[The effect of iproniazid on biogenic amine levels, elaboration and reproduction of alimentary conditioned reflexes]. A study of the action of iproniaside on alimentary conditioning has shown that even its small doses (25 mg/kg) disturb the formation of the conditioned reaction, while large doses (200-250 mg/kg) do not disturb the reproduction of the conditioned reaction elaborated and stabilized before the administration of the drug. Hence, dissociated learning with the use of iproniaside is impossible. The applied doses of iproniaside result in an increased level of biogenic amines in the dopaminergic nigro-neostriate and reticulo-septal brain systems. It is therefore assumed that the effects of iproniaside on learning are due to its influence on the level of the CNS biogenic amines.


[The relationship between the frequency of self-stimulation and parameters of the stimulus]. The dependence of self-stimulation frequency on stimulation parameters (current intensity, stimulation frequency, pulse duration, duration of pulse bursts) was studied in fifteen rats with monopolar electrodes implanted in the lateral hypothalamus, using rectangular current pulses for brain stimulation. All the experiments revealed qualitatively similar response surfaces to the combined change of stimulation frequency and pulse duration Self-stimulation frequency is connected in a non-linear way with the "specific charge" per unit of time, and in an approximately linear way, with the duration of the pulse burst. Regression equations are determined which precisely enough described the kind of response surface (R =0.7 to 0.95).


[The effect of a decrease in cerebral noradrenaline concentrations on the formation and fixation of temporary connections]. A sharp drop in the noradrenaline content (Na) in the brain of mice does not prevent the elaboration and fixation of relatively simple conditioned reflexes, but considerably disturbs the elaboration of more complex conditioned reflexes with delayed reinforcement. The decrease in the NA content in the brain does not appear to influence directly the process of consolidation of temporary connections; impaired fixation of relatively more complex forms of temporary connections is of a secondary nature and is due to disturbances in their formation.


[A comparison of problem solving by extrapolation before and after removal of the archicortex and Wulst in cows]. The change in the capacity for extrapolation was studied in crows after ablation of Wulst and the archicortex. After the ablation of the archicortex, the solution of the extrapolation problem does not change. After the ablation of Wulst, the number of "refusals" to solve increases, the number of correct responses diminishes, although it remains significantly higher than the number of errors. It is assumed that the archicortex and Wulst play no decisive part in the process of solving problems involving extrapolation; yet Wulst apparently controls the achievement of the final reaction, by-passing the screen.


[A neurophysiologic study of sleep in children during the first year of life]. Polygraphic investigation of day sleep has been carried out in thirty suckling infants (aged from 25 days to 12 months). EEG, OCG, SGR, respiration ECG, muscular activity, and in some infants, also rheographic parameters (REG and RG of the shin) have shown that already at an early nursing age, states of drowsiness, falling asleep, light and medium depth and deep slow sleep set in, as well as the so-called rapid sleep which occurs only after slow sleep. The denotation of the slow sleep stages is based on the classification by Loomis et al., though their electroenecepholographic expression in the infant is in many ways peculiar and undergoes certain dynamics during the first year of life. Peculiarities of the central area EEG have been exhibited in all the age groups, and it has been assumed that the central parts of the cortex of a suckling infant are a kind of "window" into the subcortical parts. While EEG, displaying new forms of activity at certain stages of sleep undergo distinct age changes, vegetative sleep manifestations display only some age depending quantitative differences. Thus, at the nursing age the mechanisms of electroencephalographic and vegetative sleep manifestations are of different degree of maturity: they possess a considerable autonomy, although they function in concord.


[Spatial synchronization of cerebral cortical potentals at different levels of functioning of short-term verbal memory]. Spatial synchronization of cortical biopotentials was studied at different levels of the functioning of short-term verbal memory. In the phases prior to and during presentation of information the general level of distant synchronization in the cortex at a high functional state of the mnemical mechanism is higher than at a low state. In the phases following presentation and during reproduction, the relations are reverse. The enhancement of distant synchronization involves primarily the posterior parts of the right hemisphere, while the decrease comprises all the cortical areas, with some predominance of this effect in the anterior areas.


[The relationship between the parameters of the early and late oscillations of human cortical evoked potentials and the rhythm of acoustic stimulation]. The amplitudes of all deflections of the slow auditory evoked potential (AEP) regularly decrease in alert subjects with the increase of stimulation rate. As compared with the late deflections (P2N2), the decrease of the amplitude of comparatively early deflections (N1P2) is more pronounced. It is a rather logarithmic, than a linear function of the interstimulus interval. The degree of amplitude diminution of slow AEPs due to a greater stimulation rate depends on the intensity of acoustic stimul: at greater sound intensities the decrease is more pronounced. The higher rates of stimulation produce, along with a decreased amplitude, a shorter peak latencies of all slow AEP deflections (except the peak of deflection P1). In narcotic (chloralhydrate) sleep higher rates of stimulation are not attended with any regular changes in the amplitude and peak latencies of the slow AEP.


[The topography of functional interhemispheric asymmetry in the visual cortex]. Functional interhemispheric asymmetry was investigated by evoked potentials method in experiments on ten cats under ethaminal anaesthesia at 200 points of the visual cortex during the action of binocular and monocular photic flashes of submaximal intensity. Topographic maps have been plotted of the functional interhemispheric asymmetry. In most of the animals a hemisphere dominant and non-dominant at the given moment can be singled out. Section of the callosal body leads to reduction of the functional interhemispheric asymmetry due to a decrease of the focus of maximum activity in the dominant hemisphere and its increase in the non-dominant one. A mozaic pattern of functional interhemispheric asymmetry has been demonstrated, as expressed in the existence of zones of inverse dominance along with prevailing zones of direct dominance. Section of the callosal body produced a decrease in the area of direct dominance and an increase in that of inverse dominance. Absolute interhemispheric asymmetry was most pronounced in the central part of the visual cortex (field 18 and its medial boundary) and the relative one, on the periphery of the visual area (fields 17 and 19).


[The role of the temporal neocortex in the origin of convulsive activity]. Experiments on cats with cooling capsules implanted over different areas of the neocortex have shown that cooling of different intensity applied to the temporal neocortex may result in both stimulation and switching off effects. Cold stimulation (temperature dropping to 27-33 degrees C) manifested in generalized epileptiform brain electrical activity and paroxysmal states. The functional switching off the temporal area observed during its deeper cooling (20-21 degrees C) discontinues the paroxysmal state already developed and prevents the appearance of seizures, regrardless of the localization of the epileptogenic focus. The paroxysmal state weakens and ceases after repeated cooling of the temporal neocortex. The temporal neocortex, involved in the integrated activating brain system, plays a decisive role in the emergence of paroxysmal states.


[Characteristics of the super-slow electrical activity of the brain when exposed to the action of neurotropic substances altering short-term memory]. Superslow electrical activity was studied after the action of neurotropic drugs on curarized rabbits with gold electrodes implanted in the deep brain structures. Intramuscular administration of 1/5 mg/kg dose of ethimizol, of 5 mg/kg of ethipyrol, or of 1/5 mg/kg of metamizyl led to a reciprocity of the oscillation amplitudes between the field CA-3 of the dorsal hippocampus and the medial nuclear groups of the reticular formation. Ethimizol and ethipyrol, though producing a similar final effect, act differently on the duration and phases of slow oscillations. Micropolarization of the dorsal hippocampus field CA-3 with a 2.5 microampere current lengthened the action of the neurotropic drugs, up to six hours in the case of ethimyzol. A mathematical vector analysis has shown that the angle of the wave amplitude vector in space depends both on the characteristics of the neurotropic drug and the excitability level of field CA-3 of the dorsl hippo-campus. A slow electrical potential reflecting the capacity of the electric field of a brain structure is likely to be one the major components controlling the conformation position of the receptor proteins.


[Hemispheric asymetry of the evoked electrical activity of the cerebral cortex to letter and non-verbal stimuli]. Average evoked potentials (AEP) were recorded in practically healthy subjects to "meaningless" figures and letters, presented to different halves of the visual field. Analysis of the amplitudes of AEP late components to verbal and non-verbal stimuli reveals hemispheric asymmetry. A higher amplitude of the late positive evoked response (P300) to a "direct" stimulation both by verbal and non-verbal stimuli (in the contralateral field of vision) is recorded in the left hemisphere than in the right one. Similar stimulation of the right hemisphere does not reveal sucha difference. In the left hemisphere the P300 wave is of a clearly greater amplitude to a "direct" stimulation (contralateral visual field) than to an "indirect" one (ipsilateral visual field), regardless of the nature of the stimulus. No such difference is observed in the right hemisphere. The magnitude of the late negative wave (component N200) to non-verbal stimuli is greater in the right hemisphere both in response to "direct" and "indirect" stimulations. No intrahemispheric difference has been found in the amplitude of late evoked responses of the cerebral cortex to verbal and non-verbal stimuli.


[The neuronal organization of a focus of conditioned excitation in the cat sensory-motor cortex]. The activity of single units in the focus of conditioned excitation was studied during defensive conditioning to direct electrical stimulation of the cat sensorimotor cortex. Reorganizations of spike activity set in during the period of reflex elaboration, were manifest in the increased number of excited neurones and those which respond both to the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. In the course of elaboration, the inhibitory phase of unit responses to direct electrical stimulation of the sensorimotor cortex was reduced, while the frequency of background unit spike activity was enhanced. Acute extinction of the reflex restored the initial duration of the inhibitory phase and reduced the frequency of the background activity.


[The activity of cat motor cortex neurons during performance of a conditoned response of placing the forepaw on a support]. The activity of 74 units of the cat precentral motor cortex was studied in the process of reaction of placing the forepaw on a support. It has been shown that the neurones controlling the flexion of the ulnar joint, the first phase of the reaction, receive an afferent tactile input primarily from the dorsal side of the paw, i.e. from region of the skin surface which is the receptive field of the reflex of placing the paw on the support. Learning the animals to lift the paw to the support in response to a touch of the ventral surface results in an increase of discharge frequency of the studied units in response to ventral stimulation similar to that recorded in response to the initially effective dorsal stimulation.


[Electrographically present and trace conditioned reactions to complex stimuli in man]. In experiments on 48 human subjects aged from 16 to 25 years, elaboration of present reactions to a complex stimulus was accompanied by stabilization of SGR not only in response to the first, triggering, and the last, reinforcing, components of the complex stimulus, but also to its central element provided it was a proprioceptive signal. In addition, SGR magnitude at the moment of the stimuli action was more considerable during the formation of trace processes as compared with one observed during elaboration of present reactions. The results obtained lead to the assumption that reproduction of excitation traces is preceded by the brain estimation of the time equal to the interstimuli pause.


EEG correlation and impulse activity of neuronal populations of individual structures of the cat brain during elaboration and reproduction of motor and alimentary reactions in instrumental conditioned reflexes. Stable changes in EEG and spike activity of neuronal populations in different brain formations were studied on models of instrumental conditioned reflexes: motor and motor alimentary. A depencence has been established of the EEG amplitude-frequency parameters in the motor and striate cortical zones and the hippocampus on definite changes of unit spike activity in these areas. Simultaneous recording of the EEG and the spike activity of neuronal populations helps to elucidate the neurophysiological nature of individual rhythms of bio-electrical activity. Learned animals exhibit a stable reproduction of the spatial-temporal EEG patterns and motor alimentary reactions when automatic presentation of reinforcement is changed over to an arbitrary one.


[The effect of cryogenic exclusion of the neocortex on preservation of the functioning of its temporal regions]. In chronic experiments on nine cats a study was made of different forms of their behavior in conditions of cold elimination of the cerebral cortex with the exception of the temporal areas. The first sessions of cooling produced a diminution of alimentary excitability, enhanced motor activity, loss of the reaction of mouse chasing and of a defensive reaction against the dog, and a disappearance of previously elaborated conditioned runnings to the feeding trough, etc. In the course of subsequent experiments with the neocortex cooling, the disturbed forms of behavior were restored. In the second and third sessions alimentary excitation was considerably restored; by the sixth and seventh sessions motor activity became normal, while the 20th to 25th sessions exhibited a protective reaction against the dog. Conditioned runnings restored in the seventinth session were manifest in the 20th to 25th sessions in 80% of cases. It is assumed that the temporal areas of the neocortex while playing a considerable part in integrating the activity of the whole brain, including the formation and manifestation of conditioned reflexes, under normal conditions, to a large extent lose their integrative role when the rest of the neocortex is elimated.


[The role of trace excitatory processes in the formation of conditioned reflexes to time]. I. P. Pavlov's hypothesis on the role of trace excitation in conditioning to time was verified by mathematical methods proceeding from experimental data on elaborating in rabbits a motor alimentary conditioned reflex to a four-minute interval of time. A connection has been established between the experimental characteristics of formation of a reflex to time and some parameters of the presumed dynamics of trace excitation. The analysis helped to establish the shortest and longest intervals to which a reflex to time can be elaborated by the mechanism of trace reflex, as well as the optimal interval to which it is elaborated more easily. The experimental results so obtained are a significant corroboration to the correctness of the Pavlov hypothesis.


[The relationship between a conditioned slow negative potential and focused attention]. A conditioned slow negative vertex potential (CSNP) was studied in the interval between two stimuli: anticipatory and trigger, under different experimental conditions, namely; in response to a trigger stimulus the subject was to press an operating key; or to memorize the number of trigger stimuli; or to respond to the trigger stimulus by pressing the key and memorizing the number of anticipatory stimuli. A sound, geomatrical figures and separate words flashing up on a screen were used as stimuli. All of them were presented both as anticipatory and trigger signals. If a sound was used as an anticipatory stimulus, and a word as trigger one, the recorded CSNP was at its maximum in the case of a simple motor reaction, and at its lowest during retention. When the stimuli interchanged, was drawn to the anticipatory verbal stimulus, the CSNP amplitude diminished and the latency became shorter. The dependence of SCNP parameters on the subject's attention drawn to the anticipatory resp. trigger stimuli is discussed.


[EEG-correlates of alimentary behavior in rabbits with different levels of hunger and satiety]. The electrical activity of the rabbit brain at different stages of hunger and satiation was correlated with the animal's behavioral reactions. It has been found that alimentary reactions are attended with the appearance of complex high-amplitude and high-frequency electrical potentials in the lateral hypothalamic area, which increased with the longer duration of the animal's hunger, as well as during search, in response to natural and conditioned alimentary stimuli, and when feeding. As satiation sets in, they fade and disappear after food refusal. It is assumed that this form of activity is an EEG expression of alimentary motivational excitation. Its constituent rhythms reflect the different components of alimentary excitation.


[The influence of learning on the "setting" of the spinal apparatus of reciprocal inhibition prior to voluntary motion]. The subjects performed daily for nine days from 200 to 250 single movements, namely a rapid dorsal flexion of the foot. Recording of the EMG of antagonist muscles and testing by the single and paired H-reflexes method has revealed three phenomena of learning: greater ratio of electrical activity (EA) of antagonist muscles owing to the enhanced agonist's EA; stronger reciprocal inhibition of the antagonist motoneurone nucleus at the beginning of the movement; enhanced supraspinal "tuning" of the spinal apparatus of the antagonist reciprocal inhibition before the beginning of the movement. It is suggested that the third phenomenon of learning underlies two phenomena.


[Autonomic components of voluntary responses in children of different ages]. The formation of a complex of vegetative-somatic components of constructive activity (assembling figures out of mosaic chips) was analysed in children in the ontogenetic aspect during elaboration of a dynamic stereotype to direct stimuli (with presentation of samples) and during instantaneous formation of voluntary reactions to stimuli of a mainly second signal nature (without presentation of samples). The complex of effector vegetative-somatic components became more complicate and elaborate in the course of the child's growth, beginning with areflexia and disintegration in children of the younger groups (aged from two to three years) and up to correlated synchronous reflex changes of these components in children of the older group (six to seven years old).


[Dynamics of visual association formation in man]. The subjects were asked to memorize four combinations of paired visual stimuli on an illuminated tableau. The test-signal, a single flash on the tableau, was presented after the signal pair and could coincide either with the second component of the association or with the elements not involved in this particular association. After presentation of the test signal, the subject had to press the key as quickly as possible and then point to the pair on the tableau, associated with the signal pair (the second component of the association). The changes occuring in the structure of the association were evaluated by the changes of reaction time (rt) to the test-signal and the RT variability. Differences have been revealed between the RT dynamics and variabilities, which characterize the functional state of the elements activated during the achievement of the association and those not participating in the given association. During stabilization of the visual association, oppositely directed tendencies of RT changes and variabilities were observed.


[Dynamics of evoked potentials in cortical projection structures during a retarded instrumental defense reflex in dogs]. Evoked potentials (EP) in the somatosensory and auditory cortical areas were studied in four dogs against the background of a retarded defensive instrumental conditioned reflex to clicks. Four phases of the reflex were singled out by the changes in the structure of EP late components (LC) in the two projection zones. The most complex LC changes in the form of intensified negative components and the appearance of additional negative LC are recorded in response to the first click of the series and to the one followed by the conditioned motor reaction (CMR). Against the background of CMR delay, the EPs increased, while during the CMR, they decreased, owing to the diminished negative components, while the positive components were preserved and sometimes intensified. An assumption has been made that cortical projection structures of paired stimuli function in one and the same regime.


[The capacity of dogs to solve problems by operating with the empirical dimensions of figures]. An investigation was made into the dogs capacity for operating with empirical dimensions of figures, i.e. the animal's capacity for solving problems based on the fact that out of two figures a volumetric bait can be placed only in a volumetric figure and not in a flat one. In experiments using two methods (single and multiple presentations of figures, each time of a new pair), the dogs were incapable of solving the problems. They were able, however, to elaborate in the course of learning a visual differentiation of a volumetric figure from a flat one, which implies the formation of a generalization of the volume cue as the only invariant in all the pairs of figures. The investigation into operation with empirical dimensions of figures as one of the objective parameters in estimating elementary reasoning activity of animals indicates that by this criterion dogs range in the philogenetic series by far lower than the previously studied marmoset monkeys and dolphins.


[Dynamics of evoked potentials in the auditory zone of the dog cerebral cortex following extirpation of the medial geniculate bodies during formation of goal-directed behavior]. Integrative processes in the auditory cortical zone were studied in three dogs by EEG and EP parameters during the formation of a defensive reaction to clicks (four clicks, two per second) after the extirpation of the medial geniculate bodies. In the operated animals information is transmitted to the cortical end of the auditory analyser by compensatory paths with a larger number of relays. In the auditory cortex EPs are recorded with a longer latency (12 to 16 msec), and the duration of the negative EP component is increased (up to 40 msec). It is split mainly on the ascending front. The cortical end of the analyser participates in the formation of processes of afferent synthesis. In the active period of reflex elaboration the inflow of information increases: the EP amplitude and the duration of its main negative component become greater (up to 45-55 msec), as well as the splits on its fronts. In the course of preparing for a decision, before the achievement of the conditioned reaction, a "double EP" appears, which is due to enhanced reverberation of excitations in the compensatory paths.


[Formation of temporary connections in dogs following destruction of the amygdaloid complex, head of the caudate nucleus and orbital cortex]. Ablation of the orbital cortical zones in dogs after ablation of the basolateral part of the amygdala and the caudate nucleus head considerably impeded the elaboration of secretory conditioned alimentary reflexes, without affecting the rate of elaboration of simple instrumental food-procuring reaction. The dogs lost however the capacity to differentiate non-reinforced stimuli from reinforced ones, which was revealed in both secretory and instrumental reactions.


[The effect of an extra-stimulus on successive inhibition following differentiations]. The influence of a foreign stimulus on the aftereffect of inhibitory stimuli was studied in experiments on dogs with salivary conditioned reflexes. The dynamics of temperature changes in the parotid salivary gland was used as an indicator since the action of a differentiation stimulus was accompanied by a drop in its temperature; each differentiation, whether rough, medium or fine--had its own limit of the gland's temperature drop during intensification of differentiation inhibition. It has been found that the dynamics of the gland temperature changes in the trace pauses and in response to a foreign stimulus depends on the modality of the stimulus, the duration of its action in the experiment, the typological properties of the animal's nervous system and the fineness of differentiation.


[The role of the pallidum in regulating cortical activity]. Bilateral ablation of the pallidum halves the duration of extinction of conditioned motor food reflexes and contributes to 30 to 50% extinction of the electro-defensive reflexes. Pallidum functional depression by potassium chloride or novacaine leads to a temporary total depression of conditioned motor food reflexes. Depending on the frequency of pallidum stimulation, synchronization or desynchronization of the cortical bioelectrical activity is observed. Ablation of the pallidum in anaesthetized cats results in a high amplitude and low-frequency cortical activity. Injection of large doses of potassium chloride into the pallidum results in a forced running forward which lasts 30 to 40 min. The pallidum is considreed as a structure controlling the cortex activity, which takes part in the mechanisms of sensory information processes in the course of adaptive behaviour.


[The role of the medial geniculate bodies in analyzing sounds]. Elaboration and manifestation of motor alimentary conditioned reflexes  were studied after a lesion of medial geniculate bodies (MGB) in adult cats. No substantial disturbance were recorded of the capacity for pitch analysis. In the case of more extensive MGB lesions, there were some difficulties in the elaboration of tone differentiations but not in their achievement. Additional temporo-parietal cortical ablation drastically reduced the animals' capacity for anlysing sound frequencies and more profoundly disturbed their capacity for inhibitory reactions.


[The effect of ablation of the caudate nucleus on the alimentary zone of the lateral hypothalamus]. A conditioned food-procuring reaction previously elaborated to an acoustic stimulus was reproduced in chronic experiments on six cats by means of direct electrical stimulation of the posterior parts of the lateral hypothalamus. Folloiwng extensive bilateral electrolytic ablation of the caudate nucleus, conditioned food-procuring reaction to the stimulation of the hypothalamus could not be reproduced for 40 to 70 days. The conditioned foor-procuring reflex to the acoustic stimulus disappeared for 14 to 30 days to be subsequently spontaneously restored. After caudatotomy, a diminution of the average amplitude of background oscillations and of evoked potentials to acoustic stimuli was recorced in the examined zones of the lateral hypothalamus. The part played by the caudate nucleus in the processes of alimentary behaviour activation is discussed.


[Conditioned responses to time of hypothalamic neurons. The ventromedial nucleus]. Conditioned reactions to the time of regularly (every 30 sec.) presented pairings of an acoustic and an electrical cutaneous stimuli were studied in neurones of the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus in an alert rabbit. Conditioned reactions of an inhibitory (81%) and activating (19%) types were elaborated in 27 out of 63 units (43%). They were significantly reproduced at six to nine omissions of stimulations at the stage of the 50th to 70th pairings. The maximum manifestation of trace processes coincides with the initial formation of a vegetative (electrocardiogram) component of the behavioral conditioned reflex to time. Significant correlation has been shown between the frequency of spikes in the pairings and their omissions, and the corresponding changes in heart rate at the same temporal intervals. This testifies to the involvement of the ventromedial nucleus structures in the formation of the vegetative component of the behavioral conditioned reflex to time. Common characteristics and peculiarities of conditioned reactions to time have been revealed in units of the hypothalamic ventromedial and perifornical nuclei in accordance with morpho-functional properties of the examined structures.


[Post-tetanic strengthening of evoked electrical responses of the sensomotor cortex]. A study has been made of the posttetanic potentiation of evoked potentials (PTP EP) in the sensorimotor cortex, appearing in response to VPL stimulation. A distinct PTP EP of the cortical surface has been found as well as considerable differences in its intensity recorded at different portions of deep cortical layers (700 to 1600 mu). Suggestions were made regarding the origin of the phenomena observed.


[Neurochemical mechanisms of the septum in food getting conditioned responses in rats]. The influence of microinjections of monoamines and of glutamic acid into the lateral zone of the septum on a food-procuring conditioned reaction was studied in experiments on rats. Dopamine does not change, while noradrenaline, serotonin and glutamic acid increase the magnitude and number of conditioned food-procuring movements and substantially lengthen the reflex latency. The effects of serotonin are achieved through D-serotonin-, and of noradrenaline, through L-adrenoreactive structures of the neuronal systems of the septum. The influence of glutamic acid on the rat food-procuring conditioned reactions is not linked with the action on the serotonin- or adrenoreactive structures of the septum neuronal systems.


[Functional maturation of the cat visual cortex during prenatal ontogenesis]. Development of the perceiving function of the visual cortex was studied on the foeti of cats in the second stage of antenatal development with intact placental blood circulation. It has been found that functional maturing of the cortical end of the visual analyser starts at the beginning of the second half of antenatal life. At this period EPs to stimulation of the optic nerve are recorded throughout the dorsal cortex of the contralateral hemisphere. At first they appear as slow three-phase (positive-negative-positive) oscillations of a small amplitude. As the foetus develops, the EP amplitude increases, and the EP configuration in the striate zone of the cortex becomes complex. Two weaks before birth, a short-latency negative wave appears against the background of the primary positive oscillation. In the last week of antenatal development of the foeti and in the first few days of the kittens life, EPs are represented in the specific zone of the visual cortex (g. lateralis) as two negative oscillations, and in the so-called associative zone (the middle part of the suprasylvian gyrus) by one long-latency high-amplitude negative oscillation which corresponds by latency to the second negative EP component in the striate cortex.


[Changes in evoked potentials during systematic exposure to a series of similar signals with variable intersignal intervals]. Series of clicks, standard by the number of stimuli and greatly varying by the length of interstimuli intervals in each series, were systematically presented to dogs without reinforcement. Evoked potentiale (EP) in the cortical auditory zone were recorded. It has been found that a typical U-shaped distribution of amplitude values of averaged EP is elaborated in the series in the course of repeated presentations; a maximal amplitude is observed in response to the first and last clicks, and a minimal, in the middle of the series. Such a regularity was previously found for the action of standard series with a constant interstimuli interval. It is assumed that an estimation may take place in the dog CNS of the number of signals used in a series, whose mechanism is not necessarily based on the time factor. The ability to estimate the number of signals in the series may be regarded as an elementary model of counting in the dogs' CNS.


[Functional heterogeneity of lateral geniculate body neurons in the rabbit]. Background and evoked activity of LGB units was studied on immobilized and anaesthetized rabbits. Two groups of projection units were revealed, differing by the level of background activity, latencies and mean frequency of discharges in responses to single photic flashes and to electrical stimulation of the optic nerve. It is assumed that these groups of units belong to the slowly and rapidly conducting paths of sensory information transmission in the visual projection system.


[The character of changes in the background and superimposed rhythmics of cerebral biopotentials in rabbits exposed to a steady magnetic field of high intensity]. During a total action of a static magnetic field (SMF) of 1000--4000 Oe, high-amplitude synchronized discharges appear in the electrograms of the cortical and subcortical parts of the rabbit brain. An automatic frequency analysis exhibits increased bioelectrical activity in the range of 8 to 30 c/s with no substantial changes in slower rhythms. The effect increases as the field becomes stronger. A SMF of 1000 Oe tends to facilitate the photic driving which persists as an after-effect. In SMF of 3000 Oe the driving reaction is weakened; it is rapidly restored after cessation of the SMF action.


Effects of food ecology on social play: a laboratory simulation. A laboratory group of 8 squirrel monkeys was exposed to two experimental conditions in which food was made moderately and extremely difficult to obtain, compared with the free access conditions of baseline. Both experiments produced sharp decreased in the frequency of social play within 4 to 6 days. The stronger manipulation produced the more dramatic effect, reducing play to 1% of the baseline level (P less than .001). Neither experiment produced a total absence of play as was observed in a previous field study in southwestern Panama (Baldwin and Baldwin 1973, 1974) which suggests that the field study sampled conditions of even more severe and/or prolonged food deprivation. No pathological or dysfunctional consequences were observed in any of the circumstances where play was reduced to zero or near zero. The question is raised whether certain theories of play have overstated the case for the necessity of play experience in producing normal socialization in primates. Alternative hypotheses are presented concerning the factors that determine the frequency of play and the consequences of play versus no-play for socialization. After both experiments, the frequency of play rose to a level 50% higher than the average baseline levels of play. This "rebound" reached a peak 5 to 6 days after the termination of each experiment; and during the subsequent days the frequency of play declined to more normal levels. A reinforcement theory is presented as a possible explanation of the rebound effect.


Songs, choruses and countersinging of Kloss' gibbons (Hylobates klossii) in Siberut Island, Indonesia. This study evaluates the social spacing mechanism of song as it occurs in Kloss' gibbons. The study population included individuals in 13 family groups whose composition and territories were known (TENZA 1975) plus a number of others. Sonagrams illustrate individual and sexual differences in singing. Sex differences in chorusing, countersinging and other behavior related to song are described. Variations in singing or chorusing or both are related to season, time of day, sex, age, spatial factors and social factors. The adaptive functions of singing, countersinging and chorusing are discussed. It is concluded that: (1) Song is mainly for interterritorial communication between members of the same sex, (2) male-song probably also functions in mate attraction and (3) chorusing is primarily an adaptation reducing predation risk to singing gibbons.


[About a rare teratoma of the pineal region (author's transl)]. 1. Report on a man aged 33 with a rare teratoma of the pineal region (adult teratoma with pinealoma-like parts) and 8 related cases of the literature. 2. The absence of the pinealis in our case and in 4 related cases of the literature is explained as a result of destruction of pinealis by the tumor. 3. The pinealis in our case cannot be considered as the origin of pinealoma-like part of the teratoma. The pinealoma-like part seems to have the same root as the teratoma. The argumentation of this opinion is the arrangement and the seize of pinealoma-like parts in the teratoma as well as the often shown proof of an unchanged pinealis and the observation of similar histological patterns in extracranial teratomas.


[Changes of the tuberculosis of the central nervous system since the introduction of prophylactic BCG vaccination and tuberculostatic therapy (author's transl)]. From 1924 to 1938, 9920 autopsies were carried out in our institute; from 1955 to 1969 there were 37 784 dissections. Among the former 132 cases of tuberculous meningitis (tb. m.) were observed (1.33%), among the latter there were only 74 (0.20%). This decrease in frequency to about 1/7 is statistically highly significant; by standardization to 0.62 it has come down to 0.20% but still remains significant. The marked predominance of tb. m. in males as compared to females (2:1) that was noted in former autopsies is no longer noticeable. With regard to age distribution, a statistically warrented decrease exists only for the age group from 0 to 9 years. From the mortality graph (the dying age being identical with that of affection before the era of chemotherapy) it can be seen that while the peak during childhood has now disappeared, it is only slightly demonstrable during early adult age (as a result of the retarded primary infection). The rise in the curve indicates the deteriorating prognosis with increasing age, with the peak between 60 and 70 years accounting for the importance of miliary tuberculosis of old age for tb. m. Due to therapeutic measures, there is now an increase in the number of chronic tb. m. cases which are productive in their histological picture. As previously, tb. m. at present develops in about half of the cases in the course of miliary tuberculosis. The frequency of early generalization has significantly decreased, while that of miliary tuberculosis of old age has increased. In our examination material tb. m. without further manifestations of tuberculosis has become provable only since the introduction of chemotherapy. Errors in clinical diagnoses have increased from 12.9 to 54%. The decrease of tuberculomata of the central nervous system from 0.17 to 0.013% is also statistically highly significant in our examination material. Apart from the change of the examination material, this decrease in frequency is largely due to prophylactic BCG vaccination and tuberculo-static therapy. Both of them have brought on the rapid advances in tuberculosis epidemiology that started with the turn of the century and resulted mainly in shifting tuberculous primary infection to higher ages and, at the same time, markedly reducing the contagion of tuberculosis.


[Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. Report of two extraskeletal cases (author's transl)]. After a thorough examination of the literature, two new cases of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of extraskeletal soft tissues are reported. By means of clinical and pathological survey the distinguishing findings of typical and mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, their malignancy and the differences between the skeletal and extraskeletal form are described.


[Diagnosis of rubella by demonstrating rubella-specific 19 S and 7 S antibodies (author's transl)]. Identification and measurement of rubella antibody of 19 S (IgM) and 7 S (IgG) immunoglobulins by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and a modified hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI)-test is described. Human group 0 of red blood cells were employed after trypsination. The method proved to be highly reliable and sensitive for the rapid detection of rubella IgM antibody in routine research to make an accurate diagnosis of recent rubella infection. Sera from 185 pregnant women, 200 children suspect of congenital infection, 15 mothers of intrauterin infected children, and 32 cases of rubella vaccine-induced immunity control were studied. In postnatal rubella infections, specific IgM-antibody could be detected in all sera after the onset of the rash up to eight or ten weeks after infection. From March 1973 until September 1974 laboratory diagnosis confirmed 30 of 185 pregnant women to have been recently infected with rubella. In less than 3% (4 cases) the results could not confirm or exclude a recent history of rubella. Among 200 children with congenital defects or some irregular development, specific IgM antibody was detected in 36 cases. The diagnosis of congenital rubella was confirmed or detected in the first months of life. One of the infected children was well at birth but later developed mental retardation and hearing loss, and some others showed only minor defects. In some children rubell IgM antibody persisted 5-14 months. IgM rubella antibody was not found in the sera of 15 mothers from children with intrauterine infection confirmed by IgM antibody demonstration. Post-vaccination-tests showed serum IgM and IgG immunoglobulin-responses to be similar to the natural rubella-virus-infection. Maximal titers of both immunoglobulin-fractions were but four-fold lower after vaccination (28 of 32 tested cases). The described method is able to verify the time of infection by testing a single serum. The HAI-test of the 12 fractions collected from each serum after density-gradient centrifugation shows a typical titer-profil for every time of immunization status: beginning with traces of IgM-antibody - when the HAI-test of the uncentrifugated serum may be less than 1:10 - until 10 weeks after infection when only IgG-antibody will be detectable. The greatest amount of IgM-antibody is found in the 2. to 4. week after the rash.


[Mixed infections by hemolyzing streptococci in clinical material (author's transl)]. The distribution of serogroups among 156 strains of beta-hemolyzing streptococci from clinical material was as follows: A - 64.1%, B - 3.2%, C - 11.5%, D - 0.6%, F- 6.4%, G - 14.1% (Table 1). Serogroup A was found in pus specimens in 84%, in throat swabs in 67%, and in sputum specimens (x2 greater than 6.64) in only 23% of strains; among clinical diagnoses (Table 2), distribution of this group was as follows: scarlet fever 100%, infected wounds 83%, and otorhinolaryngological diseases less than 70% of strains. From 54% of specimens received, other organisms were isolated in addition to beta-hemolyzing streptococci, In Table 3, the distribution of serogroups (x2 greater than 1) in cases of single and mixed infections is shown for the most frequent types of material received. Combinations of the individual serogroups with concomitant bacteria, above all Staphylococcus aureus, a number of enterobacteria, and Haemophilus influenzae can be seen from Table 4. Staph. aureus was found preferentially in combination with group A streptococci (x2 greater then 6.64). The proportion of mixed infections among specimens of the most important types of material was varying (Table 5): 82% of sputum specimens, 46%of throat swabs, and 39% of pus specimens. As concomitant organisms, especially Haem. influenzae, Staph. aureus (in throat swabs and pus specimens), and enterobacteria were found. With scarlet fever, Staph. aureus was present in as much as 60% of all cases. Ampicillin-resistant strains were isolated among the various concomitant organisms from 22% of all materials and 45% of all sputum specimens.


Morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, isolated in Romania from acute gastro-enteritis. Out of 399 human faeces examined during the first eight months (1975) for the presence of NCV vibrios, one vibrio parahaemolyticus strains has been isolated from a man with acute gastro-enteritis (gastric and abdominal pains, nausea, diarrhoea, headache, general weakness), after having a meal with salted caviar. The strain belongs to Heiberg's group VII and Sakazaki's subgroup I. The virulence tested on chick embryo is 3 times higher (LD50 = 14 germs) if compared with the virulence of V. parahaemolyticus control strain (Sakazaki's strains). First isolation in Romania from a human stool (patient with acute gastro-enteritis).


[The genus Brucella, its nomenclature and taxonomic specificity (author's transl)]. The author suggest to change the nomenclature of Genus-Brucella as follows: Brucella melitensis, B. bovis, B. suis, B. canis, B. neotomae, B. rangiferi, B. murium. In the new edition of "Bergey's Manual" it is suggested to quote some highly taxonomic specific substances, berucellaphages, Brucelline, protective substance, precipitinogen, and toxins (Endotoxin, Lipoprotein).


[Differentiation of swine-Mycoplasma by latex-agglutination (author's transl)]. The strains of Mycoplasma were grown in Shittlestone medium for 3-5 days. After centrifugation and washing, the mycoplasm were freeze-dried and stored at -20 degrees C. From this stock material immune sera and antigens were prepared. The immune sera were prepared by immunization of rabbits with a suspension of mycoplasma (2,2 mg dry weight per ml) and complete Freund's adjuvant. For the first immunication, 6.6 mg of antigen were injected into rabbits at different sites. 3 weeks later the second immunization followed by the intramuscular route (4.4 mg of antigen). The third and fourth immunizations were identical to the second one. Antiserum was obtained as usual. In order to avoid unspecific reactions in the latex agglutination, 1 ml of antiserum was added for absorption to 200 mg of freeze-dried sterile Whittlestone medium over 2 days at 4 degrees C. Antigen was prepared by ultrasonic disruption of mycoplasma (20 mg dry weight/ml physiological saline) and centrifugation 17300 X g, 30 min). The supernatant was used as antigen. The latex agglutination was performed in 0.1 M borate buffer pH 8,2. For preparation of the latex antigen compound 0.2 ml of a latex suspension (diluted 5 fold with water) were moxed with 0.5 ml of an antigen suspension (diluted 16 fold with buffer). After 10 min at room temperature, 4.3 ml of borate buffer were added. After 10 min, 0.3 ml of this solution were added again each to 0.3 ml of serial dilutions of anitserum. The suspensions were mixed and left for 20 h at 37 degrees C and after this time for 1 h at room temperature. Then the reactions were read. M. suipneumoniae and M. hyopneumoniae were found to be identical or very close related strains. Between M. hyorhinis and M. sp. E9 relationship was noted too. M. granularum was different to all other investigated strains of mycoplasma. All results of Latex agglutination are in agreement with investigations performed with the aid of other serological methods and of electrophoretic separations of cell proteins of these mycoplasma.


[Concerning the question of the bactericidal action of organic N-bromoamines: experiments with N,N-dibromo-tert.-butylamine (author's transl)]. For the first time a defined N-fromoamine was examined on its bactericidal behaviour. In accordance with the "Richtlinien für die Prüfung chemischer Desinfektionsmittel" (3. Aufl. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag 1972), the action of the substance (1,5 X 10(-3) - 1,5 X 10(-5) M aqueous solution) on the germs E. coli, Proteus vulgaris, Ps. aeruginosa und Staph. aureus SG 511 was tested. As can be seen in Tab. 1, N,N-Dibromo-tert.-butylamine (1,5 X 10(-3) and 1,5 X 10(-4) M/I is showing a bactericidal action on all tested germs.


[The carcinoembryonic antigen in the population of an industrial area (author's transl)]. The CEA level from human serum of male individuals born in 1924 living in different regions was determined. 527 test persons from the industrial city Duisburg, 132 from the town Siegburg and 389 from a country region in Kreis Gummersbach were investigated. Questionnaires were distributed for informations about maladies, smoking usage and workshop place. The CEA levels were distinctly increased in statistical examination of the industrial district. Smoking raised the CEA levels considerably. More cases of bronchial diseases with elevated CEA values were registrated in the population of the industrial city. The influence of workshop conditions was investigated on persons working in factories and offices. For the country region the CEA levels of these two groups resulted in negligible differences. However, the CEA levels of factory workers in the industrial city were found to be significantly increased in comparison with office workers for both, smokers and nonsmokers.


[External quality control measures for blood lead analysis of persons living in a high lead exposure area (author's transl)]. Analytical laboratories engaged in studies regarding the exposure of larger population groups to lead should--for the sake of better intercomparability of data--subject themselves to internal and external quality control. In this paper an example of external quality control for blood lead, ALA-D and FEP analysis by 3 institutes is given. Evaluation by correlation analysis showed satisfactory results for all 3 parameters studied. Apart from discussing the results, suggestions are made regarding conduction of realistic quality control measures for the 3 lead-dependent biological exposure parameters.


[Exposed lead dioxide candles analyzed by a volumetric method, carried out as laboratory and field tests in Innsbruck (author's transl)]. Working up a great number of "lead-Dioxide-Candles" it took much less time to determine sulphate by a method of volumetric analysis with Ba(ClO4)2 and thoron or methylsulfonazo III as indicators compared with the so far used gravimetric determination of sulphate. With some training everybody will be able to make out the exact endpoint of the titration using thoron as indicator. The limits of error and the results gained from field-trials are shown. The possibilities of making statements of hygienically regional planning are discussed.


[Basic concept for the judgement of the results of dustfall measuring in the Alps (author's transl)]. At the time extensive measurements are made in the Austrian part of the Alps to find out the elevation of the fundamental load of dustfall according to the methode of BERGERHOFF. Thereby the authors had to solve the fundamental question to find a system for estimation. In Austria the results of measurements of dustfall were classified usually according to the "Technische Anleitung zur Reinhaltung der Luft 1964." It appeared that the introduction did not achieve the problem because of the special geografical, meteorological and economical data of the researched part of the Alps which at that time has about 30 000 km2. Similar applies to the new standards of the TAL 1974 and that recommendations of the "Deutscher Bäderverband" to estimate health resorts, recreation areas and mineral springs. Therefore a special model for estimating was developed which differentiate among the average of a year and the maximum of the average of a month, the general housing-areas, recreation areas and standards for industrial areas. The suggested limits are under the limits which are used today in Germany. The results of measurements of dustfall are discussed.


[A vibrating bed aerosol generator for fibrous and powder dust particles (author's transl)]. A fluidized bed with defined mechanical vibrations has been used for the pulverization of powders of fibrous and spherical particles. By means of this process, it was possible to prepare for practical purposes useful aerosols with constant concentrations. In certain size ranges the concentrations as well as the fiber and particle size distribution were adjustable and could be varied as a function of physical properties of the vibrating fluidized bed.


[Blood pressure and pulse frequency during oral intake of cadmium sulfide in animal experiment]. Female wistar rats were given cadmium sulfide in various concentrations in their chow (26 mg CdS/kg feed and 52 mg CdS/kg feed). After a three month trial no significant changes in blood pressure could be seen. The pulse frequencies showed the falling tendency with increasing weight, as already seen in healthy rats.


[Positive und negative ions influence on the activity of the adrenal cortex (author's transl)]. The cortisol level in the serum of mice, which had been exposed to the influence of negatively or positively ionized air for 30 minutes, was determined by means of competitive protein fixation. Under the influence of both ion moieties, the cortisol level rose to twice the physiological norm (p less than 0,001 in both cases). - Theoretically the inhaled air ions might exert influence on the regulatory cycle hypothalamus - hypophysis - ACTH - adrenal cortex both neurogenically and directly via the circulatory system, thereby changing the cortisol level. For this reason, the determination of ACTH, as well as of cortisol after hypophysis exstirpation, must be regarded as a prerequisite for further investigations.


Familial occurrence of giant cell hepatitis in infancy. The repeated occurrence within one family or giant cell hepatitis terminating in death is reported. The familial form of giant cell hepatitis has a poorer prognosis than that occuring sporadically. In the first case, reported earlier, primary liver cancer developed within a short time. In the second case, reported here, the progression of the course of the disease which terminated in cirrhosis was followed in a series of histological examinatons made at five different points of time. Electronmicroscopic examination were also conducted.


Hepatic vascular anomalies in nonparasitic cysts of the liver. Vascular abnormalities demonstrated by angiography in 3 patients with nonparasitic liver cyst are described. In two cases of polycystic liver, dilated and mutually anastomosing hepatic vein branches were seen around a cyst as opacified by hepatic venography, and in one case of solitary liver cyst, anastomoses between large portal branches and a right hepatic vein was demonstrated by celiac angiography. These vascular abnormalities most likely represent developmental malformation along with aberrant bile duct formation expressed in the form of cystic liver. To exclude the possibility of these changes being secondary to expansion of the cyst, an angiographic study of excised polycystic liver was carried out, and it was found that cyst enlargement produced displacement and thinning but no anastomosis of the intrahepatic blood vessels.


Liver changes in burns, as seen in the clinical morphologic picture. It was shown in a group of 59 patients with large thermic injuries that neither surgical treatment and the type of anesthesia and/or possibly some other therapy such as modern antibiotics, nor the age factor influence significantly liver changes which can almost always be found in burns disease. Undoubtedly, primarily the period of sepsis or toxemia has an unfavourable hepatotrophic effect - the decisive role being played by the bacterial infection of wound surfaces. A clinical laboratory and morphological picture of liver changes is given.


Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: correlation of subjective symptoms with 7 objective oesophageal function tests. Seven tests which have been recommended for the diagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux were applied in 24 healthy controls and in 48 patients with symptoms of reflux disease. The correlation coefficient of test results with the subjective symptoms of the patient decreased in the following order: 1) acid clearance from the distal esophagus (r = 0.558, p less than 0.001), 2) suction biopsy 5 cm above lower esophageal sphincter (LES) with evaluation of granulocytic infiltrates (r = 0.450, p less 0.001), 3) radiological demonstration of hiatal hernia (r = 0.435, p less than 0.001), 4) reflux provocation test (r = 359, p less than 0.01), 5) modified Bernstein test (r = 0.322, p less than 0.01), 6) acid relux test (r = 0.252, p less than 0.05), 7) resting pressure of LES (r = 0.246, p less than 0.05). Results of the Maudsley Personality Inventory were not correlated with subjective symptoms (r = 0.188, p greater than 0.1). By stepwise multiple regression analysis it was shown that optimal diagnosis of reflux is achieved by combination the following 4 procedures: 1) acid clearance, 2) modified Bernstein test, 3) suction biopsy, and 4) radiology.


Portal and peripheral plasma folates after ingestion of folic acid. Folic acid in amounts of 2 mumol (0.88 mg) was given by mouth to four patients who had undergone portal vein catheterization. All had normal liver function. The increase in folates in plasma obtained from portal and peripheral veins was followed for three hours with the use of L. casei and S. faecalis as test organisms. The results lend support to the assumption that the liver is the main site of methylation of folic acid when given in physiological amounts.


Tests of pancreatic function using 75Se-selenomethionine. Pancreatic function was investigated in 43 patients using a combination of conventional and subtraction scans of the pancreas and duodenal aspiration of the 75Se-Selenomethionine injected, in the time periods 60-150 minutes, 90-120 minutes and 105-150 minutes after injection. Patients with chronic alcoholism, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic carcinoma, extrahepatic biliary obstruction and liver disease were included. Seven patients with no evidence of gastro-intestinal disease served as controls. Pancreatic scanning provided eight false positive and two false negative results (23.3%) and with 75Se-Selenomethionine excretion at 105-150 minutes, six false results were obtained (14%). In only one patient was a false positive result obtained with both scans and the 75Se-Selenomethionine test. The performance of conventional and subtraction scans of the pancreas with measurement of 75Se-Selenomethionine activity in the duodenal aspirate collected from 105-150 minutes after injection provides a convenient means of testing pancreatic exocrine function in a single three hour session.


The "urea index" as a marker of portal flow direction in cirrhosis of the liver. In a control group (n = 50) and in 52 patients with cirrhosis, urea was administered orally and ratios for hepatic venous/arterial increment were determined up to 120 minutes after loading. A complete, hepatofugal diversion of the portal blood flow would result in ratios less than or equal to 1. The best discrimination between controls and cirrhotics was obtained with the 0-15 minute ratio ("urea index") which has a normal lower limit of 1.25. In cirrhosis an urea index less than or equal to 1.2 is correlated with an abnormal ammonia test and with the presence of marked portal hypertension (hepatic sinusoidal pressure greater than or equal to 8 mmHg, N: 0-3 mmHg). Ascites occurs more often in patients with cirrhosis and a low index. Regardless of the urea index value, ascites in cirrhosis is associated with an hepatic sinusoidal pressure greater than or equal to 8 mmHg. The urea index procedure may easily be conducted together with the measurement of hepatic sinusoidal pressure.


Studies on experimental malignant nerve sheath tumors maintained in tissue and organ culture systems. I. Light microscopy observations. Explants from seven nerve sheath tumors (four cranial and three spinal) induced in rats by transplacental ethylnitrosourea were grown on collagen-coated coverslips and in organ culture systems, using sponge foam matrices and Millipore filter platforms. Their sequential morphological features in vitro were compared to those of a human acoustic Schwannoma maintained in similar culture systems. The original experimental tumors were either undifferentiated or poorly malignant Schwannomas. In cultures on collagen-coated coverslips the explants demonstrated cellular features that were considerably more anaplastic than those of the human acoustic Schwannoma. On the other hand, in organ culture systems, in which viable cultures were maintained up to 82 days, many of the experimental tumor explants exhibited progressive differentiaiton, with nuclear palisading, increasing whorl formation and abundant reticulin fibers, and their pattern of histological organization came therefore closely to resemble that of the cultured acoustic Schwannoma. Unlike the latter, however, the cultured experimental tumors infiltrated the sponge foam matrices, a feature that mimicked the invasive character of the original tumors in vivo. Included normal ganglion cells remained demonstrable in the cultures up to 69 in vitro.


Studies on experimental malignant nerve sheath tumors maintained in tissue and organ culture systems. II. Electron microscopy observations. The sequential electron microscopic features of six malignant nerve sheath tumors (three cranial and three spinal) induced in rats by transplacental ethylnitrosourea and maintained in organ culture systems were compared with those of a human acoustic Schwannoma similarly cultured. After 4 weeks in vitro, the malignant tumor cells often showed progressive elongation of their processes, with the development of an interdigitating pattern resembling that seen in well-differentiated Schwannomas. This was accompanied by an increase of microtubules. Basal lamina formation, less well-developed and less complete than in the benign Schwannoma in this study, was maintained in culture. Some explants demonstrated an increase in number and width of collagen fibrils, accompanied by a relative concomitant decrease of inter-cellular basement membrane material. The malignant tumor cells also showed numerous micropinocytotic vesicles and various junctional complexes, which are characteristic of perineurial cells. Since the origin of the experimental tumors from adult Schwann cells seems well established, this apparent contradiction is best resolved by the concept that Schwann cells and perineurial fibroblasts are functional variants of the same cell type.


Morphological differences between the atrophied small muscle fibres in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Werdnig-Hoffmann disease. Muscle biopsies from 5 cases of Werdnig-Hoffmann disease and 4 cases of ALS were investigated by histology and electronmicroscopy. The differences in morphology found in the atrophic muscle fibers in ALS and in W.H. disease consisted mainly in the shape and structure of their cells and the number of the nuclei. Atrophic muscle fibres irregular in shape and size with degenerative changes and accumulated nuclei observed in ALS were markedly different from the picture of the fibres in W.H. disease. The presence of small muscle cells uniform diameter with well preserved architecture and numerous myotube-like cells seem to indicate a foetal defect in children with W.H. disease.


The target phenomenon in human muscle: a comparative light microscopic histochemical and electron microscopic study. A large number of target fibres is observed in a muscle biopsy from a patient with an acute flaccid paraplegia of the lower limbs due to a polyneuroradiculopathy of unknown origin. With the electron microscope up to 4 structural zones are seen in the target fibers. The histochemical and ultrastructural observations in this case, suggest that the "target fiber" phenomenon is due to a disturbed trophic influence of the nervous system.


[Cerebral cortex in normal pressure hydrocephalus: an electron microscopy study (author's transl)]. A cortical biopsy was taken at the time when ventricular pressure was measured, or a ventriculo-atrial shunt placed, in 11 patients with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (N.P.H.), and was studied with the electron microscope. In 9 cases, a rather typical electron microscopic picture with marked increase of extracellular space in an otherwise normal cortical neuropil was observed. 2 patients did not exhibit this pattern and, coincendentally, did not benefit from the placing of the shunt. As a control, about 600 cortical biopsies that had been taken for other reasons were reviewed. In the group, there were only 3 cortices that had a pattern of increased extracellular space similar to the described in N.P.H. On review of the clinico-pathologic data of these cases, it was felt that all 3 probably represented cases of normal pressure hydrocephalus. It is concluded that the ultrastructure of the cerebral cortex is of at least nosological interest in the study of N.P.H.


[Hereditary neuropathic Portuguese type of amyloidosis (author's transl)]. Report of a 35 year old male with hereditary neuropathic amyloidosis of the portuguese type, the second known case in Germany. There are extensive nodular Congo red positive amyloid deposits in the endoneurium of the peripheral nerves which lead to displacement, compression atrophy and interruption of the endoneural fascicles. The amyloid fibril structure is specially noted by interference contrast microscopy. It can also be documented in unstained microscopic sections. Further extensive nodular deposits are present in the mesangium of the glomerula. The remaining organs show preponderantly affected vessel walls and collagen fibres.


Vacuolation of oligodendroglia in neoplastic perifocal edema. Vacuolation of oligodendroglia, a new type of cytopathological change, has been described. The change is observed frequently at the perifocally edematous cerebral white matter adjacent to the metastatic lesions of carcinoma from the lung in all three cases examined. It is also present occasionally in association with astrocytoma. This condition is characterized by swelling of oligodendroglias due to numerous cytoplasmic vacuolations which contain the material identical with that of the extracellular edema fluid. In such cells, the nucleus is displaced and deformed by vacuoles but the nuclear chromatin and envelopes are arranged normally. By occupation of numerous large vacuoles the cytoplasm is divided into small areas, but the individual organelles are only minimally altered. The oligodendroglial vacuolation seems to be a phagocytic response to the edema fluid which contains proteinous macromolecules derived from blood-borne protein and necrotic material of brain tissue and neoplastic cells. The vacuolation may result in some oligodendroglial dysfunction in maintenance of myelin and probably be related with diffuse loss of myelin sheath in the longstanding brain edema secondary to neoplastic invasion. The vacuolated cells can be identified with light and electron microscopes in Epon-embedded sections of surgically removed tissue but not in paraffin sections.


In vitro characteristics of a sacrococcygeal chordoma maintained in tissue and organ culture systems. Explants of a human sacral chordoma were successfully maintained on collagen-coated coverslips, gelfoam sponge matrices, and Millipore filter platforms for up to 30 days. Tumor cells cultured on collagen-coated coverslips became increasingly vacuolated whereas those maintained in organ culture were entirely free of vacuoles after 22 days in vitro. A single basic tumor cell, small and polygonal with a large central spherical nucleus and abundant endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, was recognized. Vacuoles were formed as the result of the progressive expansion of smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Coalescence of these vacuoles produced the physaliferous cell of light microscopy.


Studies on experimental malignant nerve sheath tumors maintained in tissue and organ culture systems. III. Melanin pigment and melanogenesis in experimental neurogenic tumors: a reappraisal of the histogenesis of pigmented nerve sheath tumors. Four melanin pigment-containing intracranial tumors were found in three Long-Evans rats in the course of experimental oncogenesis by transplacental ethylnitrosourea (ENU). One of them was a leptomeningeal melanoma. Aside from the presence of scattered melanin-pigmented cells, the other three had the typical histological features of ENU-induced malignant nerve sheath tumors. Two of the three tumors were studied by electron microscopy and in tissue and organ culture systems. One of them demonstrated progressive melanogenesis in vitro; the other failed to produce more melanin and showed increasing differentiation, with a Schwannoma-like pattern by light microscopy. Melanosomes and premelanosomes were identified in both tumors by electron microscopy; the other fine structural features were those of malignant Schwannomas. These observations are relevant to the controversy on the histogenesis of pigmented nerve sheath tumors occasionally encountered in man and on the relationship of these tumors to pigmented nevi. The findings in the present study support the view of Masson that neoplastic nerve sheath cells are capable of melanogenesis.


[Fusiform enlargement of mechanic origin of a peripheral nerve (author's transl)]. This paper reports on the study of a symptomless fusiform enlargement of the superficial peroneal nerve. The swelling was located in the part of the nerve passing through the aponevrosis. On incision of the epineurium small swellings were seen in the nerve fascicles. A fascicular biopsy was done and the fascicles studied by teasing and by optic and electron microscopy. Isolated nerve fiber study gave evidence of segmental demyelinisation with subsequent remyelinisation in almost all the myelinated fibers. These abnormalities were only encountered in the swollen part of the fascicle. A striking proliferation of cells was demonstrated in isolated fibers by counterstaining with hematoxylin. Electron microscopy showed primary demyelinsation and cellular proliferation affecting Schwann-cells (without onion bulb formations), fibroblasts and giant-vacuolated histiocytes. There was also a massive increase of endoneurial fluid. A few Bünger bands were seen. These rare abnormalities appear to be caused by chronic irritation of the nerve in its passage through the aponebrosis.


Gap junctions between human meningioma cells maintained in organ culture. Intercellular junctions were commonly observed in a human syncitial meningioma maintained in organ culture for up to 44 days in vitro (DIV) using gelatin sponge foam matrices. The junctions were identified as one of three types: desmosomes; tight junctions; or gap junctions. Of the three types, gap junctions were frequently encountered and showed preservation of their characteristic ladder-like substructure. The results suggest that organ culture provides an environment that may facilitate correlation of the structure and function of gap junctions between coupled human meningioma cells.


Cerebellar microgyria.

Cerebellar microgyria. The histological features of cerebellar microgyria are described in a 15 month old infant. The bizarre appearance of this malformation seems to be the result of two basic factors: secondary fusion between preformed folia, and deficient and disorderly formation of the internal granule cell layer. The findings support the view according to which cerebellar microgyria is probably due to a pathological process involving the external granule cell layer during a relatively late period of cerebellar development.


Scanning transmission and conventional electron microscopic observation of previously identified protoplasmic astrocytes. A preliminary study. Two different types of protoplasmic astrocytes were studied by scanning transmission and conventional electron microscopy in order to determine the exact nature of the aspect described by Chan Palay and Palay as velate astrocyte. This study provides new data about the usefulness of S.T.E.M and brings into question the results of the Palays.


Fine needle aspiration biopsy of bone lesions: clinical value. The clinical value of cytological aspiration biopsy in 85 patients with lytic bone lesions was studied. In 71 cases cytology was of diagnostic value, but in 14 cases it was inconclusive or misleading. The method is considered a simple primary diagnostic procedure especially in lytic bone lesions of uncertain nature.


Porous ceramics as a bone substitute in the medial condyle of the tibia. An experimental study in sheep. A new porous ceramic material was tested for possible use as a bone substitute in regions exposed mainly to compressive forces. The porous ceramics were implanted into the medial condyle of the tibia of four sheep and left in position for 3 months. The operated tibia was then removed and sections were made of the implants. The sections were studied by transmitted light microscopy, microradiography and scanning electron microscopy. There was no apparent loss of function of the operated leg and the implants were found to be bound to the adjacent bone by ingrowth of bony tissue, in some regions to a depth of 2-3 mm. It is concluded that the properties of the porous ceramic implants justify a clinical trial, provided that the results of long-term animal experiments are equally satisfactory.


Primary tumours in the spine and pelvis in adolescents: clinical and radiological features. In 34 patients in their two first decades of life with primary bone tumours in the spine and pelvis, the most common benign tumour was histiocytosis X and the most common malignant tumour, Ewing's sarcoma. X-rays were positive in 32 out of 34 cases but of little diagnostic value and primary complaints were without significance. The final diagnosis can only be made after a biopsy.


Extraosseous variations of temperature during polymerization of acrylic cement in hip arthroplasties. In order to evaluate the estraosseous temperature variations during polymerization of acrylic cement being used in hip arthroplasty, measurements were taken on the anterior aspect of the upper part of the femur and also in the ipsilateral iliac vein. No variations were observed in the blood stream. On the external surface of the upper femur, the greatest variations were of the order of 3 degrees C. The significance of these findings is discussed.


Necrosis of the femoral capital epiphysis occuring during human growth hormone therapy. A girl with growth hormone deficiency developed a necrosis of the femoral capital epiphysis 6 months after the start of human growth hormone treatment. The compensatory growth spurt is believed to have caused an insufficient blood supply to the epiphysis, resulting in necrosis.


Bilateral total hip arthroplasty: a simultaneous procedure. Fifty patients undergoing bilateral total hip replacement as a simultaneous procedure at the Indiana University Medical Center were compared with 50 patients undergoing unilateral total hip replacement. There was an increase in phlebitis and myositis ossificans in the patients undergoing bilateral total hip replacement and while their range of motion was less, there was no difference in mortality with one death in each group. The hospital time for patients in the bilateral group averaged 1 week longer than for those with unilateral hip replacement. The operating time and blood loss in patients  of the bilateral group was approximately twice that of patients in the control group. There have been no infections as yet in the bilateral group. On the basis of these preliminary results, we can consider bilateral total hip arthroplasty feasible although it carries a slightly increased risk.


Treatment of fractures of the femoral neck by primary arthroplasty. A total of 163 patients with fracture of the neck of the femur in the acute stage were treated at the Orthopaedic Clinics of Härnösand and Ostersund, between 1963 and 1970, by insertion of Moore's endoprosthesis. The patients were either above 70 years of age or were younger patients with debilitating diseases. The patients were followed up clinically for up to 9 years after operation, and 133 of them until death (average 3.4 years). The mortality within 6 weeks postoperatively was 9 per cent; other complications not producing late late sequelae were seen in 8 per cent and complications producing late sequelae in 5 per cent. A good functional result was achieved in 95 per cent of those surviving the immediate postoperative course. A careful review of a sample of the patients showed that 77 per cent were without pain and 93 per cent could manage activities of daily living.


Surgical exposure of the lesser trochanter and the medial proximal part of the femur. An exposure of the medial proximal femur between the femoral artery and vein medially and the femoral nerve laterally is described. As far as the authors know, this exposure has not been described in the literature before. In their opinion it is to be preferred to the exposures already published when lesions of the medial proximal part of the femur are to be treated. Moreover, the exposure can be extended distally as described by Henry (1970).


Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica.

Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica. Four typical cases of dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica are reported, the age when first examined varying from 18 months to 5 years. The observation periods varied from 3-20 years. After fusion between the accessory ossification centres of the osteochondroma and the regular epiphysis, no further enlargement was observed. In three cases an enlarged medial femoral condyle was resected, in two cases the resection was done through bone, leaving a non-cartilaginous surface in the knee joint. This procedure seems to have no harmful consequences; one of the patients seen 19 years later had no complaints, and the knee joint appeared almost normal on X-rays.


Growth of the rat femur in diffusion chambers. Growth in the length of 9-day-old rat femurs, isolated and cultivated in diffusion chambers, was studied for a limited period of 16 days. An increment of 40 per cent of the in vivo length was observed. It could be established that the elongation was due to chondral growth, of which 40 per cent occurred at the proximal and 60 per cent at the distal end of the bone during the 16 days of observation. When the trochanteric or the head epiphyses with their physeal plates were resected, no statistically significant loss in total length occurred. A small but statistically highly significant biphasic growth due to enchondral ossification was found. Resection of the trochanter produced a widening of the cervico-diaphyseal angle (valgisation) of an average of 11.2 degrees. The findings in this series of isolated femurs are --in a general way--similar to those observed in the living animal.


The mechanical and structural characteristics of the tibio-fibular interosseous membrane. The tibio-fibular interosseous membrane was studied in the scanning electron microscope. It is made up of two fibrous networks, a major one composed of large diameter fibres aggregated into bundles and a fine filamentous network, without a preferred orientation, between these main fibre bundles. Mechanical studies have shown that the interosseous membrane is stronger, but less extensible, parallel to the direction of the main fibre bundles which, therefore, probably have a load bearing function.


Suboccipital removal of acoustic neuromas. Results of 125 operations. The surgical results obtained in 125 patients with acoustic neuromas, using the suboccipital approach, are reported. These results do not differ from those obtained in other neurosurgical materials, with the same distribution of tumour size, and the same surgical approach. The material consists of 20 medium size tumours, and 105 large. However, the results, regarding both mortality, postoperative facial paralysis as well as post-operative condition in general are unsatisfactory. A historical review of the development of the surgical treatment of acoustic neuromas is given, and the necessity of a closer neurosurgical-otologic cooperation is stressed, both with regard to diagnosis of the neuromas as well as the surgical treatment.


Voluntary, non-visual control of the human vestibulo-ocular reflex. Voluntary control of the human vestibulo-ocular reflex with and without visual targets was investigated. Subjects were rotated sinusoidally from 0.1 to 1.0 Hz using d.c. electro-oculography to record eye position. The ratio of eye to head movement, or gain, of the vestibulo-ocular reflex was measured. When subjects were rotated in the dark at 0.3 Hz whilst performing mental arithmetic the gain was 0.65. When subjects were asked to fixate imaginary targets in the dark that were stationary in space, the gain rose to 0.95. When they imagined targets rotating with them on the chair, the gain dropped to 0.35. Our results indicate that the ability to modulate the gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex does not depend entirely on the smooth pursuit system. Higher centers must modulate eye velocity so that it is appropriate to the subject's choice of a frame of reference, whether or not vision is available.


The effect of eye closure upon the pathological vestibular spontaneous nystagmus. In the course of one year (September 1973 to September 1974) a total of 784 patients were examined with nystagmography. We were dealing with patients who consulted us for reasons of equilibrium disturbances, sensori-neural hearing loss and/or tinnitus. In 200 patients we observed a definite vestibular spontaneous nystagmus (SN) in supine position. Ocular pendular nystagmus was eliminated. On the basis of these 200 electronystagmographic recordings, the effect of eye closure upon the pathological spontaneous nystagmus was analysed. According to the statistical mean value, spontaneous nystagmus with open eyes in darkness was stimulated by eye closure. Further evaluation revealed, however, that 24% of our patients showed spontaneous nystagmus exclusively with open eyes in darkness, 30% only with closed eyes. Nevertheless, the occurrence of spontaneous nystagmus with either open or closed eyes in darkness, or in both conditions, does not permit topodiagnostic conclusions. The possibility of nystagmus inhibition by eye closure must be considered when the case history indicates a vestibular disturbance but a spontaneous nystagmus with closed eyes in absent in the electronystagmography. The clinical observations in one patient are described in detail for example. To exclude errors, one should search for a spontaneous nystagmus following the necessary examination behind Frenzel's glasses-in case of nystagmography-by closed as well as by opened eyes in darkness.


Physiological and clinical aspects of the rehabilitation of total deafness by implantation of multiple intracochlear electrodes. Many instances of total deafness are due to destruction of the organ of Corti, contrasting with the partial or complete preservation of the function of the cochlear nerve. In such cases, it is possible to restore some hearing by stimulating electrically the fibres of the cochlear nerve with the help of implanted electrodes. By means of several fenestrations, it is possible to construct electrically insulated compartments in the scala tympani of the cochlea, and to implant eight electrodes. This procedure allows discrimination of sound frequencies because the electrical stimulation of each electrode gives a sound sensation which depends on the electrode stimulated. This enabled us to elaborate a map of frequencies of the human cochlea and to make some physiological observations and achieve clinical results in seven cases of total bilateral deafness.


Damage to Reissner's membrane in the guinea-pig cochlea following acute atoxyl intoxication. The ototoxic effects of the arsenic compound atoxyl has been earlier demonstrated by Anniko & Wersäll (1975) in the stria vascularis of the guinea pig cochlea. The aim of the present investigation was to study the morphological degeneration at the ultrastructural level after damaging the Reissner's membrane experimentally. In acute atoxyl intoxication the first signs of degeneration appear after approximately 12 hours. After 24 hours, the membrane may be markedly degenerated. Both the epithelial and mesothelial cells become vacuolized, the mitochondria lose their internal structure and become swollen, and lipid granules are found in the cytoplasm. Mesothelial cells are damaged to a lesser extent than the epithelial cells in the same specimen.


Pressure-dependent variation in volume of mucosal lining of the middle ear. A method is described for studying pressure-dependent variation in the volume of the mucosa of the middle ear. Studies were performed at different pressures in the middle ear as well as at different ambient pressures. It was found that the pressure-dependent volumetric changes of the mucosa were the same whether the pressure in the middle ear was changed directly by altering the intratympanic or indirectly by altering the ambient pressure. With the method described it is also possible to determine the middle ear volume without artefacts due to the middle ear mucosa. The volume-pressure relationship of the middle ear mucosa varied from 0.6 to 1.7 mul/cm H2O and linearly with the volume of the middle ear. Comparisons between determinations of the middle ear volume with and without consideration of the mucosal compliance showed differences, especially in small middle ears. The effect on the volume of the mucosa caused by variation of posture was also studied. The physiological middle ear pressure depends on the functional state of the Eustachian tube, the middle ear volume, the tympanic membrane and the middle ear mucosa. Thus, knowledge of the mucosa  compliance is important for calculating middle ear pressure as well as for determining the volume of the air-filled middle ear space. The method might also prove a useful tool in the elucidation of the vascular bed both in health and in disease as well as the reaction of the mucosal vessels to drugs.


Effect of phlorizin on glucose transport in the inner ear. 14C-glucose was used as a tracer to study the effect of phlorizin on glucose transport into perilymph and endolymph. The transport was found to be lowered in phlorizin-injected animals compared with that in normal controls. This inhibitory effect corresponding to a phlorizin-sensitive part of glucose transport was greater in the perilymphatic system than in the endolymphatic system. Pathways which are not affected by phlorizin, are considered to exist in both compartments of perilymph and endolymph.


Dentine as an ossicular substitute. Experimental results in animals. The fate of dentine grafts of autogenous, allogeneic and xenogeneic origin has been studied in rats both in muscle and in the middle ear. The dentine has been implanted fresh, autoclaved, Cialit-preserved and demineralised. Xenogeneic material tends to extrude from the ear and not to form a functional union with the structures it contacts. Fresh or Cialit-preserved, autogenous or allogeneic material, eventually stimulate new bone formation and usually become incorporated into the host ossicular chain; however, continuing resorptive activity is present. Autoclaved material does not result in new bone formation; demineralised allogeneic material stimulates very active new bone formation in the ossicular chain. It is concluded that non-demineralised dentine, on account of resorption, is inferior to ossicular grafts as a tympanoplastic material. Demineralised dentine, by virtue of its bone-inductive potential, may be of value in tympanoplasty.


Elimination of contrast medium from the maxillary sinus. Drainage of contrast medium from the maxillary sinus during blowing and sniffing was studied by cine-roentgenography in 11 healthy subjects. The functional size of the maxillary ostium was measured by a manometric method. Sniffing facilitated drainage more than blowing but the effect was minimal for both procedures except when sniffing was performed with the head tilted to the side opposite the filled sinus. The latter procedures may trap air in the sinus above the level of the ostium and thus facilitate drainage during sniffing. Another facilitating factor which is discussed is that blowing the nose may catch tenacious mucus which has partly passed through the ostium by the ciliary activity in the sinus. The influence of the fluid viscosity is discussed. The time required for complete emptying of the sinus from contrast medium, studied over a period of several days, was found to be inversely correlated to the functional diameter of the maxillary ostium.


Respiratory function, cardiovascular dimensions and work capacity in boys with bronchial asthma. Twenty boys with bronchial asthma, aged 8-13 years, were studied with regard to the size of their respiratory and circulatory organs and to their excercise tolerance. The boys were divided into two groups (A and B) depending on the severity of their subjective symptoms. Normal values were found for TLC, VC, and FRC in both groups, whereas the group with the most severe asthma had a slightly increased RV. In both groups THb, blood and heart volumes were normal. A quite normal relationship between these variables was observed as well as with work capacity (W170 and VO2 max) with no intergroup differences. Respiratory rate was lower and ventilation was increased in group B, both in submaximal and maximal exercise. Thus, tidal volume in maximal exercise exceeded 50 per cent of vital capacity in this group. These boys also had the highest blood lactate concentration at submaximal and maximal exercise. In half of the boys asthma-like attacks were elicited by the excercise. The symptoms subsided without treatment shortly after work. The frequency and intensity of attacks were similar in the two groups.


The role of psychic factors in patients with allergic rhinitis. Psychosomatic studies were made in 128 patients with allergic rhinitis. After the allergic and clinical anamnesis the patients were divided into two groups: those ill with hay fever (91 patients) and those suffering from perennial allergic rhinitis (37 patients). The assessment of the role of psychogenous factors in both varieties of allergic rhinitis was the main purpose of the investigation. The investigation showed that psychogenous factors are practically of no importance in hay fevers. Their role is great, however, when perennial allergic rhinitis is involved.


Gluconeogenesis in infancy and childhood. II. Studies on the glucose production from alanine in three cases of persistent neonatal hypoglycaemia. Gluconeogenesis was studied in 3 cases of persistent neonatal hypoglycaemia. In 2 of the cases the labelling of blood glucose after i.v. injection of 1415C-alanine was reduced. In these 2 patients only 1.3-5% of the injected radioactivity was recovered in blood glucose, compared with 10% in normoglycaemic patients. The labelling of glucose from 14C-glycerol, as studied in one case, was not reduced. In this patient the labelling of blood glucose from C-alanine was improved after subtotal resection of the pancreas, and with increasing age. By the time of the isotope studies the plasma insulin was normal in all patients, and no deficiency of glucagon secretion could be detected after stimulation with an alanine load. A quantitative amino acid analysis of plasma revealed a moderate increase of some of the glucogenic amino acids. The results were interpreted as a deficiency of gluconeogenesis, probably at the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase or pyruvate carboxylase step.


A cytochemical method of grading the malignancy of salivary gland tumours preoperatively. Aspiration biopsy is an accurate but still a somewhat controversial method of diagnosing salivary gland tumours preoperatively. During the last few years this method has been more and more accepted dependent on its increasing reliability in diagnosing the different types of tumours, but for an adequate treatment it is also important to know the malignancy degree of the individual tumour. Since invasiveness is the most significant morphological criterion in evaluating the prognosis of a salivary gland tumour it has, however, been difficult to grade the malignancy morphologically on a cytological basis. Thus the diagnostic value of the aspiration biopsy method would increase, if beside the morphological determination of the tumour type it was possible to find a cellular criterion which reflects the grade of malignancy. In the present investigation we have studied the nuclear DNA content in non-invasive tumours and invasive tumours. In general, invasive tumours were characterized by a higher degree of abnormality with respect to the DNA content than the non-invasive tumours. In two tumour types especially studied-mucoepidermoid carcinoma and acinic cell carcinoma-the property of non-invasive growth was found to be associated with a diploid or near-diploid DNA content, whereas invasive growth was associated with a triploid or near-triploid DNA content. These data suggest that the nuclear DNA Content may be related to the morphological differentiation and particularly to the invasive properties of the salivary gland tumours. Thus, cytophotometric DNA analysis of DNA content in the smears from aspirates might be valuable in grading the malignancy of the tumours preoperatively by aspiration biopsy.


Human adipose tissue in culture. VI. Effect of age on cell size and lipolysis. Biopsies of subcutaneous adipose tissue were taken from children varying in age from a few hours to 15 years. In 63 children the cell diameter was determined. Weight in relation to height was normal. At an average the fat cell weight was 0.05 mug in the new-born, but adolescent values were reached within the first year of life. Biopsies from 23 children were incubated for one week in vitro. Cell size was not changed significantly during this period. Glycerol release was strongly correlated to cell size and the long-term effect of insulin on the lipolysis was found to be stimulating as previously shown for adults. At the same cell size basal lipolysis was higher in children below one year of age than later in life. It is concluded that the tissue culture method may be used for studies of adopose tissue from children. Furthermore, the data indicate that there is a difference in adipose tissue metabolism and cell size of children below one year as compared to older children and adults.


Sequential determination of C-reactive protein in acute childhood pyelonephritis. Serum CRP levels ranging between 10 and 200 mug/ml were found in 19 patients with acute pyelonephritis. Treatment with antibacterial drugs, to which the bacteria were fully sensitive, resulted in a rapid decrease of the CRP values and very low or trace amounts were attained within a week. In contrast, cases ineffectively treated and/or reinfected showed increasing or slowly decreasing CRP levels. It is suggested that repeated CRP determinations can be used as a diagnostic tool for the rapid detection of cases of acute pyelonephritis in which treatment is ineffective.


The effect of early diagnosis of congenital dislocation of the hip. The effects of early diagnostic measures of congenital dislocation of the hip (CDH) in Malmö during the years 1956-1972 were investigated. Of 58759 newborns 548 were diagnosed as having CDH. Only 4 cases were missed at the initial examination. Thus, all, or almost all, children with CDH can be diagnosed at birth provided that the initial examination is undertaken within 24 or 48 hours.


Dietary effects in the early recovery phase of kwashiorkor. Plasma levels of triglycerides, FFA, D-beta-hydroxybutyrate, glycerol, postheparin lipoprotein lipase (LPL), glucose and insulin. The fatty liver often found in untreated kwashiorkor has been associated with highly variable concentration of circulating lipids. The effect on lipid metabolism of two isocaloric diets--one synthetic monomolecular (Vivonex) and one standard (Casilan)--which both initiated satisfactory clinical improvement was studied in 21 Ethiopian children with kwashiorkor during the first weeks of rehabilitation. Before treatment mean fasting values of all biochemical parameters were within normal ranges except for moderately elevated triglycerides--an unexpected finding-and low insulin. Individual values varied greatly; triglyceride between 0.39 and 3.49 mmol/1. FFA correlated both to glycerol, D-beta-hydroxybutyrate and triglyceride values. During treatment insulin, glucose and glycerol remained essentially unchanged and were similar in both dietary groups. In the Vivonex group only there was an initial marked, parallel fall of FFA and D-beta-hydroxybutyrate suggesting greater availability of carbohydrate and enhanced glucose utilization. This pattern of response seemed to occur without comparable inhibition of lipolysis. Triglycerides--like serum albumin--increased faster in the Casilan group. The highest mean triglyceride value was reached by day 8 in the Casilan group and by day 15 in the Vivonex group. Ten minutes following heparin injection triglycerides declined, FFA and glycerol increased indicating release of in vivo active lipase. LPL activity assayed in vitro was similar and unaffected by 2 weeks of dietary treatment in both groups. LPL activity was inversely correlated to triglycerides providing--beside the type of diet--another possible explanation for the wide variations seen in circulatory triglycerides.