Diagnoses of the relatives of schizotypal outpatients

Relatives of 22 schizotypal probands were evaluated for lifetime psychiatric diagnoses. Forty-four (N = 44) of the 97 available relatives were interviewed directly using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. The rates of psychiatric diagnoses were compared with those of sixty-six (N = 66) of 140 relatives of 30 depressed patients. Family history of mental illness was ascertained by the informant method on the remainder of relatives of both proband groups. The rate of depression found in the relatives of schizotypal patients was 52% in those directly interviewed and 25.7% when informants' reports on unavailable relatives are pooled with direct interview data. These rates were not significantly higher than those found for the relatives of depressed probands (34.8% by direct interview and 21% including reports from informants). The high rates of depression in the relatives of schizotypal probands may indicate that schizotypal personality is associated with affective disorder and not only with schizophrenia. However, the high rates may be due to the presence of depressive character traits in relatives, which inflate the rates of dysthymic disorder and other chronic depressive disorders in the relatives of borderline patients.     

Lumbar disc syndrome in Finland.

The prevalence of lumbar disc syndrome (herniated disc or typical sciatica) and its consequences in terms of disability, handicap, and need for medical care were studied as part of the Mini-Finland Health Survey. A sample of 8000 persons representative of the Finnish population aged 30 or over was asked to come for examination, and 7217 (90%) participated. A diagnosis of lumbar disc syndrome based on medical history, symptoms, and standardised physical examination was made for 5.1% of the men and for 3.7% of the women. Half of these patients were assessed to be in need of medical care, over 80% of which was considered to be adequately met. One third of all patients with lumbar disc syndrome had been previously hospitalised for that syndrome, and one fifth of the patients had undergone lumbar surgery. At least slight disability was found in almost 60% of the patients, though severe functional limitations were rare. About 6% of the population's work disability was estimated to be attributable to lumbar disc syndrome.     

Methods of ultrasonic angiography and spectrum analysis of the Doppler signal in the diagnosis of the degree of occlusive lesions of the brachiocephalic arteries

Results of an examination of 39 patients are described and critically assessed. An analysis of the resolving power of the method of ultrasonic angiography in pathological formations of major vessels of the neck is given.     

胃液乳酸定量测定对中晚期胃癌的意义

用比色法测定148例胃癌和非胃癌患者胃液乳酸含量,包括正常对照36例。胃癌患者胃液乳酸含量明显增高,与胃良性疾病及正常人比较,差异非常显著(p<0.001),重叠甚少,有助于初步鉴别胃良性和恶性疾病。     

Behavioural, physiological and immunological consequences of social status and aggression in chronically coexisting resident-intruder dyads of male rats

The behavioural and physiological consequences of social status and reciprocal fighting in resident-intruder dyads of Long Evans male rats were evaluated. Before a chronic cohabitation of 10 days, residents and intruders were individually housed for one month to increase their aggressiveness. Control animals included isolates, i.e., animals kept individually housed throughout the experiment and pair-housed rats, i.e., pairs of rats housed together from their rats in the laboratory. In 19 out of 20 dyads, a clear dominance relationship developed with an advantage to the resident in 68% of the cases. Dominants showed more exploratory activity than subordinates in a open-field test at the end of the cohabitation period; subordinates groomed longer than animals from other experimental groups. Dominants had lower pain thresholds than individually and pair-housed animals. Both dominants and subordinates had higher tyrosine hydroxylase enzymatic activities in the left adrenal than isolated and pair-housed rats. Subordinates lost body weight and had higher plasma corticosteroid concentrations than animals from the other experimental groups. In addition, they had smaller thymus glands and reduced spleen lymphocyte responses to mitogenic stimulation in vitro, in comparison to dominant animals. These results show that subordination in the dyadic resident-intruder paradigm leads to a complex syndrome of behavioural and physiological changes, some of which may be modulated by the intensity of aggressive interactions.     

Characteristics of ethidium uptake by the trypanosomatid flagellates Crithidia fasciculata and Leptomonas seymouri.

The uptake of the phenanthridinium ethidium by the trypanosomatids Crithidia fasciculata and Leptomonas seymouri was studied. The time course of uptake of ethidium was biphasic for both organisms, consisting of an initial rapid phase and a protracted slow phase. The characteristics of these phases were consistent with the hypothesis that the initial phase represented specific external binding, while the second phase represented transport into the cells. In L. seymouri the transport phase was inhibited by inhibitors of energy transduction and putative inhibitors of a transport ATPase. Ethidium transport could not be saturated over a large concentration range of ethidium. Phenanthridiniums and related compounds displayed both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on ethidium transport.