role of limbic system in the control of hamster growth

Rostral septal lesions accelerate somatic growth in adult hamsters. This study tested the hypothesis that this effect results from damage to fibers of passage by observing the effects of transections of septohippocampal and septohypothalamic connections on growth. We attempted to identify these fibers further by (a) measuring spectrofluorometrically changes in the monoamine concentrations in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, corpus striatum, and diencephalon, (b) staining the degenerating axons after septal lesions and the two cuts, and (c) examining the correspondence between such damage and the acceleration of growth. Both knife cuts accelerated somatic growth and were associated (as well as septal lesions) with significant depletions of serotonin (−27 to −57%) and norepinephrine (−27 to −60%) in the hippocampus, with less consistent depletions of these monoamines in the cerebral cortex, and with no changes in regional dopamine content. All three procedures were associated with degeneration in the hippocampal formation and its fiber systems. Thus, fibers interconnecting hippocampus and brainstem, and passing through septum, exert tonic suppression over somatic growth in adult hamsters.     

Forssman-like activity of different teleost and anuran erythrocytes

The comparative agglutination of sheep, teleost and anuran erythrocytes with selected human sera was studied before and after absorption with boiled guinea-pig kidney antigen. Among frogs of the Rana genus, only bullfrog (R. catesbiana) erythrocytes displayed Forssman-like activity. The previously unstudied erythrocytes of several species of teleosts also displayed Forssman-like activity. The concept is advanced that haptenic heteroraccharides with varying degrees of structural similarity and `blood group' activity are ubiquitously distributed among the cell-membrane receptors of phylogenetically diverse species of animals.     

Three quantitative approaches to the diagnosis of abdominal pain in children: practical applications of decision theory

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The authors compared 3 quantitative methods for assisting clinicians in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain in children, where the most common important endpoint is whether the patient has appendicitis. Pretest probability in different age and sex groups were determined to perform Bayesian analysis, binary logistic regression was used to determine which variables were statistically significantly likely to contribute to a diagnosis, and recursive partitioning was used to build decision trees with quantitative endpoints. METHODS: The records of all children (1,208) seen at a large urban emergency department (ED) with a chief complaint of abdominal pain were immediately reviewed retrospectively (24 to 72 hours after the encounter). Attempts were made to contact all the patients' families to determine an accurate final diagnosis. A total of 1,008 (83%) families were contacted. Data were analyzed by calculation of the posttest probability, recursive partitioning, and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: In all groups the most common diagnosis was abdominal pain (ICD-9 Code 789). After this, however, the order of the most common final diagnoses for abdominal pain varied significantly. The entire group had a pretest probability of appendicitis of 0.06. This varied with age and sex from 0.02 in boys 2 to 5 years old to 0.16 in boys older than 12 years. In boys age 5 to 12, recursive partitioning and binary logistic regression agreed on guarding and anorexia as important variables. Guarding and tenderness were important in girls age 5 to 12. In boys age greater than 12, both agreed on guarding and anorexia. Using sensitivities and specificities from the literature, computed tomography improved the posttest probability for the group from.06 to.33; ultrasound improved it from.06 to.48; and barium enema improved it from.06 to.58. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing the pretest probabilities in a specific population allows the physician to evaluate the likely diagnoses first. Other quantitative methods can help judge how much importance a certain criterion should have in the decision making and how much a particular test is likely to influence the probability of a correct diagnosis. It now should be possible to make these sophisticated quantitative methods readily available to clinicians via the computer.     

Exercise performance after repair of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery

Eleven patients underwent exercise testing after operative repair of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. Five patients repaired after 2 years of age comprised a childhood surgery group, and six patients repaired before 2 years of age comprised an infant surgery group. All patients were exercised using either a treadmill or electronically braked bicycle with simultaneous thallium 201 scintigraphy. Oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, pulmonary functions, and electrocardiogram were all monitored continuously. Pulmonary reserve was normal in all patients. Based on heart rate reserve, respiratory exchange ratio, and oxygen-consumption response to work load, two patients in the infant surgery group stopped exercise before achieving maximum aerobic capacity. All remaining patients achieved their maximum aerobic capacity. There was no difference in work rate or oxygen consumption during exercise between the infant and childhood surgical group. Four patients (two in each surgical group) had an impaired chronotropic response to exercise. Three of these four patients demonstrated perfusion defects by thallium scintigraphy. Thallium scintigraphy was normal in all remaining patients. Electrocardiographic abnormalities were noted in seven of 11 patients having ventricular arrhythmias or ST segment depression. It is concluded from this study that exercise performance after repair of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is not affected by the age at which surgery is performed. Exercise is frequently associated with electrocardiographic evidence of abnormal myocardial perfusion despite frequently negative simultaneous 201Tl scintigraphy.     

Anti-Vel 2, a new antibody showing heterogeneity of Vel system antibodies

Anti-Vel 2 is a newly recognized antibody in the Vel system. Two anti-Vel sera have been shown to contain anti-Vel 2, while 4 others have anti-Vel 1 plus anti-Vel 2. The new phenotype Vel: 1, -2 is twice as common (frequency about 0.00053) as Vel: -1, -2 (frequency about 0.00025). Tests with the original Vel serum of Sussman and Milleh [8] show that the phenotype Vel: -1, -2 corresponds to the original Vel-negative type.