STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : X. A FURTHER NOTE ON THE PRESENCE OF MENINGOCOCCUS PRECIPITINOGENS IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

Precipitin tests have been carried out on spinal fluid from cases of meningococcal and other forms of meningitis, with monovalent anti-meningococcus horse serum of high titer. Using such a test it has been possible within 2 hours to diagnose and type cases of Type I and Type II meningococcal meningitis. In a certain number of cases fluids which were negative when first drawn became positive after standing for 1 or 2 days at 37°C. or room temperature. In 9.5 per cent of all Type I cases the fluids did not become positive. Fluids from cases due to atypical meningococci may react with the type serum of the group to which they belong (i.e., Types II* and VII, which belong to group II, with Type II serum) but do not in every case. Fluids from forms of meningitis other than meningococcal give no reaction. The use of concentrated sera is not advantageous at present, owing to the heterologous reactions which occur.     

STUDIES ON MENINGOCOCCUS INFECTION : V. THE PRESENCE OF MENINGOCOCCUS PRECIPITINOGENS IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

Precipitin tests, carried out on the cerebrospinal fluid from cases of meningococcal meningitis with monovalent sera, demonstrate the presence in that fluid of type-specific precipitinogens of the meningococcus. Negative results are secured when the spinal fluid is obtained after the commencement of intrathecal serum treatment and also occasionally when the numbers of infecting organisms are very small. The reaction offers an easy and rapid method of ascertaining to which type of meningococcus a particular case of meningitis is due, and facilitates the immediate use of monovalent therapeutic antimeningococcal serum. Typing by means of the precipitin reaction can be confirmed by agglutination of the strain of organism responsible for the infection, if such strain be isolated. Confirmation by means of agglutination has been possible in all the cases discussed in this report. Spinal fluids from other diseases of the meninges and central nervous system fail to give any precipitin reaction with the monovalent sera.     

Advances in 4D radiation therapy for managing respiration: Part I – 4D imaging

Techniques for managing respiration during imaging and planning of radiation therapy are reviewed, concentrating on free-breathing (4D) approaches. First, we focus on detailing the historical development and basic operational principles of currently-available “first generation” 4D imaging modalities: 4D computed tomography, 4D cone beam computed tomography, 4D magnetic resonance imaging, and 4D positron emission tomography. Features and limitations of these first generation systems are described, including necessity of breathing surrogates for 4D image reconstruction, assumptions made in acquisition and reconstruction about the breathing pattern, and commonly-observed artifacts. Both established and developmental methods to deal with these limitations are detailed. Finally, strategies to construct 4D targets and images and, alternatively, to compress 4D information into static targets and images for radiation therapy planning are described.     

Use of mature hoop pine plantation by the vulnerable Black-breasted Button-quail (Turnix melanogaster)

Seventeen Black-breasted Button-quail were caught within a 24 ha corridor of vine forest within a mature (i.e. 50 years old) hoop pine plantation—vine forest matrix, near Yarraman, south-east Queensland. Six of these birds were fitted with a radio-transmitter and tracked prior to clear felling of a section of hoop pine. Four Black-breasted Button-quail were tracked after timber harvesting operations had ceased. Prior to harvesting. Black-breasted Button-quail were found to occur up to 120 m into the hoop pine plantation from the vine forest edge. Hoop pine with a closed canopy and well-developed understorey was used by the species. The activity area of the females ranged from 3.0 to 4.4 ha in the pre-harvest period and 5.2 to 17.9 ha post-harvest. Observations during the breeding season indicated that males caring for offspring had a smaller activity area than non-breeding males (1.9 ha compared to 6.2 ha). Circumstantial evidence suggests there was a turnover in the population following clearfelling of the mature hoop pine compartment.