Perceptual and Cognitive Visual Functions of Parietal and Temporal Cortices in the Cat

We used reversible cooling deactivation to compare the functionsof cortices lining the middle suprasylvian (MS) sulcus and formingthe ventral portion of the posterior suprasylvian (vPS) gyrus.A battery of attentional, motion and mnemonic processing taskswere used and performance was examined during deactivation ofeach region. The results show a clear dissociation of functions.Deactivation of MS cortex resulted in profound deficits on avisual orienting task and on the discrimination of directionof motion, whereas deactivation of vPS cortex severely impairedboth retention and learning of novel and overlearned objectdiscriminations. In addition, deactivation of either MS or vPScortex impaired discrimination of learned patterns when componentsof the patterns were in motion, whereas only deactivation ofvPS cortex impaired the discrimination when all components werestatic. Together, these results show that a region of parietalcortex contributes to the processing of visual motion and toattentional processes, whereas a region of temporal cortex contributesto the learning and recognition of three-dimensional objectsand two-dimensional patterns. This functional dissociation islinked to differences in underlying visual pathways, which havemany features in common with the parietal and temporal visualprocessing streams previously identified in monkeys and humans.Furthermore, the broad similarity in neural operations carriedout in parietal and temporal cortices of cats, monkeys and humanssuggests the existence of a common plan for cortical processingmachinery within mammals with well developed cerebral cortices.     

Survival and aging of a small laboratory population of a marine mollusc, Aplysia californica

In a investigation of the postmetamorphic survival of a population of 112 Aplysia californica, five animals died before 100 days of age and five after 200 days. The number of survivors among the 102 animals which died between 100 and 220 days declined approximately linearly with age. The median age at death was 155 days. The animals studied were those that died of natural causes within a laboratory population that was established to provide Aplysia for sacrifice in an experimental program. Actuarial separation of the former group from the latter was justified by theoretical consideration.Age-specific mortality rates were calculated from the survival data. Statistical fluctuation arising from the small size of the population was reduced by grouping the data in bins of unequal age duration. The durations were specified such that each bin contained approximately the same number of data points. An algorithm for choosing the number of data bins was based on the requirement that the precision with which the age of a group is determined should equal the precision with which the number of deaths in the groups is known.The Gompertz and power laws of mortality were fitted to the age-specific mortality-rate data with equally good results. The positive values of slope associated with the mortality-rate functions as well as the linear shape of the curve of survival provide actuarial evidence that Aplysia age. Since Aplysia grow linearly without approaching a limiting size, the existence of senescence indicates especially clearly the falsity of Bidder's hypothesis that aging is a by-product of the cessation of growth.     

Effect of somatostatin analogue and cholecystokinin receptor antagonist on bile-induced acute canine pancreatitis.

To determine whether a synthetic somatostatin analogue, octreotide, and a cholecystokinin receptor antagonist, L-364,718, may be beneficial in acute pancreatitis, 33 dogs were assigned to four groups. Each dog underwent laparotomy with injection of autologous bile into the dorsal pancreatic duct. Thirty minutes after the induction of pancreatitis, Group 1 received a subcutaneous injection of octreotide (200 micrograms/kg), Group 2 received an equal volume of the octreotide carrier, Group 3 received an hourly intravenous bolus of L-364,718 (60 micrograms/kg), and Group 4 received an equal volume of the L-364,718 carrier. Hemodynamic profiles, arterial blood gases, plasma glucose, and serum amylase were obtained before laparotomy, at bile injection, and at hourly intervals. The pancreas was removed after 8 hours for gross evaluation, measurement of water content, and histologic examination. A significant decrease in cardiac index and a significant increase in serum amylase and pancreatic edema occurred in all four groups 8 hours after the induction of pancreatitis (P less than 0.05), but there was no statistical difference between any group. Likewise, there was no difference in gross or histologic changes in the pancreas of any group. The somatostatin analogue, octreotide, and the cholecystokinin receptor antagonist, L-364,718, did not ameliorate the effects of severe, bile-induced pancreatitis in dogs.     

Rehabilitation through productive participation: A stance for mental health services in the 1970's

The thesis presented here is that, just as the advent of the psychotropic drugs in the 1950's changed the emphasis in state hospitals from custodial care to an active treatment regimen, so the beginning experiments with therapeutic milieu approaches and community mental health practices could be brought to fruition in the 1970's by a thorough-going adoption of rehabilitation through productive participation.Dr. Chapple was formerly associated with the Research Center, Rockland State Hospital, Orangeburg, N. Y.     

Futility-Debatte—im onkologischen Alltag immer auch eine Kostendebatte!

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Das nasopharyngeale Carcinom (NPC): Modifizierte WHO-Klassifikation unserer Deutsch-Amerikanischen Arbeitsgruppe unter Beachtung immunologischer und serologischer Untersuchungen

Summary The new histological WHO-classification for NPC is presented, and is modified after immunological investigation on 28 cases in Cologne. The non-keratinizing carcinoma shows a distinct increase of IgB-producing cells in the tumor tissue, while serum immunglobulin values for IgA are but little augmented. On the other hand undifferentiated carcinomas are characterized by a high proliferation of IgA-producing cells, paralleled by high IgA-anti-VCA und IgA values in the peripheral blood. Tumors with a larger amount of the not neoplastic lymphocytic and plasmacytoid component in the tumor show higher levels of serum immunglobulins and IgA-anti-VCA values than those with a poor lymphocytoid reaction. Squamous cell carcinoma show a non specific diffuse reaction.