THE RELATION OF HEMATIN TO PATHOLOGICAL PIGMENT FORMATION

1. It has been shown that powdered hematin is exceedingly resistant to the metabolic action of tissue cells, and wherever injected it will remain for weeks with but slight and slowly progressing alteration. 2. The changes produced in hematin by tissue cells are identical with those changes resulting from the oxidation of hematin by hydrogen peroxid, forming a series of bodies of decreasing color intensity, which manifest an iron reaction in inverse proportion to their color. 3. These hemosideroid pigments are distinguished from true hemosiderin by the type of their iron reaction, by their solubility in dilute alkalies, and by their destructive oxidation by hydrogen peroxid. 4. Crystalline hematin injected into the tissues is subject to the same changes as powdered hematin. 3. Whereas powdered parahemosiderin is converted into hemosiderin by the tissue cells with comparative ease, powdered hematin shows no such conversion within forty-seven days, and as the only demonstrable change produced in hematin by the tissue cells does not result in the formation of either hemosiderin or hematoidin, the assumption that hematin is the progenitor of these pigments seems unwarranted.     

INTERVENTION IN CHILDBIRTH AND NEONATAL RESPONSIVENESS

This paper is a report of a study of obstetric intervention in childbirth and its effects on neonatal behaviour. Interventions included anaesthesia, augmentation, induction and caesarean section and their relationships to behavioural responsiveness of the babies over the neonatal period were examined. Among the 120 mothers, the study found considerable rates of intervention into childbirth. Babies were assessed on three occasions using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Data from one hundred and nine babies were analysed. Babies whose mothers had epidural anaesthesia were less likely to achieve optimal Motoric subscale scores than babies whose mothers did not. A lower percentage of caesarean birth babies than vaginal birth babies achieved optimal scores on the State Control, Interaction and Motoric subscales of the NBAS. It is recommended that every effort be made to reduce the high caesarean section rate, the rates of other interventions, such as induction and the levels of use of epidural anaesthesia and episiotomy. A preferred way to do this would be to make a more natural birth available to all but the truly high-risk population.     

The Dartmouth Health Promotion Study: A Failed Quest for Synergy in School Health Promotion

ABSTRACT: The Dartmouth Health Promotion Study was a longitudinal, quasi-experimental field study with a qualitative research arm, designed to learn whether coordinating school health instruction, health services, and a healthful environment enhanced the program's effect on the heart health and mental health of children. The research strategy — the Coordinated Approach — was applied to approximately 300 children in each of two cohorts in grades four to six attending nine trial schools; a further 600 children attended 10 comparison schools in Dartmouth and nine distal comparison schools. Although the qualitative analysis demonstrated that positive feelings were engendered in most areas of the study, when either the classroom or the individual was used as the unit of analysis, the Coordinated Approach did not have a more favorable effect on the heart or mental health of children than did the standard school health program. Thus, the effect of an existing school health program was not directly enhanced through coordinating its components.     

Promyelocyte morphology. Differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia from benign myeloid proliferations

Bone marrow aspirates from patients with acute agranulocytosis or a marked left shift in myeloid maturation can mimic acute leukemia, particularly acute hypergranular promyelocytic leukemia. Bone marrow aspirates from 16 cases of apparent acute promyelocytic leukemia, 4 cases of acute agranulocytosis, and 1 case of a marked myeloid left shift were studied for the presence or absence of differentiating features. Normal or reactive promyelocytes were characterized by prominent paranuclear clear Golgi zones, whereas promyelocytes from true leukemic cases all had heavy azurophilic granules dispersed diffusely throughout the cytoplasm. Prominent Golgi zones in promyelocytes were associated only with benign myeloid conditions and were not observed in acute promyelocytic leukemia. The presence of prominent clear Golgi zones in promyelocytes is an important feature assisting in the distinction between leukemic and benign promyelocytes.     

Motor loss and swallowing difficulty after stroke: frequency, recovery, and prognosis.

Data relating to motor loss and swallowing difficulties in a community sample of 976 patients who suffered an acute stroke have been analysed. About 17% of patients seen within one week had no paralysis; at 6 months 48% of survivors had no paralysis and 9% had severe paralysis. The Motricity Index used to study motor loss related to functional loss and walking ability; it seems to be a simple valid measure of motor loss. Severe paralysis was associated with a high fatality rate, and only 6%-10% of survivors of an initially severe paralysis made a full recovery by 6 months. If severe persisted at 3 weeks, full recovery was not observed. Loss of sitting balance was associated with a poor outcome. Of conscious patients seen within one week, 14% choked on attempting to swallow and a further 28% had abnormal swallowing: this 42% of patients had a high fatality rate.     

Evidence that alpha-methyl-p-tyramine is implicated in behavioural augmentation to amphetamine

Behavioural studies showed that administration of alpha-methyl-p-tyramine (AMT; 10 mg/kg i.p.) to rats 24 hr before treatment with d-amphetamine (AMPHET; 4 mg/kg i.p.) resulted in augmentation of AMPHET-induced stereotype activity. Parallel experiments involving electro-chemical estimation of dopamine metabolites in the striatum showed that the decrease in the concentration of homovanillic acid (HVA) produced by AMPHET (4 mg/kg) was enhanced in AMT (10 mg/kg) pretreated animals. These findings suggest that AMT derived from previous doses of AMPHET may play a role in the phenomena of behavioural augmentation observed after chronic administration of AMPHET.     

Role for mannose binding lectin in the prevention of Mycoplasma infection

Polymorphisms in exon 1 of the MBL-2 gene, resulting in reduced plasma levels of mannose binding lectin, were significantly overrepresented in 23 patients with primary antibody deficiency and culture-proven mycoplasma infections (P = 0.0038). This association persisted with the inclusion of a further nine suspected (doxycycline-responsive) cases (P = 0.0087). The lectin was shown to bind to three strains of mycoplasma.