Unusual sex hormone patterns among desert-dwelling hunter-gatherers. Endocrine parameters were assayed in a San ("Bushman") population of Botswana in an attempt to correlate hormonal secretion and body morphology. Serum levels of gonadotrophins and gonadal steroids were measured by employing radioimmune methods. No evidence for elevated estrogens could be found and males showed endocrine levels comparable with European and South African Negro values. Females have suppressed circulating levels of gonadal steroids and little corpus luteum function. A mechanism by which the ovaries may be suppressed, thereby limiting conception to times of high nutrition, may exist in the San. This hypothesis may have a bearing on the observation that births reach peak levels during March and April.


Effect of intravenous pyridoxine on plasma prolactin in hyperprolactinemic subjects. Intravenous pyridoxine has been reported to lower plasma PRL in normal subjects and in patients with the amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome. We tested the effect of pyridoxine (300-mg iv bolus) on plasma PRL in nine patients with hyperprolactinemia due to a variety of causes. There was no effect of pyridoxine on elevated plasma PRL in any of the nine hyperprolactinemic subjects. The potential utility of pyridoxine in the long term treatment of the galactorhea-amenorrhea syndrome will require further study.


Transitory hCG-like activity in the urine of some IUD users. Using an antiserum (H-93) specific to the COOH-terminal peptide of hCG beta and gel chromatography, we found the transitory (1-2 days) presence of a gonadotropin having immunological, biological, and physical similarity to hCG, but not typical hLH, in the late luteal phase (days 24-29) urine of some (5 of 26) IUD users. We did not detect hCG in sera from any of the women. Although the source of the hCG-like gonadotropin is unknown, the data suggest that late luteal phase implantation may have occurred transiently.


Reversal set formation in the visually decorticate rat. Rats given large visual cortex lesions demonstrated a simultaneous task reversal deficit previously reported to follow more extensive cortical ablation. However, no deficit appeared in an operant discrimination that deemphasized visuospatial cues, and the simultaneous task deficit vanished when translucent eye occluders were applied to eliminate spatial, but not intensity, cue use. Because the lesion subjects showed an impairment only when visuospatial cues were available and relevant to correct reversal performance, they seemed hindered by their incompetent processing of visuospatial information. The results are interpreted as support for spatial rather than learning approaches to visual cortex function.


Maturational loss of thermotaxis prevented by olfactory lesions in golden hamster pups (Mesocricetus auratus). Five-day-old golden hamster pups were tested preoperatively on a thermal gradient, subjected to bilateral or unilateral olfactory bulbectomy or control dorsal cortical removal, and then tested on Days 6-15. Locomotion and rectal or belly temperature were monitored throughout the 2-min test. Control pups became quiescent in the hot end of the gradient on Days 5-7 but after Day 8 chose cooler regions and increased their activity. Both unilaterally and bilaterally bulbectomized pups spent more time in the heat throughout testing. They were also less active and allowed their temperature to rise more rapidly than controls. Percentage of time in the heat was elevated in all bulbectomized pups, although some retained the ability to make an olfactory discrimination. Enhanced thermal behavior is apparently not due to anosmia per se. Altered thermal perception or responsitivity may result from loss of "nonspecific" olfactory projections that normally would mature at the beginning of the second week.


Noradrenaline and partial reinforcement in rats. Lesions of the dorsal nonadrenergic bundle produced by 6-hydroxydopamine, which depleted telencephalic noradrenaline by over 95%, were found to produce resistance to extinction in animals trained on a continuously reinforced schedule for food reward but not to alter the extinction rate after partial reinforcement training. These results confirm the dorsal bundle extinction effect reported previously but suggest that it is confined to continuously reinforced situations. The pattern of results is consistent with a role for the dorsal bundle in attentional processes but appears to contradict the predictions required if the dorsal bundle were to have a role in frustrative nonreward.


Selective hippocampal lesions: differential effects on performance by rats of a spatial task with preoperative versus postoperative training. Animals with selective lesions involving different hippocampal cell fields and/or projections either learned a complex spatial maze postoperatively or were trained preoperatively and tested after the operations. Following damage to anterodorsal CA1 cells and the alveus, acquisition was impaired but performance was normal when the task was learned preoperatively; postoperative acquisition and performance of the preoperatively learned task were impaired in animals with fimbrial lesions. These data suggest that the CA1 cell field and the projections to the subiculum play an important role in the acquisition of new spatial information but that these connections are not necessary for the utilization of spatial information learned preoperatively.


Delayed alternation in rats after pre- or postcommissural fornicotomy. Contribution of the pre- and postcommissural fornices to short-term spatial memory was investigated in rats by evaluating the effect of small electrolytic lesions, located stereotaxically, with texts of reinforced alternation in a T-maze. Lesions in the postcommissural fornix were without behavioral effect. Animals with lesions that damaged the precommissural fornix were temporarily impaired in alternation with massed trials. They largely recovered their efficiency by the end of five postoperative sessions. Both the interpolation of irrelevant vestibular input (rotation) and lengthened intertrial intervals (1-4 min) reinstated an alternation deficit that had recovered in the massed-trial condition of testing. It is suggested that the recovery did not represent relearning to alternate but represented experience-dependent switching to parallel neural circuits that also mediate short-term spatial memory.


Tolerance to the hyperthermic effect of morphine in the rat is a learned response. The results of several experiments indicated that the hyperthermic effect of morphine in rats becomes attenuated over the course of successive administrations by a conditional, compensatory, hypothermic response elicited by cues present at the time of morphine administration, thus accounting for hyperthermic tolerance: (a) Rats with a history of morphine administration display a tolerant response to the hyperthermic effect of the drug and a compensatory hypothermia following a placebo if these substances are administered following cues that previously signaled morphine--neither the tolerant reaction to morphine nor the hypothermic response to the placebo results when animals are injected following cues that previously signaled injection of physiological saline (Experiments 1A and 1B); (b) presenting environmental cues previously associated with morphine, but without the drug, abolished established tolerance, that is, pyretic tolerance can be extinguished (Experiment 2); (c) placebo sessions interspersed between morphine sessions impeded the acquisition of tolerance, that is pyretic tolerance is retarded by partial reinforcement (Experiment 3). These findings, implicating a Pavlovian conditioning process in hyperthermic tolerance, are not readily interpretable by tolerance models that do not attribute any role to drug-associated environmental cues in the acquisition of tolerance.


Interactive effects of fluid deprivation and testosterone on the expression of a sexually dimorphic conditioned taste aversion. The effects of fluid deprivation on the sexually dimorphic rate of extinction of a conditioned taste aversion in rats was investigated. Under ad lib water conditions, males extinguished a conditioned taste aversion more slowly than females. However, when rats were fluid deprived, there was no difference in the extinction rates of females and males even when the more sensitive two-bottle test was used. This absence of the sexual dimorphism was due to a differential effect of deprivation on females and males. Fluid deprivation increased the rate of extinction of the male but had no effect on the extinction rate of the female. It was proposed that the more rapid extinction rate of the deprived male could be accounted for by a deprivation-induced change in a testosterone-dependent mechanism. This proposal was supported by demonstrating that injection of testosterone propionate blocked the effects of fluid deprivation on rate of extinction in the male rat.


Self-stimulation in the rat: quantitative characteristics of the reward pathway. Quantitative characteristics of the neural pathway that carries the reinforcing signal in electrical self-stimulation of the brain were established by finding which combinations of stimulation parameters give the same performance in a runway. The reward for each run was a train of evenly spaced monophasic cathodal pulses from a monopolar electrode. With train duration and pulse frequency held constant, the required current was a hyperbolic function of pulse duration, with chronaxie c approximately 1.5 msec. With pulse duration held constant, the required strength of the train (the charge delivered per second) was a hyperbolic function of train duration, with chronaxie C approximately 500 msec. To a first approximation, the values of c and C were independent of the choice either of train duration and pulse frequency or of pulse duration, respectively. Hence, the current intensity required by any choice of train duration, pulse frequency, and pulse duration dependent on only two basic parameters, c and C, and one quantity, Qi, the required impulse charge. These may reflect, respectively, current integration by directly excited neurons; temporal integration of neural activity by synaptic processes in a neural network; and the peak of the impulse response of the network, assuming that the network has linear dynamics and that the reward depends on the peak of the output of the network.


Abdominal vagotomy inhibits osmotically induced drinking in the rat. After complete bilateral transection of the abdominal vagus (Vgx-C), with the hepatic branch left intact, rats drank later and less than normal after cellular dehydration induced by intraperitoneal hypertonic saline. When access to water was delayed for 1 hr after cellular dehydration, Vgx-C rats initiated drinking quickly with normal latency, but (a) a gastric water preload was a more effective stimulus for drinking suppression in Vgx-C than in normal rats; (b) gastric emptying of a water or phenol red solution preload was more rapid in Vgx-C than in normal rats; and (c) when gastric emptying dysfunction in Vgx-C rats was removed by having rats sham drink, Vgx-C and normal rats sham drank equivalent amounts of water. Thus, disordered preabsorptive satiety caused by abnormally rapid gastric emptying of water is a factor in the decreased drinking of Vgx-C rats after cellular dehydration. Disordered satiety for ingested water cannot, however, account for the abnormal latency to initiate drinking after cellular dehydration in Vgx-C rats.


A preliminary report in the use of silastic nerve caps in conjunction with neuroma surgery. This paper deals with the introduction of the Swanson Silastic nerve cap (Dow Corning) for the treatment of pedal neuromas. The entity of Morton's neuroma is discussed and a complication of surgical excision, that is, a painful amputation neuroma is identified. Included in this article is a historical view of the literature, the histopathology of the nerve tissue, and a discussion of possible etiological factors, including past and present treatment.


Extensor release.

Extensor release. An alternate procedure to lengthen the long extensor tendons has been examined. Thirty-six separate cases, of which 22 were bilateral, were performed during a 2-year period. The operations were performed both with percutaneous and traditional exposed approaches. The procedures consisted of lengthening by simple tenotomy, Z-plasty, or tendon-slide of the extensor digitorum longus and peroneus tertius at the ankle level. Most were done as an adjunct to biomechanical treatment or osseous operations with a few of the procedures utilized as the sole mode of therapy. Although it was found that the ease of technique and accessibility of tissues made the procedures desirable, the extended postoperative period and efficacy for other than minimal contractures seemed to out-weigh the advantages. The conclusion is drawn that the extensor release at the level of the ankle is of potential value in selected patients with mild to moderate dorsoposterior digital contractures in conjunction with traditional podiatric treatment.


Overlapping fifth toe: a new surgical approach. The authors introduce a new method of correction for overlapping fifth digits. With the advent of newer types of precision power surgical instrumentation, performance of an exacting wedge osteotomy is possible on small bones. Combining an abductory wedge osteotomy with previously described soft tissue revisions can now realign a common deformity--the overlapping fifth toe.


A case history of recurrent plantar fibromatosis (Dupuytren's contracture). A case presentation of recurrent plantar fibromatosis of the right foot has been discussed. Complete fasciectomy of the plantar fascia appears to have resolved the recurrent condition. It is interesting to note that since the patient's last surgery on March 10, 1977 he has had two fibrolipomas removed from other parts of his body; one in the posterior neck region and the other on the left torso.


Ankle equinus related to trauma, and its surgical treatment: a preliminary report of three cases. Ankle equinus specifically related to trauma has been barely touched upon in the literature. As reported by Subotnick (2) and McGlamry (1), the short-term results are impressive. In our three cases, we have had an increase in ankle joint dorsiflexion of 6 to 10 degrees; however, our longest postoperative follow up is only 9 months. We have attempted to control these patients postoperatively with functional orthoses. We have also tried to impress the patients with the fact that the orthoses should be worn during any activity to prevent recurrent arthritis.


Multiple periungual fibroma (Kernan's tumors): a case report. Even though cases of Kernan's tumors are supposed to be rare, I have presented a case in which there were tumors of all ten toes with an etiology of tuberous sclerosis, trauma, or a combination of both. Wide surgical excision was performed which has apparently alleviated the lesions in this case.


Some considerations of antibiosis and drug interactions in podiatric surgery. Most antibiotics function via two basic and distinctly different mechanisms. The first mechanism is bacteriocidal in which an antibiotic interferes with bacterial cell wall metabolism causing the destruction of the cell through the resulting cell wall lysis. Bacteriocidal drugs include the penicillins, the cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides. The second mechanism is bacteriostatic wherein a drug interferes with protein synthesis within the cell itself thus inhibiting the growth and multiplication of the cell. This basic action should not be confused with direct cellular destruction. Examples of bacteriostatic drugs are erythromycin, lincomycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, and the tetracyclines. A good intellectual exercise would be to imagine using a bacteriostatic drug to inhibit cell reproduction and then to finish off the germ with a good bacteriocidal drug. But ability of a bacteriocidal drug to function depends upon its ability to act on a growing and reproducing bacterial cell, otherwise it won't work. So generally, combination therapy involving both classes of drug is not recommended.


Pivotal resection of heel spurs in sports medicine: a case study and presentation. Using the cresentic pivotal saw for resecting a heel spur in a new method whereby a plantar heel spur can be removed in toto with no irregular osseous margins remaining. Consequently, less trauma to the calcaneus occurs and the process of postoperative recovery is enhanced. This technique is new to the literature. Presently, we are developing a more sophisticated blade.


[Quantitative examinations of stellate cells in the region of the cingulate gyrus in the rat]. Brains of three months old male rats were handled by a modified Golgi-Kopsch method. Stellate cells of the gyrus cinguli were drawn, classified into four types and analyzed quantitatively. The values of the four types were compared by means of a varianz analysis. The four types are: isodendritic stellate cells without spines (I/OS), isodendritic stellate cells with spines (AI/OS), anisodendritic stellate cells without spines (AI/OS), anisodendritic stellate cells with spines (AI/MS). Type I/OS and type AI/MS are the most contrary one. Main results are: 1. The lengths of the dendritic branches show maximum values in the 3rd order. The dendritic lengths exhibit great deviations in all the four types. The alteration of the lengths values from one to the next order is similar the basal dendritic tree of primitive pyramidal neurons. The same analogy you can find for the dendritic numbers of corresponding orders: highest numbers are in the 2nd order, in the following orders the numbers decrease permanently. Isodendritic stellate cells without spines have significantly more dendrites of the 1st order compared with the other three types. 2. The branching pattern --- revealed in the number of free dendritic endings --- shows differences between isodendritic stellate cells without spines and anisodendritic stellate cells with spines. 3. The total lengths of the dendritic branches and the lengthes of the single dendritic fields are similar in significant differences: least lengths there are in anisodendritic stellate cells with spines, they are significantly different from isodendritic stellate cells with and without spines. 4. There are differences in the values of spines and varicosities between all types which causes the possibility of classifying stellate cells according to this parameter. This is valid for spines values of the orders, spines values of single dendritic fields and for the total number of spines for one neuron. 5. Localization and extending in the layers: most stellate cells extend through several layers. The isodendritic type is preferentially localizes in layer III, the anisodendritic one in layer V.


[Axon-like glial extensions in the pars ventralis of the corpus geniculatum laterale (CGLv) of the albino rat]. In sections of the Corpus geniculatum laterale, pars ventralis (CGLv) of adult albino rats impregnated according to Golgi-Kopsch, structures are visible very similar to long unbranched axons with large boutons en passage. Within the CGLv these axon-like structures can be followed parallel to the optic tract. Generally they take a ventro-dorsal, exceptionally a dorso-ventral course. As well in Golgi-Kopsch material as in sections in which glial cells are specifically impregnated the described structures could be traced to cells mainly located subpial in the Tractus opticus. Within the optic tract these axon-like structures change their appearance looking similar as the numerous other processes originating from these cells too. These other processes take a course right-angled to the optic fibers and in general they don't bear axon-like structures as described. In our opinion based also on investigations of Nissl-stained sections the origination cells represent a specialized type of astroglia of until now unknown function.


Alterations of dendritic spines following intoxication by mercury phenylacetate. A morphological study of the effect of mercury phenylacetate (MPA) given intragastrically at a dose of either 0.1 or 0.05 g for 10 and 30 days respectively, on dendritic spines in the parietal cortex of the recipient rats was performed. Ingestion of MPA induced considerable losses as well as nodular deformation of dendritic spines in the investigated cortical region. The effect of MPA intoxication demonstrated in this study is discussed with respect ot histoenzymic observations made in another study on rats similarly intoxicated, in which a considerable drop of AChE activity in the cortical neuropil was demonstrated. It is concluded that the induced by MPA intoxication in dendritic spines, which constitute an integral part of the synaptic structures may be responsible for the observed decline of AChE activity in this experimental poisoning.


Tissue distribution of arsenic after subcutaneous implantation of arsenic trioxide pellet in rats. In control rats, the arsenic level in the spleen and blood cells was 1.59 and 10.79 microgram/g wet tissue, respectively. In the kidney, lung, heart, brain, and hair, the arsenic level was lower than 1.1 microgram/g wet tissue. In rats in which a pellet containing 2 mg of arsenic tsioxide was implanted subcutaneously, the arsenic level in the spleen and blood cells was markedly high for at least 2 months after implantation; after 67 days of implantation, the arsenic level in the spleen and blood cells was 16.79 and 66.34 microgram/g wet tissue, respectively. In the kidney, liver, lung, heart, brain, and hair, the increase in arsenic after implantation was smaller than that in the spleen. In the plasma, arsenic was not detected before and after arsenic implantation. It is concluded that arsenic implanted subcutaneously concentrates in the blood cells, possibly in the red cells, in rats.


Further study on the effect of mersalyl, an organic mercurial, on relaxing response of a molluscan smooth muscle to monoamines. The effect of mersalyl on the relaxation of catch by various monoamines was studied in the anterior byssal retractor muscle of Mytilus. As has already been reported, mersalyl blocked the relaxing response to indoleamines but not block that to catecholamines. The relaxations in response to catecholamine-related compounds (dopa, octopamine, tyramine, phenylephrine, beta-phenylethylamine and phenylethanolamine) and hexylamine were, however, antagonized more or less effectively with mersalyl. It was suggested that the catecholamine-related compounds and hexylamine can act on relaxing nerve endings to increase neurotransmitter serotonin in the junctional clefts, and mersalyl antagonizes the relaxation in response to these compounds by blocking the serotonin.


Zinc distribution and metallothionein in the liver and kidney of mice treated with cadmium. Cadmium in the liver and kidney increased with the dosage of this injection. There was a parallel relation between the increase of cadmium in the whole liver and that in the metallothionein. In the liver and kidney, zinc highly increased in the low dose group than in the high dose group. In the 5.0 mg/kg group, zinc in the liver was not different from that of the control group, and about 30% of zinc in the 30,000 g supernatant existed in the metallothionein. By the DEAE-cellulose chromatography of metallothionein, two forms of metallothionein were obtained.


[Some aspect of surgical treatment of vulvar carcinoma (author's transl)]. The authors put forward their experience in the surgical treatment of 51 patients with vulvar carcinoma in the Gynecology-Obstetrics Hospital in Beograd, by describing their modification of surgical techniques which allows a better healing of surgical wounds.


[Intracavitary use of highly radioactive foci in the treatment of uterine carcinoma (author's transl)]. The report relates to the survival period of 24--44 months after the end of treatment and has a preliminary character. In 213 patients the radiological treatment was applied, either alone or combined with surgery. A total of 174 patients (81.6%) are alive, without any sign of malignity. In the observed period 29 patients sorders. In addition to protecting medied of carcinoma or intercurrent didical staff from radiation, the method described has also other advantages: 1. Radiation is of short duration, it last only a few minutes, 2. Subjective complaints in the course and after treatment are negligible, 3. Owing to its possible non-hospital application, patients are free of "cancer psychosis" which developes in respective hospitals, 4. Complications in the course and after treatment are fewer than with classical radiation methods, 5. Disappearance of malignant cells from the vaginal swab and regression of the tumour are twice as fast as with classical methods. 6. In advanced stages of the disease better results are obtained.


[Pathohistological criteria in the treatment of stage I a cervical carcinoma (author's transl)]. The work is an attempt to define the stage Ia of squamous carcinoma of the cervix on the basis of morphological criteria. These criteria, with the collaboration of pathologist and gynecologist, would allow the best treatment. They are based on the evaluation of the cellular type, mitotic activity, the pattern of invasion, the tissue defense reaction, the presence of lymphatic and vascular spread, and the size of carcinomatous tissue.


[Effect of radical gynecological operations on the patients sexual life (author's transl)]. By inquiring 96 patients in whom radical operation after Wertheim (53) or Schauta-Amreich (43) was applied, the author tried to determine the effect of these operations on the patients' sexual live. The stage of carcinoma was 0 in 5 patients, II in 4, and I in the remaining patients. Surgery has proved considerably to affect the sexual life. Only 58% of patients maintained more or less regular sexual relations after operation. while 34% wholly abstained from them. Causes of this deminished sexual activity are dyspareunie resulting from the anatomically changed vigina and psychic factors (Table 11). In the author's view, it is necessary to parm both partners of possible difficulties during the first coitus in order to avoid conflicts. It is also necessary for the first coitus to take place early before the development of anatomic changes due to the lack of ovarian hormones. Much attention should be paid to psychic factors in young women. To minimize difficulties in coitus, operative reconstruction of the vargina by the sigmoid colon is recommended.


[Morphology of the development of intraepithelial cervical carcinoma (author's transl)]. By studying histologic preparations of 240 cervices (165 obtained by conization and 75 by hysterectomy), the author tries to answer the following questions: 1. Whick epithelium is responsible for the development of intraepitheilal cervical carcinoma? 2. Does it appear unicentrically or multicentricall? 3. What is the tendency of its spreading? The author concludes that intraepithelial carcinoma of the cervix develops from both kinds of the epithelium, although its development from the squamous epithelium is much rarer, only in 6.2% of cases. It develops muticentrically, by which individual new foci appear in different periods of time. The unicentrical appearance of the carcinoma, confirmed in 45 cases, is not in disagreement with this conclusion. As regards the spreading of intraepithelial carcinoma, the author's observations corroborate those of other authors, i. e. that the carcinoma spreads primarily in the glandular region.


[Urologic complications after radical operations (author's transl)]. In the last ten years 795 radical operations have been performed at the University Hospital Department of Gynecology in Ljubljana: 542 after Wertheim and 253 after Schauta. In operations after Wertheim there were 8 ureterovaginal fistulas (1.4%) and 1 vesico-vaginal fistula. In operations after Schauta no urinary fistulas developed. In operations after Wertheim there were 3 lesions of the urether after surgery and in those after Schauta only one. Hydronephrosis after Wertheim: 20 open, (25%) and 10 closed (15%). Urinary retention proved considerably lower in women on postoperative balneotherapy in Dobrna.


[Urological complications after treatment of carcinoma colli uteri (author's transl)]. Urological complications before and after treatment of ca colli uteri are very frequent. The majority of complications are present in the first two years following treatment. They are more frequent after radical operations with postoperative irradiation and in stages III and IV. Early urological complications are detected by frequent follow-up and diagnostic examinations and cured with palliative, radical, or plastic surgery depending on the clinically determined kind of lession. In ten years the author performed 59 operations which were followed by frequent early and late complications.


[Gynecological dispensary and stationary services in the treatment of mammary disorders (author's transl)]. The authors examined 29,230 women. In addition to clinical examination, they were also examined mammographically. The methods used were mass mammography, standard mammography, contact thermovision, xerography, pneumocystoraphy, galactography, exfoliative and aspiration cytology, and pathohistological diagnosis. The diagnosis revealed 964 (2.4%) solid or cystic tumours, 453 mastopathies, 216 secreting mammae, and 215 malignomas. By the use of a large number of gynecological consulting units and dispensaries it is possible to select atypical and suspected changes in the breast, while in large stationary gynecological institutions, by an interdisciplinary collaboration of radiologists, surgeons, and cytologists, it is possible to make a definite diagnosis and provide treatment for patients with atypical changes. The ultimate goal is to refer to therapeutists latent and early forms of malignant mammary disorders.


[Cytostatic and hormonal therapy on oncologic gynecology (author's transl)]. Horones as a therapeutic agent are practically not used in gynecologic oncology, because gynecological malignomas are hormonally independent. Therapeutically succesful in only the use of Progesterone in metastases and relapses of endometrial cancer and of Estrogen in the palliative treatment of cervical cancer relapses. However, significant results are obtained by cytostatic therapy, particularly in carcinomas of the ovary and in choriocarcinomas; the therapy is somewhat less successful in the cancer of the oviduct and vulva, while in the cancer of the cervix and vagina it is not successful at all. Polychemotherapy is recommended because it results in better remissions and is less aggressive.


[Atypical hyperplasia and endometrial carcinoma (author's transl)]. Data on 167 cases of atypical hyperplasia of the endometrium and 292 cases of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium from 1966 to 1977 are presented. In 41 cases of atypical hyperplasia (24.5%) also adenocarcinoma of the endometrium coexisted. The age distribution revealed that atypical hyperplasia was much frequent in the age group from 40--59, and adenocarcinoma of the endometrium from 59--69. Out of 61 cases of theca- and granulosa-cell tumors of the ovary, 13 cases (21.3%) related to atypical hyperplasia or adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. Out of 27 cases of the Stein-Leventhal syndrome, 3 cases were atypical hyperplasia, one case adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. The data presented suggest that atypical hyperplasia might be a stage in the development of endometrial carcinoma.


[Results of the treatment of endometrial carcinoma (author's transl)]. The increased incidence of endometrial carcinoma in Slovenia from 1961 to 1970 is presented, as well as the five-year survival of patients treated from 1946 to 1949 and from 1965 to 1972. A retrograde analysis is made of 288 patients, of the structure of their carcinomatous stages, their age, mode of treatment, and their survival in relation to the kind of treatment, the development of the cancer, its histological structure, and the magnitude of changes in regional lymph nodes. Novak's merit for the use of the so-called old Wertheim in the surgery of endometrial carcinoma is particularly pointed out.


[Diagnosis of breast cancer (author's transl)]. The authors draw attention to the frequency of breast carcinoma and the importance of its early detection. They critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of X-ray diagnosis, thermography, ultrasound, radioisotope diagnosis, cytology, and histological diagnosis.


Factors influencing the secondary immune response in rabbits to Salmonella typhosa. The characteristics of the primary response, as well as those of the secondary response, to different doses of Salmonella typhosa when elicited at two different time intervals were analysed. The antibody response demonstrates that the size of the primary dose, and the size of the secondary dose, have significant effect on the subsequent synthesis of the secondary IgM and IgG antibody response to both 'H' and 'O' antigens. The time elapsed between the primary and secondary response tends to decrease the IgG response. Due to the high immunogenicity of the 'H' antigen the maximum IgG levels were reached within the range of doses used. These high levels of antibody inhibited the secondary IgM response by a feedback mechanism. Enhanced or equivalent response of predominant anti 'O' IgM system was recorded.


Effects of antibiotics on the cation composition of Bifidobacterium bifidum subspecies pennsylvanicum. Cell wall-inhibitory antibiotics caused a marked reduction of intracellular K+ and a small increase of Na+, together resulting in a decline of intracellular cation content. Chloramphenicol and tetracycline increased intracellular K+ but actinomycin decreased both Na+ and K+ content. The release and uptake of 86Rb+ were similarly affected by the antibiotics as the K+ content. The osmotic resistance of the protoplasts isolated from antibiotic-treated cells was apparently increased by inhibitors of cell wall synthesis, but decreased by inhibitors of protein synthesis. The ionophore valinomycin enhanced growth in normal and K+-rich medium, although cells released more than 90% of intracellular K+.


Quality and rate of extracellular polysaccharides produced by Rhizobium meliloti and their inducing effect on polygalacturonase production in legume roots as derived from the presence of extrachromosomal DNA. The ability of extracellular polysaccharides of different strains of Rhizobium meliloti to induce the production of polygalacturonase by roots of Medicago sativa seedlings has been studied. Some strains showed a high inducing activity while those derived from them, after treatment with acridine orange and in which extrachromosomal DNA was absent, did not show this character. A comparative study of polysaccharide production and preliminary studies on the chemical composition of the active fractions obtained after Sephadex G-25 filtration indicated that the monomers which form the active fractions are qualitatively and quantitatively different according to their origin.


Comparative methods of titration of Silverwater virus, an arthropod borne virus. Silverwater virus (SIL) was titrated in vivo and in vitro. Using a microculture technique, TCID50 was found to be much more sensitive than both the plaque forming assay and the LD50. The latter was the least sensitive mode of titration of Silverwater virus. The addition of DEAE dextran and trypsin to the viral inoculum increased the number and diameter of the plaques.


Correlations between physico-chemical properties and antimicrobial activity for some glycolmonophenyl ethers. Aqueous solubilities, octanol: water partition coefficients and Rm were determined for twelve glycolmonophenyl ether analogues. Their correlation with growth inhibitory activity towards eight bacterial, yeast and fungal species was assessed. Correlations were also sought between bactericidal activity and inhibition of respiration of E. coli suspensions with these physico-chemical properties. Variations in antimicrobial activity generally correlated well with aqueous solubility. Partition coefficients were found to correlate poorly with biological response with the exception of those correlations involving Gram-negative micro-organisms. Regression equations relating solubility to biological activity generally varied significantly between micro-organisms and for different biological responses with E. coli. This suggested the possibility of different problems of drug penetration in different microbial species and/or different sites of action for the various biological responses.


The effect of a single dose of ethanol on pharmacokinetics of paracetamol. The effect of a single dose of ethanol (200 ml of 20% and 40% solution) on pharmacokinetics of a single dose of paracetamol was tested in healthy men. An open, two-compartment pharmacokinetical model was assumed. Significant changes were observed after 40% ethanol, an increase of AUC, beta, k12, k21, V2 and t1/2 alpha, decrease of Cmax and prolongation of tmax.


The effect of new furanochrome derivatives on circulatory system and respiratory activity of experimental animals. Six new compounds of furanochromone group were tested for their acute toxicity (LD50), the effect on arterial blood pressure, respiratory activity of the cat, the effect on ECG and antiarrhythmic activity. All compounds produce a moderate hypotension. Protection against BaCl2-induced arrhythmia is offered by hydrochlorides of N-2-morpholino-etyl ester of alpha-2-methyl-8-methoxyfurano (3', 2' :6,7)-chromonoxy-5-butyric acid, 3, and of N, N-diethylaminoethyl ester of alpha-2-methyl-8-methoxyfurano-(3', 2' : 6,7)-chromonoxy-5-propionic acid, 4. These compounds show the weakest hypotensive activity. The most potent hypotensive action is produced by hydrochlorides of N,N-diethylaminoethyl ester of alpha-2-methyl-8-methoxyfurano (3', 2' : 6,7)-chromonoxy-5-butyric acid 1, and of N-/2-piperidinoethyl ester of alpha-2-methyl-8-methoxyfurano(3', 2' : 6,7)-chromonoxy-5-propionic acid, 5, (short-lasting action).


Lesion of locus coeruleus: the effect on pethidine and pentazocine analgesia. Analgesic activity of pethidine and pentazocine in the locus coeruleus lesioned rats was evaluated. Bilateral destruction of locus coeruleus resulted in a marked decrease in noradrenaline content in forebrain but did not change significantly the levels of dopamine. Lesioned animals showed a marked decrease of predrug pain threshold. However, pethidine increased more effectively the nociceptive threshold in lesioned rats. The effect observed after pentazocine was generally similar but the maximal increase in pain threshold in lesioned animals did not differ significantly from the values observed in sham lesioned rats. The action of both analgesics was markedly prolonged after the lesion of the locus coeruleus.


Effect of catecholamines and adrenergic antagonists on blood glucose, free fatty acids and liver glycogen levels in fed rats. In fed rats the effects of catechloamines and adrenergic antagonists on blood glucose, free fatty acids (FFA), and liver glycogen levels were investigated in order to determine the role of alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptors in metabolic responses to catechloamines. Hyperglycemic responses to dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline (A) and isoprenaline (ISP) were dose-related and accompained by a depletion of liver glycogen. The relative potencies in producing hyperglycemia and in causing liver glycogenolysis were in descending order of potency, A, NA, DA and ISP. Hyperlipemic response was most potent to NA and DA, weaker to ISP, and least potent to A. Phentolamine antagonized completely both hyperglycemia and hepatic glycogen depletion induced by all catecholamines. Propranolol impaired only hyperglycemic responses to A and ISP. Phentolamine antagonized hyperlipemia induced by DA and NA but only partially impaired hyperlipemia after A. Propranolol only partially antagonized hyperlipemic responses to NA and ISP without influencing DA--and A-induced hyperlipemia. The results indicate that in fed rats hyperglycemic responses to catecholamines are mediated mainly by an alpha-adrenergic receptor, and hyperlipemic responses do not fit inton the alpha-receptor or beta-receptor classification.


On the mechanisms of hypotensive action of indoramin. Effect of indoramin in small doses on the central vasomotor loci has been studied in chloralose anesthetized cats by localizing it to the central sites. An intracerebroventricular dose of 100 micrograms or intra-vertebral arterial injection of 50 micrograms significantly inhibited the excitability of hypothalamic and medullary vasomotor loci and produced hypotension. Similarly, topical application of indoramin (0.5%) to the floor of the IV ventricle inhibited the medullary and the hypothalamic vasomotor responses but a similar application to the ventral surface of the medulla had no effect. An intrathecal dose of 100 micrograms did not inhibit the spinal compression vasmotor response. Administration of higher amounts led to inhibition of the adrenaline pressor response also, indicating a peripheral leak of the drug. Indoramin has a definite inhibitory effect on the medullary vasomotor loci which contributes to the hypotension produced by this drug.


Changes of beta-glucuronidase activity in peripheral blood lymphocytes in rats exposed to a mixture of nitrogen oxides and chlorine. The activity of beta-glucuronidase (BG) was tested cytochemically in the lymphocytes of peripheral blood of rats exposed to a mixture of nitrogen oxides (1.22 mg/m3) and chlorine (1.02 mg/m3) for 12 weeks. The number of lymphocytes was reduced, the activity of BG was depressed and the enzyme was shifted from the lysosomes to the cytoplasm of these cells. A relation between the changes in the lymphocytes at the subcellular level and the immunological responses of the organism are discussed.


Cerebral prognostic signs during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In 54 patients with circulatory arrest mainly due to ischaemic heart disease cerebral functions were tested longitudinally during primary cardiopulmonary resuscitation or basic life support. Cerebral recovery was characterized by the appearance of functions in caudorostral sequence. Cerebral prognosis was reliably assessed by the time to reappearance of respiratory movements, pupillary light, coughing--swallowing and ciliospinal reflexes, as these were regained within critical time limits of 7, 12, 23 and 26 min respectively, corresponding to the longest delay compatible with recovery of consciousness and within ultimate time limits of 15, 28, 58 and 52 min corresponding to the longest delay compatible with any cerebral recovery at all. Prognostication was currently ascertained during basic life support as reflex reappearance times were exponentially interdependent. If circulation was re-established it usually happened within less than 20 min of basic life support. Prolongation of the resuscitation attempt beyond this time occasionally resulted in a selective reestablishment of circulation (brain death) but most often resulted in a dissociated recovery of cerebral functions (cardiac death).


Role of an accident flying squad in medical emergencies. A retrospective study of medical cases attended by the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary Accident Flying Squad demonstrates that of 17 cases only two patients survived to leave hospital. Nine cases of cardiac arrest have been studied in further detail. In all of these cases it was found that diagnosis of arrest had been made before the Flying Squad was called and that the situation had become extreme before the arrival of the medical team. In every case the Flying Squad team took more than 3 min to arrive, irrespective of distance. Review of the literature appears to support the conclusion that medical teams have been of little value when called to cardiac arrest at any distance from the hospital because of the time lag. It is suggested that more sophisticated primary care should be available immediately, preferably by highly trained ambulance personnel. Medical teams would give appropriate support to such primary care.


The capnogram as a guide to the efficacy of cardiac massage. Recordings from three patients in cardiac arrest are shown to illustrate the importance of monitoring pulmonary perfusion by means of the capnogram as a continuous guide to the cardiac output achieved by cardiac massage and resuscitation. Such monitoring allows the performance to be adjusted to obtain the maximal result.


Survival rates after serious immersion accidents in childhood. A study of childhood survival rates, after loss of consciousness in fresh water, has been undertaken. Age-specific, sex-specific and site-specific survival rates for childhood fresh water immersion accidents are reported for the first time. The overall survival rate, after loss of consciousness in the water was 0.49; swimming pool and domestic bath tub serious immersion accidents have a survival rate of 0.60 compared with a rate of 0.05 for similar immersion accidents in creeks and rivers. Young male schoolboys have the lowest potential survival (0.20 or less) of any group. Survival rates were significantly higher during the winter (0.86) than during the warmer months (survival rate of 0.49). This gives a quantitative expression to the protection from cerebral anoxia afforded by body chilling which is not extreme. Survival rates have increased significantly over the 5 year period 1971--1975; it is considered that this is due to public education campaigns of the potential danger of water to children. The use of survival rates to measure factors which modify the pathophysiology of human drowning and near-drowning is discussed.


Intravenous sodium lactate administration in respiratory alkalosis secondary to severe brain injuries. In acute cerebrovascular accidents the uptake of lactate by the brain tissue is enhanced, possibly in an attempt to buffer the increased local lactic acidosis. In this paper the results obtained by the administration of the lactate in 78 cases of hyperventilatory syndromes secondary to acute brain injuries, and the biochemistry of the cerebrospinal fluid and blood, are reported.


Lack of enterohepatic circulation of intact biliary phosphatidylcholine in the rat. The bile phosphatidylcholine was radioactively labelled by intraperitoneal or intravenous injection of [3H]- or [14C]-palmitic acid into bile fistula rats. The radioactive bile was infused intraduodenally into other bile fistula rats. On an average, only 1.0% of the infused radioactive phosphatidylcholine fatty acid reappeared in bile phosphatidylcholine, whereas about 68% of simultaneously infused [3H]-taurocholate was recovered over the same period of time (6 hours). There is thus no significant enterohepatic circulation of intact biliary phosphatidylcholine.


Bran and bile: time-course of changes in normal young men given a standard dose. Twelve healthy young men added bran 15 g twice daily to their diet and underwent aspiration of bile-rich duodenal contents at 0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks. In the 6-week sample, but not earlier, there was a significant decrease in deoxycholate and increase in chenodeoxycholate. Bile was unsaturated with cholesterol at the beginning and remained so throughout. The delay in the action of bran may be because it reduces the formation of deoxycholate in the colon and does not merely impede its absorption.


Quantitative studies of gastrin cells (G cells) and parietal cells in relation to gastric acid secretion in patients with peptic ulcer disease. The distribution of parietal cells in the body mucosa, and of G cells in the antral mucosa, was quantitatively mapped in resected stomachs from 42 patients (12 with gastric ulcer, 11 with duodenal ucler, 14 with duodenal ulcer and uremia, and 5 with gastric cancer) who preoperatively had had their gastric acid secretion measured. In the material as a whole there was a significant positive correlation between the parietal-cell density and maximal acid output (MAO), and a significant negative correlation between the parietal-cell density and patient age. A significant positive correlation was found between the antral G-cell mass and basal acid output (BAO). When the individual patient categories were analyzed, the correlation between parietal-cell density and MAO were significant in the group with duodenal ulcer and uremia, and in the group with gastric cancer. Correlation between parietal-cell density and age was found only in the group with duodenal ulcer and uremia. There was no correlation between the parietal-cell density and various parameters of the antral G-cell population in the material as a whole or in any of the individual groups.


Acute cholestasis, hepatic failure, and fatty liver in the alcoholic. Three alcoholic patients are described who presented with acute cholestasis and liver cell failure. In each patient the liver biopsy showed severe fatty change with cholestasis, but without typical alcoholic hepatitis. There was no evidence of extra-hepatic biliary obstruction, although one patient had chronic pancreatitis. Two of the three patients died of hepatic failure, but the third recovered and has remained well while abstaining from alcohol.


Gastric emptying of ingested acid and its effects on plasma gastrin and secretin in duodenal ulcer subjects. Abnormal acid production or handling is thought to be involved in duodenal ulceration. Gastric emptying of 25 mmol hydrochloric acid (250 ml 0.1 M solution) was studied by using an isotopic method in control and ulcer subjects. Plasma gastrin and secretin levels were simultaneously measured. Gastric emptying was significantly faster in ulcer subjects using several parameters. Plasma gastrin levels were suppressed in both groups, with equivocal differences between them. Mean plasma secretin levels showed no significant elevation in controls and at only one point in ulcer subjects. Mean elevation in plasma secretin levels during intermediate phase of gastric emptying (T30-70) correlated with rate of acid loss from stomach in both groups. Regression lines were significantly different in position, however, and indicated a higher threshold for secretin release in ulcer subjects. The significance of this in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer is discussed.


Endoscopy-related bacteremia.

Endoscopy-related bacteremia. A prospective study was undertaken to investigate the frequency of bacteremia after endoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract. In one out of 100 patients undergoing gastroscopy and in one out of 25 patients undergoing coloscopy, positive blood cultures could be demonstrated. In both cases anaerobe lactobacilli were recovered. No bacteremia was demonstrated in 25 patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).


Duodenal motility pattern in duodenal ulcer disease. The motility in the first part of the duodenum has been studied by a method combining roentgen fluorography and multiple pressure recordings in 7 normal volunteers, in 7 patients having gastric, and in 7 having duodenal, ulcer. A significantly lower number of retrograde motor sequences was found in cases with duodenal ulcer than in normals, while patients with gastric ulcers showed no such difference. This abnormality in subjects with duodenal ulcer was interpreted as a deficiency in the transport of neutralized duodenal contents from more distal parts of the duodenum up into the bulb. The abnormality can explain the earlier known lower pH in the duodenal bulb in subjects with duodenal ulcer and contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.


Binding of bile acids to anion-exchanging drugs in vitro. Equal amounts of anion exchanger of the drugs, Secholex, Colestipol, Cuemid, and Questran, were incubated at 37 degrees C with human duodenal fluid containing about 7 mM total bile acid. Binding of bile acid to Qestran, which contains about 45% cholestyramine, was fastest: concentration of unbound bile acid after 2 hours was less than 3 mM compared to about 5 mM in the solutions incubated with the other drugs, including Cuemid, which contains about 83% cholestyramine. After 24 hours, differences were less marked, but binding to Qestran was still greatest. Glycocholic acid was least efficiently bound, especially to Secholex and Cuemid. The differences in rates of binding were unaffected by preincubation of the drugs with 1 N HCl to simulate stomach conditions. Although differences between the cholestyramine components of Cuemid and Questran are not ruled out, it is possible that one or more of the other components of Questran significantly affect the in vitro binding of bile acids. Cholestryramine in the form of Questran may be the drug of choice in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, in which reduction of the bile acid pool is desirable. In cholegenic diarrhoea, however, one of the drugs with lower affinity for glycocholic acid may be preferable.


Gastric acid responses to adequate and modified sham feeding and to insulin hypoglycemia in duodenal ulcer patients. In duodenal ulcer patients the effect of vagal activation of gastric acid secretion by the intricate procedure of adequate sham feeding for 15 min has been compared with the effects of vagal stimulation induced by more easily accomplishable methods. The comparison involved modified sham feeding for 15 min by a 'chew-and-spit' technique and insulin hypoglycemia produced by i.v. injected insulin in the doses 0.1, 0.15, or 0.2 U/kg b.w. In 6 patients the peak and 2-hour acid responses to adequate sham feeding (10.7 mmol/30 min and 29.7 mmol) did not significantly differ from corresponding responses to modified sham feeding (9.1 mmol/30 min and 25.2 mmol). The peak and 2-hour acid responses to insulin in a dose of 0.1 U/kg (8 patients) were not significantly different from the sham-feeding responses. The 2-hour acid responses to insulin in the doses of 0.15 (6 patients) and 0.2 U/kg (17 patients) were significantly higher than the sham-feeding response. Furthermore, the peak acid response to insulin in a dose of 0.15 U/kg was significantly higher than the peak sham-feeding response. The gastric acid responses to modified sham feeding and insulin in a dose of 0.1 U/kg b.w. in duodenal ulcer patients seem to satisfactorily reflect physiological vagal activation of acid secretion.


Gastroesophageal sphincter pressure and serum gastrin: reaction to food stimulation in normal subjects and in patients with gastric or duodenal ulcer. Gastroesophageal sphincter pressure and serum gastrin concentration were determined in the fasting state and the intake of a protein food in 6 normal subjects, 6 patients with gastric ulcer, and in 6 patients with duodenal ulcer. No significant differences in the fasting state were found. After the food intake, gastroesophageal sphincter pressure increased significantly over basal values in normals and in patients with duodenal ulcer, but in patients with gastric ulcer a decrease in pressure was noted. Serum gastrin rose in all subjects studied after the food stimulation, but it was significant only in the gastric and duodenal ulcer group. In two normals and two patients with duodenal ulcer the ingestion of a potato meal similar in weight to the protein meal showed no change either in serum gastrin or in sphincter pressure. In one additional nromal and one duodenal ulcer, the constant intravenous infusion of Aminosol during 2 hours produced no change in serum gastrin or sphincter pressure. These results indicate that the effect of protein food on sphincter pressure is different for gastric or duodenal ulcers; furthermore, that this effect is mediated by proteins in the gastrointestinal tract.


Experimental studies on fluid pathophysiology in small intestinal obstruction in the rat. IV. Effects of intraluminal hyperosmolality and simultaneous intravenous infusions on mucosal micromorphology. A hyperosmolal glucose solution was introduced into a loop of small intestine of specified length and position while intravenous infusions of varying osmolality were given at the same time. The hyperosmolal solution in the lumen caused damage primarily to the tips of the villi where sloughing of the epithelial cells was frequently seen. These defects were repaired by an increase in surface coverage by neighboring epithelial cells, which thus were reduced in height. A varying degree of edema was generally seen in the epithelial cells. The severity of these lesions was modified by intravenous infusions in inverse relationship to the osmolality of the infusions. Thus the defence mounted by the intestinal mucosa against the hyperosmolal solution in the lumen was impaired by the infusion of hypo-osmolal solutions and improved by hyperosmolal solutions. In the latter cases the mucosa maintained a practically normal histological picture.


Elemental analysis of frog outer segment and fuscin granule by means of x-ray microanalyzer. Elemental analysis was made on the rod outer segments and fuscin granules in the frog eye by means of an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer combined with an electron microscope. The materials were prepared from the unfixed fresh retina by means of air-dried or freeze-dried cryosection, freeze-substitution, or the freeze-drying embedding method. An outer segment in the air-dried cryosection showed P, K, S, Cl, and Ca peaks. The dry section of freeze-substituted or freeze-dried embedded outer segment showed P, K, S, and Cl; K was lost in the wet section. The fuscin granules showed prominent peaks of Ca and Zn constantly, in addition to S, Cl, Mg, K, and occasionally Cu. The K peak was also lost in the wet section.


Fine structure of the Müller cell revealed by high-voltage electron microscopy. The three-dimensional organization of Müller cells in the retina of various vertebrates was investigated by means of high-voltage electron microscope stereoscopy using 2-5 micrometer-thick Golgi preparations. The alveolar compartments constituted by thin lamellar processes of the Müller cell were seen in the outer and inner nuclear layers. The radial process of the Müller cell has many irregular appendages which attenuate into thin lamellae to invade the neuropile. The functional significance of the characteristic morphological features of the Müller cell is discussed.


Light, voltage, and time-dependent components of the rod response. Individual rods were physically isolated from the retina. Since these rods are isopotential and uncoupled from the network, measurements of light- and voltage-dependent changes in resistance at the rod membrane can be obtained. The studies show that the reversal potential for the light response is near 0 mV. The hyperpolarizing overshoot at the onset of the response persists even when the rod is hyperpolzrized with current, suggesting that the overshoot is a voltage-rather than light-dependent event. In the absence of sodium in the bathing medium, the overshoot reverses polarity near--75 mV and is associated with an increase in resistance, suggesting that it is mediated by a voltage-dependent inactivation of potassium. Strong outward rectification is blocked by TEA; inward rectification is blocked by cesium, suggesting two other voltage-dependent changes in potassium conductance. Under voltage clamp a region of negative resistance appears at the dark potential level when the rod has been previously depolarized. The possible mechanisms for negative resistance are discussed.


Electrically evoked responses (E-responses) of L-and C-type horizontal cells in the carp retina. Electrically evoked responses (E-responses) of L-and C-type horizontal cells produced by transretinal stimulation were studied under chromatic illumination in the carp retina. From the examination of E-S relations (E-response verus S-potential) and of the shape of both responses the following results were obtained: (1) Equilibrium potential of subsynaptic membrane is estimated as 0 to 10 mV above zero membrane potential. (2) L-cells receive signals from red-and probably from green-sensitive cones and feed them back to the former. (3) The depolarizing response to red light of C-cells is produced by delayed and reversed signals from L-cells. Thus the model proposed by W.K. Stell, D. O. Lightfoot, and T. G. Wheeler (Science, 1975, 190,989-990) is supported.


Effects of GABA on neuronal activities in the distal retina of the carp. When a transient depolarization was evoked in horizontal cells by a transretinal current pulse, a small hyperpolarizing deflection (probably IPSP) was detected in cones. The IPSP was abolished by superfusion of the retina with GABA-containing Ringer solution, which also hyperpolarized the cones. These results suggest that, in the dark, a GABA-mediated negative feedback was operating from horizontal cells to cones, and terminated in the light. Application of GABA also caused remarkable changes in spectral response curves of horizontal cells, mainly because of suppression of responses to monochromatic lights of longer wavelengths. Therefore, it was concluded that the feedback plays an important role in mechanisms of conversion from the trichromatic process in cones to the opponent color process in horizontal cells.


Inputs to bipolar cell dendrites in goldfish retina. Goldfish mixed bipolar cells, which contact both rods and cones, comprise two types; Ma, with axon terminals in the distal sublamina(a) and Mb, with axon terminals in the proximal sublamina(b) of the inner synaptic layer. Type Ma cells make only wide-cleft junctions (WCJ), whereas type Mb cells make only narrow-cleft junctions (NCJ) with rods and cores. It follows that WCJs mediate sign-conserving synaptic transmission to the center hyperpolarizing Ma cells, whereas NCJs mediate sign-inverting transmission to the center depolarizing Mb cells. Bipolar cell (BC) surrounds may be mediated largely through horizontal cell (HC) pathways. Type Ma BCs appear to be influenced primarily through HC feedback at cones and both feedback and nonribbon feedforward contacts at rods; in contrast most Mb BCs may be influenced by both HC feedback and ribbon-associated feedforward contacts at rods and cones, accounting for the greater complexity of Mb BC surrounds. BC subtypes Mal and Mbl, which contact only red-sensitive cones (+ rods), are likely to have red-opponent (non-color-coded) surrounds mediated by H1 (L-type) cone HCs; while subtypes Ma2 and Mb2 and 3, which contact also green-sensitive cones, are likely to have red + green-opponent (color-coded) surrounds mediated by H1 and H2 (R/G C-type) cone HCs.


Ionic mechanisms underlying the center and surround responses of on-center bipolar cells in the carp retina. Reversal potentials were measured for the center and surround responses of on-center bipolar cells in the carp retina. In the scotopic condition, the center response showed a reversal at 29 +/- 13mV, the surround response at 38 +/- 13 mV. The result suggests that both the center and surround responses were -53 +/- 11 mV and -59 +/- 11 mV, respectively. These responses were sensitive to the red light. It is therefore suggested that both the center and surround responses contributed by rods are mediated by changes in conductance of Na+ channels but in opposite ways. In the photopic condition, reversal potentials of the center and surround responses contributed by red cones are mediated by changes in conductance of K+ and/or Cl- channels, but in opposite ways. The responses in the mesopic condition showed the complex electrical properties as a consequence of interaction between the two ionic components described above.


Receptive field arrangement of color-opponent bipolar and amacrine cells in the carp retina. Seven color-opponent bipolar and 50 color-opponent amacrine cells were identified in the carp retina and their spectral responses examined by using procion-dye-filled micropipets for staining and recording. Four of the bipolar cells had a +R-G-and three a +Y-B-type chromatic center. Six of the bipolar cells showed hyperpolarizing non-color-opponent surrounds, while one +R-G-type cell had a +Y-RB-type surround. This cell showed the greatest complexity of all bipolar cells identified so far, and its spectral property strongly suggests the existence of an intimate relation between it and +Y-RB-type horizontal cells. Examination and classification of the 50 amacrine cells revealed that 17 belonged to the +R-G, 16 to the -R+G, 6 to the +Y-B, and 11 to the -Y + B type. Most of these cells showed non-color-opponent surrounds. Yet, the similarity of the chromatic arrangement of their centers with that of the ganglion cells shows that the four basic types of color channels are already in existence in the amacrine cells where they seem to originate.


Effects of catecholamines on the horizontal cell membrane potential in the fish retina. The effects of catecholamines (CA) and certain related compounds on the horizontal cell membrane potential were examined in the retina of the teleost (Eugerres plumieri). Each CA compound (dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline) had a similar effect on each class of horizontal cell (photopic L- and C-type, scotopic L-type). The threshold effect, seen with 25-50 microM CA, was an enlargement of both center and surround responses in general. At higher concentrations (100-200 microM), CA augmented the center response and attenuated the surround considerably; these reciprocal changes usually were associated with moderate depolarization. Recovery took place in 15-20 min. The results indicate that up to a certain concentration CA do not affect directly the transmission from photoreceptors to horizontal cells. The lateral propagation of S-potential, however, appears selectively affected by CA. alpha-Methylnoradrenaline, 5-hydroxydopamine, and serotonin caused the same effect on horizontal cells as CA. Reserpine, clonidine, and L-dopa mimic the CA effect only after prior application of CA. Phentolamine blocked while propranolol, haloperidol, and pimozide did not influence the DA effect. We conclude that alpha-adrenergic receptors probably are involved in the CA-induced changes observed in horizontal cells.


Therapeutic results and complications of thoracic operations. Part I. The therapeutic results and complications of 557 thoracic operations are evaluated. 94.4% of the patients recovered, 2.7% improved and 2.9% died. There appears to be a significant correlation between the therapeutic results, the diagnosis and the type of operation. The 7.0% wound infections were closely related to the age of the patient. The postoperative respiratory complications observed in 11.5% of the cases were in close relation to the diagnosis. The causes leading to respiratory complications and the length of the febrile period are discussed in detail, and the results are assessed in the light of data in the literature.


Effect of antibiotics on the results and complications or thoracic operations. Par II. The role of antibiotics in the therapeutical result and in the postoperative complications was studied after 557 thoracic operations. It was found that antibiotics have no decisive role in the therapeutic result and there was no difference in the incidence of wound infections between the groups treated with different antibiotics. The principles and practice of treatment of would infections and pyothorax are discussed in detail. No relationship was found between the incidence of postoperative respiratory complications and the various drug treatments. Prevention and treatment of postoperative respiratory complications are discussed. The length of the febrile period was independent of the antibiotics applied. Their time of application, the problem of changing drugs and their side-effects after thoracic operations are analyzed.


Prophylactic application of antibiotics in thoracic surgery. Part III. After a review of the literature on antibiotic prophylaxis in thoracic surgery the authors present their own procedure, and point out the lack of difference between the therapeutic results and the incidence of complications in the groups treated with various antibiotics, and the control groups. Thus, routine prophylaxis is out-of-date, superfluous and even harmful in thoracic surgery. They are against preventive application in every case, but do not claim that antibiotics should never be applied. Pulmonary operations might be considered potentially infected; this, however, is not the same as an indication for prophylaxis. In thoracic surgery, preventive treatment is determined by individual indications and should always be of the aimed type. Antibiotics are dear, but their high price must not prevent their use, though the financial aspects of superfluously performed antibiotic prevention are not negligible.


[Changes in the Na+, K+, and Ca++ concentrations in the urine in the course of surgical interventions]. The tests were carried out on 27 surgical patients. Diuresis and the Na, K and Ca concentrations in the urine were measured before, during and after operation. Due to operational stress and to the drugs used for general anaesthesia diuresis decreases progressively during operation and compared to the conscious state the amount of cations excreted during operations is significantly lower. Decrease of the serum potassium and calcium levels is not explained with the quantity of ions excreted with the urine.


[Cryosurgery of anorectal cancer and the freezing-induced changes]. Inoperable ano-rectal cancers were treated with cryo-surgery supplemented in suitable cases with brachy-radiotherapy. An account is given of the authors' clinical experience and of the morphological changes caused by cryotherapy at -130 degrees to -140 degrees C. In some cases treatment resulted in epithelisation of the tumourous ulcer and in a more than two-year survival of patients in the 70 to 80 age group. The macroscopic picture was characterized by stasis oedema, followed by the necrosis of the tumour, while the light and electron microscopic pictures showed lesions of the cell membrane system -- particularly of the mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum and of the Golgi's apparatus -- which was more marked in the tumour cells than in the cells of the surrounding intact mucous membrane. The destruction of the tumour cells is brought into relation with this finding. Laminarly growing, not deeply infiltrated tumours whose cranial edge can be reached with the finger seem to be suited to cryo-surgery.


Bilateral testicular tumours.

Bilateral testicular tumours. After discussing the frequency of bilateral testicular tumours, attention is drawn to their rising incidence. In the 10 year period 1967 to 1976, three patients with bilateral testicular tumour were treated at the Department of Urology of the University Medical School of Pécs. Two had successively appearing bilateral seminoma and embryonal carcinoma, in the third patient simultaneously a malignant lymphoma appeared. As regards the question whether bilateral testicular tumours are two independent primary tumours or one is a metastastatic growth, presence of two primary tumours is assumed. The special features of therapy and prognosis are discussed.


[Gluteal fistula that developed spontaneously from pyonephrosis]. A case is described in which pyonephrosis of 21 months standing has caused gluteal fistula by spontaneously breaking through the deep dorsal musculature. Though the patient has been hospitalized in the surgical ward and treated as out-patient in the specialized surgery for gluteal abscess, i.e. fistula, pyonephrosis maintaining of the fistula was detected and treated only after 18 months. After nephrectomy the fistula closed spontaneously and the patient was cured when leaving the hospital.


The amount of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mg and Ca in rat liver and their relation to cytosol proteins. The amount of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mg and Ca in rat liver samples was analysed by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry and the association of Zn, Fe and Mg to cytosol proteins was studied by ultrafiltration. Nearly all of the Zn and Fe attached tightly to the protein molecules, while more than 30% of Mg was found to be "free" (ultrafilterable) in the cytosol.


Demonstration of a lag period in the time-course of the reaction catalyzed by pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. At low thiamine pyrophosphate concentrations the time-course of the reaction catalyzed by mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase complex shows a lag period of some minutes when the reaction is started by either enzyme, pyruvate or thiamine pyrophosphate. However, started by CoASH or NAD+, the lag period disappears. An increase in enzyme concentration to 25 mU/ml causes a concomitant shortening of the duration of the lag period (tau), while above this value tau is independent of the enzyme concentration. An increase in thiamine pyrophosphate concentration decreases the value of tau and the lag period vanishes at infinite thiamine pyrophosphate concentration. It is suggested that both isomerization and aggregation-dissociation reactions may play an improtant role in the development of the lag period of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.


Steroid spectrum in human urine as revealed by gas chromatography. II. Quantitative analysis of C19--C21O2-3 steroids. The amounts of C19-C21O2-3 steroids excreted in the urine was determined in 35 individuals representing a normal healthy fraction of the adult population. The metabolites were determined after acid hydrolysis and simultaneous toluene extraction, in the form of acetyl derivatives, under isothermic conditions, on two columns. For the quantitative determination of the components and for ensuring reliability, two internal standards were applied. The preparatory steps, beginning with extraction from acidic media, were controlled by the addition to the urine of 4 beta, 5 beta-epoxycholestanone as a "marker" internal standard, while the "measurement" standard applied in gas chromatography was 5 alpha-cholestane. Quantitative measurements were carried out on a SE-30 column, androsterone and etiocholanolone were separated on a CHDMS column; the reliability of the determinations was checked by statistical analysis. The physiological values of some 8-9 of the most important steroid metabolites excreted in the urine, as averaged from the values measured for 23 women and 12 men, are discussed and compared with the data in the literature.


Tracer kinetic studies on in vivo fatty acid metabolism in white adipose tissue of well-fed and starving newborn rabbits during acute or prolonged exposure to cold. Pool size (M), and specific radioactivities (SA) of lipids of white adipose tissue (WAT), as well as the flow rates (ms) of free fatty acids (FFA) from plasma into WAT were studied by injecting 14C-1-palmitate (20.10(6) cpm/100 g body weight) into 7-day-old rabbits reared in a thermoneutral (Group I) or a cold environment (Group II) or subjected to starvation at an ambient temperature (Ta) of 35 degrees C (Group III) or at Ta 20 degrees C (Group IV). Experiments were carried out at Ta 20 degrees C in all four groups of rabbits. The pool size of esterified and non-esterified fatty acids of WAT was reduced in both the well-fed animals raised in the cold and in the starving ones. The SA of tissue FFA and phospholipid fatty acid (PL-FA) was highest in Group III and Group IV indicating an increased FFA metabolism of WAT in animals subjected to starvation prior to acute exposure to cold. The flow rate (ms) of FFA between plasma and WAT increased twofold in Group IV but remained about one fifth that of the ms between plasma and brown adipose tissue (BAT) indicating that the contribution of WAT to cold-induced calorigenesis of the whole animal must be regarded as of secondary importance.


Adaptive processes in child and adolescent swimmers. Blood coagulation and viscosity. Multifactorial studies were performed in child and adolescent swimmers in the early period of training and in a submaximum state of training in the year's racing period. Blood coagulation, viscosity, acidity, protein metabolism, muscle enzymes, ions, haematologic, cardiac and endocrine parameters have been investigated. In the early period of training, physical exercise resulted in fibrinolysis, and a decrease in the fibrinogen and prothrombin levels and the platelet count. The same exercise in fully-trained organisms failed to produce such changes. Data concerning acidity, protein metabolism, muscle enzymes, ions, haematologic, cardiac and endocrine parameters will be published in subsequent papers.


Effect of stress on activity of the serotoninergic system in limbic brain structures and its correlation with pituitary-adrenal function in the rat. Fifteen min after ether stress, the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) content of the rat hypothalamus decreased, while after electric shock no decline was noted in the mesencephalon and the hypothalamus. At 30 min an increase occurred in the mesencephalon and amygdala and at 60 min in the hypothalamus after both stressors. Fifteen min after electric shock the 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) content was increased in the amygdala, while after both stressors in the mesencephalon and hypothalamus 30 min and after ether stress in the amygdala. In the hippocampus and the septum the 5-HT or 5-HIIA content was unaffected by either type of stress. 5-HT turnover decreased between 10 and 20 min after ether stress in the hypothalamus and after electric shock in the mesencephalon and hypothalamus. Between 50 and 60 min after electric shock, 5-HT turnover increased in the mesencephalon. Other brain areas showed no significant difference from the control 5-HT value. 3H-5-HT uptake decreased in the mesencephalon and hypothalamus 20 min after ether stress, but returned to normal after 60 min. The plasma corticosterone level was highest at 30 min after both stressors and returned to normal 90 min after stress. Therefore, the stress-induced decrease of serotoninergic activity in certain limbic brain structures, especially in the hypothalamus, suggests an inverse relationship with pituitary-adrenal activity. This finding would further support the concept that the serotoninergic system plays an inhibitory role in pituitary-adrenal function.


Local blood flow of the hypothalamus in haemorrhagic hypotension. Local blood flow of the hypothalamus (HBF) was measured by the hydrogen clearance method in anaesthetized dogs. The average value for HBF in normal controls was 0.64 +/- 0.05 ml/g/min, which compares favourably with values available in the literature. During haemorrhagic hypotension induced by a modified Wiggers method there occurred a marked reduction of HBF to 52% of the initial control value at a mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) of 55--60 mm Hg and to 44% at 35--40 mm Hg. Prevention of concomitant extracellular acidosis by infusion of sodium bicarbonate solution during the hypotensive period resulted in a significantly smaller decrease in HBF as compared to an untreated control group, and a significant protection of HBF was also found at 55--60 mm Hg MABP in the bicarbonate treated group, but not in controls treated with physiologic saline. Hypothalamic tissue hypoxia was inevitable in untreated bled animals due to insufficient circulatory transport, while evidence suggested that the metabolism might have remained unaltered in the group protected against acidosis during haemorrhage. Analysis of the control of local hypothalamic blood flow revealed a significant correlation (r = 0.7026, p less than 0.001) between HBF and arterial blood pH in severe hypotension which is outside the autoregulatory blood pressure domain.


Characteristics of blood pressure and nictitating membrane reflexes elicited by electric stimulation of sciatic nerve in conscious and in anaesthetized cats. Blood pressure (BP) reflexes and contractions of the nicitating membrane (NM) elicited by sustained (60 sec) stimulation of the sciatic nerve have been simultaneously recorded in gallamine immobilized conscious cats and following the administration of chloralose-urethane (50 and 300 mg/kg, respectively). By varying the stimulation parameters in a wide range, voltage and frequency characteristics of BP and NM reflexes have been plotted. In order to reduce the great number of possible BP-characteristics, the "dose" of stimulation (the product of voltage, impulse duration, frequency and of the stimulation period) has been introduced to plot "dose"-response curves. Differences in the BP and NM responses, and between awake and anaesthetized states as well as their probable causes are discussed. On the basis of the characteristic curves, a complex consisting of two facilitatory and at least one inhibitory mechanism has been supposed to be involved in the CNS integration of somato-sympathetic reflexes.


Influence of phenobarbital pretreatment on biliary rose bengal excretion in rats. Plasma concentration, hepatic uptake and biliary excretion of intravenously administered rose bengal was determined in rats pretreated with phenobarbital (50 mg/kg) daily, for four days). After an initial (0--16 min) rapid fall in plasma rose bengal concentration caused by hepatic uptake of the dye, the curves in control and pretreated rats did  not differ from each other either after administration of a small (5 mg/kg) or a large (50 mg/kg) dose. Hepatic rose bengal concentration was significantly lower in pretreated animals than in the control group. Since liver weight was higher in the phenobarbital pretreated animals than in the controls, the total amount of rose bengal taken up by the liver did not differ in the two groups. The biliary excretion of low dose (5 mg/kg) rose bengal was significantly higher in phenobarbital pretreated than in the control rats but with doses of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg no difference was observed. These doses of rose bengal diminished the increased bile flow caused by phenobarbital.


Spatial interactions of blood pressure reflexes. Spatial interactions of depressor and pressor reflexes evoked by unilateral and bilateral stimulation of various and somatic afferents were analysed in chloralase-pentobarbital or pentobarbital anaesthetized cats. It has beed found that the dynamics of the spatial interactions can be described by regression equations as a function of the size of the responses evoked by separate stimulation. The angle of inclination and the position of the regression line in the coordinate systems is influenced by the type of reflex, the anaesthetic used and the functional state of the animal. At standard conditions the relations are reproducible. Sagittal splitting of the medulla and the pons did not essentially alter the character of the interaction. The forms of the interactions were unaffected by previous stimulations.


Antiarrhythmic effect of disopyramide injected into the sinus nodal artery. In a anaesthetized dogs, the antiarrhythmic drug disopyramide was injected directly into the sinus nodal artery in doses that ranged from 10 to 200 microgram/ml. Lower concentrations of the drug induced a non-significant increase in sinus rate of atropinic origin and were incapable of blocking atrial fibrillation induced by 10 microgram/ml of acetylcholine injected into the sinus modal artery. Only concentrations higher than 100 microgram/ml of the drug, which caused bradycardia, proved to be effective in preventing the arrhythmia. It is concluded that the antidyshythmic effect of disopyramide in sinus arrhythmia is a consequence of a direct negative chronotropic effect opposite to its known atropinic effect.


Investigation of copulative activity in male rats in chronic experiment. Copulative activity of 28 male Wistar rats was investigated for one year at 6 to 8 day intervals. Metholds have been worked out for the selection of sexually active males. It was found that it is possible to investigate copulative activity permanently in a selected population of male rats. The sexual activity index number of intromissions/time of ejaculation can be applied to the 15-minute test. In order to evaluate individual differences observed during the experiments, the ratio positive experiments/all experiments has been used. During a one-year experimental period (791 experiments altogether) mean latency time was 56'', and that of the ejaculation 7'10''. The average number of intromissions was 7.89, and that of attempts 3.41. Ejaculation occurred 575 times. The average sexual activity index was 1.1. There was no seasonal fluctuation in copulative activity.


24Na+-efflux from kidney cortex slices under the effect of indomethacin. 24Na+-efflux from kidney cortex slices previously saturated with 24Na+ in vivo was studied in vitro under control conditions and in the presence of 4 micrograms per ml of indomethacin. The radioactivity washout curves obtained in the effluent from cortex slices superfused with Krebs-Ringer medium at 37 degrees C indicated that Na was localized in three compartments in the cortex. Indomethacin did not influence 24Na+-efflux from the compartment that exhibited the fastest efflux; this compartment is thought to be extracellular. Indomethacin potently increased 24Na+-efflux from Na+-compartments localized intracellularly and showing a lower efflux rate (lambda 2 control = 0.156 +/- 0.042, lambda 2 indomethacin = 0.21 +/- 0.064, p less than 0.05; lambda 3 control = 0.031 +/- 0.013 lambda 3 indomethacin = 0.063 +/- 0.020 min-1, p less than 0.001). Since on the basis of earlier findings the direct effect of indomethacin on the enzymes of the active transport system can be ruled out, the present results suggest that indomethacin increases the permeability of cell membranes.


Optimum parameters for substantia nigra self-stimulation as reflected by peripheral autonomic responses. Lever-pressing rate, arterial blood pressure, heart rate and respiration were continuously recorded during substantia nigra self-stimulation with systematically varied stimulus parameters in cats. During self-stimulation with fixed pulse train duration, the shorter the pulse train duration the higher was the lever-pressing rate. The rate of responding was a curvilinear function of pulse voltage and frequency during self-stimulation, both at fixed pulse train duration and with self-regulation of pulse train duration. Substantia nigra self-stimulation was always associated with peripheral autonomic changes, which were found within a certain range during self-stimulation with the stimulus parameters producing the highest lever-pressing rate. The preferred level of the peripheral functions under study was characterized by an increase up to 150/130--190/160 mm Hg in blood pressure, an increase up to 190--290/min in heart rate, and an increase up to 60--120/min in respiration. It is concluded that the optimum parameters for substantia nigra self-stimulation may be reflected by the preferred level of peripheral autonomic functions. The results support our earlier suggestion that a peripheral feedback mechanism plays an important role in the timing of lever-pressing behaviour.


The effect of veratrine on 24Na uptake by frog sartorius muscle in hypertonic media. The effect of veratrine on 24Na uptake by sartorius muscles incubated in hypertonic media has been studied. 1. 0.1 mM veratrine increases 24Na uptake in muscles incubated even in different hypertonic solutions (normal Ringer + 300 mM sucrose or glucose or 150 mM NaCl). 2. 0.05 mM curare inhibits the 24Na uptake increasing effect of veratrine in hypertonic solution 3. 0.1 mM ouabain, whether in isotonic or hypertonic solution, does not influence the resting 24Na uptake, and does not decrease the 24Na uptake increasing effect of veratrine in isotonic media; however, in hypertonic solution it inhibits the 24Na uptake increasing effect. 4, 5 X 10(-8) M tetrodotoxin blocks completely the 24Na uptake enhancing effect of veratrine both in isotonic and in hypertonic Ringer's solution. 5. It is suggested that the sites of action of the 24Na uptake increasing effect of veratrine are the neural structures in muscle, in hypertonic media.


Air reoxidation and reactivation of reduced thrombin. About 80% of thrombin was inactivated after 50 minutes chemical reduction at 22 degrees C in a reaction mixture containing o.1 M mercaptoethanol and 2.6 M urea. The reduced protein was spontaneously reoxidated in air at 22 degrees C in 30--60 minutes. The reoxidation of disulphide bonds in thrombin led to partial reactivation of the enzyme. Recovery of thrombin activity after oxidation ranged from 0 to 60% according to the conditions of reoxidation in air. Heparin and copper ion increased the rate of reactivation, whereas in the presence of 10 mM iodoacetamide there was no reactivation.


Effect of papaverine on renin release in dogs in vivo and in vitro. The effect of papaverine on renal function and renin release was investigated in dogs in vivo and in vitro. Intrarenal arterial infusion of 0.1 mg/kg/min of papaverine for 10 minutes caused a significant rise in renal blood flow, a significant decrease in renal vascular resistance, clearance and extraction ratio of creatinine and PAH and in the amount of filtered sodium, without altering arterial blood pressure. There was a significant increase in sodium excretion and in the excreted percentage of filtered sodium (TRFNa). Renin activity (PRA) of arterial blood and renal venous blood, veno-arterious PRA-difference and renin secretion increased significantly after papaverine infusion. In order to eliminate the effect of hemodynamic changes on renin secretion, the effect of papaverine (10(-5), 10(-4)M) was investigated in vitro in surviving canine kidney cortex slices. Papaverine caused a significant increase in renin release and in tissue cAMP concentration. This supports the assumption that the increase in renin secretion might be due to a direct effect on the juxtaglomerular apparatus, by blocking phosphodiesterase activity and by increasing the renal cAMP level.


Cortical effects of the electrical stimulation of the locus coeruleus. The results of the electrical stimulation of the locus coeruleus in curarized cats, and the effects upon the observed cortical responses of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine or 6-hydroxydopamine injected intracisternally or applied in the subarachnoideal space were studied. The changes were followed on the strychnine spikes produced after the topical application of this drug. Stimulation of the locus coeruleus elicited a response in every area of the cortex explored. The response was complex, showed a phase of depression and a phase of enhancement both mixed in different proportions. The depressant reaction was more marked with lower strengths of stimulation and the enhancement reactions appeared more evident with the stronger stimuli. Both these reactions were blocked by the previous administration of 6-hydroxydopamine and only the depressant one was practically abolished by 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine. It is concluded that a complex interaction exists between the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus and the serotonergic neurons, probably those of the raphe nuclei. It is suggested that the axons of the noradrenergic neurons in their way to the cortex, give off collaterals that innervate some serotonergic neurons. The monoamines liberated by these axon terminals at the cerebral cortex would act as neurohumoral agents.


Drug-induced motility of sow (Sus scrofa) graafian follicles isolated during pre and post-ovulatory periods of the sex cycle. The spontaneous as well as the drug-induced motility of sow graafian follicles during the early-preovulatory (E-preovulatory), late-preovulatory (L-preovulatory) and post-ovulatory stages of the sex cycle, were studied. Spontaneous motility was present only in 30.9% of the E-preovulatory and in 18.1% of the L-preovulatory, whereas none of the post-ovulatory follicles showed spontaneous contractions. All the quiescent preparations reacted, with a comparable enhancement of tension, to the addition of acetylcholine. On the other hand, norepinephrine (NE) elicited upon L-preovulatory and post-ovulatory follicles a significantly greater contractile response than over E-preovulatory preparations. The presence of MJ-1999 augmented clearly the positive influence of NE upon the contractile tension of E-preovulatory follicles, whereas cocaine, U-0521 or indomethacin failed to alter the reactivity towards NE in all the groups. The inotropic influence of prostaglandins were also explored over quiescent follicles. PGE1 diminished the basal tension of the three types of follicles, whereas PGF2-alpha produced the opposite effect. On the other hand, PGE2 enhanced the tonic tension of E and L-preovulatory preparations and reduced the basal tone of post-ovulatory follicles. The role of the spontaneous motility of smooth muscle fibers surrounding graafian follicles, as well as the effects of several autacoids and neurotransmitters prior and following ovulation are discussed in relation to their possible relevance for the ovulatory process.


Substantia nigra and somatosensory evoked responses in the caudate nucleus. The nigro-caudate relationships were studied in fifteen adult anesthetized cats, paralyzed with Flaxedil. Single shocks applied to substantia nigra (SN) evoked biphasic field potentials in the ipsilateral caudate nucleus. Similar positive-negative waves were recorded in the caudate nucleus by sciatic stimulation, although with longer latencies. A triphasic field potential was also observed after cerebral peduncle stimulation. Conditioning stimuli applied to the SN at varying time intervals prior to sciatic stimulation did not modify the test response. In contrast, conditioning stimulation of the cerebral peduncle produced a marked inhibition between 25 and 100 msec. Recovery was complete after 200 msec. The present observations indicate that nigral stimulation does not influence the pool of neurons responding to sciatic nerve in the caudate nucleus. On the other hand, the cerebral peduncles exert an inhibitory action on such activity.


Our surprising inability to predict the outcomes of psychological treatments--with special reference to treatments for drug abuse. Our ability to predict the outcome of psychological treatments, particularly for drug dependence, is examined by (1) new data on a VA sample, (2) a review of studies predicting the outcome of drug abuse treatment, and (3) a review of predicting the outcome of psychotherapy for other types of patients. For (1), the direct predictions of 13 staff members' ratings of the outcome of treatment correlated .27 with the outcome. Although staff predictions improved when grosser predictions were examined, the results are disappointing given the level of discrimination required and the modest levels of prediction attained. For (2), prediction success with drug abuse patients in other studies were also disappointing and the bases for predictions often did not hold up on crossvalidation. For (3), direct predictions in the Penn Psychotherapy Study were similar to the VA sample in level of success. Other studies produced insignificant or similarly low levels of prediction success. In our discussion we suggest that rather than relying mainly upon pretreatment status for prediction, two promising areas should be examined in future studies: (1) the patient's early response to the treatment and to the therapist, (2) the patient's environment posttreatment that should be altered to consolidate and perpetuate the gains made during treatment. In conclusion, it is true that we are surprisingly unable to predict the outcomes of psychological treatments beyond a very modest level.


Treatment of adolescent phencyclidine (PCP) abusers. Little data exists relative to ongoing treatment of adolescent phencyclidine (PCP) abusers. This paper presents data gathered on a cohort of 87 residents in an adolescent social rehabilitation program. Approximately 50% of this cohort were either chronic or occasional PCP users. Both groups were found to be regular users of other drugs. Demographic characteristics are described, as are behaviors and symptoms reflective of various emotional and behavioral problems. When length of stay on non-PCP users and occasional and chronic users were compared, it was found that chronic users remain in treatment longest. No PCP-induced psychosis was found. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, aggitation, and other reported psychological effects of PCP were seen. Considerations for treatment are briefly discussed.


Craving in heroin addicts maintained on the opiate antagonist naltrexone. The level of heroin craving was monitored in patiens receiving naltrexone on a regular basis. Meetings and interviews conducted twice weekly attested to a pattern of craving reduction in most but not all the addicts. It was also found that it usually took 3 to 5 weeks for this effect to occur. The possible relationship between drug craving and participation in the naltrexone program is discussed.


Employment patterns of male methadone maintenance patients. The employment patterns of 342 male methadone maintenance patients who remained in treatment for at least 1 year are examined. Four periods in the patients' lives are considered: (1) the period before addiction, (2) the period of addiction, (3) the time of entry into the treatment program, and (4) the first treatment year. Although more than three-quarters of the patients were employed regularly during the period before addiction, only about one-quarter were employed while addicted. At entry into the program 15% were employed, and 25% worked regularly during the first treatment year. An examination of some semographic, social, and work-related correlates of employment status during each period revealed that factors such as ethnicity, educational attainment, marital status, alcohol use, previous employment, and attitudes toward work were all important in relation to patients' employment status at one or more of the four periods. The treatment program had only a moderate impact on patients' attitudes toward work and employment behavior.


Parsimony in designing a drug use survey: a methodology study. This paper makes a special study of how one question in an index frequently has as much relationship to students involvement in drug use as the entire additional index developed from may questions. If one or two questions can cover an attitudinal area as well as many, this has significant implications for future surveying. Frequently, researchers want to develop much longer questionnaires than can be easily administered, and therefore have to leave out some crucial areas of interest. It was found that in each of the following attitudinal areas--family, school, friends, taking risks, and opinions about drugs--one item in each area had as much relationship to drug use as the entire indiex built on many items.