Digital x-ray image processing as an aid in forensic medicine]

Radiology plays an important role in the identification of unknown corpses. Positive radiographic identification by comparison with antemortem films is an established technique in this setting. Technical defects together with non-well-preserved films make it sometimes difficult or even impossible to establish a confident comparison. Digital image processing after secondary digitalization of ante- and postmortem films represents an important development and aid in forensic medicine. The application of this method is demonstrated on a single case.     

Post-renal transplant erythrocytosis in a child

We report the case of a 7-year-old boy who developed severe erythrocytosis 4 months after successful kidney transplantation, with a well-functioning graft. When the haematocrit rose above 60%, phlebotomy had to be performed once to twice a week in order to keep the haematocrit below 50%. A 3-month course of theophylline therapy did not influence the erythrocytosis significantly. There were 5 further patients with erythrocytosis out of 186 children who had undergone kidney transplantation at our centre.     

Zur Biochemie der Schilddrüsenfunktion

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 5 Textabbildunge.Aus der zum 75. Geburtstage Herrn Prof. Dr. A. Dietrich, Stuttgart, überreichten Festschrift.VII. Mitteilung. Hüter, F.: Z. Naturforsch. 2b, 414 (1947).     

Renal acid excretion in early infancy

In early infancy, complex disorders of acid base metabolism are more frequent than in any other age group, with a predisposition to metabolic acidosis due to an age-related low renal capacity for acid excretion and an unphysiologically high actual renal acid load in nutrition with common formulas. Recently in preterm and small-for-gestational-age infants, persistent maximum renal net acid excretion (NAE) with subnormal or normal blood acid base status, impaired weight gain, and adaptive hormonal reactions have been observed. Incipient late metabolic acidosis is one example of a mixed disorder of acid base metabolism with maximum renal NAE in early infancy. Alkali therapy is highly effective and can be realized both on an individual basis, using urine pH screening as a diagnostic criterium for maximum renal acid stimulation, or on a general preventive level using modified standard formula with a reduced actual renal NAE similar to that seen on alimentation with human milk. From an integrated point of view, the low glomerular filtration rate and renal capacity for acid excretion beyond the developmental age of more than 44 weeks, may well be interpreted as the result of a specific adaptation to breast feeding sparing energy, and thus an evolutionary advantage for the survival of mother and child. Received July 10, 1996; received in revised form and accepted October 7, 1996     

Rapid chemical kinetic techniques for investigations of neurotransmitter receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes

Xenopus laevis oocytes have been used extensively during the past decade to express and study neurotransmitter receptors of various origins and subunit composition and also to express and study receptors altered by site-specific mutations. Interpretations of the effects of structural differences on receptor mechanisms were, however, hampered by a lack of rapid chemical reaction techniques suitable for use with oocytes. Here we describe flow and photolysis techniques, with 2-ms and 100-μs time resolution, respectively, for studying neurotransmitter receptors in giant (≈20-μm diameter) patches of oocyte membranes, using muscle and neuronal acetylcholine receptors as examples. With these techniques, we find that the muscle receptor in BC₃H1 cells and the same receptor expressed in oocytes have comparable kinetic properties. This finding is in contrast to previous studies and raises questions regarding the interpretations of the many studies of receptors expressed in oocytes in which an insufficient time resolution was available. The results obtained indicate that the rapid reaction techniques described here, in conjunction with the oocyte expression system, will be useful in answering many outstanding questions regarding the structure and function of diverse neurotransmitter receptors.     

The effects of neuroleptics on facial action in schizophrenic patients.

This paper describes the influence of neuroleptic therapy on facial action in drug-naive schizophrenics. In a comparative study of medicated and unmedicated schizophrenic patients, the coordinates of 12 small light-reflecting points, attached to subjects' faces, were computer-recorded and analyzed automatically during a semi-standardized clinical interview. In addition, facial activity in videotaped interviews was coded using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Each sample group comprised of eight patients with the DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria "schizophrenia" or "schizophreniform disorder". Subjects were studied on two occasions, one shortly after admission to the hospital, the other three weeks later. Group 1 was unmedicated during the first session, whereas group 2 was medicated throughout the study. Three weeks after the start of medication, at the second interview, both recording methods showed a reduction in facial activity and facial expression across all subjects in group 1. The facial action of patients in group 2, however, remained unchanged.     

NF1 mutations in neurofibromatosis 1 patients with plexiform neurofibromas

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by genetic alterations of the NF1 gene on 17q11.2. About 30% of NF1 patients develop plexiform neurofibromas (PNFs), which often cause severe clinical deficits. To determine whether there is a certain genotype underlying PNFs or subtypes of PNFs, we screened 42 NF1 patients from 41 families with PNFs for mutations in the NF1 gene. In 33 out of the 41 (80%) unrelated patients NF1 mutations were found, 24 are novel while the other 9 have been described in previous studies. The 33 mutations included 23 nonsense and frameshift, six splice and four missense mutations. The tumors in these patients had various sizes and features/growth characteristics. No correlation was found between the type or location of the NF1 mutations and size, location or feature of the PNFs, suggesting that many types of NF1 mutations can lead to development of PNFs.