Single-acquisition chemical-shift imaging of a binary system with use of stimulated echoes

A method for separating binary chemical-shift components with a single image data acquisition by means of stimulated echoes is demonstrated. With a strategy analogous to the modified Dixon method, three stimulated echoes were acquired to form three complex images. In each of the images, the complex pixel intensities were imparted, by design of the pulse sequence, with a phase factor carrying chemical-shift or field inhomogeneity information. With these three images, true fat/water separation can be obtained in biologic tissues. Studies at high field strength (4.7 T) on a toluene phantom, a pseudo-binary chemical-shift system, were used to evaluate the applicability of the method. Its clinical feasibility was demonstrated on a healthy human subject in a 0.6-T whole-body imaging system.     

A multicentre comparative trial of sodium valproate and carbamazepine in adult onset epilepsy. Adult EPITEG Collaborative Group.

The long-term efficacy and safety of sodium valproate and carbamazepine in adult outpatients with newly diagnosed primary generalised or partial and secondarily generalised seizures were compared in a randomised, open, multicentre study at 22 neurology outpatient clinics. Patients were randomised to oral sodium valproate (Epilim EC enteric coated 200 mg tablets twice daily, n = 149) or oral carbamazepine (100 mg twice daily increasing to 200 mg twice daily in week 2, n = 151) and followed up for three years. If clinically necessary, dosages were regularly increased until seizures were controlled or toxicity developed. Sodium valproate and carbamazepine controlled both primary generalised and partial seizures equally effectively overall. Significantly more patients on sodium valproate than carbamazepine (126/140 (90%) v 105/141 (75%), p = 0.001) remained on randomised treatment for at least six months. Skin rashes occurred significantly more often in carbamazepine recipients than in sodium valproate recipients (11.2% v 1.7%, p < 0.05) and carbamazepine was associated with a higher withdrawal rate because of adverse events (15% v 5% on sodium valproate) in the first six months of treatment. There was no difference between the drugs in the rate of withdrawal because of poor seizure control at any stage, regardless of seizure type. At the end of the three year trial period, over 70% of the available patients were still on randomised treatment or had recently stopped treatment after achieving full seizure control. Sodium valproate and carbamazepine were both associated with a high degree of overall seizure control regardless of seizure type and both have good long-term tolerability in adult patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Recommendations are made for a higher initial dosage regime for sodium valproate in partial seizures.     

山莨菪碱和蝙蝠葛碱对白三烯和PAF诱导的牛脑前动脉平滑肌细胞DNA合成的影响(英文)

白三烯和血小板活化因子在低于nmol浓度时就能刺激培养的牛脑前动脉平滑肌细胞的DNA合成,在10~(-7)mol/L时达最大刺激。LTB_4,LTD_4和PAF在10~(-7)mol/L时对上述细胞DNA合成的刺激率分别为32％,29％和77％。山莨菪碱和蝙蝠葛碱在10~(-7)～10~(-4)mol/L范围内呈剂量依赖性地抑制白三烯和血小板活化因子的上述作用。     

Percutaneous extraction of urinary calculi: use of the intercostal approach

The authors achieved successful percutaneous extraction of urinary calculi via an intercostal approach in 24 patients. In one patient, a large hydrothorax developed and thoracentesis was required; 2 patients had moderate and 6 minimal pleural fluid collections which did not require treatment. No patient had pneumothorax. Intercostal puncture provides direct access to the upper and middle poles of the kidney when they lie above the twelfth rib and subcostal angulation is not feasible. Such an approach is advantageous for stones in the ureter, as well as renal stones which are inaccessible from the lower pole. Fluoroscopy should be performed when planning the puncture in order to avoid the lung, and a working sheath is recommended.     

Rules of order in the retinotectal fascicles of goldfish

Individual fascicles of retinal axons were labeled in the goldfish tectum with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The contralateral retina was later processed for HRP histochemistry to mark the cells that had axons in the fascicles. Labeled cells were found in a partial half anulus in ventral hemiretina, centered on the optic disk. The distance of the partial anulus from the disk depended on which tectal fascicle had been labeled; the more rostrocentral the fascicle, the smaller was the annular radius. The angular subtense of the partial anulus with respect to the disk depended on where (along its tectal course) the fascicle had been labeled; the more rostral the label site, the longer was the angular subtense. These results were interpreted in the context of retinotectal growth, and it was inferred that the axons followed two rules: (1) grow in along the edge of the tectum and (2) exit and terminate in order, axons from temporal retina first, nasal retina last. These rules would produce a retinotopic projection in peripheral tectum, but they require that some of the terminals already in place must shift as the tectum grows.     

Pursuit eye movements in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Pursuit eye movements made by goldfish were investigated with an optical technique in which the horizontal orientations of both eyes were measured automatically. Moving targets were provided by:

(1) a striped drum which rotated about the vertical axis concentrically with the animal's head, and     

Excitation in the goldfish retina: evidence for a non-linear intensity code

1. Experiments were done on isolated photopic goldfish retinas. They were stimulated by brief flashes of red light, and the spike activity of single ganglion cells was monitored by micro-electrodes. Red-ON-units were used exclusively.2. The spatial integration of intensity was investigated using concentric disks of various diameters. Under these conditions, Ricco's relation (1877) was obtained.3. Two small spots of light were positioned on two equisensitive sites in the receptive field; the (equal) intensities of both were varied in unison, and the responses recorded. An identical response was evoked by simultaneous illumination of both sites with an intensity, I, or by illumination of a single one of the sites with an intensity, KI. K always exceeded 2 (it averaged about 4) and it was constant in any one experiment.4. The analysis of these results employed the assumption that an hypothetical quantity, the excitation, intervenes between the stimulus (light intensity) and the response (spike train). The excitation is a function of intensity, and it determines the response. The excitation from two spots is assumed to be twice that from one.5. It was inferred that the excitation (E) was a power function of the intensity (I): E = CI(n), in which C and n are constants. The exponent, n, was always less than unity.6. Two other experiments tested the predictive value of this inference. It accurately predicted the responses to a single spot anywhere in the field, and to two unequal intensities simultaneously illuminating two equisensitive sites.