Schizophrenic patients,who still live in psychiatric hospitals despite decades of deinstitutionalization. Part 1 of the Hessian Deinstitutionalisation Study

Deinstitutionalization (DI) of most of the chronic long-stay patients has taken place in the last decades in Germany. However, a "residual" group of patients often remains in psychiatric hospitals, with an ongoing controversy on an appropriate type of their care (community based vs. hospital). Clinical, functional and social characteristics of such schizophrenic patients still residing in the long-stay wards in the German state of Hesse after decades of DI are presented. The n = 266 patients investigated displayed a marked degree of negative symptoms and moderate positive symptoms but, however, severe social disabilities. In addition, the patients were very dependent in daily living, had an extremely impoverished social network and leisure activities. The findings contribute to the research on "difficult-to-place" patients described in the literature.     

Identification of the key amino acids of gliai cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha 1 involved in its biological function

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor （GDNF） plays a critical role in neurodevelopment and survival of midbrain dopaminergic and spinal motor neurons in vitro and in vivo. The biological actions of GDNF are mediated by a two-receptor complex consisting of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked cell surface molecule, the GDNF family receptor alpha 1 （GFR alpha 1）, and receptor protein tyrosine kinase Ret. Although structural analysis of GDNF has been extensively examined, less is known about the structural basis of GFR alpha 1 function. In this study, based on evolutionary trace method and relative solvent accessibility prediction of residues, a set of trace residues that are solvent-accessible was selected for site-directed mutagenesis. A series of GFR alpha 1 mutations was made, and PC12 cell lines stably expressing different GFR alpha 1 mutants were generated. According to the survival and differentiation responses of these stable PC12 cells upon GDNF stimulation and the GDNF- GFR alpha 1-Ret interaction assay, residues 152NN153, Arg259, and 316SNS318 in the GFR alpha 1 central region were found to be critical for GFR alpha 1 binding to GDNF and eliciting downstream signal transduction. The single mutation R259A in the GFR alpha 1 molecule simultaneously lost its binding ability to GDNF and Ret. However N152A/N153A or S316A/N317A/ S318A mutation in the GFR alpha 1 molecule still retained the ability to bind with Ret. These findings suggest that distinct structural elements in GFR alpha 1 may be involved in binding to GDNF and Ret.     

Reversible findings of restricted diffusion in 5‐flourouracil neurotoxicity

A 35‐year‐old woman presented with neurotoxicity correlated to an i.v. regimen of 5‐fluorouracil as episodes of acute confusional state and abnormalities of symmetrically restricted diffusion in the periventricular white matter and corpus callosum. On discontinuing the medication, the areas of severely restricted diffusion had entirely resolved, with minimal residual T2 signal abnormality. In this case, immediate discontinuation of the chemotherapeutic agent apparently reversed the patient's symptoms and findings on MRI. The scant information available in the published literature regarding this phenomenon is reviewed with regard to 5‐fluorouracil.     

计算机程序化的初均速法测定双黄连注射液的稳定性

用计算机程序化的初均速法,测定了双黄连溶液中3种主要成分——绿原酸、黄苓甙、连翘甙的活化能及室温贮存期。该方法简便、快速、结果准确。对临床应用有一定价值。     

The thickness of the human cornea as determined by a specular method

The thickness of the human cornea was measured by a simple accurate method which entails measurement of the distance between the anterior and the posterior corneal reflections when the cornea is illuminated at an angle. As compared to methods measuring the width of the optical section, the advantage of this method is that the end-points of measurement are clearly defined, providing a better basis for an exact estimation of the corneal thickness. The optical principle of this specular method is presented in a general form. The influence of physiological variation in corneal curvature and index of refraction is analysed and shown to cause an insignificant error on the standard thickness estimate. Using this method, the corneal thickness was measured in a random population sample of 115 normal subjects, aged 10-90 years. The corneal thickness was found to approximate a normal distribution with a mean value (+/- SD) of 0.515 mm (+/- 0.033). A significant decrease in corneal thickness with age of 0.0045 mm per decade was found.