Secular change in menarche in women in Madrid

The age at menarche was estimated by recollection in 1617 women between the ages of 18 and 60 in Madrid and a nearby suburb, Pinto. The population of Pinto is working-class and the Madrid group, taken from residential neighbourhoods , belongs to the upper middle class. In both groups we found a diminution in average age at menarche, from 14.04 to 13.02 years in Madrid and from 14.55 to 13.16 years from about 1935 to about 1965 in Pinto. These changes have been more intense in the group which is less well-off economically, where living conditions have varied much more drastically.     

Intestinal helminthiasis in school children in Haiti in 2002

A survey on intestinal helminths in school children was conducted in Haiti in 2002. This first nationwide study involving the entire country was stratified by department according to urban and rural zones using the cluster method. Focusing on elementary school children (n=5792; age range 3 to 20 years), it involved 26 urban and 49 rural schools randomly selected. Stools were preserved in formalin and examined by the Ritchie technique. Thirty-four per cent of stools (1981/5792) tested positive for intestinal helminths with the following parasites identified: Ascaris lumbricoides (27.3%), Trichuris trichiura (7.3%), Necator americanus (3.8%), Hymenolepsis nana (2%), Taenia sp. (0.3%) and Strongyloides stercoralis (0.2%). The helminth prevalence was higher in rural (38.4%) compared to urban areas (30%). There was no significant difference in prevalence by sex and age. The importance of geohelminths changed from one department to another with the highest prevalence found in the Southern department of Grande Anse (73.7%) and the lowest prevalence in the Center department (20.6%). Five out of the country's nine departments had a similar prevalence varying from 25.5% to 28.2%. Intestinal helminthic polyparasitism was observed in a percentage of infested school children comprise between 3.4% and 28.6% according in relation to the geographical area. A program to fight against geohelminths in school children should be initiated as a public health priority. Albendazole is the drug of choice. Frequency of drug distribution should be based on the prevalence of geohelminths in each department.     

Experience in adult population in dengue outbreak in Delhi

A dengue outbreak has recently hit the Indian capital. We studied the clinical profile of adult patients. Five hundred and sixty patients of dengue infection were admitted in a specially created ward according to the criteria laid down by WHO. Haematemesis (28.28%), epistaxis (26.78%) and malena (14.28%) were some of the common presentations. Similarly lymphadenopathy, especially cervical (30.89%), palatal rashes (26.96%) and hepatomegaly (23.75%) were the most commonly encountered findings on physical examination. Most of the cases were of dengue fever with haemorrhage and only 2.5% cases were classified under dengue haemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome. The average hospital stay was 3.4 days but only 9.8 hours in the eleven patients who died, suggesting their late arrival in preterminal situation giving little time for resuscitation. Thrombocytopenia was not a feature and only 12.85% patients had platelet count less than 70,000/cmm. Most of the patients who were admitted with thrombocytopenia, showed normalization in their platelet counts in next few days. Serological examination demonstrated evidence of recent dengue infection in 41.17% patients. Few patients required blood or platelet concentrate transfusion. Eleven patients died, three due to DIC, one of intracranial haemorrhage and seven due to massive gastric haemorrhage. Rest of the patients recovered completely. Thus we can conclude that recent outbreak in Delhi was of dengue fever with haemorrhage and mortality was very low in patients who came early to the hospital.     

Changes in the hypothalamic nuclei in in experimental allergy

Summary In rabbits subjected to prolonged sensitization and in which the Arthus phenomenon was induced there was a marked reaction of the hypothalamic nuclei. Staining by Gomori's method indicated a cellular swelling, loss of granules, and protoplasmic vacuolization in the supraoptic nucleus. There was a considerable increase in the size of the cross-sectional area of the cells. The same effects were much less well shown in the paraventricular nucleus. These results show that marked signs of increased neurosecretion developed in the animals at the height of the Arthus phenomenon.(Presented by Active Member AMN SSSR V. V. Parin) Translated from Byulleten Éksperimental'noi biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 110–113, April, 1963.     

Cerebellar noradrenergic systems in aging: studies in situ and in in oculo grafts

Age-related changes in noradrenergic function in the rat cerebellum were examined using electrophysiological and electrochemical techniques. Sprague-Dawley and Fischer 344 rats showed subsensitivity to norepinephrine (NE) locally applied onto cerebellar Purkinje neurons. The modulatory actions of NE on Purkinje cell-evoked activity was also examined. In young rats NE preferentially inhibits spontaneous activity more than evoked excitations when compared to control. These modulatory actions of NE are not seen in senescent Fischer 344 rats. The intrinsic vs. extrinsic influences determining the loss of efficacy to NE were examined using three groups of rats with in oculo cerebellar grafts. The first group had young grafts grown in young hosts and these grafts showed a potent response to perfused NE. The second group, old grafts in old hosts, showed a diminished responsiveness to NE with respect to the first group. The third group consisted of young grafts in old hosts. These grafts demonstrated a responsiveness to NE that was indistinguishable from those in the first group. The integrity of the presynaptic NE fibers was examined in the grafts using electrochemical techniques. No difference in the release of NE was observed in the old grafts. Taken together, these results suggest a loss of postsynaptic NE function that is intrinsically determined. The change in NE modulation could influence information processing within the aged cerebellar cortex. This deficit could underlie behavioral changes seen in senescence.     

Development in in vitro toxicology

There are three principal pressures driving the development of in vitro toxicology: (1) the need for more efficient testing systems to cope with the large number of xenobiotics currently being developed; (2) public pressure to reduce animal experimentation; and (3) a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity. Within this, in vitro toxicology is focused on local, systemic, and target-organ toxicity. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a step or decision-tree approach using input of a variety of experimental data (physicochemical properties, biokinetics, cytotoxicity) provides the most efficient system for predicting toxicity. Examples of the use of in vitro toxicity systems for prediction of systemic toxicity and target-organ (liver) toxicity are presented.Originally presented at ECCP 93.     

Development in in vitro toxicology

There are three principal pressures driving the development of in vitro toxicology: (1) the need for more efficient testing systems to cope with the large number of xenobiotics currently being developed; (2) public pressure to reduce animal experimentation; and (3) a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity. Within this, in vitro toxicology is focused on local, systemic, and target-organ toxicity. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a step or decision-tree approach using input of a variety of experimental data (physicochemical properties, biokinetics, cytotoxicity) provides the most efficient system for predicting toxicity. Examples of the use of in vitro toxicity systems for prediction of systemic toxicity and target-organ (liver) toxicity are presented.     

休克过程中肾上腺髓质素变化的研究进展

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a new peptidergic regulator of vascular function. AM serves as a hormone, which has many biological properties, plays an important role in the many pathophysiological processes, especially shock. This review will highlight the structure, biological properties of AM and the relationship between AM and shock.     

Changes in eating in dementia

Changes in eating and weight are not uncommon in dementia although they have yet to be systematically studied. These changes are of clinical importance since they can seriously affect patients' physical health and they are often a major problem for carers. These changes are also of theoretical interest since certain abnormalities may be a direct expression of specific brain pathology. Studying these changes in eating and weight may therefore further our understanding of certain of the pathological processes underlying dementia and suggest new approaches to the management of these problems.     

Tuberculosis in Poland in 1997

The paper presents the epidemiological situation of TB in Poland in 1997--the fourth consecutive year of decline in TB incidence after three years (1991-1993) of increase. In 1997 there were 13,967 newly registered TB cases, of which 1,578 were relapses. The incidence was 36.1 per 100,000 population, of which 32.0 were the new cases and 4.1 relapses. Relapses represented 11.3% of all newly registered cases. The incidence in 1997 was 9.3% lower than in 1996. The rate of decline was 2 times higher than in previous two years (3.9% and 4.2% respectively). Between provinces the range in incidence was 20.1 to 58.2. Among the total number of newly registered cases there were 7,484 (19.4 per 100,000) bacteriologically confirmed, of which 4,117 cases were sputum smear positive. The proportion of bacteriologically culture positive cases was 53.6 and of sputum smear positive--29.5 which is rather low, but similar to previous years. 95.9% of TB cases the connected respiratory system. Low proportion (4.1%) of non respiratory TB, which continues for many years, may indicate inadequacies in diagnosis and registration of this form of disease. The incidence of TB increases with age, from 1.9 in children to 69.9 in those over 65 years of age. The proportion of cases in the age group 20-44 years is still high (38.6%). The incidence in men (49.8) is two times higher than in women (23.4), and in rural population higher than in urban--38.2 and 34.9 respectively. The prevalence of tuberculosis at the end of 1997 was 41.4 (16,023 cases) of which 52.4% were bacteriologically confirmed cases (8,397 cases). In the latter group there were 281 cases bacteriologically positive for longer than one year, and 469 cases resistant to at least 1 drug. The proportion of resistant cases (5.6%) is similar to previous years and does not seen to influence the overall effectiveness of chemotherapy.     

Decline in enamel hypoplasia in relation to fluoridation in Australians

Enamel hypoplasias are thought to represent calcification disruption indicative of metabolic stress during development. Hypoplasias of permanent maxillary central incisors and mandibular canines have undergone a notable reduction in frequency between Euro‐Australian twins born around 1965 and those born ca. 1990. Even when scored very liberally these linear defects are 3.1–4.6 times as prevalent in the earlier Australians, and the discrepancy is proportionately greater among strictly scored defects. Likely correlates of this secular trend logically include reduced childhood fevers and clinical intervention to reduce circum‐natal stresses acting on cotwins. However, fluoridation of metropolitan water has emerged as the statistically strongest hypoplasia‐preventing factor. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 15:795–799, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.