Instead of "plethysmography": "kenoseography" and "plesmonegraphy"

The recording of volume changes in health and disease has from old been designated as "Plethysmography". This was supposed to be a correct term for the recording (graphein) of an increase in volume (plethysmos). The present paper shows that the choice of this term was not felicitous, and suggests an alternative. The first "plethysmographic" recordings are ascribed to Glisson (1622) and Swammerdam (1737). Since Glisson and Swammerdam did, in fact, record the volume of muscle to be constant on contraction, their measurements should probably have been referred to as "isography". This, however, is merely a historical matter. Presently venous outflow measurement is a common procedure to establish the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis. Venous outflow is determined by recording the decrease in volume of a limb which occurs after release of a congestion cuff. As this is quite the opposite of what is meant by "Plethysmography", another indication is needed for this examination. It appears that a suitable alternative can be taken from ancient Greek medical literature.     

对《AMH》及《答复》的再商榷

编辑部 :感谢贵刊全文刊登了本人对“抗苗氏管激素与生长激素缺乏伴低促性腺激素睾丸发育不良症的关系” (以下简称《ＡＭＨ》) 〔1〕一文的商榷 (以下简称《商榷》) 〔2〕,以及《ＡＭＨ》作者的答复 (以下简称《答复》) 〔3〕。在仔细阅读了《答复》之后 ,感到由于本人在《商榷》中写得过于简单而引起作者的一系列误解和忽略了《商榷》一文中几个核心问题。因此 ,想再借贵刊一角澄清问题的所在及阐明应该采用的治疗方案的理由 ,以便同《ＡＭＨ》作者进一步商榷及供广大读者参考。在《商榷》一文中提出的核心问题是 :(1 )“不需给外源Ｔ” ,…     

Copper and zinc levels in "healthy" and "sick" elderly

Healthy elderly as a group have a wider range for serum copper, ceruloplasmin, and serum zinc than the adjusted ranges for the laboratory. In disease serum copper and/or ceruloplasmin act as acute-phase reactants in vascular disease, inflammation, and malignancy. Serum zinc values likewise are affected by the presence of inflammation and malignancy. The reported low level of copper in patients with osteoporosis was not confirmed by the present study. Neither was there any evidence found for zinc deficiency in patients with dementia.     

"Big" and "little" forms of plaice vitellogenic and maturational hormones

A gonadotropin, which was not absorbed on Con A-Sepharose and therefore either nonglycoprotein in nature or characterized by a low carbohydrate content or lacking in the appropriate sugars requisite for binding to Con A, had been prepared from plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) pituitaries. Filtration through Ultrogel and subsequent chromatography on either Bio-Gel or Ultrogel permit the isolation of two forms with molecular weights of 28,000 and 62,000, respectively. Both molecular species were active in stimulating ovarian growth and vitellogenesis as indicated by their ability to elevate the gonadosomatic index, the ovarian uptake of ${}^{33}\text{PO}{}_4$^3? and $\text{[}{}^3\text{H]}$leucine, and the incorporation of the radiolabels into the protein and phosphoprotein fractions of the ovary of the hypophysectomized winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), but neither exerted any effect on the processes of oocyte maturation and ovulation. Another plaice gonadotropin, which was potent in stimulating the processes of oocyte maturation and ovulation in the hypophysectomized winter flounder and which also existed in two forms with molecular weights of 28,000 and 62,000, could be isolated from the glycoprotein fraction of the pituitary extract with similar chromatographic procedures. The 28,000 MW gonadotropins manifested a strong tendency to undergo aggregation leading to the formation of the 62,000 MW species in buffer containing low concentrations of EDTA. The phenomenon of assocation could be prevented by the inclusion of a high concentration (10 mM) of EDTA in the elution buffer. High concentrations of sodium chloride and dithiothreitol in the buffer appeared to be less effective in minimizing aggregation. The relative magnitudes of the molecular weights and the comparable biological activities of the two forms are indicative of a monomer-dimer relationship. The winter flounder pituitary also secretes hormones similar in chromatographic behavior to those of the plaice. The presence of two distinct types of biological activities in two chromatographically discrete fractions of the Hippoglossoides platessoides pituitary extract, when tested in a closely related species Pseudopleuronectes americanus after hypophysectomy, constitutes the first unequivocal evidence based on both biochemical and physiological criteria for the existence of separate gonadotropins controlling vitellogenesis and maturation in a teleost.     

"What" and "where" in the human auditory system

The extent to which sound identification and sound localization depend on specialized auditory pathways was examined by using functional magnetic resonance imaging and event-related brain potentials. Participants performed an S1-S2 match-to-sample task in which S1 differed from S2 in its pitch and/or location. In the pitch task, participants indicated whether S2 was lower, identical, or higher in pitch than S1. In the location task, participants were asked to localize S2 relative to S1 (i.e., leftward, same, or rightward). Relative to location, pitch processing generated greater activation in auditory cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus. Conversely, identifying the location of S2 relative to S1 generated greater activation in posterior temporal cortex, parietal cortex, and the superior frontal sulcus. Differential task-related effects on event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were seen in anterior and posterior brain regions beginning at 300 ms poststimulus and lasting for several hundred milliseconds. The converging evidence from two independent measurements of dissociable brain activity during identification and localization of identical stimuli provides strong support for specialized auditory streams in the human brain. These findings are analogous to the "what" and "where" segregation of visual information processing, and suggest that a similar functional organization exists for processing information from the auditory modality.