Health institutions under new economic mechanism and the development of insurance medicine

A new economic mechanism provides for independence of health units, their financial independence and the possibility of developing specialized health care for the population of the territorial health complex. The necessity of preserving large health units within the newly developed regional public health infrastructure is stressed.     

Hydrophobic derivatives of 5‐(hydroxymethyl)isophthalic acid that selectively induce apoptosis in leukemia cells but not in fibroblasts

New apoptosis modulating agents are widely sought, because failure in regulation of apoptosis is associated with many diseases. In this study, we have evaluated apoptosis inducing the potential of ten new hydrophobic derivatives of 5‐(hydroxymethyl)isophthalic acid. Cancerous leukemia cells (HL‐60) and non‐malignant fibroblasts (Swiss 3T3) were incubated with test compounds for 24 h and morphologically evaluated. The changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) and caspase‐3 activity were used to confirm the results and to study early induction of apoptosis. Cytotoxicity was determined using the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and mutagenicity with miniaturized Ames‐test. The most potent selective apoptosis inducers were compounds 1c and 1 h having IC₅₀ values of 41 and 23 µM, respectively, in leukemia cells (HL‐60) while effects in fibroblasts (Swiss 3T3) were insignificant. Reduction of δψm and increase in caspase‐3 activity were observed already during the first 2 hr in the HL‐60 cells treated with compounds 1 c and 1 h. Neither of the compounds was cytotoxic or mutagenic. The results indicate that compounds 1 c and 1 h are selective apoptosis inducers and should be studied further for possible use in cancer therapy. Drug Dev. Res. 69: 185–195, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Diagnosis and surgical treatment of nonepithelial tumors of the small intestine

The article is devoted to an analysis of 51 cases of nonepithelial formations of the small intestine. Benign tumors were diagnosed in 22 of them (leiomyomas, lipomas, fibromas). Malignant tumors were found in 29 cases (leiomyosarcomas and fibrosarcomas) The article describes the clinical picture, diagnosis and surgical treatment of nonepithelial formations of the small intestine.     

Visuotopic organization of projections from striate cortex to inferior and lateral pulvinar in rhesus monkey

Anatomical material from two series of monkeys (Macaca mulatta)was used to determine the full extent and visuotopic organization of striate projections to the pulvinar. One series was processed for degeneration by the Fink-Heimer procedure following unilateral lesions of lateral, posterior, or medial striate cortex (representing the central, peripheral, and far peripheral visual field, respectively); collectively, the lesions included all of area 17. The second series was processed for autoradiography following tritiated amino-acid injections into striate sites representing the center of gaze and eccentricities ranging from 0.5° to greater than 30° from fixation in both the upper and lower fields. The results indicate the existence of two separate striate projection zones within the pulvinar. One, the PI/PL zone, is located primarily within the inferiorpulvinar (PI) but extends into the adjacentlateral pulvinar (PL). The other, the PL zone, is located entirely within the lateral pulvinar and partially surrounds the first zone along its dorsal, lateral, and ventral aspects. Within the PI/PL zone, striate projections are topographically organized and represent the entire contralateral visual field. Central vision is represented laterally and posteriorly, with the fovea represented at the caudal pole of the nucleus; conversely, far peripheral vision is found medially and anteriorly, adjacent to the medial geniculate nucleus. The representation of the horizontal meridian runs obliquely across PI/PL, such that the upper visual field is located ventrolaterally and the lower visual field dorsomedially. The representation of the vertical meridian is located along the lateral margin of PI in anterior sections of the pulvinar, but within PL in posterior sections. Thus, the vertical meridian appears to form the border between the lateral margin of the PI/PL zone and the medial margin of the PL zone. At the lateral margin of the PL zone is the representation of its horizontal meridian. Striate projections to the PL zone, unlike those to the PI/PL zone, are limited to the representation of central vision. These results suggest that striate inputs contribute to the visual properties of neurons (Bender, 1981 a) throughout the PI/PL zone, but are insufficient to explain the visual properties of neurons outside of the central visual field representation in the PL zone.