Goldenhar’s Syndrome associated with congenital cyanotic heart disease

A case of Goldenhar’s Syndrome in a 10 year old girl is reported. The unusual features are the absence of epibulbar dermoid which is one of the major hallmarks of the Syndrome and the presence of an associated Cyanotic Heart disease.     

Quantitative assessment of ALZ-50 immunoreactivity in Alzheimer's disease.

A quantitative assay for ALZ-50 immunoreactivity was evaluated in samples of superior temporal gyrus taken at autopsy from 13 Alzheimer patients and 11 controls. The assayable immunoreactivity appears to be stable for at least 24 hours postmortem but was lost with formalin fixation. The mean value of the Alzheimer patients was tenfold higher than that of the controls (P less than .002). The values of four Alzheimer samples overlapped with the low levels seen in controls, but no controls had elevated levels. In this sample population, therefore, the assay had a sensitivity of 69% and specificity of 100%.     

Role of pylorus in mediating cholecystokinin-stimulated satiety in the Zucker rat

Obese Zucker rats are less responsive than their lean littermates to the effects of cholecystokinin-octapeptide on satiety and pancreatic growth and exocrine function. We hypothesized that the hyperphagia observed in obese Zucker rats may be caused by a decreased pyloric contractile response to cholecystokinin, resulting in an increased rate of gastric emptying, decreased postprandial gastric distention, and thus decreased satiety. Pyloric muscle strips from six obese Zucker rats and six lean littermates were mounted in separate tissue baths and isometric contraction was measured in response to acetylcholine and cholecystokinin-octapeptide. The dose-response curves for acetylcholine-and cholecystokinin-octapeptide-stimulated pyloric muscle contraction were similar for both the obese and the lean rats. (For cholecystokinin, D₅₀ obese=4.0±0.6 nM, D₅₀ lean=3.4±0.2 nM;P=0.16). We conclude that the decreased satiety response to cholecystokinin-octapeptide observed in obese Zucker rats is not secondary to a decreased pyloric responsiveness to cholecystokinin.This work was supported by NIH grant AM28303-03.     

Activity measurements of the high-energy pure beta-emitters 89Sr and 90Y by the TDCR efficiency calculation technique.

The absolute activities of the pure beta-emitters 89Sr and 90Y have been determined by a direct method, namely the triple-to-double coincidence ratio (TDCR) efficiency calculation technique. This undertaking has extended further the number of radionuclides that have been standardized by this non-extrapolation liquid scintillation (LS) method. Both measurements were carried out within the framework of international key comparisons under the auspices of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). The TDCR results agreed well with those of other participating national laboratories, most using alternative (tracer) methods.