Once daily ceftriaxone for meningococcemia and meningococcal meningitis

Twenty children with meningococcal disease (15 with meningococcal meningitis and 5 with meningococcemia without meningitis) were treated with ceftriaxone, 80 to 100 mg/kg/day for 4 days. An additional 22 patients with meningococcal disease (13 with meningitis, 9 with meningococcemia without meningitis) were treated with penicillin G. On the basis of the Damrosch-Stiehm scoring system, 19 patients were classified in the poor prognostic group and were treated with antishock therapy. Clinical recovery time and normalization of CSF were compared in two groups. When the complications were compared, necrotic skin lesions were more frequently seen in the penicillin G group than in those who received ceftriaxone. Ceftriaxone is an effective and safe drug and offers the advantage of once daily administration for treatment of meningococcal disease in pediatric patients.     

人工牛黄的光解

人工牛黄是广泛用于中成药配方的中药代用品。本文用漫反射光谱法研究了人工牛黄样品在人工光源照射下发生颜色变化的光解规律:在三种光源下,其光解均属二步表观一级反应动力学,即光解曲线是由两段斜率不同的直线组成,初期的光解速度较其后的快2倍左右;不同光源下,紫外灯光解速度最快,荧光高压汞灯次之,碘钨灯最慢;表观光解常数与光波长有关,但基本不随光强度和照射时间乘积改变。而光解时间则与光强度成反比。从得到的动力学方程可预测不同条件下的褪色时间。研究表明,人工牛黄复方中,发生光解的主要成分是胆红素,其余成分不发生引起颜色变化的光解,但在第二步反应中对胆红素的光解有明显影响。     

Pathogenesis of shigella diarrhea. VII. Evidence for a cell membrane toxin receptor involving β1 {arrow} 4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine oligomers

The binding of ShigeUa dysenteriae 1 cytotoxin to HeLa cells in culture and to isolated rat liver cell membranes was studied by means of an indirect consumption assay of toxicity from the medium, or by determination of cytotoxicity to the HeLa cell monolayer. Both liver cell membranes and HeLa cells removed toxicity from the medium during incubation, in contrast to WI-38 and Y-1 mouse adrenal tumor cells, both of which neither bound nor were affected by the toxin. Uptake of toxin was directly related to concentration of membranes added, time,and temperature, and indirectly related to the ionic strength of the buffer used. The chemical nature of the membrane receptor was characterized by using three principal approaches: (a) enzymatic sensitivity; (b) competitive inhibition and (c) receptor blockade studies. The receptor was destroyed by proteolytic enzymes, phospholipases (which markedly altered the gross appearance of the membrane preparation) and by lysozyme, but not by a variety of other enzymes. Of 28 carbohydrate and glycoprotein haptens studied, including cholera toxin and ganglioside, only the chitin oligosaccharide lysozyme substrates, per N-acetylated chitotriose, chitotetraose, and chitopentaose were effective competitive inhibitors. Greatest inhibition was found with the trimer, N, N’, N” triacetyl chitotriose. Of three lectins studied as possible receptor blockers, including phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin, only the latter, which is known to possess specific binding affinity for N, N’, N” triacetyl chitotriose, was able to block toxin uptake. Evidence from all three approaches indicate, therefore, existence of a glycoprotein toxin receptor on mammalian cells, with involvement of oligomeric β1{arrow}4-1inked N-acetyl glucosamine in the receptor. This receptor is clearly distinct from the G(M1) ganglioside thought to be involved in the binding of cholera toxin to the cell membrane of a variety of cell types susceptible to its action.     

Mammography phototimer technique chart

A phototimer technique chart for mammography is presented along with the methodology used to design it. The chart is based on accurate measurement of breast thickness and helps overcome the inability of the phototimer to track as breast thickness varies. In clinical practice, the chart results in the consistent attainment of optimally exposed films and decreased number of retakes.     

Early detection of myocardial dysfunction in children with beta-thalassaemia major

To evaluate left and right ventricular myocardial performance using pulsed-tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and its relation to BNP levels in patients with beta-thalassaemia major (ß-TM). We enrolled 36 thalassaemic patients (21 male, 15 female; mean age: 14.2 ± 4.1 years) with normal left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions with conventional echocardiography and 30 healthy control subjects (18 male, 12 female, and 12.5 ± 4.2 years). Myocardial performance indexes (MPI) of left ventricular (LV) lateral wall, interventricular septum (IVS) and right ventricular (RV) lateral wall were calculated with TDI. Plasma BNP levels were measured in all patients. MPIs and other echocardiographic parameters of patients with ß-TM were compared with control group. All the patients’ plasma BNP levels were within normal limits. There were no differences between conventional echocardiographic parameters of patients and control group. MPI of LV, IVS, and RV of patients were significantly higher than control group (P = 0.01, and P < 0.01, and P < 0.001, respectively). Our study confirms that MPI obtained by TDI seems to be an early sensitive parameter of cardiac dysfunction in ß-TM. We concluded that MPI obtained by TDI may be an adjunctive parameter to conventional echocardiography for detecting early myocardial damage.