Genetic analysis of dermatoglyphic patterns in twins. Analysis of variance was performed on 71 dermatoglyphic variables in 424 twin sets. Using a method of twin analysis estimates of genetic variance were obtained. 54 of the variables were quantitated using a scoring system with modifications of arch or no pattern = 0, loops = 1, whorl = 2. The results indicated a significant genetic influence in most pattern areas. Patterning was more genetically controlled in the hand than in the foot. The hallucal area had the most significant genetic component of the foot while the patterns in the thumb had nonsignificant components of genetic variance. The thumb deviated from patterning in the rest of the fingers and may be more closely related to big-toe patterning.


[Rabies vaccination with regards to its epidemiology (author's transl)]. The increasing animal rabies infection in the Federal Republic of Germany and the growing risk for man - in 1974 two people died from rabies consequences although inoculated - shows the necessily to protect all bitten patients and those exposed to a risk of rabies by a well-timed prophylactic immunization. Unfortunately the HEMPT-vaccine used in this country up to the beginning of 1974 did not the requirements because of the low rate of circulating neutralizing antibodies and the numerous neurological complications associated with this vaccination. The now commonly used duck embryo rabies vaccine (DEV) also induces only low antibody titers, therefore the active immunization in uncertain. A new type of vaccine cultivated on human diploid cells (HDCS-vaccine) is currently being investigated upon but is due to produce quickly antirabies antibody still in incubation and should be put on the market if it has been sufficiently tested. The question of cost for pre-exposure vaccination for man to be carried by the state is discussed.


Calf anticular cartilage in organ culture in a chemically defined medium. I. Autoradiographic study after [35S]sulfate labeling. Articular cartilage from 5-month-old calves survived for 4 weeks in organ culture in a chemically defined medium. The viability was assessed by calculating the labeling frequency of chondrocytes on autoradiograms after [35S]sulfate labeling. The survival rate of chondrocytes was highest in 20% oxygen tension, whereas 50% oxygen resulted in chondrocyte death after 2 weeks. The survival rate was improved by using 1-mm thick standardized pieces of cartilage. The cells of the superficial layer showed a higher proportion of living chondrocytes than the cells in the deeper layers. No differentiation, dedifferentiation, or outgrowth of cells occurred during the experimental period.


[The spectrogram of trace elements in newborns and infants]. In 15 newborn infants and 34 sucklings the spectrogram of 25 cations in whole blood, serum and urine was determined by emission and atomic absorption spectrometry. The values ascertained by this method are tabulated and compared with the mean normal values of adults. Already known basic values are supplemented and the distribution patterns of not yet determined trace elements are demonstrated. Highly significant deviations from the normal values of adults were established in the whole blood of the newborn with regard to zinc, copper and chromium. The same differences became manifest when we compared materanal and infantile whole blood. In serum, on the contrary, no differences were observed. In urine, however, significant differences occured in numerous cations. The sucklings of the 1st trimenon showed highly significant deficits in manganese and copper values in whole blood.


Human testicular cultures. II. Sertoli cells. Two cell types, one epitheloid and the other fibroblast-like, were found in human testicular cultures derived from testes of patients. Ultrastructural studies indicated that, whereas the epitheloid cells were Sertoli cells, the fibroblast-like cells were fibroblasts. The Sertoli cells could maintain growth for a period of more than 4 months. In cultures derived from normal testes, only fibroblasts were observed.


Methadone-induced behavioral changes: circular movements, aggression, and electrophysiological aspects. Behavioral changes are induced in animals by methadone administration. The dose-dependent CM effect is present 2 to 3 minutes after methadone administration. This effect can be partially blocked by nalline. A  Complete blockade occurs when the naline-reserpine combination is given prior to the administration of methadone. Atropine sulfate dose not block the CM effect. Methadone withdrawal produces mild symptoms of aggression, and they can be intensified by amphetamine and apomorphine. During the process of development of tolerance and addiction, electrophysiological changes are produced. These changes can be intensified by apomorphine treatment in the methadone-withdrawal animals. On the basis of pharmacological manipulation in our experimental conditions, the involvement of cerebral biogenic amines, especially dopamine, is proposed.


Modification of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Isolation and identification of derivatives. Bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A was allowed to react with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate at pH 8 and 4 degrees. After reduction with sodium borohydride, the principal products formed in the initial stages of modification were separated by successive chromatography on CM-cellulose and SP-Sephadex. The isolated derivatives were identified as Nalpha-(P-pyridoxyl)-Lys-1-,Nepsilon-(P-pyridoxyl)-Lys-7-, and Nepsilon-(P-pyridoxyl)-Lys-41-ribonuclease A. These results are interpreted in terms of the specificity of pyridoxal-P as a protein reagent.


Pituitary lactogenic hormone. XXXVII. Synthesis and properties of the carboxyl terminal cyclic undecapeptide. The carboxyl terminal cyclic undecapeptide of the ovine prolactin molecule: Leu-Asn-Cys-Arg-Ile-Ile-Tyr-Asn-Asn-Asn-Cys has been synthesized by the solid-phase method. The circular dichroism of the synthetic peptide has been investigated. It was also found that the cyclic undecapeptide does not have pigeon crop-sac stimulating activity, or immunological activity when tested by complement fixation experiments.


First aid and general principles of treatment of urethral injuries accompanying pelvic fractures. Adequate first aid and operation done in due time with participation of an urologist enables the successful primary repair of urethral injuries accompanying pelvic fractures. Suprapubic cystostomy, drainage of the pre- and subvesical space towards the perineum, splinting of the urethra with an ureteral catheter and ureteral or at least paraureteral sutures done through a perineal incision are the principal requirements. Avoidance of catheterization, but eventually emptying of the bladder through a suprapubic puncture in the preoperative period and treating the urethra with greatest gentleness in time of repair should prevent additional injury to the urethra, in most cases only partially torn. Further development shall lead to giving up the theory of two-stage operations of urethral injuries.


Binding of retinol to isolated retinal pigment epithelium in the presence and absence of retinol-binding protein. Isolated human and bovine pigment epithelium actively binds H3-retinol when vitamin A alcohol is present in the incubation medium bound to human retinol-binding protein. Pigment epithelium is unable to bind retinol present in the incubation solution as the free form, i.e., not bound to its physiologic carrier protein. It is suggested that an interaction between retinol-binding protein and the membranes of pigment epithelial cells is essential for the active transport of retinol into pigment epithelium.


Sheep milk-borne epidemic of tick-borne encephalitis in Slovakia. A study of an outbreak of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a natural focus of this infection at ZAvada village (Slovakia) led to the conclusion that apparently the epidemic was caused by consumption of fresh sheep cheese and infection of persons occurred by the alimentary route. To our knowledge, this is the first record of this source of infection in man.


Typical Turner's syndrome with 45 XO karyotype and normal menstruation. Cytogenetic and histological findings. The clinical, laboratory, histological and cytogenic findings in a patient with Turner's syndrome with normal menstruation are presented. Although the phenotype and karyotype were those of Turner's syndrome, normal sexual development and periods occurred at puberty. The endocrine studies revealed onyl a mild diabetic oral glucose tolerance test. At laparotomy, normal uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries were seen. Histological examination of the ovaries showed several primordial follicles and a follicle cyst. Tissue cultures of lymphocytes, skin fibroblasts and ovary revealed a single line of cells with the 45 XO karyotype. Although 25 cases of Turner's syndrome with normal sexual development have been reported, most of them were mosaics and only a small number showed the pure 45 XO karyotype.


Evidence for the association of acyl transferases with the production of nuclear evaginations in maturing eggs of the fern Dryopteris filix-mas. Utilizing the ability of free CoA to reduce ferricyanide, evidence is presented that acyl transferase activity is associated with the nuclear envelope in the maturing egg of the fern Dryopteris filix-mas. This activity is particularly marked in the nuclear evaginations. This strengthens the view that the evaginations are distinct structures formed by localized growth of the envelope, and not transient extensions of the nucleus.


Nodular panniculitis in the dog.

Nodular panniculitis in the dog. Nodular panniculitis, a granulomatous inflammatory disease of the subcutaneous fat, was diagnosed in 11 dogs. Clinically, the disease was characterized by development of subcutaneous nodules and intermittent fever and anorexia. Short-term corticosteroid therapy was effective in 10 of the 11 dogs.


Efficacy of inactivated tissue culture rabies vaccine in dogs. Inactivated, nonadjuvanted tissue culture-origin rabies vaccine was tested in 168 dogs for its ability to provide protection against challenge of immunity 1 year after vaccination. Several laboratory methods were used concurrently to measure the potency of the vaccine. When used at full strength, the vaccine protected 70% of dogs after either a 1- or 2-dose vaccination schedule. When vaccine was diluted to contain less antigenic mass, the 1-dose schedule was not as effective as 2 doses. High serum-neutralizing antibody titers developed by 7 days after vaccination, but the titers declined rapidly thereafter. The US reference vaccine protected 28 of 30 dogs.


Chemosensory responses of a protozoan are modified by antitubulins. Modification of a behavioral response of a marine dinoflagellate to chemical cues is described. Negative response to choline was modified by the antitubulins vincristine, vinblastine, griseofulvin, and trifluralin, but not by colchicine. Positive responses to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine were unaffected by these drugs.


Uptake of the glucose analogue 2-deoxyglucose by germinating mitospores of Allomyces macrogynus. Mitospores or cysts of Allomyces macrogynus do not take up the glucose analogue 2-deoxyglucose. Uptake of 2-deoxyglucose by germlings begins at 25 min into germination, the start of the rhizoid stage, and increases in rate by approximately 50-fold until 100 min into germination. The rate remains constant from 100 to 200 min, at which time germination is completed and hyphal formation begins. The presence of glucose in the germination medium blocks the uptake of 2-deoxyglucose. Of the other sugars tested, only galactose had any effect on 2-deoxyglucose uptake. Actinomycin D treatment during germination in a glucose-containing medium prevented the appearance of the uptake system, but actinomycin D was not effective after the transfer to a glucose-free medium. Cycloheximide treatment prevented the appearance of the uptake system if it was added at the time of the transfer to the glucose-free medium; it inhibited uptake only partially if the germlings were starved of glucose before its addition. It appears, therefore, that both ribonucleic acid synthesis during germination and protein synthesis after the removal of glucose are required for the uptake of 2-deoxyglucose.


Differential expression of alpha- and beta-globin genes during differentiation of cultured erythroleukemic cells. Murine erythroleukemic cells induced to differentiate in vitro with dimethylsulfoxide provide a model for events involved in the regulated expression of the globin genes. Here we examine alpha- and beta-globin gene expression in such cells which contain no detectable globin RNA prior to induction. To quantitate alpha- and beta-globin RNAs in cellular RNA samples by molecular hybridization techniques, highly radioactive complementary DNAs were synthesized using mouse alpha- and beta-globin RNAs purified by formamide gel electrophoresis. Maximally induced erythroleukemic cells and mouse reticulocytes contain nearly equal relative amounts of alpha- and beta-globin RNA. During the period in which globin RNA accumulates in differentiating erythroleukemic cells, however, alpha- and beta-globin RNAs are not present in equivalent amounts. alphaRNA is present in substantial excess (alpha/beta ratio 3.7) early in induction, and the alpha/beta RNA ratio progressively approaches 1 as differentiation proceeds further. These observations directly suggest that the alpha- and beta-globin genes are differentially expressed during cellular differentiation and raise questions as to how relative expression of globin genes is controlled during normal development.


Nuclear magnetic resonance titration curves of histidine ring protons. Conformational transition affecting three of the histidine residues of ribonuclease. NMR titration curves are reported for the 4 histidine residues of ribonuclease A in sodium acetate and for ribonuclease S in sodium acetate, phosphate, and sulfate solutions. Evidence is presented that the imidazole side chain of histidine residue 48 undergoes a conformational change, probably also involving the carboxyl side chain of aspartic acid residue 14. This group is considered to be responsible for the low pH inflection with pKa 4.2 present in the NMR titration curve of the C-2 proton resonance of histidine 48. The NMR titration curves of the active site histidine residues 12 and 119 also exhibit inflections at low pH values, although there is no carboxyl group within 9 A of the imidazole side chain of histidine residue 12 in the structure of ribonuclease S determined by x-ray crystallography (Wyckoff, H. W., Tsernoglou, D., Hanson, A. W. Knox, J. R., Lee, B., and Richards, F. M. (1970) J. Biol. Chem. 245, 305-328). Curve fitting was carried out on 11 sets of NMR titration data using a model in which the 3 histidine residues 12, 119, and 48 are assumed to be affected by a common carboxyl group. The results obtained indicate that such a model with fewer parameters gives as good a representation of the data as the model in which each histidine residue is assumed to interact separately with a different carboxyl group. Therefore, it is concluded that the ionization of aspartic acid residue 14 is indirectly experienced by the active site histidine residues through the conformational change at histidine 48. A model assuming mutual interaction of the active site histidine residues does not account for the low pH inflections in these curves.


Thromboresistance of glass after glow discharge treatment in argon. Glow discharge treated (GDT) inorganic materials are sterile and free of all organic contaminants. Such materials implanted in the canine inferior vena cava often demonstrate significant thromboresistance. Standard Pyrex glass tubing was GDT in argon to provide a surface free energy above 70 dynes/cm, slight surface negativity, and other surface-physical modifications of its interface. Chromic acid cleaned lengths of the same tubing, and short segments whose edges were not fire-polished were used as controls. Upon canine implantation, the in vivo results were similar in independent surgical laboratories. The glass was implanted as 1.4 cm long rings or as 5 cm long tubes in separate medical centers according to different protocols. GDT specimens remained patent; all controls accumulated thrombi. A remarkably pure, low critical surface tension, labile protein coating covered all cylindrical lumens after 2 hr in vivo. This coating diminished within 2 weeks and was essentially absent after 480 days, eeven though scanning EM showed evidence of a micron thick luminal film, probably eroding glass. No emboli were found in the implant animal's kidney or lungs at any stage.


N-dimethylaminomethylene derivatives for the gas-liquid chromatography of primary sulfonamides. Dimethylformamide dialkylacetals have been found to react readily with primary sulfonamides to form N-dimethylaminomethylene derivatives. These compounds possess excellent gas-liquid chromatographic properties and can be conveniently prepared at the submicrogram level. Their retention times are much greater than those of other sulfonamide derivatives (e.g., N,N-dimethyl) but their ease of preparation and lack of absorptive properties make them attractive for gas-liquid chromatographic studies. The practical applicability of this derivatization approach to biological studies is illustrated by the gas-liquid chromatographic determination of 3-bromo-5-cyanobenzenesulfonamide in ovine blood using 3,5-dibromobenzenesulfonamide as the internal standard. The method has a detection limit of 25 ppb with electron capture detection.


Separation and characterization of the reduced metabolites of the 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone hormone by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Occurrence of stereoisomeric forms in rat adrenals and liver. In order to study the metabolism of 18-OH-11-deoxycorticosterone, the mineralocorticoid hormone responsible for hypertension in rats and humans, we have synthesized the following dihydrogenated and tetrahydrogenated reference derivatives: 18,21-dihydroxy-5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione, 18,21-dihydroxy-5beta-pregnane-3,20-dione, 3alpha,18,21-trihydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one (I), 3beta,18,21-trihydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one (II), 3alpha,18,21-trihydroxy-5beta-pregnan-20-one (III) and 3beta,18,21-trihydroxy-5beta-pregnan-20-one (IV). A complete separation of these compounds from each other and from tetrahydrocorticosterone isomers has been realized only by the association of thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography on high-efficiency glass capillary columns. Characterization by gas-liquid chromatography-mas spectrometry is described. The stereoisomer distribution in rats is: adrenals of adult males and females (compounds I and II in the ratio 4:1); adrenals of 23-day-old males and females (compounds I, II and III, 11:11:3); liver of females (compound I and traces of III); and the liver of adult male (compounds II, III and IV, 4.5:4.5:1).


A universal reagent for phospholipid analysis. A simple procedure for preparing a stable stock reagent an working reagents for the detection and determination of phospholipids is proposed, and a simple, rapid and accurate thin-layer chromatographic technique is suggested. The results obtained for egg yolk phospholipids are presented as an example.


High-speed liquid chromatograhic separation of glycerides, fatty acids and sterols. The high-speed liquid chromatographic separation and detection of triglycerides, diglycerides, fatty acid and sterols was carried out to permit the analyses of total lipids from soybeans and soybean food. The study was conducted with a Varian Aerograph LC 1200 liquid chromatograph equipped with a hydrogen flame ionization detector. Linear-gradient, solvent-flow programming was used. Separation of the total lipids by the gradient was achieved in 30 minutes and the column prepared for the next analysis by washing with solvents. The detector response curves for authentic compounds were linear and equivalent to within 2.3% error, based on the response to 1-monopalmitin. The minimum detectable amounts of the authentic substances were between 0.1 and 1.4mug. When a three-stranded wire was used instead of single filament wire, the sensitivity was increased by 37%.


Leucine. A possible regulator of protein turnover in muscle. Incorporation of radiolabeled precursors into muscle proteins was studied in isolated rat hemidiaphragms. A mixture of three branched-chain amino acids (0.3 mM each) added to media containing glucose stimulated the incorporation of [14C]lysine into proteins. When tested separately, valine was ineffective, isoleucine was inhibitory, but 0.5 mM leucine increased the specific activity of muscle proteins during incubation with [14C]lysine or [14C]acetate in hemidiaphragms from fed or fasted rats incubated with or without insulin. Preincubation with 0.5 mM leucine increased the specific activity of muscle proteins during a subsequent 30- or 60-min incubation with [14C]lysine or [14C]pyruvate without leucine. Preincubation with other amino acids (glutamate, histidine, methionine, phenylalanine, or tryptophan) did not exert this effect. When hemidiaphragms were incubated with a mixture of amino acids at concentrations found in rat serum and a [14C]lysine tracer, the specific activity of muscle proteins increased when leucine in the medium was raised from 0.1 to 0.5 mM. Experiments with actinomycin D and cycloheximide suggested that neither RNA synthesis nor protein synthesis are required for the initiation of the leucine effect. Leucine was not effective when added after 1 h preincubation without leucine. The concentration of lysine in the tissue water of diaphragms decreased during incubation with 0.5 mM leucine in the presence or absence of cycloheximide, suggesting that leucine inhibited protein degradation. During incubation with [3h]tyrosine (0.35 mM) the addition of 0.5 mM leucine increased the specific activity of muscle proteins, while the specific activity of intracellular tyrosine remained constant and its concentration decreased, suggesting that leucine also promoted protein synthesis. The concentration of leucine in muscle cells or a compartment thereof may play a role in regulating the turnover of muscle proteins and influence the transition to negative nitrogen balance during fasting, uncontrolled diabetes, and the posttraumatic state. Leucine may play a pivotal role in the protein-sparing effect of amino aicds.


Lipolytic activity with the membrane fraction of bovine skim milk. Colloidal phosphate-free skim milk was subjected to gel filtration on Sepharose 4B. Lipolytic activity was observed in the membrane material eluted in the void volume fraction and in the protein fraction representing a broad range of molecular weights.


Bovine vaginal circulation: changes during estrous cycle. Vaginal thermal conductance was measured in 12 heifers and 7 cows with a gradient layer heat flow probe. Values rose for 4 to 5 days prior to day of behavioral estrus (day 0), with a peak on days --2 and --1, and then declined from day 0 to +5. Curves for heifers were higher than those for cows although there was no evidence that they were not parallel. Changes during the cycle appear to result from estrogen-induced alterations in blood flow rate in vaginal tissues.


[The current state measles eradication programs in the German Democratic Republic]. The analysis of epidemiology effectiveness of contrameasles immunoprophylaxis in the GDR. On the basis of the programme, scientifically established and planwise realized, of the measles control, this infection could have been practically liquidated as early as in 5 years when observing immunoprophylactic measures.


Mechanical damage to rabbit tracheal epithelium from inhaling inert pyrite dust of needle - like structure. Part I. The effect of pyrite dust inhalation on the ultrastructure of rabbit tracheal epithelium was studied as a model of mechanic damage of the epithelium from a chemically practically inert aerosol of needle-like structure. Rabbits were eposed to a mean pyrite dust concentration of 49.7 mg/m3 in a solid-aerosol inhalation chamber for intervals of 1/2,2 or 8 h. At each interval, tissue from three animals was examined. Dust particles were found to penetrate gradually into and affect epithelial cells but were not transported further by the cells or phagocytized. Dust particles especially cumulated in the secretory goblet cells. The ciliary border was also deranged and consequently the vital self-cleaning function of the respiratory passages epithelium was impaired.


The problem of pathogenicity of Moraxellae in the urogenital tract of women. The incidence of Moraxella nonliquefaciens an M. liquefaciens in the urogenital tract is relatively low. These microorganisms were detected in 0.77% of cases during the examination of a total of 3 761 women. M. nonliquefaciens was found in 26 out of 29 cases. The frequency of occurrence did not differ in the groups of healthy women, of women with inflammatory signs in the urogenital tract and of women with confirmed gonorrhoea. We therefore believe that these moraxellae do not play any pathogenetic role in this localization. In our opinion, the similarity of microscopic preparations and the shape of the colonies of these moraxellae with those of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is noteworthy: unless glucose splitting test is carried out, the two species can frequently be confused. The test of sensitivity to antibiotics revealed a considerable decrease in sensitivity to penicillin G as compared with the report of Bövre and Henricksen (1967). Sensitivity to other antibiotics remained unchanged.


Alveolar macrophage response to experimentally induced ornithosis. Effects of two strains of the agent of ornithosis upon alveolar macrophages of mice were compared. Macrophages were obtained by lavages of the lower respiratory tract. Experimental mice were intranasally infected with 100 LD50 of strain P 89 and strain Stanglová, respectively. Up to the culmination of the disease (from 6th to 8th day in P 89 and from 5th to 8th day in Stanglová), the number of harvested macrophages increased. The phagocytic index soon reached values around 40% (P 89) and 25% (Stanglová). Basophilic and eosinophilic macrophages increased in volume and their nuclear as well as plasma membranes became disrupted. A tendency of alveolar macrophages to fuse and form syncytial elements and sporadically, rosets, was observed. All cells in the lavage went through the same changes. Histological examination has shown initial changes in epithelial cells of bronchi and development of pneumonia after fusion of peribronchial leucocytic infiltrates. By employing the above described technique, no great changes in the quality of the effects of either strain P 89 or Stanglová were found. A slight difference was observed only in the degree of alveolar macrophage stimulation and in the onset of symptoms.


Electron microscopy study of the development of neurovaccinia virus in rabbit blood leucocyte cultures. In electron microscopy of rabbit blood leucocytes cultured after infection with a large dose of neurovaccinia virus, virus particles can be observed within 24 hours in the cytoplasm of the monocytoid cells (monocytes and macrophages) and occasionally in the polymorphonuclear cells, but never in the lymphocytes. The morphology of the virus particles does not differ from the description of these particles in other types of host cells. The virus replication cycle in the monocytoid cells is slow and the virus matures asynchronously. Virus replication causes infected cells to disintegrate.


Detection of carcinoembryonic antigen in tissue sections by immunoperoxidase. A triple-bridge, indirect, immunoperoxidase method for detecting and localizing carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in tissue sections is described. By this technique, a cell-surface localization of CEA in colonic carcinoma and ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma cells could be visualized. In the case of the colonic cancer, both the tumor from the descending colon and a metastasis to the skin gave positive peroxidase reactions for CEA. This immunocytochemical method for demonstrating the presence of CEA functioned in both frozen, ethanol-fixed and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, thus making it applicable for use with tissue sections conventionally prepared for light microscopy.


The effect of u.v. irradiation of the vegetal pole of Xenopus laevis eggs on the presumptive primordial germ cells. The initial effect of u.v. irradiation of the vegetal pole was to inhibit cleavage in the vegetal hemisphere although karyokinesis was not substantially affected. In this way a syncytium formed in the vegetal hemisphere which broke down into individual cells some time between morula and late blastula. The movement of the germ plasm from the peripheral cortical regions into the interior of the egg was not appreciably delayed although aggregation of the germ plasm did not take place until the individual presumptive primordial germ cells were formed when the syncytium broke down. The method of segregation of the germ plasm and formation of the presumptive primordial germ cells was therefore very different in irradiated embryos from the normal orderly processes which depend on normal cleavage patterns. After neurula, the number of presumptive primordial germ cells declined rapidly and at stage 43/44, when the genital ridges in normal embryos contain primordial germ cells, the genital ridges in irradiated embryos were sterile. These results raise the question whether derangement of the segregation of the presumptive primordial germ cells is solely responsible for the later abnormalities in the cell lineage or whether u.v. irradiation affects the germ plasm and therefore indirectly the germ cells.


[The role of temperature in phenotypic expression of amphibian embryos Pleurodeles waltlii homozygous for the heat-sensitive mutation ac (caudal ascites)]. 1. At the feeding stage (st. 38), a high percentage (79%) of Pleurodeles homozygous ac/ac larvae show bent tails after a persistent ascitic blister in the dorsal part of the fin, when embryonic development occurred at 12 degrees C; about only 25% of them are affected by abdominal and pericardic ascites; about 40% can feed and survive. The larval phenotype is very different when embryonic development occurred at 23 degrees C, in which case tail growth appears to be normal, but 95% larvae die, due to ascitic fluid collection in the abdominal and heart regions, marked anaemia and microcephaly. 2. The exchange of posterior neural plates and dorso-lateral epidermis between normal and mutant neurulae has shown that the localization of the blister in the dorsal fin is not dependent on autonomous properties of the mutant dorsal tissues, but should be considered as resulting from general disturbances in the mutatnt organism. 3. Experiments were performed, involving a temperature shift from 12 to 23 degrees


The role of microtubules in chick blastoderm expansion--a quantitative study using colchicine. Since their discovery, cytoplasmic microtubules have been much studied in the context of cell movement and cell shape change. Much of the work has used drugs, particularly colchicine and its relatives, which break down microtubules- the so-called anti-tubulins. Colchicine and its relatives, which break down microtubules- the so-called anti-tubulins. Colchicine inhibits the orientated movements of many cell types in vitro, and disrupts cell shape change in several morphogenetic situations. The investigatiion reported here used chick blastoderm expansion in New culture in an attempt to quantify the colchicine effect on orientated cell movement. However, although colchicine could halt blastoderm expansion entirely, a simple interpretation was not possible. (1) Colchicine at concentrations capable of blocking mitosis, and of disrupting all or most of the cytoplasmic microtubules of the cells studied, inhibited blastoderm expansion, often resulting in an overall retraction of the cell sheet. (2) Though blastoderm expansion does normally involve considerable cell proliferation, the colchicine effect could not be ascribed to a block on cell division since aminopterin, which stops cell division without affecting microtubules, did not inhibit expansion. (3) Blastoderm expansion is effected by the locomotion of a specialized band of edge cells at the blastoderm periphery. These are the only cells normally attached to the vitelline membrane - the substrate for expansion. When most of the blastoderm was excised, leaving the band of edge cells, and the cultures then treated with colchicine, expansion occurred normally. The colchicine effect on blastoderm expansion could not therefore be ascribed to a direct effect on the edge cells. (4) An alternative site of action of the drug is the remaining cells of the blastoderm. These normally become progressively flatter as expansion proceeds. If flattening in these cells is even partially dependent on their cytoplasmic microtubules, disruption of these microtubules might result in the inherent contractility of the cells resisting and eventually halting edge cell migration. That cell shape in these cells is dependent on microtubules was demonstrated by treating flat blastoderm fragments with colchicine. On incubation, the area occupied by these fragments decreased by 25-30% more than controls. The significance of these results in the general context of orientated cell movements and cell shape determination is discussed, with particular emphasis on the analogous system of Fundulus epiboly.


In vitro differentiation of a homogeneous cell population--the epidermis of Xenopus laevis. A simple culture technique is described for obtaining homogeneous populations of differentiating epidermal cells from adult amphibian skin. This population of cells continues its normal differentiation, namely keratinization, in vitro. By the third day of culture more than 99-9% of the cells in the population contain immunoreactive keratin. During the next 5-7 days of culture these cells synthesize increasing amounts of a tissue-specific keratin-like protein until this protein constitutes more than 25% of the total extractable carboxymethylated proteins of these cells. Under the conditions described cell division does not occur during the course of differentiation. When vitamin A is added to the culture medium the rate of keratinization is decreased; when its antagonist citral is added, keratinization is accelerated. These factors influence only the rate but not the direction of differentiation.


Some physicochemical properties of pike fry rhabdovirus RNA. Pike fry rhabdovirus (pfr) rna has been characterized as a single-stranded non-segmented molecule of about 4 X 10(6) daltons. In sucrose gradients in 0-1 M-NaC1 it had a sedimentation coefficient of 40 to 45S, somewhat lower than that Of Semliki Forest virus RNA. The sedimentation velocity of the RNA is strongly influenced by the salt concentration and divalent cations. It shows a buoyant density of 1-65 g/ml in caesium sulphate. The base composition of the RNA is 21-6% G, 25-I% A, 22-4% C and 30-9% U. It is thus comparable to the RNAs of other rhabdoviruses.


Influenza virus RNA-synthesizing complex in the nucleoplasm of infected cells. An RNA-synthesizing complex was found in the nucleoplasm of fowl plague virus-infected chicken fibroblast and Ehrlich tumour cells. The complex sedimented at 120 S and banded in caesium chloride at 1-39 to 1-41 g/ml. It contained an influenza nucleocapsid protein as a major protein constituent. The complex functioned late in infection, and RNA synthesis in it was resistant to actinomycin D, the properties expected of influenza virus replicative complex.


Biosynthesis of catecholamines in organotypic cultures of peripheral autonomic nervous system: modifications by biopterin and other agents. Organotypic cultures of chick-embryo sympathetic ganglion chains maintained in vitro for 3-4 weeks rapidly synthesized catecholamines, as demonstrated by the conversion of L-[U-14C]tyrosine to catechol derivatives and by histofluorescence assay. The biosynthesis of catechols from radioactive L-tyrosine leveled off at 6 hr of incubation and dropped slightly at 10 hr. The addition of DL-alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine to the culture medium did not affect protein synthesis, but produced a complete block in the synthesis of catecholamines from L-tyrosine, with consequent loss of fluorescence in the bodies and proximal processes of adrenergic neurons in 2 hr, and essentially complete loss in 6 hr. Our observations suggest that a major portion of the catecholamines were synthesized in the perikarya and transported via neuronal processes to their terminals. The addition of monoamine oxidase inhibitors to the incubation medium produced a moderate to pronounced increase in fluorescence; reserpine caused a rapid and profound loss of catecholamines. When added to the culture medium, crude biopterin produced an increase in the synthesis of catechol derivatives from radioactive L-tyrosine and a marked increase in fluorescence, beginning in the neuronal perikarya. This effect was completely blocked by DL-alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. The mechanism of biopterin's action in the synthesis of catecholamines in cultures of sympathetic ganglia is not completely elucidated from these studies, but may be related to the role it plays as cofactor for tyrosine hydrocylase.


Uptake of GABA by neuronal and nonneuronal cells in dispersed cell cultures of postnatal rat cerebellum. A study was made of the time course and kinetics of [3H]GABA uptake by dispersed cell cultures of postnatal rat cerebellum with and without neuronal cells. The properties of GABA neurons were calculated from the biochemical difference between the two types of cultures. It was found that for any given concentration of [3H]GABA, or any time up to 20 min, GABA neurons in cultures 21 days in vitro had an average velocity of uptake several orders of magnitude greater than that of nonneuronal cells. In addition, the apparent Kmvalues for GABA neurons for high and low affinity uptake were 0.33 X 10(-6) M and 41.8 X 10(-4) M, respectively. For nonneuronal cells, the apparent Km for high affinity uptake was 0.29 X 10(-6) M. The apparent Vmax values for GABA neurons for high and low affinity uptake were 28.7 X 10(-6) mol/g DNA/min and 151.5 mmol/g DNA/min, respectively. For nonneuronal cells, the apparent Vmax for high affinity uptake was 0.06 X 10(-6) mol/g DNA/min. No low affinity uptake system for nonneuronal cells could be detected after correcting the data for binding and diffusion. By substituting the apparent kinetic constants in the Michaelis-Menten equation, it was determined that for GABA concentrations of 5 X 10(-9) M to 1 mM or higher over 99% of the GABA should be accumulated by GABA neurons, given equal access of all cells to the label. In addition, high affinity uptake of [3H]GABA by GABA neurons was completely blocked by treatment with 0.2 mM ouabain, whereas that by noneuronal cells was only slightly decreased. Most (75-85%) of the [3H]GABA (4.4 X 10(-6) M) uptake by both GABA neurons and nonneuronal cells was sodium and temperature dependent.


Monozygous twins discordant for multiple sclerosis. Report of one pair and discussion of possible causes of multiple sclerosis. One pair of male monozygous twins was examined: only 1 twin had multiple sclerosis. Differences in the life histories of the twins were identified. Haematological, biochemical and microbiological studies were performed. It is possible in theory to determine which environmental factors may have been responsible for the development of multiple sclerosis in 1 twin. Several differences in life history were found in this study.


Myelin deficiency in hereditary pituitary dwarfism: a biochemical and morphological study. Myelin in the central nervous system of 19-day-old Snell's dwarf mice was studied morphologically and biochemically. The number of myelinated axons per unit area in the corticospinal tract and anterior commissure of dwarf mice was significantly decreased. The distribution of myelinated fibers based upon sheath thickness was normal. The yield of isolated myelin was decreased by 56% in the dwarf but its compositions of lipids, proteins, glycoproteins and 2', 3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase activity was nearly equivalent to that of control myelin.


Congenital hypothyroidism--signs and symptoms in the newborn period. Infants with athyrotic hypothyroidism usually manifest signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism prior to or during the period in the newborn nursery. These features are variable and include: prolonged gestation with large size at birth, large posterior fontanel, respiratory distress, hypothermia, peripheral cyanosis, hypoactivity, poor feeding, lag in onset of stooling, abdominal distension with vomiting, protracted icterus, and/or edema. Retrospective assessment of newborn nursery records of three infants from the Collaborative Perinatal Project who were subsequently found to have congenital hypothyroidism disclosed that they had six, eight, and nine, respectively, of these features while in the newborn nursery. Evaluation of newborn records on 12 other infants, often less complete, who were later found to have congenital hypothyroidism disclosed that each infant had from one to seven of these signs and symptoms, with an average of 3.2 per infant. Thus the most important period for clinical consideration of athyrotic hypothyroidism is in the newborn nursery to initiate early thyroid replacement therapy in affected infants.


The status of infant mortality in Sweden and the United States. A study was made of live birth rates, infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death rates, late fetal death ratios, and perinatal death ratios for Sweden and the United States for selected years, 1950-1973. Sweden has lower live birth rates, infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death rates, as well as lower perinatal death ratios. Data available on low-birth-weight live births for selected years, 1959-1970, for both countries indicated that rates in the United States were almost twice those in Sweden. Implications of these findings for the United States are discussed in light of the quantity, quality, and delivery of health care services, as well as of other factors in Sweden.


The surface membrane of Leishmania. I. The effects of lectins on different stages of Leishmania braziliensis. The infective stages of Leishmania braziliensis, amastigotes and promastigotes subcultured a limited number of times, were agglutinated by Ricinus communis agglutinin and Concanavalin A. These results suggest that terminal ligands similar or identical with alpha-D mannose, alpha-D glucose (specific receptors for Con A), and alpha-D galactose (specific receptor for RCA) are present in the surface membrane of L. braziliensis. Noninfective promastigotes from the same stock, but subcultured approximately 500 times, were not agglutinated by RCA suggesting either the absence of the alpha-D galactose groups in the surface membrane or their presence in a very reduced number. Agglutination with soybean agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin, or phytohemagglutinin P was not observed in any of the L. braziliensis forms tested. The difference in polysaccharide residues on the surface membrane of L. braziliensis may be related to the different pathogenic properties of the cell.


Effects of narcotic agonists and antagonists on schedule-induced water and morphine ingestion. A pattern of lever pressing and schedule-induced polydipsia was maintained in rats by a fixed-interval 90-second of food presentation. The effects of acute morphine, methadone, nalorphine, naloxone, pentazocine and cyclazocine were studied in control rats (morphine-free rats) and rats maintained on 200 mg/kg daily oral infections of morphine (morphine-maintained rats). The effects of morphine, nalorphine and naloxone also were studied in rats that were drinking a 0.5 mg/ml of morphine solution (morphine-drinking rats) in the experimental apparatus. All six drugs decreased drinking in the morphine-free rats. Pentazocine and naloxone increased lever-pressing rates in the morphine-free rats, while morphine, methadone, nalorphine and cyclazocine only decreased lever-pressing rates. In the morphine-maintained rats, the dose-effect curves for both lever-pressing and drinking measures were shifted to the left for naloxone, nalorphine, pentazocine and cyclazocine, indicating an increased sensitivity to the antagonists, while the dose-effect curves for morphine and methadone were shifted to the right, indicating that the morphine-maintenance regimen had produced tolerance to these drugs. Morphine and methadone injections increased drinking in the morphone-maintained rats, but none of the drugs increased lever-pressing rates in the morphine-maintained rats. In the morphine-drinking rats, morphine decreased lever pressing at doses that left licking rates unaffected. Since the effects of morphine in the morphine-drinking rats differed from those in the morphine-free rats or the morphine-maintained rats, the effects of morphine on the self-ingestion of morphine in the experimental setting cannot be attributed entirely to the schedule of pellet delivery or to the effect of chronic morphine dosing.


Morphine dependence and in vivo turnover of acetylcholine in whole mouse brain. Turnover rates of acetylcholine (ACh) were estimated in mouse brain after intravenous injection of phosphoryl(Me-14C)choline by applying principles of steady-state kinetics to the change with time of choline and ACh specific radioactivities. Turnover rate of brain ACh was estimated: 1) 45 minutes after a single injection of morphine (350 mumol/kg); 2) 3.5 days after implantation of a morphine pellet (250 mumol/pellet); 3) 15 minutes after 24 mumol/kg of naloxone to precipitate withdrawal in mice implanted with morphine pellets for 3.5 days; and 4) 15 minutes after 24 mumol/kg of naloxone. Brain ACh turnover rate was unchanged in mice that were given a single injection of morphine but was increased significantly in mice that had been made physically dependent upon morphine. During naloxone-precipitated withdrawal, the brain ACh turnover rate was found to be equal to that of mice treated only with naloxone.


Morbidity and drugs in pregnancy: the influence of illness and drugs on the aetiology of congenital malformations. In a prospective study involving 9,000 pregnant women, no cause-and-effect relationships have been established between morbidity recorded or drugs taken during early pregnancy and subsequent congenital malformations. The relationships that have been identified are largely explained by the influence of a history of a previous abnormal outcome of pregnancy (including abortion) and, to a lesser extent, by the influence of maternal anxiety on the diagnosis of doubtful malformations. It is also very unlikely that any drug in common use in 1964 had even a minor influence on congenital malformations recognisable in the first six weeks of life.


Total unconjugated oestrogen and progesterone concentrations in peripheral blood during the oestrous cycle of the dog. From the beginning of pro-oestrus to the end of metoestrus, daily peripheral blood samples were withdrawn from six bitches. Further samples were obtained during anoestrus. Oestrogen values rose from the onset of pro-oestrus to attain a peak value of 25-3 +/- 4-8 pg/ml on Day 1 of oestrus. Progesterone concentrations began to rise 2 days before the oestrogen peak, and reached their highest levels of 18-9 +/- 1-0 ng/ml 16 days after the end of oestrus. After oestrus, an oestrogen rise was detected which reached a peak at Day 18 of metoestrus. The duration of oestrus was unrelated to the length of time that oestrogen levels were raised, or the maximum values were attained. No significant oestrogen levels were detected during anoestrus.


A study of tobacco carcinogenesis. XIV. Effects of N'-nitrosonornicotine and N'-nitrosonanabasine in rats. N'-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and N'-nitrosoanabasine (NAB) were synthesized and administered in drinking water to male Fischer rats for 30 weeks (total dose, 630 mg). 1,4-Dinitrosopiperazine (DNPI) served as the positive control. By 11 months, all surviving rats given NNN developed esophageal tumors (12/20); 1 had a pharyngeal tumor and 3 had invasive carcinomas originating in the nasal cavity. During the same time, only 1 of 20 rats given NAB developed esophageal tumors. Compared to the strong esophageal carcinogen DNPI, NNN was a moderately active and NAB a weak carcinogen. NNN (0.3-90 parts per million) in chewing tobacco was related to the observation that cancer of the oral cavity and esophagus in man was correlated with the chewing of tobacco.


Temperature-sensitive mutants isolated from hamster and canine cell lines persistently infected with Newcastle disease virus. Evidence is presented which confirms that temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants with an RNA- phenotype are spontaneously selected in persistent infection of cell lines with Newcastle disease virus. Persistently infected BHK-21 cells, maintained since 1973, produce no interferon and are completely susceptible to vesicular stomatitis virus. Persistent infection of a canine kidney cell line (MDCK) terminated with destruction of all cells at about 100 days. Even under these conditions, a high proportion (33%) of RNA- temperature-sensitive mutants was present in the virus population 60 days after the infection was initiated.


Permanent nephrostomy via percutaneous puncture. A technique to convert a standard temporary percutaneous nephrostomy to prolonged or permanent nephrostomy diversion with Foley catheters up to 16F in diameter is described herein. The method has been used for up to 22 months of drainage and is likely to be of principal benefit in the management of obstructive nephropathy in adults when the primary lesion is not readily amenable to repair. There have been no serious complications in our 4 cases.


Balanitis xerotica obliterans in children. Balanitis xerotica obiterans is a chronic inflammatory process in male subjects, resulting in sclerotic epithelial changes of the glans penis, prepuce and urethral meatus individually or collectively. Four pediatric cases are presented, including the first case of balanitis xerotica obiterans invloving the glans penis and urethral meatus in a child. This lesion may be misdiagnosed or ignored in the young boy. The suggested method of treatment is surgical extirpation of the lesion when possible, wedge meatotomy when needed and sublesional corticosteroids if the lesion cannot be completely excised.


[Neuromotor follow-up of premature infants with lowbirth-weight (author's transl)]. In the years 1971-1972 53 premature babies weighing between 1000-1500 g survived in the special department of the Linz hospital ward for premature children i.e. 45.5%. Their postnatal management and neurophysiologic follow-up are reported. 20 children were "normal", 38% had slight, 20% more pronounced developmental delay. In 81.4% there were in addition minimal disturbances of movement. 2 had severe spastic tetraplegia. The study of these data indicated ways of improvement which have been effected since.


[Normal data for hemorrhagometry (author's transl)]. Normal data for hemorrhagometry were established in 43 control persons, aged between 4 and 14 years. At room temperature the mean value for bleeding time was 4.61 min. (upper limit of normal 7.7 min.), the mean hemoglobin loss, which corresponds to the blood loss, was 4.34 mg (upper limit 14.74 mg), the mean value for maximal bleeding intensity was 21.4 mug hemoglobin/sec. (upper limit 48.8). When hemorrhagometry is performed at 17 degrees C (cold tolerance test) bleeding time is prolonged (mean 9.02 min., upper limit 14.3 min.), bleeding intensity increases (mean 32.4 mug Hb/sec., upper limit 81.3 mug/sec.), and hemoglobin loss rises (mean 11.07 mg, upper limit 31.36 mg). Bleeding time determinations according to IVY yield shorter values (mean 2.99 min., upper limit 4.5 min.) than those obtained by hemorrhagometry at room temperature. There was no positive correlation between hemorrhagometry parameters and age, sex, and number of thrombocytes, as long as thrombocyte counts above 100.000/mm3.


[Normal values for Lactate- and Glutamate dehydrogenate by new optimized methods (author's transl)]. The activities of the enzymes LDH (Lactatdehydrogenase), HBDH (Hydroxybutyratdehydrogenase), and GIDH (Glutamate dehydrogenase), as well as LAP (Leucine aryl peptidase) were measured in the serum of 934 children in order to get normal values of these enzyme activities in dependence on the age. We used again the optimized methods (Boehringer und Merck). The form of the distribution of the single values of these 4 enzymes can be described by a lognormal distribution. This applies not to newborns and young sucklings. All measured enzyme activities were depended on the age of the children; newborn and sucklings had significantly higher enzyme activities than infants. After the second year of life the enzyme activities for LDH, HBDH, GlDH and LAP remained constantly. The physiological variations are very high in the newborns. The diagnostic selectivity of the enzyme GIDH is very good, this of LDH and HBDH turned out unspecifically. No difference could be supplied for the sex of the children.


[Critical assessment of cortico-steroid therapy of acute thrombopenia (author's transl)]. Case histories of 75 children aged 6 months to 14 years were analysed, hospitalisation being for purpura due to thrombocytopenia. Sex distribution, age at first manifestation, frequency of infections immediately preceding purpura, frequency of chronic forms and letality coincide with previous literature reports. A favourable influence of corticosteroids on the acute phase of disease e.g. on purpura and disposition to haemorrhage, thrombocyte qualities, spleen- and liver enlargement as well as duration of hospitalisation was not realized.


[Generalized mycobacterium avium infection in an infant (author's transl)]. In a 3-year-old girl, who was admitted to our hospital with marked splenomegaly, a swollen abdomen and progressive loss of weight, the difficulty in establishing the correct diagnosis, namely a very rare generalized infection with Mycobacterium avium (serum type III), and the lengthy course of the disease are demonstrated. Norcardiosis, sarcoidosis and BCG-granulomatosis were excluded. From the spleen, lymphatic nodes, gastric juice, stools and urine of the child, who had not been vaccinated with BCG vaccine, masses of acid-fast bacilli were isolated. The generalisation of the disease was promoted by an immunological deficiency. At autopsy an atrophic thymus was discovered. The extensive clinical and immunological investigations pointed to a partial deficiency of the cell-mediated immune systeme. The patient died 8 months after admission.


[Segmental hypoplasia of the kidney (author's transl)]. A case of a 12-year-old girl with renal segmental hypoplasia and hypertension is reported. At first treatment was conservative. After increasing of hypertension nephrectomy of the right hypoplastic kidney with vesicoureteral reflux was performed. This procedure influenced hypertension well, but renal failure increased. The value of treatment is discussed.


[Report on a variant of the fetal-face-syndrome with acral dysostosis (Robinow-Silverman-Smith-Syndrome) (author's transl)]. Besides the typical clinical symptoms of Robinow-Silverman-Smith-syndrome our patient shows a severe dislocation of the hip, feeding difficulties, and a marked morphological and mental retardation. The karyotype was normal, we found a normal banding pattern of all chromosomes (G-banding). In the family of our proband we observed minor skeletal abnormalities.


[Special features of epidural hematoma in neonates and infants (author's transl)]. Epidural hematomas in infancy, meaning up until the closing of the cranial sutures, have special clinical manifestations and courses; four cases will be demonstrated here. Following an often mild cranio-cerebral trauma a characteristical subperiosteal hematoma lacking primary consciousness disturbance and free interval can develop. The considerable loss of blood coming from the epidural hemorrhage, of mainly venous origin, leads to an often extreme anemia and shock syndrome. Due to the combination of shock and increasing brain compression a fulminant course with sudden coma, respiratory failure and irreversible circulatory collapse can terminally occur. Thus one should always think of an epidural hematoma in cases of increasing anemia, shock syndrome and an extending cranial hematoma following a brain trauma in infancy. Rapid trepanation with shock therapy and accompaning blood transfusion allows the prognosis of the epidural hemorrhage in infancy to be essentially better than in adulthood.


Care, management, and biology of captive striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis). The striped skunk has a number of characteristics that make it one of the most desirable wild carnivores for scientific study. This paper described in detail the care and management of this species in captivity. Reproduction and factors which may affect productivity were discussed, including: duration of mating period, experience, and age of the female. Two optimal mating periods resulted in the greatest productivity and survival of young: (1) 24 hours and (2) 24 hours followed by another mating of equal duration 2 or 3 da later. Experienced females required fewer matings, conceived earlier, and had larger litters than their inexperienced counterparts. Captive skunks conceived as early as mid-February; births occurred in May or June with litters averaging 4.17 pups per litter. Females produced their maximum number of young at age 2 and had a progressive decline in mean litter size after this age. Measurements of growth and development of the young up to 32 da were included. A descenting method used in descenting nearly 300 pups was described. Mortality was high during the first 2 mo of life, with only 59.81% (192/321) of the pups surviving until weaning. Sixteen different pathologic conditions confirmed by necropsy were listed. The signs of canine distemper in the striped skunk were described.


Innovar-Vet-induced pathologic changes in the guinea pig. High doses of Innovar-Vet administered im induced pathologic changes in tissues at the site of drug deposition. The onset and extent of the changes were dose related. Distal self-mutilation occurred coincidentally to the peak of pathologic changes in the ischiatic nerve.


The effects of ADP on reverse electron flow and the oxygen exchange reactions catalyzed by bovine heart muscle submitochondrial particles. 1,N6-Ethenoadenosine diphosphate (epsilon-ADP) inhibits reverse electron flow (succinate leads to NAD+ driven by ATP) by competing with ATP, in contrast to ADP which we have shown previously to be a noncompetitive inhibitor. From these and other data it is concluded that the noncompetitive inhibition noted with ADP results from a combination of competitive inhibition plus non- or uncompetitive inhibition, the former occurring at a relatively nonspecific catalytic site and the latter at an extracatalytic site apparently quite specific for ADP. ADP, which stimulates ATP in equilibrium H2O and Pi in equilibrium H2O exchanges appears to be necessary for inhibition by arsenate of these exchanges. It is suggested that the ATP-supported Pi in equilibrium H2O exchange may be predominantly of the medium or intermediate type, depending on the concentrations of the Mg2+ complexes of ADP and Pi. Thus only exchanges involving medium ADP and Pi would be expected to show arsenate sensitivity.


Effect of crosslinking on mitochondrial structure and function. Rat liver mitochondria were treated with ethylacetimidate and methylbutyrimidate, monofunctional imidates, and with dimethylsuberimidate, a bifunctional imidate, and the effects on structure and function studied. Mitochondria treated with 5 mM dimethylsuberimidate or greater did not respond osmotically when placed in deionized water. Sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that at concentrations greater than 5 mM dimethylsuberimidate nearly all mitochondrial polypeptides failed to enter 6% gels, indicating crosslinking of both membrane and soluble proteins. Extensive amidination by ethylacetimidate and methylbutyrimidate had little effect on ascorbate-tetramethylphenylenediamine oxidase while extensive inhibition resulted from dimethylsuberimidate treatment. The possible involvement of molecular motion in electron transport is discussed.


Special considerations in epiglottitis in children. The often perplexing clinical findings in acute epiglottitis are produced by the relative absence of cyanosis and hypercapnia in the face of severe hypoxemia, since expiration and CO2 elimination are not impaired. A serious situation arises when intubation is unseccessful. Six hundred otolaryngologists were polled to determine whether life-saving tracheotomy in such a situation could be performed within the time limits.


Biosynthesis of fatty acids from acetate in soybean suspension cultures. Suspension cultures of finely divided soybean cells established from callus were incubated with sodium [1(14)C] acetate for periods up to 86 hr. Lipids and fatty acids were analyzed for radioactivity in samples harvested at logarithmic time periods. Incorporation of acetate into cell lipid was directly proportional to the logarithm of time up to 32 hr, after an initial lag of 4-6 hr. Most of the lipid radioactivity was found in the phospholipid fraction, and all common soybean fatty acids became labeled within 6 hr. The order of labeling and distribution of radioactivity with time were essentially the same as in tissues from intact growing plants. These results support the concept of sequential desaturation of oleic acid in the cells. It was concluded that valid studies of the biosynthesis of common lipids in the soybean can be carried out for extended periods of time by use of undifferentiated cells in suspension cultures.


Changes with diet in the composition of phosphatidyl choline of sheep bile. Bile phosphatidyl choline from sheep, in contrast to that from nonruminants, contains low levels of the normal range of polyunsaturated fatty acids. A comparison has been made of the composition of bile phosphatidyl cholines from sheep receiving either a control diet, a control diet supplemented with unprotected maize oil, or a control diet supplemented with soybean oil or tallow that had been protected against hydrolysis and hydrogenation of the rumen. The composition of bile phosphatidyl choline from sheep receiving protected soybean oil supplement was virtually indistinguishable from that from nonruminants.


Effect of diet on the composition of cholesteryl esters of sheep adrenals. Fatty acid components of cholesteryl esters from the adrenals of sheep, like those of nonruminants, were characterized by significant amounts of the longer chain metabolites of linoleic acid. Administration to sheep of diets rich in linoleic acid and protected against biohydrogenation did not alter the concentration of these components significantly. Although 18:2 levels were elevated, this was largely at the expense of cis-monoenoic fatty acids.


Promazine and neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia. An increased incidence of jaundice in mature, healthy newborn babies was noticed in 1970-1971. This coincided with the increased used of the drug promazine. A decrease in the incidence of jaundice was noted three months after total withdrawal of this drug from the hospital.


[The arteriography of the liver diseased with Echinococcus alveolaris (author's transl)]. In 2 patients with Echinococcus alveolaris of the liver an angiography of the celiac axis, superior mesenteric artery and -- indirectly -- of the splenic vein was performed. The findings -- obliteration, dislocation, corc screw collaterals -- are not diagnostic. This statement is supplemented by a review of the special literature. The value of an arterial angiography consists in delineating the extent of the process. In this sense the method seems to be superior to a liver scan. Angiography is indicated when curative surgical therapy is discussed.


Preparation, measurement and possible use of human antitoxin against Cl. botulinum A, B, and E toxins. Human antibodies against botulinum toxins A, B, and E have been raised by repeated injections of pentavalent toxoid in a healthy volunteer. The final titer was 3.2 U anti-A, 0.4 U anti-B, and 2.5 U anti-E/ml. In mice, the efficacy of the antitoxin decreases with the time between poisoning and application of the antiserum. The dose recommended for prophylactic purposes in man is 1 ml/kg. In overt poisoning, therapy should be started with higher titer animal serum since in animal experiments high titer sera can stop (although not reverse) the symptoms of overt botulism within an-admittedly not too broad-rnage of time and dosage. Later on, therapy can be continued with human antiserum. An inverse radioimmunassay for botulinum A antitoxin using labeled botulinum toxin and antibody-coated tubes is described. The serum is available upon request from the author.


Coordination of macromolecular synthesis in the slime mould Physarum polycephalum. Microplasmodia of P. polycephalum were grown either in batch culture, in both complex and defined media to give a 3-4 fold variation in growth rate, or in  a chemostate. The protein/DNA ratio of batch cultures was almost invariant, whilst the RNA/DNA ratio increased as a non-linear function of growth rate. The amount of ribosomal RNA, expressed as a fraction of total RNA, showed little variation and this was also true for the proportion of ribosomes found in polyribosomes. Calculation of the rate of protein synthesis per ribosome shows that this parameter increases by approximately 50% over the range of growth rates studied, although it should be emphasized that the effect of protein turnover has not yet been taken into account. Enrichment of batch cultures growing in a defined medium produced an increase in the rate of RNA synthesis. Data obtained with chemostat cultures differed in several respects from those described above for batch cultures, especially at low growth rates, and are discussed in relation to the early stages of differentiation of microplasmodia to spherules.


Isolation of cold-sensitive Chinese hamster cells. Six cold-sensitive variants have been isolated from Chinese hamster ovary cells by the BUdR-visible light selection technique. The properties of one of these lines have been studied in detail. This line stops dividing immediately after a shift from 39 degrees C to 33 degrees C though its doubling time at 39 degrees C is only slightly longer than that of wild-type cells. The rates of DNA and protein synthesis are severely reduced at 33 degrees C, but the rate of RNA synthesis is not significantly different from wild-type cells. This line may be defective in protein synthesis, but the results of sedimentation analysis indicate that it probably has normal ribosomal subunit assembly.


Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis: detection by thallium 201 myocardial perfusion imaging. To determine whether thallium 201 myocardial imaging could be used to detect hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 10 patients with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis were studied. Asymmetric septal hypertrophy, an anatomic marker for this disease, was evident on thallium scans in the patients with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, with a ratio of septum to left ventricular free wall of 1.7 cm compared to 1.0 cm in eight normal volunteers, and 1.0 cm in eight patients with concentric left ventricular hypertrophy. Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also demonstrated apical ventricular wall thickening, and a thicker posterior ventricular free wall in the obstructive in contrast to the nonobstructive form of this disease. Thallium scans of three patients with pulmonary hypertension and secondary asymmetric septal hypertrophy were distinguished from idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis by marked right ventricular wall thickening. Thus, thallium 201 myocardial perfusion imaging provides a noninvasive method for detection and evaluation of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis.


Hemoglobin components in diabetes mellitus: studies in identical twins. The minor components of hemoglobin which are increased in subjects with diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin Ala-c, were measured in identical twins concordant and discordant for diabetes to determine whether the observed increases represent a genetically determined abnormality. The mean values for the proportion of hemoglobins Ala-c in discordant twins differed markedly in the two members of the pair: 10.4 +/- 0.74 per cent for the diabetic twins and 6.85 +/- 0.33 for the nondiabetic twins (t = 4.3811, P less than 0.005). In concordant twins with juvenile onset diabetes, the mean proportion of Hb Ala-c was 11.4 per cent, and no marked differences were observed between members of twin pairs. Four pairs of identical twins concordant for maturity onset diabetes showed lower mean values for Hb Ala-c but did not show marked intra-pair differences. Thus, the abnormal proportions of hemoglobins Ala-c found in the presence of overt diabetes mellitus appear to be a manifestation of a metabolic abnormality of diabetes.


[Giant occipital hemangioendothelioma with thrombocytopenia, anemia and hypofibrinogenemia treated by total excision (author's transl)]. An infant with a large occipital hemangioendothelioma with thrombocytopenia, anemia, and hypofibrinogenemia--Kasabach-Merritt syndrome--was reported. The case, a male neonate is unique, for this is the first report with this syndrome in whom the large hemangioma was noted at birth on the midocciput simulating the occipital encephalomeningocele. With the development of thrombocytopenia of 84,000 per mm3, hypofibrinogenemia of 92 mg/dl, anemia (erythrocyte 193 X 10(4) per mm3, hemoglobin 5.9 g/dl, hematocrit 16 vol%), hepato-splenomegalia, enlargement and bluish discoloration of the tumor noted on the 21/2 months of life, total excision was intended prior to the expected occurence of the systemic purpura. The patient received fresh whole blood transfusion immediately prior to surgery, and the total excision was successfully performed. Excessive bleeding was not encountered. Abrupt rise in the platelet count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin and hematocrit to normal range was noted at the first postoperative day; he was discharged on the 17th day after surgery. Nineteen months' follow-up showed normal hematologic findings with good somatic and mental development. The specimen weighing 250 g. revealed benigh hemangioendothelioma. Silver impregnation demonstrated lobular aggregates of small vascular channels. Papillary projection of interstitial cells into the lumen, reaction of the endothelium of the vessels, newly formed thrombus, ishemic necrosis and hemorrhage, hyaline degeneration of interstitial tissue were noted. These findings suggested the disseminated intravascular coagulation within the tumor followed by fibrinolysis accounts for loss of blood corpuscles, platelet, fibrinogen and clotting factors, which leads ultimately to the consumption coagulopathy and diffuse bleeding.


[The fine structure of ependymona (author's transl)]. The tumor cells form an unoriented mass rather than a layered structure. Most of the cells have no ependymal specialization, such as cilia, microtubular, etc. Instead, they assume a primitive undifferentiated appearance with large nuclei and abundant free ribosomes. Occasionally, however, certain cells tend to form a ring around a narrow lumen-like space within the mass. Such spaces are virtually filled with microvilli and, occasionally, even cilia arising form the surrounding cells. Elaborate desmosomes decorate the apposing surfaces of such cells and basal bodies are presented within the cytoplasm. In addition, the tumor cells often display glial filaments, glycogen granules and microtubules, similar to the cells comprising astrocytomas. As is well known, astrocytomas and ependymomas are often found mixed in the same tumor.


[A specific organelle in the vascular endothelial cells of cerebellar neoplasms (author's transl)]. A "rod-shaped tubulated body" (tubular body) was first described by Weibel and Palade in the vascular endothelial cells of various organs in both man and animals. This is now considered to be an organelle specific to the endothelial cell, but its function is still unknown. Both in experimental and human pathology this organelle has been observed more often in either seemingly young or abnormal endothelial cells of the blood vessels in tissue regeneration, inflammation, brain tumors among others. This report deals with ultrastructural study of two surgical cases of cerebellar neoplasm, in which the vascular endothelium was examined for a tubular body. The first case was a 12-year-old boy with cerebellar hemangioblastoma, and the second a 36-year-old female who had a history of renal cell carcinoma removed approximately 5 years previously.  Histological diagnosis of the cerebellar tumor in the latter case was indetermined, because a part of the tumor consisted of clear cells suggestive of clear cell carcinoma and another part of well developed endothelial cells and vascular channels apparently indicative of hemangioblastoma. The findings of the ultrastructural study were rather compatible with that of renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the cerebellum although inconclusive. The tubular body observed in the endothelial cells of those tumor vessels consisted of a membrane-limited round, oval or elongated shaped intracytoplasmic body which contained tubules of 170 to 200 A outer diameter with approximately 50 to 60 A thickness. The tubules were arranged mostly in a parallel fashion along their long axis. In the first type of tubular body they were embedded in a relatively pale matrix, and in the second their arrangement appeared to be more compact. The third tubular body, so far undescribed in human endothelial cells except in our previous communication, showed an irregularly and markedly enlarged matrix, surrounded by a limiting membrane which was occasionally observed connected with either a coated vesicle or cytoplasmic membrane. Abundant tubules were intermingled without showing a particular arrangement. Morphological and functional significance of the third type tubular body is unknown, but it might represent a pathological change of a tubular body in cerebellar neoplasms. These findings might give us some clues in understanding a tumor angiogenesis.


[Surgical experience of aged patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms (author's transl)]. Outcome of 77 cases with ruptured intracranial aneurysms above 60 years of age was reported. 44 cases were treated conservatively and 33 cases surgically. 1. Among conservatively treated group, 10 cases died after initial hemorrhage and 14 cases after second hemorrhage. The mortality rate was 55%. 2. Among surgically treated group, 11 cases died and 4 cases had severe neurological deficits following the direct intracranial operation. The mortality and morbidity rate was 33% and 12% respectively. 3. These results indicate that the direct intracranial operation should be the first choice of treatment to the aged patients also. 4. Intracranial complications occured more frequently than the extracranial one during intra and postoperative course. Among them normal pressure hydrocephalus was the comonnest. 5. Occlusion of the main cerebral artery occured in 5 cases related to operative procedure. Outcome of 4 cases of them was poor. Microsurgical technique should be used in order to prevent these conditions which tend to occur in aged patients.


[Effect of phenoxybenzamine on the experimental cerebral vasospasm in cats (author's transl)]. Effects of topical and intravenous administration of phenoxybenzamine (PBZ) on the experimental vasospasm were studied in cats. Cerebral vasospasm was produced by a topical application of blood, prostaglandin (PG) E2 or PGF2alpha to be exposed basilar artery. Topical PBZ caused a significant dilatation of the basilar artery and the occurrence of vasospasm was completely prevented either with blood, PGE2 or PGF2alpha. Intravenous administration of PBZ in the dosage with which the pressor response to phenylephrine was completely blocked, or three times that dosage, failed to show any preventive effect on the vasospasm. From these experimental results, it seems that the antispasmogenic action of topically applied PBZ is due largely to the non-spacific vasodilator action of PBZ and not to its alpha adrenergic blocking action. It is also suggested that the role of alpha adrenergic mechanism in the genesis of vasospasm in this experimental design is not significant.


[Transoral approach for the treatment of atlanto-axial dislocation with the Os odontoideum and obstruction of the bilateral vertebral arteries (author's transl)]. The two approaches are well-known in the surgical treatment of atlanto-axial dislocation, the one is the anterior and the other is the posterior approach. The indication of these methods is still controversial. This report concerns with one case of atlanto-axial dislocation with the separate odontoid and bilateral obstruction of both vertebral arteries, which was successfully treated by transoral decompression and fusion between the bodies of the atlas and axis. The reasons why we chose this method were: (1) the spinal cord decompression was necessary because of the presence of compression of the cord by the separate odontoid process, (2) the spinal fusion had to be performed to stabilize the atlanto-axial articulation, (3) it was necessary to avoid the damage of collateral circulations to the brainstem through the deep cervical arteries demonstrated by bilat vertebral angiography. The posterior approach is highly susceptible to injure these collateral circulations.


[Spontaneous spinal subarachnoidal hematoma--case report (author's transl)]. "Spontaneous intraspinal canal hematomas' are rare clinical conditions. These are classified as epidural, subdural and subarachnoid. Especially, subarachnoid hematoma is rare only two cases being reported by Bouzarth (1968). We have reported surgical treatment of a female with intraspinal canal subarachnoid hematoma. The patient presented with sudden onset of backpain, followed by paraplegia, sensory impairment and urinary retention. A lumbar tap revealed bloody CSF a complete block. A left vertebral angiography was normal. However, a myelography showed a filling defect at Th5. A laminectomy was performed and a subarachnoid hematoma at the Th1-5 level was completely removed. Etiology of the legion was not identified. The patient made an uneventful recovery. This case suggests that intraspinal canal hematoma needs an operation as soon as possible, especially with urinary retention.


[Self-cured hydrocephalus following ventriculitis--clinical experience and experimental consideration (author's transl)]. Dynamics of CSF circulation is often altered in the presence of intracranial pathology especially in hydrocephalus. Most neurosurgeons acknowledge that the status of hydrocephalus often changes regardless of the type of treatment. In the follow-up of hydrocephalic children who under-went shunting operation, not a few hydrocephalic children have been doing well in spite of shunt malfunction for a long period. Interestingly enough, we have experienced the children who need no longer shunt after shunt infection complicated by ventriculitis. These cases differ from so-called spontaneously "arrested hydrocephalus", in that the latter develops in not severe hydrocephalus during the course of natural history or after shunt not complicated by serious infection. Consequently, we define these cases "self-cured hydrocephalus" following ventriculitis. Recently we experienced a similar case as mentioned above at the Kyoto University Hospital. We reported the case and made some inquiry into pathogenesis of "self-cured hydrocephalus". We hope that further inventigation of the similar cases along with experimental studies might give us a key to establish a radical treatment for hydrocephalus.


[Three cases of spontaneous bilateral external carotid-cavernous sinus fistula (dural arteriovenous shunts in the region of the cavernous sinus) (author's transl)]. Since Fincher reported a case with arteriovenous fistula between the external carotid artery and dural sinus, many type of cases have been reported. On the other hand, so called the external carotid avernous fistula has been recognized less 20 cases in literature. We have observed three additional cases of dural arteriovenous shunts in the region of the cavernous sinus. Case 1. A 52 year old woman had suffered from left side sever headache. There was weakness of the left extraocular muscles and left ptosis. A bruit was heard over the left orbit. She was treated for hypertension since 38 year old. And she has no history of recent trauma. Selective internal and external carotid angiographies showed the bilateral external carotid cavernous sinus fistula. No operative treatment was performed in this case and the symptomes disappeared with decrease of blood pressure. Case 2. A 50 year old man came to this clinic with chief complaints of right ptosis, diplopia and headache. He was treated for diabetes mellitus and hypertension for six month...


A new method of autotomography with cerebral angiography (angioautotomography). A new method of autotomography for cerebral angiography, accomplished by means of a simple and handy device, has made it possible to take arbitrary tomographic planes of angiograms which result in clear cut views of the tomogram. The principle of the device is described, the method of use explained and representative films, produced by this new method, are demonstrated.


Brain extracellular potassium activity during hypoxia in the cat. Brain extracellular potassium activity, recorded by a potassium-selective microelectrode technique, was studied in 27 anesthetized, paralyzed cats during hypoxia. Potassium activity remained essentially constant until the arterial pO2 decreased to 20 to 23 mm Hg. If the blood pressure was allowed to decrease during hypoxia, even to the 70 to 100 mm Hg range, the associated increases in potassium activity were accentuated, often to levels greater than 20 mEq per liter. The electrocorticogram regularly became isoelectric by the time the potassium activity reached 6 to 10 mEq per liter. Elevations of the blood pressure with epinephrine injections reversed both the increases in potassium activity and the electrocorticogram flattening. Extracellular potassium homeostasis during hypoxia appears to depend on the maintenance of a normal arterial perfusion pressure.


Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy with 10-year survival in a patient with nontropical sprue. Report of a case with unusual light and electron microscopic features. A 46-year-old man with nontropical sprue had anemia and hypoproteinemia for several years, until his condition was diagnosed and treated with dietary measures. Within a year after the diagnosis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy developed, and the patient had a slightly fluctuating chronic downhill course until he died 10 years later. It is postulated that this patient's immune deficiency was related to his malabsorption syndrome and hypoglobulinemia, and the course became unusually protracted (longest reported course in the American literature) because of restoration of plasma protein levels. Autopsy showed the classic findings of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, with much tissue loss of subcortical white matter and active perivascular inflammatory foci with numerous eosinophilic granulocytes. On electron microscopy, oligodendrocyte nuclei and cytoplasm were crowded with virions, but many myelin sheaths invested by severely infected oligodendrocytic processes were remarkably well preserved. This fact would argue against a direct cause-and-effect relationship between infection of oligodendrocytes and myelin breakdown in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. The likelihood of an autoimmune mechanism at work in this disease is suggested, and the role of eosinophils and other cells in such process is considered.


Defective motor learning in ideomotor apraxia. Liepmann suggested that the left hemisphere contained the engrams for motor sequences. Other investigators have suggested that ideomotor apraxia may be caused by either a destruction of these engrams or a disconnection of these engrams from motor systems in the nondominant hemisphere. If these hypotheses are correct, then ideomotor apraxics should not only show a defect on previously learned motor tasks but also a defect in new motor learning. Nine right-handed, hemiparetic, aphasic apraxics were given six trials on a rotary pursuit meter. Eight right-handed hemiparetic, aphasic, nonaprixic patients served as controls. All subjects were instructed to use their left (nonparetic) hand. The performance of the control group on the sixth trial was significantly better than that on the first trial, showing a distinct learning effect. In the apraxic group, however, there was no significant difference between the first and sixth trial, suggesting a defect in motor learning. This defect appeared to be caused by a combined defect of both acquisition and retention.


Myasthenia gravis and invasive thymoma: a 20-year experience. In 20 years, 19 patients with myasthenia gravis and invasive thymoma have been seen by the Neurology Service at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences. This represents 4 percent of 493 myasthenia gravis patients seen during the same time and 37 percent of myasthenic patients with thymomas. Eight are still alive and 11 have died. Fifteen patients had the onset of myasthenic symptoms before discovery of the thymoma, while only four patients had chest symptoms and/or radiographic evidence of an anterior mediastinal mass prior to the onset of weakness. Radical excision of the tumor, if possible, and the remaining thymus, high dosage alternate day prednisone, and radiation therapy, if indicated, seem the treatments of choice. Recurrences of tumor nodules may necessitate further local radiation or the use of cytotoxic agents.


Paroxysmal "nightmares". Sequel of a stroke responsive to diphenylhydantoin. A 65-year-old man had nightmares a few weeks after a right temporal lobe infarction. Electroencephalography showed no epileptic activity. Therapy with diphenylhydantoin produced complete remission of his symptoms. On the bases of their acute onset, their association with sleep, their occasional occurrence while the patient was awake, the lack of effect of diazepam and flurazepam, and the good response to diphenylhydantoin, we propose that these episodes were partial seizures secondary to the right temporal lobe lesion.


Imipramine-mediated interference with levodopa absorption from the gastrointestinal tract in man. The effect of imipramine on the absorption of a single dose of levodopa was studied in male volunteers. By delaying gastric emptying and retarding delivery to intestinal absorptive sites, imipramine interfered with the absorption of levodopa. This action caused by the anticholinergic effect of imipramine. The retardation of transit of levodopa also caused the elaboration of therapeutically inactive metabolites of levodopa in the gastrointestinal tract. Antidepressants and levodopa are often given together, and this combination may interfere with the absorption and efficacy of levodopa in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.


Familial paralysis of horizontal gaze. Associated with pendular nystagmus, progressive scoliosis, and facial contraction with myokymia. Paralysis of horizontal gaze, pendular nystagmus, and progressive scoliosis were manifestations of an autosomal recessive genetic disease in four siblings. Bilateral facial myokymia with continuous facial contraction developed in the oldest patient. Electromyographic examination of his facial muscles after facial nerve block at the stylomastoid foramen showed absence of all muscle potentials, consistent with a supranuclear origin of the myokymia. Normality of convergence, vertical gaze, and pupillary constrictor reflex activity assured integrity of midbrain ocular motor function. Absence of horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflexes signified involvement of the pontine tegmentum in this distinctive heredofamilial syndrome.


Essential tremor: treatment with propranolol. A double-blind trial of propranolol, in a dosage of 120 mg a day, and placebo was conducted in 11 patients with essential tremor. An improvement in tremor was observed in all patients who received propranolol and was most pronounced in the upper extremities. The favorable clinical assessment was further confirmed by improvement in a grooved pegboard test and in the quality of handwriting as evaluated by two "blind" observers. No side effects were encountered. It is concluded that propranolol is at present the best available drug for the treatment of essential tremor.


99mTc-diphosphonate uptake in skeletal muscle: a quantitative index of acute damage. In rats with ischemic myopathy induced by aortic ligation and 5-hydroxytryptamine, there was good correlation of the skeletal muscle concentration of 99mTc-diphosphonate with the increase of plasma creatine phosphokinase and the decrease in muscle potassium. This radionuclide tracer method can be used to quantitate acute injury in individual muscles and provides a basis for clinical nuclear imaging in patients with a variety of disorders involving muscle fiber damage.


Acute ischemic transection of peripheral axons in angiopathic neuropathy. No demyelination of fasciculus gracilis or decreased number or size of cytons of spinal ganglion neurons. Demyelination (loss of myelin profiles) of posterior columns of the spinal cord in patients with neuropathy coming to autopsy usually has been interpreted as secondary to distal degeneration of peripheral nerve fibers. Previous experiments to test whether these pathologic changes could result from transecting peripheral nerves produced conflicting results. In a patient with necrotizing angiopathy in whom extensive regions of fiber transection began proximally at midthigh level, the density and diameter distribution of myelinated fibers of the fasciculus gracilis and the number and size distribution of cytons of L3 and L5 spinal ganglia have been obtained and compared with normative measurements. No discernible alteration was found, suggesting that acute degeneration of peripheral nerve fibers is not associated with loss or decrease in size of cytons of spinal ganglia or with loss or decrease in size of myelinated fibers in the fasciculus gracilis.


Quantitative measurement of saccade amplitude, duration, and velocity. A method for rapid, accurate measurement of saccade amplitude, duration, and velocity (average and maximum) was developed as a functional test of the extraocular motor system. Recordings were made with a direct-current electro-oculographic system, and data analysis was performed on a laboratory digital computer. Saccade amplitude and duration were found to be linearly correlated in 25 normal subjects, with a mean slope of 2.7 msec per degree over a large amplitude range. In the same subjects, saccade amplitude and velocity (maximum or average) had a nonlinear relationship that was best fit by an exponential equation. The two constants of this equation adequately characterized the relationship between saccade amplitude and velocity and permitted rapid statistical comparison between normal and abnormal subjects.


The saccade velocity test.

The saccade velocity test. Scatter plots showing the amplitude versus velocity (maximum and average) relationship of horizontal saccades in 25 normal subjects and four groups of patients were statistically compared. Three patients with "subclinical" medial longitudinal fasciculus syndromes had significant slowing of adducting saccades, and two of these patients had unsuspected slowing of abducting saccades (although to a lesser degree). Five patients with olivopontocerebellar degeneration and three patients with myotonic dystrophy had significant slowing of saccades in both directions. Five patients with surgically documented acoustic neuromas did not have significant slowing despite brain-stem compression in three. It is concluded that the saccade velocity test can be a useful clinical tool in addition to its potential in clinical research.


Sea-blue histiocyte and posterior column dysfunction: a familial disorder. This is a report of a new familial neurologic disorder characterized by ceroid-lipofuscin storage, sea-blue histiocytes, and associated neurologic findings. Neurologic manifestations in the family members examined were varied, but posterior column involvement was the most common finding. The presence of sea-blue histiocytes was genetically determined by an autosomal dominant trait. Vitamin E blood concentrations were decreased in the absence of absorption difficulties in two sisters who were most seriously affected. The relationship of ceroid-lipofuscin, lipid peroxidation, and vitamin E is discussed.


Effect of prednisolone on neuromuscular blocking in mice in vivo. The working capacity of inbred female Swiss mice on the rotating rod was tested in an investigation of the effect of previously injected prednisolone, 1.2 mg, on the neuromuscular blocking effect of two different doses of d-tubocurarine and of low-dose hemicholinium-3. The effect of both drugs could be partially or wholly antagonized by prednisolone. The consequences of this finding are discussed in relation to the beneficial effect of prednisone in patients with myasthenia gravis.


Intraventricular craniopharyngioma.

Intraventricular craniopharyngioma. An unusual case of an adult with a craniopharyngioma within the third ventricle is reported. The patient complained of headaches, had a history suggestive of diabetes insipidus, and presented with a severe dementia. A brain scan revealed the suprasellar midline lesion, and a pneumoencephalogram confirmed its location within the third ventricle. Therapy included partial surgical excision, followed by a ventriculoatrial shunt and radiation.


[Unusual case of triple simultaneous complication of duodenal ulcer]. The A.A. report a case of duodenal ulcer observed in a young patient, showing at the same time and associated the three known complications of this disease. After gastric resection, urgently performed, followed a favourable post-operative course and a very good result at distance. On a study of 710 patients with gastric and duodenal ulcer this event occurred once only.


Primary choriocarcinoma of the ovary.

Primary choriocarcinoma of the ovary. Eight patients with choriocarcinoma of the ovary treated at the Choriocarcinoma Research and Treatment Center are presented and the previously reported cases reviewed. A more optimistic prognosis can be offered for these tumors than previously. Four of the 8 patients are in remission and 4 have died. Triple therapy should be used for these tumors despite the increase in toxicity.


Ixodes (Afrixodes) drakensbergensis n. sp. from domestic and wild animals in Natal, Republic of South Africa. Ixodes (Afrixodes) drakensbergensis n. sp., is described from females, males, nymphs and larvae collected on a drag at Giant's Castle Nature Reserve, Natal, Republic of South Africa; it was also taken from an eland in the same area and from goats and a cow in the adjacent Tank Area 118. The occurrence of I. (A.) drakensbergensis on domestic animals suggests that it may be of economic importance in this area. Information is provided to separate the new species from other closely related Ixodes species that occur or may occur in this region.


Alkaline phosphatase activity in the inner ear of fetuses, newborn and adult guinea pigs. The distribution pattern of alkaline phosphatase in the inner ear of fetuses, newborn and adult guinea pigs is described. In the inner ear of fetuses, remarkable alkaline phosphatase was noted throughout the entire tissue of spiral ligament, statoacoustic nerve fibers and the wall of small blood vessels. In newborns, however, less enzyme activity was seen in the spiral ligament and statoacoustic nerve. In adult guinea pigs, no enzyme activity was detectable in the spiral ligament and statoacoustic nerve fibers except for the wall of small blood vessels and efferent nerve fibers. It is evident that the distribution pattern of alkaline phosphatase is altered during the development of the inner ear of the guinea pig.


Tympanic effusions in children - some parameters involved. A retrospective analysis of 1,078 adenoidectomies and 660 adenotonsillectomies in children under the age of 11 is reported, special attention having been paid to the presence of tympanic effusions. Eight parameters involved were recorded and analyzed. Amongst other things, it appeared that in adenoidectomy patients referred to the author transient tympanic effusions were very common (i.e. in 41.8% of the 2,156 ears) and that adenoid size and eosinophilia did not have any relation with these effusions.


Electron microscopy findings in malignant melanoma of nose. Electron microscopic examination of malignant melanoma tumour tissue taken from a patient who has survived with the tumour without metastases for 13 years has shown spherical melanosomes with no internal fibrillar structure. This finding and other cell features described, suggest that this melanoma developed from Dubreuilh's melanosis rather than melanocytic change in a junctional naevus.