ACTION OF SERUM ON LYMPHOCYTES IN VITRO

It may be concluded that, under the conditions of the experiments: 1. Lymphocytes and large mononuclear cells can live and increase greatly in numbers in blood serum, while fibroblasts are not capable of doing so. 2. While living in serum, lymphocytes and large mononuclear cells manufacture and secrete substances which may be used as food material by the fibroblasts. 3. It is probable that lymphocytes and large mononuclear cells synthetize from the nitrogenous compounds contained in serum the substances which fibroblasts and epithelial cells require for their multiplication.     

ANTAGONISTIC GROWTH PRINCIPLES OF SERUM AND THEIR RELATION TO OLD AGE

It may be concluded that, under the conditions of the experiments: 1. The inhibiting action on homologous fibroblasts of the heated serum of a young animal increases relatively more than that of an old animal. After it has been heated, the inhibiting action of the serum of the old animal is still greater than that of the young animal. 2. The CO₂ precipitate obtained from the serum of a young animal definitely increases the proliferative activity of homologous fibroblasts, while the CO₂ precipitate of the serum of an old animal has practically no activating power. After the removal of the CO₂ precipitate, the inhibiting action of the serum of young animals is increased, while that of old animals is not modified. 3. The increased inhibiting action of serum on homologous fibroblasts in old age is partly due to the disappearance of the growth-activating substances and to the enhanced activity of the growth-inhibiting principle.     

Beobachtungen über die Y-Ruhr,gelegentlich einer Epidemie beim X. Armeekorps im Sommer 1911 und bei Nachuntersuchungen in den Jahren 1912 und 1913.

Ohne ZusammenfassungHierzu Taf. I.     

MEASUREMENT OF THE GROWTH OF TISSUES IN VITRO

1. A technique has been developed by which two fragments of tissue, put in identical media, can grow at almost the same rate. 2. A method of measuring the growing tissue is described. 3. The differences observed in the rate of growth of two fragments of the 9 year old strain of connective tissue, cultivated in identical media and measured according to this technique, are less than 10 per cent.     

Oral contraceptives and cancer

The use of combined oral contraceptives has been shown in a number of studies to alter a women's risk of developing some kinds of cancer. Specifically, a 50% reduction in the risk of both ovarian and endometrial cancer has been demonstrated. This protective effect appears to persist for some time after oral contraceptives are stopped. Combined oral contraceptives do not appear to effect substantially the overall risk of developing breast cancer, although some data suggest that selected subgroups of women may be at a greater risk of developing breast cancer if oral contraceptives are used at specific times in a woman's reproductive life, especially if used for long periods of time. However, the data are not entirely consistent on this issue. The effect of oral contraceptives on the risk of developing cervical cancer is also not entirely clear, although the data available suggest a slightly increased risk of intraepithelial cervical cancer with prolonged use of oral contraceptives.     

Gastrointestinal teratomas: CT and US appearance with pathologic correlation

Gastrointestinal teratomas are uncommon, benign neoplasms that occur primarily in children. A retrospective review of five cases (two gastric, one pancreatic, one mesenteric, and one in the lesser omentum) is presented with emphasis on the computed tomographic and ultrasonographic appearances. Principal findings are a well-defined mass with separate cystic and solid components of varying proportions, discrete areas with densities similar to that of fat, or coarse, globular calcifications within the solid component. Recognition of these findings may allow the radiologist to make a correct preoperative diagnosis of teratoma.     

Breast cancer--principles of prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and after-care

Principles for prophylaxis, early diagnosis, therapy, and after-care of mammary carcinoma are discussed. With this basis interdisciplinarily co-ordinated recommendations are given for therapy and after-care, which have been elaborated by a group of specialists.     

Gene analysis and the clinical chemist

Knowledge of gene analysis methods and concepts will be important to the clinical chemist in the near future. Currently most gene analyses must be performed by indirect techniques, using polynucleotide probes hybridizing close to or on the disease gene but not on the position of the mostly unknown gene mutation (restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis). The sensitivity and specificity of such assays are affected by biological and methodologic factors, and are being continually improved. Preventive medicine is a promising area for gene analysis which will possibly fit well into the domain of clinical chemistry. The application of nucleotide hybridization analysis in tissue matching for organ transplantation, and in the detection and differential diagnosis of malignancies is in its early stages. A very promising, and rapidly emerging, technology is the direct detection and differentiation by gene probing of bacteria and viruses in medical microbiology. Guidelines for the ethical problems of gene analysis already exist within the field of medical ethics.     

Expert system-controlled image display

Conventional computer-based medical expert systems deliver advice to physicians as written text. While such advice is useful, it has distinct limitations in a visually oriented discipline such as diagnostic radiology, in which decisions often depend on pattern recognition and appreciation of subtle morphologic features. The authors developed a prototype expert computer system, IMAGE/ICON, which displays groups of images sorted into a series of axes based on different ways in which they may be similar. They may share a common feature, group of features, causes, or clinical setting. IMAGE/ICON may display examples of morphologic variations of a dominant finding or a spectrum of abnormalities seen in an specific disease or group of diseases. The system also assembles a written analysis of key features of a case. Such a tool may be useful as a diagnostic aid or for continuing medical education. It is likely to have particular impact in the form of an intelligent radiologic workstation, as picture archiving and communication systems become available.