Hydrocephalus: III. Reconstitution of the cerebral cortical mantle following ventricular shunting.

Adult cats with hydrocephalus were sacrificed at varying times following valveless ventricular shunting. This shunting resulted in a prompt reduction of ventricular size and rapid gross reconstitution of cortical mantle. Ultrastructurally it was evident that white matter edema persisted for many weeks, even in the presence of normal size ventricles. The areas most severely affected by the hydrocephalus such as the corpus callosum showed a paucity of myelinated fibers and their replacement by numerous reactive astrocytes. Reconstitution of the cortical mantle consists predominantly of a diminution of white matter edema and reactive astrocytosis. Clinical improvement undoubtly results from the functional improvement of remaining elements rather than from the replacement of lost elements. This scheme of hydrocephalus suggests that if hydrocephalus is relieved when only ependymal disruption and periventricular water accumulation have occurred, it may be reversible. The subsequent sequence of events consisting of axonal degeneration, myelin disruption and reactive astrocytosis may be less, if at all reversible.     

SITES OF FORMATION OF IMMUNE GLOBULINS AND OF A COMPONENT OF C'3 : I. A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE SYNTHESIS OF INDIVIDUAL SERUM PROTEINS BY TISSUES IN VITRO

The development of a new method for the determination of the sites of serum protein formation has been described. The method involves the incorporation of C¹⁴-labeled amino acids by tissues cultured in vitro, and subsequent autoradiography of immunoelectrophoretic patterns prepared from a mixture of culture fluids and carrier serum with an antiserum against the carrier serum. This technique has been used to demonstrate formation of γ-globulin, of β₂-macroglobulin, and of a component of C'₃ by mouse spleen tissue, and of various other serum proteins by liver tissue. The specificity and sensitivity of this method have been discussed, and some of its advantages and pitfalls were mentioned. In addition, a rabbit antimouse serum was prepared, and the immunoelectrophoretic patterns obtained with mouse serum were compared with those described in the literature.     

Emerging implications of nanotechnology on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics

Nanotechnology is multidisciplinary field that involves the design and engineering of objects <500 nanometers (nm) in size. The National Cancer Institute has recognized that nanotechnology offers an extraordinary, paradigm-changing opportunity to make significant advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In the last several decades, nanotechnology has been studied and developed primarily for use in novel drug-delivery systems (e.g. liposomes, gelatin nanoparticles, micelles). A recent explosion in engineering and technology has led to 1) the development of many new nanoscale platforms, including quantum dots, nanoshells, gold nanoparticles, paramagnetic nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes, and 2) improvements in traditional, lipid-based nanoscale platforms. The emerging implications of these platforms for advances in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics form the basis of this review. A widespread understanding of these new technologies is important, because they currently are being integrated into the clinical practice of oncology.     

Hydrocephalus: II. Cell number and size, and myelin content of the pre-shunted cerebral cortical mantle.

The number of cells in the brain and their size can be calculated by determining the total brain DNA, RNA and protein. Myelin can be determined biochemically. This analysis was applied to brains of a group of adult cats with craniectomies that were made severely hydrocephalilc by the introduction of kaolin or silicone into the basal cisterns. In severely hydrocephalic brains sectioned rostral to the area of kaolin inflammation there was no loss of dry weight. Wet weight increased slightly reflecting periventricular edema. There was a slight increase in total DNA, RNA and protein, presumably reflecting the increase in small inflammatory cells. There was a significant reduction in galactolipids reflecting myelin loss.     

Knowledge,attitude and behaviour regarding dietary salt intake among medical students in Angola

High salt (sodium chloride) consumption is an important determinant of high blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, over 80% of cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths take place in low-and middle-income countries, and elevated blood pressure levels were a major cause of these CVD deaths in those countries.1 Lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol have been considered the most important behavioural risk factors for heart disease and stroke.2Among dietary factors, high salt intake has been the most strongly associated with raised blood pressure and increased risk of stroke and CVD.3 Therefore dietary sodium restriction has been recommended as a non-pharmacological approach to blood pressure lowering,4-6 and for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases at the population level.7,8Cumulative evidence has shown that even a modest reduction in salt intake was associated with blood pressure lowering and therefore with a significant reduction in incidence of cardiovascular events.9-12 Furthermore, data from the most recent systematic review and meta-analyses has shown the benefit of lowering sodium intake in apparently healthy adults and children,13 and in both hypertensive and normotensive individuals, irrespective of gender and ethnic group.9Since hypertension is associated with CVD worldwide, a public health intervention to reduce high blood pressure must target the role of lifestyle, particularly reduced sodium intake.7 Therefore, several countries have initiated strategies to reduce dietary salt intake in the general population by a combination of various procedures such as public education, food labelling, and collaboration with the food industry to reduce the salt content of processed food.14Among sub-Saharan African countries, only Nigeria and South Africa have developed dietary guidelines regarding salt intake.15 Recently, the South African government implemented important specific legislation towards decreasing salt intake in the population by reducing sodium content of processed foods by industries.16 Therefore, the current public health recommendation is that countries should launch national initiatives to reduce the over-consumption of salt as part of non-communicable disease prevention and healthy nutrition policies for limiting salt intake to less than 5 g/day for the general population including children.7 Despite of this guideline, however, high sodium intake remains prevalent around the world, with average daily salt intake varying from 5 to 18 g/day per person.17Although processed foods have been found to be the principal source of excessive dietary salt intake,18 sources of dietary sodium vary largely worldwide and may be influenced by cultural context and dietary habits of the population.19 In sub-Saharan African countries experiencing demographic and epidemiological transition, the rapid rise in prevalence of CVD (chiefly hypertension) has been attributed to lifestyle change, including high dietary sodium intake.20,21 However, consistent data from studies on risk factors are lacking for the majority of these countries.With regard to Angola, available data from a cross-sectional study reported a high prevalence of multiple cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, sedentary lifestyle, electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy,22 and high rate of the metabolic syndrome23 in an apparently healthy middle-aged population of university public employees living in urban and peri-urban areas.Determining the level of sodium intake in the population is crucial to establish intervention strategies and policy on reduction of sodium intake. For medical students in particular, it is very important to assess their awareness regarding dietary salt intake, since they are the future providers of healthcare information for the counselling of people about the need to reduce salt consumption. The aim of this study was to determine salt intake and to assess the knowledge, attitude and behaviour regarding dietary salt among medical students.     

A phase II study of continuous infusion recombinant human granulocyte- macrophage colony-stimulating factor as an adjunct to autologous bone marrow transplantation for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in first remission

Recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) clearly hastens myeloid recovery in patients with relapsed hematologic malignancies undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). In efforts to further improve neutrophil engraftment and shorten hospital stay in ABMT patients, rhGM-CSF was administered by a potentially more potent route (continuous infusion) to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients with better BM reserve (first remission). Time to myeloid engraftment was compared with that of NHL patients treated in first remission at our institution on a similar ABMT protocol but without growth factor support (controls). Median neutrophil engraftment (absolute neutrophil count, 500 cells/microL) in first remission patients treated with rhGM-CSF was 14 days, compared with 22 days in controls (P = .0001). Hospital stays were also significantly reduced for rhGM-CSF patients (P = .0003). Platelet engraftment did not differ between the two groups. Persistent fever and generalized serositis were the primary toxicities. rhGM-CSF, delivered by this route, was efficacious but more toxic than 2-hour rhGM-CSF infusions previously reported by other investigators. Future alterations in both dose and schedule may retain comparable efficacy yet diminish toxicity.