STS (Group A: rhabdomyosarcoma [RMS], synovial sarcoma, extraosseous Ewing sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, undifferentiated sarcoma, and malignant peripheral neuroectodermal tumor) who could be studied for a minimum potential follow-up time of 6 years. A staging system based on the postoperative extent of the disease was used. The chemotherapy for Stage I-III disease consisted of vincristine, dactinomycin, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin (VACA). Patients with metastatic disease and patients with Stage III disease who failed to respond to VACA were given ifosfamide instead of cyclophosphamide. The definitive procedure for local tumor control (either no radiation exposure, 40 Gy, or 50 Gy) for patients with Stage II-III disease depended on the tumor status at second-look surgery after 16 weeks of chemotherapy. The rates of disease-free survival (DFS) and survival after 5 years was 61% +/- 4% and 57% +/- 4%, respectively, in group A; for patients with nonmetastatic tumors (Stages I-III), the rates were 69% +/- 4% and 72% +/- 4, respectively. Patients with nonmetastatic rhabdomyosarcoma had a similar prognosis: the survival rate was 73% +/- 4%, and the DFS rate was 68% +/- 4%. There was no difference in prognosis between patients with Stage I and and those with Stage II disease (DFS rate, 88% +/- 5% and 88% +/- 6%, respectively). The DFS rate for patients with Stage III disease was 54% +/- 5% and for those with Stage IV, 11% +/- 5%. Lack of local tumor control was the primary cause of therapy failure: 10% of patients with localized disease did not achieve complete remission, whereas 18% who were in complete remission experienced local relapse. The most important prognostic factors were tumor size (P = 0.005) and the degree of tumor regression after primary chemotherapy (P = 0.007). The prognosis also differed according to primary site: paratesticular tumors had the best prognosis, whereas tumors located in the parameningeal regions of the head and neck had the worst prognosis (DFS rate, 96% +/- 4% versus 49% +/- 7%, respectively). The following conclusions were drawn from the CWS-81 study: (1) intensive chemotherapy (VACA for 35 weeks) provides long-term control for most patients with Stage I-II disease; (2) patients with primary unresectable tumors (i.e., Stage III) who achieve complete remission with chemotherapy alone have the same prognosis as patients with postoperative disease of Stages I and II; (3) tumor size and the degree of tumor regression after primary chemotherapy influence outcome and thus can be used as a basis for risk-adapted therapy.


Reliability, sensitivity and validity of magnitude estimation, category scaling and paired-comparison judgements of speech intelligibility by older listeners. This study investigated the reliability, sensitivity, and validity of speech intelligibility judgments for hearing aid evaluation. Subjects aged 60-87 years judged the intelligibility of sentences using either magnitude estimation, category scaling or paired comparisons. The 60+ age group was chosen as representative of the majority of hearing aid wearers. Speech recognition scores for Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) sentences and Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6) words were also obtained. The speech was bandpass filtered using filter settings that produce a monotonic increase in predicted intelligibility based on articulation index theory. Speech recognition scores and intelligibility judgments were obtained for each of eight filter conditions. Test-retest reliability was poorest for paired comparisons and CID sentence scores. There were no differences in sensitivity among the three psychophysical procedures. Intelligibility judgments and NU-6 scores were more sensitive than CID sentence scores to differences among conditions. The results indicated that intelligibility judgments are valid measures of speech recognition.


The effect of porosity of articular cartilage on the lubrication of a normal human hip joint. The effect of porosity of articular cartilage on the lubrication of a normal human hip joint has been studied. The poroelasticity equation of articular cartilage and the modified Reynolds equation for the synovial fluid lubricant have been successfully solved under squeeze-film motion and for the conditions experienced in a normal human hip joint. It has been shown that porosity of the articular cartilage depletes the lubricant film thickness, rather than increasing it, particularly when the lubricant film thickness becomes small. Furthermore, it has been shown that articular cartilage can be treated as a single-phase incompressible elastic material in the lubrication modelling under physiological walking conditions.


Case-control design: an appropriate strategy for nursing research. The case-control design is a well-established research method in epidemiology and has considerable potential for nursing research. It is particularly appropriate for studying health or service outcomes that occur relatively infrequently and offer advantages in time, sample size, and resource requirements. While the retrospective observational nature of the design presents challenges in selection of subjects, avoidance of biases, and control confounding, the processes for managing these pitfalls are increasingly being explored. The analysis is straightforward and presents estimates of risk that are clearly interpretable by the nurse researcher, the policy makers, and other research consumers.


A model of human knee ligaments in the sagittal plane. Part 1: Response to passive flexion. The development of a mathematical model of the knee ligaments in the sagittal plane is presented. Essential features of the model are (a) the representation of selected cruciate ligament fibres as isometric links in a kinematic mechanism that controls passive knee flexion and (b) the mapping of all other ligament fibres between attachments on the tibia and femur. Fibres slacken and tighten as the ligament attachment areas on the bones move relative to each other. The model is used to study the shape and fibre length changes of the cruciate and collateral ligaments in response to passive flexion/extension of the knee. The model ligament shape and fibre length changes compare well qualitatively with experimental results reported in the literature. The results suggest that when designing and implanting a ligament replacement with the aim of reproducing the natural fibre strain patterns, the surgeon must not only implant through the natural attachment areas but must also maintain the natural fibre mapping and render all fibres just tight at the appropriate flexion angle.


A model of human knee ligaments in the sagittal plane. Part 2: Fibre recruitment under load. A mathematical model of the knee ligaments in the sagittal plane is used to study the forces in the cruciate and collateral ligaments produced by anterior/posterior tibial translation. The model is based on ligament fibre functional architecture. Geometric analysis of the deformed configurations of the model ligaments provides the additional compatibility conditions necessary for calculation of the statically indeterminate distributions of strain and stress within the ligaments and the sharing of load between ligaments. The investigation quantifies the process of ligament fibre recruitment, which occurs when fibres made slack by passive flexion/extension of the knee stretch and change their spatial positions in order to resist applied loads. The calculated ligament forces are in reasonable agreement with experimental results reported in the literature. The model explains some subtleties of ligament function not incorporated in models that represent the ligaments by a small number of lines.


A three-dimensional morphometrical study of the distal human femur. The objective of this paper is to present a method to describe the three-dimensional variations of the geometry of the three portions forming the distal part of the human femur: the medial and lateral femoral condyles and the intercondylar fossa. The contours of equally spaced sagittal slices were digitized on the distal femur to determine its surface topography. Data collection was performed using a digitizer system which utilizes low-frequency, magnetic field technology to determine the position and orientation of a magnetic field sensor in relation to a specified reference frame. The generalized reduced gradient optimization method was used to reconstruct the profile of each slice utilizing two primitives: straight-line segments and circular arcs. The profile of each slice within the medial femoral condyle was reconstructed using two circular arcs: posterior and distal. The profile of each slice within the lateral femoral condyle was reconstructed using three circular arcs: posterior, distal and anterior. Finally, the profile of each slice within the intercondylar fossa was reconstructed using two circular arcs: proximal-posterior and anterior, and a distal-posterior straight-line segment tangent to the proximal-posterior circular arc. Combining the data describing the profiles of the different slices forming the distal femur, the posterior portions of each of the medial and lateral femoral condyles were modelled using parts of spheres having an average radius of 20 mm. The anterior portion of the lateral condyle was approximated to a right cylinder having its circular base parallel to the sagittal plane with an average radius of 26 mm. The anterior portion of the intercondylar fossa was modelled using an oblique cylinder having its circular base parallel to the sagittal plane with an average radius of 22 mm. Furthermore, it is suggested that the distal portion of the lateral femoral condyle could be modelled using parts of two oblique cones while the distal portion of the medial femoral condyle could be modelled using a part of a single oblique cone, all cones having their circular bases parallel to the sagittal plane. It is also suggested that the posterior portion of the intercondylar fossa could be modelled using two oblique cones: a proximal cone having its base parallel to the sagittal plane and a distal cone having its base parallel to the frontal plane.


The transmission of translational seat vibration to the head: the effect of measurement position at the head. Head motion has been measured in six axes on twelve subjects exposed to vertical seat vibration in the frequency range 0.5-25 Hz. The subjects sat on a rigid flat seat in two postures: 'back-off' (no backrest) and 'back-on' (subject's back in contact with the seat backrest). Translational acceleration has been calculated for various locations on the head and transmissibilities between vertical seat vibration and translational head motion determined for each location and all axes. The translational motion of the head was most affected by pitch motion of the head. This caused variations in fore-and-aft motion with position along the vertical axis of the head and variations in vertical motion with position along the fore-and-aft axis of the head. These variations are illustrated for each subject in both postures. The individual data allow the identification of various modes of vibration and show that seat-to-head transmissibility is greatly affected by pitch modes of the head and neck. The magnitude of motion occurring in some modes is dependent on body posture.


A device for wear resistance tests of artificial heart valves. According to the International Standard ISO 5840: 1990 the wear resistance test is a necessary step in the development and production of artificial heart valves (AHV). In developing the device, it is important that a reliable prediction is made of AHV longevity, as a number of specific problems appear that are connected with the results of tests, duration of testing, efficiency and reliability of the testing device. In this paper a procedure is outlined of service life testing of mechanical AHV and a description of the device is given. A comparative example of loads acting on AHV, operating in the accelerated wear testing device and in the pulse duplicator of the physiological mode is also described.


Computation of wear in artificial heart valves. In order to assist with the prognosis of wear processes in low profile disc heart valves, an approximate haemodynamic theory has been used for the determination of opening and closing dynamics of these valves, together with the most developed theory to date of frictional fatigue. The heart valve element wear was defined by solving the contact problem, which takes account of changes to the contact surface form as a consequence of wear. Calculated values are compared with in vivo wear data for artificial heart valves. The proposed model for estimating wear in artificial heart valves allows an optimization to be made of the wear resistance in available designs and to predict the wear resistance of artificial heart valves at the design stage.


Quality of the surface finish of the head of the femoral component and the wear rate of the socket in long-term results of the Charnley low-friction arthroplasty. Four Charnley femoral stems, removed on average 20 years after implantation, were examined for the quality of surface finish of the head. The average roughness was 0.031 microns (range 0.008-0.102 microns) as compared with 0.019 microns (range 0.008-0.031 microns) for the current production models and 0.05 microns as recommended by the British Standard and the International Standards Organization. The average socket penetration rate was 0.022 mm/year and there was no radiological or operative evidence of socket loosening. The findings emphasize the importance of achieving and maintaining good surface finish of the head of the femoral component. A suggestion is also made that the orientation of the asperities may be important.


3,5-Diphenyl-1H-pyrazole derivatives. X. N-substituted 1-(2-aminopropyl)- and 1-(3-amino-2-hydroxypropyl)-3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazoles with antiinflammatory and other activities. The syntheses of 1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole 1 by reaction of 1-hydrazino-2-propanol with dibenzoylmethane and of N-substituted 1-(2-aminopropyl)-3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazoles 3 by reaction of primary and secondary amines with the tosylate of 1, as well as of N-substituted 1-(3-amino-2-hydroxypropyl)-3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazoles 6 starting from 3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole, are described. Some compounds 3 and 6 showed remarkable antiinflammatory activity in rats, as well as weak analgesic, antipyretic, antiarrhythmic, hypotensive activities in mice and rats and moderate platelet antiaggregating effects in vitro.


N-substituted O-(3-amino-2-hydroxypropyl)oximes of 1,3,3-trimethyl-5-endo-(1-piperidinyl or 4-morpholinyl)-2-oxabicyclo [2.2.2]-octan-6-ones with platelet antiaggregating and local anesthetic activities. The synthesis of a series of N-substituted O-(3-amino-2-hydroxypropyl)oximes of 1,3,3-trimethyl-5-endo-(1-piperidinyl or 4-morpholinyl)-2-oxabicyclo [2.2.2]octan-6-ones is described. Some of these ethers showed strong local anesthetic activity in mice and platelet antiaggregating activity in vitro comparable to that of acetylsalicylic acid, as well as moderate hypotensive, antiarrhythmic and analgesic activities in rats and mice.


Synthesis and antiinflammatory properties of 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives. Several 1-alkyl or 1-aralkyl substituted 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives, bearing an acetic or acetohydroxamic group at 3-position, were synthesized. Some of these products were tested for their antiinflammatory and analgesic properties. These compounds exhibited an antiinflammatory activity lower than that of reference drug Indomethacin. Compound 2e showed the highest efficacy, but not in a dose-related manner. Only compounds 3a and 16 exhibited some analgesic activity, but at a very high dose.


Synthesis and biological activity of new heterocyclic structures: [1,3]thiazino[2,3-i]purine, thiazolo[3,2-c] [1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-e]pyrimidine and [1,2,3]triazolo [4', 5': 4,5] pyrimido[6,1-b][1,3]thiazine. Some derivatives of thiazolo[3,2-c]pyrimidine, pyrimido[6,1-b][1,3]thiazine, thiazolo[2,3-i]purine, [1,3]thiazino[2,3-i]purine, thiazolo[3,2-c][1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-e]pyrimidine and [1,2,3]triazolo[4',5':4,5]pyrimido[6,1-b][1,3]thiazine were prepared. The compounds were tested for antimicrobial and antimycotic activity on a number of strains, namely, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, P. mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Sarcina lutea, Candida albicans, Aspergillus sp., and for antiviral activity on Herpes simplex virus, Type 1 (HSV-1), Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Coxsackievirus B5 (CoxB5). The compounds proved to be devoid of activity against viruses, mycetes and gram-negative bacteria, while some of them exhibited a modest activity against gram-positive bacterial strains.


A comparison of wound environments.

A comparison of wound environments. A comparison of a system of moist wound dressings to traditional normal saline wet-to-dry dressings was conducted on OB/GYN patients with open abdominal incisions. The moist wound products included in this study were a hydrogel (Intrasite Gel) and a foam wound cavity filler (Allevyn), manufactured by Smith & Nephew United, Inc. of Largo, FL, and a transparent cover (Bioclusive), manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. of Arlington, TX. The results indicated that those incisions treated with the moist wound environment dressings experienced fewer complaints of pain, a decrease in healing time and a significant cost savings.


[Textual study on traditional Chinese drugs caodoukou and baidoukou]. Through a critical study of herbalogy, it is concluded that the mature seeds of Alpinia zermubet were used as caodoukou in ancient times. The original plant of Yutao recorded in Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao may be the species of Alpinia katsumadai. Baidukou used in ancient times may be the seeds of Alpinia katsumadai found in the south of China, or Amomum compactum and Am. kravanh imported from foreign countries.


[A research on the quality of radix Astragali]. Milkvetch root (Radix Astragali) and its likes were determined in their contents of trace elements, total extracts and astragalin A. The result showed there was some relationship between the drug quality, trace-element contents, difference of species, growing areas and on-the-spot processing methods.


[Farm irrigation index for culturing Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer]. The growth and yield of annual and perennial Panax ginseng were observed by applying methods of mini-irrigation and irrigation under different negative pressures of soil humidometer. After four experiments optimum values of negative pressure were found to assist timely irrigation, thus providing scientific criteria of rational irrigation and automated mini-irrigation for culturing Panax ginseng.


[Studies on the technological process for preparing medicated leaven]. This paper takes as index the content of free acids and total acids, the action of pepsin in the stomachs of hungry mice, impelling functions and intestines of hungry mice and makes a comparison of the raw products with the processed products of medicated leaven. It is suggested that bran-perched or burnt perched leaven is better for invigorating the function of the spleen and promoting digestion.


[Improving the method of processing Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. and Spatholobus suberectus Dunn]. This paper is concerned with a comparison of Polygonum cuspidatum with Spatholobus suberectus in cutting, drying time, products, chief compositions and aqueous extracts. The results showed that fresh cut was better than the customary cut, i. e. re-cut pieces, for the former could not only raise the quality specifications and contents of ingredients of the drinking tablets, but also avoid repeated labour, save energy for drying and eliminate waste of drug materials.


[Thin layer chromatography and extractive technology of Panax japonicum C.A. Mey. var. major (Burk.) C. Y. Wu et K. M. Feng growing in Qingba Mountain Area]. Chemical components of the root, stem and leaves of Panax japonicum var. major were compared with those of Radix ginseng and Radix notoginseng by TLC. The results showed that the total saponin of the root Panax japonicum var. major was closer to that of Radix ginseng and the total saponin of its stem and leaves was similar to Radix notoginseng. A better extractive technology was obtained after isolating and purifying the whole herb of Panax japonicum var. major by ethyl alcohol at different concentrations. The components were compared by TLC. The results showed that with 60% ethyl alcohol the yield of the total extract was 17.15%.


[Stability examination of beta-cyclodextrin inclusion compound of Zingiber officinale volatile oil]. Based on different storage time and different methods, examination has been conducted of the appearance, properties contents and main constituents in the beta-cyclodextrin inclusion compound of Zingiber officinale volatile oil. The result shows that the oil with inclusion proves considerably more stable than that without inclusion.


[Chemical constituents of Pedicularis muscicola Maxim]. It is one of the main components in an effective secret recipe for the treatment of snakebite in Mabian, an autonomaus county of the Yi nationality in Sichuan province. Four compounds have been isolated from the herb of Pedicularis muscicola. On the basis of spectrometric analysis and physico-chemical constants, they were identified as pediculariside, D-mannitol, arachidic acid and hentriacontane.


[Chemical constituents of Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker]. Five compounds were isolated from the n-hexane extract and n-butanol of extract Eupolyphaga sinensis. These compounds were identified as octacosanol, beta-sitosterol, batyl alcohol, 2,4-pyrimidinedione and allantoin.


[A thin layer chromatography densitometric method for the determination of arecoline content in semen Arecae from different producing areas]. A TLC-densitometric method for the determination of arecoline in Semen Arecae (Areca catechu) was established, and arecoline content in three Semen Arecae (Imported, Hainan, Guanzhou) was determined. The method is accurate, sensitive and simple. The recovery is 102.39% and the coefficient of variation of six samplings is 1.95%. The are coline average content in the three Semen Arecae is 0.22%, 0.19%, 0.56% respectively.


[Pharmacological study on Veronicastrum sibiricum (L.) Pennell]. Six compounds were isolated from Veronicastrum sibiricum and identified as D-mannitol, beta-sitosterol, daucosterine, 3-0-acetyloleanolic acid, 3, 4-dimethoxy cinnamic acid and isoferulic acid. Pharmacological experiment has shown that isoferulic acid is anti-inflammatory and analgesic; 3-0-acetyloleanolic acid is anti-inflammatory; mannitol is analgesic, 3, 4-dimethoxy is also anti-inflammatory and analgesic.


[The use of 6-flavor Rehmannia decoction with additives in the prevention of ototoxic deafness induced by gentamicin in guinea pigs]. The purpose of this study is to discuss the effects of the Chinese medicine six-flavor Rehmannia Decoction with additives on preventing deafness induced by gentamicin (GM) in guinea pig by means of testing the thresholds of Preyer's reflex (PR) cochlear microphonic potential (CM), action potential of the auditory nerve (N1) and scanning electron microscope of inner ear (SEM). The results showed that the medicine is effective in reducing the ototoxic effect of GM on inner ear.


Subcortical deterioration after cortical damage: effects of diazepam and relation to recovery of function. Agents which enhance the activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) can severely disrupt behavioral recovery in rats following damage to the neocortex if delivered during a sensitive postoperative period. The mechanisms of this disruption have not been found. It has been suggested previously that the ipsilateral striatum and related structures may be transiently disabled after cortical lesions and that diazepam may interfere with restoration of function in these areas. In the present experiment, the subcortical anatomical effects of chronic (3 weeks) administration of diazepam, an indirect GABAergic agonist, were assessed following unilateral lesions of the anteromedial cortex (AMC) or the sensorimotor cortex (SMC) in rats. Atrophic and degenerative changes were examined in the striatum, substantia nigra and thalamus. Following either AMC or SMC lesions, there was a reduction in the size of the ipsilateral striatum and thalamus and a loss of neurons in the ipsilateral substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr). After AMC lesions, striatal atrophy and neuron loss in the SNr were increased by the diazepam regimen relative to vehicle-treated controls. In addition, diazepam interfered with the behavioral recovery from somatic-sensorimotor asymmetries in AMC-lesioned rats. After SMC lesions, the sites of striatal and thalamic atrophy were different from that observed after AMC lesions, and the extent of atrophy and neuron loss was not exaggerated by diazepam treatment. Consistent with these data, diazepam did not significantly affect recovery from SMC lesions. These findings suggest that the long-term disruptive effects of diazepam on recovery of function after AMC lesions may be related to an augmentation of lesion-induced degeneration.


Rabbit classically conditioned eyelid responses do not reappear after interpositus nucleus lesion and extensive post-lesion training. The left eyelid responses of four rabbits were classical conditioned by pairing a tone conditioned stimulus and air puff unconditioned stimulus. After conditioned responses were well-established, the left interpositus nucleus was lesioned and 150-200 post-lesion training sessions, distributed over 10 months, were given. In three of the rabbits, no anticipatory conditioned responses were observed on paired trials and responses were at or below spontaneous blinking rates on 2,500 ms CS-alone trials that were also presented. Post-lesion conditioned responses were present when the right side was trained. The fourth rabbit showed few post-lesion conditioned responses on paired trials but eventually showed 80% conditioned responses on tone-alone trials. Histological analysis of the lesion extents indicate that a portion of the anterior interpositus nucleus was spared in this rabbit. These results argue that unlike other cerebellar lesion effects reported in the literature, where some recovery of function is normally noted, the effects of interpositus nucleus lesions are somewhat unique in that conditioned response abolition is seen as long as 10 months after the lesion.


Age-related changes in radial-arm maze learning and basal forebrain cholinergic systems in senescence accelerated mice (SAM). Age-related changes in learning performance and the brain cholinergic system were studied in a senescence accelerated mice-prone series (SAM-P/8) and a senescence accelerated mice-resistant series (SAM-R/1, control) bred under specific pathogen-free conditions. In a radial-arm maze task, SAM-P/8 mice at 4 and 12 months of age showed virtually no significant impairment in working memory or reference memory compared with SAM-R/1 mice at the same age, although they needed more time to complete a trial than SAM-R/1. In contrast, in a passive avoidance task, SAM-P/8 showed a marked age-accelerated deficit in acquisition performance relative to SAM-R/1. Also, SAM-P/8 showed an age-accelerated decrease in locomotion and rearing in an open-field box. At the end of these behavioral tasks, neurochemical analyses showed that there were no differences in the concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) in the cortex, hippocampus, striatum, midbrain, or cerebellum between SAM-P/8 and SAM-R/1. Although SAM-P/8 mice did not demonstrate any age-accelerated decline in radial-arm maze performance, they showed a normal age-related decline particularly in working memory, equal to that observed in SAM-R/1. Also, ACh levels in the aged groups of SAM-P/8 showed a significant decrease related to normal aging in the hippocampus and striatum, and a slight decrease in the cortex compared to the young group of the same strain. Thus, we found that SAM-P/8 show dissociative effects of aging in spatial learning and passive avoidance performance.


Adaptation of aimed arm movements to sensorimotor discordance: evidence for direction-independent gain control. Human subjects pointed, without sight of their arm, at visual targets presented on a mirror-viewed monitor screen. During the adaptation period of each experiment, the position of the pointing fingertip was continuously recorded and displayed on the screen along with the targets. This visual feedback was not always veridical; rather, it was manipulated to require a gradual modification of the pointing response gain throughout the adaptation period. No visual feedback at all was available during the pre- and postadaptation periods of each experiment. The adaptive effect was determined as difference between pre- and postadaptation gains. In Expt. A, visual feedback during the adaptation period prescribed a gradual reduction of the horizontal response gain without specifying the gain for other directions; the adaptive effect was found to generalize uniformly to all movement directions. Expt. B1 prescribed a reduction of the horizontal, and an unchanged vertical gain component: in spite of this differential requirement, the adaptive effect was again uniform for all directions. Expt. B2 prescribed a reduction of the horizontal, and an increase of the vertical gain component: we found a reduced gain for all directions, with a mild direction-dependence in the magnitude of the adaptive effect. In a modified version of Expt. B2, no intermanual transfer of the adaptive effect was found. Expt. C1-3 prescribed gain reduction for target directions within 15, 30, or 45 degrees around the horizontal, and gain increase for all other directions: we found little or no adaptive effects under such conditions. From the above findings, we concluded that the adapted system controls movement gain largely independent of movement direction. This mechanism responds readily to requirements for gain reduction, but not gain increase. No evidence for an organization of the arm motor system in direction-selective channels was found, in contrast to findings on the saccadic control system in a paradigm similar to our Expt. A8. This discrepancy supports the view that arm and eye movements are controlled by distinct mechanisms.


Effects of mediodorsalis thalamic nucleus lesions on vigilance and attentive behaviour in cats. In this study performed on 10 cats we analysed the effects of limited lesions of nucleus medialis dorsalis of the thalamus (MD) on behaviour and on some specific electrocorticographic (ECoG) patterns, known from previous works to accompany various states of waking attentiveness. The animals were tested during 90 min in three distinct behavioural situations; a neutral one (NS) where they simply explored their environment and then usually went to sleep; a second one (FA) where they could watch a mouse (but not catch it), which favoured 'focussed' attentiveness accompanied by the development of rhythmic ECoG activities in the anterior frontoparietal cortex ('beta rhythms' at 40 Hz); a third one (EX) with a hidden mouse whose appearance the cat was waiting for ('expectancy') which rather than favouring the development of beta rhythms elicited the appearance of another rhythmic activity dominating in somatic area SI, 'mu rhythms' at 14 Hz. The duration of each waking behaviour and its ECoG concomitant as well as that of slow wave and of paradoxical sleep were compared in each cat before and after lesion. Our results showed that MD lesions situated in the posterior part of the nucleus tended to increase the time occupied by focussed attentive behaviour and the accompanying beta rhythms. On the other hand, anteriorly located MD lesions elicited a concomitant reduction of both manifestations, behavioural and electrocortical. No such contrasting effects could be systematically noticed for the durations of expectancy, of slow sleep and of paradoxical sleep. These findings were discussed considering previous data showing that at least two systems project upon MD, that play distinct--in a way even antagonistic--roles in focussed attention upon a target. Both originate from the ventral tegmental mesencephalic area; one reaches MD through the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens), the other one through the amygdala. The MD nucleus thus receiving contrasting information may participate in a final adjustment of the attentive state of the animal to its environment.


Engram activation reinstates the susceptibility of consolidated memory traces to retrograde amnesia by functional blockade of parabrachial nuclei. Previous studies have shown that in rats the acquisition of a step-through passive avoidance reaction (PAR) in the light-dark box apparatus is disrupted by tetrodotoxin (TTX) inactivation of the parabrachial nuclei (PBN) 24 but not 48 h after the acquisition trial. The present experiment shows that TTX induces retrograde amnesia even when applied to the PBN 48 h after PAR acquisition only if it is preceded by a 30-min confinement (extinction) or by a footshock (retraining) in the dark compartment. These stimuli, independently of their sign, induce quantitatively comparable TTX disrupting effects. This happens notwithstanding the fact that these stimuli are too weak to modify PAR under control conditions. This paradoxical finding suggests that engram vulnerability may not be a simple inverse function of its recency but that it may reflect a reactivation of the neural circuits involved in memory trace formation. Consolidated engrams become again vulnerable only when contextual cue stimuli are presented shortly before the application of the disrupting procedure.


Unilateral dopamine lesions in neonatal, weanling and adult rats: comparison of rotation and reaching deficits. The aim of this study was to compare the functional effects of neonatal, weanling and adult lesions of the dopaminergic (DA) mesencephalic neurones on paw-reaching behaviour. The mesotelencephalic DA pathway was destroyed unilaterally in neonatal (3 and 7 day), weanling (21 day) and adult (2 months) rats by local injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the medial forebrain bundle at the level of the lateral hypothalamus, followed by behavioural studies conducted 2 months later. Amphetamine and apomorphine induced similar rates of rotation irrespective of the age of the lesion. By contrast skilled reaching with the contralateral paw was profoundly disrupted by lesions made in adult or weanling rats, but a much reduced deficit was observed in neonatally lesioned rats. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry indicated a similar degree of dopamine cell loss from the substantia nigra in all groups. These observations suggest that the host brain undergoes developmental changes 1-3 weeks postnatally that influence the long-term effects of lesions in the nigrostriatal dopamine system.


A new one-trial test for neurobiological studies of memory in rats. III. Spatial vs. non-spatial working memory. Rats were submitted to object and spatial recognition tests (both based on the same paradigm) and to the radial-arm maze. The results are as follows: (1) rats could discriminate between a new and a familiar object when the retention delay was 1 min, 15 min or 60 min but not 24 h. The relationship between the level of discrimination and intertrial delays is quadratic with a maximum for 15 min. (2) Exposure to distractive stimuli during the retention delay may impair object recognition. (3) Rats discriminated between a new and a familiar space. (4) There is no correlation between the three tests which argues for a multiple form of working memory, especially a spatial and a non-spatial one. (5) Medial septal lesion did not impair object and spatial recognition memory, but the level of discrimination in the spatial recognition test was significantly reduced compared to that of control.


Drug discrimination learning in rats with excitotoxic lesions of nucleus basalis and ventral globus pallidus. Rats can readily acquire conditional discriminations in which mixtures of drugs serve as compound internal discriminative stimuli. Excitotoxic lesions in the region of the nucleus basalis have been shown to impair the acquisition of conditional discriminations based upon external visual stimuli, but nothing was known about their effects on discrimination of internal stimuli. A baseline of undiscriminated bar-pressing for food reinforcers was established prior to surgery. Lesions were made by infusing either ibotenic or quisqualic acid bilaterally into the basal forebrain (the ibotenate-induced lesions had been shown previously to impair cortical cholinergic function and to produce non-specific damage). After surgery, rats were trained to discriminate effects of drug mixtures using a standard, two-bar operant conditioning procedure. The ibotenate, but not the quisqualate, lesion impaired the acquisition of a discrimination of a mixture of (+)-amphetamine plus pentobarbitone, while neither lesion impaired acquisition with a mixture of (-)-nicotine plus midazolam. The ibotenate lesions also reduced overall rates of responding in both experiments. Thus, the deficit in the acquisition of drug discrimination in rats with ibotenate lesions had some pharmacological specificity, but could not be related easily to disturbances in neocortical cholinergic function. In comparisons with other published data, the results suggest a possible dichotomy in the processing of interoceptive and external information in the basal forebrain, a major target of ventral striatal overflow.


Immediate-early genes, neuronal plasticity, and memory. The demonstration that the immediate-early gene c-fos is rapidly and transiently expressed in brain following a variety of manipulations has led to intense study of these genes to determine what physiological role they play. The very wide range of stimuli which lead to induction of immediate-early genes (IEGs) in the brain has raised concerns for the specificity of their actions and the suggestion that they might merely be involved in housekeeping functions. On the other hand, there is evidence that these genes may play a role in the transmission of information from cell surface receptors to the genetic material in many instances of neuronal plasticity, including development of seizure susceptibility (kindling), long-term potentiation, drug-induced changes, the phase shift in circadian rhythms, and spreading neuronal depression. In addition to being a putative third (or fourth) messenger involved in transduction of signals to the genetic material, activation of IEGs has proven to be a useful tool for the study of transsynaptic activation of certain neuronal pathways in the brain. Thus, studies on the induction of IEGs are proving to be especially useful in understanding some important functions and properties of the mammalian brain.


The Dictyostelium ribosome: biochemistry, molecular biology, and developmental regulation. This is the first comprehensive review of ribosomes in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. The physicochemical, biochemical, cellular, molecular, and developmental properties are reviewed. Several features demonstrate that a unique class of ribosomes exists in this organism, and a study of these ribosomes will be important to decipher special features of translational regulation, and evolution of the organelle in the eukaryotic kingdom.


Presence of a novel nuclear lamina protein in Raji cells. In mammalian tissues, the nuclear lamina is composed of the major lamins A, B, and C, and minor lamins D/E. Although lamin B is present in all cell types, lamins A and C are absent from embryonic cells and most undifferentiated cells from hematopoietic lineage. We have investigated the nuclear lamina protein composition of the Raji cell line, lymphoblast-like cells established from a Burkitt lymphoma patient. Lamins A and C were confirmed absent by immunodetection and Northern blot analysis. Besides lamins B and D/E, a protein migrating around 71 kilodaltons was recognized by a serum directed against the nuclear lamina of BHK-21 fibroblasts. Cellular localization by sequential extraction established this 71-kilodalton protein as an exclusive component of the nuclear lamina fraction. These results indicate that the nuclear lamina has a more complex composition than previously thought to be the case for cells devoid of lamins A and C.


ATP-stimulated protease activity in brown fat mitochondria: response to a 24-h fast in mice. Brown fat mitochondria have [3H]casein-hydrolyzing activity at pH 8.0 associated with both membrane and soluble fractions. An ATP-stimulated proteolytic activity inhibited by vanadate and N-ethylmaleimide was found in the soluble fraction. Membrane-associated proteolytic activity was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and trypsin inhibitor, suggesting that it is a serine protease. A 24-h fast in mice caused a significant loss of mitochondrial proteins from the tissue, but had no effect on protease activity of isolated mitochondria with or without ATP. The ATP-stimulated release of amino acids or peptides from isolated mitochondria, as measured with fluorescamine, was not influenced by food deprivation. Thus, brown fat mitochondria possess an ATP-stimulated proteolytic pathway that does not appear to be involved in the bulk removal of mitochondrial proteins from brown fat of fasting mice.


Heat shock protein HSP90 and its association with the cytoskeleton: a morphological study. To investigate the cellular localization of the 90-kilodalton heat shock protein (HSP90) and its interaction with the cytoskeleton, we performed single- and double-staining immunofluorescence microscopy of cytoskeletal proteins and HSP90 in the absence and presence of cytoskeletal inhibitors. As a model, we used a human endometrial adenocarcinoma cell line (Ishikawa cells), which expresses HSP90. We confirmed the recently reported colocalization of HSP90 with microtubules. However, Ishikawa cells treated with 10(-5) M of the antimicrotubule agents colchicine or triethyl lead showed residual filamentous structures stained with anti-HSP90 antibodies, while no microtubules were visualized with anti-tubulin antibodies. In the presence of 10(-5) M cytochalasin B, the microfilament staining of the cells disappeared, while residual filamentous structures were labeled with anti-HSP90 antibodies. Furthermore, Ishikawa cells treated with 10(-5) M triethyl lead and stained with anti-HSP90 antibodies demonstrated residual filamentous structures, clearly different from those of reorganized vimentin intermediate filaments. Conversely, similar reorganized morphology of filamentous structures stained with both anti-HSP90 and anti-cytokeratins antibodies were observed when Ishikawa cells were treated with 2 x 10(-5) M cytochalasin B and 2 x 10(-5) M colchicine. HSP90 was also present in Ishikawa cell preparations of the Triton X-100 insoluble cytoskeleton. In addition, Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton treated with 10(-5). M triethyl lead and double stained with anti-HSP90 and anti-vimentin antibodies demonstrated clearly different filamentous patterns, when exposed on the same photographic plaque.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The largest subunit of RNA polymerase II in Dictyostelium: conservation of the unique tail domain and gene expression. cDNAs encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II were isolated from a Dictyostelium cDNA library. A total of 2.9 kilobases (kb) of cDNA was sequenced and the amino acid sequence of the carboxyl-terminal half of the protein was deduced. Similar to other eukaryotic RNA polymerases II, the largest subunit of Dictyostelium RNA polymerase II contains a unique repetitive tail domain at its carboxyl-terminal region. It consists of 24 highly conserved heptapeptide repeats, with a consensus sequence of Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. In addition to the tail domain, five segments of the deduced primary structure show > 50% sequence identity with either yeast or mouse protein. RNA blots show that cDNA probes hybridized with a single mRNA species of approximately 6 kb and immunoblots using a monoclonal antibody raised against the tail domain lighted up a single protein band of 200 kilodaltons. Interestingly, expression of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II appears to be under developmental regulation. The accumulation of its mRNA showed a 60% increase during the first 3 h of development, followed by a steady decrease during the next 6 h. Cells began to accumulate a higher level of the RNA polymerase II mRNA after 9 h of development. When cells were treated with low concentrations of cAMP pulses to stimulate the developmental process, the pattern of mRNA accumulation moved 3 h ahead, but otherwise remained similar to that of control cells.


Immunological characterization of neutral cholesteryl ester hydrolase from rat liver cytosol. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies were raised against rat liver bile salt-independent neutral cholesteryl ester hydrolase (CEH) and used for subcellular localization and immunological comparison with isoforms from other tissues. Antibodies exhibited a high degree of specificity for the liver CEH through all stages of purification and neutralized 70-80% of the activity of liver cytosolic CEH. They exhibited various levels of cross-reactivity with cytosolic proteins from other tissues, but reacted weakly with pancreatic and intestinal proteins and did not inhibit pancreatic CEH. Cytosol contained 78% of total cellular CEH activity and 75% of CEH immunoreactive protein. Washed microsomes contained 3% of CEH activity and 5% of CEH protein.


Purpurogallin protects both ventricular myocytes and aortic endothelial cells of rats against oxyradical damage. Rat ventricular myocytes have been isolated and cultured by two separate procedures. Using phase-contrast and electron microscopies, we illustrate that (a) definitive cell damage is produced when myocytes are exposed to xanthine oxidase--hypoxanthine and (b) purpurogallin between 0.25 and 1.0 mM prolongs survival of both myocyte preparations in a dose-dependent manner. The cytoprotection produced by 1 mM purpurogallin exceeds that given by 2 mM each of ascorbate, Trolox, and mannitol, or 24,200 IU superoxide dismutase/L and (or) 92,000 IU catalase/L. Furthermore, we noted, for the first time, that purpurogallin markedly protects rat aortic endothelial cells, a key target of free radical generation and attack. In contrast, Trolox has a negligible effect here. Mechanistically, we showed that purpurogallin inhibits urate formation by xanthine oxidase more potently than allopurinol. Also, the compound diminishes formation of superoxide-reduced cytochrome c. Therefore, purpurogallin is a potent protector of ventricular myocytes and aortic endothelial cells, both of which are important cells in the cardiovascular system.


Fatty-acyl esters of retinol (vitamin A) in the liver of the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica), hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), and California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). The fatty-acid composition of retinyl esters in the livers of two species of phocid seal, the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica, n = 20) and the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata, n = 15), and one species of otariid seal, the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus, n = 6), was determined. Vitamin A ranged in concentration from 4 to 1024 nmol retinol/g liver for the phocids and from 381 to 979 nmol/g liver for the otariids. In most of the livers, retinyl palmitate was not the principal ester, and the palmitate + stearate + oleate trio of retinyl esters represented less than 50% of the total. In all samples, the retinyl esters contained 20:1, 20:4, 20:5, and 22:6 in unusually large amounts. Retinyl esters tended to be richer than whole-liver lipids in 20:5 + 22:6, whereas whole-liver lipids were richer in 18:0 and 18:2. Therefore, the pool of acyl donors used for the esterification of retinol may be distinct from that used for other lipids. Birth-to-weaning changes were seen only in the harp seals. In the pups, the hepatic vitamin-A concentration increased 454%, while the proportion of 18:0 and 20:1 in the retinyl esters rose and that of 14:0 + 16:1 and 20:4 fell. Concomitantly, in their mothers, the proportion of 20:4 increased but that of 16:0 and 18:0 decreased.


Mechanisms of oncogene-mediated alterations in metastatic ability. Transfected ras oncogenes have been shown to induce metastatic properties in some cells. This altered behavior is likely due to changes in ras-mediated signal transduction pathways, resulting in altered expression of genes important to metastasis. Clarification of the mechanisms by which ras is able to induce metastatic ability in model systems will improve our understanding of tumor progression, even in those cells in which ras activation has not been implicated. Many of the consequences of ras expression also have been detected in cells that have become metastatic in the absence of altered ras, suggesting that there is a set of common changes that can lead to metastasis, with multiple signals capable of eliciting these changes. We have identified several changes in metastatic, ras-transformed NIH 3T3 cells that may contribute to their increased malignancy, including expression of proteolytic enzymes and their inhibitors, and adhesive and calcium-binding proteins. Not all cells, however, respond in this way to expression of oncogenic ras. We have found that murine LTA cells, which are tumorigenic but nonmetastatic, are ras resistant and remain nonmetastatic when expressing high levels of transfected ras, in contrast to NIH 3T3 cells, which are ras sensitive and become both tumorigenic and metastatic in response to comparable levels of ras. LTA cells differ in their patterns of gene expression in response to ras when compared with NIH 3T3 cells, suggesting that the two cell lines process the ras signal differently. Here we review our results with ras-transfected NIH 3T3 and LTA cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Nuclear matrix proteins bind very tightly to specific regions of the chicken histone H5 gene. The nuclear matrix is operationally defined as the structure remaining after nuclease-digested nuclei are extracted with high concentrations of salt. The nuclear matrix is thought to have a role in organizing higher order chromatin into loop domains. We determined whether specific regions of the histone H5 gene were very tightly bound to protein of erythrocyte and liver nuclear matrices in vitro. We demonstrate that DNA fragments spanning sequences 5' to the promoter and the 3' enhancer region of the histone H5 gene, but not DNA fragments spanning the promoter, were very tightly bound to protein of nuclear matrices of erythrocytes and liver. The nuclear matrix consists of internal nuclear matrix and nuclear pore-lamina complex. Recently, we demonstrated that histone deacetylase could be used as a marker enzyme of the internal nuclear matrix. We demonstrate that nuclear pore-lamina complex preparations that were depleted of histone deacetylase activity, and thus of internal nuclear matrix, retained the protein that bound very tightly to the beta-globin and histone H5 enhancers. These results provide evidence that specific regions of the histone H5 gene are very tightly bound to nuclear pore-lamina complex protein.


Omeprazole-like compounds on histamine-stimulated acid and peptic secretions in conscious dog and cat. A newly synthetized aniline derivative series has been tested on histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion in conscious cats and dogs and compared to the proton pump inhibitors omeprazole and NC 1300. The compounds markedly and long-lastingly inhibited acid output with a potency lower than omeprazole but very close to the reference compound NC 1300. The results show that the introduction of a nitrogen atom, irrespective of the position in the benzimidazole ring does not seem to influence the gastric antisecretory activity.


Isolation, characterization and antimicrobial activity of coumarin derivatives from Cyperus incompletus. Ten coumarin derivatives were isolated and characterized by UV, 1H NMR and GC-MS spectra. Their in vitro efficacy against several human pathogenic bacteria and two fungi was evaluated. The tested coumarins showed mild to undefined activity.


[Transmission electron microscopy observations of a homologous bone graft preserved at -196 degrees C]. The authors have studied the ultrastructural modifications after one year of a homologous bone grafting stored for 8 days in nitrogen liquid at -196 degrees C. It was observed that the osteocytes showed nuclear and cytoplasmic degenerations; the empty lacunae showed precipitates of mineralized matrix. In comparison with a bone autografting a homologous bone grafting lost the ability of bone synthesis.


A one-week test-retest reliability study of Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials. Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEPs) are increasingly used in longitudinal evaluation of brainstem function. The reliability of the neurophysiological parameters and definition of the normal test-retest variability are required for such investigations. In the present study we submitted 20 healthy volunteers (10 males and 10 females; mean age 35.1 years, range 24-49) to BAEPs in two sessions separated by seven days. The reliability of the parameters was estimated by means of intraclass correlation coefficient (R). All BAEP parameters showed excellent R values (above 0.75). In addition, the confidence interval lower limits of all R coefficients had good to excellent values. Finally we computed the upper normal limits of the test-retest variability of each parameter, with alpha = 0.01, using the within-subjects mean square. The confirmed good reliability of the analyzed parameters enables us to employ BAEPs as useful monitoring instruments in longitudinal studies.


[Adaptability of the anti-hepatitis-B vaccine Recombivax HB to the Piazza protocol for the mass vaccination of newborn infants]. 27 healthy babies born to HBsAg, antiHBs and antiHBc negative mothers were given three doses of hepatitis B vaccine "Recombivax HB" (5 micrograms/dose/0.5 ml) at 3, 5 and 11 months of age (Piazza's protocol). AntiHBs response was highly satisfactory. Since both in terms of seroconversion rate and of mean antiHBs titre immunogenicity of other hepatitis B vaccines given at 3, 5 and 11 months of age was already demonstrated, it is possible to conclude that Piazza's protocol is valid for all hepatitis B vaccines available in Italy and will certainly facilitate the compulsory hepatitis B vaccination in infants in Italy.


Analysis of complex mixtures of vapors in ambient air by fast-gas chromatography. The use of Fast-GC was investigated for the separation and analysis of mixtures of organic vapors in ambient air. Mixtures of up to 34 components were separated and total analysis times ranged from 8 to 100 seconds. Analyses were performed using both flame ionization and electron capture detectors. Up to 950 effective theoretical plates per second were produced when the flame ionization detector was used, and up to 300 per second when the electron capture detector was used. Theoretical predictions of optimal analysis conditions and of column performance matched experimental results.


[Assessment of construct and content validity of Monitor--an index of the quality of nursing care--and the evaluation of clarity and concreteness of the criteria of Monitor]. The purpose of this study was to test construct and content validity of Monitor and to evaluate if its criteria were clear and concrete. The construct validity was evaluated after reviewing the Finnish nursing literature in order to determine how man is perceived and what are the essential principles of Finnish nursing care. Each of the Monitor criteria was then compared with that view of man and the principles present in the literature. The human needs by Yura and Walsh were examined in order to find out to what extent the Monitor-instrument covers these needs. The content validity and the clarity and concreteness of the criteria were evaluated by experts. The results imply that the physical characteristics of man were prevalent in 76 out of 155 criteria. The essential principles were found in Monitor, but the principles concerning health centricity and patients' independence were found only in 13 out of 155 criteria. The instrument covered 4 human needs by Yura and Walsh totally and 20 in part. The experts rated 151 criteria content valid, 143 concrete and 139 clear in this study. Retesting is needed in the future studies.


[Minimizing pain and fear of venipunctures in 6-year-old children]. The aim is to describe the interventions used by nurses to reduce pain and fear in children during venipuncture. The aim of the various methods is not to eliminate all the pain, but rather to encourage the child to adopt a behavior which will not hamper even long-term treatment. The material was collected from Oulu University Hospital by means of open questionnaires to a total of 59 nurses and laboratory assistants regarding their work. A content analysis was performed, replies significant from the point of view of the present topic being tabulated and the results depicted in the form of frequency and/or percentage distributions. The nurses regarded pain and fear in children as real, employing local anaesthetics to reduce the fear of pain. The child was prepared for the procedure by means of guidance and therapeutic play. The nurses acted mainly intuitively during the procedure, combining task orientation and traditional nursing.


[Nursing strategies in health promotion of long-term patients]. The purpose of the study, carried out in the Health Centre of Järvenpää, was to examine how directors of nursing and nurse managers perceived the health status of their long-term patients and how they thought health could be promoted by means of nursing strategies. The approach of the study was phenomenological, and the data were produced by the nurses themselves who wrote down their own ideas on the subject. The resulting qualitative data were then analyzed and interpreted by means of theme and model analysis. According to the conceptions of the directors of nursing and nurse managers, the long-term patient continues to enjoy certain aspects of health; this can be perceived as wellbeing. The patient accepts his current situation, participates in his care and meets his needs. Promoting health by means of nursing strategies is possible. 1) if the nursing practitioner knows both the past and present of her patient as well as his needs and wishes, and 2) if the organization facilitates implementation of individual patient care; a well functioning primary p6rsing model was seen as an ideal system. The following nursing strategies for promoting health came up in the study: the way of performing the work, protecting the patient against social death, creating a beneficial care environment and supporting the patient in the final stages of his life. The nursing care of long-term patients was regarded as demanding. The results of the study seem to imply that the way the nursing leaders perceive the health status and health promotion of long-term patients may differ from the perceptions of nursing practitioners.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Determinants of preventive practices of general practitioners in Torino, Italy. We conducted a study of general practitioners in Torino, Italy, to determine their patterns of preventive practice. We examined a set of primary and secondary preventive interventions and their determinants. We explored the determinants of primary preventive interventions (antismoking and alcohol abuse counseling, counseling for prevention of accidents at home among the elderly, flu vaccination for the elderly, and counseling on contraceptive use) and cancer early detection techniques (chest x rays and sputum cytology for lung cancer; mammography, physical examination, teaching of breast self-examination, and Papanicolaou [Pap] smear for gynecological cancers). Grouping determinants in cognitive, sociodemographic, and organization factors, we found different patterns for each maneuver. Cognitive factors played an important role, but their importance varied for each intervention. We found that smoking behavior of physicians predicted antismoking counseling. Further, the availability of other primary care services is an important factor in the early detection of gynecological cancers.


Preventive practices of general practitioners in Torino, Italy. Health care reforms introduced in Italy in the late 1970s triggered a profound rethinking of the role of general practitioners (GPs) in prevention. We interviewed 209 GPs registered in the Torino area to delineate their beliefs, attitudes, and practice patterns in relation to prevention. We examined an array of primary and secondary preventive interventions, including influenza vaccination of the elderly; counseling activities related to smoking, alcohol consumption, accidents, contraception, safety helmets, and seat belts; and early detection of hypertension and lung, cervical, and breast cancers. Improvement can still be made in the full implementation of preventive practices. We examine features of the organization of medical practices in Italy that impede the integration of preventive interventions in primary care.


Environmental indicators: a tool for evaluating community-based health-promotion programs. We propose using a class of community-level measures--environmental indicators--as part of the evaluation of community-based health-promotion programs. Community-level measures of health-related behavior can be divided into three conceptual categories. The first two categories comprise statistical aggregates (e.g., means, sums, percentages) of measurements made on individuals, distinguished by whether individual-level covariates are also available. Individual-disaggregated measures include covariates, such as a comprehensive survey of health-risk behavior, including demographic information; individual-aggregated measures, such as sales data, do not. Our main focus is on the third category, environmental indicators, derived from observations of the community environment. Environmental indicators measures aspects of the physical, legal, social, and economic environment in a community that reflect, and likely influence, the attitudes and behavior of individual community members. They also measure an important intermediate step in community-based health-promotion interventions, namely environmental factors that programs target to modify individual attitudes and behavior. We present examples of environmental indicators for tobacco use and diet.


Patterns of interrelations among health-promotion behaviors. We examined the interrelationships among 36 health behaviors for men and 38 for women in a telephone survey of a national sample of 3,025 adults. Wide variations existed in the frequency of respondents engaging in healthy practices, ranging from 9% to 96%. Men practiced an average of 17, and women 19, healthy behaviors. Correlations between health behaviors were weak, with an absolute value averaging r = .07, ranging from r = .00 to r = .71. Factor analysis revealed 10 underlying dimensions among the behaviors, which we interpreted for men as: (1) health care use, (2) exercise and recreation activity, (3) alcohol use, (4) smoking, (5) physical activity, (6) dental care, (7) nutrition, (8) sleep, (9) beverage use, and (10) breakfast. Women had the same 10 factors as men, except for a women's health screening factor instead of a beverage use factor. These findings suggest that engaging in one health behavior is not necessarily associated with practicing others, and that public health and individual counseling efforts to encourage healthy behaviors should be multifaceted and behavior-specific.


Validity of self-assessed physical fitness. This study compared self-ratings of components of physical fitness with objective measures of physical fitness. We made comparisons in two groups of male infantry soldiers (n = 96 and n = 276) and one group of older male military officers (n = 241). To obtain self-ratings of physical fitness, we asked subjects, "Compared to others of your age and sex, how would you rate your (a) endurance, (b) sprint speed, (c) strength, (d) flexibility?" Subjects responded to each of the four questions on a five-point scale. Self-ratings of endurance were systematically related to three measures of aerobic capacity, including VO2max, peak VO2, and two-mile run time (r = 0.29 to 0.53). Self-ratings of sprint speed showed only weak relationships to measures of anaerobic capacity assessed by the Wingate test, push-ups, and sit-ups (r = 0.10 to 0.17). Strength ratings were systematically related to measures of maximal strength (r = 0.28 to 0.53). Upper body strength measures were more closely associated with the self-ratings of strength than were measures of lower body strength. Responses to the flexibility question were systematically related to measures of hip/low back flexibility (r = 0.30 and 0.48) but not to other measures of flexibility. Apparently, physically active subjects can approximately classify their aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and some types of flexibility.


[Multicomponent reconstructive operations on the mitral valve]. Between 1978 and 1990, 134 reconstructive operations were conducted on the mitral valve in its predominant incompetence. 50% of patients were related to functional class IV (NYHA), 76.1% had atrial fibrillation. In 44 (32.8%) patients interventions were conducted at the same time on other valves. The valvular disease was caused by rheumatism in 78.3%, congenital pathology in 10.4%, and impaired connective-tissue structure in 10.4% of cases. Hospital mortality was 5.9% (8 patients). Mortality in the group of patients with isolated annulovalvuloplasty was 4.4%. The immediate results were good in 93.3% of patients. The late results were studied in 120 patients during a maximum follow-up period of 12 years. The actuarial survival value by the 12th follow-up year was 83.5%. By that time there was no need for a repeated operation in 88.4% of patients, thrombolytic complications did not develop in 91.2% of cases, 96.7% of patients belong to functional classes I and II.


[Bidirectional cava-pulmonary anastomosis in complex congenital heart defects]. An operation for bidirectional cava-pulmonary anastomosis was performed in 11 patients. Anatomical correction could not be made due to the multiple pattern and complexity of the malformation. None of them was, however, an ideal candidate for hemodynamic correction either. The authors took into account not only anatomical and hemodynamic contraindications for Fontana's operation, but the latter was not performed when the patient's status was grave (severe hypoxemia). The operation was made under extracorporeal circulation and hypothermia. In addition to bidirectional cava-pulmonary anastomosis, dilation of the intraatrial junction, pulmonary artery plasty, etc. were conducted in some cases. Bilateral bidirectional cava-pulmonary anastomosis was performed when an accessory vena cava superior was present. Nine patients benefited from the operation. There was a significant health improvement and a substantial increase in arterial blood oxygen saturation. Four patients underwent a repeated examination one year after surgery. The anastomosis was found to function well.


Safety information provided to customers of New York City suntanning salons. Little is known about the safety information tanning salon operators provide to customers or the extent to which artificial tanning salons adhere to federal regulations designed to protect customers from excessive ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure. We surveyed the operators of 20 artificial tanning salons in New York City from 1988 to 1989 concerning salon operating procedures and information provided to potential customers. Results revealed a disparity between known health risks of UVR exposure and safety information provided to tanning salon customers. For example, 75% of salon operators informed potential customers that artificial tanning would not cause a sunburn, and 80% informed potential customers that they would not get skin cancer from artificial tanning. Artificial tanning salons are a rapidly growing industry in the United States, with over two million customers annually. Results from this survey indicate a need for greater regulation of the tanning salon industry and for education of tanning salon operators in the risks associated with the use of artificial tanning devices.


[Transluminal balloon valvuloplasty in the treatment of congenital critical aortic valve stenosis in infants in the 1st year of life]. Balloon valvuloplasty was performed in 14 patients with congenital valvular aortic stenosis. Their age was 28 days to 12 months. All the patients had severe heart failure. Balloon valvuloplasty was successfully conducted in 8 patients. The systolic pressure gradient between the aorta and the left ventricle decreased, on the average, from 81.2 +/- 21.4 to 31.3 +/- 8.2 mm Hg, i.e. by 61.5%. Only 2 patients developed moderate aortic insufficiency after balloon valvuloplasty. The left ventricle could not be catheterised in 6 infants: in 4 patients due to critical valvular stenosis, in 2 due to a. lusoria. One of them died when the guide was attempted to be introduced through the narrowed aortic valve, which resulted in aortic sinus perforation. Long-term results were studied in 4 patients 3 to 24 months after surgery. Their clinical condition improved. The systolic pressure gradient between the left ventricle and the aorta was in agreement with the values obtained just after transluminal balloon valvuloplasty. Transluminal balloon valvuloplasty can be successfully performed in 1-year-old infants with congenital critical aortic valvular stenosis and yields good immediate results. A further accumulation of clinical findings, development of procedures for transluminal balloon valvuloplasty and study of long-term results will allow indications for this tool to be worked out in this group of patients.


Seasonal variation in plasma cholesterol distributions: implications for screening and referral. In 3,377 men and 3,900 women who participated in a community-based plasma cholesterol screening program, we found a significant cyclic time-trend in cholesterol levels, with maximum peak in January. The 95% confidence interval (CI) of the peak to trough distance was 5.8-13.8 mg/dL (0.15-0.36 mmol/L) in men, corresponding to 2.6%-6.3% of the average cholesterol level. Corresponding figures for women were 2.0-9.3 mg/dL (0.05-0.24 mmol/L) or 1.0%-4.6%. Applying the cutoff level for high cholesterol risk proposed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (< or = 240 mg/dL [6.21 mmol/L]) to sex-specific bimonthly distributions, we found a statistically significant variation in prevalence, attributable to seasonal trends, in men (P < .01), but not in women. In men, the age-adjusted prevalence in winter (25.4%) was double that in the summer (13.5%). Seasonal variation is an important determinant of the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in men and should be considered in patient follow-up and screening.


Developing primary care curricula in preventive medicine: some practical considerations. I describe a practical approach to developing primary care curricular in preventive medicine, starting with the articulation of a rationale that relates training to current medical education, mortality, medical manpower, and health care system characteristics. I discuss recommended features of the ambulatory care setting for instruction and include automated record systems, practice teams, multidisciplinary staff, faculty role models, conferences and rounds, and needs of low-income populations. Further, I advocate a careful review of the three-year residency curriculum including conferences, rounds, and rotations to identify elements of the desired curriculum on which to build preventive medicine training so as to alter scheduling minimally. I consider longitudinal as well as block rotation experiences. I highlight published resources for defining preventive medicine content areas and recommend local resources for preventive medicine training and for involving residents in personal health promotion. Finally, I offer an example of a family medicine resident experience in breast and cervical cancer screening to illustrate an approach to accomplishing specific objectives for preventive medicine training.


[The causes of cerebral complications in patients with ischemic heart disease following myocardial revascularization operations]. In the period from Jan. 1988 to Jan. 1991 operations for the formation of an aortocoronary shunt were carried out in 437 patients at the Department of Combined Affections of the Coronary and Peripheral Arteries, Bakulev Research Institute. In some cases the operation was combined with resection of a postinfarction aneurysm of the left ventricle. Cerebral complications developed in the postoperative period in 28 (6.4%) patients. Their analysis showed the prevalence of severe forms of consciousness disturbances: coma and comatose states were encountered in 85.7% of cases. The main causes of the complications were acute heart failure (64.3%) and arterial embolism (14.3%). In only one case concomitant affection of the branches of the aortic arch was found to be the main cause of the development of a transitory ischemic attack. It is concluded that the development of acute heart failure in the patients may sharply increase the incidence of neurologic complications.


[Thanatological problems in cardiopulmonary surgery]. The pattern of immediate causes of death and types of terminal states (mechanisms of death) has been examined on the basis of thanatological analysis of 190 deaths occurred after operations on the heart (valve prosthesis) and lung (pneumonectomy). The differences in the thanatological profile of the respective surgical units are shown. Ways for reducing postoperative death in cardiopulmonary surgery are discussed.


Cardiovascular risk factor assessment of medical students as an educational tool. For three consecutive years, beginning in 1986, we evaluated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors of medical students as part of the teaching program in a Preventive Cardiology Academic Award. Entering students in three consecutive classes were screened on the first day of orientation to medical school. The first year, we evaluated 108 students (71 men and 37 women), the second year, 99 students (75 men, 24 women), and the third year 108 students (67 men and 41 women). During the single four-hour period, we obtained data on personal and family history of CVD risk factors, type A behavior, knowledge of CVD, attitudes toward CVD prevention, measures of depression and anger, blood pressure, blood pressure reactivity, physical activity, and diet. Blood was drawn for lipid analysis. Height and weight were measured, and a physical fitness step test was administered. Pulmonary function was measured during the third year. We used a four-tiered approach to preventive cardiology education. During the assessment session, abnormalities, such as elevated blood pressure or abnormal pulse, were discussed with the student. In the second tier, the data were analyzed and returned to all students during teaching sessions, enabling them to compare their levels with the class and the national averages. For the third tier, students with high-risk values, defined as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level > or = 150 mg/dL, a total cholesterol or triglyceride level > or = 200 mg/dL, or blood pressure > or = 140/90 mmHg, were seen by faculty physicians who suggested remedial interventions in separate sessions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The role of the telephone in providing prenatal care. To assess the role of telephone services in the health care of pregnant women, we evaluated the pregnancy healthline, Info-Grossesse (IG). We assessed the population of users, the reasons for their use, their reactions to the program, and their willingness to participate in follow-up surveys. During a 44-month period, there were 3,589 calls from women who were (or thought they were) pregnant. Overall, about half the calls related to teratogen information services, whereas the other half were for more general pregnancy-related information. Although women calling about medications were slightly older than the others, there were no major differences between groups defined by the primary reason for a call. Overall, about 17% of calls required a referral for formal risk counseling, with referrals most likely for calls about medications. Based on responses to a satisfaction questionnaire completed by over 80% of those asked to participate, IG decreased concerns for and answered all the questions of about three quarters of the respondents. Over 85% of eligible callers provided information on the outcome of their pregnancies, indicating that collecting these follow-up data is an acceptable and feasible program component. This study suggests that a pregnancy healthline such as IG can reach women worried about their pregnancies and that it can, thereby, reduce adverse conditions of pregnancy associated with "unnecessary" concerns or "inappropriate" use of services.


[Intrapleural hemorrhages after the correction of acquired heart defects under hypothermia without perfusion]. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of the case records of 757 patients who underwent correction of acquired heart valvular disease under conditions of hypothermia without perfusion. Intrapleural hemorrhage occurred in the postoperative period in 43 (5.7%) patients, in 35 of them rethoracotomy had to be performed to arrest the bleeding. In patients with aortal valvular diseases a relation was revealed between the postoperative blood loss and the patient's age, the volume of operative blood loss (reverse correlation), and total dose of protamine sulfate (direct correlation), in patients with mitral valvular diseases the postoperative blood loss was related to the volume of diuresis in the first postoperative day (direct correlation). It is concluded that defective surgical hemostasis is the main cause of intrapleural hemorrhages after correction of acquired valvular diseases of the heart under conditions of hypothermia without perfusion.


[Selective screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms by using the clinical examination and ultrasonic scanning]. The results of screening for asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in patients with great artery lesions and arterial hypertension (n = 163) are analyzed in the paper. Ten aneurysms were detected. These included 9 fusiform aneurysms, mean 43 +/- 3 mm in diameter and 1 ampullar one, 32 x 33 mm. The prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms was 7.2% in the risk group. It is concluded that palpation is of low informative value in the detection and differential diagnosis of asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms of small diameter and in this respect ultrasonic scanning is of high informative value. It is concluded that the target-oriented screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms is essential and cost-effective in angiological patients, especially in concomitance of chronic lower extremity ischemia and arterial hypertension, as well as in patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms (except for posttraumatic ones).


[The hemostatic system and the status of aortocoronary venous autografts in patients with ischemic heart disease after surgery for direct myocardial revascularization based on autopsy research data]. The study was undertaken to examine the relationship between the major hemostatic factors in the early postoperative period and the status of an autovenous graft in 19 patients with coronary heart disease who died 3 to 40 days after aortocoronary bypass surgery. The hemostatic system was monitored on the patients' admission and during the whole observation. Hypercoagulation was recorded in all patients in the first postoperative hours. A trend towards hypercoagulation during the entire period of observation was more marked in 7 patients whose postmortem study revealed even one nonfunctioning graft than in 12 patients with maintained patency of all grafts. The major parameters associated with graft thrombosis were platelet aggregation, ethanol test, and levels of soluble fibrin monomer components. Platelet aggregation and the presence and degree of soluble fibrin monomer components were of independent correlative significance. The magnitude of degenerative and proliferative changes in the vein was associated with the interval after the surgery. Myocardial infarction in the early postoperative period was related to graft dysfunction.


[The prognosis of the efficacy of revascularization of the penile corpora cavernosa in the surgical treatment of Leriche's syndrome]. The authors have developed a procedure for predicting the efficiency of penal spongy body revascularization in surgical management. Thirteen qualitative parameters, such as duration of sexual dysfunction, libido, having a sexual intercourse partner, degree of intermittent claudication, duration of lower extremity diseases, penal erection angle after drug test and ultrasound Doppler echography with drug test, were evaluated in 36 patients with Leriche's syndrome and erectile dysfunction. The qualitative parameters obtained were converted to quantitative discrete characteristics. The set of characteristics was used to predict the postoperative parameter--the value characterizing the sexual function by using the well-known methods of regression analysis on a PS/XI personal computer by the multiple regression programme in the Statgraphics program package. The high accuracy of prediction of the value characterizing the sexual function by this method makes it possible to substantiate the expediency of penal spongy body revascularization and opens up new ways for improving its outcomes.


[The effect of normothermic cardioplegic reperfusion with phosphocreatine on the recovery of the cardiac functional indices after total ischemia]. Experiments were conducted on a model of an isolated functioning rat heart to study myocardial protection by normothermic cardioplegic reperfusion (NCR) with phosphocreatine (PC) in 30-minute total ischemia at 37 degrees C. Five series of experiments were performed: (1) cardioplegia (K+ 30 mM/l, Mg2+ 15 nM/l, osmolarity 330 MOSM/l), ischemia, NCR not applied; (2) the same solution was introduced in the preischemic period, ischemia, NCR (K+ 15 mM/l, Mg2+ 15 mM/l, osmolarity 360 MOSM/l); (3) with the same experimental schedule, PC (10 mmol/l) was added to the cardioplegic solution in the preischemic period; (4) in a similar experiment PC was added in the stage of NCR; (5) PC administered in the preischemic stage and in NCR. Restoration of heart functional parameters, rate and ejection of lactate dehydrogenase into the perfusate were compared. The results of the experiment bear evidence that NCR protects the myocardium from reperfusion damage in normothermic ischemia. The optimal cardioprotective effect of PC is produced when it is administered in the preischemic stage. PC added to the solution for NCR has no positive effect on the restoration of heart functional parameters.


[Repeat uni- and bilateral operations in surgery for multiple primary cancer of the lungs and intrathoracic metastases]. Repeated uni- and bilateral resections of the lungs conducted from 1963 to 01.01.91 at the Department of Surgery of the Lungs and Mediastinum of the National Research Center of Surgery, USSR AMS for primary multiple carcinoma (13 patients) and metastatic lesions (32 patients) accounted for 1.3% of all operations in lung carcinoma. Such interventions are more justified in differentiated forms of primary multiple carcinoma and in solitary and occasional metastases of malignant tumors of various localization to the lungs. Morphological signs are the main differential diagnostic criteria of primary multiple carcinoma and intrapulmonary metastases. The main principle of surgical treatment of patients with primary multiple carcinoma and metastatic involvement of the lungs is an economical character of the operation with maximally admissible, from the oncological standpoint, preservation of functionally valuable pulmonary tissue. The combined method of treatment (operation + drug antineoplastic therapy) should take the leading place in the management of patients with intrapulmonary metastases of malignant tumors.


[The treatment of the sequelae of penetrating injuries to the esophagus]. On the basis of experience in the treatment of the sequelae of penetrating esophageal injuries in 79 patients the authors divided the patients into 3 groups: those in whom the perforation healed and stricture of the esophagus developed; patients with incurable purulent complications and esophageal fistulas; patients who underwent various operative interventions for acute perforation or its sequelae and needed a reconstructive operation. Recommendations on the choice of adequate therapeutic tactics for each group are given. The method of examination of the patients and the peculiarities of surgical treatment are described in detail. The most frequently encountered complications and the produced results are analysed. It is concluded that patients with sequelae of esophageal perforation must be treated at specialized clinics experienced in the management of this severe condition.


[The surgical procedural problems in treating mitral restenosis]. The paper summaries the experience with 244 operations for mitral restenosis. The methods for surgical treatment of mitral restenosis: closed mitral recommissurotomy, valvuloplasty, and mitral valve prosthesis are comparatively analyzed. Indications and contraindications are defined for relapse. Advantages of reconstructive valve-sparing operations and the necessity of their wide introduction into clinical practice are shown. The paper also gives recommendations how to choose the optimal policy of surgical treatment of mitral restenosis.


[The results of the surgical treatment of aortic coarctation in nursing infants with a sharp decrease in left ventricular pumping function]. Two-dimensional echocardiography was conducted in 24 patients, aged from 14 days to 12 months, suffering from coarctation of the aorta (CA) with the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) less than 30%. The symptom of LV fibroelastosis was found in only 16.7% of patients. In the first 7 days after correction of CA the LV end-systolic volume reduced by 20% and the EF increased by 1.5 times, which may be explained by removal of LV post-loading. The values of the LV pumping function improved in the late periods due to restoration of myocardial contractility. In infants operated on in the first 3 months of life the dynamics was more favorable, the EF reached 68 +/- 3.8% while in those operated on after the age of 3 months it reached only 50.8 +/- 2.5% (p < 0.05). The authors discuss problems of compensatory hypertrophy and myocardial contractile capacity as the main mechanisms responsible for LV pumping function in CA.


Fine structure of the Herbst corpuscles in the lingual mucosa of the finch, Lonchura striata. The ultrastructure of Herbst corpuscles in the lingual mucosa of the finch, Lonchura striata var. domestica, was examined by light and electron microscopy. Numerous Herbst corpuscles were found at the top of connective tissue papillae just beneath the dorsal epithelium. The Herbst corpuscle was composed of an outer capsule, inner core and central axon. The central axon was discoid in shape and immunoreactive for NSE-antiserum. The central axon was surrounded by compactly stacked layers of thin lamellae of lamellar cell processes. Since these lamellae did not completely encircle the axon as seen in cross sections, they displayed a symmetrical longitudinal cleft dividing the inner core into bilateral halves. Numerous axonal spines were seen to extend from the Y-axis of the axolemma into the cleft and occasionally into the cytoplasmic invagination of the lamellar cell body in the inner core. A number of clear and dense-cored vesicles were seen in the axoplasm near the base of axonal spines. Further, the omega-shaped coated invaginations were occasionally found on the axolemma near those places. These findings suggest that the area nearby the axonal spine in the central axon of the Herbst corpuscle is a site active both metabolically and functionally.


The enveloping of intercellular collagenous fibrils by reticular cell processes in postnatal development of rat lymph nodes. In the lymph nodes of adult rats reticular fibers are known to be covered by the processes of reticular cells. This study aims to visualize the sequence of the envelopment of reticular fibers by reticular cells during development. Rat popliteal lymph nodes of one to twenty-three days after birth were examined by electron microscopy. At the earliest stages, collagenous protofibrils were found in the intercellular space between studded mesenchymal cells. The protofibrils clustered around the plasma membrane of immature reticular cells and then became arranged into microfibrils of 30-40 nm in diameter. Bundles of the fibrils which might be called reticular fibers were surrounded by processes of more than one reticular cell. Then the reticular fiber came to be enclosed by the cytoplasmic process of a single reticular cell. Finally at 16-23 days after birth, the reticular fiber was completely ensheathed by the thick cytoplasmic process of a single reticular cell closed with a junctional complex. Throughout these periods, basal lamina-like materials existed between the reticular fiber and cytoplasmic process. Clumps of fibrils were rarely in contact with leukocytes, including lymphocytes. Immature elastic fibers appeared among collagenous fibrils of the reticular fiber when the fiber came to be enclosed by processes of some reticular cells. It was shown that the enclosure of the reticular fiber by the reticular cell did not result from physical pressure due to the increase of the number of lymphocytes, but the reticular cell actively enclosed the reticular fiber.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


VIP-immunoreactive nerve structures of the gastrointestinal tract in the developing and adult domestic duck. The first appearance and distribution of VIP-containing nerve structures were studied in the gut of embryonal, newly hatched and adult domestic ducks. Immunoreactive structures appeared in the mesenchyme of the gizzard-duodenum junction (antrum) at 5 days of incubation, and soon after diffused both cranially and caudally. Early in development, VIP-positive cell bodies were more numerous than positive fibres, appearing 3 days before the latter. Later on, the positive cell bodies decreased in number while the fibres increased. In the foregut, VIP-positive structures firstly appeared in the myenteric plexus while in the mid- and hindgut they appeared simultaneously in the myenteric and submucous-plexuses. The gastrointestinal VIP-innervation in newly hatched ducks differed from that of the adult because of the incomplete development of its mucosal component. The findings obtained indicated following: The time interval from 13 to 17 days of incubation seems critical for the growth of the gastrointestinal VIP-containing neurons. The molecular factors regulating the appearance of neuronal phenotypes are probably synthesized early in the avian gizzard development. VIP is widely diffused in the rectum where it may play important roles in regulating the onset and synchronism of peristaltic and anti-peristaltic movements.


Ultrastructural localization of Ca(++)-ATPases in Meissner's corpuscle of the Mongolian gerbil. The cytochemical localization of Ca(++)-ATPases in Meissner's corpuscles of the palatine mucosa of the Mongolian gerbil was studied. Wachstein-Meisel's medium modified by SALAMA et al. (1987) was used for the demonstration of low-affinity Ca(++)-ATPase or Ca++/Mg(++)-ATPase, whereas the medium devised by Körtje et al. (1990) was used for the demonstration of high-affinity Ca(++)-ATPase. Orthovanadate-containing medium, Ca(++)- or/and Mg(++)-free medium, ATP-free medium and preheated sections were used as controls. The plasma membrane of axon terminals consistently showed a strong reaction for high-affinity Ca(++)-ATPase and a capricious reaction for Ca++/Mg(++)-ATPase. In contrast, plasma membranes of the caveolae of lamellar plates showed a strongly positive reaction for Ca++/Mg(++)-ATPase.