[Microglia and pericytes of the human cerebral cortex]. Biopsies of normal human cerebral cortex were fixed by aldehydes and their ultrastructure was studied. Two main types of vessels are observed, capillaries and metarterioles, and around them two types of pericytes are described: a microgliocyte-like pericyte which is either surrounded by a nervous basal membrane, or laying outside this membrane; endothelial-like pericytes which are frequently observed inside the metarterioles perivascular space and contain many lysosomes. Endothelial-like pericytes have probably a metabolic function and microgliocyte-like pericytes are more involved in a role of mechanic regulation of the microcirculation. This hypothesis is supported by the observation of a microgliocyte interposed between two endothelial processes and protuding into the vascular lumen.


Photochemically induced artifact in the analysis of soil for residues of organochlorine pesticides. After solvent extraction of soil and clean-up of the extract there is a possibility of reactions being induced photochemically in the solvent phase. In one recent instance such reactions, proceeding relatively quickly during 6-8 days, produced unknown compound(s) whose retention time in a column of 10% DC-200 on 80/100 mesh Gas Chrom Q coincided with that of pp'-DDT. Such interference could be eliminated by later treatment of the extract with concentrated sulphuric acid.


The chronic toxicity of methiocarb to grackles, doves, and quail and reproductive effect in quail. Methiocarb (4-methylthio-3, 5-xylyl N-methyl carbamate, Mesurol, Bay (3744), a bird repellent, was fed in concentrations of 100 to 1,000 ppm to common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), and breeding pairs of coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) to investigate the possibility of cumulative intoxication. Although aversion to treated diets was readily apparent in most of the tests, the 28- to 30-day median lethal concentration (LC50) was determined to be greater than 100 ppm for grackles, 630 ppm (95% confidence limits, 480-830 ppm) for doves, and greater than 1,000 ppm for coturnix quail. Methiocarb appeared to be noncumulative when measured by an index of chronicity: birds consumed several LD50 doses during a day's feeding, and when deaths occurred, they appeared to be due to acute intoxication. Egg production and live chick production were not affected in coturnix fed 100 ppm but were reduced at 316 and 1,000 ppm.


Mercuric chloride uptake by eggs of the ricefish and resulting teratogenic effects. Eggs collected from adult Japanese Medaka were incubated for 16 days in solutions containing 10, 15, 20, and 30 ppb mercury as mercuric chloride. The mean hatchability of control eggs was 46.7 percent. Experimental eggs incubated in 10 ppb and 15 ppb mercury had hatching percentages of 58.3 and 20.8 respectively (Chi Square = 12.8, Pless than.0005). None of the 20 ppb or 30 ppb experimental eggs hatched. Nemorrhaging, blood vessel deterioration and loss of blood cells were observed in 79 percent of the 15 ppb experimental eggs and all the 20 and 30 ppb experimental eggs. Neither the control nor the 10 ppb experimental eggs demonstrated any of these abnormalities. The LC100 for 384 hours was between 20 ppb and 30 ppb. The 10, 15, 20 and 30 ppb experimental eggs concentrated mercury directly from the incubating solution 1,600, 1,900, 2,700, and 1,900 times, respectively. The total concentration of mercury in these eggs after 16 consecutive days was 16,000, 29,000, 54,000, and 56,000 respectively.


Movement of mirex from sediment and uptake by the hogchoker, Trinectes maculatus. Mirex contaminated sediments of the static test retained virtually all of the insecticide over a 4 week period. About 40% of the initial concentration was lost from the sediment under constant flow conditions. Mirex in water was directly related to levels of mirex in sediment. Mirex in water reached an equilibrium during the first week and declined over the following 3 weeks. Uptake of mirex by tissues showed a dose dependent relationship. Accumulation of the insecticide increased over time and did not appear to reach an equilbrium. Residues in the muscle of fish increased significantly with time (pless than.01) and test concentration (pless than.01). Mirex in the liver of fish increased significantly with time (pless than.05) of the flow-through test. Declinging levels of mirex in water indicated mirex was absorbed from the water by the fish. Considerably more mirex, however, was gained by the fish than was lost from the water. Thus the fish probably absorbed a significant amount of mirex from the sediments.


Determination of paraquat residues in food crops by gas chromatography. A method is described for determining paraquat residues in lettuce, carrots and onions. The procedure is based on the extraction of the sample with 5N H2SO4 and catalytic hydrogenation of the acid extract. This is followed by column cleanup on alumina and subsequent determination by gas chromatography. Recoveries of paraquat added to lettuce, carrots and onion at 0.5, 0.1, and 0.05 ppm were between 75 to 86%, with maximum standard error of 4%. The lower limit of this method is in the 0.05 ppm range.


The lift lock: a device to increase the lifting ability of dual-control prostheses. Preliminary results obtained from limited use by one amputee along with previous laboratory trials on other amputees indicate that the lift-lock principle can improve the operation of above-elbow prostheses which are body powered. A wider evaluation will be necessary to determine its full worth.


A voluntarily controlled electrohydraulic above-knee prosthesis. Most above-knee amputees to date are using prostheses employing either constant friction or some type of programed hydraulic damping which the wearer has no control over and which limits his gait speeds. A new system was designed and tested in which voluntary control of a lower-limb prosthesis is derived from the EMG signals of residual thigh muscles in the stump. These signals, after suitable conditioning, open or close solenoid valves, which form a closed hydraulic loop around the damping cylinder in the knee joint. Thus, the amputee is able to voluntarily vary the resistance to knee flexion, from free swing to full lock, by operating valves controlling the resistance to flow around a hydraulic cylinder. The main advantages of this system are a variable and more aesthetic gait, stability over uneven terrain, and because the lock prevents only knee flexion, the amputee can rise on his prosthesis and so use a passive appendage as an active element of his skeleton. The results of this project demonstrate that the concept of an EMG voluntarily controlled hydraulic prosthesis is viable; however, continuing effort is required to make this system lighter, more compact, and cosmetically acceptable.


Transferring load to flesh. Part VIII. Stasis and stress. Those who suffer peripheral vascular disease (PVD) frequently require lower-limb amputation. To prevent further difficulties with circuation, the socket and support system of the resulting artificial leg should be arranged so as to prevent impairment of blood flow. The mechanical stress factors tending to impede flow and cause stasis are investigated. An assessment is made of the relative importance of the two types of stress, normal and shear, in reducing the flow within a simulated vessel surrounded by a model flesh.


Physical response of SACH feet under laboratory testing. The results of testing nine different commercially available SACH feet have been reported for purposes of improving testing techniques and standards of durability. Further studies are required to adequately define and correlate the function(s) of artificial feet, as related to levels of amputation and levels of activity, to provide the ultimate in the amputees' comfort and gait.


Effect of amodiaquine on gastric histamine methyltransferase and on histamine-stimulated gastric secretion. 1 Amodiaquine was found to be a potent inhibitor in vitro of gastric histamine methyltransferase from human and canine corpus and from pig antrum. The ID50 for the enzyme, purified from pig antrum mucosa by ultracentrifugation and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, was 2.5 muM. 2 In six dogs with Heidenhanin pouches the maximum secretory response to histamine (40 mug/kg i.m.) was augmented by i.m. injection of amodiaquine. The augmentation depended on the dose of amodiaquine, the optimum effect (40% increase in volume of gastric juice, 80% in acid output) being achieved with 2 mg/kg. The maximum secretory response to betazole was also enhanced by amodiaquine. 3 It was suggested that amodiaquine may enhance the histamine and betazole stimulated gastric secretion by an inhibition of gastric histamine methyltransferase in vivo.


Atypical tryptamine receptors in sheep pulmonary vein. Both the pulmonary artery and vein of the sheep contracted dose-dependently to histamine, carbamoylcholine, prostaglandin F2a, noradrenaline and bradykinin and relaxed in the presence of isoprenaline or prostaglandin E1. 2 The effect of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) on the artery was consistently to produce dose-dependent contractions without tachyphylaxis. The effect on the vein was biphasic. 5HT 5 X 10(-10) to 5 X 10(-8) M relaxed the partially constricted vein. 5-HT 10(-7) to 10(-6) m caused brief venoconstriction followed by relaxation. 5-HT greater than 10(-6) M caused dose-related contraction of the vein. 3 Methysergide effectively blocked the contractile response of the artery to 5-HT, but only weakly inhibited the contractions of the vein (dose-ratio less than 20). 4 Each of ten antagonists tested failed to inhibit the 5-HT-induced relaxation of the vein. Sheep pulmonary vein possesses tryptamine receptors which mediate relaxation and which are not of the classicl M- or D-type. These receptors appear not to be involved directly or indirectly with responses to acetylcholine, catecholamines, histamine or prostaglandins.


Behavioural changes induced in conscious mice by intracerebroventricular injection of catecholamines, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine. 1 A simple method of injecting soluble substances into the lateral ventricle of the brain of the conscious mouse is described. 2 The effect of various doses of noradrenaline, dopamine, acetylcholine, 5-hydroxytryptamine given into the right lateral brain ventricle were tested on locomotor and exploratory activities of mice. 3 Noradrenaline in a dose of 0.1 mug increased locomotor activity. This effect was prevented by phenoxybensamine but not by propranolol. 4 Higher doses of noradrenaline (1 or 10 mug) decreased locomotor and exploratory activities. Propranolol but not phenoxybenzamine abolished these effects. 5 Dopamine (0.1 or 1 mug) increased locomotor activity. The higher doses also induced tremor. 6 The highese dose of dopamine tested (10 mug) elicited stereotypical behaviour. 7 All the behavioural phenomena induced by 0.1 mug and 10 mug of dopamine were blocked by pimozide. 8 Acetylcholine (1 and 10 mug) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (1 mug) inhibited locomotor and exploratory activity. 9 The effects of 1 and 10 mug of acetylcholine were abolished by atropine (5 mg/kg i.p. Methysergide (5 mg/kg i.p.) had no influence on the effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine (1 mug).


Calcium and pancreatic secretion-dynamics of subcellur calcium pools in resting and stimulated acinar cells. 1 Pulse-chase experiments were carried out on pancreatic tissue lobules incubated in vitro, with 45Ca as the tracer, in order to shed some light on the functional significance of the calcium pools associated with the various cell organelles of the acinar cell, especially in relation to stimulus-secretion coupling. 2 The kinetics of tracer uptake and release which were observed in the intact lobules suggest the existence of a number of intracellular pools, whose rate of exchange is slower than that across teh plasmalemma. 3 The various subcellular fractions accumulate the tracer in different amounts: some (rough microsomes and postmicrosomal supernatant) showed little radioactivity and some (smooth microsomes and zymogen granule membranes) were heavily labelled; mitochondria and zymogen granules showed intermediate values. 4 The fractions are heterogeneous also in relation to the time course of uptake and release of the tracer: in rough and smooth microsomes and, especially, in the postmicrosomal supernatant both rates were fast; zymogen granules and zymogen granule membranes showed slow rates of uptake and little release during chase; intermediate rates were found in mitochondria. 5 In agreement with previous findings we observed that in 45Ca preloaded lobules, stimulation of secretion (brought about by the secretagogue polypeptide caerulein) results in an increase of the tracer release which seems to be due primarily to the rise of the intracellular concentration of free Ca2+ and to the consequent increase of the transmembrane Ca2+ efflux. Among the cell fractions isolated from stimulated lobules only the mitochondria exhibited a significantly lower 45Ca level relative to the unstimulated controls. 6 It is concluded that, of the organelle-bound calcium pools, that associated with the mitochondria might be involved in the regulation of the calcium-dependent functions, including stimulus-secretion coupling; the calcium associated with the zymogen granule content probably has a role in the architecture of the organelle and in the functionality of the pancreatic juice, while the calcium bound to the membrane of the granules might be concerned with the regulation of its permeability properties.


Effects of fasting, stress and drugs on gastric glycoprotein synthesis in the rat. 1 The relationship between gastric mucosal damage and synthesis of gastric glycoproteins, as measured by the rate of incorporation of N-acetyl-[3H]glucosamine, was investigated in rats after fasting and restraint stress and a single administration of aspirin (200 mg/kg, orally), phenylbutazone (200 mg/kg, orally), prednisolone (200 mg/kg, orally), or adrenaline (2 mg/kg, i.p.). In one experiment, the effects of aspirin and phenylbutazone on carbohydrate content of the glycoproteins were also determined. 2 Restraint stress, phenylbutazone and aspirin resulted in acute gastric mucosal erosions in some of the rats. Adrenaline produced severe sub-mucosal haemorrhage, but no erosions or ulceration, while prednisolone and fasting gave no gross pathology. 3 The rate of incorporation of N-acetyl-[3H]glucosamine into glycoproteins was decreased after all treatments except adrenaline. In the groups receiving restraint stress, aspirin or phenylbutazone, the decreases were more marked in rats which developed erosions than in those with no gastric pathology. 4 Aspirin and phenylbutazone also produced changes in the carbohydrate content of the glycoproteins, the effects again being greater in the rats which developed erosions. 5 The results are discussed in the context of a possible association between erosion formation and glycoprotein synthesis and it is proposed that inhibition of mucus glycoprotein biosynthesis may be one mode of action of stress and drugs in causing gastric mucosal damage.


Actions of prostaglandin E2 on myocardial mechanics, coronary vascular resistance and oxygen consumption in the guinea-pig isolated heat preparation. 1 In isolated, electrically driven (3 Hz) hearts of guinea-pigs the action of prostaglandin E2 on left  ventricular pressure (LVP), oxygen consumption (Qo2) and coronary vascular resistance (CVR) was studied by establishing cumulative concentration-response curves. The hearts were perfused at a constant flow (10 ml/min) with Tyrode solution (Ca++ 1.8 mM) at 32 degrees C. 2 Under control conditions prostaglandin E2 (2.86 X10(-11) -1.43 X 10(-7) M) decreased LVP, QO2 and CVR in a concentration-dependent manner by maximally 27, 18 and 38%, respectively (P less than 0.05). 3 After reserpine pretreatment there were lower initial values for all parameters measured. The effect of prostaglandin E2 on LVP and QO2 was abolished, but CVR was further diminished, depending on the concentration. 4 The results seem to support the hypothesis of an interaction of prostaglandin E2 with endogenous catecholamines as far as the effects on LVP and QO2 are concerned. In contrast, prostaglandin E2 seems to have a direct action on CVR, which is independent of the presence of catecholamines.


Voluntary lithium intake, antidotal thirst' and concurrent behavior of rats. 1 Voluntary intake of various pair combinations of fluids (100 mM, 10 mM LiC1, 10 mM NaC1, water) and body weight was measured daily in rats. 2 More lithium was consumed when water was available. 3 When offered a lithium-sodium choice the rats did not consume significantly more saline than water on the previous trial. While saline consumption increased over the two days, lithium decreased slightly. 4 Following the lithium-only trial, water and saline were provided. Marked polydipsia was observed on the first day and the rats drank more water than saline. On the second day there was a significant drop in saline intake while water consumption returned to baseline levels. 5 Behavioural measurements overall confirmed the depressant effect of lithium: decreased ambulation and rearing and increased time spent immobile/grooming. 6 These findings are discussed with reference to lithium toxicity, which may be a comfounding variable in studies concerned with the effects of this salt on the behavior of laboratory rodents. Behavioural irritability such as aggression reported in situations using long-term lithium treatment may be reduced by provision for voluntary saline consumption.


Effects of monoamine oxidase inhibition by clorgyline, deprenil or tranylcypromine on 5-hydroxytryptamine concentrations in rat brain and hyperactivity following subsequent tryptophan administration. 1 The effect of various doses of tranylcypromine on the degree of inhibition of rat brain monoamine oxidase (MAO) using 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine and phenylethylamine as substrates has been examined 120 min after injection of the inhibitor. The concentration of brain 5-HT was also examined both after tranylcypromine alone and also when L-tryptophan (100 mg/kg) had been given 30 min after the tranylcypromine. 2 All doses of tranylcypromine greater than 2.5 mg/kg totally inhibited MAO oxidation of 5-HT, phenylethylamine and dopamine as measured in vitro and produced a similar rise of brain 5-HT in vivo. When tryptophan was also given, there was a further rise of brain 5-HT, which was comparable after all doses of tranylcypromine above 2.5 mg/kg and the characteristic syndrome of hyperactivity made is appearance. 3 Clorgyline (a "Type A" MAO inhibitor), in doses up to 10 mg/kg, did not totally inhibit MAO activity towards phenylethylamine although it did inhibit 5-HT oxidation by 100%. Deprenil (a "Type B" MAO inhibitor) at doses up to 10 mg/kg did not fully inhibit 5-HT oxidation although phenylethylamine oxidation was inhibited almost completely. Administration of either compound alone did not produce as great an accumulation of brain 5-HT as that seen after tranylcypromine (2.5 mg/kg) and subsequent administration of tryptophan did not cause hyperactivity or the rise of brain 5-HT seen after tranylcypromine (2.5 mg/kg) plus tryptophan. 4 Administration of clorgyline plus deprenil (2.5 mg/kg of each) almost totally inhibited oxidation of both 5-HT and phenylethylamine; subsequent tryptophan administration resulted in a rise of brain 5-HT nearly as great as that seen following tranylcypromine (2.5 mg/kg) plus tryptophan and the animals became hyperactive. 5 No evidence was found pointing to the formation of any other 5-substituted indole in the brain following tranylcypromine plus L-tryptophan administration as suggested by others. 6 It is concluded that while 5-HT may normally be metabolized in the brain by "Tye A" MAO in vivo, when this form is inhibited, 5-HT can still be metabolized by "Type B" enzyme. It is only when both forms are almost totally inhibited that the largest rise of brain 5-HT is seen and subsequent tryptophan administration produces the hyperactivity syndrome.


Response of rat lung to humoral mediators of anaphylaxis and its modification by drugs and sensitization. 1 The effects of humoral mediators of anaphylaxis on the bronchial function of the pithed rat have been assessed and compared with their effects in the guinea-pig and man. 2 5-Hydroxtryptamine, acetylcholine and bradykinin were bronchoconstrictor. Slow reacting substance in anaphylaxis and prostaglandin F2a caused only slight constriction at high doses and histamine was not active. 3 Bradykinin was less active in the rat than in the guinea-pig and its effects were not antagonized by anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs. 4 beta-Adrenoceptor blockade potentiated the activity of bradykinin but not that of 5-hydroxytryptamine or acetylcholine. 5 Dexamethasone reduced the activity of bradykinin but not that of 5-hydroxytryptamine or acetylcholine. 6 Sensitization with Nippostrogylus brasiliensis did not increase the sensitivity of the rat lung to the effects of mediators.


Tolerance to morphine-induced calcium depletion in regional brain areas: characterization with reserpine and protein synthesis inhibitors. 1 Administration of a single dose of morphine sulphate (25 mg/kg) induces tolerance to calcium depletion lasting seven days. 2 There are no apparent changes in calcium content in any of eight discrete brain regions throughout this seven day period. 3 Pretreatment with reserpine (5 mg/kg) did not alter the ability of morphine to induce tolerance. Reserpine alone produced no tolerance to its own calcium depleting action. 4 Cycloheximide (500 mug/kg) but not chloramphenicol (200 mg/kg) effectively prevented development of tolerance. 5 It is concluded that the induction of tolerance to calcium depletion seen after morphine may involve changes in various proteins in membranes of synaptic origin.


Adenosine and dipyridamole actions and interactions on isolated coronary artery strips of cattle. 1 The actions and interactions of adenosine and dipyridamole were investigated on isolated strips of coronary arteries of beef cattle. It was found that small diameter arteries (about 0.5-1.0 mm o9d.), raised to a moderate level of tone with potassium, responded with relaxation to low concentrations of adenosine. 2 Dipyridamole, over a broad concentration range (6.0 X 10(-8)-2.0 X 10(-5)M), enhanced these responses, shifting the adenosine concentration-response curve (3.7 X 10(-8)-1.1 X 10(-4)M) considerably to the left. In contrast, inhibitory concentrations-response curves to sodium nitrite and to noradrenaline were not materially altered by dipyridamole. 3 Studies of the uptake of [3H]-adenosine revealed a rapid uptake of the nucleoside by coronary artery strips, which was inhibited by dipyridamole (6.0X 10(-8)-2.0X10(-5)M); but this may not be sufficient to account fully for the observed sensitization. 4 It is concluded that the regulation of adenosine responses and the action of dipyridamole in the heart involve a more direct association with coronary vascular tissue than has been previously appreciated.


The assessment of social breakdown in newly-admitted psychiatric patients. This paper presents a study of patients' social and domestic functioning preceding admission to a psychiatric hospital. A method is described for the quantitative assessment of 'social breakdown' in the areas of work, domestic performance and social group activity, based on reports from the patient and from another household member. Complementary changes in the domestic tasks carried out by other family members are also investigated. The sample consisted of 28 women and 17 men. Their usual level of functioning and their degree of breakdown are related to psychiatric diagnosis on admission, to the patient's position within the family and to the social class of the household. Discrepancies between reports are also investigated in relation to these variables.


Parental characteristics in relation to diagnosis and neurological status in childhood psychosis. Twenty-six psychotic children were examined by means of psychological tests and EEGs. The parents of these patients were also tested with the EPI and the Grid Test of Thought Disorder. The mothers of children with the symptom of autism tended to have some cognitive disorganization, which was less common in the mothers of children without the symptom. The extraversion and neuroticism scores of all parents were not markedly different from population statistics. The incidence of EEG abnormality in the children was high and not related to diagnosis or other criteria. These findings are interpreted as providing suggestive evidence for a two-factor theory of childhood psychosis. It is postulated that a neurological disorder is a necessary condition for the development of such a disorder; and that a second process related to parental characteristics is also involved, which has the effect of determining the particular symptomatic manifestations seen in the psychotic child.


A survey of female patients in Carstairs State Hospital. The characteristics of the female population in Carstairs State Hospital are described. The patients were predominantly young, single and physically fit, with a history of significantly more previous psychiatric admissions than their male counterparts. Thwy showed a greater degree of violence towards both themselves and others before their admission to Carstairs; and their length of stay was much shorter. One third of the patients have an IQ of less than 70.


A fifteen-year review of female admissions to Carstairs State Hospital. A survey was made of all female admissions to the State Hospital, Carstairs, between the time of the first female admission in 1959, and 31 December 1973. There were 66 female admissions, constituting 7-1 per cent of the total admissions over the same period. The females fall into two separate sub-groups. The first consists of persistently violent patients transferred from other hospitals, suffering from mental subnormality or personality disorder; they have a poorer prognosis than the second group, who are sent from Courts or prison because of single serious acts of violence often directed at a member of the family, and who suffer from a personality disorder or from schizophrenia. Some features of the two groups are compared and contrasted. There may be an increase in the proportion of pateints in the first group being admitted to the State Hospital, and some implications of this trend are discussed.


Am empirical classification of psychopathic personality. Personality profiles of 79 non-psychotic male offenders admitted to a security hospital were subjected to a cluster analysis. Four profile types were generated, classifying four-fifths of the sample, and differences were found between the types in previous antisocial behaviour. Two of the types were identifiable as primary and secondary psychopaths, while the remaining two showed little resemblance to the concept of the psychopathic personality. The primary psychopaths were extraverted but not neurotic, while the secondary psychopaths were neurotic, but not extraverted. Both were highly impulsive but distinguished by a dimension of sociability-withdrawal.


Assessment if intent--an approach to the preparation of court reports. In a minority of persons interviewed for the purposes of a court report it will be found impossible to determine retrospectively their intention at the material time with any exactness. This in itself is an indication of an abnormal mental state when the alleged crime was committed, irrespective of how the accused may appear when interviewed later. As well as issues arising under the McNaughton Rules or Diminished Responsibility to which intention is relevant, many offences require a specific intention to be proved so that the reporting psychiatrist should enquire into the accused's intention when preparing a court report.


The social setting of hysteria.

The social setting of hysteria. Previous reviews of hysteria have emphasized the most severe and disabling forms and ignored evidence from a wide variety of sources. It is argued that hysteria is more prevalent in medial settings than is usually recognized, that the same psychological mechanisms are of wide occurrence, often being accepted as normal for the culture. Discussion of the social factors affecting prevalence suggests that there is a universal potential for the hysterical reaction, with individual variation in susceptibility in appropriate circumstances.


Mood and whole blood adenosine triphosphate. The claim of Hansen (1969) and Hansen and Dimitrakoudi (1974) that whole blood adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels correlate with depressed affect was examined. The findings from 84 patients failed to confirm any relationship between mood and whole blood ATP. One patient showing the highest correlation (r = 0-85; p less than 0-001) between the ATP levels and mood in the original report was re-examined; no relationship was now found (r = -0-25; p greater than 0-1).


X-linkage and manic-depressive illness.

X-linkage and manic-depressive illness. Thirty years ago it was suggested that the apparently higher incidence of manic-depressive illness in women might be due to X-linked heredity. The hypothesis was undermined by subsequent reports of the frequent occurrence of father to son transmission. Winokur and his associates recently revived it, providing data which indicated that such transmission is absent or rare in the bipolar form of the illness. Additional support has come from linkage studies with known genetic markers located on the X chromosome. The present study, based on the 400 parents of 100 male and 100 female bipolar manic-depressive probands, failed to discover a lack of father-son compared to other affected parent-child pairs. This finding, together with a review of the literature, would indicate that it is premature to invoke X-linked heredity as a general explanation for bipolar manic-depressive illness, though there is mounting evidence that it may account for the illness in some family pedigrees.


A brief psychogeriatric assessment schedule. Validation against psychiatric diagnosis and discharge from hospital. This paper represents part of an investigation designed to establish the validity of the Clifton Assessment Scale (a brief psychogeriatric assessment procedure) and the Stockton Geriatric Rating Schedule. One hundred consecutive admissions over the age of 60 were assessed soon after admission to the acute wards of a psychiatric hospital. The results indicated a close relationship between the scores and psychiatric diagnosis. Outcome was differentiated in terms of discharge home or of transfer to psychogeriatric and to other non-psychogeriatric wards, and significant differences were obtained between groups. The assessment procedure had predicitive validity comparable with other reported procedures, with the advantages of brevity and test acceptability for an elderly population.


Methods of assessment of drug administration in a psychiatric hospital. Previous studies have shown varying rates of discrepancy in drug administration in psychiatric hospitals, and the present survey attempted to elucidate this problem further, using two methods of investigation simultaneously. Two wards in a psychiatric hospital and one ward in a mental subnormality hospital were studied. Urine specimens were tested for psychotropic drugs, and ward drug rounds were observed to detect discrepancies in administration. Of the 266 instances of drug administraion tested for in urine specimens, prescribed drugs were not detected in 7-9 per cent of cases and non-prescribed drugs were found in another 29 instances. Observation was made of 3,689 instances of drug administration, and in 1-7 per cent of these the drug was not given or taken as prescribed, whereas no instances of ingestion of non-prescribed drugs were observed. The reasons for the discrepancies and the different results obtained by the two methods are discussed.


Academic psychiatrists.

Academic psychiatrists. The training experiences of 35 academic psychiatrists first appointed in the years 1966-72, obtained by a postal questionnaire, are reported and compared with those of N.H.S. consultant psychiatrists appointed in the same period. The academic group reported less satisfactory training in a number of important areas, including psychogeriatrics and work in the community. Academics also differ from consultants in their fathers' socio-economic status and educational background.


The semantics of locative information in pictures and mental images. Three experiments examined how people compare sentences about spatial location to pictures and images. Previous investigations have found that people are faster at judging relative location when the description contains the word above or right than when it contains the word below or left. Expt I showed that this asymmetry persisted when the words were replaced by arrows, indicating that the effect is not specific to particular lexical items. Expt. II showed the asymmetry persisted even when the response latency did not iclude the time to encode the description, indicating that the asymmetry does not lie in the description-encoding stage. Finally, Expt. III investigated how people compare sentences to information from a previously memorized picture. In this situation, the usual asymmetry was not present. The three studies suggest that the asymmetry arises from the way descriptions influence the encoding of perceptual events. The results also show that the information encoded in a mental representation of a picture is ordered such that certain features can be access-d more quickly than others. However, the same features are equally quickly accessed in a picture that is physically present.


Spatial memory by blind and sighted children. Non-verbal recall of haptically presented spatial positions by three age groups of blind and sighted children was tested under conditions varying cueing, recall type and stimulus position in a within-subject design. Slighted status was not only significant, but interacted significantly with recall type, and further with stimulus position, consistent with sequential haptic by blind and quasi-simultaneous visual processing by sighted children. Age was significant, but its only significant interaction was a relatively small one with cueing conditions and stimulus position, suggesting that the oldest group, regardless of sightedness, used verbal strategies in pre-cued conditions. The findings support the hypothesis that visual and haptic modalities of representation have demonstrably different effects on processing and efficiency in spatial recall, but counterindicate the hypothesis that these relate differentially to age. Results also suggest that a combination of cue utilization and verbal strategies is a significant, but relatively minor, factor in improvements in spatial recall.


Spatial perception in the blind.

Spatial perception in the blind. It is often that the spatial senses (vision, hearing and the tactual senses) operate as distinct and independent modalities and, moreover, that vision is crucial to the development of spatial abilities. However, well controlled studies of blind persons with adequate experience show that they can function usefully in space. In other words, vision is not a necessary condition for spatial awareness. On the other hand, thought the blind may be equal or even superior to the sighted when performing spatial tasks within the body space, they may be deficient, either developmentally or absolutely, in tasks which involve events at a distance from the body, principally in auditory localization. One possible explanation of the differences between blind and sighted (McKinney, 1964; Attneave & Benson, 1969, Warren, 1970) is that vision is the primary spatial reference, and inputs from other modalities are fitted to a visual map. Several criticisms of this theory are adduced and an alternative theory derived from Sherrington (1947), in which all sensory inputs map on to efferent patterns, is sketched.


The effects of chronological age on the relationship of intelligence and academic achievement with extraversion and neuroticism. This study examines the possibility that the relationships of intelligence and academic achievement with both extraversion and neuroticism may vary with chronological age. A sample of 741 students in the 15-19 age group worked through a battery of four tests, two of which were tests of intelligence and two tests of achievement in chemistry. The nature of the relationships between performance on these tests and measures of extraversion, neuroticism and chronological age were then expressed as multiple regression equations. The results whoed a consistently different pattern of significant relationships for both extraversion and neuroticism with the achievement tests on the one hand and with the intelligence tests on the other. Only the performance on the two achievement tests depended upon an interaction between extraversion and chronological age. There were no such interactions involving neuroticism and chronological age.


Personality and differential susceptibility to hypnosis: further replication and sex differences. Following the study of Gibson & Curran (1974), a further sample of 45 subjects were tested on the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and a slightly modified form of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) in precisely the same way. The results in this second sample were broadly the same as those obtained in the earlier study. Combining the two samples, it was found that the sex variable provided some interesting contrasts. The power of the lie scale of the EPI to predict hypnotic susceptibility observed earlier was found to be a significant effect only for males. While there was no significant difference between the sexes in terms of the means and S.D.S. of the extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) scales, when the interaction of these scales was studied males and females differed significantly. The population from the two studies (n = 88) was analysed by means of polar coordinates in the manner suggested by Eysenck (1966) with regard to the E nad N scales. Esyenck's prediction as to hypnotic susceptibility was strikingly confirmed. These data are briefly discussed in terms of alternative approaches to hypnosis from the 'state' and the 'non-state' viewpoints.


Surgical complications of implanting pacemakers. An analysis of the complications of implanting pacemakers at St George's Hospital between 1967 and 1973 highlights the difficulties of implanting foreign bodies. During this 7 years 1543 pacemakers were implanted in 779 adults. In 91 patients there were 118 implants with surgical complications, most of them due to a pressure necrosis or local infection; 3 septicaemias occurred. The various complications are classified and related to technique of implantation. Methods of management of the complications are presented. As an Appendix the operative techniques of first and subsequent implantations are outlined.


The efficiency of surgical masks of varying design and composition. Five different types of surgical mask of varying design and composition of natural and synthetic fibres were tested for their efficiency in vivo by means of a special test chamber. Contaminated particles escaping through or around the mask during speech by the wearer could be collected and sized. Analysis of the data showed that the gross efficiency of all the masks was high, but that some masks were distinctly better at small particle 'filtration' than others. There was a significant difference in efficiency between the best and worst masks. The best masks contained more fabric, were softer and were pleated, while the worst were stiffer, smaller and not pleated. Reusable cotton fabric masks were as effective as synthetic fabric masks when made to a good design.


The effect of metal clips on the tensile properties of healing skin wounds. The effects of nylon sutures and metal skin clips on the tensile properties of healing skin wounds have been studied in the pig. Wounds closed with clips have significantly poorer mechanical properties at 5, 7 and 14 days after wounding than similar wounds in the same animal closed with interrupted nylon sutures. This difference increased progressively with the period of retention of the clips. It is also shown that in equivalent groups of 14-day wounds, those in which clips were retained after the seventh day had a lower tensile strength, poorer ability to absorb energy and a lower elastic modulus than similar wounds where clips had been removed early. No such adverse effect was noted with nylon sutures.


Gangrene of the tongue following self-application of a rubber band. A case of dry gangrene of the tongue due to self-application of an elastic rubber band in a mentally retarded child is described. As far as is known, no such case of gangrene of the tongue has been described in the English literature.


The survival rate of men with carcinoma of the breast. The Cancer Register for the South-West Region of England has been used to examine the survival rate of men with carcinoma of the breast, and a comparison has been made with carcinoma of the breast in women. For all men with carcinoma of the breast the prognosis is worse than for all women, but comparing the prognosis by clinical stage, the difference between men and women is small. However, the survival rate in men under 65 years of age is appreciably better than for men over 65, and for older men the survival rate is considerably less than for women over 65.


Operative cholangiography: a reappraisal based on a review of 400 cholangiograms. In the period 1957-72, 426 patients were operated upon for calculous disease of the biliary tract. For various reasons pre-exploratory operative cholangiography was not performed in 26 patients, but in the remaining 400 patients this examination was the major determinant as to whether or not the common duct contained calculi, and hence required exploration. Analysis of this series of 400 patients shows that without operative cholangiography (a) ductal stones would have been overlooked in 16 of the 78 patients with stones in the common duct (4 per cent of the whole series; 20-5 per cent of those with stones in the common bile duct); (b) exploration of the common duct would have been required in a further 48 (15 per cent) of the 322 patients without stones in the common duct, giving a positive yield from operative cholangiography in 64 patients (16 per cent) in the whole series. Negative exploration of the common duct was performed in only 31 patients, that is 29 per cent of the patients whose duct was explored but only 7-8 per cent of the whole group. The criteria by which an operative cholangiogram should be assessed were re-evaluated in the light of the findings in these 400 patients. In general the criteria of normality previously described were affirmed, and the following points established: a. In the absence of a filling defect the diameter of the duct is the most important indication of the presence of a stone. b. There is a statistically significant increase in the diameter of the common duct with age, and though not great this could, if neglected, give rise to error in the interpretation of the cholangiogram in younger patients. c. Even within the overall normal range of duct diameter (less than 12 mm) the wider the duct, the greater is the chance of it harbouring a stone. d. Impaired flow of contrast material into the duodenum is significantly related to duct diameter. e. Impaired flow of contrast material into the duodenum and failure to delineate the terminal segment of the duct tend to occur together; they may occur in a duct free of stones and if they are the only abnormality the examination should be repeated after the inhalation of amyl nitrite. This study confirms that operative cholangiography is the most accurate method at present available of determining whether or not the common duct contains a stone (or stones), and hence requires exploration.


Carcinoma of the duodenum: its preoperative diagnosis. Carcinoma of the duodenum, although uncommon, can be diagnosed by direct visualization, photography of the tumour and biopsy by the fibre-duodenoscope. The duodenoscopic examination may not only distinguish carcinoma of the duodenum from pancreatic carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma and secondary tumour from an adjacent organ but will also enable a correct diagnosis to be made early in the course of the disease. It is therefore suggested that duodenoscopy and biopsy will increase the resectability and 5-year survival rate.


Clinical features of the degenerate meniscus with the results of meniscectomy. A series of 172 patients with an unambiguous diagnosis of horizontal cleavage lesion is reviewed, the average duration of which was 4 1/2 years. Although all the patients complained of pain, night pain and mechanical instability were not invariable. Joint line tenderness was the commonest physical sign. Whereas all but 7 per cent were either 'cured' or 'improved', nearly half the patients had persistent complaints, usually pain. The objective physical findings at review frequently failed to correspond with patients' opinions of their knees. Recovery after meniscectomy may be slow.


Pressure measurements beneath below-knee amputation stump bandages: elastic bandaging, the Puddifoot dressing and a pneumatic bandaging technique compared. Elastic wrap bandaging is unreliable and dangerous in terms of pressure and pressure distribution (tourniquet effect). The Puddifoot dressing is safe and is less likely to produce a tourniquet effect. The range of pressures it produces is low--possibly too low to achieve ideal moulding or oedema control. A pneumatic bandage achieved a relatively narrow range of pressures between capillary and arteriolar blood pressures. It minimized tourniquet effects and differences between skilled and unskilled bandagers. It is sufficiently promising to merit development.


Operative mortality and postoperative morbidity of highly selective vagotomy. In a world-wide survey of the results of 5539 highly selective vagotomies (HSVs) performed electively for duodenal ulcer the operative mortality was found to be 0-3%. This was lower than that found in collected series after either vagotomy with drainage (0-8%) or gastric resection with or without vagotomy (over 1%). Necrosis of the lesser curvature occurred in 10 patients (0-2%) after HSV and caused death in 5(0-1%). Such necrosis is probably ischaemic in origin. Hence reperitonealisation of the raw area on the lesser curvature and prompt laparotomy if the patient develops signs of peritonitis might lower the mortality still further. Three deaths were due to pulmonary embolism, one to mesenteric vascular occlusion, and four to myocardial infarction; such deaths might be reduced by the prophylactic use of low-dose heparin. Persisting gastric stasis requiring drainage occurred in only 0-1% of the patients in the early postoperative period and in 0-6% of the patients later. Hence drainage procedures, which produce side effects such as early dumping, bilious vomiting, and diiarrhoea, could be abandoned if the mean incidence of recurrent ulceration after HSV remains close to its present level. HSV is probably the safest operation for duodenal ulcer because the alimentary tract is not opened and there is no anastomosis, suture line, or stoma.


Local infusion of urokinase and heparin into renal arteries in impending renal cortical necrosis. Two patients with presumed impending cortical necrosis, after haemolytic uraemic syndrome in one and after concealed accidental haemorrhage in the other, were treated by local infusion of urokinase and heparin into the renal artery. Both recovered and one regained normal renal function. Local infusion of anticoagulants or thrombolytic drugs into one renal artery offers the possibility of a controlled examination of the efficacy of this treatment in preventing cortical necrosis.


Plastic isolators for treatment of acute leukaemia patients under "germ-free" conditions. A gnotobiotic isolation system based on those developed in veterinary research has been constructed for hospital use. Fifteen patients with leukaemia and neutropenia spent a total of 110 weeks in plastic isolators, and none acquired any infection. Endogenous flora was effectively suppressed by topical antiseptics and gastrointestinal decontamination effected with nonabsorbable antibiotics. The isolator system was acceptable to patients and staff and much cheaper than the use of sterile rooms. Other advantages of the system are portability, easy storage, and use on ordinary open wards without prejudice to the microbiological protection afforded. It is as yet uncertain whether protective environments of this type will substantially improve the outcome of treatment for the acute leukaemias.


Value of Doppler ultrasound in diagnosis of clinically suspected deep vein thrombosis. Doppler ultrasound was used to study 120 legs of 106 patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism. Venography was subsequently performed in all. DVT was confirmed by venography in 44 legs and was confined to the calf in 10 of these. Ultrasound detected three calf thromboses and 29 out of 34 more extensive thromboses. Of five undetected thrombi that were proximal to the calf one was associated with partial occlusion and four with extensive collateral circulation. Of the 76 limbs without venographic evidence of thrombosis 21 were thought to have DVT by ultrasound; 18 of these false-positive results could be attributed to external compression of veins, two to excessive tenderness precluding adequate examination; and in one no explanation was found. This test gives more accurate results than judging by clinical signs alone, but users must be aware of its limitations and, particularly, the causes of false-positive and false-negative results.


Management of uraemic pericarditis.

Management of uraemic pericarditis. Of 250 patients undergoing haemodialysis from 1967 to 1974 17 presented with uraemic pericarditis. Seven of these patients who had been transferred early enough to peritoneal dialysis treatment were cured without pericardiectomy (mean survival 18 months (range 6-36); no deaths). Only one patient was cured from his pericarditis by "aggressive haemodialysis." In seven out of 10 patients treated with haemodialysis, pericardiectomy finally had to be performed because of pericardial tamponade (postoperative survival 20 months (range 8-36); one death). Two patients died from pericardial tamponade before surgery. In patients with evidence of uraemic pericarditis frequent peritoneal dialysis with high fluid withdrawal is the treatment of choice, but in cardiac tamponade pericardiectomy should follow a preoperative pericardiocentesis with limited fluid aspiration. Of possible significance in the aetiology of pericarditis were the findings that 10 of the 17 patients had hypertension with cardiac enlargement and that 14 presented with evidence of underdialysis, possibly due to the reuse of dialysis components.


Geriatric patients in an acute medical ward. During a nine-month study 160 out of 482 bed-weeks in an acute medical ward were accounted for by 11 patients who no longer needed to be there. This was unsatisfactory both for the 11 patients concerned and for those patients requiring admission for whom the beds were blocked.


Ambulatory electrocardiographic records in patients with transient cerebral attacks or palpitation. Continuous electrocardiographic (ECG) records were made over 24 hours in 130 ambulant outpatients complaining of syncope, dizzy turns, or palpitation. In all these patients resting ECGs had failed to show significant dysrhythmias. Exercise testing was performed on 64 patients and also failed to reveal any dysrhythmias. Analysis of the tape recordings, however, showed appreciable dysrhythmias in 74% of the group. In most cases the dysrhythmias were complex mixtures of rapid supraventricular and ventricular rhythms. bouts of ventricular tachycardia were seen in seven patients, all of whom were women. Episodic complete heart block was seen in only two patients, but prolonged ventricular gaps (greater than 1-5 s), not associated with ectopic beats, were found in 26. No episodes of ventricular fibrillation were recorded. We conclude that many patients with vague symptoms suggestive of transient cerebral ischaemia or irregular heart action have significant and often dangerous dysrhythmias which can be diagnosed only by long-term recording of the ECG under fully ambulant conditions.


Primary ventricular fibrillation and resumption of work, sexual activity, and driving after first acute myocardial infarction. The resumption of work, sexual activity, and driving were studied in 32 patients who had suffered primary ventricular fibrillation after their first myocardial infarction. They were compared with 95 patients whose myocardial infarction was not so complicated. Though initially slowing rehabilitation, primary ventricular fibrillation did not affect ultimately either the return to work or the resumption of normal sexual activity and driving.


Lactic acidosis complicating treatment of ketosis of labour. Hypertonic glucose, fructose, and sorbitol solutions were given intravenously to women in the first stage of labour who had ketonuria and ketonaemia as evidenced by a raised blood acetoacetate and 3-hydrosybutyrate. There was no difference in the antiketogenic action of these, which was rapid and effective, but when compared with a control group who were given normal saline they had a high incidence of hyperlactataemia, and nine out of 28 patients developed lactic acidosis after the infusions. The "lactatogenic" effect was shared by all three substrates, and when they are used in the treatment of ketosis of labour, and the mother develops lactic acidosis, they might exacerbate pre-existing lactic acidosis and precipitate fetal distress.


Current "corrected" calcium concept challenged. There is wide individual variation in the number of millimoles of calcium bound per gram of albumin in the serum. Individual regression coefficients for serum calcium concentration on serum albumin concentration have been determined in 62 people (25 of our own patients and 37 reported by others). The 95 percentile range was 0-007-0-053 mmol/g, with a median value of 0-025 mmol/g. Accordingly, it is not valid to "correct" a person's measured serum total calcium concentration for variations in serum albumin concentration using an average regression coefficient. Rather, the individual's own regression coefficient must be used. A tourniquet test seems to be the simplest technique for determining this value. Even then, precise interpretation of an individual's corrected serum calcium concentration is possible only when an appropriate reference range for corrected serum calcium concentration has been established. Such an appropriate reference range must be determined from an adequate number of normal people using the individual's own correction factor in each case.


Effect on adrenal function of topically applied clobetasol propionate (Dermovate). Thirty-nine patients (15 outpatients and 24 inpatients) with a variety of skin diseases affecting variable areas of the body surface were treated with clobetasol propionate ointment (Dermovate). Before and after treatment the adrenal response to an intramuscular injection of tetracosactrin was rested and additional 9 am plasma cortisol levels were measured at intervals during treatment. A satisfactory initial therapeutic response was achieved in almost all cases during the trial period. When more than 50 g of ointment a week was used a significant number of patients developed adrenal suppression. WHen less than 50 g per week was used any suppression tended to be transtion. These cysts may be the cause of this condition, producing abnormal amounts of ovarian steroids which modify the pituitary response. Futher studies are needed, however, to determine this possibility.


The monocystic ovary syndrome.

The monocystic ovary syndrome. Three patients with oligomenorrhoea and hirsutism thought to have the polycystic ovary syndrome were found to have only one ovarian cyst. Endocrine findings were similar to those found in the polycystic syndrome, but apart from the single cyst the ovaries were histologically normal; a biopsy specimen of a cyst showed normal follicular appearances and no evidence of luteinisation. These cysts may be the cause of this condition, producing abnormal amounts of ovarian steroids which modify the pituitary response. Further studies are needed, however, to determine this possibility.


Edinburgh emergency asthma admission service. In December 1968 an emergency service was set up in Edinburgh to enable patients with severe asthma to be admitted to hospital without delay. Up to 31 August 1975, 82 such patients had been admitted on 162 occasions, on 116 without the intervention of a general practitioner. The service is extended to patients particularly at risk of developing fatal asthma, and since it began no patient has died from asthma outside hospital. One patient, however, died from tension pneumothorax that developed after admission. We believe that similar services should be available throughout Britain.


Renal masses and ultrasound.

Renal masses and ultrasound. Among the first 111 patients with renal masses examined by ultrasound most renal cysts (98%) and carcinomas (86%) were correctly detected. Diagnostic accuracy was high when ultrasound predicted a renal cyst (97%), but renal carcinoma accounted for only 60% of the complex echo masses found. Ultrasound was used as the primary, non-invasive test for the selection of outpatients with simple renal cysts for diagnostic puncture and for the selection of those with complex renal masses for more elaborate and expensive inpatient investigation. Ultrasound is not infallible but a safe diagnostic pathway may be drawn up in which ultrasound errors are not allowed to lead to diagnostic disasters. This approach reduced the use of arteriography for renal masses by two-thirds. With care the diagnosis of the common chance finding of a renal mass can be made simpler, safer, and cheaper.


Abdominal surgical emergencies in the puerperium. Since surgical emergencies in the puerperium are rare, surgeons and obstetricians amass little experience of them. There may be considerable delay in making a diagnosis, firstly, because the abdominal symptoms are thought to be related to the pregnancy, and, secondly, because the signs are rarely convincing in contrast to the symptoms. Any of the common surgical emergencies may occur in pregnancy and the puerperium and there are some others that appear to be a particullar problem of the puerperium.


Bromocriptine treatment of female infertility: report of 13 pregnancies. Thirteen pregnancies occurred in 12 women who were treated with bromocriptine for infertility. Pretreatment prolactin levels were recorded in 11 patients and were normal in three. Five patients had suspected pituitary tumours, and they received irradiation to prevent swelling of the pituitary and the consequent visual field defects caused by the pressure of the swollen gland on the optic nerve. Ten of the 13 pregnancies have come to term, and all the babies were normal. When a patient with a pituitary tumour developed a visual field defect in the 38th week of pregnancy labour was induced and the defect disappeared after delivery. No multiple pregnancies occurred and there were no major complications.


Bites by puff-adder (Bitis arietans) in Nigeria, and value of antivenom. Ten patients bitten by the puff-adder (Bitis arietans) were studied in the North of Nigeria. Six showed severe local signs, and four also had evidence of systemic envenoming, including spontaneous bleeding with thrombocytopenia, hypotension, and bradycardia. Two patients died after developing circulatory collapse and renal failure. Antivenom and intravenous fluid restored blood pressure in two hypotensive patients, and antivenom probably prevented the development of local necrosis in four others with massive local swelling. Victims of B arietans who have swelling of more than half the bitten limb or show signs of systemic envenoming should be given at least 80 ml of specific polyvalent antivenom and watched carefully for signs of circulatory collapse. Debridement of necrotic tissue may be necessary.


Morphology and size-distribution of sound and acid-treated enamel crystallites. Citric acid dissolves crystallites of enamel by initially etching out approximately hexagonal holes in the core of the crystallites, parallel to their long axis. Such acid-treatment influences the crystallite diameter only slightly since the distribution of the diameters of crystallites with a hollow core is not essentially different from those found in sound enamel. In both cases, the average diameter is 37 nm. Crystallites having a central defect and an outer diameter of about 40 nm are split into two parts of approximatley 15 nm in diameter following acid treatment. The central defect is caused exclusively by the acid and not by damage from the electron beam, nor by a combination of acid treatment and electron beam damage.


Hypercalcemic effect of catecholamines and its prevention by thyrocalcitonin. Earlier work by others has shown that the catecholamines, epinephrine and isoproterenol, can raise blood calcium levels in parathyroidectomized but not intact rats, and can restrict the hypocalcemic effect of injected thyrocalcitonin (TCT). The present findings support this earlier work, further showing that such catecholamines can produce hypercalcemia in rats after removal of the thyroid gland by acute thyroparathyroidectomy (TPTX) and indicating that these drugs may raise blood calcium by mobilizing calcium from bone. Rats were fasted overnight, subjected to TPTX and concurrently injected with adrenergic agonist or antagonist drugs alone or in combination. Epinephrine, isoproterenol, and the beta-2 adrenergic agonist, salbutamol, in doses greater than or equal to 1 mg/kg raised blood calcium from low normal levels (approximately 9-10 mg/100 ml) by 1.5 to 2 mg/100 ml (p less than 0.01). Hypercalcemia was apparent by 1 hour after injection and lasted for 1-4 hours. The extent of Ca elevation was dose-related. Pretreatment of rats with the alpha-adrenergic antagonist, phenoxybenzamine, enhanced the effect of epinephrine while pretreatment with the beta-antagonist, propranolol, reduced the effect of isoproterenol. The more selective beta-2 antagonist, butoxamine, but not the beta-1 antagonist, practolol, also reduced the hypercalcemic effect of isoproterenol in TPTX rats. These results suggest that catecholamine-induced hypercalcemia in TPTX rats is mediated by beta-2 adrenergic receptors. Related studies using rats prelabeled with 45Ca further suggest that the catecholamines, like parathyroid hormone, may act to raise blood calcium by mobilizing calcium from bone. The fact that these catecholamines could induce marked hypercalcemia in acutely TPTX rats but not in intact rats indicated that endogenous TCT protects the thyroid intact rat against hypercalcemia. The present findings support this idea in showing that isoproterenol and salbutamol raised levels of immunoreactive rat TCT in both thyroid venous and peripheral blood. Catecholamines apparently can promote TCT secretion, either directly or by a small transient increase in blood calcium. This, in turem, acts to combat hypercalcemia in thhroid-intact rats.


Transmembrane bone matrix gelatin-induced differentiation of bone. In response to chemically-defined bone matrix gelatin (BMG) inside a diffusion chamber implanted in a muscle pouch, mesenchymal cells migrate directionally, aggregate and differentiate into new bone, on the outside of the chamber. BMG diffuses through double membranes 275 to 300 mum in thickness. The inner membrane of pore size is 0.025 mum and the outer membrane of pore size is 0.45 mum. The inner membrane is 1/20 the pore size and the combination is twice the thickness of membranes previously reported to transfer osteoinductive activity of living cells. Autoradiographs show 35S-cysteine-labelled BMG produces very high trans-membrane grain counts while 3H-proline labelled BMG produces very low transmembrane grain counts. Electron micrographs demonstrate that gelatin-derived, uranyl-acetate-stained fine granules interspersed with ruthenium red-staining coarse granules, diffuse through the membrane of 0.025 mum pore size from the inside out. Solitary pale-staining collagen fibrils, possibly formed in interstitial fluid by renaturation of BMG are found in the interior of the chamber and in the interior of the outer 0.45 mum but not the inner 0.025 mum pore size membrane. Densely-stained new bone collagen fiber bundles cover the outer membrane, fill the 0.45 mum subsurface pores for a depth of 0.20 to 30 mum, and thereby attach the new cartilage and bone deposits to the outer surface of the chamber. BMG powders solubilize rapidly in diffusion chambers and produce high yields of new bone. The relationship between denatured collagen and renatured gelatin fibrils in the process of transfer of the bone morphogen from BMG to mesenchymal cell receptors is an intriguing subject for further investigation.


Mineralization of invertebrate cartilage. Although invertebrate cartilage tissues do not mineralize in nature, it is now reported for the first time that when excised gill cartilage tissue from Limulus (horse shoe crab) is placed in an appropriate incubation medium metastable to hydroxyapatite, mineralization will occur. The mineralization is temperature dependent, and takes place at 37 degrees but not at 20 degrees. Incubations in media metastable to calcite have not produced mineralization. Histologic examination of mineralized tissues showed mineral deposits predominantly within cells, and to a lesser extent in the matrix. X-ray diffraction of the deposited mineral revealed a typical biological hydroxyapatite pattern.


Uptake of 99mTe-Sn-EHDP in beagles with advanced periodontal disease. Bone seeking radiopharmaceuticals were used in conjunction with skeletal imaging techniques to study bone mineral metabolism in beagle jaws. In beagles with chronic destructive periodontal disease, the tooth-supporting bone exhibited an increased uptake of technetium-99m-tin-diphosphonate when compared to control dogs. Scan images of soft tissue and vascular pools in the diseased jaws were normal. When quantitative densitometric data derived from bone scan images were compared, it was found that values reflecting radionuclide uptake in dogs with chronic destructive periodontal disease were six times greater than corresponding values in control dogs.


Anti-inflammatory steroids, lysosomal stabilization and parachor. Parachor is an additive constitutive property of a molecule and is related to the molar volume and the surface tension. The parachor of a steroid can be calculated from its constituent atoms and bonds. The parachor of a biologically active molecule is related to the ability of that molecule to permeate hydrophobic regions of cells, especially cellular membranes. An examination of the parachor values of a large number of steroids shows that these values are correlated with a number of different biological activities, from independent sources. The ability of steroids to release lysosomal enzymes from isolated lysosomes in vitro is inversely related to the parachor of the steroid. A similar relationship holds for the release of lysosomal beta-glucoronidase (EC 3.2.1.31) from isolated lysosomes of rat preputial gland following in vivo administration of steroids. The relative anti-inflammatory potencies of steroids by several assay methods are directly proportional to their parachors. The relative ability of corticosteroids to uncouple oxidative phosphorylation and to swell isolated mitochondria in vitro show a direct proportionality with the steroidal parachor. The percutaneous absorptions of steroids show good correlation with parachors, stratum corneum-water partition coefficients and amylcaproate-water partition coefficients; but not with hexadecane-water partition coefficients. The application of parachor as a structure-activity correlation parameter in drug design is likely to yield useful information. The advantages and limitations of the calculated parachor method are discussed.


Effect of valine on the control of fatty acid synthesis in white adipose tissue of the rat. In adipocytes from fed rats, the rate of fatty acid synthesis in the presence of glucose and insulin was inhibited 40% by valine (5 mm). tthis inhibition was largely abolished by the addition to the incubation medium of the transaminase inhibitor aminooxy acetate, and of pyruvate and agents which raise the intracellular pyruvate levels such as N,N,N1,N1-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine. Pyruvate output into the incubation medium from fat pads obtained from fed rats and incubated with glucose and insulin was decreased significantly by the addition of valine. When adipocytes were incubated under similar conditions, the final concentration of pyruvate in the incubation medium was 42 +/- 1.6 muM under control conditions and approximately one third of this value in the presence of 2.5 mM valine. Valine had no significant effect on pyruvate dehydrogenase (lipoate) (EC 1.2.4.1) activity when assayed in homogenates prepared from adipose tissue previously incubated for 60 min with the amino acid. Although the ketoacid analogue of valine alpha-ketoisovaleric acid, is a competitive inhibitor of pyruvate dehydrogenase (lipoate) (K1 = 1.4 mM), this cannot solely account for the valine-induced reduced rate of lipogenesis. Rather, the mechanism involves a reduction in pyruvate concentration and thereby a diminished flow through pyruvate dehydrogenase (lipoate). Details of the possible mechanism are discussed.


Studies of the metabolism of asialotransferrins: the metabolic heterogeneity of human asialotransferrin. Catabolism of human transferrin and human asialotransferrin was simultaneously studied in guinea pigs by means of total body radioactivity measurements. Total body activity representing transferrin decreased at a constant rate with an average half-life of 88 h. Decrease of the total body activity representing asialotransferrin exhibited at least two rates; the half-life of the fast initial component averaged at 25 h, whereas the half-life of the slower component averaged at 55 h. Transition occurred between the 50th and 80th hours of the experiments. The complex character of the elimination curves could not be explained by differences in the iron content of asialotransferrin, by the presence of transferrin variants or of denatured protein in the injected material, by residual sialic acid in the preparations, by accumulation of radioactive terminal catabolic products in the body, by an association of asialotransferrin with any other macromolecular plasma constituent, by changing conditions for mass action, or by a continuing return of labeled protein from the extravascular space. Injection of bovine asialotransferrin into guinea pigs did not result in complex total body curves. Analyses of guinea pig tissues demonstrated that human asialotransferrin had marked affinity for the liver and none for the kidney, lung, or spleen. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the glycopeptides in human transferrin are heterogeneous in that removal of the sialyl residues exposes structures with different affinities for the hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor. The precise chemical basis for the metabolic heterogeneity is unknown.


A model for the mode of action of cytochalasin B inhibition of D-glucose transport in the human erythrocyte. By an optical method, cytochalasin B is shown to be a competitive inhibitor of D-glucose transport across the human erythrocyte membrane with Ki of 1.2 x 10(-7) M. A Drieding molecular model of cytochalasin B reveals an almost identical spatial distribution of four oxygen atoms to those found in the C1-conformation of beta-D-glucopyranose and implicated in hydrogen bonding to the carrier protein associated with D-glucose transport. The stereochemistry of this transport model is discussed. On the basis of the interoxygen distances found in cytochalasin B, hydrocortisone, prednisolone, corticosterone, and phenolphthalein are considered as analogues and are shown to be competitive inhibitors of D-glucose transport with Ki values of 2.2 x 10(-4) M, 3.0 x 10(-4) M, 4.0 x 10(-4) M, and 2.5 x 10(-5) M, respectively. These results are considered to be consistent with the proposed mode of action of cytochalasin B and also provide further support for the model of D-glucose stereospecifically hydrogen-bonded to a carrier protein.


Effect of sample volume and column length on transcortin determination by sephadex G-25 gel filtration. When Sephadex G-25 columns are used to separate transcortin-bound corticosterone from free corticosterone, there is a non-linear increase of total binding with increasing plasma volume filtered. However, the specific binding (total binding - unspecific binding) shows a linear relationship with the plasma volume filtered. Furthermore, the specific binding decreases with increasing Sephadex column length and absolute binding values are found by extrapolating to a zero length column.


Piperonyl butoxide, a potent inhibitor of potato spindle tuber viroid in Scopolia sinensis. Piperonyl butoxide has been found to act as potent inhibitor for potato spindle tuber viroid in Scopolia sinensis Hemsl plant.


Some legal implications of advances in human genetics. The law which, to some extent at least, reflects contemporary mores, has not kept pace with the recent scientific advances in genetics. Because of the rate of advance in the science of genetics there is a real risk that we shall know how to change the traditional nature of man before we possess the knowledge necessary to enable us to use the new knowledge for humane purposes. Clonal reproduction may produce a creature who, for the purposes of the law, especially the criminal law, which defines when a child becomes a human being in terms of "old-fashioned" motherhood, may not be a human being, so that putting him to death may not be homicide. Similarly, in vitro fertilization and development in an artificial uterus may result in the "birth" of one who, though having human attributes, may not, in law, be a human being. While cloning and in vitro fertilization may not have immediate legal implications because of the state of the art, genetic manipulation in the form of amniocentesis has very real legal implications now because it is a matter of current practice. The assumption that detection of genetic abnormality in the foetus is a beneficial development because it enables parents to have the option of terminating the pregnancy, though valid in the United Kingdom and the United States, is invalid in Canada. Abortion on demand is not part of the law in Canada and the liberalization of the abortion provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada in 1969 expressly avoided including as a criterion for therapeutic abortion the risk that the child, if born, would be likely to suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped. Beyond the more technical issues raised by scientific advances, however, lies the fundamental question whether a handicapped life is a life not worth living.


Knowledge, power, man and justice: ethical problems in biomedical research. This essay attempts to raise some ethical problems related to biomedical research as they revolve around the issues of knowledge, power, man and justice. The arguments connected with such matters will not provide answers, but rather soundings for unchartered waters. Much more can and needs to be developed about the nature of knowledge and the politics of its use and abuse. A more detailed analysis and critique of man's nature might be engaged in to determine many concerns, not least of which is whether we can even talk about human nature. The idea of justice is elusive at the best of times and is particularly complicated at a time in history when social and economic interpretation is so complex. Much more must be debated before we can produce a detailed map. Fundamental to all of this, though, hopefully will be a dialogue among the many disciplines concerned with human research. We can not afford to work in isolation. The consequences of our decisions are too great.


Advances in medical genetics.

Advances in medical genetics. Although advances in medical genetics are designed ultimately to help human beings receive better health care, they pose many problems for society. Some of these concerns are real, but others result from misunderstanding and/or misrepresentation of the true implication of certain developments in genetics. It is obvious that the geneticist must play a dual role in society as scientist and as advocate. Although such a duality or role is not easy, it is not impossible. However, it does mean that the training of the medical geneticist must include more than exposure to the scientific approach.


Linkage of a gene for DDT-resistance in adults of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The gene RDDT2, which gives resistance to DDT in the imago of Aedes aegypti L. has been mapped on linkage group III with respect to six visible markers. The best interpretation of the order of the genes is:- blp - blt - co - fz - wi -RDDT2 - min, but the order blp - blt - co - fz -RDDT2 - wi - min is also possible.


Genetic control of susceptibility to hydroxyproline in Drosophila. Hydroxyproline (OHP) is known to produce morphological abnormalities in susceptible Drosophila. In some, OHP prevents head eversion during pupation producing a cryptocephal (crc) phenocopy, others fail to fully stretch legs and wings producing a shortened distance between these appendages (LWD). In this paper the genetic basis of susceptibility to OHP is explored and compared to the control of susceptibility to glucosamine (GA) which also produces a crc phenocopy. The data suggest that genes providing resistance to the effects of GA are different from those conferring resistance to OHP. Furthermore, genes providing resistance to the crc effects of OHP appear to be different from those controlling resistance-to the LWD effects. Intrastrain gene coadaptation also seems to be important in resistance to OHP. The relevance of these results to the problem of the genetic control of developmental buffering is briefly discussed.


[Karyotypes, supernumerary chromosomes, rudimentary parthenogenesis and polyploidy in 2 species of the genus Phronima (Crustacea, Amphipoda)]. The diploid number of Phronima sedentaria and P. atlantica is 30, all the chromosomes are metacentric or submetacentric; the caryotypes of these two species are compared with those of other Amphipods. Some individuals of each species have a supernumerary chromosome. This element, found in both sexes, remains as an univalent at meiosis and goes earlier to one pole. In some cases nonfertilized ova undergo segmentation; this rudimentary parthenogenesis stops quickly and is partly related to polyploidization.


A karyological study of nine species of Torymus (Hymenoptera: Torymidae). Haploid karyotypes composed of 5 metacentrics (T. umbilicatus, T. koebelei), 4 metacentrics plus 2 telocentrics (T. tubicola), 5 metacentrics plus 1 telocentric (T. warreni), 5 metacentrics plus 1 acrocentric (T. baccharidis, T. vesiculi, T. occidentalis, T. capillaceus), and 6 metacentrics (T. californicus) are described. Five metacentrics are postulated as ancestral for the Torymidae, based on karyotype frequency for the family and Robertsonian relationships among taxa. Karyotypes of 5 metacentrics plus 1 telocentric are considered ancestral for the genus Torymus. Derived karyotypes have apparently evolved independently in several lineages within the genus.


Drug resistance and membrane alteration in mutants of mammalian cells. Independent colchicine-resistant (CHR) mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells displaying reduced permeability to colchicine have been isolated. A distinguishing feature of these membrane-altered mutants is their pleiotropic cross-resistance to a variety of unrelated compounds. Genetic characterization of the CHR lines indicate that colchicine resistance and cross-resistance to other drugs are of a dominant nature in somatic cell hybrids. Revertants of CHR have been isolated which display decreased resistance to colchicine and a corresponding decrease in resistance to other drugs. These results strongly suggest that colchicine resistance and the pleiotropic cross-resistance are the result of the same mutation(s). Biochemical studies indicate that although colchicine is transported into our cells by passive diffusion, no major alterations in the membrane lipids could be detected in mutant cells. However, there appears to be an energy-dependent process in these cells which actively maintains a permeability barrier against colchicine and other drugs. The CHR cells might be altered in this process. A new glycoprotein has been identified in mutant cell membranes which is not present in parental cells, and is greatly reduced in revertant cells. A model for colchicine-resistance is proposed which suggests that certain membrane proteins such as the new glycoprotein of CHR cells, are modulators of membrane fluidity (mmf proteins) whose molecular conformation regulates membrane permeability to a variety of compounds and that the CHR mutants are altered in their mmf proteins. The possible importance of the CHR cells as models for investigating aspects of chemotherapy related to drug resistance is discussed.


Detection of virus-like particles in the coremia of Penicillium claviforme. A double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) was isolated from coremial extracts of wild type P. claviforme, by methylated-albumin kieselguhr chromatography. Differential centrifugations of the coremial extracts from WT and Sh mutant strains yielded two classes of virus-like particles (VLP), of dimensions 25-30 nm, and 50-70 nm. The possible ecological significance of fungal viruses is discussed.


Linkage of the genes for DDT and dieldrin resistance in larvae of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The DDT resistance gene RDDT1, and the dieldrin resistance gene Rd1 have been mapped on linkage group II with respect to visible markers, in the mosquito Aedes argypti L. The best interpretation of the data gives the order wa - Rdl - ds  RDDT1 - s - y but was - Rdl -ds - y - s - RDDT1 is also possible. h is very loosely linked with RDDT1. The length of the linkage group has been considerably extended from previous studies.


The effect of chloramphenicol and cycloheximide on meiotic zoosporogenesis and mitotic gametogenesis in Ulva mutabilis. Ulva mutabilis cells induced to form zoospores or gametes were exposed to chloramphenicol or cycloheximide during the 48 hours preparatory period. Chloramphenicol inhibited protein and RNA accumulation to the same degree at all concentrations, and appeared to have a general toxic effect. Cycloheximide at low concentrations inhibited primarily protein accumulation, while at higher concentrations it had also an effect on the net synthesis of RNA. Most of the inhibited cells were found in interphase, but a small percent of vegetative mitoses were observed and may indicate a return to this type of division. The gametophyte appeared to be more sensitive to chloramphenicol than the sporophyte. The effect of cycloheximide on the two processes seems to be more or less the same. A transition period, after which the sporulation process could no longer be inhibited, was found about 10 hours before the cells entered meiotic prophase in zoosporogenesis.


Heterosis, sex and maternal interactions in crosses among inbred lines of mice. All possible crosses and reciprocals were made among four inbred lines (F = 92%) developed from 12 generations of full-sib mating. All lines originated from a common outbred base population of ICR-albino mice. Data were obtained from 356 litter containing 2,734 mice to evaluate heterosis, reciprocal effects, sex effects and their interactions as they affect body weight and weight gain. Heterosis was significant for most of the postweaning traits (42- and 56-day weight and gain from 21 to 42 days). Nonadditive gene action may have included overdominance and epistasis since both reciprocal linecrosses were generally heavier than those of the better inbred lines. Although significant differences in reciprocals and inbred lines were not frequent, there were sufficient differences to indicate that lines varied in the fixation of loci during inbreeding. Sex-heterosis interactions were significant for 12 of 30 possible cases. However, eight of the 12 significant interactions occurred in crosses involving only one of the lines. The interactions were of the divergent type and arose from males exhibiting more heterosis than females. Overdominance in genes on the sex chromosomes modified by other loci (epistasis) was proposed as a possible explanation for these results. Some sex-linkage affecting growth was evident from the interaction of sex with reciprocal effects.


Genetic analysis of a population of Tribolium. V. Viability of the unsaturated fatty acid sensitive mutant. The viability pattern of the unsaturated fatty acid sensitive mutant (cos/cos) of Tribolium castaneum was examined with reference to the normal genotype from egg hatching through adult emergence. The beetles were cultured on diets with 0, 3, or 5% corn oil in growth chambers maintained at 33 +/- 1 degree C and either 42 +/- 6% or 75 +/- 3% relative humidity. The pattern of the mutant was altered during the larval stage and was dependent on both the concentration of dietary fatty acid and the relative humidity of the culture chamber. Values of the viability component of fitness were assigned to the cos/cos, +/-/cos and +/-/+/- genotypes for multiple environments based on the number of eggs surviving to pupation. In large, random mating populations segregating at this locus, a stable genetic polymorphism is forecast. Predicted rates of change of allele frequency are dependent upon the culture conditions.


The difference of pupa weight measurements in Tribolium and its effects on selection responses. Possible causes of asymmetrical direct and indirect selection responses in Tribolium which were observed in a series of various experiments have been investigated. In some experiments the pupae were weighed just after pupation and in others they were weighed on the 20th day of incubation. Weight loss between pupation time and the 20th day of incubation as well as systematic differences in weight between individuals, pupating at successive ages are considered to be responsible for the asymmetry. The concept of unconscious secondary selection was introduced to interpret the asymmetrics of realized heritability and genetic correlation observed in two-way selection experiments.


Extra-large Tribolium confusum: a new autosomal recessive mutant. A new mutant of Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), extra-large (designated xl), was isolated in mating competition tests with red-eye (re) and wild-type (+). Crosses showed that it was autosomal recessive gene with subvital effects. The pupal weights averaged 6.1 and 7.3 mg for males and females, respectively, about twice the weights of the ancestral wild-type. The generation time (egg to adult) was approximately 8 to 9 weeks compared with about 4 weeks for the wild-type. This increase resulted from a lengthening of the larval stage since the durations of the egg and pupal stages were within the ranges of the wild-type. Mean longivity of xl males and females was reduced to 8.5 and 6.0 weeks, respectively at 26.7 +/- 1 degree C and 60% RH.


Chromosomal abnormalities and the morphology of mouse sperm heads. In the mouse, numerous mutagens, teratogens and carcinogens have been shown to induce marked elevations in the fraction of sperm with head shape abnormalities. Since carcinogens and teratogens may act by causing genetic damage, a likely explanation of these results is that the sperm abnormalities are also caused by genetic damage. There are two more or less distinct classes of genetic damage, chromosomal aberrations and point mutations. In this paper, we provide evidence, that in general, chromosomal aberrations are not responsible for causing abnormally shaped sperm. Chromosomal aberrations could have caused abnormal sperm morphology in a number of ways. One possibility was that the mere presence of a translocated chromosome within the germ cell led to the malformation of the sperm head. A second possibility was that chromosomal imbalance, i.e., aneuploidy, duplications or deficiencies, within the spermatid or haploid cells caused abnormalities in shape. We tested these hypotheses by measuring the level of abnormally shaped sperm in mice homozygous and heterozygous for 24 various reciprocal and Robertsonian translocations. The diploid cells of these mice are known to be chromosomally balanced, containing translocated chromosomes. A predictable proportion of their gametes are, however, chromosomally unbalanced and carry translocated chromosomes. It was found that the levels of sperm abnormalities in these mice were convincingly unrelated to the levels predicted by any of the above hypotheses. Based on these results it seems that sperm abnormalities in mice are not due to the mere presence of translocated chromosomes in germ cells and also not due to chromosomal aneuploidy or duplication-deficiencies of chromosomal segments in the spermatid during development of the sperm.


Some observations on a record keeping and end-results reporting system. Possible objectives to be served by a multiple source cancer data acquistion program and some limitations associated therewith are presented. Alternative approaches to on-going cancer data collection from multiple sources are briefly considered. Basic requirements of a cancer record keeping and end-results reporting system, and standard defintions, procedures, and rules relating thereto are indicated. Points which may be useful in reaching a decision on an on-going international collaborative data collection arrangement are noted.


Laryngeal photography.

Laryngeal photography. Laryngeal photography -- still, motion, and television -- is of great value in teaching students and residents, in communicating findings to colleagues, and in demonstrating surgical technique in microsurgery of the larynx. Acceptable photographs can be achieved at moderate cost using the optical system of the Zeiss microscope, photo-adapters and an appropriate 35 mm camera body, 16 mm movie camera, and/or lightweight TV color camera. Large bore fiberoptic light carriers are used in the laryngoscope to carry maximum amount of light from the quartz iodide light source or indium-iodide lamp. These techniques interfere minimally with the operation.


Techniques in microlaryngoscopic photography. A microlaryngoscopic photographic technique is described similar to that technique advocated by Kleinsasser. This technique is an uncomplicated routine method, which can be adopted by anyone using the Zeiss surgical microscope. With a relaxed, intubated patient, alignment of the optical axis of the microscope with the central axis of the laryngoscope, and with careful focusing, using the over-changed (9.5 A, 7.6 V) 6 V 50 W bulb, shutter at 22, magnification of 16 or 25, and with 1/4 second exposure time, and the Kodak Ektachrome HS film (125 ASA), the result should be satisfactory.


Open tube, proximal illumination mirror and direct laryngeal photography. Equipment is described for mirror and open tube direct laryngoscopic photography. It consists of specially constructed reflex camera systems that provide adequate exposure and depth of the desired field, sharpness of focus, correct color, and effective composition for meaningful illustrations. The separate cameras for still and motion pictures consist of units that contain the light source, lenses, optic reflex systems, and film chambers. The mirrors for indirect laryngoscopy and the open tube direct laryngoscopes are attached by rigid, easily released clamps for quick interchange. It is stressed that the laryngologist himself must be the photographer. The pictures are adjuncts to case recording, are supportive evidence of investigative work, and may be used as chronologic sequences in study of physiology and in pre- and postoperative evaluation.


Advances in endoscopic techniques for examination of the larynx and nasopharynx. The development of the new Hopkins rod indirect laryngoscope with the polished glass rod lens system and fiberoptic lighting promise to revolutionize the indirect examination of the larynx and nasopharynx. The improved optics and lighting facilitate the acquisition of still and moving picture photography for permanent records. Examples of the superior photographic resolution are presented.


Ultra high speed photography in laryngeal research. An attempt has been made in this paper to suggest the role of ultra high speed motion photography in laryngeal research and to sketch the more important technical requirements of the equipment and procedures for its use. The latter included comments about a camera and its auxilliary equipment, illumination, recording, synchronizaiton of the patient whose larynx is to be photographed.


Research policies in university centres in India. India is a developling country with its necessary priorities. Therefore the limited resources which are available cannot be spared for basic cancer research. The population is close to 600 million -- 80 per cent living in villages and receiving hardly any medical aid. This has provided extensive clinical material which can be beneficially utilized for research. The following plan is suggested under the existing circumstances: 1. Motivation of specialists towards head and neck problems. 2. Creation of regional specialists in cancer hospitals. 3. Advanced cases as objects for research. 4. A universal law regarding compulsory postmortem. 5. In a developing country like India with limited resources highly academic investigations should have low priority. 6. Refresher courses for general practitioners to educate them regarding early clinical manifestations of laryngeal cancer. 7. Training of postgraduates. A postgraduate should be first trained in one's own country, particularly in a developing country like India. He can then go for further experience to other international centres. 8. Communication by way of publication. The clinicians from developing countries should have easy opportunity to get their works published in English journals.


Research policies related to laryngeal cancer in clinical departments of Scandinavian universities. This review covers ongoing and planned research projects in Scandinavian university ENT facilities concerning laryngeal carcinoma. Scandinavia (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland) has a population of fewer than 22 million, and therefore each department has only a few patients with laryngeal carcinoma per year. Clinical surveys of therapeutic results were the most commonly performed investigation. Many departments are interested in cytostatics alone or in combination with radiotherapy. Histopathological classification and malignancy grading of laryngeal carcinoma with multifactor analysis, diagnosis and treatment of precancerous conditions, and whole organ serial sectioning occupy some departments. Etiological factors, diagnostic problems, and postoperative functional disturbances are other fields of interest. Immunology and experimental animal research are both studied to a lesser extent. A very great interest exists for inter-regional and inter-Scandinavian joint projects, which may hopefully become a reality after this survey.


Review of current research projects under way in Australia related to laryngeal cancer. Research in laryngeal cancer in Australia has been largely confined to the study of serial sections of tumor specimens to determine the methods of spread of carcinoma. More recently, a prospective trial, using BCG and Methotrexate in terminal epidermoid carcinoma patients. It is strongly urged that research be directed towards international data collection and double blind prospective clinical trials of modes of therapy for comparable lesions. It is also felt that more basic research should be directed towards determining the role of smoking in the pathogenesis of laryngeal cancer, and the mechanism of action of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.


Research opportunities at the Institute of Laryngology and Otology, London. Emphasis is placed on the need to encourage original research in our training programs. This implies an obligation to help trainees inexperienced in research to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Four examples of patterns of research at a postgraduate institute are presented. All are in areas in some way relevant to carcinoma of the larynx: a) the effect of experimental hypothermia on transplanted tumors in rats; b) isotope detection of deep vein thrombosis following head and neck surgery; c) stomal calibre after laryngectomy related to airflow, esophageal voice and cineradiographic appearances; d) a case-controlled study of the etiologic role of asbestos in laryngeal cancer. These studies are still in progress but some preliminary observations can be reported.


Grading of biopsies of laryngeal carcinomas by multiple criteria. The system of tumor grading of Jakobsson et al was applied in a study of the malignancy grade of biopsy tissue compared with the grade of the corresponding tissue obtained at definitive surgery. The results suggest that at biopsy tumors are rated lower grade than they exhibit in the final tumor tissue. Some observations are made on the application of this system of point rating multiple features to determine histologic grade.